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[
"Greg Gutfeld",
"Career",
"What did Gutfeld do for a living?",
"In 1995 he became a staff writer at Men's Health. He was promoted to editor in chief of Men's Health in 1999.",
"Did he win any awards?",
"I don't know.",
"What was he known for?",
"Beginning on February 5, 2007, Gutfeld hosted the hour-long Fox News Channel late-night program, Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld.",
"How long did Red eye series last?",
"From 2007 to 2013,"
] | C_36962b15a1e346e8987a0067597be648_1 | Did he have any famous co hosts? | 5 | Did Greg Gutfeld have any famous co hosts on the Red Eye series? | Greg Gutfeld | After college he had an internship at The American Spectator, as an assistant to conservative writer R. Emmett Tyrrell. He then worked as a staff writer at Prevention magazine and in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, as an editor at various Rodale Press magazines. In 1995 he became a staff writer at Men's Health. He was promoted to editor in chief of Men's Health in 1999. A year later, he was replaced by David Zinczenko. Gutfeld then became editor in chief of Stuff, increasing circulation from 750,000 to 1.2 million during his tenure. In 2003 he hired several dwarfs to attend a conference of the "Magazine Publishers of America" on the topic of "buzz", with instructions to be as loud and annoying as possible. The stunt generated publicity but led to Gutfeld's being fired soon afterward; he was then made head of "brain development" at Dennis Publishing. He edited Maxim magazine in the UK from 2004 to 2006. Gutfeld's contract expired without renewal after losses in readership under his tenure. Gutfeld was one of the first posting contributors to The Huffington Post from its launch in 2005 until October 2008; frequent targets of his sarcasm included his colleagues Deepak Chopra, Cenk Uygur, Arianna Huffington, and Huffington Post bloggers. Many of his Huffington Post commentaries/blogs are available on its website. Gutfeld has his own blog site, The Daily Gut. Beginning on February 5, 2007, Gutfeld hosted the hour-long Fox News Channel late-night program, Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld. From 2007 to 2013, Bill Schulz served as Gutfeld's "sidekick" and Andy Levy as the show's ombudsman. Schulz was Gutfeld's colleague at Stuff magazine and Levy was a fellow blogger at The Huffington Post. On July 11, 2011, Gutfeld became a co-host/panelist on the Fox News political opinion discussion program The Five. The program airs weekdays at 5 p.m. ET. Gutfeld left Red Eye in February 2015, to host a new weekend show on Fox News. He was replaced on Red Eye by Tom Shillue. In May 2015, it was announced that Gutfeld would be getting his own late-night show called The Greg Gutfeld Show, which debuted on May 31, at 10 p.m. ET. CANNOTANSWER | Bill Schulz served as Gutfeld's "sidekick" and Andy Levy as the show's ombudsman. Schulz was Gutfeld's colleague at Stuff magazine | Gregory John Gutfeld (born September 12, 1964) is an American comedian, television host, political commentator, and author. He is the host of the late-night talk show Gutfeld!, and hosted a Saturday night edition of Gutfeld! called The Greg Gutfeld Show from May 2015 until March 2021, when it was announced the show would transition to weeknights. Gutfeld is also one of five co-hosts and panelists on the political talk show The Five. Both of his shows air on the Fox News Channel. From 2007 to 2015, Gutfeld hosted the 3AM series Red Eye, a late-night talk show that also aired on the Fox News Channel.
Early life and education
Gutfeld was born in San Mateo, California, the son of Jacqueline Bernice "Jackie" (née Cauhape) and Alfred Jack Gutfeld. He attended Junípero Serra High School. and the University of California, Berkeley, graduating in 1987 with a bachelor's degree in English.
In a 2009 interview, Gutfeld explained that he started to experience a change in his political thinking while he was attending college:
Career
After college, Gutfeld interned at The American Spectator, as an assistant to conservative writer R. Emmett Tyrrell. He then worked as a staff writer at Prevention magazine and as an editor for various Rodale Press magazines. In 1995, he became a staff writer at Men's Health. He was promoted to editor-in-chief of Men's Health in 1999. A year later, he was replaced by David Zinczenko.
Gutfeld then became editor-in-chief of Stuff, then owned by Dennis Publishing. During his tenure, circulation increased from 750,000 to 1.2 million. In 2003, Gutfeld hired several dwarfs to attend a conference of the Magazine Publishers of America on the topic of "buzz", with instructions to be as loud and annoying as possible. The stunt generated publicity but led to Gutfeld being fired soon afterward; he then became head of "brain development" at Dennis Publishing. He edited the company's Maxim magazine in the U.K. from 2004 to 2006. Gutfeld's contract expired without renewal after losses in readership under his tenure.
Gutfeld was one of the first posting contributors to The Huffington Post, from its launch in 2005 until October 2008. Frequent targets of his commentaries included Huffington Post colleagues Deepak Chopra, Cenk Uygur, and Arianna Huffington.
Beginning on February 5, 2007, Gutfeld served as host of the late-night talk show Red Eye on the Fox News Channel. The hour-long show initially aired at 2:00 A.M. ET Monday through Saturday mornings and at 11:00 P.M. on Saturday evenings. However, beginning in October 2007, the show began airing at 3:00 A.M. Monday through Saturday mornings while retaining its 11:00 P.M timeslot on Saturday evenings. From 2007 to 2013, Bill Schulz served as Gutfeld's sidekick, and Andy Levy served as the show's ombudsman. Schulz had been Gutfeld's colleague at Stuff magazine, and Levy was a fellow blogger at The Huffington Post. On July 11, 2011, Gutfeld became a co-host and panelist on the Fox News political talk show The Five, which airs weekdays at 5:00 P.M. ET. Gutfeld left Red Eye in February 2015, with Tom Shillue succeeding him as host of the program. On May 31, 2015, Gutfeld began hosting a new weekly late-night talk show on Fox News called The Greg Gutfeld Show; which aired at 10:00 P.M. ET on Saturdays. In February 2021, it was announced that, beginning in the second quarter, the show would move to weeknights at 11:00 P.M. ET. On March 10, 2021, it was announced that the new weeknight show would be called Gutfeld! and premiere on April 5. In August 2021, Gutfeld! overtook The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in the nightly ratings, becoming the highest-rated late-night talk show in the United States. It averaged 2.12 million nightly viewers, more than The Late Show, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
By the end of 2021, the Gutfeld's combined viewership for "Gutfeld! and "The Five" averaged over five million viewers.
Gutfeld has appeared as a guest on Coffee with Scott Adams and The Adam Carolla Show.
Recognition
In late 2021, Gutfeld was named the 12th-most influential person in American media by the Mediaite website.
Controversies
Apology to Canadians
During a Red Eye segment that aired on March 17, 2009, Gutfeld and his panel discussed Canadian Lieutenant General Andrew Leslie's statement that the Canadian Armed Forces may require a one-year "synchronized break" once Canada's mission in Afghanistan ended in 2011: "Meaning, the Canadian military wants to take a breather to do some yoga, paint landscapes, run on the beach in gorgeous white Capri pants." The comedian panelist Doug Benson added: "I didn't even know they were in the war.... I thought that's where you go if you don't want to fight. Go chill in Canada." Gutfeld also said: "Isn't this the perfect time to invade this ridiculous country? They have no army!"
The segment was posted to YouTube three days after the reported deaths of four Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, prompting widespread outrage. Canada had then been in command of the NATO mission in Kandahar Province, the birthplace and former capital of the Taliban, for three years. Along with Helmand Province, it was "home to some of the fiercest opposition to coalition forces" and reported to "have the highest casualty rates per province."
Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay called on Fox to apologize for the satirical comments and described the remarks as "despicable, hurtful and ignorant." Gutfeld, while maintaining that the show is satirical and irreverent, offered the following apology: "The March 17 episode of Red Eye included a segment discussing Canada's plan for a 'synchronized break,' which was in no way an attempt to make light of troop efforts. However, I realize that my words may have been misunderstood. It was not my intent to disrespect the brave men, women, and families of the Canadian military, and for that, I apologize."
Ground Zero mosque
On August 9, 2010, Gutfeld stated that he planned on constructing New York City's first Islamic-friendly gay bar next to the Park51 Islamic community center.
2020 election
After Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, Gutfeld supported Trump's claims of voter fraud and advocated for an audit and investigation into voting in some states, stating:
After Trump supporters attacked the United States Capitol in January 2021, Gutfeld argued that Trump supporters' “distrust of government institutions” was justified:
Gutfeld went on to condemn the attack on the US Capitol and the associated violence and stated that non-liberals are "supposed to be the gate against the barbarians, but yesterday, we looked like the barbarians."
Personal life
Gutfeld thought he voted by mail in the 2016 presidential election, but The Washington Post could find no evidence in voting records. Gutfeld thinks it was possible that he missed the official deadline.
, Gutfeld resides in New York City with his Russian wife, Elena Moussa. He met the photo editor in London, where he lived for three years.
Gutfeld was raised Roman Catholic and served as an altar boy. He describes himself as an "agnostic atheist".
A fan of hard rock and heavy metal music, Gutfeld has spoken on-air about being a fan of many bands, including Power Trip. Gutfeld paid tribute to Power Trip's singer Riley Gale after his death in 2020.
Books
See also
New Yorkers in journalism
References
Sources
External links
Official website
Gutfeld! at Fox News Channel
Greg Gutfeld archives at The Huffington Post
Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld at Fox News Channel
The Daily Gut (blog site)
1964 births
21st-century American writers
American agnostics
American male bloggers
American bloggers
American comedians
American humorists
American magazine editors
American male writers
American political commentators
American political writers
American television journalists
Former Roman Catholics
Fox News people
Living people
Members of the Libertarian Party (United States)
Men's Health (magazine)
People from San Mateo, California
The American Spectator people
HuffPost writers and columnists
University of California, Berkeley alumni
Writers from California
Writers from New York City
Junípero Serra High School (San Mateo, California) alumni | false | [
"Krem Nasjonal was a Norwegian television show that first aired in 2009. The show contained sketches and quizzes. It was hosted by Erik Solbakken, together with the co-hosts Magnus and Signe.\n\nThe intro and some content is inspired by the Canadian show You Can't Do That on Television.\n\nThe concept\n\nThe \"gatekamp\"\n\nIn the \"gatekamp\" (streetduel), Magnus and Signe are on the street and competing against each other. The content of each \"gatekamp\" is different. One can be to see who can talk to a stranger for the longest time, and another can be who can take most pictures of persons making funny faces.\n\nThe \"hermegåsa\"\n\nSelection\nThe \"hermegåsa\" (imitate king) is a competition where two famous guests selects two children from the audience to be on their teams. The two children with the best grimaces will be chosen.\n\nThe first part\nIn the first and second season, the child on each team had to imitate the guest. If they got it right, they got a point. In season three, both the guest and the child have to imitate after an old videoclip. In season 3, one team also got an extra point from the co-hosts, Magnus and Signe.\n\nThe second part\nIn the second part, the teams have to imitate after the host, Erik. He dance a type of dance, like ballet or tango. The teams get one point for each dance they did right. If there is a tie after the second part, the competition will be determined by rock-paper-scissors.\n\nMusical guests\nKrem Nasjonal have had many musical guests on the show, including the MGP Nordic winner Ulrik Munther, Maria Mittet and Måns Zelmerlöw.\n\nExternal links \nNRK - TV\nNRK Super about Krem Nasjonal\n\n2009 Norwegian television series debuts",
"This is a list of Hum Awards ceremonies. This list is current as of the 4th Hum Awards ceremony held on April 23 while the televising date is to be announced.\n\nVenues and networks\n\nVenues\n 2013 - 2014: Expo Center, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.\n 2015: Dubai World Trade Center, Dubai, UAE.\n 2016 - present: Expo Center, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.\n\nNetworks\n\n 2013: Hum Network Limited, Hum TV and Hum Europe\n\nCeremonies \nAll award times local (PST/UTC+5).\n\nNotes\n\nHosts of ceremonies \n\nHum Awards are presented by a pair of hosts for each segment including Television, Music and Fashion who called presenters to give away the awards. However for special category or Honorary awards only one individual represents the segment. Host of First Segment are considered as main hosts, while others regarded as co-hosts.\n\nCo-Hosts\nFollowing is the list of Hosts that co-hosted the ceremonies with main host.\n\nMultiple Ceremonies Hosted\nThe following 3 individuals have hosted (or co-hosted) the Hum Awards ceremony on two or more occasions.\n\nNominated Hosts \n\nThe following individuals have hosted (or co-hosted) the Hum Awards ceremony for the same year in which the individual was also a nominee.\n\nSee also\n Hum Awards\n Hum Awards pre-show\n Hum Award for Best Drama Serial\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOfficial websites\n Hum Awards official website\nOther resources\n \n\n \nHum\n\n5th Hum Awards QMobile HUM Style Awards 2017"
] |
[
"Paramore",
"Appearances in films and video games"
] | C_04adc481653d46e9b7fd9219245c41ab_0 | What films did Paramore appear in? | 1 | What films did Paramore appear in? | Paramore | In 2005, Paramore made its first video game appearance with the song "Pressure" being featured in the console versions of the video game The Sims 2. In March 2008, Paramore made its first rhythm game appearance with "Crushcrushcrush" as a downloadable track in the Rock Band games and later being a playable song in Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades. Later that year, Rock Band 2 was released with the song "That's What You Get" included as a playable track. The video game Guitar Hero World Tour featured the song "Misery Business" along with Hayley Williams participating in motion capture sessions for the game. She is featured as an unlockable character in the game as well. "Misery Business" was also featured as a playable track on Rock Band 3, while "Pressure", "The Only Exception", "Brick by Boring Brick", and "Ignorance" are available as DLC for the game. In 2015 the song "Still Into You" was featured as an on-disc song for Rock Band 4. Paramore's song "Decode" was the lead single for the novel-based Twilight film. Another song called "I Caught Myself" is also featured on the film's soundtrack. "Decode" was released on October 1, 2008 on the Paramore Fan Club site as well as Stephenie Meyer's website. The band began shooting the video October 13 and it premiered on November 3. Hot Topic hosted listening parties for the soundtrack on October 24, 2008, and the album was released on November 4, 2008. Borders released an exclusive version of the soundtrack that features an acoustic version of "Decode." "Misery Business" is also featured in Saints Row 2, and the soundtrack for EA Sports NHL 08. The music video for "Decode", along with the Twilight film trailer, was shown in the North American Home Theater of PlayStation Home from December 11, 2008, to December 18, 2008. The video premiered in full through MTV and its subsidiaries on November 3, 2008 one day ahead of the release of the soundtrack on which the song is featured. Paramore's song "Now" is featured as a song for the game Rocksmith 2014. CANNOTANSWER | Paramore's song "Decode" was the lead single for the novel-based Twilight film. | Paramore is an American rock band from Franklin, Tennessee, formed in 2004. The band currently consists of lead vocalist Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York and drummer Zac Farro. Williams and Farro are founding members of the group, while York, a high school friend of the original lineup, joined in 2007. The band are signed to Fueled by Ramen, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records, both owned by Warner Music Group. Williams is separately signed to Atlantic as she was scouted when she was a teenager, and they were the only label to let her stay in the band instead of going solo, but Atlantic said the rest of the band had to sign to FBR. She is also the only member to appear on all five of Paramore's studio albums.
The group released its debut album, All We Know Is Falling, in 2005, with the album reaching number four on the UK Rock Chart in 2009 and number thirty on Billboards Heatseekers Chart in 2006.
The band's second album, Riot!, was released in 2007. Thanks to the success of the singles "Misery Business", "Crushcrushcrush", and "That's What You Get", Riot! was a mainstream success and was certified Platinum in the United States. Paramore then received a Best New Artist nomination at the 2008 Grammy Awards. Their 2009 follow-up, Brand New Eyes, is the band's second-highest-charting album to date, landing at number two on the Billboard 200 with 175,000 first week sales. It produced the top-forty single "The Only Exception" and went platinum in Ireland and the UK, as well as gold in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Following the departure of Josh and Zac Farro in 2010, the band released their self-titled fourth album in 2013. It gave the band their first number one on the US Billboard 200 and was also the number one album in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. It included the singles "Still Into You" and "Ain't It Fun", with the latter winning the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song for Williams and York as songwriters, making it Paramore's first Grammy Award win. The band's lineup changed once again after this album cycle with bassist Jeremy Davis leaving the band near the end of 2015 and former drummer Zac Farro rejoining the band in 2017. Their fifth studio album, After Laughter, was released later that year.
History
2002–2004: Formation and early years
In 2002, at age 13, vocalist Hayley Williams moved from her hometown Meridian, Mississippi to Franklin, Tennessee, where she met brothers Josh Farro and Zac Farro at a weekly supplemental program for home-schooled students. Shortly after arriving, she began taking vocal lessons with Brett Manning. Prior to forming Paramore, Williams and bassist Jeremy Davis, along with friend Kimee Read, took part in a funk cover band called The Factory, while Josh and Zac Farro had practiced together after school. The other members of what was soon to be Paramore had been "edgy about the whole female thing" of having Williams as vocalist, but, because they were good friends, she started writing for them. Williams said of the members when she first met them, "They were the first people I met who were as passionate about music as I was."
Williams was originally signed to Atlantic Records as a solo artist in 2003. She had been introduced to Atlantic A&R Tom Storms by Kent Marcus and Jim Zumwalt, lawyers of managers Dave Steunebrink and Richard Williams, and then eventually signed to Atlantic by Jason Flom. Steunebrink and Richard Williams had originally discovered and signed her to a production deal that was later bought out by Atlantic. The original plan of the label was to turn her into a pop singer, but Williams resisted, saying that she wanted to play alternative rock music with a band. In an interview with HitQuarters the band's A&R at Atlantic, Steve Robertson, said, "She wanted to make sure that we didn't look at her as some straight to Top 40 pop princess. She wanted to make sure that she and her band got the chance to show what they can do as a rock band writing their own songs." Label president Julie Greenwald and the label staff decided to go with her wishes. The original management team for the band was Dave Steunebrink, Creed manager Jeff Hanson, and Hanson's assistant Mark Mercado.
The band was officially formed by Josh Farro (lead guitar/backing vocals), Zac Farro (drums), Davis (bass guitar) and Williams (lead vocals) in 2004, with the later addition of Williams' neighbor Jason Bynum (rhythm guitar). When Davis showed up, he was stunned to find out the drummer was only twelve years old. He admitted "I had very, very, very, little faith in everyone in the band because of their age. I remember thinking, 'This is not going to work because this kid is way too young,' but that first day of practice was amazing. I knew we were on to something." According to Williams, the name "Paramore" came from the maiden name of the mother of one of their first bass players. Once the group learned the meaning of the homophone "paramour" ("secret lover"), they decided to adopt the name, using the Paramore spelling.
Paramore was originally supposed to release their music on Atlantic Records, but the label's marketing department decided it would be better for the image of the band to not have them attached to a major label. Instead, they released their music through the niche label Fueled by Ramen. Lyor Cohen, the head of Warner Music Group, had already identified Fueled by Ramen as a label they should partner with. It was decided the rock label would make an ideal match for Paramore. According to Robertson, when the band was presented to Fueled by Ramen's CEO John Janick, "he got the vision of the band immediately." Janick went to a Taste of Chaos performance in Orlando, Florida to see the band perform live. In April 2005, after a smaller private performance at a warehouse, the band was signed to Atlantic Records and Fueled By Ramen.
The band's first song written together was "Conspiracy", which was later used on their debut album. At this time, they were touring the southeast, usually being driven by Williams' parents. She commented that "Back then, I guess we were all thinking, after school, we'll go to the house and practice. It was what we loved to do for fun, and still do! I don't think any of us really knew this would turn out to be what it's become."
2005–2006: All We Know Is Falling
Paramore traveled back to Orlando, Florida, but shortly after arriving, Jeremy Davis left the band, citing personal reasons. The remaining four members of Paramore continued with the album, writing "All We Know" about his departure, and later deciding to base All We Know Is Falling around the concept. The album artwork also reflected Paramore's grief as Hayley Williams explains, "The couch on the cover of All We Know is Falling with no one there and the shadow walking away; it's all about Jeremy leaving us and us feeling like there's an empty space."
Before touring, the band added John Hembree (bass) to their lineup to replace Davis. During that summer, Paramore was featured on the Shira Girl stage of the 2005 Warped Tour. After being asked by the band, Jeremy Davis returned to Paramore after five months apart, replacing Hembree. All We Know Is Falling was released on July 24, 2005, and reached No. 30 on the Billboard's Heatseekers Chart. Paramore released "Pressure" as its first single, with a video directed by Shane Drake, but the song failed to chart. The video featured the band performing in a warehouse, eventually getting sprayed with water sprinklers as the storyline of a conflicted couple occurs. In July, "Emergency" was released as the second single, the video again reuniting the band with director Shane Drake and featuring Hunter Lamb (rhythm guitar), who replaced Jason Bynum in December 2005. The video for "Emergency" showcased Paramore in another performance, this time fixing the members' bloody costumes. The third single, "All We Know", was released with limited airtime, with the video consisting of a collection of live performances and backstage footage. After the band's later success, All We Know Is Falling and "Pressure" were certified Gold by the RIAA.
In January 2006, the band took part in the Winter Go West tour where they played alongside Seattle bands Amber Pacific and The Lashes. In February, Hayley Williams was featured on "Keep Dreaming Upside Down" by October Fall. In spring of 2006, Paramore was an opening act on tours for both Bayside and The Rocket Summer. The band then covered Foo Fighters' "My Hero" for the Sound of Superman soundtrack which was released on June 26, 2006.
During the summer of 2006, Paramore played a portion of Warped Tour, primarily on the Volcom and Hurley Stages, and their first night on the Main Stage was at a date in their hometown of Nashville. During the band's time at Warped Tour, they released The Summer Tic EP, which was sold exclusively during the tour. Paramore's first US headlining tour began on August 2, 2006, to a sold-out audience with support from This Providence, Cute Is What We Aim For, and Hit the Lights with the final show in Nashville. That year they were voted "Best New Band", and Hayley Williams was voted as No. 2 "Sexiest Female", by readers of the British magazine Kerrang!.
In 2007, Lamb left the group to get married, and Paramore continued onward as a quartet. Paramore was then named by British magazine NME as one of ten bands to watch out for in their "New Noise 2007" feature. Paramore was featured in Kerrang! magazine once more, however, Hayley Williams believed the article was an untrue portrayal of the band, particularly because it focused on her as the main component. Afterwards, Williams addressed the issue in the band's LiveJournal, with a post saying, "we could’ve done without a cover piece. sorry, if it offends anyone at Kerrang! but I don’t think there was one bit of truth in that article." In April, Hayley Williams' vocals were featured in "Then Came To Kill" by The Chariot. They headlined a tour in April through May 2007 with This Providence, The Almost, and Love Arcade. The Almost and Love Arcade were replaced by Quietdrive for the second half of the tour.
2007–2008: Riot!
Before work began on the band's next album, Davis was expelled from the band due to "his lack of work ethic and participation in things that Zac, Hayley and I didn’t agree with," according to Josh Farro. After an agreement involving the remaining three members, Davis was reinstated as bassist, and Taylor York became the band's new guitarist. York had been in a band with the Farro brothers before the two met Williams.
After being courted by producers Neal Avron and Howard Benson, Paramore opted to record the album with producer David Bendeth in New Jersey, who had previously worked with Your Vegas and Breaking Benjamin. The album, titled Riot!, was released on June 12, 2007, entering the Billboard 200 at number 20 and the UK charts at number 24. The album sold 44,000 units its first week in the United States. The name Riot! had been chosen because it meant "a sudden outburst of uncontrolled emotion", and it was a word that "summed it all up". The first single from the album, "Misery Business", was released on June 21, 2007. According to Williams, "Misery Business" is "more honest than anything I've ever written, and the guys matched that emotion musically." In the summer of 2007, Paramore participated in their third Warped Tour, and they posted journals of their experiences on yourhereblog for MTV.
On October 11, 2007, the music video for "Crushcrushcrush" debuted on the United States television as the next single from Riot!. The video for "Crushcrushcrush" featured the band playing a performance in a barren desert, being spied upon, and later destroying their equipment. The single was released in the United States on November 19 and made available in the United Kingdom on November 12, 2007. Hayley Williams recorded guest vocals for the tracks "The Church Channel" and "Plea" for the Say Anything concept album In Defense of the Genre released on October 23, 2007. The group performed live, acoustic style in Boston on November 29, 2007, for FNX radio. On December 31, 2007, Paramore performed on the MTV New Year's Eve program which ran from 11:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
Paramore was featured on the cover of February 2008 issue of Alternative Press magazine and voted "Best Band Of 2007" by the readers. The band was nominated for "Best New Artist" at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards presented on February 10, 2008, but lost to Amy Winehouse. Early 2008 saw Paramore touring the United Kingdom, supporting their album Riot!, along with New Found Glory, Kids in Glass Houses and Conditions. In early February 2008, the band began a tour in Europe, however on February 21, 2008, the band announced that they had canceled six shows due to personal issues. Williams wrote on the band's web site that "the break will give that band 'a chance to get away and work out our personal issues'". MTV.com reported that fans of Paramore were speculating about the future of the band and reported rumors of trouble had begun earlier in the month when Josh Farro expressed his anger against the media's focus on Hayley Williams. The band, however, returned to their hometown to record the music video for the fourth single "That's What You Get", which was then released on March 24, 2008.
The band toured with Jimmy Eat World in the United States in April and May 2008. The band headlined the Give It A Name festival in the United Kingdom on May 10 and 11, 2008. Also the band performed on the In New Music We Trust Stage at Radio 1's One Big Weekend in Mote Park, Kent on May 10, 2008. Paramore played their first Ireland show at the RDS in Dublin on June 2, 2008, followed by the 2008 Vans Warped Tour from July 1–6.
From July 25 to September 1, Paramore embarked on a tour named "The Final Riot!". On this tour, the band performed part of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". On September 2, 2008, Paramore released a collaboration hoodie along with Hurley Clothing based on the album Riot!. All proceeds went to the Love146 foundation.
The band released a live album named The Final Riot! on November 25, 2008. The album includes a bonus DVD with a full concert recorded in Chicago, as well as a behind the scenes documentary. As of April 9, 2009, The Final Riot! is certified gold in the United States.
2009–2011: Brand New Eyes, departure of the Farros, and Singles Club
In January 2009, Josh Farro spoke about the band's next studio album. Talking to Kerrang!, Farro said: "We're gonna try to [record] it in Nashville. I think writing the album there will inspire us, and then if we record there too it'll be a lot easier since we can sleep in our beds at night rather than in hotels like the other 300 days out of the year! We're not sure who's going to produce the record yet. We did "Decode" with [producer] Rob Cavallo, which was a good experience, but we're looking around and don't want to make any decisions until we have a lot of songs and we know what we're looking for. We really enjoy our live sound and we want a producer who can really capture that." Paramore wrote and completed their third album Brand New Eyes in early 2009. The first single from the album was "Ignorance" and was released July 7, 2009. Paramore was the special guest with Bedouin Soundclash, The Sounds and Janelle Monáe at the No Doubt Summer Tour 2009, starting in May 2009 in outdoor amphitheaters and arenas across the US and Canada. The official music video for "Ignorance" aired on all MTV platforms, networks, and websites on August 13, 2009. Paramore, along with Paper Route and The Swellers, toured in support of Brand New Eyes in the fall of 2009. Some tour dates were postponed due to Hayley Williams becoming infected with laryngitis. "Brick By Boring Brick", "The Only Exception", "Careful" and "Playing God" were the album's following singles. To promote the album, the band recorded a performance for MTV Unplugged.
Paramore then played a sold out 15-date European tour with You Me At Six, Paper Route and Now Now Every Children. Their stadium tour culminated at London's Wembley Arena, to an audience of 12,500. The band performed in 2010 in the Australian Soundwave Festival along with bands such as Faith No More, Placebo, You Me at Six, All Time Low, Jimmy Eat World and Taking Back Sunday. Shortly before the tour, lead guitarist Josh Farro announced via the band's LiveJournal that he was engaged and stayed behind to plan his wedding. Justin York, brother of Taylor York, filled in for him on the tour. The band, with Farro returned, embarked on a spring tour of the U.S. in late April. Paramore supported Green Day on selected dates of their Stadium tour, in Dublin and Paris.
The band headlined the 2010 Honda Civic Tour, which began on July 23 in Raleigh, NC and closed on September 19 in Anaheim, CA. After a short United Kingdom tour in November 2010, the band announced, on December 2, 2010, the official dates for a South American tour to take place during February and March 2011. The band were set to take a break after their South American Tour in 2011 to write for their fourth studio album.
On December 18, 2010, a message from Hayley, Jeremy, and Taylor was released through Paramore.net stating that Josh and Zac were leaving the band. The band also confirmed the scheduled South American tour would still happen. Josh Farro wrote a statement on the departure on his Blogger, claiming that the band was "a manufactured product of a major-label." He accused Hayley Williams of being manipulated by her management, treating the rest of the group as her solo project, and claimed she was the only member of the band who was signed to Atlantic Records, while her bandmates were simply "riding on the coattails of her dream". On December 30, 2010, MTV News interviewed Williams, York and Davis in Franklin, Tennessee regarding their reactions to Farro's response. The band members confirmed many of Farro's statements, notably that Williams was indeed the only member of the band actually signed to Atlantic. They added that they felt the statement was irrelevant, and claimed they had addressed many of the Farro's critiques already throughout the course of their career.
On January 10, 2011, in an interview with MTV, Hayley Williams said that despite the band losing two of its founding members, they would release new music in 2011, although they had not confirmed if it would be a full album for release or just a small number of songs. The singer also admitted that Paramore's style was likely to change with the new lineup, but clarified that the band would still retain their core signature sound. The band entered the studio upon returning from their South American tour to record a batch of songs that were released over the summer, prior to their fourth full-length album. One of the songs included "In the Mourning", which Williams debuted on her Tumblr page. Paramore later confirmed they were entering a studio in Los Angeles with producer Rob Cavallo to record what would be the Singles Club.
On June 3, 2011, Paramore released the single "Monster", featured on the Transformers: Dark of the Moon soundtrack, on YouTube. This is the first song that the band released without the Farro brothers.
On June 9, 2011, Hayley Williams announced that the band had started to write their fourth album, which they hoped to start recording at the end of the year, with an early 2012 release.
On October 11, 2011, Paramore announced that they would release a new song for each of the remaining months of 2011. The band set up the Singles Club on their website which gave fans the chance to purchase the singles when they were released, as they were released exclusively through the Singles Club and were therefore not sold elsewhere. A song called "Renegade", premiered the day of the announcement, with "Hello Cold World" following on November 7 and "In the Mourning" on December 5. In 2011, former member, Josh Farro, formed Novel American. Zac Farro later joined the band.
2012–2015: Paramore and Davis' third exit
On April 18, 2012, Williams announced that the producer for their fourth album was Justin Meldal-Johnsen. Former Lostprophets and current Angels & Airwaves and Nine Inch Nails drummer Ilan Rubin was confirmed to be the session drummer for the recording of the album. Paramore was officially released on April 5, 2013, and a #1 at US albums chart Billboard 200. The first single from the album, titled "Now", was released online on January 22, 2013, and the album's second single, "Still Into You", was released on March 14, 2013, achieving commercial success. The third single, "Daydreaming", was released on December 2, 2013. The album's fourth single, "Ain't It Fun", was released on February 4, 2014, eventually becoming the band's highest-charting song in the United States and a winner for Best Rock Song at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. On November 24, 2014, Paramore: Self-Titled Deluxe was released, which includes a remake of "Hate to See Your Heart Break," a song originally on Paramore, featuring Joy Williams; this is the band's first collaboration on a song. The band embarked on the "Writing the Future" tour with Copeland, they said in a blog post that "It feels right to bring the Self-Titled era to a close. We've had a very personal and hugely triumphant journey with this one. What wouldn't feel right is saying goodbye to this time in the band's career and not celebrating it with our fans in some special way."
On December 14, 2015, bassist Jeremy Davis left the band. In March 2016, Davis was involved in a legal battle with Paramore, claiming to be eligible to enjoy the benefits of a business partnership with Hayley Williams as a co-owner of the band. This was quickly dismissed and he was again involved in a legal battle with Hayley Williams and Taylor York over a breach of contract entitling him to ownership and authorship of songs on their self-titled record, including "Ain't It Fun", and again, claiming to be eligible to enjoy the benefits of the earnings the two received from these songs and album. Davis reached a settlement with the band in April 2017.
During this period, lead singer Williams later revealed that she suffered from depression and mental health issues following the departure of Davis as well as a divorce with her ex-husband Chad Gilbert. In an interview with Zane Lowe on Beats 1 Radio, shes described it as "torment" and mentioned that she "didn't laugh for a long time". As a result, Williams privately left the band for a short period in 2015, briefly leaving York as the only remaining member of the group.
2016–2019: Zac Farro's return and After Laughter
On January 19, 2016, Williams announced over Twitter that the band was in the process of writing their fifth album. On June 8, 2016, the band posted a short video of themselves in the studio to their social media. This was preceded by a number of images which all included both former drummer Zac Farro and producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen, leading fans and various media outlets to speculate the return of Farro. On June 17, Farro was featured yet again in a picture uploaded to social media, this time behind a drum set, confirming that he would be recording drums for the album, though he later clarified that he was only recording drums for the album and that he had not rejoined the band as a full member. Despite this, on February 2, 2017, the band announced that Farro would return as the official drummer of the band.
On April 19, 2017, Paramore released "Hard Times" as the lead single from their album After Laughter, which they announced would be released on May 12, 2017. On May 3, a second single was released, titled "Told You So". A music video for the song "Fake Happy" was released on November 17, 2017. On February 5, 2018, a music video for "Rose-Colored Boy" was released, which is also the album's fourth single. The music video for "Caught in the Middle", the album's fifth single, was released on June 26, 2018.
On September 7, 2018, Hayley Williams announced during a concert that the band will play the song "Misery Business" "for the last time for a really long time", mainly due to a line from the second verse that was perceived to be sexist.
2020–present: Upcoming sixth album
On May 11, 2020, Williams teased a potential return to a more guitar driven sound on the band's sixth album, commenting "We've found ourselves listening to a lot of older music that we grew up being inspired by."
In January 2022, it was confirmed that the band have entered the studio to work on their upcoming sixth studio album. The band described the album as more "guitar heavy". On January 18, the band were announced to headline the newly founded Las Vegas based When We Were Young festival alongside My Chemical Romance set for October 22 2022, marking this their first live performance the band has played since September 2018.
Musical style and influences
Paramore's music style has generally been regarded as alternative rock, , pop rock, power pop, , emo, pop, and new wave. Joshua Martin had written after an interview with Hayley Williams, "The band isn't just a short pop-punk girl with red hair and a spunky attitude. Their music is like them, it's aged differently. It's sped up, and slowed down. It's emo without being whiny, or bratty. Almost a very literal anti-Avril Lavigne." Alternative Press magazine had commented that the band was "young-sounding", while consistently being "honest." Paramore's first album All We Know is Falling had an arguably more "formulaic pop-punk" sound that was "delivered particularly well" and the combination of the two had created a "refined rock infused pop/punk album." The band's second release, Riot! was said to explore a 'diverse range of styles," however, not straying far from "their signature sound." The band's later albums, such as Paramore and After Laughter, included more of a new wave and synth-pop sound.
Alternative Press and various other reviewers have noted that the band's stage performances have helped boost them to larger fame. Alternative Press states that Williams "has more charisma than singers twice her age, and her band aren't far behind in their chops, either." Singer-songwriter John Mayer had praised Williams' voice in a blog in October 2007, calling her "The great orange hope"; "orange" in reference to her hair color. Due to the female-fronted aspect of the band, Paramore has gained comparisons to Kelly Clarkson and the aforementioned Avril Lavigne, to which one reviewer said was "sorely unfounded." Reviewer Jonathan Bradley noted that "Paramore attacks its music with infectious enthusiasm." However, he also explained that "there isn't a whole lot of difference between Riot! and the songs from Kelly Clarkson or Avril Lavigne." A reviewer at NME had likened Paramore's sound to that of "No Doubt (stripped of all the ska bollocks)" and "Kelly Clarkson's wildest dreams." Hayley Williams has gone on to comment about the female aspect of the band saying that Paramore is not "this girl-fronted band" and it makes "music for people to enjoy music, not so people can talk about my sexuality."
Paramore has expressed appreciation for Failure, Fall Out Boy, Hanson, Panic! at the Disco, Blink-182, Death Cab for Cutie, Jimmy Eat World, MewithoutYou, and Sunny Day Real Estate, as well as Thrice and New Found Glory; Hayley Williams has cited her personal influences as Elvis Presley, the Shirelles, the Angels, the Ramones, Jawbreaker, Radiohead, Green Day, Blondie, NSYNC, Destiny's Child, Aaliyah, The Smiths, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure and Etta James.
Williams named many singers as heroines: "I love Debbie Harry and Siouxsie Sioux. I grew up listening to The Distillers [...] Girl groups are really important to me, but the Shangri-Las especially". Williams also explained that bands such as U2, "who are massive, and do whatever they want, write whatever they want and they stand for something," Jimmy Eat World, "who I don’t think ever disappoint their fans," and No Doubt, who "have done amazing things," act as a pattern for the path in which Paramore would like to take their career. In 2012, Williams contributed vocals to MewithoutYou's fifth studio album, Ten Stories.
The band members are Christians and in an interview with the BBC, Josh Farro stated "Our faith is very important to us. It's obviously going to come out in our music because if someone believes something, then their worldview is going to come out in anything they do. But we're not out here to preach to kids, we're out here because we love music."
Live appearances
In 2007, the band played an acoustic set for the grand opening of a Warped Tour exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the dress Hayley Williams wore in the video for "Emergency" was also put on display in the exhibit.
In June 2007, they were declared by Rolling Stone as "Ones to Watch". Paramore made their live television debut on Fuse Networks daily show, The Sauce. The second single from Riot!, "Hallelujah", was released on July 30, 2007, and is only available online and on UK television. The video, much like "All We Know", features backstage footage and live performances.
In August 2007, Paramore had been featured in television spots on MTV, performing acoustic versions of their songs or acting in short accompaniments to MTV program commercials. As "MTV Artists of the Week", the band filmed the faux camping themed spots in Queens, New York, all written and directed by Evan Silver and Gina Fortunato. MTV.com also has a collection of short videos with the band to promote Riot! as well. For weeks in August 2007, the "Misery Business" video was the number one streamed video at MTV.com. On October 8, Paramore played "Misery Business" live on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, a booking made possible due to the friendship struck between the band and Max Weinberg during the 2007 Warped Tour. In August, Paramore participated in New Found Glory's music video for their cover of Sixpence None the Richer's song "Kiss Me".
From September 29 to November 1, 2009, the band held a tour in North America to support Brand New Eyes. The tour for their self-titled fourth album, known as The Self-Titled Tour, took place in North America from October 15 to November 27, 2013. From June 19 through August 17, 2014, the band also supported the album with the Monumentour.
Appearances in films and video games
In 2005, Paramore made its first video game appearance with the song "Pressure" being featured in the console versions of the video game The Sims 2.
In March 2008, Paramore made its first rhythm game appearance with "Crushcrushcrush" as a downloadable track in the Rock Band games and later being a playable song in Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades. Later that year, Rock Band 2 was released with the song "That's What You Get" included as a playable track. The video game Guitar Hero World Tour featured the song "Misery Business" along with Hayley Williams participating in motion capture sessions for the game. She is featured as an unlockable character in the game as well. "Misery Business" was also featured as a playable track on Rock Band 3, while "Pressure", "The Only Exception", "Brick by Boring Brick", and "Ignorance" are available as DLC for the game. In 2015, the song "Still Into You" was featured as an on-disc song for Rock Band 4.
Paramore's song "Decode" was the lead single for the novel-based Twilight film. Another song called "I Caught Myself" is also featured on the film's soundtrack. "Decode" was released on October 1, 2008, on the Paramore Fan Club site as well as Stephenie Meyer's website. The band began shooting the video October 13 and it premiered on November 3. Hot Topic hosted listening parties for the soundtrack on October 24, 2008, and the album was released on November 4, 2008. Borders released an exclusive version of the soundtrack that features an acoustic version of "Decode."
"Misery Business" is also featured in Saints Row 2, and the soundtrack for EA Sports NHL 08.
The music video for "Decode", along with the Twilight film trailer, was shown in the North American Home Theater of PlayStation Home from December 11, 2008, to December 18, 2008. The video premiered in full through MTV and its subsidiaries on November 3, 2008, one day ahead of the release of the soundtrack on which the song is featured.
Paramore's song "Now" is featured as a song for the game Rocksmith 2014.
Band members
Current members
Hayley Williams – lead vocals (2004–present), keyboards (2012–present)
Taylor York – guitar, backing vocals (2007–present), keyboards (2012–present)
Zac Farro – drums (2004–2010, 2017–present), backing vocals (2007–2010, 2017–present)
Current touring musicians
Justin York – guitar, backing vocals (2010–present)
Joey Howard – bass, backing vocals (2015–present)
Logan MacKenzie – keyboards, guitar (2017–present)
Joseph Mullen – percussion (2017–present)
Former members
Josh Farro – guitar, backing vocals (2004–2010)
Jason Bynum – guitar, backing vocals (2004–2005)
Hunter Lamb – guitar, backing vocals (2005–2007)
Jeremy Davis – bass (2004–2005, 2005–2006, 2007–2015), backing vocals (2007–2015)
John Hembree – bass (2005)
Former touring musicians
Jon Howard – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (2010–2016)
Josh Freese – drums (2010–2011)
Jason Pierce – drums (2011–2012)
Hayden Scott – drums (2012–2013)
Miles McPherson – drums (2013)
Aaron Gillespie – drums (2013–2017)
Timeline
Discography
All We Know Is Falling (2005)
Riot! (2007)
Brand New Eyes (2009)
Paramore (2013)
After Laughter (2017)
Tours
Headlining tours
The Final Riot! Tour (2008)
Brand New Eyes World Tour (2009–2012)
The Self-Titled Tour (2013–2015)
After Laughter Tour (2017–2018)
Co-headlining tours
Honda Civic Tour (2010)
Monumentour (2014)
Opening acts
Summer Tour 2009 (2009)
21st Century Breakdown World Tour (2010)
See also
List of awards and nominations received by Paramore
List of songs recorded by Paramore
List of alternative rock artists
References
External links
2004 establishments in Tennessee
Alternative rock groups from Tennessee
American emo musical groups
American pop punk groups
American pop rock music groups
American power pop groups
Fueled by Ramen artists
Grammy Award winners
Kerrang! Awards winners
Musical groups established in 2004
Musical groups from Franklin, Tennessee
NME Awards winners
Sibling musical groups
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Female-fronted musical groups | true | [
"Jeremiah Clayton \"Jeremy\" Davis (born February 8, 1985) is an American musician and songwriter. He was the bassist for the rock band Paramore until his departure in December 2015.\n\nEarly life\nIn 2002, at the age of 16, he was living in Franklin, Tennessee, where he played in a funk cover band called The Factory, where he met Hayley Williams. Through Williams, Davis met the other members, brothers Josh Farro and Zac Farro, then forming Paramore. Davis admitted that due to Zac's age (only 14 at the time) he thought people wouldn't take them seriously until he saw him play.\n\nParamore\n\nParamore was created in Franklin, Tennessee in 2004 by the two brothers Josh Farro (lead guitar/backing vocals) and Zac Farro (drums). Taylor York was also a part of the band from the very beginning, but his parents wanted him to finish school first and later returned in 2007. Later, they asked Hayley Williams (lead vocals/keyboards) to join the band, and through Hayley, Jeremy Davis (bass guitar) joined as well. In 2005, John Janick, founder of record label Fueled by Ramen, signed a contract with them. Prior to forming Paramore, the other members of what was soon to be Paramore had been \"edgy about the whole female thing\" of having Williams as singer, but as they were good friends, she began writing with them, and eventually became a member.\n\nThe band was eventually signed to a deal on Fueled by Ramen. The band released their first album, All We Know Is Falling, without him. For this time, Davis was replaced by John Hembree. He rejoined soon afterwards and was present on the band's second album, Riot!. Davis also plays bass on the live albums The Final Riot! and Live in the UK. The band's third album, Brand New Eyes, was released on September 29, 2009. Their fourth album, Paramore, was released in 2013. In 2014, Davis was nominated for Best Bassist at the Alternative Press Music Awards.\n\nIt was announced on December 14, 2015, that Davis would no longer be in the band, and that Paramore would continue as a duo.\n\nIn February 2016, Davis became embroiled in a legal battle with Williams and Taylor York over ownership and authorship of the songs and a portion of the royalties from Paramore's self-titled album, as well as a share of the band's touring revenue and other income. Davis claimed Varoom Whoa, the business entity that operates Paramore, was a partnership, and that Williams and York are also partners. The business denied this, claiming Williams and York are employees (York also admitted this himself), that Davis was paid what he earned during his time in the band, and that while Williams is the only one signed to Atlantic Records, she shared her personal earnings with the band out of a sense of camaraderie.\n\nOther work\nDavis co-produced and played bass on the B.o.B. song \"Violet Vibrato\", released in 2015. Davis launched a record label named Post Trap Entertainment in October 2020.\n\nPersonal life\nPrior to his current wife, Davis dated Sarah Orzechowski for multiple years. On September 30, 2011, he married British actress Kathryn Camsey. The couple's first child, Bliss Belle Buttercup Davis, was born on December 28, 2013.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nBio at Paramore.net\n\nLiving people\nPeople from North Little Rock, Arkansas\nAmerican rock bass guitarists\nAmerican male bass guitarists\nParamore members\nGuitarists from Arkansas\n1985 births\nAmerican male guitarists\n21st-century American bass guitarists",
"Taylor Benjamin York (born December 17, 1989) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is the rhythm and lead guitarist of American rock band Paramore. His brother, Justin York, was a touring member of Relient K and is currently a touring guitarist for Paramore.\n\nBiography\nYork was born the youngest of three boys on December 17, 1989, and raised in Nashville, Tennessee. His father is Peter York, Chairman and CEO of Capitol Christian Music Group. Peter is also a guitarist and taught the instrument to both Taylor and his brother Justin. Taylor is the youngest of three brothers, and his eldest brother, Chris York, is the Senior Director of A&R at Capitol Records.\n\nYork had been in a band with the Farro brothers (Josh and Zac) months before the two met Hayley Williams. Zac Farro introduced York to Williams at a high school football game, and they hit it off right away. York has taken part in writing songs such as \"Conspiracy\" from their debut album, All We Know Is Falling, and bonus track \"O Star\", which was the first song York wrote with Williams alone just after they met, when they were 12 and 13 years old. York has \"officially\" played with Paramore since 2007.\n\nInfluences\nYork has stated that his favorite artists include mewithoutYou, Radiohead, Kent, Yann Tiersen, At the Drive-In, Failure, Björk, Kadawatha, and Paper Route. More recently in interviews, he has cited Afrobeat music as a big influence in his writing for After Laughter. Talking Heads, Fleetwood Mac, Blondie, Paul Simon, The Strokes, Thomas Mapfumo, Tame Impala, and The Cure were also named influences and favorite artists of his.\n\nParamore\n\nYork had done backup vocals when he was younger for the band, before All We Know Is Falling. He joined Paramore after the departure of Hunter Lamb in 2007 as their rhythm guitarist. In the liner notes for the group's second album, Riot!, Hayley Williams, Josh Farro, and Zac Farro included him on their list of \"thank yous\". He also helped write \"That's What You Get\" and bonus track \"Stop This Song\", which his brother Justin York helped write.\n\nAfter the release of Riot!, Paramore released a live album, The Final Riot!. York was credited as a member of the band in the liner notes of the latter and was later officially acknowledged by Paramore as an official member on June 15, 2009. After Josh and Zac Farro left the band, Williams said that she was sure York would leave the band as well. York said in interview: “When it went down, it was hard for me to make a decision. I just wasn't ready. I broke down, and started crying at one point, and I just knew that I wasn't done and that I loved being in a band with Jeremy and Hayley so much. I still had a lot more to do with the band, so I just looked forward and did it.” Williams also stated that she was not that close to Taylor at the time. They finally met up for coffee after attending a show together, and Williams recalls crying in her car afterward and knew the band was going to be okay with York staying. Since then, they became close again and have since grown closer. York has taken part in the writing and recording of their albums since.\n\nIn 2015, lead vocalist Hayley Williams quietly left Paramore for a brief period due to depression. York then remained the only member of Paramore, as bassist Jeremy Davis later left the band and embroiled York and Williams in a lawsuit over ownership and authorship of songs on Paramore's self-titled fourth record. Williams has praised York as someone who helped keep her alive during her depression. She also cites him as the reason Paramore is still a band and did not break up.\n\nReferences\n\nDate of birth unknown\nGrammy Award winners\nLiving people\nParamore members\nMusicians from Nashville, Tennessee\nAmerican rock guitarists\nAmerican male guitarists\nGuitarists from Tennessee\n1989 births"
] |
[
"Paramore",
"Appearances in films and video games",
"What films did Paramore appear in?",
"Paramore's song \"Decode\" was the lead single for the novel-based Twilight film."
] | C_04adc481653d46e9b7fd9219245c41ab_0 | What other films? | 2 | What other films did Paramore have songs in, aside from Twilight? | Paramore | In 2005, Paramore made its first video game appearance with the song "Pressure" being featured in the console versions of the video game The Sims 2. In March 2008, Paramore made its first rhythm game appearance with "Crushcrushcrush" as a downloadable track in the Rock Band games and later being a playable song in Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades. Later that year, Rock Band 2 was released with the song "That's What You Get" included as a playable track. The video game Guitar Hero World Tour featured the song "Misery Business" along with Hayley Williams participating in motion capture sessions for the game. She is featured as an unlockable character in the game as well. "Misery Business" was also featured as a playable track on Rock Band 3, while "Pressure", "The Only Exception", "Brick by Boring Brick", and "Ignorance" are available as DLC for the game. In 2015 the song "Still Into You" was featured as an on-disc song for Rock Band 4. Paramore's song "Decode" was the lead single for the novel-based Twilight film. Another song called "I Caught Myself" is also featured on the film's soundtrack. "Decode" was released on October 1, 2008 on the Paramore Fan Club site as well as Stephenie Meyer's website. The band began shooting the video October 13 and it premiered on November 3. Hot Topic hosted listening parties for the soundtrack on October 24, 2008, and the album was released on November 4, 2008. Borders released an exclusive version of the soundtrack that features an acoustic version of "Decode." "Misery Business" is also featured in Saints Row 2, and the soundtrack for EA Sports NHL 08. The music video for "Decode", along with the Twilight film trailer, was shown in the North American Home Theater of PlayStation Home from December 11, 2008, to December 18, 2008. The video premiered in full through MTV and its subsidiaries on November 3, 2008 one day ahead of the release of the soundtrack on which the song is featured. Paramore's song "Now" is featured as a song for the game Rocksmith 2014. CANNOTANSWER | Another song called "I Caught Myself" is also featured on the film's soundtrack. | Paramore is an American rock band from Franklin, Tennessee, formed in 2004. The band currently consists of lead vocalist Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York and drummer Zac Farro. Williams and Farro are founding members of the group, while York, a high school friend of the original lineup, joined in 2007. The band are signed to Fueled by Ramen, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records, both owned by Warner Music Group. Williams is separately signed to Atlantic as she was scouted when she was a teenager, and they were the only label to let her stay in the band instead of going solo, but Atlantic said the rest of the band had to sign to FBR. She is also the only member to appear on all five of Paramore's studio albums.
The group released its debut album, All We Know Is Falling, in 2005, with the album reaching number four on the UK Rock Chart in 2009 and number thirty on Billboards Heatseekers Chart in 2006.
The band's second album, Riot!, was released in 2007. Thanks to the success of the singles "Misery Business", "Crushcrushcrush", and "That's What You Get", Riot! was a mainstream success and was certified Platinum in the United States. Paramore then received a Best New Artist nomination at the 2008 Grammy Awards. Their 2009 follow-up, Brand New Eyes, is the band's second-highest-charting album to date, landing at number two on the Billboard 200 with 175,000 first week sales. It produced the top-forty single "The Only Exception" and went platinum in Ireland and the UK, as well as gold in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Following the departure of Josh and Zac Farro in 2010, the band released their self-titled fourth album in 2013. It gave the band their first number one on the US Billboard 200 and was also the number one album in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. It included the singles "Still Into You" and "Ain't It Fun", with the latter winning the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song for Williams and York as songwriters, making it Paramore's first Grammy Award win. The band's lineup changed once again after this album cycle with bassist Jeremy Davis leaving the band near the end of 2015 and former drummer Zac Farro rejoining the band in 2017. Their fifth studio album, After Laughter, was released later that year.
History
2002–2004: Formation and early years
In 2002, at age 13, vocalist Hayley Williams moved from her hometown Meridian, Mississippi to Franklin, Tennessee, where she met brothers Josh Farro and Zac Farro at a weekly supplemental program for home-schooled students. Shortly after arriving, she began taking vocal lessons with Brett Manning. Prior to forming Paramore, Williams and bassist Jeremy Davis, along with friend Kimee Read, took part in a funk cover band called The Factory, while Josh and Zac Farro had practiced together after school. The other members of what was soon to be Paramore had been "edgy about the whole female thing" of having Williams as vocalist, but, because they were good friends, she started writing for them. Williams said of the members when she first met them, "They were the first people I met who were as passionate about music as I was."
Williams was originally signed to Atlantic Records as a solo artist in 2003. She had been introduced to Atlantic A&R Tom Storms by Kent Marcus and Jim Zumwalt, lawyers of managers Dave Steunebrink and Richard Williams, and then eventually signed to Atlantic by Jason Flom. Steunebrink and Richard Williams had originally discovered and signed her to a production deal that was later bought out by Atlantic. The original plan of the label was to turn her into a pop singer, but Williams resisted, saying that she wanted to play alternative rock music with a band. In an interview with HitQuarters the band's A&R at Atlantic, Steve Robertson, said, "She wanted to make sure that we didn't look at her as some straight to Top 40 pop princess. She wanted to make sure that she and her band got the chance to show what they can do as a rock band writing their own songs." Label president Julie Greenwald and the label staff decided to go with her wishes. The original management team for the band was Dave Steunebrink, Creed manager Jeff Hanson, and Hanson's assistant Mark Mercado.
The band was officially formed by Josh Farro (lead guitar/backing vocals), Zac Farro (drums), Davis (bass guitar) and Williams (lead vocals) in 2004, with the later addition of Williams' neighbor Jason Bynum (rhythm guitar). When Davis showed up, he was stunned to find out the drummer was only twelve years old. He admitted "I had very, very, very, little faith in everyone in the band because of their age. I remember thinking, 'This is not going to work because this kid is way too young,' but that first day of practice was amazing. I knew we were on to something." According to Williams, the name "Paramore" came from the maiden name of the mother of one of their first bass players. Once the group learned the meaning of the homophone "paramour" ("secret lover"), they decided to adopt the name, using the Paramore spelling.
Paramore was originally supposed to release their music on Atlantic Records, but the label's marketing department decided it would be better for the image of the band to not have them attached to a major label. Instead, they released their music through the niche label Fueled by Ramen. Lyor Cohen, the head of Warner Music Group, had already identified Fueled by Ramen as a label they should partner with. It was decided the rock label would make an ideal match for Paramore. According to Robertson, when the band was presented to Fueled by Ramen's CEO John Janick, "he got the vision of the band immediately." Janick went to a Taste of Chaos performance in Orlando, Florida to see the band perform live. In April 2005, after a smaller private performance at a warehouse, the band was signed to Atlantic Records and Fueled By Ramen.
The band's first song written together was "Conspiracy", which was later used on their debut album. At this time, they were touring the southeast, usually being driven by Williams' parents. She commented that "Back then, I guess we were all thinking, after school, we'll go to the house and practice. It was what we loved to do for fun, and still do! I don't think any of us really knew this would turn out to be what it's become."
2005–2006: All We Know Is Falling
Paramore traveled back to Orlando, Florida, but shortly after arriving, Jeremy Davis left the band, citing personal reasons. The remaining four members of Paramore continued with the album, writing "All We Know" about his departure, and later deciding to base All We Know Is Falling around the concept. The album artwork also reflected Paramore's grief as Hayley Williams explains, "The couch on the cover of All We Know is Falling with no one there and the shadow walking away; it's all about Jeremy leaving us and us feeling like there's an empty space."
Before touring, the band added John Hembree (bass) to their lineup to replace Davis. During that summer, Paramore was featured on the Shira Girl stage of the 2005 Warped Tour. After being asked by the band, Jeremy Davis returned to Paramore after five months apart, replacing Hembree. All We Know Is Falling was released on July 24, 2005, and reached No. 30 on the Billboard's Heatseekers Chart. Paramore released "Pressure" as its first single, with a video directed by Shane Drake, but the song failed to chart. The video featured the band performing in a warehouse, eventually getting sprayed with water sprinklers as the storyline of a conflicted couple occurs. In July, "Emergency" was released as the second single, the video again reuniting the band with director Shane Drake and featuring Hunter Lamb (rhythm guitar), who replaced Jason Bynum in December 2005. The video for "Emergency" showcased Paramore in another performance, this time fixing the members' bloody costumes. The third single, "All We Know", was released with limited airtime, with the video consisting of a collection of live performances and backstage footage. After the band's later success, All We Know Is Falling and "Pressure" were certified Gold by the RIAA.
In January 2006, the band took part in the Winter Go West tour where they played alongside Seattle bands Amber Pacific and The Lashes. In February, Hayley Williams was featured on "Keep Dreaming Upside Down" by October Fall. In spring of 2006, Paramore was an opening act on tours for both Bayside and The Rocket Summer. The band then covered Foo Fighters' "My Hero" for the Sound of Superman soundtrack which was released on June 26, 2006.
During the summer of 2006, Paramore played a portion of Warped Tour, primarily on the Volcom and Hurley Stages, and their first night on the Main Stage was at a date in their hometown of Nashville. During the band's time at Warped Tour, they released The Summer Tic EP, which was sold exclusively during the tour. Paramore's first US headlining tour began on August 2, 2006, to a sold-out audience with support from This Providence, Cute Is What We Aim For, and Hit the Lights with the final show in Nashville. That year they were voted "Best New Band", and Hayley Williams was voted as No. 2 "Sexiest Female", by readers of the British magazine Kerrang!.
In 2007, Lamb left the group to get married, and Paramore continued onward as a quartet. Paramore was then named by British magazine NME as one of ten bands to watch out for in their "New Noise 2007" feature. Paramore was featured in Kerrang! magazine once more, however, Hayley Williams believed the article was an untrue portrayal of the band, particularly because it focused on her as the main component. Afterwards, Williams addressed the issue in the band's LiveJournal, with a post saying, "we could’ve done without a cover piece. sorry, if it offends anyone at Kerrang! but I don’t think there was one bit of truth in that article." In April, Hayley Williams' vocals were featured in "Then Came To Kill" by The Chariot. They headlined a tour in April through May 2007 with This Providence, The Almost, and Love Arcade. The Almost and Love Arcade were replaced by Quietdrive for the second half of the tour.
2007–2008: Riot!
Before work began on the band's next album, Davis was expelled from the band due to "his lack of work ethic and participation in things that Zac, Hayley and I didn’t agree with," according to Josh Farro. After an agreement involving the remaining three members, Davis was reinstated as bassist, and Taylor York became the band's new guitarist. York had been in a band with the Farro brothers before the two met Williams.
After being courted by producers Neal Avron and Howard Benson, Paramore opted to record the album with producer David Bendeth in New Jersey, who had previously worked with Your Vegas and Breaking Benjamin. The album, titled Riot!, was released on June 12, 2007, entering the Billboard 200 at number 20 and the UK charts at number 24. The album sold 44,000 units its first week in the United States. The name Riot! had been chosen because it meant "a sudden outburst of uncontrolled emotion", and it was a word that "summed it all up". The first single from the album, "Misery Business", was released on June 21, 2007. According to Williams, "Misery Business" is "more honest than anything I've ever written, and the guys matched that emotion musically." In the summer of 2007, Paramore participated in their third Warped Tour, and they posted journals of their experiences on yourhereblog for MTV.
On October 11, 2007, the music video for "Crushcrushcrush" debuted on the United States television as the next single from Riot!. The video for "Crushcrushcrush" featured the band playing a performance in a barren desert, being spied upon, and later destroying their equipment. The single was released in the United States on November 19 and made available in the United Kingdom on November 12, 2007. Hayley Williams recorded guest vocals for the tracks "The Church Channel" and "Plea" for the Say Anything concept album In Defense of the Genre released on October 23, 2007. The group performed live, acoustic style in Boston on November 29, 2007, for FNX radio. On December 31, 2007, Paramore performed on the MTV New Year's Eve program which ran from 11:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
Paramore was featured on the cover of February 2008 issue of Alternative Press magazine and voted "Best Band Of 2007" by the readers. The band was nominated for "Best New Artist" at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards presented on February 10, 2008, but lost to Amy Winehouse. Early 2008 saw Paramore touring the United Kingdom, supporting their album Riot!, along with New Found Glory, Kids in Glass Houses and Conditions. In early February 2008, the band began a tour in Europe, however on February 21, 2008, the band announced that they had canceled six shows due to personal issues. Williams wrote on the band's web site that "the break will give that band 'a chance to get away and work out our personal issues'". MTV.com reported that fans of Paramore were speculating about the future of the band and reported rumors of trouble had begun earlier in the month when Josh Farro expressed his anger against the media's focus on Hayley Williams. The band, however, returned to their hometown to record the music video for the fourth single "That's What You Get", which was then released on March 24, 2008.
The band toured with Jimmy Eat World in the United States in April and May 2008. The band headlined the Give It A Name festival in the United Kingdom on May 10 and 11, 2008. Also the band performed on the In New Music We Trust Stage at Radio 1's One Big Weekend in Mote Park, Kent on May 10, 2008. Paramore played their first Ireland show at the RDS in Dublin on June 2, 2008, followed by the 2008 Vans Warped Tour from July 1–6.
From July 25 to September 1, Paramore embarked on a tour named "The Final Riot!". On this tour, the band performed part of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". On September 2, 2008, Paramore released a collaboration hoodie along with Hurley Clothing based on the album Riot!. All proceeds went to the Love146 foundation.
The band released a live album named The Final Riot! on November 25, 2008. The album includes a bonus DVD with a full concert recorded in Chicago, as well as a behind the scenes documentary. As of April 9, 2009, The Final Riot! is certified gold in the United States.
2009–2011: Brand New Eyes, departure of the Farros, and Singles Club
In January 2009, Josh Farro spoke about the band's next studio album. Talking to Kerrang!, Farro said: "We're gonna try to [record] it in Nashville. I think writing the album there will inspire us, and then if we record there too it'll be a lot easier since we can sleep in our beds at night rather than in hotels like the other 300 days out of the year! We're not sure who's going to produce the record yet. We did "Decode" with [producer] Rob Cavallo, which was a good experience, but we're looking around and don't want to make any decisions until we have a lot of songs and we know what we're looking for. We really enjoy our live sound and we want a producer who can really capture that." Paramore wrote and completed their third album Brand New Eyes in early 2009. The first single from the album was "Ignorance" and was released July 7, 2009. Paramore was the special guest with Bedouin Soundclash, The Sounds and Janelle Monáe at the No Doubt Summer Tour 2009, starting in May 2009 in outdoor amphitheaters and arenas across the US and Canada. The official music video for "Ignorance" aired on all MTV platforms, networks, and websites on August 13, 2009. Paramore, along with Paper Route and The Swellers, toured in support of Brand New Eyes in the fall of 2009. Some tour dates were postponed due to Hayley Williams becoming infected with laryngitis. "Brick By Boring Brick", "The Only Exception", "Careful" and "Playing God" were the album's following singles. To promote the album, the band recorded a performance for MTV Unplugged.
Paramore then played a sold out 15-date European tour with You Me At Six, Paper Route and Now Now Every Children. Their stadium tour culminated at London's Wembley Arena, to an audience of 12,500. The band performed in 2010 in the Australian Soundwave Festival along with bands such as Faith No More, Placebo, You Me at Six, All Time Low, Jimmy Eat World and Taking Back Sunday. Shortly before the tour, lead guitarist Josh Farro announced via the band's LiveJournal that he was engaged and stayed behind to plan his wedding. Justin York, brother of Taylor York, filled in for him on the tour. The band, with Farro returned, embarked on a spring tour of the U.S. in late April. Paramore supported Green Day on selected dates of their Stadium tour, in Dublin and Paris.
The band headlined the 2010 Honda Civic Tour, which began on July 23 in Raleigh, NC and closed on September 19 in Anaheim, CA. After a short United Kingdom tour in November 2010, the band announced, on December 2, 2010, the official dates for a South American tour to take place during February and March 2011. The band were set to take a break after their South American Tour in 2011 to write for their fourth studio album.
On December 18, 2010, a message from Hayley, Jeremy, and Taylor was released through Paramore.net stating that Josh and Zac were leaving the band. The band also confirmed the scheduled South American tour would still happen. Josh Farro wrote a statement on the departure on his Blogger, claiming that the band was "a manufactured product of a major-label." He accused Hayley Williams of being manipulated by her management, treating the rest of the group as her solo project, and claimed she was the only member of the band who was signed to Atlantic Records, while her bandmates were simply "riding on the coattails of her dream". On December 30, 2010, MTV News interviewed Williams, York and Davis in Franklin, Tennessee regarding their reactions to Farro's response. The band members confirmed many of Farro's statements, notably that Williams was indeed the only member of the band actually signed to Atlantic. They added that they felt the statement was irrelevant, and claimed they had addressed many of the Farro's critiques already throughout the course of their career.
On January 10, 2011, in an interview with MTV, Hayley Williams said that despite the band losing two of its founding members, they would release new music in 2011, although they had not confirmed if it would be a full album for release or just a small number of songs. The singer also admitted that Paramore's style was likely to change with the new lineup, but clarified that the band would still retain their core signature sound. The band entered the studio upon returning from their South American tour to record a batch of songs that were released over the summer, prior to their fourth full-length album. One of the songs included "In the Mourning", which Williams debuted on her Tumblr page. Paramore later confirmed they were entering a studio in Los Angeles with producer Rob Cavallo to record what would be the Singles Club.
On June 3, 2011, Paramore released the single "Monster", featured on the Transformers: Dark of the Moon soundtrack, on YouTube. This is the first song that the band released without the Farro brothers.
On June 9, 2011, Hayley Williams announced that the band had started to write their fourth album, which they hoped to start recording at the end of the year, with an early 2012 release.
On October 11, 2011, Paramore announced that they would release a new song for each of the remaining months of 2011. The band set up the Singles Club on their website which gave fans the chance to purchase the singles when they were released, as they were released exclusively through the Singles Club and were therefore not sold elsewhere. A song called "Renegade", premiered the day of the announcement, with "Hello Cold World" following on November 7 and "In the Mourning" on December 5. In 2011, former member, Josh Farro, formed Novel American. Zac Farro later joined the band.
2012–2015: Paramore and Davis' third exit
On April 18, 2012, Williams announced that the producer for their fourth album was Justin Meldal-Johnsen. Former Lostprophets and current Angels & Airwaves and Nine Inch Nails drummer Ilan Rubin was confirmed to be the session drummer for the recording of the album. Paramore was officially released on April 5, 2013, and a #1 at US albums chart Billboard 200. The first single from the album, titled "Now", was released online on January 22, 2013, and the album's second single, "Still Into You", was released on March 14, 2013, achieving commercial success. The third single, "Daydreaming", was released on December 2, 2013. The album's fourth single, "Ain't It Fun", was released on February 4, 2014, eventually becoming the band's highest-charting song in the United States and a winner for Best Rock Song at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. On November 24, 2014, Paramore: Self-Titled Deluxe was released, which includes a remake of "Hate to See Your Heart Break," a song originally on Paramore, featuring Joy Williams; this is the band's first collaboration on a song. The band embarked on the "Writing the Future" tour with Copeland, they said in a blog post that "It feels right to bring the Self-Titled era to a close. We've had a very personal and hugely triumphant journey with this one. What wouldn't feel right is saying goodbye to this time in the band's career and not celebrating it with our fans in some special way."
On December 14, 2015, bassist Jeremy Davis left the band. In March 2016, Davis was involved in a legal battle with Paramore, claiming to be eligible to enjoy the benefits of a business partnership with Hayley Williams as a co-owner of the band. This was quickly dismissed and he was again involved in a legal battle with Hayley Williams and Taylor York over a breach of contract entitling him to ownership and authorship of songs on their self-titled record, including "Ain't It Fun", and again, claiming to be eligible to enjoy the benefits of the earnings the two received from these songs and album. Davis reached a settlement with the band in April 2017.
During this period, lead singer Williams later revealed that she suffered from depression and mental health issues following the departure of Davis as well as a divorce with her ex-husband Chad Gilbert. In an interview with Zane Lowe on Beats 1 Radio, shes described it as "torment" and mentioned that she "didn't laugh for a long time". As a result, Williams privately left the band for a short period in 2015, briefly leaving York as the only remaining member of the group.
2016–2019: Zac Farro's return and After Laughter
On January 19, 2016, Williams announced over Twitter that the band was in the process of writing their fifth album. On June 8, 2016, the band posted a short video of themselves in the studio to their social media. This was preceded by a number of images which all included both former drummer Zac Farro and producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen, leading fans and various media outlets to speculate the return of Farro. On June 17, Farro was featured yet again in a picture uploaded to social media, this time behind a drum set, confirming that he would be recording drums for the album, though he later clarified that he was only recording drums for the album and that he had not rejoined the band as a full member. Despite this, on February 2, 2017, the band announced that Farro would return as the official drummer of the band.
On April 19, 2017, Paramore released "Hard Times" as the lead single from their album After Laughter, which they announced would be released on May 12, 2017. On May 3, a second single was released, titled "Told You So". A music video for the song "Fake Happy" was released on November 17, 2017. On February 5, 2018, a music video for "Rose-Colored Boy" was released, which is also the album's fourth single. The music video for "Caught in the Middle", the album's fifth single, was released on June 26, 2018.
On September 7, 2018, Hayley Williams announced during a concert that the band will play the song "Misery Business" "for the last time for a really long time", mainly due to a line from the second verse that was perceived to be sexist.
2020–present: Upcoming sixth album
On May 11, 2020, Williams teased a potential return to a more guitar driven sound on the band's sixth album, commenting "We've found ourselves listening to a lot of older music that we grew up being inspired by."
In January 2022, it was confirmed that the band have entered the studio to work on their upcoming sixth studio album. The band described the album as more "guitar heavy". On January 18, the band were announced to headline the newly founded Las Vegas based When We Were Young festival alongside My Chemical Romance set for October 22 2022, marking this their first live performance the band has played since September 2018.
Musical style and influences
Paramore's music style has generally been regarded as alternative rock, , pop rock, power pop, , emo, pop, and new wave. Joshua Martin had written after an interview with Hayley Williams, "The band isn't just a short pop-punk girl with red hair and a spunky attitude. Their music is like them, it's aged differently. It's sped up, and slowed down. It's emo without being whiny, or bratty. Almost a very literal anti-Avril Lavigne." Alternative Press magazine had commented that the band was "young-sounding", while consistently being "honest." Paramore's first album All We Know is Falling had an arguably more "formulaic pop-punk" sound that was "delivered particularly well" and the combination of the two had created a "refined rock infused pop/punk album." The band's second release, Riot! was said to explore a 'diverse range of styles," however, not straying far from "their signature sound." The band's later albums, such as Paramore and After Laughter, included more of a new wave and synth-pop sound.
Alternative Press and various other reviewers have noted that the band's stage performances have helped boost them to larger fame. Alternative Press states that Williams "has more charisma than singers twice her age, and her band aren't far behind in their chops, either." Singer-songwriter John Mayer had praised Williams' voice in a blog in October 2007, calling her "The great orange hope"; "orange" in reference to her hair color. Due to the female-fronted aspect of the band, Paramore has gained comparisons to Kelly Clarkson and the aforementioned Avril Lavigne, to which one reviewer said was "sorely unfounded." Reviewer Jonathan Bradley noted that "Paramore attacks its music with infectious enthusiasm." However, he also explained that "there isn't a whole lot of difference between Riot! and the songs from Kelly Clarkson or Avril Lavigne." A reviewer at NME had likened Paramore's sound to that of "No Doubt (stripped of all the ska bollocks)" and "Kelly Clarkson's wildest dreams." Hayley Williams has gone on to comment about the female aspect of the band saying that Paramore is not "this girl-fronted band" and it makes "music for people to enjoy music, not so people can talk about my sexuality."
Paramore has expressed appreciation for Failure, Fall Out Boy, Hanson, Panic! at the Disco, Blink-182, Death Cab for Cutie, Jimmy Eat World, MewithoutYou, and Sunny Day Real Estate, as well as Thrice and New Found Glory; Hayley Williams has cited her personal influences as Elvis Presley, the Shirelles, the Angels, the Ramones, Jawbreaker, Radiohead, Green Day, Blondie, NSYNC, Destiny's Child, Aaliyah, The Smiths, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure and Etta James.
Williams named many singers as heroines: "I love Debbie Harry and Siouxsie Sioux. I grew up listening to The Distillers [...] Girl groups are really important to me, but the Shangri-Las especially". Williams also explained that bands such as U2, "who are massive, and do whatever they want, write whatever they want and they stand for something," Jimmy Eat World, "who I don’t think ever disappoint their fans," and No Doubt, who "have done amazing things," act as a pattern for the path in which Paramore would like to take their career. In 2012, Williams contributed vocals to MewithoutYou's fifth studio album, Ten Stories.
The band members are Christians and in an interview with the BBC, Josh Farro stated "Our faith is very important to us. It's obviously going to come out in our music because if someone believes something, then their worldview is going to come out in anything they do. But we're not out here to preach to kids, we're out here because we love music."
Live appearances
In 2007, the band played an acoustic set for the grand opening of a Warped Tour exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the dress Hayley Williams wore in the video for "Emergency" was also put on display in the exhibit.
In June 2007, they were declared by Rolling Stone as "Ones to Watch". Paramore made their live television debut on Fuse Networks daily show, The Sauce. The second single from Riot!, "Hallelujah", was released on July 30, 2007, and is only available online and on UK television. The video, much like "All We Know", features backstage footage and live performances.
In August 2007, Paramore had been featured in television spots on MTV, performing acoustic versions of their songs or acting in short accompaniments to MTV program commercials. As "MTV Artists of the Week", the band filmed the faux camping themed spots in Queens, New York, all written and directed by Evan Silver and Gina Fortunato. MTV.com also has a collection of short videos with the band to promote Riot! as well. For weeks in August 2007, the "Misery Business" video was the number one streamed video at MTV.com. On October 8, Paramore played "Misery Business" live on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, a booking made possible due to the friendship struck between the band and Max Weinberg during the 2007 Warped Tour. In August, Paramore participated in New Found Glory's music video for their cover of Sixpence None the Richer's song "Kiss Me".
From September 29 to November 1, 2009, the band held a tour in North America to support Brand New Eyes. The tour for their self-titled fourth album, known as The Self-Titled Tour, took place in North America from October 15 to November 27, 2013. From June 19 through August 17, 2014, the band also supported the album with the Monumentour.
Appearances in films and video games
In 2005, Paramore made its first video game appearance with the song "Pressure" being featured in the console versions of the video game The Sims 2.
In March 2008, Paramore made its first rhythm game appearance with "Crushcrushcrush" as a downloadable track in the Rock Band games and later being a playable song in Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades. Later that year, Rock Band 2 was released with the song "That's What You Get" included as a playable track. The video game Guitar Hero World Tour featured the song "Misery Business" along with Hayley Williams participating in motion capture sessions for the game. She is featured as an unlockable character in the game as well. "Misery Business" was also featured as a playable track on Rock Band 3, while "Pressure", "The Only Exception", "Brick by Boring Brick", and "Ignorance" are available as DLC for the game. In 2015, the song "Still Into You" was featured as an on-disc song for Rock Band 4.
Paramore's song "Decode" was the lead single for the novel-based Twilight film. Another song called "I Caught Myself" is also featured on the film's soundtrack. "Decode" was released on October 1, 2008, on the Paramore Fan Club site as well as Stephenie Meyer's website. The band began shooting the video October 13 and it premiered on November 3. Hot Topic hosted listening parties for the soundtrack on October 24, 2008, and the album was released on November 4, 2008. Borders released an exclusive version of the soundtrack that features an acoustic version of "Decode."
"Misery Business" is also featured in Saints Row 2, and the soundtrack for EA Sports NHL 08.
The music video for "Decode", along with the Twilight film trailer, was shown in the North American Home Theater of PlayStation Home from December 11, 2008, to December 18, 2008. The video premiered in full through MTV and its subsidiaries on November 3, 2008, one day ahead of the release of the soundtrack on which the song is featured.
Paramore's song "Now" is featured as a song for the game Rocksmith 2014.
Band members
Current members
Hayley Williams – lead vocals (2004–present), keyboards (2012–present)
Taylor York – guitar, backing vocals (2007–present), keyboards (2012–present)
Zac Farro – drums (2004–2010, 2017–present), backing vocals (2007–2010, 2017–present)
Current touring musicians
Justin York – guitar, backing vocals (2010–present)
Joey Howard – bass, backing vocals (2015–present)
Logan MacKenzie – keyboards, guitar (2017–present)
Joseph Mullen – percussion (2017–present)
Former members
Josh Farro – guitar, backing vocals (2004–2010)
Jason Bynum – guitar, backing vocals (2004–2005)
Hunter Lamb – guitar, backing vocals (2005–2007)
Jeremy Davis – bass (2004–2005, 2005–2006, 2007–2015), backing vocals (2007–2015)
John Hembree – bass (2005)
Former touring musicians
Jon Howard – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (2010–2016)
Josh Freese – drums (2010–2011)
Jason Pierce – drums (2011–2012)
Hayden Scott – drums (2012–2013)
Miles McPherson – drums (2013)
Aaron Gillespie – drums (2013–2017)
Timeline
Discography
All We Know Is Falling (2005)
Riot! (2007)
Brand New Eyes (2009)
Paramore (2013)
After Laughter (2017)
Tours
Headlining tours
The Final Riot! Tour (2008)
Brand New Eyes World Tour (2009–2012)
The Self-Titled Tour (2013–2015)
After Laughter Tour (2017–2018)
Co-headlining tours
Honda Civic Tour (2010)
Monumentour (2014)
Opening acts
Summer Tour 2009 (2009)
21st Century Breakdown World Tour (2010)
See also
List of awards and nominations received by Paramore
List of songs recorded by Paramore
List of alternative rock artists
References
External links
2004 establishments in Tennessee
Alternative rock groups from Tennessee
American emo musical groups
American pop punk groups
American pop rock music groups
American power pop groups
Fueled by Ramen artists
Grammy Award winners
Kerrang! Awards winners
Musical groups established in 2004
Musical groups from Franklin, Tennessee
NME Awards winners
Sibling musical groups
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Female-fronted musical groups | true | [
"She Got What She Wanted is an American pre-Code early talking film comedy-drama directed by James Cruze and starring his actress wife Betty Compson. The film was made for Tiffany Pictures with Cruze and Compson having recently completed The Great Gabbo (1929).\n\nCast\nBetty Compson - Mahyna\nLee Tracy - Eddie\nAlan Hale - Dave\nGaston Glass - Boris\nDorothy Christy - Olga\nFred Kelsey - Dugan\n\nPreservation status\nShe Got What She Wanted is now considered a lost film.\n\nSee also\nList of lost films\nBetty Compson filmography\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nShe Got What She Wanted at IMDB\nallmovie/synopsis;She Got What She Wanted\n\n1930 films\nFilms directed by James Cruze\nTiffany Pictures films\n1930 comedy-drama films\nAmerican films\nLost American films\nAmerican black-and-white films\nAmerican comedy-drama films\nLost comedy-drama films",
"The Other Lover is a 1985 American made-for-television drama film directed by Robert Ellis Miller and executive produced by Larry A. Thompson.\n\nPlot\nJack Hollander is a novelist, infuriated with his publicists for putting a soft-porn cover on his latest novel. He confronts marketing director Claire Fielding and demands to know what the cover has to do with the book itself. She admits she didn't read the book before deciding what cover should be used, but assures him it will only help selling the book.\n\nDespite of their strong different opinions, they are drawn to each other and start a romance. The problem is Claire is already married to Peter and has two children, Alson and Maggie. Claire is torn between choosing Jack and Peter. With Peter, she has a steady and quite happy marriage. However, the romance has been gone for a long time and all they do is worry about the bills and children. If she chooses Jack, she has a passionate and rejuvenating affair, without assurance of what the future will offer.\n\nRelease\nThe movie debuted on the CBS on the evening of Tuesday, September 24, 1985.\n\nCast\n Lindsay Wagner as Claire Fielding\n Jack Scalia as Jack Hollander\n Max Gail as Sal\n Millie Perkins as Kate\n John Bennett Perry as Peter Fielding\n Shannen Doherty as Alson Fielding\nJaime Lyn Hart as Maggie Fielding\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1985 films\n1985 television films\n1985 drama films\nAmerican films\nAmerican drama films\nEnglish-language films\nCBS network films\nFilms directed by Robert Ellis Miller"
] |
[
"Paramore",
"Appearances in films and video games",
"What films did Paramore appear in?",
"Paramore's song \"Decode\" was the lead single for the novel-based Twilight film.",
"What other films?",
"Another song called \"I Caught Myself\" is also featured on the film's soundtrack."
] | C_04adc481653d46e9b7fd9219245c41ab_0 | What video games did they sing for? | 3 | What video games did Paramore sing for? | Paramore | In 2005, Paramore made its first video game appearance with the song "Pressure" being featured in the console versions of the video game The Sims 2. In March 2008, Paramore made its first rhythm game appearance with "Crushcrushcrush" as a downloadable track in the Rock Band games and later being a playable song in Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades. Later that year, Rock Band 2 was released with the song "That's What You Get" included as a playable track. The video game Guitar Hero World Tour featured the song "Misery Business" along with Hayley Williams participating in motion capture sessions for the game. She is featured as an unlockable character in the game as well. "Misery Business" was also featured as a playable track on Rock Band 3, while "Pressure", "The Only Exception", "Brick by Boring Brick", and "Ignorance" are available as DLC for the game. In 2015 the song "Still Into You" was featured as an on-disc song for Rock Band 4. Paramore's song "Decode" was the lead single for the novel-based Twilight film. Another song called "I Caught Myself" is also featured on the film's soundtrack. "Decode" was released on October 1, 2008 on the Paramore Fan Club site as well as Stephenie Meyer's website. The band began shooting the video October 13 and it premiered on November 3. Hot Topic hosted listening parties for the soundtrack on October 24, 2008, and the album was released on November 4, 2008. Borders released an exclusive version of the soundtrack that features an acoustic version of "Decode." "Misery Business" is also featured in Saints Row 2, and the soundtrack for EA Sports NHL 08. The music video for "Decode", along with the Twilight film trailer, was shown in the North American Home Theater of PlayStation Home from December 11, 2008, to December 18, 2008. The video premiered in full through MTV and its subsidiaries on November 3, 2008 one day ahead of the release of the soundtrack on which the song is featured. Paramore's song "Now" is featured as a song for the game Rocksmith 2014. CANNOTANSWER | Paramore made its first video game appearance with the song "Pressure" being featured in the console versions of the video game The Sims 2. | Paramore is an American rock band from Franklin, Tennessee, formed in 2004. The band currently consists of lead vocalist Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York and drummer Zac Farro. Williams and Farro are founding members of the group, while York, a high school friend of the original lineup, joined in 2007. The band are signed to Fueled by Ramen, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records, both owned by Warner Music Group. Williams is separately signed to Atlantic as she was scouted when she was a teenager, and they were the only label to let her stay in the band instead of going solo, but Atlantic said the rest of the band had to sign to FBR. She is also the only member to appear on all five of Paramore's studio albums.
The group released its debut album, All We Know Is Falling, in 2005, with the album reaching number four on the UK Rock Chart in 2009 and number thirty on Billboards Heatseekers Chart in 2006.
The band's second album, Riot!, was released in 2007. Thanks to the success of the singles "Misery Business", "Crushcrushcrush", and "That's What You Get", Riot! was a mainstream success and was certified Platinum in the United States. Paramore then received a Best New Artist nomination at the 2008 Grammy Awards. Their 2009 follow-up, Brand New Eyes, is the band's second-highest-charting album to date, landing at number two on the Billboard 200 with 175,000 first week sales. It produced the top-forty single "The Only Exception" and went platinum in Ireland and the UK, as well as gold in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Following the departure of Josh and Zac Farro in 2010, the band released their self-titled fourth album in 2013. It gave the band their first number one on the US Billboard 200 and was also the number one album in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. It included the singles "Still Into You" and "Ain't It Fun", with the latter winning the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song for Williams and York as songwriters, making it Paramore's first Grammy Award win. The band's lineup changed once again after this album cycle with bassist Jeremy Davis leaving the band near the end of 2015 and former drummer Zac Farro rejoining the band in 2017. Their fifth studio album, After Laughter, was released later that year.
History
2002–2004: Formation and early years
In 2002, at age 13, vocalist Hayley Williams moved from her hometown Meridian, Mississippi to Franklin, Tennessee, where she met brothers Josh Farro and Zac Farro at a weekly supplemental program for home-schooled students. Shortly after arriving, she began taking vocal lessons with Brett Manning. Prior to forming Paramore, Williams and bassist Jeremy Davis, along with friend Kimee Read, took part in a funk cover band called The Factory, while Josh and Zac Farro had practiced together after school. The other members of what was soon to be Paramore had been "edgy about the whole female thing" of having Williams as vocalist, but, because they were good friends, she started writing for them. Williams said of the members when she first met them, "They were the first people I met who were as passionate about music as I was."
Williams was originally signed to Atlantic Records as a solo artist in 2003. She had been introduced to Atlantic A&R Tom Storms by Kent Marcus and Jim Zumwalt, lawyers of managers Dave Steunebrink and Richard Williams, and then eventually signed to Atlantic by Jason Flom. Steunebrink and Richard Williams had originally discovered and signed her to a production deal that was later bought out by Atlantic. The original plan of the label was to turn her into a pop singer, but Williams resisted, saying that she wanted to play alternative rock music with a band. In an interview with HitQuarters the band's A&R at Atlantic, Steve Robertson, said, "She wanted to make sure that we didn't look at her as some straight to Top 40 pop princess. She wanted to make sure that she and her band got the chance to show what they can do as a rock band writing their own songs." Label president Julie Greenwald and the label staff decided to go with her wishes. The original management team for the band was Dave Steunebrink, Creed manager Jeff Hanson, and Hanson's assistant Mark Mercado.
The band was officially formed by Josh Farro (lead guitar/backing vocals), Zac Farro (drums), Davis (bass guitar) and Williams (lead vocals) in 2004, with the later addition of Williams' neighbor Jason Bynum (rhythm guitar). When Davis showed up, he was stunned to find out the drummer was only twelve years old. He admitted "I had very, very, very, little faith in everyone in the band because of their age. I remember thinking, 'This is not going to work because this kid is way too young,' but that first day of practice was amazing. I knew we were on to something." According to Williams, the name "Paramore" came from the maiden name of the mother of one of their first bass players. Once the group learned the meaning of the homophone "paramour" ("secret lover"), they decided to adopt the name, using the Paramore spelling.
Paramore was originally supposed to release their music on Atlantic Records, but the label's marketing department decided it would be better for the image of the band to not have them attached to a major label. Instead, they released their music through the niche label Fueled by Ramen. Lyor Cohen, the head of Warner Music Group, had already identified Fueled by Ramen as a label they should partner with. It was decided the rock label would make an ideal match for Paramore. According to Robertson, when the band was presented to Fueled by Ramen's CEO John Janick, "he got the vision of the band immediately." Janick went to a Taste of Chaos performance in Orlando, Florida to see the band perform live. In April 2005, after a smaller private performance at a warehouse, the band was signed to Atlantic Records and Fueled By Ramen.
The band's first song written together was "Conspiracy", which was later used on their debut album. At this time, they were touring the southeast, usually being driven by Williams' parents. She commented that "Back then, I guess we were all thinking, after school, we'll go to the house and practice. It was what we loved to do for fun, and still do! I don't think any of us really knew this would turn out to be what it's become."
2005–2006: All We Know Is Falling
Paramore traveled back to Orlando, Florida, but shortly after arriving, Jeremy Davis left the band, citing personal reasons. The remaining four members of Paramore continued with the album, writing "All We Know" about his departure, and later deciding to base All We Know Is Falling around the concept. The album artwork also reflected Paramore's grief as Hayley Williams explains, "The couch on the cover of All We Know is Falling with no one there and the shadow walking away; it's all about Jeremy leaving us and us feeling like there's an empty space."
Before touring, the band added John Hembree (bass) to their lineup to replace Davis. During that summer, Paramore was featured on the Shira Girl stage of the 2005 Warped Tour. After being asked by the band, Jeremy Davis returned to Paramore after five months apart, replacing Hembree. All We Know Is Falling was released on July 24, 2005, and reached No. 30 on the Billboard's Heatseekers Chart. Paramore released "Pressure" as its first single, with a video directed by Shane Drake, but the song failed to chart. The video featured the band performing in a warehouse, eventually getting sprayed with water sprinklers as the storyline of a conflicted couple occurs. In July, "Emergency" was released as the second single, the video again reuniting the band with director Shane Drake and featuring Hunter Lamb (rhythm guitar), who replaced Jason Bynum in December 2005. The video for "Emergency" showcased Paramore in another performance, this time fixing the members' bloody costumes. The third single, "All We Know", was released with limited airtime, with the video consisting of a collection of live performances and backstage footage. After the band's later success, All We Know Is Falling and "Pressure" were certified Gold by the RIAA.
In January 2006, the band took part in the Winter Go West tour where they played alongside Seattle bands Amber Pacific and The Lashes. In February, Hayley Williams was featured on "Keep Dreaming Upside Down" by October Fall. In spring of 2006, Paramore was an opening act on tours for both Bayside and The Rocket Summer. The band then covered Foo Fighters' "My Hero" for the Sound of Superman soundtrack which was released on June 26, 2006.
During the summer of 2006, Paramore played a portion of Warped Tour, primarily on the Volcom and Hurley Stages, and their first night on the Main Stage was at a date in their hometown of Nashville. During the band's time at Warped Tour, they released The Summer Tic EP, which was sold exclusively during the tour. Paramore's first US headlining tour began on August 2, 2006, to a sold-out audience with support from This Providence, Cute Is What We Aim For, and Hit the Lights with the final show in Nashville. That year they were voted "Best New Band", and Hayley Williams was voted as No. 2 "Sexiest Female", by readers of the British magazine Kerrang!.
In 2007, Lamb left the group to get married, and Paramore continued onward as a quartet. Paramore was then named by British magazine NME as one of ten bands to watch out for in their "New Noise 2007" feature. Paramore was featured in Kerrang! magazine once more, however, Hayley Williams believed the article was an untrue portrayal of the band, particularly because it focused on her as the main component. Afterwards, Williams addressed the issue in the band's LiveJournal, with a post saying, "we could’ve done without a cover piece. sorry, if it offends anyone at Kerrang! but I don’t think there was one bit of truth in that article." In April, Hayley Williams' vocals were featured in "Then Came To Kill" by The Chariot. They headlined a tour in April through May 2007 with This Providence, The Almost, and Love Arcade. The Almost and Love Arcade were replaced by Quietdrive for the second half of the tour.
2007–2008: Riot!
Before work began on the band's next album, Davis was expelled from the band due to "his lack of work ethic and participation in things that Zac, Hayley and I didn’t agree with," according to Josh Farro. After an agreement involving the remaining three members, Davis was reinstated as bassist, and Taylor York became the band's new guitarist. York had been in a band with the Farro brothers before the two met Williams.
After being courted by producers Neal Avron and Howard Benson, Paramore opted to record the album with producer David Bendeth in New Jersey, who had previously worked with Your Vegas and Breaking Benjamin. The album, titled Riot!, was released on June 12, 2007, entering the Billboard 200 at number 20 and the UK charts at number 24. The album sold 44,000 units its first week in the United States. The name Riot! had been chosen because it meant "a sudden outburst of uncontrolled emotion", and it was a word that "summed it all up". The first single from the album, "Misery Business", was released on June 21, 2007. According to Williams, "Misery Business" is "more honest than anything I've ever written, and the guys matched that emotion musically." In the summer of 2007, Paramore participated in their third Warped Tour, and they posted journals of their experiences on yourhereblog for MTV.
On October 11, 2007, the music video for "Crushcrushcrush" debuted on the United States television as the next single from Riot!. The video for "Crushcrushcrush" featured the band playing a performance in a barren desert, being spied upon, and later destroying their equipment. The single was released in the United States on November 19 and made available in the United Kingdom on November 12, 2007. Hayley Williams recorded guest vocals for the tracks "The Church Channel" and "Plea" for the Say Anything concept album In Defense of the Genre released on October 23, 2007. The group performed live, acoustic style in Boston on November 29, 2007, for FNX radio. On December 31, 2007, Paramore performed on the MTV New Year's Eve program which ran from 11:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
Paramore was featured on the cover of February 2008 issue of Alternative Press magazine and voted "Best Band Of 2007" by the readers. The band was nominated for "Best New Artist" at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards presented on February 10, 2008, but lost to Amy Winehouse. Early 2008 saw Paramore touring the United Kingdom, supporting their album Riot!, along with New Found Glory, Kids in Glass Houses and Conditions. In early February 2008, the band began a tour in Europe, however on February 21, 2008, the band announced that they had canceled six shows due to personal issues. Williams wrote on the band's web site that "the break will give that band 'a chance to get away and work out our personal issues'". MTV.com reported that fans of Paramore were speculating about the future of the band and reported rumors of trouble had begun earlier in the month when Josh Farro expressed his anger against the media's focus on Hayley Williams. The band, however, returned to their hometown to record the music video for the fourth single "That's What You Get", which was then released on March 24, 2008.
The band toured with Jimmy Eat World in the United States in April and May 2008. The band headlined the Give It A Name festival in the United Kingdom on May 10 and 11, 2008. Also the band performed on the In New Music We Trust Stage at Radio 1's One Big Weekend in Mote Park, Kent on May 10, 2008. Paramore played their first Ireland show at the RDS in Dublin on June 2, 2008, followed by the 2008 Vans Warped Tour from July 1–6.
From July 25 to September 1, Paramore embarked on a tour named "The Final Riot!". On this tour, the band performed part of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". On September 2, 2008, Paramore released a collaboration hoodie along with Hurley Clothing based on the album Riot!. All proceeds went to the Love146 foundation.
The band released a live album named The Final Riot! on November 25, 2008. The album includes a bonus DVD with a full concert recorded in Chicago, as well as a behind the scenes documentary. As of April 9, 2009, The Final Riot! is certified gold in the United States.
2009–2011: Brand New Eyes, departure of the Farros, and Singles Club
In January 2009, Josh Farro spoke about the band's next studio album. Talking to Kerrang!, Farro said: "We're gonna try to [record] it in Nashville. I think writing the album there will inspire us, and then if we record there too it'll be a lot easier since we can sleep in our beds at night rather than in hotels like the other 300 days out of the year! We're not sure who's going to produce the record yet. We did "Decode" with [producer] Rob Cavallo, which was a good experience, but we're looking around and don't want to make any decisions until we have a lot of songs and we know what we're looking for. We really enjoy our live sound and we want a producer who can really capture that." Paramore wrote and completed their third album Brand New Eyes in early 2009. The first single from the album was "Ignorance" and was released July 7, 2009. Paramore was the special guest with Bedouin Soundclash, The Sounds and Janelle Monáe at the No Doubt Summer Tour 2009, starting in May 2009 in outdoor amphitheaters and arenas across the US and Canada. The official music video for "Ignorance" aired on all MTV platforms, networks, and websites on August 13, 2009. Paramore, along with Paper Route and The Swellers, toured in support of Brand New Eyes in the fall of 2009. Some tour dates were postponed due to Hayley Williams becoming infected with laryngitis. "Brick By Boring Brick", "The Only Exception", "Careful" and "Playing God" were the album's following singles. To promote the album, the band recorded a performance for MTV Unplugged.
Paramore then played a sold out 15-date European tour with You Me At Six, Paper Route and Now Now Every Children. Their stadium tour culminated at London's Wembley Arena, to an audience of 12,500. The band performed in 2010 in the Australian Soundwave Festival along with bands such as Faith No More, Placebo, You Me at Six, All Time Low, Jimmy Eat World and Taking Back Sunday. Shortly before the tour, lead guitarist Josh Farro announced via the band's LiveJournal that he was engaged and stayed behind to plan his wedding. Justin York, brother of Taylor York, filled in for him on the tour. The band, with Farro returned, embarked on a spring tour of the U.S. in late April. Paramore supported Green Day on selected dates of their Stadium tour, in Dublin and Paris.
The band headlined the 2010 Honda Civic Tour, which began on July 23 in Raleigh, NC and closed on September 19 in Anaheim, CA. After a short United Kingdom tour in November 2010, the band announced, on December 2, 2010, the official dates for a South American tour to take place during February and March 2011. The band were set to take a break after their South American Tour in 2011 to write for their fourth studio album.
On December 18, 2010, a message from Hayley, Jeremy, and Taylor was released through Paramore.net stating that Josh and Zac were leaving the band. The band also confirmed the scheduled South American tour would still happen. Josh Farro wrote a statement on the departure on his Blogger, claiming that the band was "a manufactured product of a major-label." He accused Hayley Williams of being manipulated by her management, treating the rest of the group as her solo project, and claimed she was the only member of the band who was signed to Atlantic Records, while her bandmates were simply "riding on the coattails of her dream". On December 30, 2010, MTV News interviewed Williams, York and Davis in Franklin, Tennessee regarding their reactions to Farro's response. The band members confirmed many of Farro's statements, notably that Williams was indeed the only member of the band actually signed to Atlantic. They added that they felt the statement was irrelevant, and claimed they had addressed many of the Farro's critiques already throughout the course of their career.
On January 10, 2011, in an interview with MTV, Hayley Williams said that despite the band losing two of its founding members, they would release new music in 2011, although they had not confirmed if it would be a full album for release or just a small number of songs. The singer also admitted that Paramore's style was likely to change with the new lineup, but clarified that the band would still retain their core signature sound. The band entered the studio upon returning from their South American tour to record a batch of songs that were released over the summer, prior to their fourth full-length album. One of the songs included "In the Mourning", which Williams debuted on her Tumblr page. Paramore later confirmed they were entering a studio in Los Angeles with producer Rob Cavallo to record what would be the Singles Club.
On June 3, 2011, Paramore released the single "Monster", featured on the Transformers: Dark of the Moon soundtrack, on YouTube. This is the first song that the band released without the Farro brothers.
On June 9, 2011, Hayley Williams announced that the band had started to write their fourth album, which they hoped to start recording at the end of the year, with an early 2012 release.
On October 11, 2011, Paramore announced that they would release a new song for each of the remaining months of 2011. The band set up the Singles Club on their website which gave fans the chance to purchase the singles when they were released, as they were released exclusively through the Singles Club and were therefore not sold elsewhere. A song called "Renegade", premiered the day of the announcement, with "Hello Cold World" following on November 7 and "In the Mourning" on December 5. In 2011, former member, Josh Farro, formed Novel American. Zac Farro later joined the band.
2012–2015: Paramore and Davis' third exit
On April 18, 2012, Williams announced that the producer for their fourth album was Justin Meldal-Johnsen. Former Lostprophets and current Angels & Airwaves and Nine Inch Nails drummer Ilan Rubin was confirmed to be the session drummer for the recording of the album. Paramore was officially released on April 5, 2013, and a #1 at US albums chart Billboard 200. The first single from the album, titled "Now", was released online on January 22, 2013, and the album's second single, "Still Into You", was released on March 14, 2013, achieving commercial success. The third single, "Daydreaming", was released on December 2, 2013. The album's fourth single, "Ain't It Fun", was released on February 4, 2014, eventually becoming the band's highest-charting song in the United States and a winner for Best Rock Song at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. On November 24, 2014, Paramore: Self-Titled Deluxe was released, which includes a remake of "Hate to See Your Heart Break," a song originally on Paramore, featuring Joy Williams; this is the band's first collaboration on a song. The band embarked on the "Writing the Future" tour with Copeland, they said in a blog post that "It feels right to bring the Self-Titled era to a close. We've had a very personal and hugely triumphant journey with this one. What wouldn't feel right is saying goodbye to this time in the band's career and not celebrating it with our fans in some special way."
On December 14, 2015, bassist Jeremy Davis left the band. In March 2016, Davis was involved in a legal battle with Paramore, claiming to be eligible to enjoy the benefits of a business partnership with Hayley Williams as a co-owner of the band. This was quickly dismissed and he was again involved in a legal battle with Hayley Williams and Taylor York over a breach of contract entitling him to ownership and authorship of songs on their self-titled record, including "Ain't It Fun", and again, claiming to be eligible to enjoy the benefits of the earnings the two received from these songs and album. Davis reached a settlement with the band in April 2017.
During this period, lead singer Williams later revealed that she suffered from depression and mental health issues following the departure of Davis as well as a divorce with her ex-husband Chad Gilbert. In an interview with Zane Lowe on Beats 1 Radio, shes described it as "torment" and mentioned that she "didn't laugh for a long time". As a result, Williams privately left the band for a short period in 2015, briefly leaving York as the only remaining member of the group.
2016–2019: Zac Farro's return and After Laughter
On January 19, 2016, Williams announced over Twitter that the band was in the process of writing their fifth album. On June 8, 2016, the band posted a short video of themselves in the studio to their social media. This was preceded by a number of images which all included both former drummer Zac Farro and producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen, leading fans and various media outlets to speculate the return of Farro. On June 17, Farro was featured yet again in a picture uploaded to social media, this time behind a drum set, confirming that he would be recording drums for the album, though he later clarified that he was only recording drums for the album and that he had not rejoined the band as a full member. Despite this, on February 2, 2017, the band announced that Farro would return as the official drummer of the band.
On April 19, 2017, Paramore released "Hard Times" as the lead single from their album After Laughter, which they announced would be released on May 12, 2017. On May 3, a second single was released, titled "Told You So". A music video for the song "Fake Happy" was released on November 17, 2017. On February 5, 2018, a music video for "Rose-Colored Boy" was released, which is also the album's fourth single. The music video for "Caught in the Middle", the album's fifth single, was released on June 26, 2018.
On September 7, 2018, Hayley Williams announced during a concert that the band will play the song "Misery Business" "for the last time for a really long time", mainly due to a line from the second verse that was perceived to be sexist.
2020–present: Upcoming sixth album
On May 11, 2020, Williams teased a potential return to a more guitar driven sound on the band's sixth album, commenting "We've found ourselves listening to a lot of older music that we grew up being inspired by."
In January 2022, it was confirmed that the band have entered the studio to work on their upcoming sixth studio album. The band described the album as more "guitar heavy". On January 18, the band were announced to headline the newly founded Las Vegas based When We Were Young festival alongside My Chemical Romance set for October 22 2022, marking this their first live performance the band has played since September 2018.
Musical style and influences
Paramore's music style has generally been regarded as alternative rock, , pop rock, power pop, , emo, pop, and new wave. Joshua Martin had written after an interview with Hayley Williams, "The band isn't just a short pop-punk girl with red hair and a spunky attitude. Their music is like them, it's aged differently. It's sped up, and slowed down. It's emo without being whiny, or bratty. Almost a very literal anti-Avril Lavigne." Alternative Press magazine had commented that the band was "young-sounding", while consistently being "honest." Paramore's first album All We Know is Falling had an arguably more "formulaic pop-punk" sound that was "delivered particularly well" and the combination of the two had created a "refined rock infused pop/punk album." The band's second release, Riot! was said to explore a 'diverse range of styles," however, not straying far from "their signature sound." The band's later albums, such as Paramore and After Laughter, included more of a new wave and synth-pop sound.
Alternative Press and various other reviewers have noted that the band's stage performances have helped boost them to larger fame. Alternative Press states that Williams "has more charisma than singers twice her age, and her band aren't far behind in their chops, either." Singer-songwriter John Mayer had praised Williams' voice in a blog in October 2007, calling her "The great orange hope"; "orange" in reference to her hair color. Due to the female-fronted aspect of the band, Paramore has gained comparisons to Kelly Clarkson and the aforementioned Avril Lavigne, to which one reviewer said was "sorely unfounded." Reviewer Jonathan Bradley noted that "Paramore attacks its music with infectious enthusiasm." However, he also explained that "there isn't a whole lot of difference between Riot! and the songs from Kelly Clarkson or Avril Lavigne." A reviewer at NME had likened Paramore's sound to that of "No Doubt (stripped of all the ska bollocks)" and "Kelly Clarkson's wildest dreams." Hayley Williams has gone on to comment about the female aspect of the band saying that Paramore is not "this girl-fronted band" and it makes "music for people to enjoy music, not so people can talk about my sexuality."
Paramore has expressed appreciation for Failure, Fall Out Boy, Hanson, Panic! at the Disco, Blink-182, Death Cab for Cutie, Jimmy Eat World, MewithoutYou, and Sunny Day Real Estate, as well as Thrice and New Found Glory; Hayley Williams has cited her personal influences as Elvis Presley, the Shirelles, the Angels, the Ramones, Jawbreaker, Radiohead, Green Day, Blondie, NSYNC, Destiny's Child, Aaliyah, The Smiths, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure and Etta James.
Williams named many singers as heroines: "I love Debbie Harry and Siouxsie Sioux. I grew up listening to The Distillers [...] Girl groups are really important to me, but the Shangri-Las especially". Williams also explained that bands such as U2, "who are massive, and do whatever they want, write whatever they want and they stand for something," Jimmy Eat World, "who I don’t think ever disappoint their fans," and No Doubt, who "have done amazing things," act as a pattern for the path in which Paramore would like to take their career. In 2012, Williams contributed vocals to MewithoutYou's fifth studio album, Ten Stories.
The band members are Christians and in an interview with the BBC, Josh Farro stated "Our faith is very important to us. It's obviously going to come out in our music because if someone believes something, then their worldview is going to come out in anything they do. But we're not out here to preach to kids, we're out here because we love music."
Live appearances
In 2007, the band played an acoustic set for the grand opening of a Warped Tour exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the dress Hayley Williams wore in the video for "Emergency" was also put on display in the exhibit.
In June 2007, they were declared by Rolling Stone as "Ones to Watch". Paramore made their live television debut on Fuse Networks daily show, The Sauce. The second single from Riot!, "Hallelujah", was released on July 30, 2007, and is only available online and on UK television. The video, much like "All We Know", features backstage footage and live performances.
In August 2007, Paramore had been featured in television spots on MTV, performing acoustic versions of their songs or acting in short accompaniments to MTV program commercials. As "MTV Artists of the Week", the band filmed the faux camping themed spots in Queens, New York, all written and directed by Evan Silver and Gina Fortunato. MTV.com also has a collection of short videos with the band to promote Riot! as well. For weeks in August 2007, the "Misery Business" video was the number one streamed video at MTV.com. On October 8, Paramore played "Misery Business" live on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, a booking made possible due to the friendship struck between the band and Max Weinberg during the 2007 Warped Tour. In August, Paramore participated in New Found Glory's music video for their cover of Sixpence None the Richer's song "Kiss Me".
From September 29 to November 1, 2009, the band held a tour in North America to support Brand New Eyes. The tour for their self-titled fourth album, known as The Self-Titled Tour, took place in North America from October 15 to November 27, 2013. From June 19 through August 17, 2014, the band also supported the album with the Monumentour.
Appearances in films and video games
In 2005, Paramore made its first video game appearance with the song "Pressure" being featured in the console versions of the video game The Sims 2.
In March 2008, Paramore made its first rhythm game appearance with "Crushcrushcrush" as a downloadable track in the Rock Band games and later being a playable song in Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades. Later that year, Rock Band 2 was released with the song "That's What You Get" included as a playable track. The video game Guitar Hero World Tour featured the song "Misery Business" along with Hayley Williams participating in motion capture sessions for the game. She is featured as an unlockable character in the game as well. "Misery Business" was also featured as a playable track on Rock Band 3, while "Pressure", "The Only Exception", "Brick by Boring Brick", and "Ignorance" are available as DLC for the game. In 2015, the song "Still Into You" was featured as an on-disc song for Rock Band 4.
Paramore's song "Decode" was the lead single for the novel-based Twilight film. Another song called "I Caught Myself" is also featured on the film's soundtrack. "Decode" was released on October 1, 2008, on the Paramore Fan Club site as well as Stephenie Meyer's website. The band began shooting the video October 13 and it premiered on November 3. Hot Topic hosted listening parties for the soundtrack on October 24, 2008, and the album was released on November 4, 2008. Borders released an exclusive version of the soundtrack that features an acoustic version of "Decode."
"Misery Business" is also featured in Saints Row 2, and the soundtrack for EA Sports NHL 08.
The music video for "Decode", along with the Twilight film trailer, was shown in the North American Home Theater of PlayStation Home from December 11, 2008, to December 18, 2008. The video premiered in full through MTV and its subsidiaries on November 3, 2008, one day ahead of the release of the soundtrack on which the song is featured.
Paramore's song "Now" is featured as a song for the game Rocksmith 2014.
Band members
Current members
Hayley Williams – lead vocals (2004–present), keyboards (2012–present)
Taylor York – guitar, backing vocals (2007–present), keyboards (2012–present)
Zac Farro – drums (2004–2010, 2017–present), backing vocals (2007–2010, 2017–present)
Current touring musicians
Justin York – guitar, backing vocals (2010–present)
Joey Howard – bass, backing vocals (2015–present)
Logan MacKenzie – keyboards, guitar (2017–present)
Joseph Mullen – percussion (2017–present)
Former members
Josh Farro – guitar, backing vocals (2004–2010)
Jason Bynum – guitar, backing vocals (2004–2005)
Hunter Lamb – guitar, backing vocals (2005–2007)
Jeremy Davis – bass (2004–2005, 2005–2006, 2007–2015), backing vocals (2007–2015)
John Hembree – bass (2005)
Former touring musicians
Jon Howard – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (2010–2016)
Josh Freese – drums (2010–2011)
Jason Pierce – drums (2011–2012)
Hayden Scott – drums (2012–2013)
Miles McPherson – drums (2013)
Aaron Gillespie – drums (2013–2017)
Timeline
Discography
All We Know Is Falling (2005)
Riot! (2007)
Brand New Eyes (2009)
Paramore (2013)
After Laughter (2017)
Tours
Headlining tours
The Final Riot! Tour (2008)
Brand New Eyes World Tour (2009–2012)
The Self-Titled Tour (2013–2015)
After Laughter Tour (2017–2018)
Co-headlining tours
Honda Civic Tour (2010)
Monumentour (2014)
Opening acts
Summer Tour 2009 (2009)
21st Century Breakdown World Tour (2010)
See also
List of awards and nominations received by Paramore
List of songs recorded by Paramore
List of alternative rock artists
References
External links
2004 establishments in Tennessee
Alternative rock groups from Tennessee
American emo musical groups
American pop punk groups
American pop rock music groups
American power pop groups
Fueled by Ramen artists
Grammy Award winners
Kerrang! Awards winners
Musical groups established in 2004
Musical groups from Franklin, Tennessee
NME Awards winners
Sibling musical groups
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Female-fronted musical groups | true | [
"High School Musical: Sing It! is a video game for the Wii and PlayStation 2 based on the High School Musical franchise.\n\nThe game features the songs from the first High School Musical and its 2007 sequel, High School Musical 2. It also features a selection of songs from Disney Channel artists and a \"Story mode\" where the players can follow the story of the first movie through Kelsi's perspective.\n\nThe characters of Troy, Gabriella, Chad, Taylor, Ryan, and Sharpay are available to the player, alongside an option to create their own character. The visuals of the game are animated and based on motion capture.\n\nIt's the first game in the Disney Sing It series and was followed by the self-titled game.\n\nSong list\nStart of Something New\nGet'cha Head in the Game\nWhat I've Been Looking For (Sharpay and Ryan version)\nWhat I've Been Looking For (Troy and Gabriella version)\nStick to the Status Quo\nWhen There Was Me and You\nBop to the Top\nBreaking Free\nWe're All in This Together\nI Can't Take My Eyes Off of You\nWhat Time Is It?\nFabulous\nWork This Out\nYou Are the Music in Me\nI Don't Dance\nYou Are the Music in Me (Sharpay Version)\nGotta Go My Own Way\nBet On It\nEveryday**\nAll for One\nHumuhumunukunukuapua'a\nAll Good Now*\nBeautiful Soul*\nCheetah Sisters*\nCounting On You*\nI Will Be Around*\nJump To The Rhythm*\nNo One*\nOn The Ride*\nPush It To The Limit*\n\n *Bonus Song. This song was not in any of the High School Musical Movies.\n **Original movie soundtrack recording of this song.\n\nStages\n Auditorium\n Cafeteria\n Corridors\n Golf Course\n Gym\n New Year's Eve Lodge\n Rooftop Garden\n School Grounds\n Science Class\n Summer Resort\n Swimming Pool\n Trophy Room\n\nReception\n\nReviews for the game are mostly mixed, as GameRankings gave it a score of 55.75% for the PlayStation 2 version and 59.67% for the Wii version, while Metacritic gave it a score of 56 out of 100 for the PlayStation 2 version and 64 out of 100 for the Wii version.\n\nThe PlayStation 2 version of Sing It! received a \"Platinum\" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom.\n\nSee also\nDisney Sing It\nDisney Sing It! – High School Musical 3: Senior Year\nDisney Sing It: Pop Hits\nDisney Sing It: Party Hits\nDisney Sing It: Family Hits\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Official site 1\n Official site 2\n GameSpot page\n Information on the game\n \n\nPlayStation 2 games\nWii games\n2007 video games\nSing It!\nKaraoke video games\nBehaviour Interactive games\nVideo games developed in Canada\nMotion capture in video games",
"We Sing is a 2009 music video game for Wii, re-released in 2016 for Xbox One and PlayStation 4. It was developed by French studio Le Cortex, produced by Wired Productions and published by Nordic Games Publishing.\n\nIt is the first singing game to support 4 players simultaneously each with their own microphone.\n\nThe 2016 reboot of the game, supporting up to 10 singers We Sing is distributed as a software only version or a two microphone and game bundle pack.\n\nGameplay\n\nThe gameplay is similar to the SingStar series of video games. Players sing along with music in order to score points, matching pitch and rhythm.\n\nThe game can be played with up to 4 people.\n\nRelease\n\nThe launch event for the UK market for We Sing took place at the main Game store on Oxford Street London on 19 November 2009. It was promoted by The X Factor girl group Miss Frank.\n\nSequels\n\nThere are 10 editions of the We Sing series released for the Nintendo Wii, including We Sing Encore. The game features 40 new songs, additional single and multiplayer modes, as well as an award system and singing lessons mode. On July 22, 2010, Nordic Games Publishing announced that a Robbie Williams edition of We Sing would be released, titled We Sing Robbie Williams. The game has 25 songs. It was released with Williams' greatest hits album in October 2010. Other titles include We Sing Down Under, We Sing Deutsche Hits, We Sing Deutsche Hits 2, We Sing UK Hits, We Sing Rock, We Sing Pop and We Sing 80s.\n\nSee also \n SingStar\n Karaoke Revolution\n Lips\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official website\n\n \n2009 video games\nKaraoke video games\nMusic video games\nWii games\nWii-only games\nEurope-exclusive video games\nEmbracer Group franchises\nTHQ Nordic games\nVideo games developed in France"
] |
[
"Paramore",
"Appearances in films and video games",
"What films did Paramore appear in?",
"Paramore's song \"Decode\" was the lead single for the novel-based Twilight film.",
"What other films?",
"Another song called \"I Caught Myself\" is also featured on the film's soundtrack.",
"What video games did they sing for?",
"Paramore made its first video game appearance with the song \"Pressure\" being featured in the console versions of the video game The Sims 2."
] | C_04adc481653d46e9b7fd9219245c41ab_0 | Did they do anything else? | 4 | Did the band Paramore do anything else, besides "Decode" for Twilight? | Paramore | In 2005, Paramore made its first video game appearance with the song "Pressure" being featured in the console versions of the video game The Sims 2. In March 2008, Paramore made its first rhythm game appearance with "Crushcrushcrush" as a downloadable track in the Rock Band games and later being a playable song in Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades. Later that year, Rock Band 2 was released with the song "That's What You Get" included as a playable track. The video game Guitar Hero World Tour featured the song "Misery Business" along with Hayley Williams participating in motion capture sessions for the game. She is featured as an unlockable character in the game as well. "Misery Business" was also featured as a playable track on Rock Band 3, while "Pressure", "The Only Exception", "Brick by Boring Brick", and "Ignorance" are available as DLC for the game. In 2015 the song "Still Into You" was featured as an on-disc song for Rock Band 4. Paramore's song "Decode" was the lead single for the novel-based Twilight film. Another song called "I Caught Myself" is also featured on the film's soundtrack. "Decode" was released on October 1, 2008 on the Paramore Fan Club site as well as Stephenie Meyer's website. The band began shooting the video October 13 and it premiered on November 3. Hot Topic hosted listening parties for the soundtrack on October 24, 2008, and the album was released on November 4, 2008. Borders released an exclusive version of the soundtrack that features an acoustic version of "Decode." "Misery Business" is also featured in Saints Row 2, and the soundtrack for EA Sports NHL 08. The music video for "Decode", along with the Twilight film trailer, was shown in the North American Home Theater of PlayStation Home from December 11, 2008, to December 18, 2008. The video premiered in full through MTV and its subsidiaries on November 3, 2008 one day ahead of the release of the soundtrack on which the song is featured. Paramore's song "Now" is featured as a song for the game Rocksmith 2014. CANNOTANSWER | Paramore made its first rhythm game appearance with "Crushcrushcrush" as a downloadable track in the Rock Band games | Paramore is an American rock band from Franklin, Tennessee, formed in 2004. The band currently consists of lead vocalist Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York and drummer Zac Farro. Williams and Farro are founding members of the group, while York, a high school friend of the original lineup, joined in 2007. The band are signed to Fueled by Ramen, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records, both owned by Warner Music Group. Williams is separately signed to Atlantic as she was scouted when she was a teenager, and they were the only label to let her stay in the band instead of going solo, but Atlantic said the rest of the band had to sign to FBR. She is also the only member to appear on all five of Paramore's studio albums.
The group released its debut album, All We Know Is Falling, in 2005, with the album reaching number four on the UK Rock Chart in 2009 and number thirty on Billboards Heatseekers Chart in 2006.
The band's second album, Riot!, was released in 2007. Thanks to the success of the singles "Misery Business", "Crushcrushcrush", and "That's What You Get", Riot! was a mainstream success and was certified Platinum in the United States. Paramore then received a Best New Artist nomination at the 2008 Grammy Awards. Their 2009 follow-up, Brand New Eyes, is the band's second-highest-charting album to date, landing at number two on the Billboard 200 with 175,000 first week sales. It produced the top-forty single "The Only Exception" and went platinum in Ireland and the UK, as well as gold in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Following the departure of Josh and Zac Farro in 2010, the band released their self-titled fourth album in 2013. It gave the band their first number one on the US Billboard 200 and was also the number one album in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. It included the singles "Still Into You" and "Ain't It Fun", with the latter winning the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song for Williams and York as songwriters, making it Paramore's first Grammy Award win. The band's lineup changed once again after this album cycle with bassist Jeremy Davis leaving the band near the end of 2015 and former drummer Zac Farro rejoining the band in 2017. Their fifth studio album, After Laughter, was released later that year.
History
2002–2004: Formation and early years
In 2002, at age 13, vocalist Hayley Williams moved from her hometown Meridian, Mississippi to Franklin, Tennessee, where she met brothers Josh Farro and Zac Farro at a weekly supplemental program for home-schooled students. Shortly after arriving, she began taking vocal lessons with Brett Manning. Prior to forming Paramore, Williams and bassist Jeremy Davis, along with friend Kimee Read, took part in a funk cover band called The Factory, while Josh and Zac Farro had practiced together after school. The other members of what was soon to be Paramore had been "edgy about the whole female thing" of having Williams as vocalist, but, because they were good friends, she started writing for them. Williams said of the members when she first met them, "They were the first people I met who were as passionate about music as I was."
Williams was originally signed to Atlantic Records as a solo artist in 2003. She had been introduced to Atlantic A&R Tom Storms by Kent Marcus and Jim Zumwalt, lawyers of managers Dave Steunebrink and Richard Williams, and then eventually signed to Atlantic by Jason Flom. Steunebrink and Richard Williams had originally discovered and signed her to a production deal that was later bought out by Atlantic. The original plan of the label was to turn her into a pop singer, but Williams resisted, saying that she wanted to play alternative rock music with a band. In an interview with HitQuarters the band's A&R at Atlantic, Steve Robertson, said, "She wanted to make sure that we didn't look at her as some straight to Top 40 pop princess. She wanted to make sure that she and her band got the chance to show what they can do as a rock band writing their own songs." Label president Julie Greenwald and the label staff decided to go with her wishes. The original management team for the band was Dave Steunebrink, Creed manager Jeff Hanson, and Hanson's assistant Mark Mercado.
The band was officially formed by Josh Farro (lead guitar/backing vocals), Zac Farro (drums), Davis (bass guitar) and Williams (lead vocals) in 2004, with the later addition of Williams' neighbor Jason Bynum (rhythm guitar). When Davis showed up, he was stunned to find out the drummer was only twelve years old. He admitted "I had very, very, very, little faith in everyone in the band because of their age. I remember thinking, 'This is not going to work because this kid is way too young,' but that first day of practice was amazing. I knew we were on to something." According to Williams, the name "Paramore" came from the maiden name of the mother of one of their first bass players. Once the group learned the meaning of the homophone "paramour" ("secret lover"), they decided to adopt the name, using the Paramore spelling.
Paramore was originally supposed to release their music on Atlantic Records, but the label's marketing department decided it would be better for the image of the band to not have them attached to a major label. Instead, they released their music through the niche label Fueled by Ramen. Lyor Cohen, the head of Warner Music Group, had already identified Fueled by Ramen as a label they should partner with. It was decided the rock label would make an ideal match for Paramore. According to Robertson, when the band was presented to Fueled by Ramen's CEO John Janick, "he got the vision of the band immediately." Janick went to a Taste of Chaos performance in Orlando, Florida to see the band perform live. In April 2005, after a smaller private performance at a warehouse, the band was signed to Atlantic Records and Fueled By Ramen.
The band's first song written together was "Conspiracy", which was later used on their debut album. At this time, they were touring the southeast, usually being driven by Williams' parents. She commented that "Back then, I guess we were all thinking, after school, we'll go to the house and practice. It was what we loved to do for fun, and still do! I don't think any of us really knew this would turn out to be what it's become."
2005–2006: All We Know Is Falling
Paramore traveled back to Orlando, Florida, but shortly after arriving, Jeremy Davis left the band, citing personal reasons. The remaining four members of Paramore continued with the album, writing "All We Know" about his departure, and later deciding to base All We Know Is Falling around the concept. The album artwork also reflected Paramore's grief as Hayley Williams explains, "The couch on the cover of All We Know is Falling with no one there and the shadow walking away; it's all about Jeremy leaving us and us feeling like there's an empty space."
Before touring, the band added John Hembree (bass) to their lineup to replace Davis. During that summer, Paramore was featured on the Shira Girl stage of the 2005 Warped Tour. After being asked by the band, Jeremy Davis returned to Paramore after five months apart, replacing Hembree. All We Know Is Falling was released on July 24, 2005, and reached No. 30 on the Billboard's Heatseekers Chart. Paramore released "Pressure" as its first single, with a video directed by Shane Drake, but the song failed to chart. The video featured the band performing in a warehouse, eventually getting sprayed with water sprinklers as the storyline of a conflicted couple occurs. In July, "Emergency" was released as the second single, the video again reuniting the band with director Shane Drake and featuring Hunter Lamb (rhythm guitar), who replaced Jason Bynum in December 2005. The video for "Emergency" showcased Paramore in another performance, this time fixing the members' bloody costumes. The third single, "All We Know", was released with limited airtime, with the video consisting of a collection of live performances and backstage footage. After the band's later success, All We Know Is Falling and "Pressure" were certified Gold by the RIAA.
In January 2006, the band took part in the Winter Go West tour where they played alongside Seattle bands Amber Pacific and The Lashes. In February, Hayley Williams was featured on "Keep Dreaming Upside Down" by October Fall. In spring of 2006, Paramore was an opening act on tours for both Bayside and The Rocket Summer. The band then covered Foo Fighters' "My Hero" for the Sound of Superman soundtrack which was released on June 26, 2006.
During the summer of 2006, Paramore played a portion of Warped Tour, primarily on the Volcom and Hurley Stages, and their first night on the Main Stage was at a date in their hometown of Nashville. During the band's time at Warped Tour, they released The Summer Tic EP, which was sold exclusively during the tour. Paramore's first US headlining tour began on August 2, 2006, to a sold-out audience with support from This Providence, Cute Is What We Aim For, and Hit the Lights with the final show in Nashville. That year they were voted "Best New Band", and Hayley Williams was voted as No. 2 "Sexiest Female", by readers of the British magazine Kerrang!.
In 2007, Lamb left the group to get married, and Paramore continued onward as a quartet. Paramore was then named by British magazine NME as one of ten bands to watch out for in their "New Noise 2007" feature. Paramore was featured in Kerrang! magazine once more, however, Hayley Williams believed the article was an untrue portrayal of the band, particularly because it focused on her as the main component. Afterwards, Williams addressed the issue in the band's LiveJournal, with a post saying, "we could’ve done without a cover piece. sorry, if it offends anyone at Kerrang! but I don’t think there was one bit of truth in that article." In April, Hayley Williams' vocals were featured in "Then Came To Kill" by The Chariot. They headlined a tour in April through May 2007 with This Providence, The Almost, and Love Arcade. The Almost and Love Arcade were replaced by Quietdrive for the second half of the tour.
2007–2008: Riot!
Before work began on the band's next album, Davis was expelled from the band due to "his lack of work ethic and participation in things that Zac, Hayley and I didn’t agree with," according to Josh Farro. After an agreement involving the remaining three members, Davis was reinstated as bassist, and Taylor York became the band's new guitarist. York had been in a band with the Farro brothers before the two met Williams.
After being courted by producers Neal Avron and Howard Benson, Paramore opted to record the album with producer David Bendeth in New Jersey, who had previously worked with Your Vegas and Breaking Benjamin. The album, titled Riot!, was released on June 12, 2007, entering the Billboard 200 at number 20 and the UK charts at number 24. The album sold 44,000 units its first week in the United States. The name Riot! had been chosen because it meant "a sudden outburst of uncontrolled emotion", and it was a word that "summed it all up". The first single from the album, "Misery Business", was released on June 21, 2007. According to Williams, "Misery Business" is "more honest than anything I've ever written, and the guys matched that emotion musically." In the summer of 2007, Paramore participated in their third Warped Tour, and they posted journals of their experiences on yourhereblog for MTV.
On October 11, 2007, the music video for "Crushcrushcrush" debuted on the United States television as the next single from Riot!. The video for "Crushcrushcrush" featured the band playing a performance in a barren desert, being spied upon, and later destroying their equipment. The single was released in the United States on November 19 and made available in the United Kingdom on November 12, 2007. Hayley Williams recorded guest vocals for the tracks "The Church Channel" and "Plea" for the Say Anything concept album In Defense of the Genre released on October 23, 2007. The group performed live, acoustic style in Boston on November 29, 2007, for FNX radio. On December 31, 2007, Paramore performed on the MTV New Year's Eve program which ran from 11:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
Paramore was featured on the cover of February 2008 issue of Alternative Press magazine and voted "Best Band Of 2007" by the readers. The band was nominated for "Best New Artist" at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards presented on February 10, 2008, but lost to Amy Winehouse. Early 2008 saw Paramore touring the United Kingdom, supporting their album Riot!, along with New Found Glory, Kids in Glass Houses and Conditions. In early February 2008, the band began a tour in Europe, however on February 21, 2008, the band announced that they had canceled six shows due to personal issues. Williams wrote on the band's web site that "the break will give that band 'a chance to get away and work out our personal issues'". MTV.com reported that fans of Paramore were speculating about the future of the band and reported rumors of trouble had begun earlier in the month when Josh Farro expressed his anger against the media's focus on Hayley Williams. The band, however, returned to their hometown to record the music video for the fourth single "That's What You Get", which was then released on March 24, 2008.
The band toured with Jimmy Eat World in the United States in April and May 2008. The band headlined the Give It A Name festival in the United Kingdom on May 10 and 11, 2008. Also the band performed on the In New Music We Trust Stage at Radio 1's One Big Weekend in Mote Park, Kent on May 10, 2008. Paramore played their first Ireland show at the RDS in Dublin on June 2, 2008, followed by the 2008 Vans Warped Tour from July 1–6.
From July 25 to September 1, Paramore embarked on a tour named "The Final Riot!". On this tour, the band performed part of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". On September 2, 2008, Paramore released a collaboration hoodie along with Hurley Clothing based on the album Riot!. All proceeds went to the Love146 foundation.
The band released a live album named The Final Riot! on November 25, 2008. The album includes a bonus DVD with a full concert recorded in Chicago, as well as a behind the scenes documentary. As of April 9, 2009, The Final Riot! is certified gold in the United States.
2009–2011: Brand New Eyes, departure of the Farros, and Singles Club
In January 2009, Josh Farro spoke about the band's next studio album. Talking to Kerrang!, Farro said: "We're gonna try to [record] it in Nashville. I think writing the album there will inspire us, and then if we record there too it'll be a lot easier since we can sleep in our beds at night rather than in hotels like the other 300 days out of the year! We're not sure who's going to produce the record yet. We did "Decode" with [producer] Rob Cavallo, which was a good experience, but we're looking around and don't want to make any decisions until we have a lot of songs and we know what we're looking for. We really enjoy our live sound and we want a producer who can really capture that." Paramore wrote and completed their third album Brand New Eyes in early 2009. The first single from the album was "Ignorance" and was released July 7, 2009. Paramore was the special guest with Bedouin Soundclash, The Sounds and Janelle Monáe at the No Doubt Summer Tour 2009, starting in May 2009 in outdoor amphitheaters and arenas across the US and Canada. The official music video for "Ignorance" aired on all MTV platforms, networks, and websites on August 13, 2009. Paramore, along with Paper Route and The Swellers, toured in support of Brand New Eyes in the fall of 2009. Some tour dates were postponed due to Hayley Williams becoming infected with laryngitis. "Brick By Boring Brick", "The Only Exception", "Careful" and "Playing God" were the album's following singles. To promote the album, the band recorded a performance for MTV Unplugged.
Paramore then played a sold out 15-date European tour with You Me At Six, Paper Route and Now Now Every Children. Their stadium tour culminated at London's Wembley Arena, to an audience of 12,500. The band performed in 2010 in the Australian Soundwave Festival along with bands such as Faith No More, Placebo, You Me at Six, All Time Low, Jimmy Eat World and Taking Back Sunday. Shortly before the tour, lead guitarist Josh Farro announced via the band's LiveJournal that he was engaged and stayed behind to plan his wedding. Justin York, brother of Taylor York, filled in for him on the tour. The band, with Farro returned, embarked on a spring tour of the U.S. in late April. Paramore supported Green Day on selected dates of their Stadium tour, in Dublin and Paris.
The band headlined the 2010 Honda Civic Tour, which began on July 23 in Raleigh, NC and closed on September 19 in Anaheim, CA. After a short United Kingdom tour in November 2010, the band announced, on December 2, 2010, the official dates for a South American tour to take place during February and March 2011. The band were set to take a break after their South American Tour in 2011 to write for their fourth studio album.
On December 18, 2010, a message from Hayley, Jeremy, and Taylor was released through Paramore.net stating that Josh and Zac were leaving the band. The band also confirmed the scheduled South American tour would still happen. Josh Farro wrote a statement on the departure on his Blogger, claiming that the band was "a manufactured product of a major-label." He accused Hayley Williams of being manipulated by her management, treating the rest of the group as her solo project, and claimed she was the only member of the band who was signed to Atlantic Records, while her bandmates were simply "riding on the coattails of her dream". On December 30, 2010, MTV News interviewed Williams, York and Davis in Franklin, Tennessee regarding their reactions to Farro's response. The band members confirmed many of Farro's statements, notably that Williams was indeed the only member of the band actually signed to Atlantic. They added that they felt the statement was irrelevant, and claimed they had addressed many of the Farro's critiques already throughout the course of their career.
On January 10, 2011, in an interview with MTV, Hayley Williams said that despite the band losing two of its founding members, they would release new music in 2011, although they had not confirmed if it would be a full album for release or just a small number of songs. The singer also admitted that Paramore's style was likely to change with the new lineup, but clarified that the band would still retain their core signature sound. The band entered the studio upon returning from their South American tour to record a batch of songs that were released over the summer, prior to their fourth full-length album. One of the songs included "In the Mourning", which Williams debuted on her Tumblr page. Paramore later confirmed they were entering a studio in Los Angeles with producer Rob Cavallo to record what would be the Singles Club.
On June 3, 2011, Paramore released the single "Monster", featured on the Transformers: Dark of the Moon soundtrack, on YouTube. This is the first song that the band released without the Farro brothers.
On June 9, 2011, Hayley Williams announced that the band had started to write their fourth album, which they hoped to start recording at the end of the year, with an early 2012 release.
On October 11, 2011, Paramore announced that they would release a new song for each of the remaining months of 2011. The band set up the Singles Club on their website which gave fans the chance to purchase the singles when they were released, as they were released exclusively through the Singles Club and were therefore not sold elsewhere. A song called "Renegade", premiered the day of the announcement, with "Hello Cold World" following on November 7 and "In the Mourning" on December 5. In 2011, former member, Josh Farro, formed Novel American. Zac Farro later joined the band.
2012–2015: Paramore and Davis' third exit
On April 18, 2012, Williams announced that the producer for their fourth album was Justin Meldal-Johnsen. Former Lostprophets and current Angels & Airwaves and Nine Inch Nails drummer Ilan Rubin was confirmed to be the session drummer for the recording of the album. Paramore was officially released on April 5, 2013, and a #1 at US albums chart Billboard 200. The first single from the album, titled "Now", was released online on January 22, 2013, and the album's second single, "Still Into You", was released on March 14, 2013, achieving commercial success. The third single, "Daydreaming", was released on December 2, 2013. The album's fourth single, "Ain't It Fun", was released on February 4, 2014, eventually becoming the band's highest-charting song in the United States and a winner for Best Rock Song at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. On November 24, 2014, Paramore: Self-Titled Deluxe was released, which includes a remake of "Hate to See Your Heart Break," a song originally on Paramore, featuring Joy Williams; this is the band's first collaboration on a song. The band embarked on the "Writing the Future" tour with Copeland, they said in a blog post that "It feels right to bring the Self-Titled era to a close. We've had a very personal and hugely triumphant journey with this one. What wouldn't feel right is saying goodbye to this time in the band's career and not celebrating it with our fans in some special way."
On December 14, 2015, bassist Jeremy Davis left the band. In March 2016, Davis was involved in a legal battle with Paramore, claiming to be eligible to enjoy the benefits of a business partnership with Hayley Williams as a co-owner of the band. This was quickly dismissed and he was again involved in a legal battle with Hayley Williams and Taylor York over a breach of contract entitling him to ownership and authorship of songs on their self-titled record, including "Ain't It Fun", and again, claiming to be eligible to enjoy the benefits of the earnings the two received from these songs and album. Davis reached a settlement with the band in April 2017.
During this period, lead singer Williams later revealed that she suffered from depression and mental health issues following the departure of Davis as well as a divorce with her ex-husband Chad Gilbert. In an interview with Zane Lowe on Beats 1 Radio, shes described it as "torment" and mentioned that she "didn't laugh for a long time". As a result, Williams privately left the band for a short period in 2015, briefly leaving York as the only remaining member of the group.
2016–2019: Zac Farro's return and After Laughter
On January 19, 2016, Williams announced over Twitter that the band was in the process of writing their fifth album. On June 8, 2016, the band posted a short video of themselves in the studio to their social media. This was preceded by a number of images which all included both former drummer Zac Farro and producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen, leading fans and various media outlets to speculate the return of Farro. On June 17, Farro was featured yet again in a picture uploaded to social media, this time behind a drum set, confirming that he would be recording drums for the album, though he later clarified that he was only recording drums for the album and that he had not rejoined the band as a full member. Despite this, on February 2, 2017, the band announced that Farro would return as the official drummer of the band.
On April 19, 2017, Paramore released "Hard Times" as the lead single from their album After Laughter, which they announced would be released on May 12, 2017. On May 3, a second single was released, titled "Told You So". A music video for the song "Fake Happy" was released on November 17, 2017. On February 5, 2018, a music video for "Rose-Colored Boy" was released, which is also the album's fourth single. The music video for "Caught in the Middle", the album's fifth single, was released on June 26, 2018.
On September 7, 2018, Hayley Williams announced during a concert that the band will play the song "Misery Business" "for the last time for a really long time", mainly due to a line from the second verse that was perceived to be sexist.
2020–present: Upcoming sixth album
On May 11, 2020, Williams teased a potential return to a more guitar driven sound on the band's sixth album, commenting "We've found ourselves listening to a lot of older music that we grew up being inspired by."
In January 2022, it was confirmed that the band have entered the studio to work on their upcoming sixth studio album. The band described the album as more "guitar heavy". On January 18, the band were announced to headline the newly founded Las Vegas based When We Were Young festival alongside My Chemical Romance set for October 22 2022, marking this their first live performance the band has played since September 2018.
Musical style and influences
Paramore's music style has generally been regarded as alternative rock, , pop rock, power pop, , emo, pop, and new wave. Joshua Martin had written after an interview with Hayley Williams, "The band isn't just a short pop-punk girl with red hair and a spunky attitude. Their music is like them, it's aged differently. It's sped up, and slowed down. It's emo without being whiny, or bratty. Almost a very literal anti-Avril Lavigne." Alternative Press magazine had commented that the band was "young-sounding", while consistently being "honest." Paramore's first album All We Know is Falling had an arguably more "formulaic pop-punk" sound that was "delivered particularly well" and the combination of the two had created a "refined rock infused pop/punk album." The band's second release, Riot! was said to explore a 'diverse range of styles," however, not straying far from "their signature sound." The band's later albums, such as Paramore and After Laughter, included more of a new wave and synth-pop sound.
Alternative Press and various other reviewers have noted that the band's stage performances have helped boost them to larger fame. Alternative Press states that Williams "has more charisma than singers twice her age, and her band aren't far behind in their chops, either." Singer-songwriter John Mayer had praised Williams' voice in a blog in October 2007, calling her "The great orange hope"; "orange" in reference to her hair color. Due to the female-fronted aspect of the band, Paramore has gained comparisons to Kelly Clarkson and the aforementioned Avril Lavigne, to which one reviewer said was "sorely unfounded." Reviewer Jonathan Bradley noted that "Paramore attacks its music with infectious enthusiasm." However, he also explained that "there isn't a whole lot of difference between Riot! and the songs from Kelly Clarkson or Avril Lavigne." A reviewer at NME had likened Paramore's sound to that of "No Doubt (stripped of all the ska bollocks)" and "Kelly Clarkson's wildest dreams." Hayley Williams has gone on to comment about the female aspect of the band saying that Paramore is not "this girl-fronted band" and it makes "music for people to enjoy music, not so people can talk about my sexuality."
Paramore has expressed appreciation for Failure, Fall Out Boy, Hanson, Panic! at the Disco, Blink-182, Death Cab for Cutie, Jimmy Eat World, MewithoutYou, and Sunny Day Real Estate, as well as Thrice and New Found Glory; Hayley Williams has cited her personal influences as Elvis Presley, the Shirelles, the Angels, the Ramones, Jawbreaker, Radiohead, Green Day, Blondie, NSYNC, Destiny's Child, Aaliyah, The Smiths, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure and Etta James.
Williams named many singers as heroines: "I love Debbie Harry and Siouxsie Sioux. I grew up listening to The Distillers [...] Girl groups are really important to me, but the Shangri-Las especially". Williams also explained that bands such as U2, "who are massive, and do whatever they want, write whatever they want and they stand for something," Jimmy Eat World, "who I don’t think ever disappoint their fans," and No Doubt, who "have done amazing things," act as a pattern for the path in which Paramore would like to take their career. In 2012, Williams contributed vocals to MewithoutYou's fifth studio album, Ten Stories.
The band members are Christians and in an interview with the BBC, Josh Farro stated "Our faith is very important to us. It's obviously going to come out in our music because if someone believes something, then their worldview is going to come out in anything they do. But we're not out here to preach to kids, we're out here because we love music."
Live appearances
In 2007, the band played an acoustic set for the grand opening of a Warped Tour exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the dress Hayley Williams wore in the video for "Emergency" was also put on display in the exhibit.
In June 2007, they were declared by Rolling Stone as "Ones to Watch". Paramore made their live television debut on Fuse Networks daily show, The Sauce. The second single from Riot!, "Hallelujah", was released on July 30, 2007, and is only available online and on UK television. The video, much like "All We Know", features backstage footage and live performances.
In August 2007, Paramore had been featured in television spots on MTV, performing acoustic versions of their songs or acting in short accompaniments to MTV program commercials. As "MTV Artists of the Week", the band filmed the faux camping themed spots in Queens, New York, all written and directed by Evan Silver and Gina Fortunato. MTV.com also has a collection of short videos with the band to promote Riot! as well. For weeks in August 2007, the "Misery Business" video was the number one streamed video at MTV.com. On October 8, Paramore played "Misery Business" live on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, a booking made possible due to the friendship struck between the band and Max Weinberg during the 2007 Warped Tour. In August, Paramore participated in New Found Glory's music video for their cover of Sixpence None the Richer's song "Kiss Me".
From September 29 to November 1, 2009, the band held a tour in North America to support Brand New Eyes. The tour for their self-titled fourth album, known as The Self-Titled Tour, took place in North America from October 15 to November 27, 2013. From June 19 through August 17, 2014, the band also supported the album with the Monumentour.
Appearances in films and video games
In 2005, Paramore made its first video game appearance with the song "Pressure" being featured in the console versions of the video game The Sims 2.
In March 2008, Paramore made its first rhythm game appearance with "Crushcrushcrush" as a downloadable track in the Rock Band games and later being a playable song in Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades. Later that year, Rock Band 2 was released with the song "That's What You Get" included as a playable track. The video game Guitar Hero World Tour featured the song "Misery Business" along with Hayley Williams participating in motion capture sessions for the game. She is featured as an unlockable character in the game as well. "Misery Business" was also featured as a playable track on Rock Band 3, while "Pressure", "The Only Exception", "Brick by Boring Brick", and "Ignorance" are available as DLC for the game. In 2015, the song "Still Into You" was featured as an on-disc song for Rock Band 4.
Paramore's song "Decode" was the lead single for the novel-based Twilight film. Another song called "I Caught Myself" is also featured on the film's soundtrack. "Decode" was released on October 1, 2008, on the Paramore Fan Club site as well as Stephenie Meyer's website. The band began shooting the video October 13 and it premiered on November 3. Hot Topic hosted listening parties for the soundtrack on October 24, 2008, and the album was released on November 4, 2008. Borders released an exclusive version of the soundtrack that features an acoustic version of "Decode."
"Misery Business" is also featured in Saints Row 2, and the soundtrack for EA Sports NHL 08.
The music video for "Decode", along with the Twilight film trailer, was shown in the North American Home Theater of PlayStation Home from December 11, 2008, to December 18, 2008. The video premiered in full through MTV and its subsidiaries on November 3, 2008, one day ahead of the release of the soundtrack on which the song is featured.
Paramore's song "Now" is featured as a song for the game Rocksmith 2014.
Band members
Current members
Hayley Williams – lead vocals (2004–present), keyboards (2012–present)
Taylor York – guitar, backing vocals (2007–present), keyboards (2012–present)
Zac Farro – drums (2004–2010, 2017–present), backing vocals (2007–2010, 2017–present)
Current touring musicians
Justin York – guitar, backing vocals (2010–present)
Joey Howard – bass, backing vocals (2015–present)
Logan MacKenzie – keyboards, guitar (2017–present)
Joseph Mullen – percussion (2017–present)
Former members
Josh Farro – guitar, backing vocals (2004–2010)
Jason Bynum – guitar, backing vocals (2004–2005)
Hunter Lamb – guitar, backing vocals (2005–2007)
Jeremy Davis – bass (2004–2005, 2005–2006, 2007–2015), backing vocals (2007–2015)
John Hembree – bass (2005)
Former touring musicians
Jon Howard – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (2010–2016)
Josh Freese – drums (2010–2011)
Jason Pierce – drums (2011–2012)
Hayden Scott – drums (2012–2013)
Miles McPherson – drums (2013)
Aaron Gillespie – drums (2013–2017)
Timeline
Discography
All We Know Is Falling (2005)
Riot! (2007)
Brand New Eyes (2009)
Paramore (2013)
After Laughter (2017)
Tours
Headlining tours
The Final Riot! Tour (2008)
Brand New Eyes World Tour (2009–2012)
The Self-Titled Tour (2013–2015)
After Laughter Tour (2017–2018)
Co-headlining tours
Honda Civic Tour (2010)
Monumentour (2014)
Opening acts
Summer Tour 2009 (2009)
21st Century Breakdown World Tour (2010)
See also
List of awards and nominations received by Paramore
List of songs recorded by Paramore
List of alternative rock artists
References
External links
2004 establishments in Tennessee
Alternative rock groups from Tennessee
American emo musical groups
American pop punk groups
American pop rock music groups
American power pop groups
Fueled by Ramen artists
Grammy Award winners
Kerrang! Awards winners
Musical groups established in 2004
Musical groups from Franklin, Tennessee
NME Awards winners
Sibling musical groups
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Female-fronted musical groups | true | [
"\"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",
"Ward v. Tesco Stores Ltd. [1976] 1 WLR 810, is an English tort law case concerning the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur (\"the thing speaks for itself\"). It deals with the law of negligence and it set an important precedent in so called \"trip and slip\" cases which are a common occurrence.\n\nFacts\nThe plaintiff slipped on some pink yoghurt in a Tesco store in Smithdown Road, Liverpool. It was not clear whether or not Tesco staff were to blame for the spillage. It could have been another customer, or the wind, or anything else. Spillages happened roughly 10 times a week and staff had standing orders to clean anything up straight away. As Lawton LJ observed in his judgment,\n\nThe trial judge had held in Mrs Ward's favour and she was awarded £137.50 in damages. Tesco appealed.\n\nJudgment\nIt was held by a majority (Lawton LJ and Megaw LJ) that even though it could not be said exactly what happened, the pink yoghurt being spilled spoke for itself as to who was to blame. Tesco was required to pay compensation. The plaintiff did not need to prove how long the spill had been there, because the burden of proof was on Tesco. Lawton LJ's judgment explained the previous case law, starting with Richards v. WF White & Co. [1957] 1 Lloyd's Rep.\n\nDissent\nOmrod LJ disagreed with Lawton LJ and Megaw LJ on the basis that Tesco did not seem to have been able to do anything to have prevented the accident. He argued that they did not fail to take reasonable care, and in his words, the accident \"could clearly have happened no matter what degree of care these defendants had taken.\"\n\nNotes\n\nEnglish tort case law\nEnglish occupier case law\nCourt of Appeal (England and Wales) cases\n1976 in case law\n1976 in British law\nTesco"
] |
[
"Reggie Jackson",
"California Angels (1982-86) and Oakland Athletics (1987)"
] | C_a115a3119c04420bb2dbe71f36612907_0 | how did he join the angels | 1 | how did Reggie Jackson join the California angels? | Reggie Jackson | Jackson became a free-agent again once the 1981 season was over. The owner of the California Angels, entertainer Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract. On April 27, 1982, in Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry. The at-bat began with Yankee fans, angry at Steinbrenner for letting Jackson get away, starting the "Reg-GIE!" chant, and ended it with the fans chanting "Steinbrenner sucks!" By the time of Jackson's election to the Hall of Fame, Steinbrenner had begun to say that letting him go was the biggest mistake he had made as Yankee owner. That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986, but lost the American League Championship Series both times. On September 17, 1984, on the 17th anniversary of the day he hit his first home run, he hit his 500th, at Anaheim Stadium off Bud Black of the Royals. In 1987, he signed a one-year contract to return to the A's, wearing the number 44 with which he was now most associated rather than the number 9 he previously wore in Oakland. He announced he would retire after the season, at the age of 41. In his last at-bat, at Comiskey Park in Chicago on October 4, he collected a broken-bat single up the middle, but the A's lost to the White Sox, 5-2. Jackson was the last player in the major leagues to have played for the Kansas City Athletics. CANNOTANSWER | Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract. | Reginald Martinez Jackson (born May 18, 1946) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and California Angels. Jackson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993.
Jackson was nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the Athletics and the Yankees. He helped Oakland win five consecutive American League West divisional titles, three consecutive American League pennants and three consecutive World Series titles, from 1972 to 1974. Jackson helped New York win four American League East divisional pennants, three American League pennants and two consecutive World Series titles, in 1977 and 1978. He also helped the California Angels win two AL West divisional titles in 1982 and 1986. Jackson hit three consecutive home runs at Yankee Stadium in the clinching game six of the 1977 World Series.
Jackson hit 563 career home runs and was an American League (AL) All-Star for 14 seasons. He won two Silver Slugger Awards, the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award in 1973, two World Series MVP Awards, and the Babe Ruth Award in 1977. The Yankees and Athletics retired his team uniform number in 1993 and 2004. Jackson currently serves as a special advisor to the Houston Astros.
Jackson led his teams to first place ten times over his 21-year career.
Early years
Jackson was born in the Wyncote neighborhood of Cheltenham Township, just north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Martinez Jackson, who was half Puerto Rican, worked as a tailor and was a former second baseman with the Newark Eagles of Negro league baseball. He was the youngest of four children from his mother, Clara. He also had two half-siblings from his father's first marriage. His parents divorced when he was four; his mother took four of his siblings with her, while his father took Reggie and one of the siblings from his first marriage, though one sibling later returned to Wyncote. Martinez Jackson was a single father, and theirs was one of the few black families in Wyncote.
Jackson graduated from Cheltenham High School in 1964, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track and field. A tailback in football, he injured his knee in an early season game in his junior year in the fall of 1962. He was told by the doctors he was never to play football again, but Jackson returned for the final game of the season. In that game, Jackson fractured five cervical vertebrae, which caused him to spend six weeks in the hospital and another month in a neck cast. Doctors told Jackson that he might never walk again, let alone play football, but Jackson defied the odds again. On the baseball team, he batted .550 and threw several no-hitters. In the middle of his senior year, Jackson's father was arrested for bootlegging and was sentenced to six months in jail.
Collegiate athletic career
For football, Jackson was recruited by Alabama, Georgia, and Oklahoma, all of whom were willing to break the color barrier just for Jackson. (Oklahoma had black football players before 1964, including Prentice Gautt, a star running back recruited in 1957, who played in the NFL.) Jackson declined Alabama and Georgia because he was fearful of the South at the time, and declined Oklahoma because they told him to stop dating white girls. For baseball, Jackson was scouted by Hans Lobert of the San Francisco Giants who was desperate to sign him. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins also made offers, and the hometown Philadelphia Phillies gave him a tryout but declined because of his "hitting skills".
His father wanted his son to go to college, where Jackson wanted to play both football and baseball. He accepted a football scholarship from Arizona State University in Tempe; his high school football coach knew ASU's head football coach Frank Kush, and they discussed the possibility of his playing both sports. After a recruiting trip, Kush decided that Jackson had the ability and willingness to work to join the squad.
One day after football practice, he approached ASU baseball coach Bobby Winkles and asked if he could join the team. Winkles said he would give Jackson a look, and the next day while still in his football gear, he hit a home run on the second pitch he saw; in five at bats he hit three home runs. He was allowed to practice with the team, but could not join the squad because the NCAA had a rule forbidding the use of freshman players. Jackson switched permanently to baseball following his freshman year, as he did not want to become a defensive back. To hone his skills, Winkles assigned him to a Baltimore Orioles-affiliated amateur team. He broke numerous team records for the squad, and the Orioles offered him a $50,000 signing bonus if he joined the team. Jackson declined the offer stating that he did not want to forfeit his college scholarship.
In the beginning of his sophomore year in 1966, Jackson replaced Rick Monday (the first player ever selected in the Major League Baseball draft and a future teammate with the A's) at center field. He broke the team record for most home runs in a single season, led the team in numerous other categories and was first team All-American. Many scouts were looking at him play, including Tom Greenwade of the New York Yankees (who discovered Mickey Mantle), and Danny Murtaugh of the Pittsburgh Pirates. In his final game at Arizona State, he showed his potential by being only a triple away from hitting for the cycle, making a sliding catch, and having an assist at home plate. Jackson was the first college player to hit a home run out of Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
Minor leagues
In the 1966 Major League Baseball draft on June 7, Jackson was selected by the Kansas City Athletics. He was the second overall pick, behind 17-year-old catcher Steve Chilcott, who was taken by the New York Mets. According to Jackson, Winkles told him that the Mets did not select him because he had a white girlfriend. Winkles later denied the story, stating that he did not know the reason why Jackson was not drafted by the Mets. It was later confirmed by Joe McDonald that the Mets drafted Steve Chilcott because of need, the person running the Mets at the time was George Weiss, so the true motive may never be known.
Jackson, age 20, signed with the A's for $95,000 on June 13 and reported for his first training camp with the Lewis-Clark Broncs of the short season Single-A Northwest League in Lewiston, Idaho, managed by Grady Wilson. He made his professional debut as a center fielder in the season opener on June 24 at Bethel Park in Eugene, Oregon, but was hitless in five at-bats. In the next game, Jackson singled in the first inning and homered in the ninth. In the home opener at Bengal Field in Lewiston on June 30, he hit a double and a triple. In his final game as a Bronc on July 6, Jackson was hit in the head by a pitch in the first inning, but stayed in the game and drove in runs with two sacrifice flies. Complaining of a headache, he left the game in the ninth inning, was admitted to St. Joseph's Hospital in Lewiston, and remained overnight for observation.
Jackson played for two Class A teams in 1966, with the Broncs for just 12 games, and then 56 games with Modesto in the California League, where he hit 21 homers. He began 1967 with the Birmingham A's in the Double-A Southern League in Birmingham, Alabama, where Jackson got his first taste of racism, being one of only a few blacks on the team. He credits the team's manager at the time, John McNamara, for helping him through that difficult season.
MLB career
Kansas City / Oakland Athletics (1967–1975)
Jackson debuted in the major leagues with the A's in 1967 in a Friday doubleheader in Kansas City on June 9, a shutout sweep of the Cleveland Indians by scores of and at Municipal Stadium. (Jackson had his first career hit in the nightcap, a lead-off triple in the fifth inning off of long reliever Orlando Peña.)
The Athletics moved west to Oakland prior to the 1968 season. Jackson hit 47 home runs in 1969, and was briefly ahead of the pace that Roger Maris set when he broke the single-season record for home runs with 61 in 1961, and that of Babe Ruth when he set the previous record of 60 in 1927. Jackson later said that the sportswriters were claiming he was "dating a lady named 'Ruth Maris.'"
Slumping at the plate in May 1970, Athletics owner Charlie O. Finley threatened to send Jackson to the minors. Jackson hit 23 home runs while batting .237 for the 1970 season. The Athletics sent him to play in Puerto Rico, where he played for the Santurce team and hit 20 homers and knocked in 47 runs to lead the league in both departments. Jackson hit a memorable home run in the 1971 All-Star Game at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Batting for the American League against Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis, the ball he hit soared above the right-field stands, striking the transformer of a light standard on the right field roof. While with the Angels in 1984, he hit a home run over that roof.
In 1971, the Athletics won the American League's West division, their first title of any kind since 1931, when they played in Philadelphia. They were swept in three games in the American League Championship Series by the Baltimore Orioles. The A's won the division again in 1972; their series with the Tigers went the full five games, and Jackson scored the tying run in the clincher on a steal of home. In the process, however, he tore a hamstring and was unable to play in the World Series. The A's still managed to defeat the Cincinnati Reds in seven games. It was the first championship won by a San Francisco Bay Area team in any major league sport.
During spring training in 1972, Jackson showed up with a mustache. Though his teammates wanted him to shave it off, Jackson refused. Finley liked the mustache so much that he offered each player $300 to grow one, and hosted a "Mustache Day" featuring the last MLB player to wear a mustache, Frenchy Bordagaray, as master of ceremonies.
Jackson helped the Athletics win the pennant again in 1973, and was named Most Valuable Player of the American League for the season. The A's defeated the New York Mets in seven hard-fought games in the World Series. This time, Jackson was not only able to play, but his performance led to his being awarded the Series's MVP award. In the third inning of that seventh game, which ended in a 5–2 score, the A's jumped out to a 4–0 lead as both Bert Campaneris and Jackson hit two-run home runs off Jon Matlack—the only two home runs Oakland hit the entire Series. The A's won the World Series again in 1974, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.
Besides hitting 254 home runs in nine years with the Athletics, Jackson was also no stranger to controversy or conflict in Oakland. Sports author Dick Crouser wrote, "When the late Al Helfer was broadcasting the Oakland A's games, he was not too enthusiastic about Reggie Jackson's speed or his hustle. Once, with Jackson on third, teammate Rick Monday hit a long home run. 'Jackson should score easily on that one,' commented Helfer. Crouser also noted that, "Nobody seems to be neutral on Reggie Jackson. You're either a fan or a detractor." When teammate Darold Knowles was asked if Jackson was a hotdog (i.e., a show-off), he famously replied, "There isn't enough mustard in the world to cover Reggie Jackson."
In February 1974, Jackson won an arbitration case for a $135,000 salary for the season, nearly doubling his previous year's $70,000. On June 5, outfielder Billy North and Jackson engaged in a clubhouse fight at Detroit's Tiger Stadium. Jackson injured his shoulder, and catcher Ray Fosse, attempting to separate the combatants, suffered a crushed disk in his neck, costing him three months on the disabled list. In October, the A's went on to win a third consecutive World Series.
Prior to the 1975 season, Jackson sought $168,000, but arbitration went against him this time and he settled for $140,000. The A's won a fifth consecutive division title, but the loss of pitcher Catfish Hunter, baseball's first modern free agent, left them vulnerable, and they were swept in the ALCS by the Boston Red Sox.
Baltimore Orioles (1976)
Paid $140,000 in 1975 and one of nine Oakland players refusing to sign 1976 contracts, Jackson sought a three-year $600,000 pact. With free agency imminent after the season and the expectations of higher salaries for which Athletics owner Finley was unwilling to pay, he was traded along with Ken Holtzman and minor-league right-handed pitcher Bill Van Bommel to the Baltimore Orioles for Don Baylor, Mike Torrez, and Paul Mitchell on April 2, 1976. Jackson had not signed a contract and threatened to sit out the season; he reported to the Orioles four weeks later, and made his first plate appearance on Baltimore and Oakland both finished second in their respective divisions in ; the Yankees and Royals advanced to the ALCS, the first without the A's since 1970. During Jackson's lone season in Baltimore he stole 28 bases, a career-best. Jim Palmer later wrote, "I would say Reggie Jackson was arrogant. But the word arrogant isn't arrogant enough." However, he thought the Orioles made a "brick-brained" mistake by not signing him to a contract, allowing him to become a free agent.
New York Yankees (1977–1981)
The Yankees won the pennant in 1976 but were swept in the World Series by the Reds. A month later on November 29, they signed Jackson to a five-year contract totaling $2.96 million ($ in current dollar terms). The number 9 that he had worn in Oakland and Baltimore was already used by Yankees third baseman Graig Nettles; Jackson asked for number 42 in memory of Jackie Robinson, but that number was given to pitching coach Art Fowler before the start of the season. Noting that Hank Aaron, at the time the holder of the career record for the most home runs, had just retired, Jackson asked for and received number 44 as a tribute to Aaron. Jackson wore number 20 for one game during spring training as a tribute to the also recently retired Frank Robinson, then he switched to number 44.
Jackson's first season with the Yankees in 1977 was a difficult one. Although team owner George Steinbrenner and several players, most notably catcher and team captain Thurman Munson and outfielder Lou Piniella, were excited about his arrival, the team's field manager Billy Martin was not. Martin had managed the Tigers in 1972, when Jackson's A's beat them in the playoffs. Jackson was once quoted as saying of Martin, "I hate him, but if I played for him, I'd probably love him."
The relationship between Jackson and his new teammates was strained due to an interview with SPORT magazine writer Robert Ward. During spring training at the Yankees' camp in Fort Lauderdale, Jackson and Ward were having drinks at a nearby bar. Jackson's version of the story is that he noted that the Yankees had won the pennant the year before, but lost the World Series to the Reds, and suggested that they needed one thing more to win it all, and pointed out the various ingredients in his drink. Ward suggested that Jackson might be "the straw that stirs the drink." But when the story appeared in the June 1977 issue of SPORT, Ward quoted Jackson as saying, "This team, it all flows from me. I'm the straw that stirs the drink. Maybe I should say me and Munson, but he can only stir it bad."Jackson has consistently denied saying anything negative about Munson in the interview and he has said that his quotes were taken out of context. However, Dave Anderson of The New York Times subsequently wrote that he had drinks with Jackson in July 1977, and that Jackson told him, "I'm still the straw that stirs the drink. Not Munson, not nobody else on this club." Regardless, as Munson was beloved by his teammates, Martin, Steinbrenner and Yankee fans, the relationships between them and Jackson became very strained.
On June 18, in a 10–4 loss to the Boston Red Sox in a nationally televised game at Fenway Park in Boston, Jim Rice, a powerful hitter but notoriously slow runner, hit a ball into shallow right field that Jackson appeared to weakly attempt to field. Jackson failed to reach the ball, which fell far in front of him, thereby allowing Rice to reach second base. Furious, Martin removed Jackson from the game without even waiting for the end of the inning, sending Paul Blair out to replace him. When Jackson arrived at the dugout, Martin yelled that Jackson had shown him up. They argued, and Jackson said that Martin's heavy drinking had impaired his judgment. Despite Jackson being 18 years younger, about two inches taller and maybe 40 pounds heavier, Martin lunged at him, and had to be restrained by coaches Yogi Berra and Elston Howard. Red Sox fans could see this in the dugout and began cheering wildly, and the NBC TV cameras showed the confrontation to the entire country.
Yankees management defused the situation by the next day, but the relationship between Jackson and Martin was permanently poisoned. However, George Steinbrenner made a crucial intervention when he gave Martin the option of either having Jackson bat in the fourth or "cleanup" spot for the rest of the season, or losing his job. Martin made the change and Jackson's hitting improved (he had 13 home runs and 49 RBIs over his next 50 games), and the team went on a winning streak. On September 14, while in a tight three-way race for the American League Eastern Division crown with the Red Sox and Orioles, Jackson ended a game with the Red Sox by hitting a home run off Reggie Cleveland, giving the Yankees a 2–0 win. The Yankees won the division by two and a half games over the Red Sox and Orioles, and came from behind in the top of the ninth inning in the fifth and final game of the American League Championship Series to beat the Kansas City Royals for the pennant.
Mr. October
During the World Series against the Dodgers, Munson was interviewed, and suggested that Jackson, because of his past post-season performances, might be the better interview subject. "Go ask Mister October", he said, giving Jackson a nickname that would stick. (In Oakland, he had been known as "Jax" and "Buck.") Jackson hit home runs in Games Four and Five of the Series.
Jackson's crowning achievement came with his three-home-run performance in World Series-clinching Game Six, each on the first pitch, off three Dodgers pitchers. (His first plate-appearance, during the second inning, resulted in a four-pitch walk.) The first came off starter Burt Hooton, and was a line drive shot into the lower right field seats at Yankee Stadium. The second was a much faster line drive off reliever Elías Sosa into roughly the same area. With the fans chanting his name, "Reg-GIE! Reg-GIE! Reg-GIE!", the third came off reliever Charlie Hough, a knuckleball pitcher, making the distance of this home run particularly remarkable. It was a towering drive into the black-painted batter's eye seats in center, away. Jackson stated afterwards that the scouting reports provided by Gene Michael and Birdie Tebbetts played a large role in his success. Their reports indicated that the Dodgers would attempt to pitch him inside and Jackson was prepared.
Since Jackson had hit a home run off Dodger pitcher Don Sutton in his last at bat in Game Five, his three home runs in Game Six meant that he had hit four home runs on four consecutive swings of the bat against as many Dodgers pitchers. Jackson became the first player to win the World Series MVP award for two teams. In 27 World Series games, he amassed 10 home runs, including a record five during the 1977 Series (the last three on first pitches), 24 RBI and a .357 batting average. Babe Ruth, Albert Pujols, and Pablo Sandoval are the only other players to hit three home runs in a single World Series game. Babe Ruth accomplishing the feat twice – in 1926 and 1928 (both in Game Four). With 25 total bases, Jackson also broke Ruth's record of 22 in the latter Series; this remains a World Series record, Willie Stargell tying it in the 1979 World Series. Chase Utley (2009, Philadelphia) and George Springer (2017, Houston) have since tied Jackson's record for most home runs in a single World Series.
Fans had been getting rowdy in anticipation of Game 6's end, and some had actually thrown firecrackers out near Jackson's area in right field. Jackson was alarmed enough about this to walk off the field, in order to get a helmet from the Yankee bench to protect himself. Shortly after this point, as the end of the game neared, fans were bold enough to climb over the wall, draping their legs over the side in preparation for the moment when they planned to rush onto the field. When that moment came, after pitcher Mike Torrez caught a pop-up for the game's final out, Jackson started running at top speed off the field, actually body-checking past some of these fans filling the playing field in the manner of a football linebacker.
The Bronx Zoo
The Yankees' home opener of the 1978 season, on April 13 against the Chicago White Sox, featured a new product, the "Reggie!" bar. In 1976, while playing in Baltimore, Jackson had said, "If I played in New York, they'd name a candy bar after me." The Standard Brands company responded with a circular "bar" of peanuts dipped in caramel and covered in chocolate, a confection that was originally named the "Wayne Bun" as it was made in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The "Reggie!" bars were handed to fans as they walked into Yankee Stadium. Jackson hit a home run, and when he returned to right field the next inning, fans began throwing the Reggie bars on the field in celebration. Jackson told the press that this confused him, thinking that maybe the fans did not like the candy. The Yankees won the game, 4–2.
But the Yankees could not maintain their success, as manager Billy Martin lost control. On July 23, after suspending Jackson for disobeying a sign during a July 17 game, Martin made a statement about his two main antagonists, referring to comments Jackson had made and team owner George Steinbrenner's 1972 violation of campaign-finance laws: "They're made for each other. One's a born liar, the other's convicted." It was moments like these that gave the Yankees the nickname "The Bronx Zoo."
Martin resigned the next day (some sources have said he was actually fired), and was replaced by Bob Lemon, a Hall of Fame pitcher for the Cleveland Indians who had been recently fired as manager of the White Sox. Steinbrenner, a Cleveland-area native, had hired former Indians star Al Rosen as his team president (replacing another Cleveland figure, Gabe Paul). Steinbrenner jumped at the chance to involve another hero of his youth with the Yankees; Lemon had been one of Steinbrenner's coaches during the Bombers' pennant-winning 1976 season.
After being 14 games behind the first-place Red Sox on July 18, the Yankees finished the season in a tie for first place. The two teams played a one-game playoff for the division title at Fenway Park, with the Yankees winning 5–4. Although the home run by light-hitting shortstop Bucky Dent in the seventh inning got the most notice, it was an eighth-inning home run by Jackson that gave the Yankees the fifth run they ended up needing. The next day, with the American League Championship Series with the Royals beginning, Jackson hit a home run off the Royals' top reliever at the time, Al Hrabosky, the flamboyant "Mad Hungarian." The Yankees won the pennant in four games, their third straight.
Jackson was once again in the center of events in the World Series, again against the Dodgers. Los Angeles won the first two games at Dodger Stadium, taking the second when rookie reliever Bob Welch struck Jackson out with two men on base with two outs in the ninth inning. The series then moved to New York, and after the Yankees won Game Three on several fine defensive plays by third baseman Graig Nettles, Game Four saw Jackson in the middle of a controversial play on the basepaths. In the sixth inning, after collecting an RBI single, Jackson was struck in the hip–possibly on purpose–by a ball thrown by Dodger shortstop Bill Russell as Jackson was being forced at second base. Instead of completing a double play that would have ended the inning, the ball caromed into foul territory and allowed Thurman Munson to score the Yankees' second run of the inning. In spite of the Dodgers' protests of interference on Jackson's part, the umpires allowed the play to stand. The Yankees tied the game in the eighth inning and eventually won in the tenth.
Following a blowout win in Game Five, both teams headed back to Los Angeles. In Game Six, Jackson got his revenge against Welch by blasting a two-run home run in the seventh inning, putting the finishing touch on a series-clinching, 7–2 win for the Yankees.
On April 19, 1979, following a Yankee loss to the Baltimore Orioles, Jackson started kidding Cliff Johnson about his inability to hit Goose Gossage. While Johnson was showering, Gossage insisted to Jackson that he struck out Johnson all the time when he used to face him. When Jackson relayed this information to Johnson upon his return to the locker room, a fight started between Johnson and the pitcher. Gossage tore ligaments in his right thumb and missed three months of the season. Teammate Tommy John called it "a demoralizing blow to the team." Jackson joined Gossage on the disabled list for a month in June with a torn calf muscle. In 131 games, he batted .297 with 29 home runs and 89 RBI.
1980–81 seasons
In 1980, Jackson batted .300 for the only time in his career, and his 41 home runs tied with Ben Oglivie of the Milwaukee Brewers for the American League lead. However, the Yankees were swept in the ALCS by the Kansas City Royals. That year, he won the inaugural Silver Slugger Award as a designated hitter.
As he entered the last year of his Yankee contract in 1981, Jackson endured several difficulties from George Steinbrenner. After the owner consulted Jackson about signing then-free agent Dave Winfield, Jackson expected Steinbrenner to work out a new contract for him as well. Steinbrenner never did (some say never intending to) and Jackson played the season as a free agent. Jackson started slowly with the bat, and when the 1981 Major League Baseball strike began, Steinbrenner invoked a clause in Jackson's contract forcing him to take a complete physical examination. Jackson was outraged and blasted Steinbrenner in the media. When the season resumed, Jackson's hitting improved, partly to show Steinbrenner he wasn't finished as a player. He hit a long home run into the upper deck in Game Five of the strike-forced 1981 American League Division Series with the Brewers, and the Yankees went on to win the pennant again. However, Jackson injured himself running the bases in Game Two of the 1981 ALCS and missed the first two games of the World Series, both of which the Yankees won.
Jackson was medically cleared to play Game Three, but manager Bob Lemon refused to start him or even play him, allegedly acting under orders from Steinbrenner. The Yankees lost that game and Jackson played the remainder of the series, hitting a home run in Game Four. However, they lost the last three games and the World Series to the Dodgers.
California Angels (1982–1986) and Oakland Athletics (1987)
Jackson became a free-agent again once the 1981 season was over. The owner of the California Angels, entertainer Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract.
On April 27, 1982, in Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry. The at-bat began with Yankee fans, angry at Steinbrenner for letting Jackson get away, starting the "Reg-GIE!" chant, and ended it with the fans chanting "Steinbrenner sucks!" By the time of Jackson's election to the Hall of Fame, Steinbrenner had begun to say that letting him go was the biggest mistake he had made as Yankee owner.
That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986, but lost the American League Championship Series both times. On September 17, 1984, on the 17th anniversary of the day he hit his first home run, he hit his 500th, at Anaheim Stadium off Bud Black of the Royals.
In 1987, he signed a one-year contract to return to the A's, wearing the number 44 with which he was now most associated rather than the number 9 he previously wore in Oakland. He announced he would retire after the season, at the age of 41. In his last at-bat, at Comiskey Park in Chicago on October 4, he collected a broken-bat single up the middle, but the A's lost to the White Sox, 5–2. Jackson was the last player in the major leagues to have played for the Kansas City Athletics.
Legacy
Jackson played 21 seasons and reached the post-season in 11 of them, winning six pennants and five World Series. His accomplishments include winning both the regular-season and World Series MVP awards in 1973, hitting 563 career home runs (sixth all-time at the time of his retirement), maintaining a .490 career slugging percentage, being named to 14 All-Star teams, and the dubious distinction of being the all-time leader in strikeouts with 2,597 (he finished with 13 more career strikeouts than hits) and second on the all-time list for most Golden sombreros (at least four strikeouts in a game) with 23 – he led this statistic until 2014, when he was surpassed by Ryan Howard. Jackson was the first major leaguer to hit 100 home runs for three different clubs, having hit over 100 for the Athletics, Yankees, and Angels. He is the only player in the 500 home run club that never had consecutive 30 home run seasons in a career.
With the Yankees, Jackson was the center of attention when it came to the media. Tommy John thought this was ultimately helpful to the team. "He was a two-way buffer between the team and Steinbrenner, and between us and the press. That allowed other guys to go about their business in relative peace."
Personal life
During his freshman year at Arizona State, he met Jennie Campos, a Mexican-American. Jackson asked Campos on a date, and discovered many similarities, including the ability to speak Spanish, and being raised in a single parent home (Campos's father was killed in the Korean War). An assistant football coach tried to break up the couple because Jackson was black and Campos was considered white. The coach contacted Campos's uncle, a wealthy benefactor of the school, and he warned the couple that their being together was a bad idea. But the relationship held up and she later became his wife. They divorced in 1973. Kimberly, his only child, was born in the late 1980s.
During the off-season, though still active in baseball, Jackson worked as a field reporter and color commentator for ABC Sports. Just over a month before signing with the Yankees in the fall of 1976, Jackson did analysis in the ABC booth with Keith Jackson and Howard Cosell the night his future team won the American League pennant on a homer by Chris Chambliss. During the 1980s (1983, 1985, and 1987 respectively), Jackson was given the task of presiding over the World Series Trophy presentations. In addition, Jackson did color commentary for the 1984 National League Championship Series (alongside Don Drysdale and Earl Weaver). After his retirement as an active player, Jackson returned to his color commentary role covering the 1988 American League Championship Series (alongside Gary Bender and Joe Morgan) for ABC.
Jackson appeared in the film The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, portraying an Angels outfielder hypnotically programmed to kill the Queen of the United Kingdom. He also appeared in Richie Rich, BASEketball, Summer of Sam and The Benchwarmers. In 1979, Jackson was a guest star in an episode of the television sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, and in an episode of The Love Boat as himself. He played himself in the Archie Bunker's Place episode "Reggie-3 Archie-0" in 1982, a 1990 MacGyver episode, "Squeeze Play", The Jeffersons episode "The Unnatural” from 1985, and the Malcolm in the Middle episode "Polly in the Middle", from 2004. Jackson was also considered for the role of Geordi La Forge in the series Star Trek: The Next Generation, a role that ultimately went to LeVar Burton. From 1981 to 1982, he hosted Reggie Jackson's World of Sports for Nickelodeon, which continued in reruns until 1985.
He co-authored a book in 2010, Sixty-Feet Six-Inches, with fellow Hall of Famer Bob Gibson. The book, whose title refers to the distance between the pitcher's mound and home plate, details their careers and approach to the game.
The 1988 Sega Master System baseball video game Reggie Jackson Baseball, endorsed by Jackson, was sold exclusively in the United States. Outside of the U.S., it was released as American Baseball.
Jackson was the de facto spokesperson for the Upper Deck Company during the early 1990s, appearing in numerous advertisements, appearances, and participating in the company's Heroes of Baseball exhibition games. This affiliation also included the company's "Find the Reggie" promotion which inserted 2500 autograph cards into packs of 1990 Upper Deck Baseball High Series packs. This inclusion of an autograph card marked an important first in what would become a very popular trend in the trading card hobby.
Jackson has endured three fires to personal property, including a June 20, 1976 fire at his home in Oakland that destroyed his 1973 MVP award, World Series trophies and All-Star rings. The same home was again burned down during the Oakland firestorm of 1991, which destroyed more baseball memorabilia in addition to other valuable collections. In 1988, a warehouse holding several of Jackson's collectible cars was damaged in a fire, with several of the cars, valued at $3.2 million, ruined.
In Tampa in 2005, Jackson's car was struck from behind and flipped over several times. Jackson escaped with minor injuries, later saying "...it was God tapping me on the shoulder... It makes you think about your purpose, about His plan for you."
Jackson called on former San Francisco 49ers head coach and ordained minister Mike Singletary for spiritual guidance. Jackson credits Singletary, stating "he helped me drop that shell I put up."
Vehicle- and parking- related attacks on Jackson
Jackson was the victim of an attempted shooting in the early morning hours of June 1, 1980. A few hours after hitting the game-winning 11th inning home run at a home game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Jackson drove his vehicle to the singles bars he frequented in a "posh" neighborhood of "swinging pubs and night spots amid expensive high-rise apartments" in Manhattan's Upper East Side to celebrate. While searching for a parking spot, he asked the driver of a vehicle that was blocking the way to move, and a passenger in that vehicle then began yelling obscenities and racial slurs at Jackson, before throwing a broken bottle at Jackson's car.
After other passerby recognized Jackson and began joking with him about apprehending them, one of the men in the other car, 25 year old Manhattan resident Angel Viera, allegedly returned with a .38 caliber revolver and fired three shots at Jackson, each missing. Viera was criminally charged with attempted murder and illegal possession of deadly weapon. News of the incident was the third story ever broadcast on CNN, which held its inaugural broadcast later that day.
In the early morning of August 12, 1980, as Jackson completed a night of celebrating his 400th career home run slugged several hours earlier against the White Sox, Jackson was accosted as he left his favored nightspot, Jim McMullen's Bar on the Upper East Side, and entered his Rolls-Royce parked outside. A young man leveled a large-bore pistol, likely a .45 caliber automatic, at Jackson's face. Jackson told police that the gun was the largest that he had ever seen, and Jackson believed that he was going to be shot. When the man lowered the weapon to reach into Jackson's car to take the ignition key, Jackson shoved the door open into the man, sending him sprawling. The man then ran off and dropped the car keys near the scene, eluding pursuers.
On March 22, 1985, Jackson was attacked after a California Angels spring training 8-1 exhibition victory over the Cleveland Indians at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, Arizona. Witnesses said that a man who had heckled Jackson throughout the game followed Jackson out to the field's parking lot to continue to do so. As Jackson finished signing autographs for fans he attempted to enter a vehicle belonging to teammate Brian Downing, but the man blocked his entry and insisted on fighting Jackson. According to Jackson, the man began pounding on the door and windshield of the car, yelling at Jackson in Spanish for an autograph and then to offer cocaine. Jackson and other fans nearby restrained the man until he calmed down, at which point the man again asked for an autograph.
On the morning of March 30, 1985, as Jackson left his bungalow at the Angels' spring training residence of the Gene Autry Hotel in Palm Springs (now the Parker Palm Springs) before a Giants game, he noticed two men driving an automobile on the hotel lawns and pedestrian paths while drinking alcohol. After the men recognized Jackson and asked for directions to the Palm Spring strip business district, he warned them to leave before they got into trouble and before he was forced to call the police. They then began heckling his baseball abilities and used an obscenity and racial slur against him. After the men left, Jackson called police, but before police arrived, the men came back to the hotel, asked the front desk to call Jackson to the front lobby, and when he arrived, threatened to assault Jackson. When Jackson grabbed one of the men, the other raised a tire iron over his head. As Jackson moved towards the second man, he ran away but was blocked by a parked car, allowing Jackson to capture him and seize the tire iron and pass it to a nearby Angels executive who had witnessed the event. One of the men was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and the other cited for disturbing the peace.
In an inverse situation, on July 19, 1977, Jackson was signing autographs for fans after the conclusion of the 1977 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, held at Yankee Stadium that year, in the stadium parking lot. According to a statement from Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, several teens entered the parking lot and began shouting obscenities at Jackson. Jackson ignored the teens until one made a "particularly vile remark" about Jackson's mother. Jackson then chased off the teens, one of whom fell while running. The teen claimed that Jackson's foot made contact with the teen's wrist, which Jackson denied. Against the advice of criminal court judge Bernard Klieger, the teen's lawyer insisted that a criminal complaint for harassment be authorized against Jackson, which Klieger did "reluctantly".
Post-retirement honors
Jackson and Steinbrenner reconciled, and Steinbrenner hired Jackson as a "special assistant to the principal owner", making him a consultant and a liaison to the team's players, particularly those of minority standing. By this point, the Yankees, long noted for being slow to adapt to changes in race relations, had come to develop many minority players in their farm system and seek out others via trades and free agency. Jackson usually appears in uniform at the Yankees' spring training complex in Tampa, Florida, and was sought out for advice by recent stars as Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. "His experience is vast, and he's especially good with the young players in our minor league system, the 17- and 18-year old kids. They respect him and what he's accomplished in his career. When Reggie Jackson tells a young kid how he might improve his swing, he tends to listen," said Hal Steinbrenner, Yankees managing general partner and co-chairperson.
Jackson was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1993. He chose to wear a Yankees cap on his Hall of Fame plaque after the Oakland Athletics unceremoniously fired him from a coaching position in 1991.
The Yankees retired Jackson's uniform number 44 on August 14, 1993, shortly after his induction into the Hall of Fame. The Athletics retired his number 9 on May 22, 2004. He is one of only ten MLB players to have their numbers retired by more than one team, and one of only four to have different numbers retired by two MLB teams.
In 1999, Jackson placed 48th on The Sporting News' 100 Greatest Baseball Players list. That same year, he was named one of 100 finalists for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, but was not one of the 30 players chosen by the fans.
The Yankees dedicated a plaque in Jackson's honor on July 6, 2002, that now hangs in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. The plaque calls him "One of the most colorful and exciting players of his era" and "a prolific hitter who thrived in pressure situations." Each Yankee so honored and still living was on hand for the dedication: Phil Rizzuto, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford and Don Mattingly. Ron Guidry, a teammate of Jackson's for all five of his seasons with the Yankees, was there, and was to be honored with a Monument Park plaque the next season. Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Ernie Banks, players whom Jackson admired while growing up, attended the ceremony at his invitation. Like Jackson, each was a member of the Hall of Fame and had hit over 500 career home runs. Each had also played in the Negro leagues, as had Jackson's father, Martinez Jackson.
Jackson expanded his love of antique cars into a chain of auto dealerships in California, and used his contacts to become one of the foremost traders of sports memorabilia. He has also been the public face of a group attempting to purchase a major league team, already having made unsuccessful attempts to buy the Athletics and the Angels. His attempt to acquire the Angels along with Jimmy Nederlander (minority owner of the New York Yankees), Jackie Autry (widow of former Angels owner Gene Autry) and other investors was thwarted by Mexican-American billionaire Arturo Moreno, who outbid Jackson's group by nearly $50 million for the team in the winter of 2002.
In a July 2012 interview with Sports Illustrated, Jackson was critical of the Baseball Writers' Association of America as he believes that the organization has lowered its standards for admission into the Hall of Fame. He has also been critical of players associated with performance-enhancing drugs, including distant cousin Barry Bonds, stating "I believe that Hank Aaron is the home run king, not Barry Bonds, as great of a player Bonds was." Of Alex Rodriguez, Jackson remarked, "Al's a very good friend. But I think there are real questions about his numbers. As much as I like him, what he admitted about his usage does cloud some of his numbers." On July 12, the Yankees released a statement regarding the Sports Illustrated interview in which Jackson said, "In trying to convey my feelings about a few issues that I am passionate about, I made the mistake of naming some specific players." It had been reported that he was told by the Yankees to steer clear from the team, although general manager Brian Cashman stated that Jackson had not been banned but only told to not join the club on a road trip to Boston and would later be free to interact with the club. Jackson stated, "I continue to have a strong relationship with the club, and look forward to continuing my role with the team."
In 2007, ESPN aired a miniseries called The Bronx Is Burning about the 1977 Yankees, with the conflicts and controversies involving Jackson, portrayed by Daniel Sunjata, a central part of the storyline. The series infuriated Jackson, as he felt that he was portrayed as selfish and arrogant. He also expressed frustration that the filmmakers did not consult with him while making the miniseries, saying "I feel betrayed."
In 2008, Jackson threw the ceremonial first pitch at the Yankees' opening-day game, the last at the original Yankee Stadium. He also threw out the first pitch at the first game at the new Yankee Stadium (an exhibition game).
On October 9, 2009, Jackson threw the ceremonial opening pitch at Game 2 of the ALDS between the Yankees and the Minnesota Twins. On October 18, 2010, the Ride of Fame honored Jackson with his image on a New York City double-decker tour bus.
On September 5, 2018, before an Athletics game against the Yankees in Oakland, Jackson was inducted into the new Oakland Athletics Hall of Fame. He joined fellow inductees Rickey Henderson, Dave Stewart, Dennis Eckersley, Catfish Hunter and Rollie Fingers.
See also
List of Puerto Ricans
DHL Hometown Heroes
Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
Major League Baseball titles leaders
List of Major League Baseball home run records
500 home run club
List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
List of Major League Baseball career total bases leaders
List of Major League Baseball career bases on balls leaders
List of Major League Baseball career at-bat leaders
List of Major League Baseball career games played leaders
List of Major League Baseball career plate appearance leaders
List of Major League Baseball career strikeouts by batters leaders
Notes
References
External links
ReggieJackson.com
The Sporting News' Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments: Reggie! Reggie! Reggie!
Sports Illustrated – covers
Reggie Jackson Exclusive Interview for MSG's The Bronx is Burning: Summer of '77
1946 births
Living people
People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania
African-American baseball players
African-American baseball coaches
All-American college baseball players
American League Most Valuable Player Award winners
American League All-Stars
American League home run champions
American League RBI champions
American sportspeople of Puerto Rican descent
Arizona State Sun Devils baseball players
Arizona State Sun Devils football players
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Kansas City Athletics players
Major League Baseball broadcasters
Major League Baseball designated hitters
Major League Baseball hitting coaches
Baseball players from Pennsylvania
Major League Baseball right fielders
World Series Most Valuable Player Award winners
New York Yankees executives
New York Yankees players
Oakland Athletics players
Oakland Athletics coaches
Baseball players from Oakland, California
Puerto Rican baseball players
Major League Baseball players with retired numbers
Lewiston Broncs players
Modesto Reds players
Birmingham A's players
American car collectors
Silver Slugger Award winners
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American sportspeople | true | [
"Salvatore Cazzetta is Canadian criminal and the Founder of the Rock Machine Motorcycle Club, convicted of narcotics-dealing. He also has a long association with outlaw motorcycle gangs, in Quebec.\n\nCazzetta and Maurice \"Mom\" Boucher were members of a small motorcycle gang, the \"SS\", which was under consideration for an invite to join the Hells Angels. When the Lennoxville massacre took place the two friends made different choices.\n\nElements of the Hells Angels' Montreal chapter had become convinced that five senior members of their club had been embezzling club profits, so they tricked them into a meeting, and killed them. According to true crime author RJ Parker this killing triggered distrust within other elements of Canada's underworld empire.\n\nAccording to Parker, Cazzetta was closely related to senior member of the Rizzuto Crime Family, and thus adopted the position that underworld members should not kill other members of their own gang. So, where Boucher did join the Hells Angels, Cazzetta formed his own motorcycle club, The Rock Machine, taking over turf formerly controlled by the weakened Montreal chapter of the Hells Angels.\n\nAccording to Parker, Boucher could not strike against his former friend, out of concern the powerful Quebec Mafia would intervene. He wrote that Boucher worked to rebuild his chapter's ties with other chapters and other underworld groups. He wrote that Cazzetta too forged alliances, principally with the Bandidos, another powerful motorcycle club, and that he forged ties with cocaine cartels, and became one of Montreal's principal importers of cocaine.\n\nCazzetta's cocaine smuggling and distribution triggered extra police scrutiny, and 1994, he was arrested with 11 tons of cocaine.\n\nCazzetta's detention triggered Boucher to attack the remainder of The Rock Machine. The struggle lasted six years, and many innocent bystanders were hurt or killed. Cazzetta was in prison during the war.\n\nBy the time Cazzetta had served his sentence Boucher himself was serving a life sentence, the war was over, and The Rock Machine had been absorbed into the Bandidos. Cazzetta chose to join the Hells Angels, in 2005. He would rise to lead the Hells Angels in Quebec.\n\nReferences\n\n1955 births\nLiving people\nCanadian gangsters of Italian descent\nCanadian crime bosses\nCanadian drug traffickers\nCriminals from Montreal\nOrganized crime in Montreal\nHells Angels",
"How to Destroy Angels is the debut extended play by British experimental band Coil. At this point, the group consisted only of John Balance and Peter Christopherson. It was originally released in 1984 on L.A.Y.L.A.H. Antirecords, but was later re-pressed in 1988.\n\nBackground\nThe record has two songs on it, each taking up each one side of vinyl in its entirety. The contents of the B-side varied over repressings: the first edition contained noise-filled grooves, the second edition held playable, multi-layered music, and the third edition contained a flat, grooveless face.\n\nOriginally, track \"How to Destroy Angels\" was intended to be the B-side of the track \"Silence and Secrecy\", but due to Christopherson and Balance leaving Psychic TV, owners of Temple Records, the idea was shelved. \"Silence and Secrecy\" has only been released in partial form by way of a two-minute excerpt on the Zos Kia and early Coil retrospective Transparent.\n\nBoth songs appeared, with additional remixes, on the album How to Destroy Angels (Remixes and Re-Recordings).\n\nHow to Destroy Angels is also the name of Trent Reznor's (of Nine Inch Nails fame) side project together with his wife Mariqueen Maandig and Atticus Ross. Reznor has acknowledged that the earlier Coil release was the source of the band's name and that he had run the idea by Peter Christopherson before using it.\n\nTrack listing\n\nSide one\n \"How to Destroy Angels\" – 16:45\n\nSide two\n \"Absolute Elsewhere\" – 22:47\n\nPersonnel \n John Balance – performer\n Peter Christopherson – performer\n\nNotes\n\nExternal links\n \n \n How to Destroy Angels at Brainwashed\n\n1984 debut EPs\nCoil (band) EPs"
] |
[
"Reggie Jackson",
"California Angels (1982-86) and Oakland Athletics (1987)",
"how did he join the angels",
"Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract."
] | C_a115a3119c04420bb2dbe71f36612907_0 | Did Jackson do well there | 2 | Did Jackson do well with the California Angels? | Reggie Jackson | Jackson became a free-agent again once the 1981 season was over. The owner of the California Angels, entertainer Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract. On April 27, 1982, in Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry. The at-bat began with Yankee fans, angry at Steinbrenner for letting Jackson get away, starting the "Reg-GIE!" chant, and ended it with the fans chanting "Steinbrenner sucks!" By the time of Jackson's election to the Hall of Fame, Steinbrenner had begun to say that letting him go was the biggest mistake he had made as Yankee owner. That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986, but lost the American League Championship Series both times. On September 17, 1984, on the 17th anniversary of the day he hit his first home run, he hit his 500th, at Anaheim Stadium off Bud Black of the Royals. In 1987, he signed a one-year contract to return to the A's, wearing the number 44 with which he was now most associated rather than the number 9 he previously wore in Oakland. He announced he would retire after the season, at the age of 41. In his last at-bat, at Comiskey Park in Chicago on October 4, he collected a broken-bat single up the middle, but the A's lost to the White Sox, 5-2. Jackson was the last player in the major leagues to have played for the Kansas City Athletics. CANNOTANSWER | Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry. | Reginald Martinez Jackson (born May 18, 1946) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and California Angels. Jackson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993.
Jackson was nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the Athletics and the Yankees. He helped Oakland win five consecutive American League West divisional titles, three consecutive American League pennants and three consecutive World Series titles, from 1972 to 1974. Jackson helped New York win four American League East divisional pennants, three American League pennants and two consecutive World Series titles, in 1977 and 1978. He also helped the California Angels win two AL West divisional titles in 1982 and 1986. Jackson hit three consecutive home runs at Yankee Stadium in the clinching game six of the 1977 World Series.
Jackson hit 563 career home runs and was an American League (AL) All-Star for 14 seasons. He won two Silver Slugger Awards, the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award in 1973, two World Series MVP Awards, and the Babe Ruth Award in 1977. The Yankees and Athletics retired his team uniform number in 1993 and 2004. Jackson currently serves as a special advisor to the Houston Astros.
Jackson led his teams to first place ten times over his 21-year career.
Early years
Jackson was born in the Wyncote neighborhood of Cheltenham Township, just north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Martinez Jackson, who was half Puerto Rican, worked as a tailor and was a former second baseman with the Newark Eagles of Negro league baseball. He was the youngest of four children from his mother, Clara. He also had two half-siblings from his father's first marriage. His parents divorced when he was four; his mother took four of his siblings with her, while his father took Reggie and one of the siblings from his first marriage, though one sibling later returned to Wyncote. Martinez Jackson was a single father, and theirs was one of the few black families in Wyncote.
Jackson graduated from Cheltenham High School in 1964, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track and field. A tailback in football, he injured his knee in an early season game in his junior year in the fall of 1962. He was told by the doctors he was never to play football again, but Jackson returned for the final game of the season. In that game, Jackson fractured five cervical vertebrae, which caused him to spend six weeks in the hospital and another month in a neck cast. Doctors told Jackson that he might never walk again, let alone play football, but Jackson defied the odds again. On the baseball team, he batted .550 and threw several no-hitters. In the middle of his senior year, Jackson's father was arrested for bootlegging and was sentenced to six months in jail.
Collegiate athletic career
For football, Jackson was recruited by Alabama, Georgia, and Oklahoma, all of whom were willing to break the color barrier just for Jackson. (Oklahoma had black football players before 1964, including Prentice Gautt, a star running back recruited in 1957, who played in the NFL.) Jackson declined Alabama and Georgia because he was fearful of the South at the time, and declined Oklahoma because they told him to stop dating white girls. For baseball, Jackson was scouted by Hans Lobert of the San Francisco Giants who was desperate to sign him. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins also made offers, and the hometown Philadelphia Phillies gave him a tryout but declined because of his "hitting skills".
His father wanted his son to go to college, where Jackson wanted to play both football and baseball. He accepted a football scholarship from Arizona State University in Tempe; his high school football coach knew ASU's head football coach Frank Kush, and they discussed the possibility of his playing both sports. After a recruiting trip, Kush decided that Jackson had the ability and willingness to work to join the squad.
One day after football practice, he approached ASU baseball coach Bobby Winkles and asked if he could join the team. Winkles said he would give Jackson a look, and the next day while still in his football gear, he hit a home run on the second pitch he saw; in five at bats he hit three home runs. He was allowed to practice with the team, but could not join the squad because the NCAA had a rule forbidding the use of freshman players. Jackson switched permanently to baseball following his freshman year, as he did not want to become a defensive back. To hone his skills, Winkles assigned him to a Baltimore Orioles-affiliated amateur team. He broke numerous team records for the squad, and the Orioles offered him a $50,000 signing bonus if he joined the team. Jackson declined the offer stating that he did not want to forfeit his college scholarship.
In the beginning of his sophomore year in 1966, Jackson replaced Rick Monday (the first player ever selected in the Major League Baseball draft and a future teammate with the A's) at center field. He broke the team record for most home runs in a single season, led the team in numerous other categories and was first team All-American. Many scouts were looking at him play, including Tom Greenwade of the New York Yankees (who discovered Mickey Mantle), and Danny Murtaugh of the Pittsburgh Pirates. In his final game at Arizona State, he showed his potential by being only a triple away from hitting for the cycle, making a sliding catch, and having an assist at home plate. Jackson was the first college player to hit a home run out of Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
Minor leagues
In the 1966 Major League Baseball draft on June 7, Jackson was selected by the Kansas City Athletics. He was the second overall pick, behind 17-year-old catcher Steve Chilcott, who was taken by the New York Mets. According to Jackson, Winkles told him that the Mets did not select him because he had a white girlfriend. Winkles later denied the story, stating that he did not know the reason why Jackson was not drafted by the Mets. It was later confirmed by Joe McDonald that the Mets drafted Steve Chilcott because of need, the person running the Mets at the time was George Weiss, so the true motive may never be known.
Jackson, age 20, signed with the A's for $95,000 on June 13 and reported for his first training camp with the Lewis-Clark Broncs of the short season Single-A Northwest League in Lewiston, Idaho, managed by Grady Wilson. He made his professional debut as a center fielder in the season opener on June 24 at Bethel Park in Eugene, Oregon, but was hitless in five at-bats. In the next game, Jackson singled in the first inning and homered in the ninth. In the home opener at Bengal Field in Lewiston on June 30, he hit a double and a triple. In his final game as a Bronc on July 6, Jackson was hit in the head by a pitch in the first inning, but stayed in the game and drove in runs with two sacrifice flies. Complaining of a headache, he left the game in the ninth inning, was admitted to St. Joseph's Hospital in Lewiston, and remained overnight for observation.
Jackson played for two Class A teams in 1966, with the Broncs for just 12 games, and then 56 games with Modesto in the California League, where he hit 21 homers. He began 1967 with the Birmingham A's in the Double-A Southern League in Birmingham, Alabama, where Jackson got his first taste of racism, being one of only a few blacks on the team. He credits the team's manager at the time, John McNamara, for helping him through that difficult season.
MLB career
Kansas City / Oakland Athletics (1967–1975)
Jackson debuted in the major leagues with the A's in 1967 in a Friday doubleheader in Kansas City on June 9, a shutout sweep of the Cleveland Indians by scores of and at Municipal Stadium. (Jackson had his first career hit in the nightcap, a lead-off triple in the fifth inning off of long reliever Orlando Peña.)
The Athletics moved west to Oakland prior to the 1968 season. Jackson hit 47 home runs in 1969, and was briefly ahead of the pace that Roger Maris set when he broke the single-season record for home runs with 61 in 1961, and that of Babe Ruth when he set the previous record of 60 in 1927. Jackson later said that the sportswriters were claiming he was "dating a lady named 'Ruth Maris.'"
Slumping at the plate in May 1970, Athletics owner Charlie O. Finley threatened to send Jackson to the minors. Jackson hit 23 home runs while batting .237 for the 1970 season. The Athletics sent him to play in Puerto Rico, where he played for the Santurce team and hit 20 homers and knocked in 47 runs to lead the league in both departments. Jackson hit a memorable home run in the 1971 All-Star Game at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Batting for the American League against Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis, the ball he hit soared above the right-field stands, striking the transformer of a light standard on the right field roof. While with the Angels in 1984, he hit a home run over that roof.
In 1971, the Athletics won the American League's West division, their first title of any kind since 1931, when they played in Philadelphia. They were swept in three games in the American League Championship Series by the Baltimore Orioles. The A's won the division again in 1972; their series with the Tigers went the full five games, and Jackson scored the tying run in the clincher on a steal of home. In the process, however, he tore a hamstring and was unable to play in the World Series. The A's still managed to defeat the Cincinnati Reds in seven games. It was the first championship won by a San Francisco Bay Area team in any major league sport.
During spring training in 1972, Jackson showed up with a mustache. Though his teammates wanted him to shave it off, Jackson refused. Finley liked the mustache so much that he offered each player $300 to grow one, and hosted a "Mustache Day" featuring the last MLB player to wear a mustache, Frenchy Bordagaray, as master of ceremonies.
Jackson helped the Athletics win the pennant again in 1973, and was named Most Valuable Player of the American League for the season. The A's defeated the New York Mets in seven hard-fought games in the World Series. This time, Jackson was not only able to play, but his performance led to his being awarded the Series's MVP award. In the third inning of that seventh game, which ended in a 5–2 score, the A's jumped out to a 4–0 lead as both Bert Campaneris and Jackson hit two-run home runs off Jon Matlack—the only two home runs Oakland hit the entire Series. The A's won the World Series again in 1974, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.
Besides hitting 254 home runs in nine years with the Athletics, Jackson was also no stranger to controversy or conflict in Oakland. Sports author Dick Crouser wrote, "When the late Al Helfer was broadcasting the Oakland A's games, he was not too enthusiastic about Reggie Jackson's speed or his hustle. Once, with Jackson on third, teammate Rick Monday hit a long home run. 'Jackson should score easily on that one,' commented Helfer. Crouser also noted that, "Nobody seems to be neutral on Reggie Jackson. You're either a fan or a detractor." When teammate Darold Knowles was asked if Jackson was a hotdog (i.e., a show-off), he famously replied, "There isn't enough mustard in the world to cover Reggie Jackson."
In February 1974, Jackson won an arbitration case for a $135,000 salary for the season, nearly doubling his previous year's $70,000. On June 5, outfielder Billy North and Jackson engaged in a clubhouse fight at Detroit's Tiger Stadium. Jackson injured his shoulder, and catcher Ray Fosse, attempting to separate the combatants, suffered a crushed disk in his neck, costing him three months on the disabled list. In October, the A's went on to win a third consecutive World Series.
Prior to the 1975 season, Jackson sought $168,000, but arbitration went against him this time and he settled for $140,000. The A's won a fifth consecutive division title, but the loss of pitcher Catfish Hunter, baseball's first modern free agent, left them vulnerable, and they were swept in the ALCS by the Boston Red Sox.
Baltimore Orioles (1976)
Paid $140,000 in 1975 and one of nine Oakland players refusing to sign 1976 contracts, Jackson sought a three-year $600,000 pact. With free agency imminent after the season and the expectations of higher salaries for which Athletics owner Finley was unwilling to pay, he was traded along with Ken Holtzman and minor-league right-handed pitcher Bill Van Bommel to the Baltimore Orioles for Don Baylor, Mike Torrez, and Paul Mitchell on April 2, 1976. Jackson had not signed a contract and threatened to sit out the season; he reported to the Orioles four weeks later, and made his first plate appearance on Baltimore and Oakland both finished second in their respective divisions in ; the Yankees and Royals advanced to the ALCS, the first without the A's since 1970. During Jackson's lone season in Baltimore he stole 28 bases, a career-best. Jim Palmer later wrote, "I would say Reggie Jackson was arrogant. But the word arrogant isn't arrogant enough." However, he thought the Orioles made a "brick-brained" mistake by not signing him to a contract, allowing him to become a free agent.
New York Yankees (1977–1981)
The Yankees won the pennant in 1976 but were swept in the World Series by the Reds. A month later on November 29, they signed Jackson to a five-year contract totaling $2.96 million ($ in current dollar terms). The number 9 that he had worn in Oakland and Baltimore was already used by Yankees third baseman Graig Nettles; Jackson asked for number 42 in memory of Jackie Robinson, but that number was given to pitching coach Art Fowler before the start of the season. Noting that Hank Aaron, at the time the holder of the career record for the most home runs, had just retired, Jackson asked for and received number 44 as a tribute to Aaron. Jackson wore number 20 for one game during spring training as a tribute to the also recently retired Frank Robinson, then he switched to number 44.
Jackson's first season with the Yankees in 1977 was a difficult one. Although team owner George Steinbrenner and several players, most notably catcher and team captain Thurman Munson and outfielder Lou Piniella, were excited about his arrival, the team's field manager Billy Martin was not. Martin had managed the Tigers in 1972, when Jackson's A's beat them in the playoffs. Jackson was once quoted as saying of Martin, "I hate him, but if I played for him, I'd probably love him."
The relationship between Jackson and his new teammates was strained due to an interview with SPORT magazine writer Robert Ward. During spring training at the Yankees' camp in Fort Lauderdale, Jackson and Ward were having drinks at a nearby bar. Jackson's version of the story is that he noted that the Yankees had won the pennant the year before, but lost the World Series to the Reds, and suggested that they needed one thing more to win it all, and pointed out the various ingredients in his drink. Ward suggested that Jackson might be "the straw that stirs the drink." But when the story appeared in the June 1977 issue of SPORT, Ward quoted Jackson as saying, "This team, it all flows from me. I'm the straw that stirs the drink. Maybe I should say me and Munson, but he can only stir it bad."Jackson has consistently denied saying anything negative about Munson in the interview and he has said that his quotes were taken out of context. However, Dave Anderson of The New York Times subsequently wrote that he had drinks with Jackson in July 1977, and that Jackson told him, "I'm still the straw that stirs the drink. Not Munson, not nobody else on this club." Regardless, as Munson was beloved by his teammates, Martin, Steinbrenner and Yankee fans, the relationships between them and Jackson became very strained.
On June 18, in a 10–4 loss to the Boston Red Sox in a nationally televised game at Fenway Park in Boston, Jim Rice, a powerful hitter but notoriously slow runner, hit a ball into shallow right field that Jackson appeared to weakly attempt to field. Jackson failed to reach the ball, which fell far in front of him, thereby allowing Rice to reach second base. Furious, Martin removed Jackson from the game without even waiting for the end of the inning, sending Paul Blair out to replace him. When Jackson arrived at the dugout, Martin yelled that Jackson had shown him up. They argued, and Jackson said that Martin's heavy drinking had impaired his judgment. Despite Jackson being 18 years younger, about two inches taller and maybe 40 pounds heavier, Martin lunged at him, and had to be restrained by coaches Yogi Berra and Elston Howard. Red Sox fans could see this in the dugout and began cheering wildly, and the NBC TV cameras showed the confrontation to the entire country.
Yankees management defused the situation by the next day, but the relationship between Jackson and Martin was permanently poisoned. However, George Steinbrenner made a crucial intervention when he gave Martin the option of either having Jackson bat in the fourth or "cleanup" spot for the rest of the season, or losing his job. Martin made the change and Jackson's hitting improved (he had 13 home runs and 49 RBIs over his next 50 games), and the team went on a winning streak. On September 14, while in a tight three-way race for the American League Eastern Division crown with the Red Sox and Orioles, Jackson ended a game with the Red Sox by hitting a home run off Reggie Cleveland, giving the Yankees a 2–0 win. The Yankees won the division by two and a half games over the Red Sox and Orioles, and came from behind in the top of the ninth inning in the fifth and final game of the American League Championship Series to beat the Kansas City Royals for the pennant.
Mr. October
During the World Series against the Dodgers, Munson was interviewed, and suggested that Jackson, because of his past post-season performances, might be the better interview subject. "Go ask Mister October", he said, giving Jackson a nickname that would stick. (In Oakland, he had been known as "Jax" and "Buck.") Jackson hit home runs in Games Four and Five of the Series.
Jackson's crowning achievement came with his three-home-run performance in World Series-clinching Game Six, each on the first pitch, off three Dodgers pitchers. (His first plate-appearance, during the second inning, resulted in a four-pitch walk.) The first came off starter Burt Hooton, and was a line drive shot into the lower right field seats at Yankee Stadium. The second was a much faster line drive off reliever Elías Sosa into roughly the same area. With the fans chanting his name, "Reg-GIE! Reg-GIE! Reg-GIE!", the third came off reliever Charlie Hough, a knuckleball pitcher, making the distance of this home run particularly remarkable. It was a towering drive into the black-painted batter's eye seats in center, away. Jackson stated afterwards that the scouting reports provided by Gene Michael and Birdie Tebbetts played a large role in his success. Their reports indicated that the Dodgers would attempt to pitch him inside and Jackson was prepared.
Since Jackson had hit a home run off Dodger pitcher Don Sutton in his last at bat in Game Five, his three home runs in Game Six meant that he had hit four home runs on four consecutive swings of the bat against as many Dodgers pitchers. Jackson became the first player to win the World Series MVP award for two teams. In 27 World Series games, he amassed 10 home runs, including a record five during the 1977 Series (the last three on first pitches), 24 RBI and a .357 batting average. Babe Ruth, Albert Pujols, and Pablo Sandoval are the only other players to hit three home runs in a single World Series game. Babe Ruth accomplishing the feat twice – in 1926 and 1928 (both in Game Four). With 25 total bases, Jackson also broke Ruth's record of 22 in the latter Series; this remains a World Series record, Willie Stargell tying it in the 1979 World Series. Chase Utley (2009, Philadelphia) and George Springer (2017, Houston) have since tied Jackson's record for most home runs in a single World Series.
Fans had been getting rowdy in anticipation of Game 6's end, and some had actually thrown firecrackers out near Jackson's area in right field. Jackson was alarmed enough about this to walk off the field, in order to get a helmet from the Yankee bench to protect himself. Shortly after this point, as the end of the game neared, fans were bold enough to climb over the wall, draping their legs over the side in preparation for the moment when they planned to rush onto the field. When that moment came, after pitcher Mike Torrez caught a pop-up for the game's final out, Jackson started running at top speed off the field, actually body-checking past some of these fans filling the playing field in the manner of a football linebacker.
The Bronx Zoo
The Yankees' home opener of the 1978 season, on April 13 against the Chicago White Sox, featured a new product, the "Reggie!" bar. In 1976, while playing in Baltimore, Jackson had said, "If I played in New York, they'd name a candy bar after me." The Standard Brands company responded with a circular "bar" of peanuts dipped in caramel and covered in chocolate, a confection that was originally named the "Wayne Bun" as it was made in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The "Reggie!" bars were handed to fans as they walked into Yankee Stadium. Jackson hit a home run, and when he returned to right field the next inning, fans began throwing the Reggie bars on the field in celebration. Jackson told the press that this confused him, thinking that maybe the fans did not like the candy. The Yankees won the game, 4–2.
But the Yankees could not maintain their success, as manager Billy Martin lost control. On July 23, after suspending Jackson for disobeying a sign during a July 17 game, Martin made a statement about his two main antagonists, referring to comments Jackson had made and team owner George Steinbrenner's 1972 violation of campaign-finance laws: "They're made for each other. One's a born liar, the other's convicted." It was moments like these that gave the Yankees the nickname "The Bronx Zoo."
Martin resigned the next day (some sources have said he was actually fired), and was replaced by Bob Lemon, a Hall of Fame pitcher for the Cleveland Indians who had been recently fired as manager of the White Sox. Steinbrenner, a Cleveland-area native, had hired former Indians star Al Rosen as his team president (replacing another Cleveland figure, Gabe Paul). Steinbrenner jumped at the chance to involve another hero of his youth with the Yankees; Lemon had been one of Steinbrenner's coaches during the Bombers' pennant-winning 1976 season.
After being 14 games behind the first-place Red Sox on July 18, the Yankees finished the season in a tie for first place. The two teams played a one-game playoff for the division title at Fenway Park, with the Yankees winning 5–4. Although the home run by light-hitting shortstop Bucky Dent in the seventh inning got the most notice, it was an eighth-inning home run by Jackson that gave the Yankees the fifth run they ended up needing. The next day, with the American League Championship Series with the Royals beginning, Jackson hit a home run off the Royals' top reliever at the time, Al Hrabosky, the flamboyant "Mad Hungarian." The Yankees won the pennant in four games, their third straight.
Jackson was once again in the center of events in the World Series, again against the Dodgers. Los Angeles won the first two games at Dodger Stadium, taking the second when rookie reliever Bob Welch struck Jackson out with two men on base with two outs in the ninth inning. The series then moved to New York, and after the Yankees won Game Three on several fine defensive plays by third baseman Graig Nettles, Game Four saw Jackson in the middle of a controversial play on the basepaths. In the sixth inning, after collecting an RBI single, Jackson was struck in the hip–possibly on purpose–by a ball thrown by Dodger shortstop Bill Russell as Jackson was being forced at second base. Instead of completing a double play that would have ended the inning, the ball caromed into foul territory and allowed Thurman Munson to score the Yankees' second run of the inning. In spite of the Dodgers' protests of interference on Jackson's part, the umpires allowed the play to stand. The Yankees tied the game in the eighth inning and eventually won in the tenth.
Following a blowout win in Game Five, both teams headed back to Los Angeles. In Game Six, Jackson got his revenge against Welch by blasting a two-run home run in the seventh inning, putting the finishing touch on a series-clinching, 7–2 win for the Yankees.
On April 19, 1979, following a Yankee loss to the Baltimore Orioles, Jackson started kidding Cliff Johnson about his inability to hit Goose Gossage. While Johnson was showering, Gossage insisted to Jackson that he struck out Johnson all the time when he used to face him. When Jackson relayed this information to Johnson upon his return to the locker room, a fight started between Johnson and the pitcher. Gossage tore ligaments in his right thumb and missed three months of the season. Teammate Tommy John called it "a demoralizing blow to the team." Jackson joined Gossage on the disabled list for a month in June with a torn calf muscle. In 131 games, he batted .297 with 29 home runs and 89 RBI.
1980–81 seasons
In 1980, Jackson batted .300 for the only time in his career, and his 41 home runs tied with Ben Oglivie of the Milwaukee Brewers for the American League lead. However, the Yankees were swept in the ALCS by the Kansas City Royals. That year, he won the inaugural Silver Slugger Award as a designated hitter.
As he entered the last year of his Yankee contract in 1981, Jackson endured several difficulties from George Steinbrenner. After the owner consulted Jackson about signing then-free agent Dave Winfield, Jackson expected Steinbrenner to work out a new contract for him as well. Steinbrenner never did (some say never intending to) and Jackson played the season as a free agent. Jackson started slowly with the bat, and when the 1981 Major League Baseball strike began, Steinbrenner invoked a clause in Jackson's contract forcing him to take a complete physical examination. Jackson was outraged and blasted Steinbrenner in the media. When the season resumed, Jackson's hitting improved, partly to show Steinbrenner he wasn't finished as a player. He hit a long home run into the upper deck in Game Five of the strike-forced 1981 American League Division Series with the Brewers, and the Yankees went on to win the pennant again. However, Jackson injured himself running the bases in Game Two of the 1981 ALCS and missed the first two games of the World Series, both of which the Yankees won.
Jackson was medically cleared to play Game Three, but manager Bob Lemon refused to start him or even play him, allegedly acting under orders from Steinbrenner. The Yankees lost that game and Jackson played the remainder of the series, hitting a home run in Game Four. However, they lost the last three games and the World Series to the Dodgers.
California Angels (1982–1986) and Oakland Athletics (1987)
Jackson became a free-agent again once the 1981 season was over. The owner of the California Angels, entertainer Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract.
On April 27, 1982, in Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry. The at-bat began with Yankee fans, angry at Steinbrenner for letting Jackson get away, starting the "Reg-GIE!" chant, and ended it with the fans chanting "Steinbrenner sucks!" By the time of Jackson's election to the Hall of Fame, Steinbrenner had begun to say that letting him go was the biggest mistake he had made as Yankee owner.
That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986, but lost the American League Championship Series both times. On September 17, 1984, on the 17th anniversary of the day he hit his first home run, he hit his 500th, at Anaheim Stadium off Bud Black of the Royals.
In 1987, he signed a one-year contract to return to the A's, wearing the number 44 with which he was now most associated rather than the number 9 he previously wore in Oakland. He announced he would retire after the season, at the age of 41. In his last at-bat, at Comiskey Park in Chicago on October 4, he collected a broken-bat single up the middle, but the A's lost to the White Sox, 5–2. Jackson was the last player in the major leagues to have played for the Kansas City Athletics.
Legacy
Jackson played 21 seasons and reached the post-season in 11 of them, winning six pennants and five World Series. His accomplishments include winning both the regular-season and World Series MVP awards in 1973, hitting 563 career home runs (sixth all-time at the time of his retirement), maintaining a .490 career slugging percentage, being named to 14 All-Star teams, and the dubious distinction of being the all-time leader in strikeouts with 2,597 (he finished with 13 more career strikeouts than hits) and second on the all-time list for most Golden sombreros (at least four strikeouts in a game) with 23 – he led this statistic until 2014, when he was surpassed by Ryan Howard. Jackson was the first major leaguer to hit 100 home runs for three different clubs, having hit over 100 for the Athletics, Yankees, and Angels. He is the only player in the 500 home run club that never had consecutive 30 home run seasons in a career.
With the Yankees, Jackson was the center of attention when it came to the media. Tommy John thought this was ultimately helpful to the team. "He was a two-way buffer between the team and Steinbrenner, and between us and the press. That allowed other guys to go about their business in relative peace."
Personal life
During his freshman year at Arizona State, he met Jennie Campos, a Mexican-American. Jackson asked Campos on a date, and discovered many similarities, including the ability to speak Spanish, and being raised in a single parent home (Campos's father was killed in the Korean War). An assistant football coach tried to break up the couple because Jackson was black and Campos was considered white. The coach contacted Campos's uncle, a wealthy benefactor of the school, and he warned the couple that their being together was a bad idea. But the relationship held up and she later became his wife. They divorced in 1973. Kimberly, his only child, was born in the late 1980s.
During the off-season, though still active in baseball, Jackson worked as a field reporter and color commentator for ABC Sports. Just over a month before signing with the Yankees in the fall of 1976, Jackson did analysis in the ABC booth with Keith Jackson and Howard Cosell the night his future team won the American League pennant on a homer by Chris Chambliss. During the 1980s (1983, 1985, and 1987 respectively), Jackson was given the task of presiding over the World Series Trophy presentations. In addition, Jackson did color commentary for the 1984 National League Championship Series (alongside Don Drysdale and Earl Weaver). After his retirement as an active player, Jackson returned to his color commentary role covering the 1988 American League Championship Series (alongside Gary Bender and Joe Morgan) for ABC.
Jackson appeared in the film The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, portraying an Angels outfielder hypnotically programmed to kill the Queen of the United Kingdom. He also appeared in Richie Rich, BASEketball, Summer of Sam and The Benchwarmers. In 1979, Jackson was a guest star in an episode of the television sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, and in an episode of The Love Boat as himself. He played himself in the Archie Bunker's Place episode "Reggie-3 Archie-0" in 1982, a 1990 MacGyver episode, "Squeeze Play", The Jeffersons episode "The Unnatural” from 1985, and the Malcolm in the Middle episode "Polly in the Middle", from 2004. Jackson was also considered for the role of Geordi La Forge in the series Star Trek: The Next Generation, a role that ultimately went to LeVar Burton. From 1981 to 1982, he hosted Reggie Jackson's World of Sports for Nickelodeon, which continued in reruns until 1985.
He co-authored a book in 2010, Sixty-Feet Six-Inches, with fellow Hall of Famer Bob Gibson. The book, whose title refers to the distance between the pitcher's mound and home plate, details their careers and approach to the game.
The 1988 Sega Master System baseball video game Reggie Jackson Baseball, endorsed by Jackson, was sold exclusively in the United States. Outside of the U.S., it was released as American Baseball.
Jackson was the de facto spokesperson for the Upper Deck Company during the early 1990s, appearing in numerous advertisements, appearances, and participating in the company's Heroes of Baseball exhibition games. This affiliation also included the company's "Find the Reggie" promotion which inserted 2500 autograph cards into packs of 1990 Upper Deck Baseball High Series packs. This inclusion of an autograph card marked an important first in what would become a very popular trend in the trading card hobby.
Jackson has endured three fires to personal property, including a June 20, 1976 fire at his home in Oakland that destroyed his 1973 MVP award, World Series trophies and All-Star rings. The same home was again burned down during the Oakland firestorm of 1991, which destroyed more baseball memorabilia in addition to other valuable collections. In 1988, a warehouse holding several of Jackson's collectible cars was damaged in a fire, with several of the cars, valued at $3.2 million, ruined.
In Tampa in 2005, Jackson's car was struck from behind and flipped over several times. Jackson escaped with minor injuries, later saying "...it was God tapping me on the shoulder... It makes you think about your purpose, about His plan for you."
Jackson called on former San Francisco 49ers head coach and ordained minister Mike Singletary for spiritual guidance. Jackson credits Singletary, stating "he helped me drop that shell I put up."
Vehicle- and parking- related attacks on Jackson
Jackson was the victim of an attempted shooting in the early morning hours of June 1, 1980. A few hours after hitting the game-winning 11th inning home run at a home game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Jackson drove his vehicle to the singles bars he frequented in a "posh" neighborhood of "swinging pubs and night spots amid expensive high-rise apartments" in Manhattan's Upper East Side to celebrate. While searching for a parking spot, he asked the driver of a vehicle that was blocking the way to move, and a passenger in that vehicle then began yelling obscenities and racial slurs at Jackson, before throwing a broken bottle at Jackson's car.
After other passerby recognized Jackson and began joking with him about apprehending them, one of the men in the other car, 25 year old Manhattan resident Angel Viera, allegedly returned with a .38 caliber revolver and fired three shots at Jackson, each missing. Viera was criminally charged with attempted murder and illegal possession of deadly weapon. News of the incident was the third story ever broadcast on CNN, which held its inaugural broadcast later that day.
In the early morning of August 12, 1980, as Jackson completed a night of celebrating his 400th career home run slugged several hours earlier against the White Sox, Jackson was accosted as he left his favored nightspot, Jim McMullen's Bar on the Upper East Side, and entered his Rolls-Royce parked outside. A young man leveled a large-bore pistol, likely a .45 caliber automatic, at Jackson's face. Jackson told police that the gun was the largest that he had ever seen, and Jackson believed that he was going to be shot. When the man lowered the weapon to reach into Jackson's car to take the ignition key, Jackson shoved the door open into the man, sending him sprawling. The man then ran off and dropped the car keys near the scene, eluding pursuers.
On March 22, 1985, Jackson was attacked after a California Angels spring training 8-1 exhibition victory over the Cleveland Indians at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, Arizona. Witnesses said that a man who had heckled Jackson throughout the game followed Jackson out to the field's parking lot to continue to do so. As Jackson finished signing autographs for fans he attempted to enter a vehicle belonging to teammate Brian Downing, but the man blocked his entry and insisted on fighting Jackson. According to Jackson, the man began pounding on the door and windshield of the car, yelling at Jackson in Spanish for an autograph and then to offer cocaine. Jackson and other fans nearby restrained the man until he calmed down, at which point the man again asked for an autograph.
On the morning of March 30, 1985, as Jackson left his bungalow at the Angels' spring training residence of the Gene Autry Hotel in Palm Springs (now the Parker Palm Springs) before a Giants game, he noticed two men driving an automobile on the hotel lawns and pedestrian paths while drinking alcohol. After the men recognized Jackson and asked for directions to the Palm Spring strip business district, he warned them to leave before they got into trouble and before he was forced to call the police. They then began heckling his baseball abilities and used an obscenity and racial slur against him. After the men left, Jackson called police, but before police arrived, the men came back to the hotel, asked the front desk to call Jackson to the front lobby, and when he arrived, threatened to assault Jackson. When Jackson grabbed one of the men, the other raised a tire iron over his head. As Jackson moved towards the second man, he ran away but was blocked by a parked car, allowing Jackson to capture him and seize the tire iron and pass it to a nearby Angels executive who had witnessed the event. One of the men was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and the other cited for disturbing the peace.
In an inverse situation, on July 19, 1977, Jackson was signing autographs for fans after the conclusion of the 1977 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, held at Yankee Stadium that year, in the stadium parking lot. According to a statement from Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, several teens entered the parking lot and began shouting obscenities at Jackson. Jackson ignored the teens until one made a "particularly vile remark" about Jackson's mother. Jackson then chased off the teens, one of whom fell while running. The teen claimed that Jackson's foot made contact with the teen's wrist, which Jackson denied. Against the advice of criminal court judge Bernard Klieger, the teen's lawyer insisted that a criminal complaint for harassment be authorized against Jackson, which Klieger did "reluctantly".
Post-retirement honors
Jackson and Steinbrenner reconciled, and Steinbrenner hired Jackson as a "special assistant to the principal owner", making him a consultant and a liaison to the team's players, particularly those of minority standing. By this point, the Yankees, long noted for being slow to adapt to changes in race relations, had come to develop many minority players in their farm system and seek out others via trades and free agency. Jackson usually appears in uniform at the Yankees' spring training complex in Tampa, Florida, and was sought out for advice by recent stars as Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. "His experience is vast, and he's especially good with the young players in our minor league system, the 17- and 18-year old kids. They respect him and what he's accomplished in his career. When Reggie Jackson tells a young kid how he might improve his swing, he tends to listen," said Hal Steinbrenner, Yankees managing general partner and co-chairperson.
Jackson was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1993. He chose to wear a Yankees cap on his Hall of Fame plaque after the Oakland Athletics unceremoniously fired him from a coaching position in 1991.
The Yankees retired Jackson's uniform number 44 on August 14, 1993, shortly after his induction into the Hall of Fame. The Athletics retired his number 9 on May 22, 2004. He is one of only ten MLB players to have their numbers retired by more than one team, and one of only four to have different numbers retired by two MLB teams.
In 1999, Jackson placed 48th on The Sporting News' 100 Greatest Baseball Players list. That same year, he was named one of 100 finalists for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, but was not one of the 30 players chosen by the fans.
The Yankees dedicated a plaque in Jackson's honor on July 6, 2002, that now hangs in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. The plaque calls him "One of the most colorful and exciting players of his era" and "a prolific hitter who thrived in pressure situations." Each Yankee so honored and still living was on hand for the dedication: Phil Rizzuto, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford and Don Mattingly. Ron Guidry, a teammate of Jackson's for all five of his seasons with the Yankees, was there, and was to be honored with a Monument Park plaque the next season. Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Ernie Banks, players whom Jackson admired while growing up, attended the ceremony at his invitation. Like Jackson, each was a member of the Hall of Fame and had hit over 500 career home runs. Each had also played in the Negro leagues, as had Jackson's father, Martinez Jackson.
Jackson expanded his love of antique cars into a chain of auto dealerships in California, and used his contacts to become one of the foremost traders of sports memorabilia. He has also been the public face of a group attempting to purchase a major league team, already having made unsuccessful attempts to buy the Athletics and the Angels. His attempt to acquire the Angels along with Jimmy Nederlander (minority owner of the New York Yankees), Jackie Autry (widow of former Angels owner Gene Autry) and other investors was thwarted by Mexican-American billionaire Arturo Moreno, who outbid Jackson's group by nearly $50 million for the team in the winter of 2002.
In a July 2012 interview with Sports Illustrated, Jackson was critical of the Baseball Writers' Association of America as he believes that the organization has lowered its standards for admission into the Hall of Fame. He has also been critical of players associated with performance-enhancing drugs, including distant cousin Barry Bonds, stating "I believe that Hank Aaron is the home run king, not Barry Bonds, as great of a player Bonds was." Of Alex Rodriguez, Jackson remarked, "Al's a very good friend. But I think there are real questions about his numbers. As much as I like him, what he admitted about his usage does cloud some of his numbers." On July 12, the Yankees released a statement regarding the Sports Illustrated interview in which Jackson said, "In trying to convey my feelings about a few issues that I am passionate about, I made the mistake of naming some specific players." It had been reported that he was told by the Yankees to steer clear from the team, although general manager Brian Cashman stated that Jackson had not been banned but only told to not join the club on a road trip to Boston and would later be free to interact with the club. Jackson stated, "I continue to have a strong relationship with the club, and look forward to continuing my role with the team."
In 2007, ESPN aired a miniseries called The Bronx Is Burning about the 1977 Yankees, with the conflicts and controversies involving Jackson, portrayed by Daniel Sunjata, a central part of the storyline. The series infuriated Jackson, as he felt that he was portrayed as selfish and arrogant. He also expressed frustration that the filmmakers did not consult with him while making the miniseries, saying "I feel betrayed."
In 2008, Jackson threw the ceremonial first pitch at the Yankees' opening-day game, the last at the original Yankee Stadium. He also threw out the first pitch at the first game at the new Yankee Stadium (an exhibition game).
On October 9, 2009, Jackson threw the ceremonial opening pitch at Game 2 of the ALDS between the Yankees and the Minnesota Twins. On October 18, 2010, the Ride of Fame honored Jackson with his image on a New York City double-decker tour bus.
On September 5, 2018, before an Athletics game against the Yankees in Oakland, Jackson was inducted into the new Oakland Athletics Hall of Fame. He joined fellow inductees Rickey Henderson, Dave Stewart, Dennis Eckersley, Catfish Hunter and Rollie Fingers.
See also
List of Puerto Ricans
DHL Hometown Heroes
Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
Major League Baseball titles leaders
List of Major League Baseball home run records
500 home run club
List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
List of Major League Baseball career total bases leaders
List of Major League Baseball career bases on balls leaders
List of Major League Baseball career at-bat leaders
List of Major League Baseball career games played leaders
List of Major League Baseball career plate appearance leaders
List of Major League Baseball career strikeouts by batters leaders
Notes
References
External links
ReggieJackson.com
The Sporting News' Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments: Reggie! Reggie! Reggie!
Sports Illustrated – covers
Reggie Jackson Exclusive Interview for MSG's The Bronx is Burning: Summer of '77
1946 births
Living people
People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania
African-American baseball players
African-American baseball coaches
All-American college baseball players
American League Most Valuable Player Award winners
American League All-Stars
American League home run champions
American League RBI champions
American sportspeople of Puerto Rican descent
Arizona State Sun Devils baseball players
Arizona State Sun Devils football players
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Kansas City Athletics players
Major League Baseball broadcasters
Major League Baseball designated hitters
Major League Baseball hitting coaches
Baseball players from Pennsylvania
Major League Baseball right fielders
World Series Most Valuable Player Award winners
New York Yankees executives
New York Yankees players
Oakland Athletics players
Oakland Athletics coaches
Baseball players from Oakland, California
Puerto Rican baseball players
Major League Baseball players with retired numbers
Lewiston Broncs players
Modesto Reds players
Birmingham A's players
American car collectors
Silver Slugger Award winners
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American sportspeople | true | [
"José Gomes Filho (August 31, 1919 – July 10, 1982), more commonly known as Jackson do Pandeiro (), was a Brazilian percussionist and singer. He is described by Allmusic as a key promotor of Northeastern Brazilian music (along with Luiz Gonzaga) and one of the most inventive and influential Brazilian musicians, though much of his recognition was posthumous.\n\nBiography\n\nJackson was born in Paraíba, Brazil, a region in the northeast of the country. His mother, Flora Mourão, was a musician and singer who played several percussion instruments. As a child he had originally wanted to play the accordion, but his parents could not afford it and bought him a pandeiro, a type of tambourine, in its place. He began playing music with the zabumba, however, to assist his mother in performances. When Jackson was 13 years old his family moved to Campina Grande, a city in Paraíba. After the move, Jackson lived in João Pessoa, where he performed in various cabarets and on the radio; and also to Recife, where he eventually began working in a radio station and took the pseudonym of Jackson do Pandeiro. Originally his mother had nicknamed him \"Jack\", after the actor Jack Perry, who played parts in cowboy films which were popular in Brazil during Jackson's youth. He had his first hit with \"Sebastiana\", a song based on traditional Brazilian rhythms.\n\nThe single was followed by a number of albums that were successful with audiences throughout Brazil. Soon after, he joined his future wife Almira Castilhos de Albuquerque on a trip to Rio de Janeiro, financed by his recent success. The two had been performing in a duo together and were eventually married in October 1954. However, the duo and marriage were jointly ended in 1967, and Jackson's popularity diminished soon after. Jackson did find some greater success later, though, when the popular singer and guitarist Gilberto Gil, as well as the singer Gal Costa, rerecorded some of his material in 1972.\n\nDiscography\n1954: Sua Majestade – o Rei do Ritmo\n1955: Jackson do Pandeiro\n1956: Forró do Jackson\n1957: Jackson e Almira – Os Donos do Ritmo\n1958: Forró do Jackson\n1959: Jackson do Pandeiro\n1960: Cantando de Norte a Sul\n1961: Ritmo, Melodia e a Personalidade de Jackson do Pandeiro\n1961: Mais Ritmo\n1962: A Alegria da Casa\n1962: ...É Batucada!\n1963: Forró do Zé Lagoa\n1964: Tem Jabaculê\n1964: Coisas Nossas\n1965: ...E Vamos Nós!\n1966: O Cabra da Peste\n1967: A Braza do Norte\n1970: Aqui Tô Eu\n1971: O Dono do Forró\n1972: Sina de Cigarra\n1973: Tem Mulher, Tô Lá\n1974: Nossas Raízes\n1975: A Tuba da Muié\n1976: É Sucesso\n1977: Um Nordestino Alegre\n1978: Alegria Minha Gente\n1980: São João Autêntico de Jackson do Pandeiro\n1981: Isso é que é Forró!\n\nReferences\n\n1919 births\n1982 deaths\n20th-century Brazilian male singers",
"\"Do What You Do\" is a song by American R&B singer Jermaine Jackson, sibling of singers Michael and Janet Jackson and former member of The Jackson 5. It was released as the second single from his 1984 album, entitled Jermaine Jackson in the United States but marketed as Dynamite in the United Kingdom and other countries.\n\nThis was one of Jermaine's first releases with Arista Records after a long recording career with Motown Records, first as a member of The Jackson 5, then later as a solo artist. Although Jermaine Jackson never achieved the same level of solo success as sister Janet or brother Michael, \"Do What You Do\" was one of six top 20 solo hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the singer. The song peaked at No. 13 on the Hot 100, No. 14 on the Billboard R&B chart, and spent three weeks atop the Billboard adult contemporary chart. In Canada it peaked on the RPM Top Singles chart at No. 29. The song was one of Jackson's biggest hits in the UK, where it reached No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart.\n\nIn the ballad, Jackson is requesting that his lover continue with certain enjoyable events they have both experienced in the past: Why don't you do what you do / when you did what you did to me?\n\nSamples and covers\nThe song was sampled by Lil Wayne for \"How Could Something\" and by Chamillionaire for \"Void In My Life\".\n\nMusic video\nThe music video was an imitation of The Godfather and supermodel Iman played Jackson's love interest who eventually betrays him by trying to shoot him. After his henchmen take her away, it is not revealed what happened to her.\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nCertifications\n\nSee also\n List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1984 (U.S.)\n\nReferences\n\n1984 singles\nJermaine Jackson songs\nMusic videos directed by Bob Giraldi\nContemporary R&B ballads\n1984 songs\n1980s ballads"
] |
[
"Reggie Jackson",
"California Angels (1982-86) and Oakland Athletics (1987)",
"how did he join the angels",
"Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract.",
"Did Jackson do well there",
"Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry."
] | C_a115a3119c04420bb2dbe71f36612907_0 | what else did he achieve there | 3 | Besides hitting a home run to Ron Guidry at Yankee Stadium, what else did Reggie Jackson achieve with the California Angels? | Reggie Jackson | Jackson became a free-agent again once the 1981 season was over. The owner of the California Angels, entertainer Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract. On April 27, 1982, in Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry. The at-bat began with Yankee fans, angry at Steinbrenner for letting Jackson get away, starting the "Reg-GIE!" chant, and ended it with the fans chanting "Steinbrenner sucks!" By the time of Jackson's election to the Hall of Fame, Steinbrenner had begun to say that letting him go was the biggest mistake he had made as Yankee owner. That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986, but lost the American League Championship Series both times. On September 17, 1984, on the 17th anniversary of the day he hit his first home run, he hit his 500th, at Anaheim Stadium off Bud Black of the Royals. In 1987, he signed a one-year contract to return to the A's, wearing the number 44 with which he was now most associated rather than the number 9 he previously wore in Oakland. He announced he would retire after the season, at the age of 41. In his last at-bat, at Comiskey Park in Chicago on October 4, he collected a broken-bat single up the middle, but the A's lost to the White Sox, 5-2. Jackson was the last player in the major leagues to have played for the Kansas City Athletics. CANNOTANSWER | That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986, | Reginald Martinez Jackson (born May 18, 1946) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and California Angels. Jackson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993.
Jackson was nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the Athletics and the Yankees. He helped Oakland win five consecutive American League West divisional titles, three consecutive American League pennants and three consecutive World Series titles, from 1972 to 1974. Jackson helped New York win four American League East divisional pennants, three American League pennants and two consecutive World Series titles, in 1977 and 1978. He also helped the California Angels win two AL West divisional titles in 1982 and 1986. Jackson hit three consecutive home runs at Yankee Stadium in the clinching game six of the 1977 World Series.
Jackson hit 563 career home runs and was an American League (AL) All-Star for 14 seasons. He won two Silver Slugger Awards, the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award in 1973, two World Series MVP Awards, and the Babe Ruth Award in 1977. The Yankees and Athletics retired his team uniform number in 1993 and 2004. Jackson currently serves as a special advisor to the Houston Astros.
Jackson led his teams to first place ten times over his 21-year career.
Early years
Jackson was born in the Wyncote neighborhood of Cheltenham Township, just north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Martinez Jackson, who was half Puerto Rican, worked as a tailor and was a former second baseman with the Newark Eagles of Negro league baseball. He was the youngest of four children from his mother, Clara. He also had two half-siblings from his father's first marriage. His parents divorced when he was four; his mother took four of his siblings with her, while his father took Reggie and one of the siblings from his first marriage, though one sibling later returned to Wyncote. Martinez Jackson was a single father, and theirs was one of the few black families in Wyncote.
Jackson graduated from Cheltenham High School in 1964, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track and field. A tailback in football, he injured his knee in an early season game in his junior year in the fall of 1962. He was told by the doctors he was never to play football again, but Jackson returned for the final game of the season. In that game, Jackson fractured five cervical vertebrae, which caused him to spend six weeks in the hospital and another month in a neck cast. Doctors told Jackson that he might never walk again, let alone play football, but Jackson defied the odds again. On the baseball team, he batted .550 and threw several no-hitters. In the middle of his senior year, Jackson's father was arrested for bootlegging and was sentenced to six months in jail.
Collegiate athletic career
For football, Jackson was recruited by Alabama, Georgia, and Oklahoma, all of whom were willing to break the color barrier just for Jackson. (Oklahoma had black football players before 1964, including Prentice Gautt, a star running back recruited in 1957, who played in the NFL.) Jackson declined Alabama and Georgia because he was fearful of the South at the time, and declined Oklahoma because they told him to stop dating white girls. For baseball, Jackson was scouted by Hans Lobert of the San Francisco Giants who was desperate to sign him. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins also made offers, and the hometown Philadelphia Phillies gave him a tryout but declined because of his "hitting skills".
His father wanted his son to go to college, where Jackson wanted to play both football and baseball. He accepted a football scholarship from Arizona State University in Tempe; his high school football coach knew ASU's head football coach Frank Kush, and they discussed the possibility of his playing both sports. After a recruiting trip, Kush decided that Jackson had the ability and willingness to work to join the squad.
One day after football practice, he approached ASU baseball coach Bobby Winkles and asked if he could join the team. Winkles said he would give Jackson a look, and the next day while still in his football gear, he hit a home run on the second pitch he saw; in five at bats he hit three home runs. He was allowed to practice with the team, but could not join the squad because the NCAA had a rule forbidding the use of freshman players. Jackson switched permanently to baseball following his freshman year, as he did not want to become a defensive back. To hone his skills, Winkles assigned him to a Baltimore Orioles-affiliated amateur team. He broke numerous team records for the squad, and the Orioles offered him a $50,000 signing bonus if he joined the team. Jackson declined the offer stating that he did not want to forfeit his college scholarship.
In the beginning of his sophomore year in 1966, Jackson replaced Rick Monday (the first player ever selected in the Major League Baseball draft and a future teammate with the A's) at center field. He broke the team record for most home runs in a single season, led the team in numerous other categories and was first team All-American. Many scouts were looking at him play, including Tom Greenwade of the New York Yankees (who discovered Mickey Mantle), and Danny Murtaugh of the Pittsburgh Pirates. In his final game at Arizona State, he showed his potential by being only a triple away from hitting for the cycle, making a sliding catch, and having an assist at home plate. Jackson was the first college player to hit a home run out of Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
Minor leagues
In the 1966 Major League Baseball draft on June 7, Jackson was selected by the Kansas City Athletics. He was the second overall pick, behind 17-year-old catcher Steve Chilcott, who was taken by the New York Mets. According to Jackson, Winkles told him that the Mets did not select him because he had a white girlfriend. Winkles later denied the story, stating that he did not know the reason why Jackson was not drafted by the Mets. It was later confirmed by Joe McDonald that the Mets drafted Steve Chilcott because of need, the person running the Mets at the time was George Weiss, so the true motive may never be known.
Jackson, age 20, signed with the A's for $95,000 on June 13 and reported for his first training camp with the Lewis-Clark Broncs of the short season Single-A Northwest League in Lewiston, Idaho, managed by Grady Wilson. He made his professional debut as a center fielder in the season opener on June 24 at Bethel Park in Eugene, Oregon, but was hitless in five at-bats. In the next game, Jackson singled in the first inning and homered in the ninth. In the home opener at Bengal Field in Lewiston on June 30, he hit a double and a triple. In his final game as a Bronc on July 6, Jackson was hit in the head by a pitch in the first inning, but stayed in the game and drove in runs with two sacrifice flies. Complaining of a headache, he left the game in the ninth inning, was admitted to St. Joseph's Hospital in Lewiston, and remained overnight for observation.
Jackson played for two Class A teams in 1966, with the Broncs for just 12 games, and then 56 games with Modesto in the California League, where he hit 21 homers. He began 1967 with the Birmingham A's in the Double-A Southern League in Birmingham, Alabama, where Jackson got his first taste of racism, being one of only a few blacks on the team. He credits the team's manager at the time, John McNamara, for helping him through that difficult season.
MLB career
Kansas City / Oakland Athletics (1967–1975)
Jackson debuted in the major leagues with the A's in 1967 in a Friday doubleheader in Kansas City on June 9, a shutout sweep of the Cleveland Indians by scores of and at Municipal Stadium. (Jackson had his first career hit in the nightcap, a lead-off triple in the fifth inning off of long reliever Orlando Peña.)
The Athletics moved west to Oakland prior to the 1968 season. Jackson hit 47 home runs in 1969, and was briefly ahead of the pace that Roger Maris set when he broke the single-season record for home runs with 61 in 1961, and that of Babe Ruth when he set the previous record of 60 in 1927. Jackson later said that the sportswriters were claiming he was "dating a lady named 'Ruth Maris.'"
Slumping at the plate in May 1970, Athletics owner Charlie O. Finley threatened to send Jackson to the minors. Jackson hit 23 home runs while batting .237 for the 1970 season. The Athletics sent him to play in Puerto Rico, where he played for the Santurce team and hit 20 homers and knocked in 47 runs to lead the league in both departments. Jackson hit a memorable home run in the 1971 All-Star Game at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Batting for the American League against Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis, the ball he hit soared above the right-field stands, striking the transformer of a light standard on the right field roof. While with the Angels in 1984, he hit a home run over that roof.
In 1971, the Athletics won the American League's West division, their first title of any kind since 1931, when they played in Philadelphia. They were swept in three games in the American League Championship Series by the Baltimore Orioles. The A's won the division again in 1972; their series with the Tigers went the full five games, and Jackson scored the tying run in the clincher on a steal of home. In the process, however, he tore a hamstring and was unable to play in the World Series. The A's still managed to defeat the Cincinnati Reds in seven games. It was the first championship won by a San Francisco Bay Area team in any major league sport.
During spring training in 1972, Jackson showed up with a mustache. Though his teammates wanted him to shave it off, Jackson refused. Finley liked the mustache so much that he offered each player $300 to grow one, and hosted a "Mustache Day" featuring the last MLB player to wear a mustache, Frenchy Bordagaray, as master of ceremonies.
Jackson helped the Athletics win the pennant again in 1973, and was named Most Valuable Player of the American League for the season. The A's defeated the New York Mets in seven hard-fought games in the World Series. This time, Jackson was not only able to play, but his performance led to his being awarded the Series's MVP award. In the third inning of that seventh game, which ended in a 5–2 score, the A's jumped out to a 4–0 lead as both Bert Campaneris and Jackson hit two-run home runs off Jon Matlack—the only two home runs Oakland hit the entire Series. The A's won the World Series again in 1974, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.
Besides hitting 254 home runs in nine years with the Athletics, Jackson was also no stranger to controversy or conflict in Oakland. Sports author Dick Crouser wrote, "When the late Al Helfer was broadcasting the Oakland A's games, he was not too enthusiastic about Reggie Jackson's speed or his hustle. Once, with Jackson on third, teammate Rick Monday hit a long home run. 'Jackson should score easily on that one,' commented Helfer. Crouser also noted that, "Nobody seems to be neutral on Reggie Jackson. You're either a fan or a detractor." When teammate Darold Knowles was asked if Jackson was a hotdog (i.e., a show-off), he famously replied, "There isn't enough mustard in the world to cover Reggie Jackson."
In February 1974, Jackson won an arbitration case for a $135,000 salary for the season, nearly doubling his previous year's $70,000. On June 5, outfielder Billy North and Jackson engaged in a clubhouse fight at Detroit's Tiger Stadium. Jackson injured his shoulder, and catcher Ray Fosse, attempting to separate the combatants, suffered a crushed disk in his neck, costing him three months on the disabled list. In October, the A's went on to win a third consecutive World Series.
Prior to the 1975 season, Jackson sought $168,000, but arbitration went against him this time and he settled for $140,000. The A's won a fifth consecutive division title, but the loss of pitcher Catfish Hunter, baseball's first modern free agent, left them vulnerable, and they were swept in the ALCS by the Boston Red Sox.
Baltimore Orioles (1976)
Paid $140,000 in 1975 and one of nine Oakland players refusing to sign 1976 contracts, Jackson sought a three-year $600,000 pact. With free agency imminent after the season and the expectations of higher salaries for which Athletics owner Finley was unwilling to pay, he was traded along with Ken Holtzman and minor-league right-handed pitcher Bill Van Bommel to the Baltimore Orioles for Don Baylor, Mike Torrez, and Paul Mitchell on April 2, 1976. Jackson had not signed a contract and threatened to sit out the season; he reported to the Orioles four weeks later, and made his first plate appearance on Baltimore and Oakland both finished second in their respective divisions in ; the Yankees and Royals advanced to the ALCS, the first without the A's since 1970. During Jackson's lone season in Baltimore he stole 28 bases, a career-best. Jim Palmer later wrote, "I would say Reggie Jackson was arrogant. But the word arrogant isn't arrogant enough." However, he thought the Orioles made a "brick-brained" mistake by not signing him to a contract, allowing him to become a free agent.
New York Yankees (1977–1981)
The Yankees won the pennant in 1976 but were swept in the World Series by the Reds. A month later on November 29, they signed Jackson to a five-year contract totaling $2.96 million ($ in current dollar terms). The number 9 that he had worn in Oakland and Baltimore was already used by Yankees third baseman Graig Nettles; Jackson asked for number 42 in memory of Jackie Robinson, but that number was given to pitching coach Art Fowler before the start of the season. Noting that Hank Aaron, at the time the holder of the career record for the most home runs, had just retired, Jackson asked for and received number 44 as a tribute to Aaron. Jackson wore number 20 for one game during spring training as a tribute to the also recently retired Frank Robinson, then he switched to number 44.
Jackson's first season with the Yankees in 1977 was a difficult one. Although team owner George Steinbrenner and several players, most notably catcher and team captain Thurman Munson and outfielder Lou Piniella, were excited about his arrival, the team's field manager Billy Martin was not. Martin had managed the Tigers in 1972, when Jackson's A's beat them in the playoffs. Jackson was once quoted as saying of Martin, "I hate him, but if I played for him, I'd probably love him."
The relationship between Jackson and his new teammates was strained due to an interview with SPORT magazine writer Robert Ward. During spring training at the Yankees' camp in Fort Lauderdale, Jackson and Ward were having drinks at a nearby bar. Jackson's version of the story is that he noted that the Yankees had won the pennant the year before, but lost the World Series to the Reds, and suggested that they needed one thing more to win it all, and pointed out the various ingredients in his drink. Ward suggested that Jackson might be "the straw that stirs the drink." But when the story appeared in the June 1977 issue of SPORT, Ward quoted Jackson as saying, "This team, it all flows from me. I'm the straw that stirs the drink. Maybe I should say me and Munson, but he can only stir it bad."Jackson has consistently denied saying anything negative about Munson in the interview and he has said that his quotes were taken out of context. However, Dave Anderson of The New York Times subsequently wrote that he had drinks with Jackson in July 1977, and that Jackson told him, "I'm still the straw that stirs the drink. Not Munson, not nobody else on this club." Regardless, as Munson was beloved by his teammates, Martin, Steinbrenner and Yankee fans, the relationships between them and Jackson became very strained.
On June 18, in a 10–4 loss to the Boston Red Sox in a nationally televised game at Fenway Park in Boston, Jim Rice, a powerful hitter but notoriously slow runner, hit a ball into shallow right field that Jackson appeared to weakly attempt to field. Jackson failed to reach the ball, which fell far in front of him, thereby allowing Rice to reach second base. Furious, Martin removed Jackson from the game without even waiting for the end of the inning, sending Paul Blair out to replace him. When Jackson arrived at the dugout, Martin yelled that Jackson had shown him up. They argued, and Jackson said that Martin's heavy drinking had impaired his judgment. Despite Jackson being 18 years younger, about two inches taller and maybe 40 pounds heavier, Martin lunged at him, and had to be restrained by coaches Yogi Berra and Elston Howard. Red Sox fans could see this in the dugout and began cheering wildly, and the NBC TV cameras showed the confrontation to the entire country.
Yankees management defused the situation by the next day, but the relationship between Jackson and Martin was permanently poisoned. However, George Steinbrenner made a crucial intervention when he gave Martin the option of either having Jackson bat in the fourth or "cleanup" spot for the rest of the season, or losing his job. Martin made the change and Jackson's hitting improved (he had 13 home runs and 49 RBIs over his next 50 games), and the team went on a winning streak. On September 14, while in a tight three-way race for the American League Eastern Division crown with the Red Sox and Orioles, Jackson ended a game with the Red Sox by hitting a home run off Reggie Cleveland, giving the Yankees a 2–0 win. The Yankees won the division by two and a half games over the Red Sox and Orioles, and came from behind in the top of the ninth inning in the fifth and final game of the American League Championship Series to beat the Kansas City Royals for the pennant.
Mr. October
During the World Series against the Dodgers, Munson was interviewed, and suggested that Jackson, because of his past post-season performances, might be the better interview subject. "Go ask Mister October", he said, giving Jackson a nickname that would stick. (In Oakland, he had been known as "Jax" and "Buck.") Jackson hit home runs in Games Four and Five of the Series.
Jackson's crowning achievement came with his three-home-run performance in World Series-clinching Game Six, each on the first pitch, off three Dodgers pitchers. (His first plate-appearance, during the second inning, resulted in a four-pitch walk.) The first came off starter Burt Hooton, and was a line drive shot into the lower right field seats at Yankee Stadium. The second was a much faster line drive off reliever Elías Sosa into roughly the same area. With the fans chanting his name, "Reg-GIE! Reg-GIE! Reg-GIE!", the third came off reliever Charlie Hough, a knuckleball pitcher, making the distance of this home run particularly remarkable. It was a towering drive into the black-painted batter's eye seats in center, away. Jackson stated afterwards that the scouting reports provided by Gene Michael and Birdie Tebbetts played a large role in his success. Their reports indicated that the Dodgers would attempt to pitch him inside and Jackson was prepared.
Since Jackson had hit a home run off Dodger pitcher Don Sutton in his last at bat in Game Five, his three home runs in Game Six meant that he had hit four home runs on four consecutive swings of the bat against as many Dodgers pitchers. Jackson became the first player to win the World Series MVP award for two teams. In 27 World Series games, he amassed 10 home runs, including a record five during the 1977 Series (the last three on first pitches), 24 RBI and a .357 batting average. Babe Ruth, Albert Pujols, and Pablo Sandoval are the only other players to hit three home runs in a single World Series game. Babe Ruth accomplishing the feat twice – in 1926 and 1928 (both in Game Four). With 25 total bases, Jackson also broke Ruth's record of 22 in the latter Series; this remains a World Series record, Willie Stargell tying it in the 1979 World Series. Chase Utley (2009, Philadelphia) and George Springer (2017, Houston) have since tied Jackson's record for most home runs in a single World Series.
Fans had been getting rowdy in anticipation of Game 6's end, and some had actually thrown firecrackers out near Jackson's area in right field. Jackson was alarmed enough about this to walk off the field, in order to get a helmet from the Yankee bench to protect himself. Shortly after this point, as the end of the game neared, fans were bold enough to climb over the wall, draping their legs over the side in preparation for the moment when they planned to rush onto the field. When that moment came, after pitcher Mike Torrez caught a pop-up for the game's final out, Jackson started running at top speed off the field, actually body-checking past some of these fans filling the playing field in the manner of a football linebacker.
The Bronx Zoo
The Yankees' home opener of the 1978 season, on April 13 against the Chicago White Sox, featured a new product, the "Reggie!" bar. In 1976, while playing in Baltimore, Jackson had said, "If I played in New York, they'd name a candy bar after me." The Standard Brands company responded with a circular "bar" of peanuts dipped in caramel and covered in chocolate, a confection that was originally named the "Wayne Bun" as it was made in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The "Reggie!" bars were handed to fans as they walked into Yankee Stadium. Jackson hit a home run, and when he returned to right field the next inning, fans began throwing the Reggie bars on the field in celebration. Jackson told the press that this confused him, thinking that maybe the fans did not like the candy. The Yankees won the game, 4–2.
But the Yankees could not maintain their success, as manager Billy Martin lost control. On July 23, after suspending Jackson for disobeying a sign during a July 17 game, Martin made a statement about his two main antagonists, referring to comments Jackson had made and team owner George Steinbrenner's 1972 violation of campaign-finance laws: "They're made for each other. One's a born liar, the other's convicted." It was moments like these that gave the Yankees the nickname "The Bronx Zoo."
Martin resigned the next day (some sources have said he was actually fired), and was replaced by Bob Lemon, a Hall of Fame pitcher for the Cleveland Indians who had been recently fired as manager of the White Sox. Steinbrenner, a Cleveland-area native, had hired former Indians star Al Rosen as his team president (replacing another Cleveland figure, Gabe Paul). Steinbrenner jumped at the chance to involve another hero of his youth with the Yankees; Lemon had been one of Steinbrenner's coaches during the Bombers' pennant-winning 1976 season.
After being 14 games behind the first-place Red Sox on July 18, the Yankees finished the season in a tie for first place. The two teams played a one-game playoff for the division title at Fenway Park, with the Yankees winning 5–4. Although the home run by light-hitting shortstop Bucky Dent in the seventh inning got the most notice, it was an eighth-inning home run by Jackson that gave the Yankees the fifth run they ended up needing. The next day, with the American League Championship Series with the Royals beginning, Jackson hit a home run off the Royals' top reliever at the time, Al Hrabosky, the flamboyant "Mad Hungarian." The Yankees won the pennant in four games, their third straight.
Jackson was once again in the center of events in the World Series, again against the Dodgers. Los Angeles won the first two games at Dodger Stadium, taking the second when rookie reliever Bob Welch struck Jackson out with two men on base with two outs in the ninth inning. The series then moved to New York, and after the Yankees won Game Three on several fine defensive plays by third baseman Graig Nettles, Game Four saw Jackson in the middle of a controversial play on the basepaths. In the sixth inning, after collecting an RBI single, Jackson was struck in the hip–possibly on purpose–by a ball thrown by Dodger shortstop Bill Russell as Jackson was being forced at second base. Instead of completing a double play that would have ended the inning, the ball caromed into foul territory and allowed Thurman Munson to score the Yankees' second run of the inning. In spite of the Dodgers' protests of interference on Jackson's part, the umpires allowed the play to stand. The Yankees tied the game in the eighth inning and eventually won in the tenth.
Following a blowout win in Game Five, both teams headed back to Los Angeles. In Game Six, Jackson got his revenge against Welch by blasting a two-run home run in the seventh inning, putting the finishing touch on a series-clinching, 7–2 win for the Yankees.
On April 19, 1979, following a Yankee loss to the Baltimore Orioles, Jackson started kidding Cliff Johnson about his inability to hit Goose Gossage. While Johnson was showering, Gossage insisted to Jackson that he struck out Johnson all the time when he used to face him. When Jackson relayed this information to Johnson upon his return to the locker room, a fight started between Johnson and the pitcher. Gossage tore ligaments in his right thumb and missed three months of the season. Teammate Tommy John called it "a demoralizing blow to the team." Jackson joined Gossage on the disabled list for a month in June with a torn calf muscle. In 131 games, he batted .297 with 29 home runs and 89 RBI.
1980–81 seasons
In 1980, Jackson batted .300 for the only time in his career, and his 41 home runs tied with Ben Oglivie of the Milwaukee Brewers for the American League lead. However, the Yankees were swept in the ALCS by the Kansas City Royals. That year, he won the inaugural Silver Slugger Award as a designated hitter.
As he entered the last year of his Yankee contract in 1981, Jackson endured several difficulties from George Steinbrenner. After the owner consulted Jackson about signing then-free agent Dave Winfield, Jackson expected Steinbrenner to work out a new contract for him as well. Steinbrenner never did (some say never intending to) and Jackson played the season as a free agent. Jackson started slowly with the bat, and when the 1981 Major League Baseball strike began, Steinbrenner invoked a clause in Jackson's contract forcing him to take a complete physical examination. Jackson was outraged and blasted Steinbrenner in the media. When the season resumed, Jackson's hitting improved, partly to show Steinbrenner he wasn't finished as a player. He hit a long home run into the upper deck in Game Five of the strike-forced 1981 American League Division Series with the Brewers, and the Yankees went on to win the pennant again. However, Jackson injured himself running the bases in Game Two of the 1981 ALCS and missed the first two games of the World Series, both of which the Yankees won.
Jackson was medically cleared to play Game Three, but manager Bob Lemon refused to start him or even play him, allegedly acting under orders from Steinbrenner. The Yankees lost that game and Jackson played the remainder of the series, hitting a home run in Game Four. However, they lost the last three games and the World Series to the Dodgers.
California Angels (1982–1986) and Oakland Athletics (1987)
Jackson became a free-agent again once the 1981 season was over. The owner of the California Angels, entertainer Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract.
On April 27, 1982, in Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry. The at-bat began with Yankee fans, angry at Steinbrenner for letting Jackson get away, starting the "Reg-GIE!" chant, and ended it with the fans chanting "Steinbrenner sucks!" By the time of Jackson's election to the Hall of Fame, Steinbrenner had begun to say that letting him go was the biggest mistake he had made as Yankee owner.
That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986, but lost the American League Championship Series both times. On September 17, 1984, on the 17th anniversary of the day he hit his first home run, he hit his 500th, at Anaheim Stadium off Bud Black of the Royals.
In 1987, he signed a one-year contract to return to the A's, wearing the number 44 with which he was now most associated rather than the number 9 he previously wore in Oakland. He announced he would retire after the season, at the age of 41. In his last at-bat, at Comiskey Park in Chicago on October 4, he collected a broken-bat single up the middle, but the A's lost to the White Sox, 5–2. Jackson was the last player in the major leagues to have played for the Kansas City Athletics.
Legacy
Jackson played 21 seasons and reached the post-season in 11 of them, winning six pennants and five World Series. His accomplishments include winning both the regular-season and World Series MVP awards in 1973, hitting 563 career home runs (sixth all-time at the time of his retirement), maintaining a .490 career slugging percentage, being named to 14 All-Star teams, and the dubious distinction of being the all-time leader in strikeouts with 2,597 (he finished with 13 more career strikeouts than hits) and second on the all-time list for most Golden sombreros (at least four strikeouts in a game) with 23 – he led this statistic until 2014, when he was surpassed by Ryan Howard. Jackson was the first major leaguer to hit 100 home runs for three different clubs, having hit over 100 for the Athletics, Yankees, and Angels. He is the only player in the 500 home run club that never had consecutive 30 home run seasons in a career.
With the Yankees, Jackson was the center of attention when it came to the media. Tommy John thought this was ultimately helpful to the team. "He was a two-way buffer between the team and Steinbrenner, and between us and the press. That allowed other guys to go about their business in relative peace."
Personal life
During his freshman year at Arizona State, he met Jennie Campos, a Mexican-American. Jackson asked Campos on a date, and discovered many similarities, including the ability to speak Spanish, and being raised in a single parent home (Campos's father was killed in the Korean War). An assistant football coach tried to break up the couple because Jackson was black and Campos was considered white. The coach contacted Campos's uncle, a wealthy benefactor of the school, and he warned the couple that their being together was a bad idea. But the relationship held up and she later became his wife. They divorced in 1973. Kimberly, his only child, was born in the late 1980s.
During the off-season, though still active in baseball, Jackson worked as a field reporter and color commentator for ABC Sports. Just over a month before signing with the Yankees in the fall of 1976, Jackson did analysis in the ABC booth with Keith Jackson and Howard Cosell the night his future team won the American League pennant on a homer by Chris Chambliss. During the 1980s (1983, 1985, and 1987 respectively), Jackson was given the task of presiding over the World Series Trophy presentations. In addition, Jackson did color commentary for the 1984 National League Championship Series (alongside Don Drysdale and Earl Weaver). After his retirement as an active player, Jackson returned to his color commentary role covering the 1988 American League Championship Series (alongside Gary Bender and Joe Morgan) for ABC.
Jackson appeared in the film The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, portraying an Angels outfielder hypnotically programmed to kill the Queen of the United Kingdom. He also appeared in Richie Rich, BASEketball, Summer of Sam and The Benchwarmers. In 1979, Jackson was a guest star in an episode of the television sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, and in an episode of The Love Boat as himself. He played himself in the Archie Bunker's Place episode "Reggie-3 Archie-0" in 1982, a 1990 MacGyver episode, "Squeeze Play", The Jeffersons episode "The Unnatural” from 1985, and the Malcolm in the Middle episode "Polly in the Middle", from 2004. Jackson was also considered for the role of Geordi La Forge in the series Star Trek: The Next Generation, a role that ultimately went to LeVar Burton. From 1981 to 1982, he hosted Reggie Jackson's World of Sports for Nickelodeon, which continued in reruns until 1985.
He co-authored a book in 2010, Sixty-Feet Six-Inches, with fellow Hall of Famer Bob Gibson. The book, whose title refers to the distance between the pitcher's mound and home plate, details their careers and approach to the game.
The 1988 Sega Master System baseball video game Reggie Jackson Baseball, endorsed by Jackson, was sold exclusively in the United States. Outside of the U.S., it was released as American Baseball.
Jackson was the de facto spokesperson for the Upper Deck Company during the early 1990s, appearing in numerous advertisements, appearances, and participating in the company's Heroes of Baseball exhibition games. This affiliation also included the company's "Find the Reggie" promotion which inserted 2500 autograph cards into packs of 1990 Upper Deck Baseball High Series packs. This inclusion of an autograph card marked an important first in what would become a very popular trend in the trading card hobby.
Jackson has endured three fires to personal property, including a June 20, 1976 fire at his home in Oakland that destroyed his 1973 MVP award, World Series trophies and All-Star rings. The same home was again burned down during the Oakland firestorm of 1991, which destroyed more baseball memorabilia in addition to other valuable collections. In 1988, a warehouse holding several of Jackson's collectible cars was damaged in a fire, with several of the cars, valued at $3.2 million, ruined.
In Tampa in 2005, Jackson's car was struck from behind and flipped over several times. Jackson escaped with minor injuries, later saying "...it was God tapping me on the shoulder... It makes you think about your purpose, about His plan for you."
Jackson called on former San Francisco 49ers head coach and ordained minister Mike Singletary for spiritual guidance. Jackson credits Singletary, stating "he helped me drop that shell I put up."
Vehicle- and parking- related attacks on Jackson
Jackson was the victim of an attempted shooting in the early morning hours of June 1, 1980. A few hours after hitting the game-winning 11th inning home run at a home game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Jackson drove his vehicle to the singles bars he frequented in a "posh" neighborhood of "swinging pubs and night spots amid expensive high-rise apartments" in Manhattan's Upper East Side to celebrate. While searching for a parking spot, he asked the driver of a vehicle that was blocking the way to move, and a passenger in that vehicle then began yelling obscenities and racial slurs at Jackson, before throwing a broken bottle at Jackson's car.
After other passerby recognized Jackson and began joking with him about apprehending them, one of the men in the other car, 25 year old Manhattan resident Angel Viera, allegedly returned with a .38 caliber revolver and fired three shots at Jackson, each missing. Viera was criminally charged with attempted murder and illegal possession of deadly weapon. News of the incident was the third story ever broadcast on CNN, which held its inaugural broadcast later that day.
In the early morning of August 12, 1980, as Jackson completed a night of celebrating his 400th career home run slugged several hours earlier against the White Sox, Jackson was accosted as he left his favored nightspot, Jim McMullen's Bar on the Upper East Side, and entered his Rolls-Royce parked outside. A young man leveled a large-bore pistol, likely a .45 caliber automatic, at Jackson's face. Jackson told police that the gun was the largest that he had ever seen, and Jackson believed that he was going to be shot. When the man lowered the weapon to reach into Jackson's car to take the ignition key, Jackson shoved the door open into the man, sending him sprawling. The man then ran off and dropped the car keys near the scene, eluding pursuers.
On March 22, 1985, Jackson was attacked after a California Angels spring training 8-1 exhibition victory over the Cleveland Indians at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, Arizona. Witnesses said that a man who had heckled Jackson throughout the game followed Jackson out to the field's parking lot to continue to do so. As Jackson finished signing autographs for fans he attempted to enter a vehicle belonging to teammate Brian Downing, but the man blocked his entry and insisted on fighting Jackson. According to Jackson, the man began pounding on the door and windshield of the car, yelling at Jackson in Spanish for an autograph and then to offer cocaine. Jackson and other fans nearby restrained the man until he calmed down, at which point the man again asked for an autograph.
On the morning of March 30, 1985, as Jackson left his bungalow at the Angels' spring training residence of the Gene Autry Hotel in Palm Springs (now the Parker Palm Springs) before a Giants game, he noticed two men driving an automobile on the hotel lawns and pedestrian paths while drinking alcohol. After the men recognized Jackson and asked for directions to the Palm Spring strip business district, he warned them to leave before they got into trouble and before he was forced to call the police. They then began heckling his baseball abilities and used an obscenity and racial slur against him. After the men left, Jackson called police, but before police arrived, the men came back to the hotel, asked the front desk to call Jackson to the front lobby, and when he arrived, threatened to assault Jackson. When Jackson grabbed one of the men, the other raised a tire iron over his head. As Jackson moved towards the second man, he ran away but was blocked by a parked car, allowing Jackson to capture him and seize the tire iron and pass it to a nearby Angels executive who had witnessed the event. One of the men was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and the other cited for disturbing the peace.
In an inverse situation, on July 19, 1977, Jackson was signing autographs for fans after the conclusion of the 1977 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, held at Yankee Stadium that year, in the stadium parking lot. According to a statement from Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, several teens entered the parking lot and began shouting obscenities at Jackson. Jackson ignored the teens until one made a "particularly vile remark" about Jackson's mother. Jackson then chased off the teens, one of whom fell while running. The teen claimed that Jackson's foot made contact with the teen's wrist, which Jackson denied. Against the advice of criminal court judge Bernard Klieger, the teen's lawyer insisted that a criminal complaint for harassment be authorized against Jackson, which Klieger did "reluctantly".
Post-retirement honors
Jackson and Steinbrenner reconciled, and Steinbrenner hired Jackson as a "special assistant to the principal owner", making him a consultant and a liaison to the team's players, particularly those of minority standing. By this point, the Yankees, long noted for being slow to adapt to changes in race relations, had come to develop many minority players in their farm system and seek out others via trades and free agency. Jackson usually appears in uniform at the Yankees' spring training complex in Tampa, Florida, and was sought out for advice by recent stars as Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. "His experience is vast, and he's especially good with the young players in our minor league system, the 17- and 18-year old kids. They respect him and what he's accomplished in his career. When Reggie Jackson tells a young kid how he might improve his swing, he tends to listen," said Hal Steinbrenner, Yankees managing general partner and co-chairperson.
Jackson was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1993. He chose to wear a Yankees cap on his Hall of Fame plaque after the Oakland Athletics unceremoniously fired him from a coaching position in 1991.
The Yankees retired Jackson's uniform number 44 on August 14, 1993, shortly after his induction into the Hall of Fame. The Athletics retired his number 9 on May 22, 2004. He is one of only ten MLB players to have their numbers retired by more than one team, and one of only four to have different numbers retired by two MLB teams.
In 1999, Jackson placed 48th on The Sporting News' 100 Greatest Baseball Players list. That same year, he was named one of 100 finalists for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, but was not one of the 30 players chosen by the fans.
The Yankees dedicated a plaque in Jackson's honor on July 6, 2002, that now hangs in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. The plaque calls him "One of the most colorful and exciting players of his era" and "a prolific hitter who thrived in pressure situations." Each Yankee so honored and still living was on hand for the dedication: Phil Rizzuto, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford and Don Mattingly. Ron Guidry, a teammate of Jackson's for all five of his seasons with the Yankees, was there, and was to be honored with a Monument Park plaque the next season. Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Ernie Banks, players whom Jackson admired while growing up, attended the ceremony at his invitation. Like Jackson, each was a member of the Hall of Fame and had hit over 500 career home runs. Each had also played in the Negro leagues, as had Jackson's father, Martinez Jackson.
Jackson expanded his love of antique cars into a chain of auto dealerships in California, and used his contacts to become one of the foremost traders of sports memorabilia. He has also been the public face of a group attempting to purchase a major league team, already having made unsuccessful attempts to buy the Athletics and the Angels. His attempt to acquire the Angels along with Jimmy Nederlander (minority owner of the New York Yankees), Jackie Autry (widow of former Angels owner Gene Autry) and other investors was thwarted by Mexican-American billionaire Arturo Moreno, who outbid Jackson's group by nearly $50 million for the team in the winter of 2002.
In a July 2012 interview with Sports Illustrated, Jackson was critical of the Baseball Writers' Association of America as he believes that the organization has lowered its standards for admission into the Hall of Fame. He has also been critical of players associated with performance-enhancing drugs, including distant cousin Barry Bonds, stating "I believe that Hank Aaron is the home run king, not Barry Bonds, as great of a player Bonds was." Of Alex Rodriguez, Jackson remarked, "Al's a very good friend. But I think there are real questions about his numbers. As much as I like him, what he admitted about his usage does cloud some of his numbers." On July 12, the Yankees released a statement regarding the Sports Illustrated interview in which Jackson said, "In trying to convey my feelings about a few issues that I am passionate about, I made the mistake of naming some specific players." It had been reported that he was told by the Yankees to steer clear from the team, although general manager Brian Cashman stated that Jackson had not been banned but only told to not join the club on a road trip to Boston and would later be free to interact with the club. Jackson stated, "I continue to have a strong relationship with the club, and look forward to continuing my role with the team."
In 2007, ESPN aired a miniseries called The Bronx Is Burning about the 1977 Yankees, with the conflicts and controversies involving Jackson, portrayed by Daniel Sunjata, a central part of the storyline. The series infuriated Jackson, as he felt that he was portrayed as selfish and arrogant. He also expressed frustration that the filmmakers did not consult with him while making the miniseries, saying "I feel betrayed."
In 2008, Jackson threw the ceremonial first pitch at the Yankees' opening-day game, the last at the original Yankee Stadium. He also threw out the first pitch at the first game at the new Yankee Stadium (an exhibition game).
On October 9, 2009, Jackson threw the ceremonial opening pitch at Game 2 of the ALDS between the Yankees and the Minnesota Twins. On October 18, 2010, the Ride of Fame honored Jackson with his image on a New York City double-decker tour bus.
On September 5, 2018, before an Athletics game against the Yankees in Oakland, Jackson was inducted into the new Oakland Athletics Hall of Fame. He joined fellow inductees Rickey Henderson, Dave Stewart, Dennis Eckersley, Catfish Hunter and Rollie Fingers.
See also
List of Puerto Ricans
DHL Hometown Heroes
Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
Major League Baseball titles leaders
List of Major League Baseball home run records
500 home run club
List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
List of Major League Baseball career total bases leaders
List of Major League Baseball career bases on balls leaders
List of Major League Baseball career at-bat leaders
List of Major League Baseball career games played leaders
List of Major League Baseball career plate appearance leaders
List of Major League Baseball career strikeouts by batters leaders
Notes
References
External links
ReggieJackson.com
The Sporting News' Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments: Reggie! Reggie! Reggie!
Sports Illustrated – covers
Reggie Jackson Exclusive Interview for MSG's The Bronx is Burning: Summer of '77
1946 births
Living people
People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania
African-American baseball players
African-American baseball coaches
All-American college baseball players
American League Most Valuable Player Award winners
American League All-Stars
American League home run champions
American League RBI champions
American sportspeople of Puerto Rican descent
Arizona State Sun Devils baseball players
Arizona State Sun Devils football players
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Kansas City Athletics players
Major League Baseball broadcasters
Major League Baseball designated hitters
Major League Baseball hitting coaches
Baseball players from Pennsylvania
Major League Baseball right fielders
World Series Most Valuable Player Award winners
New York Yankees executives
New York Yankees players
Oakland Athletics players
Oakland Athletics coaches
Baseball players from Oakland, California
Puerto Rican baseball players
Major League Baseball players with retired numbers
Lewiston Broncs players
Modesto Reds players
Birmingham A's players
American car collectors
Silver Slugger Award winners
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American sportspeople | true | [
"SOARA (Situation, Objective, Action, Results, Aftermath) is a job interview technique developed by Hagymas Laszlo, Professor of Language at the University of Munich, and Alexander Botos, Chief Curator at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research. It is similar to the Situation, Task, Action, Result technique. In many interviews, SOARA is used as a structure for clarifying information relating to a recent challenge.\n\nDetails\n\n Situation: The interviewer wants you to present a recent challenge and situation you found yourself in.\n Objective: What did you have to achieve? The interviewer will be looking to see what you were trying to achieve from the situation.\n Action: What did you do? The interviewer will be looking for information on what you did, why you did it and what were the alternatives.\n Results: What was the outcome of your actions? What did you achieve through your actions and did you meet your objectives.\n Aftermath: What did you learn from this experience and have you used this learning since?\n\nJob interview",
"\"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"
] |
[
"Reggie Jackson",
"California Angels (1982-86) and Oakland Athletics (1987)",
"how did he join the angels",
"Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract.",
"Did Jackson do well there",
"Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry.",
"what else did he achieve there",
"That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986,"
] | C_a115a3119c04420bb2dbe71f36612907_0 | Did they win any more | 4 | Did the California Angels win any more after winning the American League West in 1986? | Reggie Jackson | Jackson became a free-agent again once the 1981 season was over. The owner of the California Angels, entertainer Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract. On April 27, 1982, in Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry. The at-bat began with Yankee fans, angry at Steinbrenner for letting Jackson get away, starting the "Reg-GIE!" chant, and ended it with the fans chanting "Steinbrenner sucks!" By the time of Jackson's election to the Hall of Fame, Steinbrenner had begun to say that letting him go was the biggest mistake he had made as Yankee owner. That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986, but lost the American League Championship Series both times. On September 17, 1984, on the 17th anniversary of the day he hit his first home run, he hit his 500th, at Anaheim Stadium off Bud Black of the Royals. In 1987, he signed a one-year contract to return to the A's, wearing the number 44 with which he was now most associated rather than the number 9 he previously wore in Oakland. He announced he would retire after the season, at the age of 41. In his last at-bat, at Comiskey Park in Chicago on October 4, he collected a broken-bat single up the middle, but the A's lost to the White Sox, 5-2. Jackson was the last player in the major leagues to have played for the Kansas City Athletics. CANNOTANSWER | lost the American League Championship Series both times. | Reginald Martinez Jackson (born May 18, 1946) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and California Angels. Jackson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993.
Jackson was nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the Athletics and the Yankees. He helped Oakland win five consecutive American League West divisional titles, three consecutive American League pennants and three consecutive World Series titles, from 1972 to 1974. Jackson helped New York win four American League East divisional pennants, three American League pennants and two consecutive World Series titles, in 1977 and 1978. He also helped the California Angels win two AL West divisional titles in 1982 and 1986. Jackson hit three consecutive home runs at Yankee Stadium in the clinching game six of the 1977 World Series.
Jackson hit 563 career home runs and was an American League (AL) All-Star for 14 seasons. He won two Silver Slugger Awards, the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award in 1973, two World Series MVP Awards, and the Babe Ruth Award in 1977. The Yankees and Athletics retired his team uniform number in 1993 and 2004. Jackson currently serves as a special advisor to the Houston Astros.
Jackson led his teams to first place ten times over his 21-year career.
Early years
Jackson was born in the Wyncote neighborhood of Cheltenham Township, just north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Martinez Jackson, who was half Puerto Rican, worked as a tailor and was a former second baseman with the Newark Eagles of Negro league baseball. He was the youngest of four children from his mother, Clara. He also had two half-siblings from his father's first marriage. His parents divorced when he was four; his mother took four of his siblings with her, while his father took Reggie and one of the siblings from his first marriage, though one sibling later returned to Wyncote. Martinez Jackson was a single father, and theirs was one of the few black families in Wyncote.
Jackson graduated from Cheltenham High School in 1964, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track and field. A tailback in football, he injured his knee in an early season game in his junior year in the fall of 1962. He was told by the doctors he was never to play football again, but Jackson returned for the final game of the season. In that game, Jackson fractured five cervical vertebrae, which caused him to spend six weeks in the hospital and another month in a neck cast. Doctors told Jackson that he might never walk again, let alone play football, but Jackson defied the odds again. On the baseball team, he batted .550 and threw several no-hitters. In the middle of his senior year, Jackson's father was arrested for bootlegging and was sentenced to six months in jail.
Collegiate athletic career
For football, Jackson was recruited by Alabama, Georgia, and Oklahoma, all of whom were willing to break the color barrier just for Jackson. (Oklahoma had black football players before 1964, including Prentice Gautt, a star running back recruited in 1957, who played in the NFL.) Jackson declined Alabama and Georgia because he was fearful of the South at the time, and declined Oklahoma because they told him to stop dating white girls. For baseball, Jackson was scouted by Hans Lobert of the San Francisco Giants who was desperate to sign him. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins also made offers, and the hometown Philadelphia Phillies gave him a tryout but declined because of his "hitting skills".
His father wanted his son to go to college, where Jackson wanted to play both football and baseball. He accepted a football scholarship from Arizona State University in Tempe; his high school football coach knew ASU's head football coach Frank Kush, and they discussed the possibility of his playing both sports. After a recruiting trip, Kush decided that Jackson had the ability and willingness to work to join the squad.
One day after football practice, he approached ASU baseball coach Bobby Winkles and asked if he could join the team. Winkles said he would give Jackson a look, and the next day while still in his football gear, he hit a home run on the second pitch he saw; in five at bats he hit three home runs. He was allowed to practice with the team, but could not join the squad because the NCAA had a rule forbidding the use of freshman players. Jackson switched permanently to baseball following his freshman year, as he did not want to become a defensive back. To hone his skills, Winkles assigned him to a Baltimore Orioles-affiliated amateur team. He broke numerous team records for the squad, and the Orioles offered him a $50,000 signing bonus if he joined the team. Jackson declined the offer stating that he did not want to forfeit his college scholarship.
In the beginning of his sophomore year in 1966, Jackson replaced Rick Monday (the first player ever selected in the Major League Baseball draft and a future teammate with the A's) at center field. He broke the team record for most home runs in a single season, led the team in numerous other categories and was first team All-American. Many scouts were looking at him play, including Tom Greenwade of the New York Yankees (who discovered Mickey Mantle), and Danny Murtaugh of the Pittsburgh Pirates. In his final game at Arizona State, he showed his potential by being only a triple away from hitting for the cycle, making a sliding catch, and having an assist at home plate. Jackson was the first college player to hit a home run out of Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
Minor leagues
In the 1966 Major League Baseball draft on June 7, Jackson was selected by the Kansas City Athletics. He was the second overall pick, behind 17-year-old catcher Steve Chilcott, who was taken by the New York Mets. According to Jackson, Winkles told him that the Mets did not select him because he had a white girlfriend. Winkles later denied the story, stating that he did not know the reason why Jackson was not drafted by the Mets. It was later confirmed by Joe McDonald that the Mets drafted Steve Chilcott because of need, the person running the Mets at the time was George Weiss, so the true motive may never be known.
Jackson, age 20, signed with the A's for $95,000 on June 13 and reported for his first training camp with the Lewis-Clark Broncs of the short season Single-A Northwest League in Lewiston, Idaho, managed by Grady Wilson. He made his professional debut as a center fielder in the season opener on June 24 at Bethel Park in Eugene, Oregon, but was hitless in five at-bats. In the next game, Jackson singled in the first inning and homered in the ninth. In the home opener at Bengal Field in Lewiston on June 30, he hit a double and a triple. In his final game as a Bronc on July 6, Jackson was hit in the head by a pitch in the first inning, but stayed in the game and drove in runs with two sacrifice flies. Complaining of a headache, he left the game in the ninth inning, was admitted to St. Joseph's Hospital in Lewiston, and remained overnight for observation.
Jackson played for two Class A teams in 1966, with the Broncs for just 12 games, and then 56 games with Modesto in the California League, where he hit 21 homers. He began 1967 with the Birmingham A's in the Double-A Southern League in Birmingham, Alabama, where Jackson got his first taste of racism, being one of only a few blacks on the team. He credits the team's manager at the time, John McNamara, for helping him through that difficult season.
MLB career
Kansas City / Oakland Athletics (1967–1975)
Jackson debuted in the major leagues with the A's in 1967 in a Friday doubleheader in Kansas City on June 9, a shutout sweep of the Cleveland Indians by scores of and at Municipal Stadium. (Jackson had his first career hit in the nightcap, a lead-off triple in the fifth inning off of long reliever Orlando Peña.)
The Athletics moved west to Oakland prior to the 1968 season. Jackson hit 47 home runs in 1969, and was briefly ahead of the pace that Roger Maris set when he broke the single-season record for home runs with 61 in 1961, and that of Babe Ruth when he set the previous record of 60 in 1927. Jackson later said that the sportswriters were claiming he was "dating a lady named 'Ruth Maris.'"
Slumping at the plate in May 1970, Athletics owner Charlie O. Finley threatened to send Jackson to the minors. Jackson hit 23 home runs while batting .237 for the 1970 season. The Athletics sent him to play in Puerto Rico, where he played for the Santurce team and hit 20 homers and knocked in 47 runs to lead the league in both departments. Jackson hit a memorable home run in the 1971 All-Star Game at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Batting for the American League against Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis, the ball he hit soared above the right-field stands, striking the transformer of a light standard on the right field roof. While with the Angels in 1984, he hit a home run over that roof.
In 1971, the Athletics won the American League's West division, their first title of any kind since 1931, when they played in Philadelphia. They were swept in three games in the American League Championship Series by the Baltimore Orioles. The A's won the division again in 1972; their series with the Tigers went the full five games, and Jackson scored the tying run in the clincher on a steal of home. In the process, however, he tore a hamstring and was unable to play in the World Series. The A's still managed to defeat the Cincinnati Reds in seven games. It was the first championship won by a San Francisco Bay Area team in any major league sport.
During spring training in 1972, Jackson showed up with a mustache. Though his teammates wanted him to shave it off, Jackson refused. Finley liked the mustache so much that he offered each player $300 to grow one, and hosted a "Mustache Day" featuring the last MLB player to wear a mustache, Frenchy Bordagaray, as master of ceremonies.
Jackson helped the Athletics win the pennant again in 1973, and was named Most Valuable Player of the American League for the season. The A's defeated the New York Mets in seven hard-fought games in the World Series. This time, Jackson was not only able to play, but his performance led to his being awarded the Series's MVP award. In the third inning of that seventh game, which ended in a 5–2 score, the A's jumped out to a 4–0 lead as both Bert Campaneris and Jackson hit two-run home runs off Jon Matlack—the only two home runs Oakland hit the entire Series. The A's won the World Series again in 1974, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.
Besides hitting 254 home runs in nine years with the Athletics, Jackson was also no stranger to controversy or conflict in Oakland. Sports author Dick Crouser wrote, "When the late Al Helfer was broadcasting the Oakland A's games, he was not too enthusiastic about Reggie Jackson's speed or his hustle. Once, with Jackson on third, teammate Rick Monday hit a long home run. 'Jackson should score easily on that one,' commented Helfer. Crouser also noted that, "Nobody seems to be neutral on Reggie Jackson. You're either a fan or a detractor." When teammate Darold Knowles was asked if Jackson was a hotdog (i.e., a show-off), he famously replied, "There isn't enough mustard in the world to cover Reggie Jackson."
In February 1974, Jackson won an arbitration case for a $135,000 salary for the season, nearly doubling his previous year's $70,000. On June 5, outfielder Billy North and Jackson engaged in a clubhouse fight at Detroit's Tiger Stadium. Jackson injured his shoulder, and catcher Ray Fosse, attempting to separate the combatants, suffered a crushed disk in his neck, costing him three months on the disabled list. In October, the A's went on to win a third consecutive World Series.
Prior to the 1975 season, Jackson sought $168,000, but arbitration went against him this time and he settled for $140,000. The A's won a fifth consecutive division title, but the loss of pitcher Catfish Hunter, baseball's first modern free agent, left them vulnerable, and they were swept in the ALCS by the Boston Red Sox.
Baltimore Orioles (1976)
Paid $140,000 in 1975 and one of nine Oakland players refusing to sign 1976 contracts, Jackson sought a three-year $600,000 pact. With free agency imminent after the season and the expectations of higher salaries for which Athletics owner Finley was unwilling to pay, he was traded along with Ken Holtzman and minor-league right-handed pitcher Bill Van Bommel to the Baltimore Orioles for Don Baylor, Mike Torrez, and Paul Mitchell on April 2, 1976. Jackson had not signed a contract and threatened to sit out the season; he reported to the Orioles four weeks later, and made his first plate appearance on Baltimore and Oakland both finished second in their respective divisions in ; the Yankees and Royals advanced to the ALCS, the first without the A's since 1970. During Jackson's lone season in Baltimore he stole 28 bases, a career-best. Jim Palmer later wrote, "I would say Reggie Jackson was arrogant. But the word arrogant isn't arrogant enough." However, he thought the Orioles made a "brick-brained" mistake by not signing him to a contract, allowing him to become a free agent.
New York Yankees (1977–1981)
The Yankees won the pennant in 1976 but were swept in the World Series by the Reds. A month later on November 29, they signed Jackson to a five-year contract totaling $2.96 million ($ in current dollar terms). The number 9 that he had worn in Oakland and Baltimore was already used by Yankees third baseman Graig Nettles; Jackson asked for number 42 in memory of Jackie Robinson, but that number was given to pitching coach Art Fowler before the start of the season. Noting that Hank Aaron, at the time the holder of the career record for the most home runs, had just retired, Jackson asked for and received number 44 as a tribute to Aaron. Jackson wore number 20 for one game during spring training as a tribute to the also recently retired Frank Robinson, then he switched to number 44.
Jackson's first season with the Yankees in 1977 was a difficult one. Although team owner George Steinbrenner and several players, most notably catcher and team captain Thurman Munson and outfielder Lou Piniella, were excited about his arrival, the team's field manager Billy Martin was not. Martin had managed the Tigers in 1972, when Jackson's A's beat them in the playoffs. Jackson was once quoted as saying of Martin, "I hate him, but if I played for him, I'd probably love him."
The relationship between Jackson and his new teammates was strained due to an interview with SPORT magazine writer Robert Ward. During spring training at the Yankees' camp in Fort Lauderdale, Jackson and Ward were having drinks at a nearby bar. Jackson's version of the story is that he noted that the Yankees had won the pennant the year before, but lost the World Series to the Reds, and suggested that they needed one thing more to win it all, and pointed out the various ingredients in his drink. Ward suggested that Jackson might be "the straw that stirs the drink." But when the story appeared in the June 1977 issue of SPORT, Ward quoted Jackson as saying, "This team, it all flows from me. I'm the straw that stirs the drink. Maybe I should say me and Munson, but he can only stir it bad."Jackson has consistently denied saying anything negative about Munson in the interview and he has said that his quotes were taken out of context. However, Dave Anderson of The New York Times subsequently wrote that he had drinks with Jackson in July 1977, and that Jackson told him, "I'm still the straw that stirs the drink. Not Munson, not nobody else on this club." Regardless, as Munson was beloved by his teammates, Martin, Steinbrenner and Yankee fans, the relationships between them and Jackson became very strained.
On June 18, in a 10–4 loss to the Boston Red Sox in a nationally televised game at Fenway Park in Boston, Jim Rice, a powerful hitter but notoriously slow runner, hit a ball into shallow right field that Jackson appeared to weakly attempt to field. Jackson failed to reach the ball, which fell far in front of him, thereby allowing Rice to reach second base. Furious, Martin removed Jackson from the game without even waiting for the end of the inning, sending Paul Blair out to replace him. When Jackson arrived at the dugout, Martin yelled that Jackson had shown him up. They argued, and Jackson said that Martin's heavy drinking had impaired his judgment. Despite Jackson being 18 years younger, about two inches taller and maybe 40 pounds heavier, Martin lunged at him, and had to be restrained by coaches Yogi Berra and Elston Howard. Red Sox fans could see this in the dugout and began cheering wildly, and the NBC TV cameras showed the confrontation to the entire country.
Yankees management defused the situation by the next day, but the relationship between Jackson and Martin was permanently poisoned. However, George Steinbrenner made a crucial intervention when he gave Martin the option of either having Jackson bat in the fourth or "cleanup" spot for the rest of the season, or losing his job. Martin made the change and Jackson's hitting improved (he had 13 home runs and 49 RBIs over his next 50 games), and the team went on a winning streak. On September 14, while in a tight three-way race for the American League Eastern Division crown with the Red Sox and Orioles, Jackson ended a game with the Red Sox by hitting a home run off Reggie Cleveland, giving the Yankees a 2–0 win. The Yankees won the division by two and a half games over the Red Sox and Orioles, and came from behind in the top of the ninth inning in the fifth and final game of the American League Championship Series to beat the Kansas City Royals for the pennant.
Mr. October
During the World Series against the Dodgers, Munson was interviewed, and suggested that Jackson, because of his past post-season performances, might be the better interview subject. "Go ask Mister October", he said, giving Jackson a nickname that would stick. (In Oakland, he had been known as "Jax" and "Buck.") Jackson hit home runs in Games Four and Five of the Series.
Jackson's crowning achievement came with his three-home-run performance in World Series-clinching Game Six, each on the first pitch, off three Dodgers pitchers. (His first plate-appearance, during the second inning, resulted in a four-pitch walk.) The first came off starter Burt Hooton, and was a line drive shot into the lower right field seats at Yankee Stadium. The second was a much faster line drive off reliever Elías Sosa into roughly the same area. With the fans chanting his name, "Reg-GIE! Reg-GIE! Reg-GIE!", the third came off reliever Charlie Hough, a knuckleball pitcher, making the distance of this home run particularly remarkable. It was a towering drive into the black-painted batter's eye seats in center, away. Jackson stated afterwards that the scouting reports provided by Gene Michael and Birdie Tebbetts played a large role in his success. Their reports indicated that the Dodgers would attempt to pitch him inside and Jackson was prepared.
Since Jackson had hit a home run off Dodger pitcher Don Sutton in his last at bat in Game Five, his three home runs in Game Six meant that he had hit four home runs on four consecutive swings of the bat against as many Dodgers pitchers. Jackson became the first player to win the World Series MVP award for two teams. In 27 World Series games, he amassed 10 home runs, including a record five during the 1977 Series (the last three on first pitches), 24 RBI and a .357 batting average. Babe Ruth, Albert Pujols, and Pablo Sandoval are the only other players to hit three home runs in a single World Series game. Babe Ruth accomplishing the feat twice – in 1926 and 1928 (both in Game Four). With 25 total bases, Jackson also broke Ruth's record of 22 in the latter Series; this remains a World Series record, Willie Stargell tying it in the 1979 World Series. Chase Utley (2009, Philadelphia) and George Springer (2017, Houston) have since tied Jackson's record for most home runs in a single World Series.
Fans had been getting rowdy in anticipation of Game 6's end, and some had actually thrown firecrackers out near Jackson's area in right field. Jackson was alarmed enough about this to walk off the field, in order to get a helmet from the Yankee bench to protect himself. Shortly after this point, as the end of the game neared, fans were bold enough to climb over the wall, draping their legs over the side in preparation for the moment when they planned to rush onto the field. When that moment came, after pitcher Mike Torrez caught a pop-up for the game's final out, Jackson started running at top speed off the field, actually body-checking past some of these fans filling the playing field in the manner of a football linebacker.
The Bronx Zoo
The Yankees' home opener of the 1978 season, on April 13 against the Chicago White Sox, featured a new product, the "Reggie!" bar. In 1976, while playing in Baltimore, Jackson had said, "If I played in New York, they'd name a candy bar after me." The Standard Brands company responded with a circular "bar" of peanuts dipped in caramel and covered in chocolate, a confection that was originally named the "Wayne Bun" as it was made in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The "Reggie!" bars were handed to fans as they walked into Yankee Stadium. Jackson hit a home run, and when he returned to right field the next inning, fans began throwing the Reggie bars on the field in celebration. Jackson told the press that this confused him, thinking that maybe the fans did not like the candy. The Yankees won the game, 4–2.
But the Yankees could not maintain their success, as manager Billy Martin lost control. On July 23, after suspending Jackson for disobeying a sign during a July 17 game, Martin made a statement about his two main antagonists, referring to comments Jackson had made and team owner George Steinbrenner's 1972 violation of campaign-finance laws: "They're made for each other. One's a born liar, the other's convicted." It was moments like these that gave the Yankees the nickname "The Bronx Zoo."
Martin resigned the next day (some sources have said he was actually fired), and was replaced by Bob Lemon, a Hall of Fame pitcher for the Cleveland Indians who had been recently fired as manager of the White Sox. Steinbrenner, a Cleveland-area native, had hired former Indians star Al Rosen as his team president (replacing another Cleveland figure, Gabe Paul). Steinbrenner jumped at the chance to involve another hero of his youth with the Yankees; Lemon had been one of Steinbrenner's coaches during the Bombers' pennant-winning 1976 season.
After being 14 games behind the first-place Red Sox on July 18, the Yankees finished the season in a tie for first place. The two teams played a one-game playoff for the division title at Fenway Park, with the Yankees winning 5–4. Although the home run by light-hitting shortstop Bucky Dent in the seventh inning got the most notice, it was an eighth-inning home run by Jackson that gave the Yankees the fifth run they ended up needing. The next day, with the American League Championship Series with the Royals beginning, Jackson hit a home run off the Royals' top reliever at the time, Al Hrabosky, the flamboyant "Mad Hungarian." The Yankees won the pennant in four games, their third straight.
Jackson was once again in the center of events in the World Series, again against the Dodgers. Los Angeles won the first two games at Dodger Stadium, taking the second when rookie reliever Bob Welch struck Jackson out with two men on base with two outs in the ninth inning. The series then moved to New York, and after the Yankees won Game Three on several fine defensive plays by third baseman Graig Nettles, Game Four saw Jackson in the middle of a controversial play on the basepaths. In the sixth inning, after collecting an RBI single, Jackson was struck in the hip–possibly on purpose–by a ball thrown by Dodger shortstop Bill Russell as Jackson was being forced at second base. Instead of completing a double play that would have ended the inning, the ball caromed into foul territory and allowed Thurman Munson to score the Yankees' second run of the inning. In spite of the Dodgers' protests of interference on Jackson's part, the umpires allowed the play to stand. The Yankees tied the game in the eighth inning and eventually won in the tenth.
Following a blowout win in Game Five, both teams headed back to Los Angeles. In Game Six, Jackson got his revenge against Welch by blasting a two-run home run in the seventh inning, putting the finishing touch on a series-clinching, 7–2 win for the Yankees.
On April 19, 1979, following a Yankee loss to the Baltimore Orioles, Jackson started kidding Cliff Johnson about his inability to hit Goose Gossage. While Johnson was showering, Gossage insisted to Jackson that he struck out Johnson all the time when he used to face him. When Jackson relayed this information to Johnson upon his return to the locker room, a fight started between Johnson and the pitcher. Gossage tore ligaments in his right thumb and missed three months of the season. Teammate Tommy John called it "a demoralizing blow to the team." Jackson joined Gossage on the disabled list for a month in June with a torn calf muscle. In 131 games, he batted .297 with 29 home runs and 89 RBI.
1980–81 seasons
In 1980, Jackson batted .300 for the only time in his career, and his 41 home runs tied with Ben Oglivie of the Milwaukee Brewers for the American League lead. However, the Yankees were swept in the ALCS by the Kansas City Royals. That year, he won the inaugural Silver Slugger Award as a designated hitter.
As he entered the last year of his Yankee contract in 1981, Jackson endured several difficulties from George Steinbrenner. After the owner consulted Jackson about signing then-free agent Dave Winfield, Jackson expected Steinbrenner to work out a new contract for him as well. Steinbrenner never did (some say never intending to) and Jackson played the season as a free agent. Jackson started slowly with the bat, and when the 1981 Major League Baseball strike began, Steinbrenner invoked a clause in Jackson's contract forcing him to take a complete physical examination. Jackson was outraged and blasted Steinbrenner in the media. When the season resumed, Jackson's hitting improved, partly to show Steinbrenner he wasn't finished as a player. He hit a long home run into the upper deck in Game Five of the strike-forced 1981 American League Division Series with the Brewers, and the Yankees went on to win the pennant again. However, Jackson injured himself running the bases in Game Two of the 1981 ALCS and missed the first two games of the World Series, both of which the Yankees won.
Jackson was medically cleared to play Game Three, but manager Bob Lemon refused to start him or even play him, allegedly acting under orders from Steinbrenner. The Yankees lost that game and Jackson played the remainder of the series, hitting a home run in Game Four. However, they lost the last three games and the World Series to the Dodgers.
California Angels (1982–1986) and Oakland Athletics (1987)
Jackson became a free-agent again once the 1981 season was over. The owner of the California Angels, entertainer Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract.
On April 27, 1982, in Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry. The at-bat began with Yankee fans, angry at Steinbrenner for letting Jackson get away, starting the "Reg-GIE!" chant, and ended it with the fans chanting "Steinbrenner sucks!" By the time of Jackson's election to the Hall of Fame, Steinbrenner had begun to say that letting him go was the biggest mistake he had made as Yankee owner.
That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986, but lost the American League Championship Series both times. On September 17, 1984, on the 17th anniversary of the day he hit his first home run, he hit his 500th, at Anaheim Stadium off Bud Black of the Royals.
In 1987, he signed a one-year contract to return to the A's, wearing the number 44 with which he was now most associated rather than the number 9 he previously wore in Oakland. He announced he would retire after the season, at the age of 41. In his last at-bat, at Comiskey Park in Chicago on October 4, he collected a broken-bat single up the middle, but the A's lost to the White Sox, 5–2. Jackson was the last player in the major leagues to have played for the Kansas City Athletics.
Legacy
Jackson played 21 seasons and reached the post-season in 11 of them, winning six pennants and five World Series. His accomplishments include winning both the regular-season and World Series MVP awards in 1973, hitting 563 career home runs (sixth all-time at the time of his retirement), maintaining a .490 career slugging percentage, being named to 14 All-Star teams, and the dubious distinction of being the all-time leader in strikeouts with 2,597 (he finished with 13 more career strikeouts than hits) and second on the all-time list for most Golden sombreros (at least four strikeouts in a game) with 23 – he led this statistic until 2014, when he was surpassed by Ryan Howard. Jackson was the first major leaguer to hit 100 home runs for three different clubs, having hit over 100 for the Athletics, Yankees, and Angels. He is the only player in the 500 home run club that never had consecutive 30 home run seasons in a career.
With the Yankees, Jackson was the center of attention when it came to the media. Tommy John thought this was ultimately helpful to the team. "He was a two-way buffer between the team and Steinbrenner, and between us and the press. That allowed other guys to go about their business in relative peace."
Personal life
During his freshman year at Arizona State, he met Jennie Campos, a Mexican-American. Jackson asked Campos on a date, and discovered many similarities, including the ability to speak Spanish, and being raised in a single parent home (Campos's father was killed in the Korean War). An assistant football coach tried to break up the couple because Jackson was black and Campos was considered white. The coach contacted Campos's uncle, a wealthy benefactor of the school, and he warned the couple that their being together was a bad idea. But the relationship held up and she later became his wife. They divorced in 1973. Kimberly, his only child, was born in the late 1980s.
During the off-season, though still active in baseball, Jackson worked as a field reporter and color commentator for ABC Sports. Just over a month before signing with the Yankees in the fall of 1976, Jackson did analysis in the ABC booth with Keith Jackson and Howard Cosell the night his future team won the American League pennant on a homer by Chris Chambliss. During the 1980s (1983, 1985, and 1987 respectively), Jackson was given the task of presiding over the World Series Trophy presentations. In addition, Jackson did color commentary for the 1984 National League Championship Series (alongside Don Drysdale and Earl Weaver). After his retirement as an active player, Jackson returned to his color commentary role covering the 1988 American League Championship Series (alongside Gary Bender and Joe Morgan) for ABC.
Jackson appeared in the film The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, portraying an Angels outfielder hypnotically programmed to kill the Queen of the United Kingdom. He also appeared in Richie Rich, BASEketball, Summer of Sam and The Benchwarmers. In 1979, Jackson was a guest star in an episode of the television sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, and in an episode of The Love Boat as himself. He played himself in the Archie Bunker's Place episode "Reggie-3 Archie-0" in 1982, a 1990 MacGyver episode, "Squeeze Play", The Jeffersons episode "The Unnatural” from 1985, and the Malcolm in the Middle episode "Polly in the Middle", from 2004. Jackson was also considered for the role of Geordi La Forge in the series Star Trek: The Next Generation, a role that ultimately went to LeVar Burton. From 1981 to 1982, he hosted Reggie Jackson's World of Sports for Nickelodeon, which continued in reruns until 1985.
He co-authored a book in 2010, Sixty-Feet Six-Inches, with fellow Hall of Famer Bob Gibson. The book, whose title refers to the distance between the pitcher's mound and home plate, details their careers and approach to the game.
The 1988 Sega Master System baseball video game Reggie Jackson Baseball, endorsed by Jackson, was sold exclusively in the United States. Outside of the U.S., it was released as American Baseball.
Jackson was the de facto spokesperson for the Upper Deck Company during the early 1990s, appearing in numerous advertisements, appearances, and participating in the company's Heroes of Baseball exhibition games. This affiliation also included the company's "Find the Reggie" promotion which inserted 2500 autograph cards into packs of 1990 Upper Deck Baseball High Series packs. This inclusion of an autograph card marked an important first in what would become a very popular trend in the trading card hobby.
Jackson has endured three fires to personal property, including a June 20, 1976 fire at his home in Oakland that destroyed his 1973 MVP award, World Series trophies and All-Star rings. The same home was again burned down during the Oakland firestorm of 1991, which destroyed more baseball memorabilia in addition to other valuable collections. In 1988, a warehouse holding several of Jackson's collectible cars was damaged in a fire, with several of the cars, valued at $3.2 million, ruined.
In Tampa in 2005, Jackson's car was struck from behind and flipped over several times. Jackson escaped with minor injuries, later saying "...it was God tapping me on the shoulder... It makes you think about your purpose, about His plan for you."
Jackson called on former San Francisco 49ers head coach and ordained minister Mike Singletary for spiritual guidance. Jackson credits Singletary, stating "he helped me drop that shell I put up."
Vehicle- and parking- related attacks on Jackson
Jackson was the victim of an attempted shooting in the early morning hours of June 1, 1980. A few hours after hitting the game-winning 11th inning home run at a home game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Jackson drove his vehicle to the singles bars he frequented in a "posh" neighborhood of "swinging pubs and night spots amid expensive high-rise apartments" in Manhattan's Upper East Side to celebrate. While searching for a parking spot, he asked the driver of a vehicle that was blocking the way to move, and a passenger in that vehicle then began yelling obscenities and racial slurs at Jackson, before throwing a broken bottle at Jackson's car.
After other passerby recognized Jackson and began joking with him about apprehending them, one of the men in the other car, 25 year old Manhattan resident Angel Viera, allegedly returned with a .38 caliber revolver and fired three shots at Jackson, each missing. Viera was criminally charged with attempted murder and illegal possession of deadly weapon. News of the incident was the third story ever broadcast on CNN, which held its inaugural broadcast later that day.
In the early morning of August 12, 1980, as Jackson completed a night of celebrating his 400th career home run slugged several hours earlier against the White Sox, Jackson was accosted as he left his favored nightspot, Jim McMullen's Bar on the Upper East Side, and entered his Rolls-Royce parked outside. A young man leveled a large-bore pistol, likely a .45 caliber automatic, at Jackson's face. Jackson told police that the gun was the largest that he had ever seen, and Jackson believed that he was going to be shot. When the man lowered the weapon to reach into Jackson's car to take the ignition key, Jackson shoved the door open into the man, sending him sprawling. The man then ran off and dropped the car keys near the scene, eluding pursuers.
On March 22, 1985, Jackson was attacked after a California Angels spring training 8-1 exhibition victory over the Cleveland Indians at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, Arizona. Witnesses said that a man who had heckled Jackson throughout the game followed Jackson out to the field's parking lot to continue to do so. As Jackson finished signing autographs for fans he attempted to enter a vehicle belonging to teammate Brian Downing, but the man blocked his entry and insisted on fighting Jackson. According to Jackson, the man began pounding on the door and windshield of the car, yelling at Jackson in Spanish for an autograph and then to offer cocaine. Jackson and other fans nearby restrained the man until he calmed down, at which point the man again asked for an autograph.
On the morning of March 30, 1985, as Jackson left his bungalow at the Angels' spring training residence of the Gene Autry Hotel in Palm Springs (now the Parker Palm Springs) before a Giants game, he noticed two men driving an automobile on the hotel lawns and pedestrian paths while drinking alcohol. After the men recognized Jackson and asked for directions to the Palm Spring strip business district, he warned them to leave before they got into trouble and before he was forced to call the police. They then began heckling his baseball abilities and used an obscenity and racial slur against him. After the men left, Jackson called police, but before police arrived, the men came back to the hotel, asked the front desk to call Jackson to the front lobby, and when he arrived, threatened to assault Jackson. When Jackson grabbed one of the men, the other raised a tire iron over his head. As Jackson moved towards the second man, he ran away but was blocked by a parked car, allowing Jackson to capture him and seize the tire iron and pass it to a nearby Angels executive who had witnessed the event. One of the men was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and the other cited for disturbing the peace.
In an inverse situation, on July 19, 1977, Jackson was signing autographs for fans after the conclusion of the 1977 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, held at Yankee Stadium that year, in the stadium parking lot. According to a statement from Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, several teens entered the parking lot and began shouting obscenities at Jackson. Jackson ignored the teens until one made a "particularly vile remark" about Jackson's mother. Jackson then chased off the teens, one of whom fell while running. The teen claimed that Jackson's foot made contact with the teen's wrist, which Jackson denied. Against the advice of criminal court judge Bernard Klieger, the teen's lawyer insisted that a criminal complaint for harassment be authorized against Jackson, which Klieger did "reluctantly".
Post-retirement honors
Jackson and Steinbrenner reconciled, and Steinbrenner hired Jackson as a "special assistant to the principal owner", making him a consultant and a liaison to the team's players, particularly those of minority standing. By this point, the Yankees, long noted for being slow to adapt to changes in race relations, had come to develop many minority players in their farm system and seek out others via trades and free agency. Jackson usually appears in uniform at the Yankees' spring training complex in Tampa, Florida, and was sought out for advice by recent stars as Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. "His experience is vast, and he's especially good with the young players in our minor league system, the 17- and 18-year old kids. They respect him and what he's accomplished in his career. When Reggie Jackson tells a young kid how he might improve his swing, he tends to listen," said Hal Steinbrenner, Yankees managing general partner and co-chairperson.
Jackson was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1993. He chose to wear a Yankees cap on his Hall of Fame plaque after the Oakland Athletics unceremoniously fired him from a coaching position in 1991.
The Yankees retired Jackson's uniform number 44 on August 14, 1993, shortly after his induction into the Hall of Fame. The Athletics retired his number 9 on May 22, 2004. He is one of only ten MLB players to have their numbers retired by more than one team, and one of only four to have different numbers retired by two MLB teams.
In 1999, Jackson placed 48th on The Sporting News' 100 Greatest Baseball Players list. That same year, he was named one of 100 finalists for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, but was not one of the 30 players chosen by the fans.
The Yankees dedicated a plaque in Jackson's honor on July 6, 2002, that now hangs in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. The plaque calls him "One of the most colorful and exciting players of his era" and "a prolific hitter who thrived in pressure situations." Each Yankee so honored and still living was on hand for the dedication: Phil Rizzuto, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford and Don Mattingly. Ron Guidry, a teammate of Jackson's for all five of his seasons with the Yankees, was there, and was to be honored with a Monument Park plaque the next season. Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Ernie Banks, players whom Jackson admired while growing up, attended the ceremony at his invitation. Like Jackson, each was a member of the Hall of Fame and had hit over 500 career home runs. Each had also played in the Negro leagues, as had Jackson's father, Martinez Jackson.
Jackson expanded his love of antique cars into a chain of auto dealerships in California, and used his contacts to become one of the foremost traders of sports memorabilia. He has also been the public face of a group attempting to purchase a major league team, already having made unsuccessful attempts to buy the Athletics and the Angels. His attempt to acquire the Angels along with Jimmy Nederlander (minority owner of the New York Yankees), Jackie Autry (widow of former Angels owner Gene Autry) and other investors was thwarted by Mexican-American billionaire Arturo Moreno, who outbid Jackson's group by nearly $50 million for the team in the winter of 2002.
In a July 2012 interview with Sports Illustrated, Jackson was critical of the Baseball Writers' Association of America as he believes that the organization has lowered its standards for admission into the Hall of Fame. He has also been critical of players associated with performance-enhancing drugs, including distant cousin Barry Bonds, stating "I believe that Hank Aaron is the home run king, not Barry Bonds, as great of a player Bonds was." Of Alex Rodriguez, Jackson remarked, "Al's a very good friend. But I think there are real questions about his numbers. As much as I like him, what he admitted about his usage does cloud some of his numbers." On July 12, the Yankees released a statement regarding the Sports Illustrated interview in which Jackson said, "In trying to convey my feelings about a few issues that I am passionate about, I made the mistake of naming some specific players." It had been reported that he was told by the Yankees to steer clear from the team, although general manager Brian Cashman stated that Jackson had not been banned but only told to not join the club on a road trip to Boston and would later be free to interact with the club. Jackson stated, "I continue to have a strong relationship with the club, and look forward to continuing my role with the team."
In 2007, ESPN aired a miniseries called The Bronx Is Burning about the 1977 Yankees, with the conflicts and controversies involving Jackson, portrayed by Daniel Sunjata, a central part of the storyline. The series infuriated Jackson, as he felt that he was portrayed as selfish and arrogant. He also expressed frustration that the filmmakers did not consult with him while making the miniseries, saying "I feel betrayed."
In 2008, Jackson threw the ceremonial first pitch at the Yankees' opening-day game, the last at the original Yankee Stadium. He also threw out the first pitch at the first game at the new Yankee Stadium (an exhibition game).
On October 9, 2009, Jackson threw the ceremonial opening pitch at Game 2 of the ALDS between the Yankees and the Minnesota Twins. On October 18, 2010, the Ride of Fame honored Jackson with his image on a New York City double-decker tour bus.
On September 5, 2018, before an Athletics game against the Yankees in Oakland, Jackson was inducted into the new Oakland Athletics Hall of Fame. He joined fellow inductees Rickey Henderson, Dave Stewart, Dennis Eckersley, Catfish Hunter and Rollie Fingers.
See also
List of Puerto Ricans
DHL Hometown Heroes
Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
Major League Baseball titles leaders
List of Major League Baseball home run records
500 home run club
List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
List of Major League Baseball career total bases leaders
List of Major League Baseball career bases on balls leaders
List of Major League Baseball career at-bat leaders
List of Major League Baseball career games played leaders
List of Major League Baseball career plate appearance leaders
List of Major League Baseball career strikeouts by batters leaders
Notes
References
External links
ReggieJackson.com
The Sporting News' Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments: Reggie! Reggie! Reggie!
Sports Illustrated – covers
Reggie Jackson Exclusive Interview for MSG's The Bronx is Burning: Summer of '77
1946 births
Living people
People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania
African-American baseball players
African-American baseball coaches
All-American college baseball players
American League Most Valuable Player Award winners
American League All-Stars
American League home run champions
American League RBI champions
American sportspeople of Puerto Rican descent
Arizona State Sun Devils baseball players
Arizona State Sun Devils football players
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Kansas City Athletics players
Major League Baseball broadcasters
Major League Baseball designated hitters
Major League Baseball hitting coaches
Baseball players from Pennsylvania
Major League Baseball right fielders
World Series Most Valuable Player Award winners
New York Yankees executives
New York Yankees players
Oakland Athletics players
Oakland Athletics coaches
Baseball players from Oakland, California
Puerto Rican baseball players
Major League Baseball players with retired numbers
Lewiston Broncs players
Modesto Reds players
Birmingham A's players
American car collectors
Silver Slugger Award winners
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American sportspeople | true | [
"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",
"The United People's Party was a political party in Saint Kitts and Nevis. The party first contested national elections in 1993, when they received 3.1% of the vote and failed to win any seats. In the 1995 elections they received just 71 votes and again failed to win a seat. The party did not contest any further elections.\n\nReferences\n\nPolitical parties in Saint Kitts and Nevis\n1990s in Saint Kitts and Nevis"
] |
[
"Reggie Jackson",
"California Angels (1982-86) and Oakland Athletics (1987)",
"how did he join the angels",
"Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract.",
"Did Jackson do well there",
"Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry.",
"what else did he achieve there",
"That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986,",
"Did they win any more",
"lost the American League Championship Series both times."
] | C_a115a3119c04420bb2dbe71f36612907_0 | Did he achieve any personal goals during this time | 5 | Did Reggie Jackson achieve any personal goals while with the California Angels? | Reggie Jackson | Jackson became a free-agent again once the 1981 season was over. The owner of the California Angels, entertainer Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract. On April 27, 1982, in Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry. The at-bat began with Yankee fans, angry at Steinbrenner for letting Jackson get away, starting the "Reg-GIE!" chant, and ended it with the fans chanting "Steinbrenner sucks!" By the time of Jackson's election to the Hall of Fame, Steinbrenner had begun to say that letting him go was the biggest mistake he had made as Yankee owner. That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986, but lost the American League Championship Series both times. On September 17, 1984, on the 17th anniversary of the day he hit his first home run, he hit his 500th, at Anaheim Stadium off Bud Black of the Royals. In 1987, he signed a one-year contract to return to the A's, wearing the number 44 with which he was now most associated rather than the number 9 he previously wore in Oakland. He announced he would retire after the season, at the age of 41. In his last at-bat, at Comiskey Park in Chicago on October 4, he collected a broken-bat single up the middle, but the A's lost to the White Sox, 5-2. Jackson was the last player in the major leagues to have played for the Kansas City Athletics. CANNOTANSWER | On September 17, 1984, on the 17th anniversary of the day he hit his first home run, he hit his 500th, at Anaheim Stadium off Bud Black of the Royals. | Reginald Martinez Jackson (born May 18, 1946) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and California Angels. Jackson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993.
Jackson was nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the Athletics and the Yankees. He helped Oakland win five consecutive American League West divisional titles, three consecutive American League pennants and three consecutive World Series titles, from 1972 to 1974. Jackson helped New York win four American League East divisional pennants, three American League pennants and two consecutive World Series titles, in 1977 and 1978. He also helped the California Angels win two AL West divisional titles in 1982 and 1986. Jackson hit three consecutive home runs at Yankee Stadium in the clinching game six of the 1977 World Series.
Jackson hit 563 career home runs and was an American League (AL) All-Star for 14 seasons. He won two Silver Slugger Awards, the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award in 1973, two World Series MVP Awards, and the Babe Ruth Award in 1977. The Yankees and Athletics retired his team uniform number in 1993 and 2004. Jackson currently serves as a special advisor to the Houston Astros.
Jackson led his teams to first place ten times over his 21-year career.
Early years
Jackson was born in the Wyncote neighborhood of Cheltenham Township, just north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Martinez Jackson, who was half Puerto Rican, worked as a tailor and was a former second baseman with the Newark Eagles of Negro league baseball. He was the youngest of four children from his mother, Clara. He also had two half-siblings from his father's first marriage. His parents divorced when he was four; his mother took four of his siblings with her, while his father took Reggie and one of the siblings from his first marriage, though one sibling later returned to Wyncote. Martinez Jackson was a single father, and theirs was one of the few black families in Wyncote.
Jackson graduated from Cheltenham High School in 1964, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track and field. A tailback in football, he injured his knee in an early season game in his junior year in the fall of 1962. He was told by the doctors he was never to play football again, but Jackson returned for the final game of the season. In that game, Jackson fractured five cervical vertebrae, which caused him to spend six weeks in the hospital and another month in a neck cast. Doctors told Jackson that he might never walk again, let alone play football, but Jackson defied the odds again. On the baseball team, he batted .550 and threw several no-hitters. In the middle of his senior year, Jackson's father was arrested for bootlegging and was sentenced to six months in jail.
Collegiate athletic career
For football, Jackson was recruited by Alabama, Georgia, and Oklahoma, all of whom were willing to break the color barrier just for Jackson. (Oklahoma had black football players before 1964, including Prentice Gautt, a star running back recruited in 1957, who played in the NFL.) Jackson declined Alabama and Georgia because he was fearful of the South at the time, and declined Oklahoma because they told him to stop dating white girls. For baseball, Jackson was scouted by Hans Lobert of the San Francisco Giants who was desperate to sign him. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins also made offers, and the hometown Philadelphia Phillies gave him a tryout but declined because of his "hitting skills".
His father wanted his son to go to college, where Jackson wanted to play both football and baseball. He accepted a football scholarship from Arizona State University in Tempe; his high school football coach knew ASU's head football coach Frank Kush, and they discussed the possibility of his playing both sports. After a recruiting trip, Kush decided that Jackson had the ability and willingness to work to join the squad.
One day after football practice, he approached ASU baseball coach Bobby Winkles and asked if he could join the team. Winkles said he would give Jackson a look, and the next day while still in his football gear, he hit a home run on the second pitch he saw; in five at bats he hit three home runs. He was allowed to practice with the team, but could not join the squad because the NCAA had a rule forbidding the use of freshman players. Jackson switched permanently to baseball following his freshman year, as he did not want to become a defensive back. To hone his skills, Winkles assigned him to a Baltimore Orioles-affiliated amateur team. He broke numerous team records for the squad, and the Orioles offered him a $50,000 signing bonus if he joined the team. Jackson declined the offer stating that he did not want to forfeit his college scholarship.
In the beginning of his sophomore year in 1966, Jackson replaced Rick Monday (the first player ever selected in the Major League Baseball draft and a future teammate with the A's) at center field. He broke the team record for most home runs in a single season, led the team in numerous other categories and was first team All-American. Many scouts were looking at him play, including Tom Greenwade of the New York Yankees (who discovered Mickey Mantle), and Danny Murtaugh of the Pittsburgh Pirates. In his final game at Arizona State, he showed his potential by being only a triple away from hitting for the cycle, making a sliding catch, and having an assist at home plate. Jackson was the first college player to hit a home run out of Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
Minor leagues
In the 1966 Major League Baseball draft on June 7, Jackson was selected by the Kansas City Athletics. He was the second overall pick, behind 17-year-old catcher Steve Chilcott, who was taken by the New York Mets. According to Jackson, Winkles told him that the Mets did not select him because he had a white girlfriend. Winkles later denied the story, stating that he did not know the reason why Jackson was not drafted by the Mets. It was later confirmed by Joe McDonald that the Mets drafted Steve Chilcott because of need, the person running the Mets at the time was George Weiss, so the true motive may never be known.
Jackson, age 20, signed with the A's for $95,000 on June 13 and reported for his first training camp with the Lewis-Clark Broncs of the short season Single-A Northwest League in Lewiston, Idaho, managed by Grady Wilson. He made his professional debut as a center fielder in the season opener on June 24 at Bethel Park in Eugene, Oregon, but was hitless in five at-bats. In the next game, Jackson singled in the first inning and homered in the ninth. In the home opener at Bengal Field in Lewiston on June 30, he hit a double and a triple. In his final game as a Bronc on July 6, Jackson was hit in the head by a pitch in the first inning, but stayed in the game and drove in runs with two sacrifice flies. Complaining of a headache, he left the game in the ninth inning, was admitted to St. Joseph's Hospital in Lewiston, and remained overnight for observation.
Jackson played for two Class A teams in 1966, with the Broncs for just 12 games, and then 56 games with Modesto in the California League, where he hit 21 homers. He began 1967 with the Birmingham A's in the Double-A Southern League in Birmingham, Alabama, where Jackson got his first taste of racism, being one of only a few blacks on the team. He credits the team's manager at the time, John McNamara, for helping him through that difficult season.
MLB career
Kansas City / Oakland Athletics (1967–1975)
Jackson debuted in the major leagues with the A's in 1967 in a Friday doubleheader in Kansas City on June 9, a shutout sweep of the Cleveland Indians by scores of and at Municipal Stadium. (Jackson had his first career hit in the nightcap, a lead-off triple in the fifth inning off of long reliever Orlando Peña.)
The Athletics moved west to Oakland prior to the 1968 season. Jackson hit 47 home runs in 1969, and was briefly ahead of the pace that Roger Maris set when he broke the single-season record for home runs with 61 in 1961, and that of Babe Ruth when he set the previous record of 60 in 1927. Jackson later said that the sportswriters were claiming he was "dating a lady named 'Ruth Maris.'"
Slumping at the plate in May 1970, Athletics owner Charlie O. Finley threatened to send Jackson to the minors. Jackson hit 23 home runs while batting .237 for the 1970 season. The Athletics sent him to play in Puerto Rico, where he played for the Santurce team and hit 20 homers and knocked in 47 runs to lead the league in both departments. Jackson hit a memorable home run in the 1971 All-Star Game at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Batting for the American League against Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis, the ball he hit soared above the right-field stands, striking the transformer of a light standard on the right field roof. While with the Angels in 1984, he hit a home run over that roof.
In 1971, the Athletics won the American League's West division, their first title of any kind since 1931, when they played in Philadelphia. They were swept in three games in the American League Championship Series by the Baltimore Orioles. The A's won the division again in 1972; their series with the Tigers went the full five games, and Jackson scored the tying run in the clincher on a steal of home. In the process, however, he tore a hamstring and was unable to play in the World Series. The A's still managed to defeat the Cincinnati Reds in seven games. It was the first championship won by a San Francisco Bay Area team in any major league sport.
During spring training in 1972, Jackson showed up with a mustache. Though his teammates wanted him to shave it off, Jackson refused. Finley liked the mustache so much that he offered each player $300 to grow one, and hosted a "Mustache Day" featuring the last MLB player to wear a mustache, Frenchy Bordagaray, as master of ceremonies.
Jackson helped the Athletics win the pennant again in 1973, and was named Most Valuable Player of the American League for the season. The A's defeated the New York Mets in seven hard-fought games in the World Series. This time, Jackson was not only able to play, but his performance led to his being awarded the Series's MVP award. In the third inning of that seventh game, which ended in a 5–2 score, the A's jumped out to a 4–0 lead as both Bert Campaneris and Jackson hit two-run home runs off Jon Matlack—the only two home runs Oakland hit the entire Series. The A's won the World Series again in 1974, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.
Besides hitting 254 home runs in nine years with the Athletics, Jackson was also no stranger to controversy or conflict in Oakland. Sports author Dick Crouser wrote, "When the late Al Helfer was broadcasting the Oakland A's games, he was not too enthusiastic about Reggie Jackson's speed or his hustle. Once, with Jackson on third, teammate Rick Monday hit a long home run. 'Jackson should score easily on that one,' commented Helfer. Crouser also noted that, "Nobody seems to be neutral on Reggie Jackson. You're either a fan or a detractor." When teammate Darold Knowles was asked if Jackson was a hotdog (i.e., a show-off), he famously replied, "There isn't enough mustard in the world to cover Reggie Jackson."
In February 1974, Jackson won an arbitration case for a $135,000 salary for the season, nearly doubling his previous year's $70,000. On June 5, outfielder Billy North and Jackson engaged in a clubhouse fight at Detroit's Tiger Stadium. Jackson injured his shoulder, and catcher Ray Fosse, attempting to separate the combatants, suffered a crushed disk in his neck, costing him three months on the disabled list. In October, the A's went on to win a third consecutive World Series.
Prior to the 1975 season, Jackson sought $168,000, but arbitration went against him this time and he settled for $140,000. The A's won a fifth consecutive division title, but the loss of pitcher Catfish Hunter, baseball's first modern free agent, left them vulnerable, and they were swept in the ALCS by the Boston Red Sox.
Baltimore Orioles (1976)
Paid $140,000 in 1975 and one of nine Oakland players refusing to sign 1976 contracts, Jackson sought a three-year $600,000 pact. With free agency imminent after the season and the expectations of higher salaries for which Athletics owner Finley was unwilling to pay, he was traded along with Ken Holtzman and minor-league right-handed pitcher Bill Van Bommel to the Baltimore Orioles for Don Baylor, Mike Torrez, and Paul Mitchell on April 2, 1976. Jackson had not signed a contract and threatened to sit out the season; he reported to the Orioles four weeks later, and made his first plate appearance on Baltimore and Oakland both finished second in their respective divisions in ; the Yankees and Royals advanced to the ALCS, the first without the A's since 1970. During Jackson's lone season in Baltimore he stole 28 bases, a career-best. Jim Palmer later wrote, "I would say Reggie Jackson was arrogant. But the word arrogant isn't arrogant enough." However, he thought the Orioles made a "brick-brained" mistake by not signing him to a contract, allowing him to become a free agent.
New York Yankees (1977–1981)
The Yankees won the pennant in 1976 but were swept in the World Series by the Reds. A month later on November 29, they signed Jackson to a five-year contract totaling $2.96 million ($ in current dollar terms). The number 9 that he had worn in Oakland and Baltimore was already used by Yankees third baseman Graig Nettles; Jackson asked for number 42 in memory of Jackie Robinson, but that number was given to pitching coach Art Fowler before the start of the season. Noting that Hank Aaron, at the time the holder of the career record for the most home runs, had just retired, Jackson asked for and received number 44 as a tribute to Aaron. Jackson wore number 20 for one game during spring training as a tribute to the also recently retired Frank Robinson, then he switched to number 44.
Jackson's first season with the Yankees in 1977 was a difficult one. Although team owner George Steinbrenner and several players, most notably catcher and team captain Thurman Munson and outfielder Lou Piniella, were excited about his arrival, the team's field manager Billy Martin was not. Martin had managed the Tigers in 1972, when Jackson's A's beat them in the playoffs. Jackson was once quoted as saying of Martin, "I hate him, but if I played for him, I'd probably love him."
The relationship between Jackson and his new teammates was strained due to an interview with SPORT magazine writer Robert Ward. During spring training at the Yankees' camp in Fort Lauderdale, Jackson and Ward were having drinks at a nearby bar. Jackson's version of the story is that he noted that the Yankees had won the pennant the year before, but lost the World Series to the Reds, and suggested that they needed one thing more to win it all, and pointed out the various ingredients in his drink. Ward suggested that Jackson might be "the straw that stirs the drink." But when the story appeared in the June 1977 issue of SPORT, Ward quoted Jackson as saying, "This team, it all flows from me. I'm the straw that stirs the drink. Maybe I should say me and Munson, but he can only stir it bad."Jackson has consistently denied saying anything negative about Munson in the interview and he has said that his quotes were taken out of context. However, Dave Anderson of The New York Times subsequently wrote that he had drinks with Jackson in July 1977, and that Jackson told him, "I'm still the straw that stirs the drink. Not Munson, not nobody else on this club." Regardless, as Munson was beloved by his teammates, Martin, Steinbrenner and Yankee fans, the relationships between them and Jackson became very strained.
On June 18, in a 10–4 loss to the Boston Red Sox in a nationally televised game at Fenway Park in Boston, Jim Rice, a powerful hitter but notoriously slow runner, hit a ball into shallow right field that Jackson appeared to weakly attempt to field. Jackson failed to reach the ball, which fell far in front of him, thereby allowing Rice to reach second base. Furious, Martin removed Jackson from the game without even waiting for the end of the inning, sending Paul Blair out to replace him. When Jackson arrived at the dugout, Martin yelled that Jackson had shown him up. They argued, and Jackson said that Martin's heavy drinking had impaired his judgment. Despite Jackson being 18 years younger, about two inches taller and maybe 40 pounds heavier, Martin lunged at him, and had to be restrained by coaches Yogi Berra and Elston Howard. Red Sox fans could see this in the dugout and began cheering wildly, and the NBC TV cameras showed the confrontation to the entire country.
Yankees management defused the situation by the next day, but the relationship between Jackson and Martin was permanently poisoned. However, George Steinbrenner made a crucial intervention when he gave Martin the option of either having Jackson bat in the fourth or "cleanup" spot for the rest of the season, or losing his job. Martin made the change and Jackson's hitting improved (he had 13 home runs and 49 RBIs over his next 50 games), and the team went on a winning streak. On September 14, while in a tight three-way race for the American League Eastern Division crown with the Red Sox and Orioles, Jackson ended a game with the Red Sox by hitting a home run off Reggie Cleveland, giving the Yankees a 2–0 win. The Yankees won the division by two and a half games over the Red Sox and Orioles, and came from behind in the top of the ninth inning in the fifth and final game of the American League Championship Series to beat the Kansas City Royals for the pennant.
Mr. October
During the World Series against the Dodgers, Munson was interviewed, and suggested that Jackson, because of his past post-season performances, might be the better interview subject. "Go ask Mister October", he said, giving Jackson a nickname that would stick. (In Oakland, he had been known as "Jax" and "Buck.") Jackson hit home runs in Games Four and Five of the Series.
Jackson's crowning achievement came with his three-home-run performance in World Series-clinching Game Six, each on the first pitch, off three Dodgers pitchers. (His first plate-appearance, during the second inning, resulted in a four-pitch walk.) The first came off starter Burt Hooton, and was a line drive shot into the lower right field seats at Yankee Stadium. The second was a much faster line drive off reliever Elías Sosa into roughly the same area. With the fans chanting his name, "Reg-GIE! Reg-GIE! Reg-GIE!", the third came off reliever Charlie Hough, a knuckleball pitcher, making the distance of this home run particularly remarkable. It was a towering drive into the black-painted batter's eye seats in center, away. Jackson stated afterwards that the scouting reports provided by Gene Michael and Birdie Tebbetts played a large role in his success. Their reports indicated that the Dodgers would attempt to pitch him inside and Jackson was prepared.
Since Jackson had hit a home run off Dodger pitcher Don Sutton in his last at bat in Game Five, his three home runs in Game Six meant that he had hit four home runs on four consecutive swings of the bat against as many Dodgers pitchers. Jackson became the first player to win the World Series MVP award for two teams. In 27 World Series games, he amassed 10 home runs, including a record five during the 1977 Series (the last three on first pitches), 24 RBI and a .357 batting average. Babe Ruth, Albert Pujols, and Pablo Sandoval are the only other players to hit three home runs in a single World Series game. Babe Ruth accomplishing the feat twice – in 1926 and 1928 (both in Game Four). With 25 total bases, Jackson also broke Ruth's record of 22 in the latter Series; this remains a World Series record, Willie Stargell tying it in the 1979 World Series. Chase Utley (2009, Philadelphia) and George Springer (2017, Houston) have since tied Jackson's record for most home runs in a single World Series.
Fans had been getting rowdy in anticipation of Game 6's end, and some had actually thrown firecrackers out near Jackson's area in right field. Jackson was alarmed enough about this to walk off the field, in order to get a helmet from the Yankee bench to protect himself. Shortly after this point, as the end of the game neared, fans were bold enough to climb over the wall, draping their legs over the side in preparation for the moment when they planned to rush onto the field. When that moment came, after pitcher Mike Torrez caught a pop-up for the game's final out, Jackson started running at top speed off the field, actually body-checking past some of these fans filling the playing field in the manner of a football linebacker.
The Bronx Zoo
The Yankees' home opener of the 1978 season, on April 13 against the Chicago White Sox, featured a new product, the "Reggie!" bar. In 1976, while playing in Baltimore, Jackson had said, "If I played in New York, they'd name a candy bar after me." The Standard Brands company responded with a circular "bar" of peanuts dipped in caramel and covered in chocolate, a confection that was originally named the "Wayne Bun" as it was made in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The "Reggie!" bars were handed to fans as they walked into Yankee Stadium. Jackson hit a home run, and when he returned to right field the next inning, fans began throwing the Reggie bars on the field in celebration. Jackson told the press that this confused him, thinking that maybe the fans did not like the candy. The Yankees won the game, 4–2.
But the Yankees could not maintain their success, as manager Billy Martin lost control. On July 23, after suspending Jackson for disobeying a sign during a July 17 game, Martin made a statement about his two main antagonists, referring to comments Jackson had made and team owner George Steinbrenner's 1972 violation of campaign-finance laws: "They're made for each other. One's a born liar, the other's convicted." It was moments like these that gave the Yankees the nickname "The Bronx Zoo."
Martin resigned the next day (some sources have said he was actually fired), and was replaced by Bob Lemon, a Hall of Fame pitcher for the Cleveland Indians who had been recently fired as manager of the White Sox. Steinbrenner, a Cleveland-area native, had hired former Indians star Al Rosen as his team president (replacing another Cleveland figure, Gabe Paul). Steinbrenner jumped at the chance to involve another hero of his youth with the Yankees; Lemon had been one of Steinbrenner's coaches during the Bombers' pennant-winning 1976 season.
After being 14 games behind the first-place Red Sox on July 18, the Yankees finished the season in a tie for first place. The two teams played a one-game playoff for the division title at Fenway Park, with the Yankees winning 5–4. Although the home run by light-hitting shortstop Bucky Dent in the seventh inning got the most notice, it was an eighth-inning home run by Jackson that gave the Yankees the fifth run they ended up needing. The next day, with the American League Championship Series with the Royals beginning, Jackson hit a home run off the Royals' top reliever at the time, Al Hrabosky, the flamboyant "Mad Hungarian." The Yankees won the pennant in four games, their third straight.
Jackson was once again in the center of events in the World Series, again against the Dodgers. Los Angeles won the first two games at Dodger Stadium, taking the second when rookie reliever Bob Welch struck Jackson out with two men on base with two outs in the ninth inning. The series then moved to New York, and after the Yankees won Game Three on several fine defensive plays by third baseman Graig Nettles, Game Four saw Jackson in the middle of a controversial play on the basepaths. In the sixth inning, after collecting an RBI single, Jackson was struck in the hip–possibly on purpose–by a ball thrown by Dodger shortstop Bill Russell as Jackson was being forced at second base. Instead of completing a double play that would have ended the inning, the ball caromed into foul territory and allowed Thurman Munson to score the Yankees' second run of the inning. In spite of the Dodgers' protests of interference on Jackson's part, the umpires allowed the play to stand. The Yankees tied the game in the eighth inning and eventually won in the tenth.
Following a blowout win in Game Five, both teams headed back to Los Angeles. In Game Six, Jackson got his revenge against Welch by blasting a two-run home run in the seventh inning, putting the finishing touch on a series-clinching, 7–2 win for the Yankees.
On April 19, 1979, following a Yankee loss to the Baltimore Orioles, Jackson started kidding Cliff Johnson about his inability to hit Goose Gossage. While Johnson was showering, Gossage insisted to Jackson that he struck out Johnson all the time when he used to face him. When Jackson relayed this information to Johnson upon his return to the locker room, a fight started between Johnson and the pitcher. Gossage tore ligaments in his right thumb and missed three months of the season. Teammate Tommy John called it "a demoralizing blow to the team." Jackson joined Gossage on the disabled list for a month in June with a torn calf muscle. In 131 games, he batted .297 with 29 home runs and 89 RBI.
1980–81 seasons
In 1980, Jackson batted .300 for the only time in his career, and his 41 home runs tied with Ben Oglivie of the Milwaukee Brewers for the American League lead. However, the Yankees were swept in the ALCS by the Kansas City Royals. That year, he won the inaugural Silver Slugger Award as a designated hitter.
As he entered the last year of his Yankee contract in 1981, Jackson endured several difficulties from George Steinbrenner. After the owner consulted Jackson about signing then-free agent Dave Winfield, Jackson expected Steinbrenner to work out a new contract for him as well. Steinbrenner never did (some say never intending to) and Jackson played the season as a free agent. Jackson started slowly with the bat, and when the 1981 Major League Baseball strike began, Steinbrenner invoked a clause in Jackson's contract forcing him to take a complete physical examination. Jackson was outraged and blasted Steinbrenner in the media. When the season resumed, Jackson's hitting improved, partly to show Steinbrenner he wasn't finished as a player. He hit a long home run into the upper deck in Game Five of the strike-forced 1981 American League Division Series with the Brewers, and the Yankees went on to win the pennant again. However, Jackson injured himself running the bases in Game Two of the 1981 ALCS and missed the first two games of the World Series, both of which the Yankees won.
Jackson was medically cleared to play Game Three, but manager Bob Lemon refused to start him or even play him, allegedly acting under orders from Steinbrenner. The Yankees lost that game and Jackson played the remainder of the series, hitting a home run in Game Four. However, they lost the last three games and the World Series to the Dodgers.
California Angels (1982–1986) and Oakland Athletics (1987)
Jackson became a free-agent again once the 1981 season was over. The owner of the California Angels, entertainer Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract.
On April 27, 1982, in Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry. The at-bat began with Yankee fans, angry at Steinbrenner for letting Jackson get away, starting the "Reg-GIE!" chant, and ended it with the fans chanting "Steinbrenner sucks!" By the time of Jackson's election to the Hall of Fame, Steinbrenner had begun to say that letting him go was the biggest mistake he had made as Yankee owner.
That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986, but lost the American League Championship Series both times. On September 17, 1984, on the 17th anniversary of the day he hit his first home run, he hit his 500th, at Anaheim Stadium off Bud Black of the Royals.
In 1987, he signed a one-year contract to return to the A's, wearing the number 44 with which he was now most associated rather than the number 9 he previously wore in Oakland. He announced he would retire after the season, at the age of 41. In his last at-bat, at Comiskey Park in Chicago on October 4, he collected a broken-bat single up the middle, but the A's lost to the White Sox, 5–2. Jackson was the last player in the major leagues to have played for the Kansas City Athletics.
Legacy
Jackson played 21 seasons and reached the post-season in 11 of them, winning six pennants and five World Series. His accomplishments include winning both the regular-season and World Series MVP awards in 1973, hitting 563 career home runs (sixth all-time at the time of his retirement), maintaining a .490 career slugging percentage, being named to 14 All-Star teams, and the dubious distinction of being the all-time leader in strikeouts with 2,597 (he finished with 13 more career strikeouts than hits) and second on the all-time list for most Golden sombreros (at least four strikeouts in a game) with 23 – he led this statistic until 2014, when he was surpassed by Ryan Howard. Jackson was the first major leaguer to hit 100 home runs for three different clubs, having hit over 100 for the Athletics, Yankees, and Angels. He is the only player in the 500 home run club that never had consecutive 30 home run seasons in a career.
With the Yankees, Jackson was the center of attention when it came to the media. Tommy John thought this was ultimately helpful to the team. "He was a two-way buffer between the team and Steinbrenner, and between us and the press. That allowed other guys to go about their business in relative peace."
Personal life
During his freshman year at Arizona State, he met Jennie Campos, a Mexican-American. Jackson asked Campos on a date, and discovered many similarities, including the ability to speak Spanish, and being raised in a single parent home (Campos's father was killed in the Korean War). An assistant football coach tried to break up the couple because Jackson was black and Campos was considered white. The coach contacted Campos's uncle, a wealthy benefactor of the school, and he warned the couple that their being together was a bad idea. But the relationship held up and she later became his wife. They divorced in 1973. Kimberly, his only child, was born in the late 1980s.
During the off-season, though still active in baseball, Jackson worked as a field reporter and color commentator for ABC Sports. Just over a month before signing with the Yankees in the fall of 1976, Jackson did analysis in the ABC booth with Keith Jackson and Howard Cosell the night his future team won the American League pennant on a homer by Chris Chambliss. During the 1980s (1983, 1985, and 1987 respectively), Jackson was given the task of presiding over the World Series Trophy presentations. In addition, Jackson did color commentary for the 1984 National League Championship Series (alongside Don Drysdale and Earl Weaver). After his retirement as an active player, Jackson returned to his color commentary role covering the 1988 American League Championship Series (alongside Gary Bender and Joe Morgan) for ABC.
Jackson appeared in the film The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, portraying an Angels outfielder hypnotically programmed to kill the Queen of the United Kingdom. He also appeared in Richie Rich, BASEketball, Summer of Sam and The Benchwarmers. In 1979, Jackson was a guest star in an episode of the television sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, and in an episode of The Love Boat as himself. He played himself in the Archie Bunker's Place episode "Reggie-3 Archie-0" in 1982, a 1990 MacGyver episode, "Squeeze Play", The Jeffersons episode "The Unnatural” from 1985, and the Malcolm in the Middle episode "Polly in the Middle", from 2004. Jackson was also considered for the role of Geordi La Forge in the series Star Trek: The Next Generation, a role that ultimately went to LeVar Burton. From 1981 to 1982, he hosted Reggie Jackson's World of Sports for Nickelodeon, which continued in reruns until 1985.
He co-authored a book in 2010, Sixty-Feet Six-Inches, with fellow Hall of Famer Bob Gibson. The book, whose title refers to the distance between the pitcher's mound and home plate, details their careers and approach to the game.
The 1988 Sega Master System baseball video game Reggie Jackson Baseball, endorsed by Jackson, was sold exclusively in the United States. Outside of the U.S., it was released as American Baseball.
Jackson was the de facto spokesperson for the Upper Deck Company during the early 1990s, appearing in numerous advertisements, appearances, and participating in the company's Heroes of Baseball exhibition games. This affiliation also included the company's "Find the Reggie" promotion which inserted 2500 autograph cards into packs of 1990 Upper Deck Baseball High Series packs. This inclusion of an autograph card marked an important first in what would become a very popular trend in the trading card hobby.
Jackson has endured three fires to personal property, including a June 20, 1976 fire at his home in Oakland that destroyed his 1973 MVP award, World Series trophies and All-Star rings. The same home was again burned down during the Oakland firestorm of 1991, which destroyed more baseball memorabilia in addition to other valuable collections. In 1988, a warehouse holding several of Jackson's collectible cars was damaged in a fire, with several of the cars, valued at $3.2 million, ruined.
In Tampa in 2005, Jackson's car was struck from behind and flipped over several times. Jackson escaped with minor injuries, later saying "...it was God tapping me on the shoulder... It makes you think about your purpose, about His plan for you."
Jackson called on former San Francisco 49ers head coach and ordained minister Mike Singletary for spiritual guidance. Jackson credits Singletary, stating "he helped me drop that shell I put up."
Vehicle- and parking- related attacks on Jackson
Jackson was the victim of an attempted shooting in the early morning hours of June 1, 1980. A few hours after hitting the game-winning 11th inning home run at a home game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Jackson drove his vehicle to the singles bars he frequented in a "posh" neighborhood of "swinging pubs and night spots amid expensive high-rise apartments" in Manhattan's Upper East Side to celebrate. While searching for a parking spot, he asked the driver of a vehicle that was blocking the way to move, and a passenger in that vehicle then began yelling obscenities and racial slurs at Jackson, before throwing a broken bottle at Jackson's car.
After other passerby recognized Jackson and began joking with him about apprehending them, one of the men in the other car, 25 year old Manhattan resident Angel Viera, allegedly returned with a .38 caliber revolver and fired three shots at Jackson, each missing. Viera was criminally charged with attempted murder and illegal possession of deadly weapon. News of the incident was the third story ever broadcast on CNN, which held its inaugural broadcast later that day.
In the early morning of August 12, 1980, as Jackson completed a night of celebrating his 400th career home run slugged several hours earlier against the White Sox, Jackson was accosted as he left his favored nightspot, Jim McMullen's Bar on the Upper East Side, and entered his Rolls-Royce parked outside. A young man leveled a large-bore pistol, likely a .45 caliber automatic, at Jackson's face. Jackson told police that the gun was the largest that he had ever seen, and Jackson believed that he was going to be shot. When the man lowered the weapon to reach into Jackson's car to take the ignition key, Jackson shoved the door open into the man, sending him sprawling. The man then ran off and dropped the car keys near the scene, eluding pursuers.
On March 22, 1985, Jackson was attacked after a California Angels spring training 8-1 exhibition victory over the Cleveland Indians at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, Arizona. Witnesses said that a man who had heckled Jackson throughout the game followed Jackson out to the field's parking lot to continue to do so. As Jackson finished signing autographs for fans he attempted to enter a vehicle belonging to teammate Brian Downing, but the man blocked his entry and insisted on fighting Jackson. According to Jackson, the man began pounding on the door and windshield of the car, yelling at Jackson in Spanish for an autograph and then to offer cocaine. Jackson and other fans nearby restrained the man until he calmed down, at which point the man again asked for an autograph.
On the morning of March 30, 1985, as Jackson left his bungalow at the Angels' spring training residence of the Gene Autry Hotel in Palm Springs (now the Parker Palm Springs) before a Giants game, he noticed two men driving an automobile on the hotel lawns and pedestrian paths while drinking alcohol. After the men recognized Jackson and asked for directions to the Palm Spring strip business district, he warned them to leave before they got into trouble and before he was forced to call the police. They then began heckling his baseball abilities and used an obscenity and racial slur against him. After the men left, Jackson called police, but before police arrived, the men came back to the hotel, asked the front desk to call Jackson to the front lobby, and when he arrived, threatened to assault Jackson. When Jackson grabbed one of the men, the other raised a tire iron over his head. As Jackson moved towards the second man, he ran away but was blocked by a parked car, allowing Jackson to capture him and seize the tire iron and pass it to a nearby Angels executive who had witnessed the event. One of the men was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and the other cited for disturbing the peace.
In an inverse situation, on July 19, 1977, Jackson was signing autographs for fans after the conclusion of the 1977 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, held at Yankee Stadium that year, in the stadium parking lot. According to a statement from Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, several teens entered the parking lot and began shouting obscenities at Jackson. Jackson ignored the teens until one made a "particularly vile remark" about Jackson's mother. Jackson then chased off the teens, one of whom fell while running. The teen claimed that Jackson's foot made contact with the teen's wrist, which Jackson denied. Against the advice of criminal court judge Bernard Klieger, the teen's lawyer insisted that a criminal complaint for harassment be authorized against Jackson, which Klieger did "reluctantly".
Post-retirement honors
Jackson and Steinbrenner reconciled, and Steinbrenner hired Jackson as a "special assistant to the principal owner", making him a consultant and a liaison to the team's players, particularly those of minority standing. By this point, the Yankees, long noted for being slow to adapt to changes in race relations, had come to develop many minority players in their farm system and seek out others via trades and free agency. Jackson usually appears in uniform at the Yankees' spring training complex in Tampa, Florida, and was sought out for advice by recent stars as Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. "His experience is vast, and he's especially good with the young players in our minor league system, the 17- and 18-year old kids. They respect him and what he's accomplished in his career. When Reggie Jackson tells a young kid how he might improve his swing, he tends to listen," said Hal Steinbrenner, Yankees managing general partner and co-chairperson.
Jackson was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1993. He chose to wear a Yankees cap on his Hall of Fame plaque after the Oakland Athletics unceremoniously fired him from a coaching position in 1991.
The Yankees retired Jackson's uniform number 44 on August 14, 1993, shortly after his induction into the Hall of Fame. The Athletics retired his number 9 on May 22, 2004. He is one of only ten MLB players to have their numbers retired by more than one team, and one of only four to have different numbers retired by two MLB teams.
In 1999, Jackson placed 48th on The Sporting News' 100 Greatest Baseball Players list. That same year, he was named one of 100 finalists for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, but was not one of the 30 players chosen by the fans.
The Yankees dedicated a plaque in Jackson's honor on July 6, 2002, that now hangs in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. The plaque calls him "One of the most colorful and exciting players of his era" and "a prolific hitter who thrived in pressure situations." Each Yankee so honored and still living was on hand for the dedication: Phil Rizzuto, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford and Don Mattingly. Ron Guidry, a teammate of Jackson's for all five of his seasons with the Yankees, was there, and was to be honored with a Monument Park plaque the next season. Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Ernie Banks, players whom Jackson admired while growing up, attended the ceremony at his invitation. Like Jackson, each was a member of the Hall of Fame and had hit over 500 career home runs. Each had also played in the Negro leagues, as had Jackson's father, Martinez Jackson.
Jackson expanded his love of antique cars into a chain of auto dealerships in California, and used his contacts to become one of the foremost traders of sports memorabilia. He has also been the public face of a group attempting to purchase a major league team, already having made unsuccessful attempts to buy the Athletics and the Angels. His attempt to acquire the Angels along with Jimmy Nederlander (minority owner of the New York Yankees), Jackie Autry (widow of former Angels owner Gene Autry) and other investors was thwarted by Mexican-American billionaire Arturo Moreno, who outbid Jackson's group by nearly $50 million for the team in the winter of 2002.
In a July 2012 interview with Sports Illustrated, Jackson was critical of the Baseball Writers' Association of America as he believes that the organization has lowered its standards for admission into the Hall of Fame. He has also been critical of players associated with performance-enhancing drugs, including distant cousin Barry Bonds, stating "I believe that Hank Aaron is the home run king, not Barry Bonds, as great of a player Bonds was." Of Alex Rodriguez, Jackson remarked, "Al's a very good friend. But I think there are real questions about his numbers. As much as I like him, what he admitted about his usage does cloud some of his numbers." On July 12, the Yankees released a statement regarding the Sports Illustrated interview in which Jackson said, "In trying to convey my feelings about a few issues that I am passionate about, I made the mistake of naming some specific players." It had been reported that he was told by the Yankees to steer clear from the team, although general manager Brian Cashman stated that Jackson had not been banned but only told to not join the club on a road trip to Boston and would later be free to interact with the club. Jackson stated, "I continue to have a strong relationship with the club, and look forward to continuing my role with the team."
In 2007, ESPN aired a miniseries called The Bronx Is Burning about the 1977 Yankees, with the conflicts and controversies involving Jackson, portrayed by Daniel Sunjata, a central part of the storyline. The series infuriated Jackson, as he felt that he was portrayed as selfish and arrogant. He also expressed frustration that the filmmakers did not consult with him while making the miniseries, saying "I feel betrayed."
In 2008, Jackson threw the ceremonial first pitch at the Yankees' opening-day game, the last at the original Yankee Stadium. He also threw out the first pitch at the first game at the new Yankee Stadium (an exhibition game).
On October 9, 2009, Jackson threw the ceremonial opening pitch at Game 2 of the ALDS between the Yankees and the Minnesota Twins. On October 18, 2010, the Ride of Fame honored Jackson with his image on a New York City double-decker tour bus.
On September 5, 2018, before an Athletics game against the Yankees in Oakland, Jackson was inducted into the new Oakland Athletics Hall of Fame. He joined fellow inductees Rickey Henderson, Dave Stewart, Dennis Eckersley, Catfish Hunter and Rollie Fingers.
See also
List of Puerto Ricans
DHL Hometown Heroes
Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
Major League Baseball titles leaders
List of Major League Baseball home run records
500 home run club
List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
List of Major League Baseball career total bases leaders
List of Major League Baseball career bases on balls leaders
List of Major League Baseball career at-bat leaders
List of Major League Baseball career games played leaders
List of Major League Baseball career plate appearance leaders
List of Major League Baseball career strikeouts by batters leaders
Notes
References
External links
ReggieJackson.com
The Sporting News' Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments: Reggie! Reggie! Reggie!
Sports Illustrated – covers
Reggie Jackson Exclusive Interview for MSG's The Bronx is Burning: Summer of '77
1946 births
Living people
People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania
African-American baseball players
African-American baseball coaches
All-American college baseball players
American League Most Valuable Player Award winners
American League All-Stars
American League home run champions
American League RBI champions
American sportspeople of Puerto Rican descent
Arizona State Sun Devils baseball players
Arizona State Sun Devils football players
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Kansas City Athletics players
Major League Baseball broadcasters
Major League Baseball designated hitters
Major League Baseball hitting coaches
Baseball players from Pennsylvania
Major League Baseball right fielders
World Series Most Valuable Player Award winners
New York Yankees executives
New York Yankees players
Oakland Athletics players
Oakland Athletics coaches
Baseball players from Oakland, California
Puerto Rican baseball players
Major League Baseball players with retired numbers
Lewiston Broncs players
Modesto Reds players
Birmingham A's players
American car collectors
Silver Slugger Award winners
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American sportspeople | true | [
"A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines.\n\nA goal is roughly similar to a purpose or aim, the anticipated result which guides reaction, or an end, which is an object, either a physical object or an abstract object, that has intrinsic value.\n\nGoal setting\n\nGoal-setting theory was formulated based on empirical research and has been called one of the most important theories in organizational psychology. Edwin A. Locke and Gary P. Latham, the fathers of goal-setting theory, provided a comprehensive review of the core findings of the theory in 2002. In summary, Locke and Latham found that specific, difficult goals lead to higher performance than either easy goals or instructions to \"do your best\", as long as feedback about progress is provided, the person is committed to the goal, and the person has the ability and knowledge to perform the task.\n\nAccording to Locke and Latham, goals affect performance in the following ways:\n goals direct attention and effort toward goal-relevant activities,\n difficult goals lead to greater effort,\n goals increase persistence, with difficult goals prolonging effort, and\n goals indirectly lead to arousal, and to discovery and use of task-relevant knowledge and strategies\n\nA positive relationship between goals and performance depends on several factors. First, the goal must be considered important and the individual must be committed. Participative goal setting can help increase performance, but participation itself does not directly improve performance. Self-efficacy also enhances goal commitment. For goals to be effective, people need feedback that details their progress in relation to their goal. This feedback needs to be positive, immediate, graphic, and specific. Providing feedback leads to set references points and \"comparisons to the standard inform their behavioral responses\" (Stajkovic A.D. and Sergent, K, Cognitive Automation and Organizational Psychology).\n\nSome coaches recommend establishing specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bounded (SMART) objectives, but not all researchers agree that these SMART criteria are necessary. The SMART framework does not include goal difficulty as a criterion; in the goal-setting theory of Locke and Latham, it is recommended to choose goals within the 90th percentile of difficulty, based on the average prior performance of those that have performed the task.\n\nGoals can be long-term, intermediate, or short-term. The primary difference is the time required to achieve them. Short-term goals are expect to be finished in a relatively short period of time, long-term goals in a long period of time, and intermediate in a medium period of time.\n\nMindset theory of action phases \nBefore an individual can set out to achieve a goal, they must first decide on what their desired end-state will be. Peter Gollwitzer's mindset theory of action phases proposes that there are two phases in which an individual must go through if they wish to achieve a goal. For the first phase, the individual will mentally select their goal by specifying the criteria and deciding on which goal they will set based on their commitment to seeing it through. The second phase is the planning phase, in which the individual will decide which set of behaviors are at their disposal and will allow them to best reach their desired end-state or goal.\n\nGoal characteristics \n\nCertain characteristics of a goal help define the goal and determine an individual's motivation to achieve that goal. The characteristics of a goal make it possible to determine what motivates people to achieve a goal, and, along with other personal characteristics, may predict goal achievement.\n Importance is determined by a goal's attractiveness, intensity, relevance, priority, and sign. Importance can range from high to low.\n Difficulty is determined by general estimates of probability of achieving the goal.\n Specificity is determined if the goal is qualitative and ranges from being vague to precisely stated. Typically, a higher-level goal is vaguer than a lower level subgoal; for example, wanting to have a successful career is vaguer than wanting to obtain a master's degree.\n Temporal range is determined by the duration of the goal and the range from proximal (immediate) to distal (delayed).\n Level of consciousness refers to a person's cognitive awareness of a goal. Awareness is typically greater for proximal goals than for distal goals.\n Complexity of a goal is determined by how many subgoals are necessary to achieve the goal and how one goal connects to another. For example, graduating college could be considered a complex goal because it has many subgoals (such as making good grades), and is connected to other goals, such as gaining meaningful employment.\n\nPersonal goals\nIndividuals can set personal goals: a student may set a goal of a high mark in an exam; an athlete might run five miles a day; a traveler might try to reach a destination city within three hours; an individual might try to reach financial goals such as saving for retirement or saving for a purchase.\n\nManaging goals can give returns in all areas of personal life. Knowing precisely what one wants to achieve makes clear what to concentrate and improve on, and often can help one subconsciously prioritize on that goal. However, successful goal adjustment (goal disengagement and goal re-engagement capacities) is also a part of leading a healthy life.\n\nGoal setting and planning (\"goal work\") promotes long-term vision, intermediate mission and short-term motivation. It focuses intention, desire, acquisition of knowledge, and helps to organize resources.\n\nEfficient goal work includes recognizing and resolving all guilt, inner conflict or limiting belief that might cause one to sabotage one's efforts. By setting clearly-defined goals, one can subsequently measure and take pride in the accomplishment of those goals. One can see progress in what might have seemed a long, perhaps difficult, grind.\n\nAchieving personal goals\nAchieving complex and difficult goals requires focus, long-term diligence, and effort (see Goal pursuit). Success in any field requires forgoing excuses and justifications for poor performance or lack of adequate planning; in short, success requires emotional maturity. The measure of belief that people have in their ability to achieve a personal goal also affects that achievement.\n\nLong-term achievements rely on short-term achievements. Emotional control over the small moments of the single day can make a big difference in the long term.\n\nPersonal goal achievement and happiness\nThere has been a lot of research conducted looking at the link between achieving desired goals, changes to self-efficacy and integrity and ultimately changes to subjective well-being. Goal efficacy refers to how likely an individual is to succeed in achieving their goal. Goal integrity refers to how consistent one's goals are with core aspects of the self. Research has shown that a focus on goal efficacy is associated with happiness, a factor of well-being, and goal integrity is associated with meaning (psychology), another factor of well-being. Multiple studies have shown the link between achieving long-term goals and changes in subjective well-being; most research shows that achieving goals that hold personal meaning to an individual increases feelings of subjective well-being.\n\nSelf-concordance model\nThe self-concordance model is a model that looks at the sequence of steps that occur from the commencement of a goal to attaining that goal. It looks at the likelihood and impact of goal achievement based on the type of goal and meaning of the goal to the individual. Different types of goals impact both goal achievement and the sense of subjective well-being brought about by achieving the goal. The model breaks down factors that promote, first, striving to achieve a goal, then achieving a goal, and then the factors that connect goal achievement to changes in subjective well-being.\n\nSelf-concordant goals\nGoals that are pursued to fulfill intrinsic values or to support an individual's self-concept are called self-concordant goals. Self-concordant goals fulfill basic needs and align with what psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott called an individual's \"True Self\". Because these goals have personal meaning to an individual and reflect an individual's self-identity, self-concordant goals are more likely to receive sustained effort over time. In contrast, goals that do not reflect an individual's internal drive and are pursued due to external factors (e.g. social pressures) emerge from a non-integrated region of a person, and are therefore more likely to be abandoned when obstacles occur.\n\nThose who attain self-concordant goals reap greater well-being benefits from their attainment. Attainment-to-well-being effects are mediated by need satisfaction, i.e., daily activity-based experiences of autonomy, competence, and relatedness that accumulate during the period of striving. The model is shown to provide a satisfactory fit to 3 longitudinal data sets and to be independent of the effects of self-efficacy, implementation intentions, avoidance framing, and life skills.\n\nFurthermore, self-determination theory and research surrounding this theory shows that if an individual effectively achieves a goal, but that goal is not self-endorsed or self-concordant, well-being levels do not change despite goal attainment.\n\nGoal setting management in organizations\nIn organizations, goal management consists of the process of recognizing or inferring goals of individual team-members, abandoning goals that are no longer relevant, identifying and resolving conflicts among goals, and prioritizing goals consistently for optimal team-collaboration and effective operations.\n\nFor any successful commercial system, it means deriving profits by making the best quality of goods or the best quality of services available to end-users (customers) at the best possible cost. Goal management includes:\n assessment and dissolution of non-rational blocks to success\n time management\n frequent reconsideration (consistency checks)\n feasibility checks\n adjusting milestones and main-goal targets\n\nJens Rasmussen and Morten Lind distinguish three fundamental categories of goals related to technological system management. These are:\n production goals\n safety goals\n economy goals\n\nOrganizational goal-management aims for individual employee goals and objectives to align with the vision and strategic goals of the entire organization. Goal-management provides organizations with a mechanism to effectively communicate corporate goals and strategic objectives to each person across the entire organization. The key consists of having it all emanate from a pivotal source and providing each person with a clear, consistent organizational-goal message, so that every employee understands how their efforts contribute to an enterprise's success.\n\nAn example of goal types in business management:\n Consumer goals: this refers to supplying a product or service that the market/consumer wants\n Product goals: this refers to supplying an outstanding value proposition compared to other products - perhaps due to factors such as quality, design, reliability and novelty\n Operational goals: this refers to running the organization in such a way as to make the best use of management skills, technology and resources\n Secondary goals: this refers to goals which an organization does not regard as priorities\n\nGoal displacement\nGoal displacement occurs when the original goals of an entity or organization are replaced over time by different goals. In some instances, this creates problems, because the new goals may exceed the capacity of the mechanisms put in place to meet the original goals. New goals adopted by an organization may also increasingly become focused on internal concerns, such as establishing and enforcing structures for reducing common employee disputes. In some cases, the original goals of the organization become displaced in part by repeating behaviors that become traditional within the organization. For example, a company that manufactures widgets may decide to do seek good publicity by putting on a fundraising drive for a popular charity or by having a tent at a local county fair. If the fundraising drive or county fair tent is successful, the company may choose to make this an annual tradition, and may eventually involve more and more employees and resources in the new goal of raising the most charitable funds or of having the best county fair tent. In some cases, goals are displaced because the initial problem is resolved or the initial goal becomes impossible to pursue. A famous example is the March of Dimes, which began as an organization to fund the fight against polio, but once that disease was effectively brought under control by the polio vaccine, transitioned to being an organization for combating birth defects.\n\nSee also\n\n Counterplanning\n Decision-making software\n Direction of fit\n GOAL agent programming language\n Goal modeling\n Goal orientation\n Goal programming\n Goal–Question–Metric (GQM)\n Goal theory\n Management by objectives\n Moving the goalposts\n Objectives and Key Results (OKR)\n Polytely\n Regulatory focus theory\n Strategic management\n Strategic planning\n SWOT analysis\n The Goal (novel)\n The Jackrabbit Factor\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n \n \n\n \nManagement\nMotivation",
"In total, 71 male footballers to date have scored at least 50 goals with their national team at senior level.\n\nThe first player to score 50 international goals was Imre Schlosser of Hungary. He achieved the feat when he scored a brace (two goals) in a 6–2 victory against Austria on 3 June 1917. He scored 59 international goals in 68 matches, playing his last match on 10 April 1927. He remained the highest international goalscorer for 26 years, until his fellow countryman Ferenc Puskás broke the record in 1953. Puskás was the third player, after Poul Nielsen of Denmark, to achieve 50 goals in his international career. Nielsen achieved this feat on his 36th cap against Sweden in the 1924–28 Nordic Football Championship on 14 June 1925. This is also the fewest matches played by any player to score 50 goals. Nielsen scored 52 goals in just 38 matches in his international career. His 50th goal came on 24 July 1952, when he scored a brace in the semi-final match against Turkey at the 1952 Summer Olympics.\n\nPuskás scored 84 goals in his international career. He remained the highest international goalscorer for 24 years following his 84th goal in 1956 against Austria, until Mokhtar Dahari of Malaysia broke the record in the Merdeka Tournament after scoring his 85th goal on 27 October 1980 against Kuwait and he went on to score 89 goals for his country in 142 international appearances. In 2004, Ali Daei of Iran broke the record after scoring his 90th goal against Lebanon. Daei was the first player to score over 100 goals in international football, ending his career with 109 in total. He scored his 50th goal in a friendly match against Mexico on 9 January 2000. His 100th goal came on 17 November 2004, when he got a hat-trick (eventually improving to a four-goal haul) against Laos in a 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification match. However, the first player from Asia to reach 50 international goals was Malaya's Abdul Ghani Minhat. Furthermore, he was also the first player from outside Europe to achieve it. He achieved the feat on 15 December 1961 against Thailand and he went on to score 58 goals in 57 international appearances for his country which is 1.02 per match, making him one of the most prolific players in the world. Just two years after Puskás' scored his 50th goal, his teammate Sándor Kocsis did the same on 19 September 1954, in a friendly match against Romania. He became both the fourth player and the fourth European to achieve the feat. He went on to score a total of 75 goals in 65 matches in international football. Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal is the only other player apart from Daei to score 100 international goals, as well as the first European to achieve the feat. He reached the milestone after scoring a brace against Sweden in the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League on 8 September 2020.\n\nPelé of Brazil was the first player from South America to score at least 50 international goals. He attained this in a friendly match against the Soviet Union on 21 November 1965, and went on to score 77 international goals in 92 matches. Malawi's Kinnah Phiri was the first player from Africa, and also the youngest player, to score 50 international goals. He scored his 50th goal in a friendly match against Sierra Leone on 6 July 1978, aged 23 years, 8 months and 6 days. Stern John of Trinidad and Tobago was the first player from North America to score 50 international goals. He scored 70 goals in 115 matches, with his 50th goal coming in a friendly match against the Dominican Republic on 13 June 2004.\n\nTo date, Brazil and Hungary each with four players have the record with the most players that have scored 50 or more international goals. Iraq, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia and Thailand each have three players who have achieved the feat. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has the highest number of footballers who have scored at least 50 goals in their international career, with 30 players achieving the feat to date.\n\nBader Al-Mutawa of Kuwait has played the most matches so far to score 50 international goals. He scored his 50th goal during his 155th international appearance, scoring a hat-trick against Myanmar on 3 September 2015 during a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match.\n\nBy player \n\n \n\nPlayers in bold are still active at international level.\n\nBy nationality \n\n*NB: The term \"nationality\" in this section refers to the nation(s) the player represented (the national team(s) he played for), not to the nationality-ies and/or citizenship(s) he holds.\n\nBy confederation\n\nFootnotes\n\nSee also \n\n List of women's footballers with 100 or more international caps\n List of top international men's football goalscorers by country\n List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps\n List of men's footballers with the most official appearances\n List of men's footballers with 500 or more goals\n List of goalscoring goalkeepers\n List of hat-tricks\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\ninternational goals\nMen's over 50 goals"
] |
[
"Reggie Jackson",
"California Angels (1982-86) and Oakland Athletics (1987)",
"how did he join the angels",
"Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract.",
"Did Jackson do well there",
"Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry.",
"what else did he achieve there",
"That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986,",
"Did they win any more",
"lost the American League Championship Series both times.",
"Did he achieve any personal goals during this time",
"On September 17, 1984, on the 17th anniversary of the day he hit his first home run, he hit his 500th, at Anaheim Stadium off Bud Black of the Royals."
] | C_a115a3119c04420bb2dbe71f36612907_0 | Did he have any other achievements | 6 | Did Reggie Jackson have any achievements other than hitting 500 home runs? | Reggie Jackson | Jackson became a free-agent again once the 1981 season was over. The owner of the California Angels, entertainer Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract. On April 27, 1982, in Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry. The at-bat began with Yankee fans, angry at Steinbrenner for letting Jackson get away, starting the "Reg-GIE!" chant, and ended it with the fans chanting "Steinbrenner sucks!" By the time of Jackson's election to the Hall of Fame, Steinbrenner had begun to say that letting him go was the biggest mistake he had made as Yankee owner. That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986, but lost the American League Championship Series both times. On September 17, 1984, on the 17th anniversary of the day he hit his first home run, he hit his 500th, at Anaheim Stadium off Bud Black of the Royals. In 1987, he signed a one-year contract to return to the A's, wearing the number 44 with which he was now most associated rather than the number 9 he previously wore in Oakland. He announced he would retire after the season, at the age of 41. In his last at-bat, at Comiskey Park in Chicago on October 4, he collected a broken-bat single up the middle, but the A's lost to the White Sox, 5-2. Jackson was the last player in the major leagues to have played for the Kansas City Athletics. CANNOTANSWER | In 1987, he signed a one-year contract to return to the A's, wearing the number 44 | Reginald Martinez Jackson (born May 18, 1946) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and California Angels. Jackson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993.
Jackson was nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the Athletics and the Yankees. He helped Oakland win five consecutive American League West divisional titles, three consecutive American League pennants and three consecutive World Series titles, from 1972 to 1974. Jackson helped New York win four American League East divisional pennants, three American League pennants and two consecutive World Series titles, in 1977 and 1978. He also helped the California Angels win two AL West divisional titles in 1982 and 1986. Jackson hit three consecutive home runs at Yankee Stadium in the clinching game six of the 1977 World Series.
Jackson hit 563 career home runs and was an American League (AL) All-Star for 14 seasons. He won two Silver Slugger Awards, the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award in 1973, two World Series MVP Awards, and the Babe Ruth Award in 1977. The Yankees and Athletics retired his team uniform number in 1993 and 2004. Jackson currently serves as a special advisor to the Houston Astros.
Jackson led his teams to first place ten times over his 21-year career.
Early years
Jackson was born in the Wyncote neighborhood of Cheltenham Township, just north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Martinez Jackson, who was half Puerto Rican, worked as a tailor and was a former second baseman with the Newark Eagles of Negro league baseball. He was the youngest of four children from his mother, Clara. He also had two half-siblings from his father's first marriage. His parents divorced when he was four; his mother took four of his siblings with her, while his father took Reggie and one of the siblings from his first marriage, though one sibling later returned to Wyncote. Martinez Jackson was a single father, and theirs was one of the few black families in Wyncote.
Jackson graduated from Cheltenham High School in 1964, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track and field. A tailback in football, he injured his knee in an early season game in his junior year in the fall of 1962. He was told by the doctors he was never to play football again, but Jackson returned for the final game of the season. In that game, Jackson fractured five cervical vertebrae, which caused him to spend six weeks in the hospital and another month in a neck cast. Doctors told Jackson that he might never walk again, let alone play football, but Jackson defied the odds again. On the baseball team, he batted .550 and threw several no-hitters. In the middle of his senior year, Jackson's father was arrested for bootlegging and was sentenced to six months in jail.
Collegiate athletic career
For football, Jackson was recruited by Alabama, Georgia, and Oklahoma, all of whom were willing to break the color barrier just for Jackson. (Oklahoma had black football players before 1964, including Prentice Gautt, a star running back recruited in 1957, who played in the NFL.) Jackson declined Alabama and Georgia because he was fearful of the South at the time, and declined Oklahoma because they told him to stop dating white girls. For baseball, Jackson was scouted by Hans Lobert of the San Francisco Giants who was desperate to sign him. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins also made offers, and the hometown Philadelphia Phillies gave him a tryout but declined because of his "hitting skills".
His father wanted his son to go to college, where Jackson wanted to play both football and baseball. He accepted a football scholarship from Arizona State University in Tempe; his high school football coach knew ASU's head football coach Frank Kush, and they discussed the possibility of his playing both sports. After a recruiting trip, Kush decided that Jackson had the ability and willingness to work to join the squad.
One day after football practice, he approached ASU baseball coach Bobby Winkles and asked if he could join the team. Winkles said he would give Jackson a look, and the next day while still in his football gear, he hit a home run on the second pitch he saw; in five at bats he hit three home runs. He was allowed to practice with the team, but could not join the squad because the NCAA had a rule forbidding the use of freshman players. Jackson switched permanently to baseball following his freshman year, as he did not want to become a defensive back. To hone his skills, Winkles assigned him to a Baltimore Orioles-affiliated amateur team. He broke numerous team records for the squad, and the Orioles offered him a $50,000 signing bonus if he joined the team. Jackson declined the offer stating that he did not want to forfeit his college scholarship.
In the beginning of his sophomore year in 1966, Jackson replaced Rick Monday (the first player ever selected in the Major League Baseball draft and a future teammate with the A's) at center field. He broke the team record for most home runs in a single season, led the team in numerous other categories and was first team All-American. Many scouts were looking at him play, including Tom Greenwade of the New York Yankees (who discovered Mickey Mantle), and Danny Murtaugh of the Pittsburgh Pirates. In his final game at Arizona State, he showed his potential by being only a triple away from hitting for the cycle, making a sliding catch, and having an assist at home plate. Jackson was the first college player to hit a home run out of Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
Minor leagues
In the 1966 Major League Baseball draft on June 7, Jackson was selected by the Kansas City Athletics. He was the second overall pick, behind 17-year-old catcher Steve Chilcott, who was taken by the New York Mets. According to Jackson, Winkles told him that the Mets did not select him because he had a white girlfriend. Winkles later denied the story, stating that he did not know the reason why Jackson was not drafted by the Mets. It was later confirmed by Joe McDonald that the Mets drafted Steve Chilcott because of need, the person running the Mets at the time was George Weiss, so the true motive may never be known.
Jackson, age 20, signed with the A's for $95,000 on June 13 and reported for his first training camp with the Lewis-Clark Broncs of the short season Single-A Northwest League in Lewiston, Idaho, managed by Grady Wilson. He made his professional debut as a center fielder in the season opener on June 24 at Bethel Park in Eugene, Oregon, but was hitless in five at-bats. In the next game, Jackson singled in the first inning and homered in the ninth. In the home opener at Bengal Field in Lewiston on June 30, he hit a double and a triple. In his final game as a Bronc on July 6, Jackson was hit in the head by a pitch in the first inning, but stayed in the game and drove in runs with two sacrifice flies. Complaining of a headache, he left the game in the ninth inning, was admitted to St. Joseph's Hospital in Lewiston, and remained overnight for observation.
Jackson played for two Class A teams in 1966, with the Broncs for just 12 games, and then 56 games with Modesto in the California League, where he hit 21 homers. He began 1967 with the Birmingham A's in the Double-A Southern League in Birmingham, Alabama, where Jackson got his first taste of racism, being one of only a few blacks on the team. He credits the team's manager at the time, John McNamara, for helping him through that difficult season.
MLB career
Kansas City / Oakland Athletics (1967–1975)
Jackson debuted in the major leagues with the A's in 1967 in a Friday doubleheader in Kansas City on June 9, a shutout sweep of the Cleveland Indians by scores of and at Municipal Stadium. (Jackson had his first career hit in the nightcap, a lead-off triple in the fifth inning off of long reliever Orlando Peña.)
The Athletics moved west to Oakland prior to the 1968 season. Jackson hit 47 home runs in 1969, and was briefly ahead of the pace that Roger Maris set when he broke the single-season record for home runs with 61 in 1961, and that of Babe Ruth when he set the previous record of 60 in 1927. Jackson later said that the sportswriters were claiming he was "dating a lady named 'Ruth Maris.'"
Slumping at the plate in May 1970, Athletics owner Charlie O. Finley threatened to send Jackson to the minors. Jackson hit 23 home runs while batting .237 for the 1970 season. The Athletics sent him to play in Puerto Rico, where he played for the Santurce team and hit 20 homers and knocked in 47 runs to lead the league in both departments. Jackson hit a memorable home run in the 1971 All-Star Game at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Batting for the American League against Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis, the ball he hit soared above the right-field stands, striking the transformer of a light standard on the right field roof. While with the Angels in 1984, he hit a home run over that roof.
In 1971, the Athletics won the American League's West division, their first title of any kind since 1931, when they played in Philadelphia. They were swept in three games in the American League Championship Series by the Baltimore Orioles. The A's won the division again in 1972; their series with the Tigers went the full five games, and Jackson scored the tying run in the clincher on a steal of home. In the process, however, he tore a hamstring and was unable to play in the World Series. The A's still managed to defeat the Cincinnati Reds in seven games. It was the first championship won by a San Francisco Bay Area team in any major league sport.
During spring training in 1972, Jackson showed up with a mustache. Though his teammates wanted him to shave it off, Jackson refused. Finley liked the mustache so much that he offered each player $300 to grow one, and hosted a "Mustache Day" featuring the last MLB player to wear a mustache, Frenchy Bordagaray, as master of ceremonies.
Jackson helped the Athletics win the pennant again in 1973, and was named Most Valuable Player of the American League for the season. The A's defeated the New York Mets in seven hard-fought games in the World Series. This time, Jackson was not only able to play, but his performance led to his being awarded the Series's MVP award. In the third inning of that seventh game, which ended in a 5–2 score, the A's jumped out to a 4–0 lead as both Bert Campaneris and Jackson hit two-run home runs off Jon Matlack—the only two home runs Oakland hit the entire Series. The A's won the World Series again in 1974, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.
Besides hitting 254 home runs in nine years with the Athletics, Jackson was also no stranger to controversy or conflict in Oakland. Sports author Dick Crouser wrote, "When the late Al Helfer was broadcasting the Oakland A's games, he was not too enthusiastic about Reggie Jackson's speed or his hustle. Once, with Jackson on third, teammate Rick Monday hit a long home run. 'Jackson should score easily on that one,' commented Helfer. Crouser also noted that, "Nobody seems to be neutral on Reggie Jackson. You're either a fan or a detractor." When teammate Darold Knowles was asked if Jackson was a hotdog (i.e., a show-off), he famously replied, "There isn't enough mustard in the world to cover Reggie Jackson."
In February 1974, Jackson won an arbitration case for a $135,000 salary for the season, nearly doubling his previous year's $70,000. On June 5, outfielder Billy North and Jackson engaged in a clubhouse fight at Detroit's Tiger Stadium. Jackson injured his shoulder, and catcher Ray Fosse, attempting to separate the combatants, suffered a crushed disk in his neck, costing him three months on the disabled list. In October, the A's went on to win a third consecutive World Series.
Prior to the 1975 season, Jackson sought $168,000, but arbitration went against him this time and he settled for $140,000. The A's won a fifth consecutive division title, but the loss of pitcher Catfish Hunter, baseball's first modern free agent, left them vulnerable, and they were swept in the ALCS by the Boston Red Sox.
Baltimore Orioles (1976)
Paid $140,000 in 1975 and one of nine Oakland players refusing to sign 1976 contracts, Jackson sought a three-year $600,000 pact. With free agency imminent after the season and the expectations of higher salaries for which Athletics owner Finley was unwilling to pay, he was traded along with Ken Holtzman and minor-league right-handed pitcher Bill Van Bommel to the Baltimore Orioles for Don Baylor, Mike Torrez, and Paul Mitchell on April 2, 1976. Jackson had not signed a contract and threatened to sit out the season; he reported to the Orioles four weeks later, and made his first plate appearance on Baltimore and Oakland both finished second in their respective divisions in ; the Yankees and Royals advanced to the ALCS, the first without the A's since 1970. During Jackson's lone season in Baltimore he stole 28 bases, a career-best. Jim Palmer later wrote, "I would say Reggie Jackson was arrogant. But the word arrogant isn't arrogant enough." However, he thought the Orioles made a "brick-brained" mistake by not signing him to a contract, allowing him to become a free agent.
New York Yankees (1977–1981)
The Yankees won the pennant in 1976 but were swept in the World Series by the Reds. A month later on November 29, they signed Jackson to a five-year contract totaling $2.96 million ($ in current dollar terms). The number 9 that he had worn in Oakland and Baltimore was already used by Yankees third baseman Graig Nettles; Jackson asked for number 42 in memory of Jackie Robinson, but that number was given to pitching coach Art Fowler before the start of the season. Noting that Hank Aaron, at the time the holder of the career record for the most home runs, had just retired, Jackson asked for and received number 44 as a tribute to Aaron. Jackson wore number 20 for one game during spring training as a tribute to the also recently retired Frank Robinson, then he switched to number 44.
Jackson's first season with the Yankees in 1977 was a difficult one. Although team owner George Steinbrenner and several players, most notably catcher and team captain Thurman Munson and outfielder Lou Piniella, were excited about his arrival, the team's field manager Billy Martin was not. Martin had managed the Tigers in 1972, when Jackson's A's beat them in the playoffs. Jackson was once quoted as saying of Martin, "I hate him, but if I played for him, I'd probably love him."
The relationship between Jackson and his new teammates was strained due to an interview with SPORT magazine writer Robert Ward. During spring training at the Yankees' camp in Fort Lauderdale, Jackson and Ward were having drinks at a nearby bar. Jackson's version of the story is that he noted that the Yankees had won the pennant the year before, but lost the World Series to the Reds, and suggested that they needed one thing more to win it all, and pointed out the various ingredients in his drink. Ward suggested that Jackson might be "the straw that stirs the drink." But when the story appeared in the June 1977 issue of SPORT, Ward quoted Jackson as saying, "This team, it all flows from me. I'm the straw that stirs the drink. Maybe I should say me and Munson, but he can only stir it bad."Jackson has consistently denied saying anything negative about Munson in the interview and he has said that his quotes were taken out of context. However, Dave Anderson of The New York Times subsequently wrote that he had drinks with Jackson in July 1977, and that Jackson told him, "I'm still the straw that stirs the drink. Not Munson, not nobody else on this club." Regardless, as Munson was beloved by his teammates, Martin, Steinbrenner and Yankee fans, the relationships between them and Jackson became very strained.
On June 18, in a 10–4 loss to the Boston Red Sox in a nationally televised game at Fenway Park in Boston, Jim Rice, a powerful hitter but notoriously slow runner, hit a ball into shallow right field that Jackson appeared to weakly attempt to field. Jackson failed to reach the ball, which fell far in front of him, thereby allowing Rice to reach second base. Furious, Martin removed Jackson from the game without even waiting for the end of the inning, sending Paul Blair out to replace him. When Jackson arrived at the dugout, Martin yelled that Jackson had shown him up. They argued, and Jackson said that Martin's heavy drinking had impaired his judgment. Despite Jackson being 18 years younger, about two inches taller and maybe 40 pounds heavier, Martin lunged at him, and had to be restrained by coaches Yogi Berra and Elston Howard. Red Sox fans could see this in the dugout and began cheering wildly, and the NBC TV cameras showed the confrontation to the entire country.
Yankees management defused the situation by the next day, but the relationship between Jackson and Martin was permanently poisoned. However, George Steinbrenner made a crucial intervention when he gave Martin the option of either having Jackson bat in the fourth or "cleanup" spot for the rest of the season, or losing his job. Martin made the change and Jackson's hitting improved (he had 13 home runs and 49 RBIs over his next 50 games), and the team went on a winning streak. On September 14, while in a tight three-way race for the American League Eastern Division crown with the Red Sox and Orioles, Jackson ended a game with the Red Sox by hitting a home run off Reggie Cleveland, giving the Yankees a 2–0 win. The Yankees won the division by two and a half games over the Red Sox and Orioles, and came from behind in the top of the ninth inning in the fifth and final game of the American League Championship Series to beat the Kansas City Royals for the pennant.
Mr. October
During the World Series against the Dodgers, Munson was interviewed, and suggested that Jackson, because of his past post-season performances, might be the better interview subject. "Go ask Mister October", he said, giving Jackson a nickname that would stick. (In Oakland, he had been known as "Jax" and "Buck.") Jackson hit home runs in Games Four and Five of the Series.
Jackson's crowning achievement came with his three-home-run performance in World Series-clinching Game Six, each on the first pitch, off three Dodgers pitchers. (His first plate-appearance, during the second inning, resulted in a four-pitch walk.) The first came off starter Burt Hooton, and was a line drive shot into the lower right field seats at Yankee Stadium. The second was a much faster line drive off reliever Elías Sosa into roughly the same area. With the fans chanting his name, "Reg-GIE! Reg-GIE! Reg-GIE!", the third came off reliever Charlie Hough, a knuckleball pitcher, making the distance of this home run particularly remarkable. It was a towering drive into the black-painted batter's eye seats in center, away. Jackson stated afterwards that the scouting reports provided by Gene Michael and Birdie Tebbetts played a large role in his success. Their reports indicated that the Dodgers would attempt to pitch him inside and Jackson was prepared.
Since Jackson had hit a home run off Dodger pitcher Don Sutton in his last at bat in Game Five, his three home runs in Game Six meant that he had hit four home runs on four consecutive swings of the bat against as many Dodgers pitchers. Jackson became the first player to win the World Series MVP award for two teams. In 27 World Series games, he amassed 10 home runs, including a record five during the 1977 Series (the last three on first pitches), 24 RBI and a .357 batting average. Babe Ruth, Albert Pujols, and Pablo Sandoval are the only other players to hit three home runs in a single World Series game. Babe Ruth accomplishing the feat twice – in 1926 and 1928 (both in Game Four). With 25 total bases, Jackson also broke Ruth's record of 22 in the latter Series; this remains a World Series record, Willie Stargell tying it in the 1979 World Series. Chase Utley (2009, Philadelphia) and George Springer (2017, Houston) have since tied Jackson's record for most home runs in a single World Series.
Fans had been getting rowdy in anticipation of Game 6's end, and some had actually thrown firecrackers out near Jackson's area in right field. Jackson was alarmed enough about this to walk off the field, in order to get a helmet from the Yankee bench to protect himself. Shortly after this point, as the end of the game neared, fans were bold enough to climb over the wall, draping their legs over the side in preparation for the moment when they planned to rush onto the field. When that moment came, after pitcher Mike Torrez caught a pop-up for the game's final out, Jackson started running at top speed off the field, actually body-checking past some of these fans filling the playing field in the manner of a football linebacker.
The Bronx Zoo
The Yankees' home opener of the 1978 season, on April 13 against the Chicago White Sox, featured a new product, the "Reggie!" bar. In 1976, while playing in Baltimore, Jackson had said, "If I played in New York, they'd name a candy bar after me." The Standard Brands company responded with a circular "bar" of peanuts dipped in caramel and covered in chocolate, a confection that was originally named the "Wayne Bun" as it was made in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The "Reggie!" bars were handed to fans as they walked into Yankee Stadium. Jackson hit a home run, and when he returned to right field the next inning, fans began throwing the Reggie bars on the field in celebration. Jackson told the press that this confused him, thinking that maybe the fans did not like the candy. The Yankees won the game, 4–2.
But the Yankees could not maintain their success, as manager Billy Martin lost control. On July 23, after suspending Jackson for disobeying a sign during a July 17 game, Martin made a statement about his two main antagonists, referring to comments Jackson had made and team owner George Steinbrenner's 1972 violation of campaign-finance laws: "They're made for each other. One's a born liar, the other's convicted." It was moments like these that gave the Yankees the nickname "The Bronx Zoo."
Martin resigned the next day (some sources have said he was actually fired), and was replaced by Bob Lemon, a Hall of Fame pitcher for the Cleveland Indians who had been recently fired as manager of the White Sox. Steinbrenner, a Cleveland-area native, had hired former Indians star Al Rosen as his team president (replacing another Cleveland figure, Gabe Paul). Steinbrenner jumped at the chance to involve another hero of his youth with the Yankees; Lemon had been one of Steinbrenner's coaches during the Bombers' pennant-winning 1976 season.
After being 14 games behind the first-place Red Sox on July 18, the Yankees finished the season in a tie for first place. The two teams played a one-game playoff for the division title at Fenway Park, with the Yankees winning 5–4. Although the home run by light-hitting shortstop Bucky Dent in the seventh inning got the most notice, it was an eighth-inning home run by Jackson that gave the Yankees the fifth run they ended up needing. The next day, with the American League Championship Series with the Royals beginning, Jackson hit a home run off the Royals' top reliever at the time, Al Hrabosky, the flamboyant "Mad Hungarian." The Yankees won the pennant in four games, their third straight.
Jackson was once again in the center of events in the World Series, again against the Dodgers. Los Angeles won the first two games at Dodger Stadium, taking the second when rookie reliever Bob Welch struck Jackson out with two men on base with two outs in the ninth inning. The series then moved to New York, and after the Yankees won Game Three on several fine defensive plays by third baseman Graig Nettles, Game Four saw Jackson in the middle of a controversial play on the basepaths. In the sixth inning, after collecting an RBI single, Jackson was struck in the hip–possibly on purpose–by a ball thrown by Dodger shortstop Bill Russell as Jackson was being forced at second base. Instead of completing a double play that would have ended the inning, the ball caromed into foul territory and allowed Thurman Munson to score the Yankees' second run of the inning. In spite of the Dodgers' protests of interference on Jackson's part, the umpires allowed the play to stand. The Yankees tied the game in the eighth inning and eventually won in the tenth.
Following a blowout win in Game Five, both teams headed back to Los Angeles. In Game Six, Jackson got his revenge against Welch by blasting a two-run home run in the seventh inning, putting the finishing touch on a series-clinching, 7–2 win for the Yankees.
On April 19, 1979, following a Yankee loss to the Baltimore Orioles, Jackson started kidding Cliff Johnson about his inability to hit Goose Gossage. While Johnson was showering, Gossage insisted to Jackson that he struck out Johnson all the time when he used to face him. When Jackson relayed this information to Johnson upon his return to the locker room, a fight started between Johnson and the pitcher. Gossage tore ligaments in his right thumb and missed three months of the season. Teammate Tommy John called it "a demoralizing blow to the team." Jackson joined Gossage on the disabled list for a month in June with a torn calf muscle. In 131 games, he batted .297 with 29 home runs and 89 RBI.
1980–81 seasons
In 1980, Jackson batted .300 for the only time in his career, and his 41 home runs tied with Ben Oglivie of the Milwaukee Brewers for the American League lead. However, the Yankees were swept in the ALCS by the Kansas City Royals. That year, he won the inaugural Silver Slugger Award as a designated hitter.
As he entered the last year of his Yankee contract in 1981, Jackson endured several difficulties from George Steinbrenner. After the owner consulted Jackson about signing then-free agent Dave Winfield, Jackson expected Steinbrenner to work out a new contract for him as well. Steinbrenner never did (some say never intending to) and Jackson played the season as a free agent. Jackson started slowly with the bat, and when the 1981 Major League Baseball strike began, Steinbrenner invoked a clause in Jackson's contract forcing him to take a complete physical examination. Jackson was outraged and blasted Steinbrenner in the media. When the season resumed, Jackson's hitting improved, partly to show Steinbrenner he wasn't finished as a player. He hit a long home run into the upper deck in Game Five of the strike-forced 1981 American League Division Series with the Brewers, and the Yankees went on to win the pennant again. However, Jackson injured himself running the bases in Game Two of the 1981 ALCS and missed the first two games of the World Series, both of which the Yankees won.
Jackson was medically cleared to play Game Three, but manager Bob Lemon refused to start him or even play him, allegedly acting under orders from Steinbrenner. The Yankees lost that game and Jackson played the remainder of the series, hitting a home run in Game Four. However, they lost the last three games and the World Series to the Dodgers.
California Angels (1982–1986) and Oakland Athletics (1987)
Jackson became a free-agent again once the 1981 season was over. The owner of the California Angels, entertainer Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract.
On April 27, 1982, in Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry. The at-bat began with Yankee fans, angry at Steinbrenner for letting Jackson get away, starting the "Reg-GIE!" chant, and ended it with the fans chanting "Steinbrenner sucks!" By the time of Jackson's election to the Hall of Fame, Steinbrenner had begun to say that letting him go was the biggest mistake he had made as Yankee owner.
That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986, but lost the American League Championship Series both times. On September 17, 1984, on the 17th anniversary of the day he hit his first home run, he hit his 500th, at Anaheim Stadium off Bud Black of the Royals.
In 1987, he signed a one-year contract to return to the A's, wearing the number 44 with which he was now most associated rather than the number 9 he previously wore in Oakland. He announced he would retire after the season, at the age of 41. In his last at-bat, at Comiskey Park in Chicago on October 4, he collected a broken-bat single up the middle, but the A's lost to the White Sox, 5–2. Jackson was the last player in the major leagues to have played for the Kansas City Athletics.
Legacy
Jackson played 21 seasons and reached the post-season in 11 of them, winning six pennants and five World Series. His accomplishments include winning both the regular-season and World Series MVP awards in 1973, hitting 563 career home runs (sixth all-time at the time of his retirement), maintaining a .490 career slugging percentage, being named to 14 All-Star teams, and the dubious distinction of being the all-time leader in strikeouts with 2,597 (he finished with 13 more career strikeouts than hits) and second on the all-time list for most Golden sombreros (at least four strikeouts in a game) with 23 – he led this statistic until 2014, when he was surpassed by Ryan Howard. Jackson was the first major leaguer to hit 100 home runs for three different clubs, having hit over 100 for the Athletics, Yankees, and Angels. He is the only player in the 500 home run club that never had consecutive 30 home run seasons in a career.
With the Yankees, Jackson was the center of attention when it came to the media. Tommy John thought this was ultimately helpful to the team. "He was a two-way buffer between the team and Steinbrenner, and between us and the press. That allowed other guys to go about their business in relative peace."
Personal life
During his freshman year at Arizona State, he met Jennie Campos, a Mexican-American. Jackson asked Campos on a date, and discovered many similarities, including the ability to speak Spanish, and being raised in a single parent home (Campos's father was killed in the Korean War). An assistant football coach tried to break up the couple because Jackson was black and Campos was considered white. The coach contacted Campos's uncle, a wealthy benefactor of the school, and he warned the couple that their being together was a bad idea. But the relationship held up and she later became his wife. They divorced in 1973. Kimberly, his only child, was born in the late 1980s.
During the off-season, though still active in baseball, Jackson worked as a field reporter and color commentator for ABC Sports. Just over a month before signing with the Yankees in the fall of 1976, Jackson did analysis in the ABC booth with Keith Jackson and Howard Cosell the night his future team won the American League pennant on a homer by Chris Chambliss. During the 1980s (1983, 1985, and 1987 respectively), Jackson was given the task of presiding over the World Series Trophy presentations. In addition, Jackson did color commentary for the 1984 National League Championship Series (alongside Don Drysdale and Earl Weaver). After his retirement as an active player, Jackson returned to his color commentary role covering the 1988 American League Championship Series (alongside Gary Bender and Joe Morgan) for ABC.
Jackson appeared in the film The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, portraying an Angels outfielder hypnotically programmed to kill the Queen of the United Kingdom. He also appeared in Richie Rich, BASEketball, Summer of Sam and The Benchwarmers. In 1979, Jackson was a guest star in an episode of the television sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, and in an episode of The Love Boat as himself. He played himself in the Archie Bunker's Place episode "Reggie-3 Archie-0" in 1982, a 1990 MacGyver episode, "Squeeze Play", The Jeffersons episode "The Unnatural” from 1985, and the Malcolm in the Middle episode "Polly in the Middle", from 2004. Jackson was also considered for the role of Geordi La Forge in the series Star Trek: The Next Generation, a role that ultimately went to LeVar Burton. From 1981 to 1982, he hosted Reggie Jackson's World of Sports for Nickelodeon, which continued in reruns until 1985.
He co-authored a book in 2010, Sixty-Feet Six-Inches, with fellow Hall of Famer Bob Gibson. The book, whose title refers to the distance between the pitcher's mound and home plate, details their careers and approach to the game.
The 1988 Sega Master System baseball video game Reggie Jackson Baseball, endorsed by Jackson, was sold exclusively in the United States. Outside of the U.S., it was released as American Baseball.
Jackson was the de facto spokesperson for the Upper Deck Company during the early 1990s, appearing in numerous advertisements, appearances, and participating in the company's Heroes of Baseball exhibition games. This affiliation also included the company's "Find the Reggie" promotion which inserted 2500 autograph cards into packs of 1990 Upper Deck Baseball High Series packs. This inclusion of an autograph card marked an important first in what would become a very popular trend in the trading card hobby.
Jackson has endured three fires to personal property, including a June 20, 1976 fire at his home in Oakland that destroyed his 1973 MVP award, World Series trophies and All-Star rings. The same home was again burned down during the Oakland firestorm of 1991, which destroyed more baseball memorabilia in addition to other valuable collections. In 1988, a warehouse holding several of Jackson's collectible cars was damaged in a fire, with several of the cars, valued at $3.2 million, ruined.
In Tampa in 2005, Jackson's car was struck from behind and flipped over several times. Jackson escaped with minor injuries, later saying "...it was God tapping me on the shoulder... It makes you think about your purpose, about His plan for you."
Jackson called on former San Francisco 49ers head coach and ordained minister Mike Singletary for spiritual guidance. Jackson credits Singletary, stating "he helped me drop that shell I put up."
Vehicle- and parking- related attacks on Jackson
Jackson was the victim of an attempted shooting in the early morning hours of June 1, 1980. A few hours after hitting the game-winning 11th inning home run at a home game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Jackson drove his vehicle to the singles bars he frequented in a "posh" neighborhood of "swinging pubs and night spots amid expensive high-rise apartments" in Manhattan's Upper East Side to celebrate. While searching for a parking spot, he asked the driver of a vehicle that was blocking the way to move, and a passenger in that vehicle then began yelling obscenities and racial slurs at Jackson, before throwing a broken bottle at Jackson's car.
After other passerby recognized Jackson and began joking with him about apprehending them, one of the men in the other car, 25 year old Manhattan resident Angel Viera, allegedly returned with a .38 caliber revolver and fired three shots at Jackson, each missing. Viera was criminally charged with attempted murder and illegal possession of deadly weapon. News of the incident was the third story ever broadcast on CNN, which held its inaugural broadcast later that day.
In the early morning of August 12, 1980, as Jackson completed a night of celebrating his 400th career home run slugged several hours earlier against the White Sox, Jackson was accosted as he left his favored nightspot, Jim McMullen's Bar on the Upper East Side, and entered his Rolls-Royce parked outside. A young man leveled a large-bore pistol, likely a .45 caliber automatic, at Jackson's face. Jackson told police that the gun was the largest that he had ever seen, and Jackson believed that he was going to be shot. When the man lowered the weapon to reach into Jackson's car to take the ignition key, Jackson shoved the door open into the man, sending him sprawling. The man then ran off and dropped the car keys near the scene, eluding pursuers.
On March 22, 1985, Jackson was attacked after a California Angels spring training 8-1 exhibition victory over the Cleveland Indians at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, Arizona. Witnesses said that a man who had heckled Jackson throughout the game followed Jackson out to the field's parking lot to continue to do so. As Jackson finished signing autographs for fans he attempted to enter a vehicle belonging to teammate Brian Downing, but the man blocked his entry and insisted on fighting Jackson. According to Jackson, the man began pounding on the door and windshield of the car, yelling at Jackson in Spanish for an autograph and then to offer cocaine. Jackson and other fans nearby restrained the man until he calmed down, at which point the man again asked for an autograph.
On the morning of March 30, 1985, as Jackson left his bungalow at the Angels' spring training residence of the Gene Autry Hotel in Palm Springs (now the Parker Palm Springs) before a Giants game, he noticed two men driving an automobile on the hotel lawns and pedestrian paths while drinking alcohol. After the men recognized Jackson and asked for directions to the Palm Spring strip business district, he warned them to leave before they got into trouble and before he was forced to call the police. They then began heckling his baseball abilities and used an obscenity and racial slur against him. After the men left, Jackson called police, but before police arrived, the men came back to the hotel, asked the front desk to call Jackson to the front lobby, and when he arrived, threatened to assault Jackson. When Jackson grabbed one of the men, the other raised a tire iron over his head. As Jackson moved towards the second man, he ran away but was blocked by a parked car, allowing Jackson to capture him and seize the tire iron and pass it to a nearby Angels executive who had witnessed the event. One of the men was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and the other cited for disturbing the peace.
In an inverse situation, on July 19, 1977, Jackson was signing autographs for fans after the conclusion of the 1977 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, held at Yankee Stadium that year, in the stadium parking lot. According to a statement from Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, several teens entered the parking lot and began shouting obscenities at Jackson. Jackson ignored the teens until one made a "particularly vile remark" about Jackson's mother. Jackson then chased off the teens, one of whom fell while running. The teen claimed that Jackson's foot made contact with the teen's wrist, which Jackson denied. Against the advice of criminal court judge Bernard Klieger, the teen's lawyer insisted that a criminal complaint for harassment be authorized against Jackson, which Klieger did "reluctantly".
Post-retirement honors
Jackson and Steinbrenner reconciled, and Steinbrenner hired Jackson as a "special assistant to the principal owner", making him a consultant and a liaison to the team's players, particularly those of minority standing. By this point, the Yankees, long noted for being slow to adapt to changes in race relations, had come to develop many minority players in their farm system and seek out others via trades and free agency. Jackson usually appears in uniform at the Yankees' spring training complex in Tampa, Florida, and was sought out for advice by recent stars as Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. "His experience is vast, and he's especially good with the young players in our minor league system, the 17- and 18-year old kids. They respect him and what he's accomplished in his career. When Reggie Jackson tells a young kid how he might improve his swing, he tends to listen," said Hal Steinbrenner, Yankees managing general partner and co-chairperson.
Jackson was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1993. He chose to wear a Yankees cap on his Hall of Fame plaque after the Oakland Athletics unceremoniously fired him from a coaching position in 1991.
The Yankees retired Jackson's uniform number 44 on August 14, 1993, shortly after his induction into the Hall of Fame. The Athletics retired his number 9 on May 22, 2004. He is one of only ten MLB players to have their numbers retired by more than one team, and one of only four to have different numbers retired by two MLB teams.
In 1999, Jackson placed 48th on The Sporting News' 100 Greatest Baseball Players list. That same year, he was named one of 100 finalists for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, but was not one of the 30 players chosen by the fans.
The Yankees dedicated a plaque in Jackson's honor on July 6, 2002, that now hangs in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. The plaque calls him "One of the most colorful and exciting players of his era" and "a prolific hitter who thrived in pressure situations." Each Yankee so honored and still living was on hand for the dedication: Phil Rizzuto, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford and Don Mattingly. Ron Guidry, a teammate of Jackson's for all five of his seasons with the Yankees, was there, and was to be honored with a Monument Park plaque the next season. Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Ernie Banks, players whom Jackson admired while growing up, attended the ceremony at his invitation. Like Jackson, each was a member of the Hall of Fame and had hit over 500 career home runs. Each had also played in the Negro leagues, as had Jackson's father, Martinez Jackson.
Jackson expanded his love of antique cars into a chain of auto dealerships in California, and used his contacts to become one of the foremost traders of sports memorabilia. He has also been the public face of a group attempting to purchase a major league team, already having made unsuccessful attempts to buy the Athletics and the Angels. His attempt to acquire the Angels along with Jimmy Nederlander (minority owner of the New York Yankees), Jackie Autry (widow of former Angels owner Gene Autry) and other investors was thwarted by Mexican-American billionaire Arturo Moreno, who outbid Jackson's group by nearly $50 million for the team in the winter of 2002.
In a July 2012 interview with Sports Illustrated, Jackson was critical of the Baseball Writers' Association of America as he believes that the organization has lowered its standards for admission into the Hall of Fame. He has also been critical of players associated with performance-enhancing drugs, including distant cousin Barry Bonds, stating "I believe that Hank Aaron is the home run king, not Barry Bonds, as great of a player Bonds was." Of Alex Rodriguez, Jackson remarked, "Al's a very good friend. But I think there are real questions about his numbers. As much as I like him, what he admitted about his usage does cloud some of his numbers." On July 12, the Yankees released a statement regarding the Sports Illustrated interview in which Jackson said, "In trying to convey my feelings about a few issues that I am passionate about, I made the mistake of naming some specific players." It had been reported that he was told by the Yankees to steer clear from the team, although general manager Brian Cashman stated that Jackson had not been banned but only told to not join the club on a road trip to Boston and would later be free to interact with the club. Jackson stated, "I continue to have a strong relationship with the club, and look forward to continuing my role with the team."
In 2007, ESPN aired a miniseries called The Bronx Is Burning about the 1977 Yankees, with the conflicts and controversies involving Jackson, portrayed by Daniel Sunjata, a central part of the storyline. The series infuriated Jackson, as he felt that he was portrayed as selfish and arrogant. He also expressed frustration that the filmmakers did not consult with him while making the miniseries, saying "I feel betrayed."
In 2008, Jackson threw the ceremonial first pitch at the Yankees' opening-day game, the last at the original Yankee Stadium. He also threw out the first pitch at the first game at the new Yankee Stadium (an exhibition game).
On October 9, 2009, Jackson threw the ceremonial opening pitch at Game 2 of the ALDS between the Yankees and the Minnesota Twins. On October 18, 2010, the Ride of Fame honored Jackson with his image on a New York City double-decker tour bus.
On September 5, 2018, before an Athletics game against the Yankees in Oakland, Jackson was inducted into the new Oakland Athletics Hall of Fame. He joined fellow inductees Rickey Henderson, Dave Stewart, Dennis Eckersley, Catfish Hunter and Rollie Fingers.
See also
List of Puerto Ricans
DHL Hometown Heroes
Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
Major League Baseball titles leaders
List of Major League Baseball home run records
500 home run club
List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
List of Major League Baseball career total bases leaders
List of Major League Baseball career bases on balls leaders
List of Major League Baseball career at-bat leaders
List of Major League Baseball career games played leaders
List of Major League Baseball career plate appearance leaders
List of Major League Baseball career strikeouts by batters leaders
Notes
References
External links
ReggieJackson.com
The Sporting News' Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments: Reggie! Reggie! Reggie!
Sports Illustrated – covers
Reggie Jackson Exclusive Interview for MSG's The Bronx is Burning: Summer of '77
1946 births
Living people
People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania
African-American baseball players
African-American baseball coaches
All-American college baseball players
American League Most Valuable Player Award winners
American League All-Stars
American League home run champions
American League RBI champions
American sportspeople of Puerto Rican descent
Arizona State Sun Devils baseball players
Arizona State Sun Devils football players
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Kansas City Athletics players
Major League Baseball broadcasters
Major League Baseball designated hitters
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Baseball players from Pennsylvania
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Baseball players from Oakland, California
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Lewiston Broncs players
Modesto Reds players
Birmingham A's players
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Silver Slugger Award winners
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American sportspeople | true | [
"Lakshmadeva (IAST: Lakṣma-deva) was a member of the Paramara dynasty of Malwa region in central India. According to one theory, he ascended the Paramara throne after his father Udayaditya, and reigned during the 1080s CE. According to another theory, Lakshmadeva never became the king and Udayaditya was succeeded by Lakshmadeva's brother Naravarman.\n\nPolitical status \n\nA 1104-1105 CE stone inscription, now kept at the Nagpur Museum, records several military achievements of Lakshmadeva. According to one theory, these achievements happened during the reign of Udayaditya, and Lakshamdeva never ascended the throne. His name is missing from the list of Paramara kings mentioned in Jayavarman II's 1274 CE Mandhata copper-plate inscription, which lists Naravarman as Udayaditya's successor. The Dewas grant inscription also suggests that Naravarman succeeded Udayaditya.\n\nMilitary conquests \n\nThe 1104-1105 CE Nagpur prashasti inscription credits Lakshmadeva with the following military achievements in the four directions:\n\n East: threatening the land of Gauda, defeating the armies of Anga and Kalinga, and occupying the city of Tripuri\n South: subjugating the Cholas, invading the Pandya country, and invading Sri Lanka\n West: attacking the Timingalas and other tribes of the Mainaka mountain\n North: vanquishing the Turushkas and the Kiras\n\nThis description appears to be a poetic exaggeration based on the victories of the legendary king Raghu, as described in Raghuvamsa. For example, Lakshmadeva's purported subjugation of the Cholas and the Pandyas is not supported by any historical evidence. However, some of the other achievements may have a historical basis. For example, the Kalachuris of Tripuri were weak after the death of their king Karna, and Lakshmadeva may have raided Tripuri during the reign of Karna's successor Yashahkarna. Historian D. C. Ganguly speculated that the claim of Lakshmadeva subjugating the Turushkas (the Turkic people) may be a reference to his repulsion of an attack by Mahmud of Ghazni. However, this is not correct, as Mahmud died in 1030 CE, much earlier than Lakshmadeva's time. Some other historians believe that Lakshmadeva might have defeated a Turkic Muslim governor of Punjab who invaded Ujjain, but this is not corroborated by any evidence.\n\nDeath \n\nLakshmadeva must have died sometime before 1082 CE, as the 1082 CE Kamed inscription records Naravarman's donation of a plot of land \"for perpetually burning a lamp for\" (in memory of) Lakshmadeva.\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography \n\n \n \n \n\nParamara dynasty\n11th-century Indian monarchs",
"The Book of Truth and Facts (originally published as Germans as Exponents of Culture) was originally released in 1914 by Friedrich Wilhelm von Frantzius. It was published during World War I and functioned as a piece of pro-German propaganda. The booklet was written in response to an article entitled \"Germans as Exponents of Culture\" penned by Brander Matthews, which appeared in the September 20, 1914 edition of the New York Times2.\n\nVon Frantzius’s goal in writing the book was to \"enlighten the American people on conditions, not only in Germany, but also in the United States and England, and to acquaint them with German ideals, which are so grossly misunderstood in this country [America]\". The main argument is that Germans possess culture, or \"Kultur\", that all other countries lack. He argues that \"there is a great difference between 'civilization' and 'Kultur.' Many nations are highly civilized, but to have 'Kultur' means to possess deep conscience and high morale, and a philosophical conception of life.\"\n\nVon Frantzius broke down the booklet into three themes: German Achievements, English Culture, and American Culture. He further elaborated on the German Achievements by specifying nine areas: Philosophy, Science, Art, Inventions, Discoveries, Finance, Commerce, Administration, and Legislation. Three deeply resonating themes occur throughout the piece: German superiority, British inferiority, and American dependence.\n\nVon Frantzius argued that the German people, through the achievements of their culture, have gained a superior status to that of the English. He claims that Germans within the last eighty years have the greatest inventions, educational structures, artistically creative minds, and developments in scientific research and discoveries. He asserts that these achievements \"signify the greatest process in culture ever made by any nation within any such brief space of time\". He uses these arguments to enforce the idea of German superiority and English inferiority. Because of the lack of sustaining culture within American society, von Frantzius maintains that Americans were led into a state of dependence on the British.\n\nVon Frantzius stresses the American dependence on British culture during World War I. One of the most prevailing dependencies discussed is American reliance on English media. He describes the lack of German media within the American social structure, declaring \"we really have no American press in the United States to-day, but an English one which is decidedly anti-German\". He explains that all other areas of American life are influenced greatly by the British and that Americans could benefit from a stronger influence of German \"Kultur\".\n\nReferences\n1. Von Frantzius, F. (1916). The book of truth and facts. Chicago: Fritz von Frantzius.\n\n2. Matthews, B. (1914, September 20). Germans as exponents of culture. New York Times, p. 14.\n\n1914 non-fiction books\nPropaganda in Germany"
] |
[
"Reggie Jackson",
"California Angels (1982-86) and Oakland Athletics (1987)",
"how did he join the angels",
"Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract.",
"Did Jackson do well there",
"Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry.",
"what else did he achieve there",
"That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986,",
"Did they win any more",
"lost the American League Championship Series both times.",
"Did he achieve any personal goals during this time",
"On September 17, 1984, on the 17th anniversary of the day he hit his first home run, he hit his 500th, at Anaheim Stadium off Bud Black of the Royals.",
"Did he have any other achievements",
"In 1987, he signed a one-year contract to return to the A's, wearing the number 44"
] | C_a115a3119c04420bb2dbe71f36612907_0 | What was special about 44 | 7 | What was special about Reggie Jackson wearing the number 44? | Reggie Jackson | Jackson became a free-agent again once the 1981 season was over. The owner of the California Angels, entertainer Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract. On April 27, 1982, in Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry. The at-bat began with Yankee fans, angry at Steinbrenner for letting Jackson get away, starting the "Reg-GIE!" chant, and ended it with the fans chanting "Steinbrenner sucks!" By the time of Jackson's election to the Hall of Fame, Steinbrenner had begun to say that letting him go was the biggest mistake he had made as Yankee owner. That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986, but lost the American League Championship Series both times. On September 17, 1984, on the 17th anniversary of the day he hit his first home run, he hit his 500th, at Anaheim Stadium off Bud Black of the Royals. In 1987, he signed a one-year contract to return to the A's, wearing the number 44 with which he was now most associated rather than the number 9 he previously wore in Oakland. He announced he would retire after the season, at the age of 41. In his last at-bat, at Comiskey Park in Chicago on October 4, he collected a broken-bat single up the middle, but the A's lost to the White Sox, 5-2. Jackson was the last player in the major leagues to have played for the Kansas City Athletics. CANNOTANSWER | the number 44 with which he was now most associated rather than the number 9 he previously wore in Oakland. | Reginald Martinez Jackson (born May 18, 1946) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and California Angels. Jackson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993.
Jackson was nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the Athletics and the Yankees. He helped Oakland win five consecutive American League West divisional titles, three consecutive American League pennants and three consecutive World Series titles, from 1972 to 1974. Jackson helped New York win four American League East divisional pennants, three American League pennants and two consecutive World Series titles, in 1977 and 1978. He also helped the California Angels win two AL West divisional titles in 1982 and 1986. Jackson hit three consecutive home runs at Yankee Stadium in the clinching game six of the 1977 World Series.
Jackson hit 563 career home runs and was an American League (AL) All-Star for 14 seasons. He won two Silver Slugger Awards, the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award in 1973, two World Series MVP Awards, and the Babe Ruth Award in 1977. The Yankees and Athletics retired his team uniform number in 1993 and 2004. Jackson currently serves as a special advisor to the Houston Astros.
Jackson led his teams to first place ten times over his 21-year career.
Early years
Jackson was born in the Wyncote neighborhood of Cheltenham Township, just north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Martinez Jackson, who was half Puerto Rican, worked as a tailor and was a former second baseman with the Newark Eagles of Negro league baseball. He was the youngest of four children from his mother, Clara. He also had two half-siblings from his father's first marriage. His parents divorced when he was four; his mother took four of his siblings with her, while his father took Reggie and one of the siblings from his first marriage, though one sibling later returned to Wyncote. Martinez Jackson was a single father, and theirs was one of the few black families in Wyncote.
Jackson graduated from Cheltenham High School in 1964, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track and field. A tailback in football, he injured his knee in an early season game in his junior year in the fall of 1962. He was told by the doctors he was never to play football again, but Jackson returned for the final game of the season. In that game, Jackson fractured five cervical vertebrae, which caused him to spend six weeks in the hospital and another month in a neck cast. Doctors told Jackson that he might never walk again, let alone play football, but Jackson defied the odds again. On the baseball team, he batted .550 and threw several no-hitters. In the middle of his senior year, Jackson's father was arrested for bootlegging and was sentenced to six months in jail.
Collegiate athletic career
For football, Jackson was recruited by Alabama, Georgia, and Oklahoma, all of whom were willing to break the color barrier just for Jackson. (Oklahoma had black football players before 1964, including Prentice Gautt, a star running back recruited in 1957, who played in the NFL.) Jackson declined Alabama and Georgia because he was fearful of the South at the time, and declined Oklahoma because they told him to stop dating white girls. For baseball, Jackson was scouted by Hans Lobert of the San Francisco Giants who was desperate to sign him. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins also made offers, and the hometown Philadelphia Phillies gave him a tryout but declined because of his "hitting skills".
His father wanted his son to go to college, where Jackson wanted to play both football and baseball. He accepted a football scholarship from Arizona State University in Tempe; his high school football coach knew ASU's head football coach Frank Kush, and they discussed the possibility of his playing both sports. After a recruiting trip, Kush decided that Jackson had the ability and willingness to work to join the squad.
One day after football practice, he approached ASU baseball coach Bobby Winkles and asked if he could join the team. Winkles said he would give Jackson a look, and the next day while still in his football gear, he hit a home run on the second pitch he saw; in five at bats he hit three home runs. He was allowed to practice with the team, but could not join the squad because the NCAA had a rule forbidding the use of freshman players. Jackson switched permanently to baseball following his freshman year, as he did not want to become a defensive back. To hone his skills, Winkles assigned him to a Baltimore Orioles-affiliated amateur team. He broke numerous team records for the squad, and the Orioles offered him a $50,000 signing bonus if he joined the team. Jackson declined the offer stating that he did not want to forfeit his college scholarship.
In the beginning of his sophomore year in 1966, Jackson replaced Rick Monday (the first player ever selected in the Major League Baseball draft and a future teammate with the A's) at center field. He broke the team record for most home runs in a single season, led the team in numerous other categories and was first team All-American. Many scouts were looking at him play, including Tom Greenwade of the New York Yankees (who discovered Mickey Mantle), and Danny Murtaugh of the Pittsburgh Pirates. In his final game at Arizona State, he showed his potential by being only a triple away from hitting for the cycle, making a sliding catch, and having an assist at home plate. Jackson was the first college player to hit a home run out of Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
Minor leagues
In the 1966 Major League Baseball draft on June 7, Jackson was selected by the Kansas City Athletics. He was the second overall pick, behind 17-year-old catcher Steve Chilcott, who was taken by the New York Mets. According to Jackson, Winkles told him that the Mets did not select him because he had a white girlfriend. Winkles later denied the story, stating that he did not know the reason why Jackson was not drafted by the Mets. It was later confirmed by Joe McDonald that the Mets drafted Steve Chilcott because of need, the person running the Mets at the time was George Weiss, so the true motive may never be known.
Jackson, age 20, signed with the A's for $95,000 on June 13 and reported for his first training camp with the Lewis-Clark Broncs of the short season Single-A Northwest League in Lewiston, Idaho, managed by Grady Wilson. He made his professional debut as a center fielder in the season opener on June 24 at Bethel Park in Eugene, Oregon, but was hitless in five at-bats. In the next game, Jackson singled in the first inning and homered in the ninth. In the home opener at Bengal Field in Lewiston on June 30, he hit a double and a triple. In his final game as a Bronc on July 6, Jackson was hit in the head by a pitch in the first inning, but stayed in the game and drove in runs with two sacrifice flies. Complaining of a headache, he left the game in the ninth inning, was admitted to St. Joseph's Hospital in Lewiston, and remained overnight for observation.
Jackson played for two Class A teams in 1966, with the Broncs for just 12 games, and then 56 games with Modesto in the California League, where he hit 21 homers. He began 1967 with the Birmingham A's in the Double-A Southern League in Birmingham, Alabama, where Jackson got his first taste of racism, being one of only a few blacks on the team. He credits the team's manager at the time, John McNamara, for helping him through that difficult season.
MLB career
Kansas City / Oakland Athletics (1967–1975)
Jackson debuted in the major leagues with the A's in 1967 in a Friday doubleheader in Kansas City on June 9, a shutout sweep of the Cleveland Indians by scores of and at Municipal Stadium. (Jackson had his first career hit in the nightcap, a lead-off triple in the fifth inning off of long reliever Orlando Peña.)
The Athletics moved west to Oakland prior to the 1968 season. Jackson hit 47 home runs in 1969, and was briefly ahead of the pace that Roger Maris set when he broke the single-season record for home runs with 61 in 1961, and that of Babe Ruth when he set the previous record of 60 in 1927. Jackson later said that the sportswriters were claiming he was "dating a lady named 'Ruth Maris.'"
Slumping at the plate in May 1970, Athletics owner Charlie O. Finley threatened to send Jackson to the minors. Jackson hit 23 home runs while batting .237 for the 1970 season. The Athletics sent him to play in Puerto Rico, where he played for the Santurce team and hit 20 homers and knocked in 47 runs to lead the league in both departments. Jackson hit a memorable home run in the 1971 All-Star Game at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Batting for the American League against Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis, the ball he hit soared above the right-field stands, striking the transformer of a light standard on the right field roof. While with the Angels in 1984, he hit a home run over that roof.
In 1971, the Athletics won the American League's West division, their first title of any kind since 1931, when they played in Philadelphia. They were swept in three games in the American League Championship Series by the Baltimore Orioles. The A's won the division again in 1972; their series with the Tigers went the full five games, and Jackson scored the tying run in the clincher on a steal of home. In the process, however, he tore a hamstring and was unable to play in the World Series. The A's still managed to defeat the Cincinnati Reds in seven games. It was the first championship won by a San Francisco Bay Area team in any major league sport.
During spring training in 1972, Jackson showed up with a mustache. Though his teammates wanted him to shave it off, Jackson refused. Finley liked the mustache so much that he offered each player $300 to grow one, and hosted a "Mustache Day" featuring the last MLB player to wear a mustache, Frenchy Bordagaray, as master of ceremonies.
Jackson helped the Athletics win the pennant again in 1973, and was named Most Valuable Player of the American League for the season. The A's defeated the New York Mets in seven hard-fought games in the World Series. This time, Jackson was not only able to play, but his performance led to his being awarded the Series's MVP award. In the third inning of that seventh game, which ended in a 5–2 score, the A's jumped out to a 4–0 lead as both Bert Campaneris and Jackson hit two-run home runs off Jon Matlack—the only two home runs Oakland hit the entire Series. The A's won the World Series again in 1974, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.
Besides hitting 254 home runs in nine years with the Athletics, Jackson was also no stranger to controversy or conflict in Oakland. Sports author Dick Crouser wrote, "When the late Al Helfer was broadcasting the Oakland A's games, he was not too enthusiastic about Reggie Jackson's speed or his hustle. Once, with Jackson on third, teammate Rick Monday hit a long home run. 'Jackson should score easily on that one,' commented Helfer. Crouser also noted that, "Nobody seems to be neutral on Reggie Jackson. You're either a fan or a detractor." When teammate Darold Knowles was asked if Jackson was a hotdog (i.e., a show-off), he famously replied, "There isn't enough mustard in the world to cover Reggie Jackson."
In February 1974, Jackson won an arbitration case for a $135,000 salary for the season, nearly doubling his previous year's $70,000. On June 5, outfielder Billy North and Jackson engaged in a clubhouse fight at Detroit's Tiger Stadium. Jackson injured his shoulder, and catcher Ray Fosse, attempting to separate the combatants, suffered a crushed disk in his neck, costing him three months on the disabled list. In October, the A's went on to win a third consecutive World Series.
Prior to the 1975 season, Jackson sought $168,000, but arbitration went against him this time and he settled for $140,000. The A's won a fifth consecutive division title, but the loss of pitcher Catfish Hunter, baseball's first modern free agent, left them vulnerable, and they were swept in the ALCS by the Boston Red Sox.
Baltimore Orioles (1976)
Paid $140,000 in 1975 and one of nine Oakland players refusing to sign 1976 contracts, Jackson sought a three-year $600,000 pact. With free agency imminent after the season and the expectations of higher salaries for which Athletics owner Finley was unwilling to pay, he was traded along with Ken Holtzman and minor-league right-handed pitcher Bill Van Bommel to the Baltimore Orioles for Don Baylor, Mike Torrez, and Paul Mitchell on April 2, 1976. Jackson had not signed a contract and threatened to sit out the season; he reported to the Orioles four weeks later, and made his first plate appearance on Baltimore and Oakland both finished second in their respective divisions in ; the Yankees and Royals advanced to the ALCS, the first without the A's since 1970. During Jackson's lone season in Baltimore he stole 28 bases, a career-best. Jim Palmer later wrote, "I would say Reggie Jackson was arrogant. But the word arrogant isn't arrogant enough." However, he thought the Orioles made a "brick-brained" mistake by not signing him to a contract, allowing him to become a free agent.
New York Yankees (1977–1981)
The Yankees won the pennant in 1976 but were swept in the World Series by the Reds. A month later on November 29, they signed Jackson to a five-year contract totaling $2.96 million ($ in current dollar terms). The number 9 that he had worn in Oakland and Baltimore was already used by Yankees third baseman Graig Nettles; Jackson asked for number 42 in memory of Jackie Robinson, but that number was given to pitching coach Art Fowler before the start of the season. Noting that Hank Aaron, at the time the holder of the career record for the most home runs, had just retired, Jackson asked for and received number 44 as a tribute to Aaron. Jackson wore number 20 for one game during spring training as a tribute to the also recently retired Frank Robinson, then he switched to number 44.
Jackson's first season with the Yankees in 1977 was a difficult one. Although team owner George Steinbrenner and several players, most notably catcher and team captain Thurman Munson and outfielder Lou Piniella, were excited about his arrival, the team's field manager Billy Martin was not. Martin had managed the Tigers in 1972, when Jackson's A's beat them in the playoffs. Jackson was once quoted as saying of Martin, "I hate him, but if I played for him, I'd probably love him."
The relationship between Jackson and his new teammates was strained due to an interview with SPORT magazine writer Robert Ward. During spring training at the Yankees' camp in Fort Lauderdale, Jackson and Ward were having drinks at a nearby bar. Jackson's version of the story is that he noted that the Yankees had won the pennant the year before, but lost the World Series to the Reds, and suggested that they needed one thing more to win it all, and pointed out the various ingredients in his drink. Ward suggested that Jackson might be "the straw that stirs the drink." But when the story appeared in the June 1977 issue of SPORT, Ward quoted Jackson as saying, "This team, it all flows from me. I'm the straw that stirs the drink. Maybe I should say me and Munson, but he can only stir it bad."Jackson has consistently denied saying anything negative about Munson in the interview and he has said that his quotes were taken out of context. However, Dave Anderson of The New York Times subsequently wrote that he had drinks with Jackson in July 1977, and that Jackson told him, "I'm still the straw that stirs the drink. Not Munson, not nobody else on this club." Regardless, as Munson was beloved by his teammates, Martin, Steinbrenner and Yankee fans, the relationships between them and Jackson became very strained.
On June 18, in a 10–4 loss to the Boston Red Sox in a nationally televised game at Fenway Park in Boston, Jim Rice, a powerful hitter but notoriously slow runner, hit a ball into shallow right field that Jackson appeared to weakly attempt to field. Jackson failed to reach the ball, which fell far in front of him, thereby allowing Rice to reach second base. Furious, Martin removed Jackson from the game without even waiting for the end of the inning, sending Paul Blair out to replace him. When Jackson arrived at the dugout, Martin yelled that Jackson had shown him up. They argued, and Jackson said that Martin's heavy drinking had impaired his judgment. Despite Jackson being 18 years younger, about two inches taller and maybe 40 pounds heavier, Martin lunged at him, and had to be restrained by coaches Yogi Berra and Elston Howard. Red Sox fans could see this in the dugout and began cheering wildly, and the NBC TV cameras showed the confrontation to the entire country.
Yankees management defused the situation by the next day, but the relationship between Jackson and Martin was permanently poisoned. However, George Steinbrenner made a crucial intervention when he gave Martin the option of either having Jackson bat in the fourth or "cleanup" spot for the rest of the season, or losing his job. Martin made the change and Jackson's hitting improved (he had 13 home runs and 49 RBIs over his next 50 games), and the team went on a winning streak. On September 14, while in a tight three-way race for the American League Eastern Division crown with the Red Sox and Orioles, Jackson ended a game with the Red Sox by hitting a home run off Reggie Cleveland, giving the Yankees a 2–0 win. The Yankees won the division by two and a half games over the Red Sox and Orioles, and came from behind in the top of the ninth inning in the fifth and final game of the American League Championship Series to beat the Kansas City Royals for the pennant.
Mr. October
During the World Series against the Dodgers, Munson was interviewed, and suggested that Jackson, because of his past post-season performances, might be the better interview subject. "Go ask Mister October", he said, giving Jackson a nickname that would stick. (In Oakland, he had been known as "Jax" and "Buck.") Jackson hit home runs in Games Four and Five of the Series.
Jackson's crowning achievement came with his three-home-run performance in World Series-clinching Game Six, each on the first pitch, off three Dodgers pitchers. (His first plate-appearance, during the second inning, resulted in a four-pitch walk.) The first came off starter Burt Hooton, and was a line drive shot into the lower right field seats at Yankee Stadium. The second was a much faster line drive off reliever Elías Sosa into roughly the same area. With the fans chanting his name, "Reg-GIE! Reg-GIE! Reg-GIE!", the third came off reliever Charlie Hough, a knuckleball pitcher, making the distance of this home run particularly remarkable. It was a towering drive into the black-painted batter's eye seats in center, away. Jackson stated afterwards that the scouting reports provided by Gene Michael and Birdie Tebbetts played a large role in his success. Their reports indicated that the Dodgers would attempt to pitch him inside and Jackson was prepared.
Since Jackson had hit a home run off Dodger pitcher Don Sutton in his last at bat in Game Five, his three home runs in Game Six meant that he had hit four home runs on four consecutive swings of the bat against as many Dodgers pitchers. Jackson became the first player to win the World Series MVP award for two teams. In 27 World Series games, he amassed 10 home runs, including a record five during the 1977 Series (the last three on first pitches), 24 RBI and a .357 batting average. Babe Ruth, Albert Pujols, and Pablo Sandoval are the only other players to hit three home runs in a single World Series game. Babe Ruth accomplishing the feat twice – in 1926 and 1928 (both in Game Four). With 25 total bases, Jackson also broke Ruth's record of 22 in the latter Series; this remains a World Series record, Willie Stargell tying it in the 1979 World Series. Chase Utley (2009, Philadelphia) and George Springer (2017, Houston) have since tied Jackson's record for most home runs in a single World Series.
Fans had been getting rowdy in anticipation of Game 6's end, and some had actually thrown firecrackers out near Jackson's area in right field. Jackson was alarmed enough about this to walk off the field, in order to get a helmet from the Yankee bench to protect himself. Shortly after this point, as the end of the game neared, fans were bold enough to climb over the wall, draping their legs over the side in preparation for the moment when they planned to rush onto the field. When that moment came, after pitcher Mike Torrez caught a pop-up for the game's final out, Jackson started running at top speed off the field, actually body-checking past some of these fans filling the playing field in the manner of a football linebacker.
The Bronx Zoo
The Yankees' home opener of the 1978 season, on April 13 against the Chicago White Sox, featured a new product, the "Reggie!" bar. In 1976, while playing in Baltimore, Jackson had said, "If I played in New York, they'd name a candy bar after me." The Standard Brands company responded with a circular "bar" of peanuts dipped in caramel and covered in chocolate, a confection that was originally named the "Wayne Bun" as it was made in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The "Reggie!" bars were handed to fans as they walked into Yankee Stadium. Jackson hit a home run, and when he returned to right field the next inning, fans began throwing the Reggie bars on the field in celebration. Jackson told the press that this confused him, thinking that maybe the fans did not like the candy. The Yankees won the game, 4–2.
But the Yankees could not maintain their success, as manager Billy Martin lost control. On July 23, after suspending Jackson for disobeying a sign during a July 17 game, Martin made a statement about his two main antagonists, referring to comments Jackson had made and team owner George Steinbrenner's 1972 violation of campaign-finance laws: "They're made for each other. One's a born liar, the other's convicted." It was moments like these that gave the Yankees the nickname "The Bronx Zoo."
Martin resigned the next day (some sources have said he was actually fired), and was replaced by Bob Lemon, a Hall of Fame pitcher for the Cleveland Indians who had been recently fired as manager of the White Sox. Steinbrenner, a Cleveland-area native, had hired former Indians star Al Rosen as his team president (replacing another Cleveland figure, Gabe Paul). Steinbrenner jumped at the chance to involve another hero of his youth with the Yankees; Lemon had been one of Steinbrenner's coaches during the Bombers' pennant-winning 1976 season.
After being 14 games behind the first-place Red Sox on July 18, the Yankees finished the season in a tie for first place. The two teams played a one-game playoff for the division title at Fenway Park, with the Yankees winning 5–4. Although the home run by light-hitting shortstop Bucky Dent in the seventh inning got the most notice, it was an eighth-inning home run by Jackson that gave the Yankees the fifth run they ended up needing. The next day, with the American League Championship Series with the Royals beginning, Jackson hit a home run off the Royals' top reliever at the time, Al Hrabosky, the flamboyant "Mad Hungarian." The Yankees won the pennant in four games, their third straight.
Jackson was once again in the center of events in the World Series, again against the Dodgers. Los Angeles won the first two games at Dodger Stadium, taking the second when rookie reliever Bob Welch struck Jackson out with two men on base with two outs in the ninth inning. The series then moved to New York, and after the Yankees won Game Three on several fine defensive plays by third baseman Graig Nettles, Game Four saw Jackson in the middle of a controversial play on the basepaths. In the sixth inning, after collecting an RBI single, Jackson was struck in the hip–possibly on purpose–by a ball thrown by Dodger shortstop Bill Russell as Jackson was being forced at second base. Instead of completing a double play that would have ended the inning, the ball caromed into foul territory and allowed Thurman Munson to score the Yankees' second run of the inning. In spite of the Dodgers' protests of interference on Jackson's part, the umpires allowed the play to stand. The Yankees tied the game in the eighth inning and eventually won in the tenth.
Following a blowout win in Game Five, both teams headed back to Los Angeles. In Game Six, Jackson got his revenge against Welch by blasting a two-run home run in the seventh inning, putting the finishing touch on a series-clinching, 7–2 win for the Yankees.
On April 19, 1979, following a Yankee loss to the Baltimore Orioles, Jackson started kidding Cliff Johnson about his inability to hit Goose Gossage. While Johnson was showering, Gossage insisted to Jackson that he struck out Johnson all the time when he used to face him. When Jackson relayed this information to Johnson upon his return to the locker room, a fight started between Johnson and the pitcher. Gossage tore ligaments in his right thumb and missed three months of the season. Teammate Tommy John called it "a demoralizing blow to the team." Jackson joined Gossage on the disabled list for a month in June with a torn calf muscle. In 131 games, he batted .297 with 29 home runs and 89 RBI.
1980–81 seasons
In 1980, Jackson batted .300 for the only time in his career, and his 41 home runs tied with Ben Oglivie of the Milwaukee Brewers for the American League lead. However, the Yankees were swept in the ALCS by the Kansas City Royals. That year, he won the inaugural Silver Slugger Award as a designated hitter.
As he entered the last year of his Yankee contract in 1981, Jackson endured several difficulties from George Steinbrenner. After the owner consulted Jackson about signing then-free agent Dave Winfield, Jackson expected Steinbrenner to work out a new contract for him as well. Steinbrenner never did (some say never intending to) and Jackson played the season as a free agent. Jackson started slowly with the bat, and when the 1981 Major League Baseball strike began, Steinbrenner invoked a clause in Jackson's contract forcing him to take a complete physical examination. Jackson was outraged and blasted Steinbrenner in the media. When the season resumed, Jackson's hitting improved, partly to show Steinbrenner he wasn't finished as a player. He hit a long home run into the upper deck in Game Five of the strike-forced 1981 American League Division Series with the Brewers, and the Yankees went on to win the pennant again. However, Jackson injured himself running the bases in Game Two of the 1981 ALCS and missed the first two games of the World Series, both of which the Yankees won.
Jackson was medically cleared to play Game Three, but manager Bob Lemon refused to start him or even play him, allegedly acting under orders from Steinbrenner. The Yankees lost that game and Jackson played the remainder of the series, hitting a home run in Game Four. However, they lost the last three games and the World Series to the Dodgers.
California Angels (1982–1986) and Oakland Athletics (1987)
Jackson became a free-agent again once the 1981 season was over. The owner of the California Angels, entertainer Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract.
On April 27, 1982, in Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry. The at-bat began with Yankee fans, angry at Steinbrenner for letting Jackson get away, starting the "Reg-GIE!" chant, and ended it with the fans chanting "Steinbrenner sucks!" By the time of Jackson's election to the Hall of Fame, Steinbrenner had begun to say that letting him go was the biggest mistake he had made as Yankee owner.
That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986, but lost the American League Championship Series both times. On September 17, 1984, on the 17th anniversary of the day he hit his first home run, he hit his 500th, at Anaheim Stadium off Bud Black of the Royals.
In 1987, he signed a one-year contract to return to the A's, wearing the number 44 with which he was now most associated rather than the number 9 he previously wore in Oakland. He announced he would retire after the season, at the age of 41. In his last at-bat, at Comiskey Park in Chicago on October 4, he collected a broken-bat single up the middle, but the A's lost to the White Sox, 5–2. Jackson was the last player in the major leagues to have played for the Kansas City Athletics.
Legacy
Jackson played 21 seasons and reached the post-season in 11 of them, winning six pennants and five World Series. His accomplishments include winning both the regular-season and World Series MVP awards in 1973, hitting 563 career home runs (sixth all-time at the time of his retirement), maintaining a .490 career slugging percentage, being named to 14 All-Star teams, and the dubious distinction of being the all-time leader in strikeouts with 2,597 (he finished with 13 more career strikeouts than hits) and second on the all-time list for most Golden sombreros (at least four strikeouts in a game) with 23 – he led this statistic until 2014, when he was surpassed by Ryan Howard. Jackson was the first major leaguer to hit 100 home runs for three different clubs, having hit over 100 for the Athletics, Yankees, and Angels. He is the only player in the 500 home run club that never had consecutive 30 home run seasons in a career.
With the Yankees, Jackson was the center of attention when it came to the media. Tommy John thought this was ultimately helpful to the team. "He was a two-way buffer between the team and Steinbrenner, and between us and the press. That allowed other guys to go about their business in relative peace."
Personal life
During his freshman year at Arizona State, he met Jennie Campos, a Mexican-American. Jackson asked Campos on a date, and discovered many similarities, including the ability to speak Spanish, and being raised in a single parent home (Campos's father was killed in the Korean War). An assistant football coach tried to break up the couple because Jackson was black and Campos was considered white. The coach contacted Campos's uncle, a wealthy benefactor of the school, and he warned the couple that their being together was a bad idea. But the relationship held up and she later became his wife. They divorced in 1973. Kimberly, his only child, was born in the late 1980s.
During the off-season, though still active in baseball, Jackson worked as a field reporter and color commentator for ABC Sports. Just over a month before signing with the Yankees in the fall of 1976, Jackson did analysis in the ABC booth with Keith Jackson and Howard Cosell the night his future team won the American League pennant on a homer by Chris Chambliss. During the 1980s (1983, 1985, and 1987 respectively), Jackson was given the task of presiding over the World Series Trophy presentations. In addition, Jackson did color commentary for the 1984 National League Championship Series (alongside Don Drysdale and Earl Weaver). After his retirement as an active player, Jackson returned to his color commentary role covering the 1988 American League Championship Series (alongside Gary Bender and Joe Morgan) for ABC.
Jackson appeared in the film The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, portraying an Angels outfielder hypnotically programmed to kill the Queen of the United Kingdom. He also appeared in Richie Rich, BASEketball, Summer of Sam and The Benchwarmers. In 1979, Jackson was a guest star in an episode of the television sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, and in an episode of The Love Boat as himself. He played himself in the Archie Bunker's Place episode "Reggie-3 Archie-0" in 1982, a 1990 MacGyver episode, "Squeeze Play", The Jeffersons episode "The Unnatural” from 1985, and the Malcolm in the Middle episode "Polly in the Middle", from 2004. Jackson was also considered for the role of Geordi La Forge in the series Star Trek: The Next Generation, a role that ultimately went to LeVar Burton. From 1981 to 1982, he hosted Reggie Jackson's World of Sports for Nickelodeon, which continued in reruns until 1985.
He co-authored a book in 2010, Sixty-Feet Six-Inches, with fellow Hall of Famer Bob Gibson. The book, whose title refers to the distance between the pitcher's mound and home plate, details their careers and approach to the game.
The 1988 Sega Master System baseball video game Reggie Jackson Baseball, endorsed by Jackson, was sold exclusively in the United States. Outside of the U.S., it was released as American Baseball.
Jackson was the de facto spokesperson for the Upper Deck Company during the early 1990s, appearing in numerous advertisements, appearances, and participating in the company's Heroes of Baseball exhibition games. This affiliation also included the company's "Find the Reggie" promotion which inserted 2500 autograph cards into packs of 1990 Upper Deck Baseball High Series packs. This inclusion of an autograph card marked an important first in what would become a very popular trend in the trading card hobby.
Jackson has endured three fires to personal property, including a June 20, 1976 fire at his home in Oakland that destroyed his 1973 MVP award, World Series trophies and All-Star rings. The same home was again burned down during the Oakland firestorm of 1991, which destroyed more baseball memorabilia in addition to other valuable collections. In 1988, a warehouse holding several of Jackson's collectible cars was damaged in a fire, with several of the cars, valued at $3.2 million, ruined.
In Tampa in 2005, Jackson's car was struck from behind and flipped over several times. Jackson escaped with minor injuries, later saying "...it was God tapping me on the shoulder... It makes you think about your purpose, about His plan for you."
Jackson called on former San Francisco 49ers head coach and ordained minister Mike Singletary for spiritual guidance. Jackson credits Singletary, stating "he helped me drop that shell I put up."
Vehicle- and parking- related attacks on Jackson
Jackson was the victim of an attempted shooting in the early morning hours of June 1, 1980. A few hours after hitting the game-winning 11th inning home run at a home game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Jackson drove his vehicle to the singles bars he frequented in a "posh" neighborhood of "swinging pubs and night spots amid expensive high-rise apartments" in Manhattan's Upper East Side to celebrate. While searching for a parking spot, he asked the driver of a vehicle that was blocking the way to move, and a passenger in that vehicle then began yelling obscenities and racial slurs at Jackson, before throwing a broken bottle at Jackson's car.
After other passerby recognized Jackson and began joking with him about apprehending them, one of the men in the other car, 25 year old Manhattan resident Angel Viera, allegedly returned with a .38 caliber revolver and fired three shots at Jackson, each missing. Viera was criminally charged with attempted murder and illegal possession of deadly weapon. News of the incident was the third story ever broadcast on CNN, which held its inaugural broadcast later that day.
In the early morning of August 12, 1980, as Jackson completed a night of celebrating his 400th career home run slugged several hours earlier against the White Sox, Jackson was accosted as he left his favored nightspot, Jim McMullen's Bar on the Upper East Side, and entered his Rolls-Royce parked outside. A young man leveled a large-bore pistol, likely a .45 caliber automatic, at Jackson's face. Jackson told police that the gun was the largest that he had ever seen, and Jackson believed that he was going to be shot. When the man lowered the weapon to reach into Jackson's car to take the ignition key, Jackson shoved the door open into the man, sending him sprawling. The man then ran off and dropped the car keys near the scene, eluding pursuers.
On March 22, 1985, Jackson was attacked after a California Angels spring training 8-1 exhibition victory over the Cleveland Indians at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, Arizona. Witnesses said that a man who had heckled Jackson throughout the game followed Jackson out to the field's parking lot to continue to do so. As Jackson finished signing autographs for fans he attempted to enter a vehicle belonging to teammate Brian Downing, but the man blocked his entry and insisted on fighting Jackson. According to Jackson, the man began pounding on the door and windshield of the car, yelling at Jackson in Spanish for an autograph and then to offer cocaine. Jackson and other fans nearby restrained the man until he calmed down, at which point the man again asked for an autograph.
On the morning of March 30, 1985, as Jackson left his bungalow at the Angels' spring training residence of the Gene Autry Hotel in Palm Springs (now the Parker Palm Springs) before a Giants game, he noticed two men driving an automobile on the hotel lawns and pedestrian paths while drinking alcohol. After the men recognized Jackson and asked for directions to the Palm Spring strip business district, he warned them to leave before they got into trouble and before he was forced to call the police. They then began heckling his baseball abilities and used an obscenity and racial slur against him. After the men left, Jackson called police, but before police arrived, the men came back to the hotel, asked the front desk to call Jackson to the front lobby, and when he arrived, threatened to assault Jackson. When Jackson grabbed one of the men, the other raised a tire iron over his head. As Jackson moved towards the second man, he ran away but was blocked by a parked car, allowing Jackson to capture him and seize the tire iron and pass it to a nearby Angels executive who had witnessed the event. One of the men was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and the other cited for disturbing the peace.
In an inverse situation, on July 19, 1977, Jackson was signing autographs for fans after the conclusion of the 1977 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, held at Yankee Stadium that year, in the stadium parking lot. According to a statement from Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, several teens entered the parking lot and began shouting obscenities at Jackson. Jackson ignored the teens until one made a "particularly vile remark" about Jackson's mother. Jackson then chased off the teens, one of whom fell while running. The teen claimed that Jackson's foot made contact with the teen's wrist, which Jackson denied. Against the advice of criminal court judge Bernard Klieger, the teen's lawyer insisted that a criminal complaint for harassment be authorized against Jackson, which Klieger did "reluctantly".
Post-retirement honors
Jackson and Steinbrenner reconciled, and Steinbrenner hired Jackson as a "special assistant to the principal owner", making him a consultant and a liaison to the team's players, particularly those of minority standing. By this point, the Yankees, long noted for being slow to adapt to changes in race relations, had come to develop many minority players in their farm system and seek out others via trades and free agency. Jackson usually appears in uniform at the Yankees' spring training complex in Tampa, Florida, and was sought out for advice by recent stars as Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. "His experience is vast, and he's especially good with the young players in our minor league system, the 17- and 18-year old kids. They respect him and what he's accomplished in his career. When Reggie Jackson tells a young kid how he might improve his swing, he tends to listen," said Hal Steinbrenner, Yankees managing general partner and co-chairperson.
Jackson was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1993. He chose to wear a Yankees cap on his Hall of Fame plaque after the Oakland Athletics unceremoniously fired him from a coaching position in 1991.
The Yankees retired Jackson's uniform number 44 on August 14, 1993, shortly after his induction into the Hall of Fame. The Athletics retired his number 9 on May 22, 2004. He is one of only ten MLB players to have their numbers retired by more than one team, and one of only four to have different numbers retired by two MLB teams.
In 1999, Jackson placed 48th on The Sporting News' 100 Greatest Baseball Players list. That same year, he was named one of 100 finalists for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, but was not one of the 30 players chosen by the fans.
The Yankees dedicated a plaque in Jackson's honor on July 6, 2002, that now hangs in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. The plaque calls him "One of the most colorful and exciting players of his era" and "a prolific hitter who thrived in pressure situations." Each Yankee so honored and still living was on hand for the dedication: Phil Rizzuto, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford and Don Mattingly. Ron Guidry, a teammate of Jackson's for all five of his seasons with the Yankees, was there, and was to be honored with a Monument Park plaque the next season. Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Ernie Banks, players whom Jackson admired while growing up, attended the ceremony at his invitation. Like Jackson, each was a member of the Hall of Fame and had hit over 500 career home runs. Each had also played in the Negro leagues, as had Jackson's father, Martinez Jackson.
Jackson expanded his love of antique cars into a chain of auto dealerships in California, and used his contacts to become one of the foremost traders of sports memorabilia. He has also been the public face of a group attempting to purchase a major league team, already having made unsuccessful attempts to buy the Athletics and the Angels. His attempt to acquire the Angels along with Jimmy Nederlander (minority owner of the New York Yankees), Jackie Autry (widow of former Angels owner Gene Autry) and other investors was thwarted by Mexican-American billionaire Arturo Moreno, who outbid Jackson's group by nearly $50 million for the team in the winter of 2002.
In a July 2012 interview with Sports Illustrated, Jackson was critical of the Baseball Writers' Association of America as he believes that the organization has lowered its standards for admission into the Hall of Fame. He has also been critical of players associated with performance-enhancing drugs, including distant cousin Barry Bonds, stating "I believe that Hank Aaron is the home run king, not Barry Bonds, as great of a player Bonds was." Of Alex Rodriguez, Jackson remarked, "Al's a very good friend. But I think there are real questions about his numbers. As much as I like him, what he admitted about his usage does cloud some of his numbers." On July 12, the Yankees released a statement regarding the Sports Illustrated interview in which Jackson said, "In trying to convey my feelings about a few issues that I am passionate about, I made the mistake of naming some specific players." It had been reported that he was told by the Yankees to steer clear from the team, although general manager Brian Cashman stated that Jackson had not been banned but only told to not join the club on a road trip to Boston and would later be free to interact with the club. Jackson stated, "I continue to have a strong relationship with the club, and look forward to continuing my role with the team."
In 2007, ESPN aired a miniseries called The Bronx Is Burning about the 1977 Yankees, with the conflicts and controversies involving Jackson, portrayed by Daniel Sunjata, a central part of the storyline. The series infuriated Jackson, as he felt that he was portrayed as selfish and arrogant. He also expressed frustration that the filmmakers did not consult with him while making the miniseries, saying "I feel betrayed."
In 2008, Jackson threw the ceremonial first pitch at the Yankees' opening-day game, the last at the original Yankee Stadium. He also threw out the first pitch at the first game at the new Yankee Stadium (an exhibition game).
On October 9, 2009, Jackson threw the ceremonial opening pitch at Game 2 of the ALDS between the Yankees and the Minnesota Twins. On October 18, 2010, the Ride of Fame honored Jackson with his image on a New York City double-decker tour bus.
On September 5, 2018, before an Athletics game against the Yankees in Oakland, Jackson was inducted into the new Oakland Athletics Hall of Fame. He joined fellow inductees Rickey Henderson, Dave Stewart, Dennis Eckersley, Catfish Hunter and Rollie Fingers.
See also
List of Puerto Ricans
DHL Hometown Heroes
Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
Major League Baseball titles leaders
List of Major League Baseball home run records
500 home run club
List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
List of Major League Baseball career total bases leaders
List of Major League Baseball career bases on balls leaders
List of Major League Baseball career at-bat leaders
List of Major League Baseball career games played leaders
List of Major League Baseball career plate appearance leaders
List of Major League Baseball career strikeouts by batters leaders
Notes
References
External links
ReggieJackson.com
The Sporting News' Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments: Reggie! Reggie! Reggie!
Sports Illustrated – covers
Reggie Jackson Exclusive Interview for MSG's The Bronx is Burning: Summer of '77
1946 births
Living people
People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania
African-American baseball players
African-American baseball coaches
All-American college baseball players
American League Most Valuable Player Award winners
American League All-Stars
American League home run champions
American League RBI champions
American sportspeople of Puerto Rican descent
Arizona State Sun Devils baseball players
Arizona State Sun Devils football players
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Kansas City Athletics players
Major League Baseball broadcasters
Major League Baseball designated hitters
Major League Baseball hitting coaches
Baseball players from Pennsylvania
Major League Baseball right fielders
World Series Most Valuable Player Award winners
New York Yankees executives
New York Yankees players
Oakland Athletics players
Oakland Athletics coaches
Baseball players from Oakland, California
Puerto Rican baseball players
Major League Baseball players with retired numbers
Lewiston Broncs players
Modesto Reds players
Birmingham A's players
American car collectors
Silver Slugger Award winners
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American sportspeople | true | [
"These Are Special Times is a one-off American television special by Canadian singer Celine Dion that was broadcast by CBS on 25 November 1998. The special was a promotion for her first English Holiday album of the same name, These Are Special Times. The special was filmed in front of a live studio audience. It featured Dion (backed by her touring band and a full orchestra) performing holiday music from the album as well as some of her hits. She was also joined by special guests comedic actress and singer Rosie O'Donnell and Italian Tenor Andrea Bocelli. The special also included footage of Dion in her hometown of Charlegmagne, Quebec.\n\nThe special was met with praise and drew an audience of more than sixteen million viewers. Additionally, it received two Emmy Award nominations. It was later released on DVD as part of the Collector's Edition re-release of the These Are Special Times album in 2007.\n\nSet list\n \"The Power of Love\"\n \"Do You Hear What I Hear?\" (duet with Rosie O'Donnell)\n \"O Holy Night\"\n \"Because You Loved Me\" \n \"Let's Talk About Love\" \n \"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face\"\n \"My Heart Will Go On\" \n \"The Prayer\" (duet with Andrea Bocelli)\n \"Ave Maria\" (performed by Andrea Bocelli)\n \"Feliz Navidad\"\n \"These Are the Special Times\"\n\nReferences\n\nCeline Dion\n1998 television specials\nCBS television specials",
"\"No Matter What\" is a song recorded by British singer-songwriter Calum Scott for the special edition of his debut studio album, Only Human. It was released on 19 October 2018 as the album's fifth overall single and the first single from the special edition.\n\nBackground\nScott describes \"No Matter What\" as his \"most personal song\" and the song he is \"most proud of\". The song tells the story of Scott telling his parents he was gay and their reactions of loving him \"no matter what\". Scott said \"It was a song that I always had to write, and a song I never thought I'd be able to share. This song has so much bones behind it and has such a wider discussion, not only about sexuality but about acceptance.\" adding \"This hopefully will be a movement. I want to help people, I want to inspire people, I want to make people more compassionate.\"\n\nMusic video\nThe music video was released on 8 November 2018 on Scott's YouTube channel via Vevo. It was directed by Ozzie Pullin.\n\nCritical reception\nKatrina Rees from CelebMix called the song \"a stunning piano ballad\" with lyrics that are \"raw and extremely personal\".\n\nTrack listing\n\nCharts\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n2018 songs\n2018 singles\nCalum Scott songs\nCapitol Records singles\nLGBT-related songs\nSongs written by Toby Gad\nSongs written by Calum Scott"
] |
[
"Reggie Jackson",
"California Angels (1982-86) and Oakland Athletics (1987)",
"how did he join the angels",
"Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract.",
"Did Jackson do well there",
"Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry.",
"what else did he achieve there",
"That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986,",
"Did they win any more",
"lost the American League Championship Series both times.",
"Did he achieve any personal goals during this time",
"On September 17, 1984, on the 17th anniversary of the day he hit his first home run, he hit his 500th, at Anaheim Stadium off Bud Black of the Royals.",
"Did he have any other achievements",
"In 1987, he signed a one-year contract to return to the A's, wearing the number 44",
"What was special about 44",
"the number 44 with which he was now most associated rather than the number 9 he previously wore in Oakland."
] | C_a115a3119c04420bb2dbe71f36612907_0 | Is there anything else I should learn about him | 8 | Besides wearing the number 44, is there anything I should learn about Reggie Jackson? | Reggie Jackson | Jackson became a free-agent again once the 1981 season was over. The owner of the California Angels, entertainer Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract. On April 27, 1982, in Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry. The at-bat began with Yankee fans, angry at Steinbrenner for letting Jackson get away, starting the "Reg-GIE!" chant, and ended it with the fans chanting "Steinbrenner sucks!" By the time of Jackson's election to the Hall of Fame, Steinbrenner had begun to say that letting him go was the biggest mistake he had made as Yankee owner. That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986, but lost the American League Championship Series both times. On September 17, 1984, on the 17th anniversary of the day he hit his first home run, he hit his 500th, at Anaheim Stadium off Bud Black of the Royals. In 1987, he signed a one-year contract to return to the A's, wearing the number 44 with which he was now most associated rather than the number 9 he previously wore in Oakland. He announced he would retire after the season, at the age of 41. In his last at-bat, at Comiskey Park in Chicago on October 4, he collected a broken-bat single up the middle, but the A's lost to the White Sox, 5-2. Jackson was the last player in the major leagues to have played for the Kansas City Athletics. CANNOTANSWER | Jackson was the last player in the major leagues to have played for the Kansas City Athletics. | Reginald Martinez Jackson (born May 18, 1946) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and California Angels. Jackson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993.
Jackson was nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the Athletics and the Yankees. He helped Oakland win five consecutive American League West divisional titles, three consecutive American League pennants and three consecutive World Series titles, from 1972 to 1974. Jackson helped New York win four American League East divisional pennants, three American League pennants and two consecutive World Series titles, in 1977 and 1978. He also helped the California Angels win two AL West divisional titles in 1982 and 1986. Jackson hit three consecutive home runs at Yankee Stadium in the clinching game six of the 1977 World Series.
Jackson hit 563 career home runs and was an American League (AL) All-Star for 14 seasons. He won two Silver Slugger Awards, the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award in 1973, two World Series MVP Awards, and the Babe Ruth Award in 1977. The Yankees and Athletics retired his team uniform number in 1993 and 2004. Jackson currently serves as a special advisor to the Houston Astros.
Jackson led his teams to first place ten times over his 21-year career.
Early years
Jackson was born in the Wyncote neighborhood of Cheltenham Township, just north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Martinez Jackson, who was half Puerto Rican, worked as a tailor and was a former second baseman with the Newark Eagles of Negro league baseball. He was the youngest of four children from his mother, Clara. He also had two half-siblings from his father's first marriage. His parents divorced when he was four; his mother took four of his siblings with her, while his father took Reggie and one of the siblings from his first marriage, though one sibling later returned to Wyncote. Martinez Jackson was a single father, and theirs was one of the few black families in Wyncote.
Jackson graduated from Cheltenham High School in 1964, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track and field. A tailback in football, he injured his knee in an early season game in his junior year in the fall of 1962. He was told by the doctors he was never to play football again, but Jackson returned for the final game of the season. In that game, Jackson fractured five cervical vertebrae, which caused him to spend six weeks in the hospital and another month in a neck cast. Doctors told Jackson that he might never walk again, let alone play football, but Jackson defied the odds again. On the baseball team, he batted .550 and threw several no-hitters. In the middle of his senior year, Jackson's father was arrested for bootlegging and was sentenced to six months in jail.
Collegiate athletic career
For football, Jackson was recruited by Alabama, Georgia, and Oklahoma, all of whom were willing to break the color barrier just for Jackson. (Oklahoma had black football players before 1964, including Prentice Gautt, a star running back recruited in 1957, who played in the NFL.) Jackson declined Alabama and Georgia because he was fearful of the South at the time, and declined Oklahoma because they told him to stop dating white girls. For baseball, Jackson was scouted by Hans Lobert of the San Francisco Giants who was desperate to sign him. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins also made offers, and the hometown Philadelphia Phillies gave him a tryout but declined because of his "hitting skills".
His father wanted his son to go to college, where Jackson wanted to play both football and baseball. He accepted a football scholarship from Arizona State University in Tempe; his high school football coach knew ASU's head football coach Frank Kush, and they discussed the possibility of his playing both sports. After a recruiting trip, Kush decided that Jackson had the ability and willingness to work to join the squad.
One day after football practice, he approached ASU baseball coach Bobby Winkles and asked if he could join the team. Winkles said he would give Jackson a look, and the next day while still in his football gear, he hit a home run on the second pitch he saw; in five at bats he hit three home runs. He was allowed to practice with the team, but could not join the squad because the NCAA had a rule forbidding the use of freshman players. Jackson switched permanently to baseball following his freshman year, as he did not want to become a defensive back. To hone his skills, Winkles assigned him to a Baltimore Orioles-affiliated amateur team. He broke numerous team records for the squad, and the Orioles offered him a $50,000 signing bonus if he joined the team. Jackson declined the offer stating that he did not want to forfeit his college scholarship.
In the beginning of his sophomore year in 1966, Jackson replaced Rick Monday (the first player ever selected in the Major League Baseball draft and a future teammate with the A's) at center field. He broke the team record for most home runs in a single season, led the team in numerous other categories and was first team All-American. Many scouts were looking at him play, including Tom Greenwade of the New York Yankees (who discovered Mickey Mantle), and Danny Murtaugh of the Pittsburgh Pirates. In his final game at Arizona State, he showed his potential by being only a triple away from hitting for the cycle, making a sliding catch, and having an assist at home plate. Jackson was the first college player to hit a home run out of Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
Minor leagues
In the 1966 Major League Baseball draft on June 7, Jackson was selected by the Kansas City Athletics. He was the second overall pick, behind 17-year-old catcher Steve Chilcott, who was taken by the New York Mets. According to Jackson, Winkles told him that the Mets did not select him because he had a white girlfriend. Winkles later denied the story, stating that he did not know the reason why Jackson was not drafted by the Mets. It was later confirmed by Joe McDonald that the Mets drafted Steve Chilcott because of need, the person running the Mets at the time was George Weiss, so the true motive may never be known.
Jackson, age 20, signed with the A's for $95,000 on June 13 and reported for his first training camp with the Lewis-Clark Broncs of the short season Single-A Northwest League in Lewiston, Idaho, managed by Grady Wilson. He made his professional debut as a center fielder in the season opener on June 24 at Bethel Park in Eugene, Oregon, but was hitless in five at-bats. In the next game, Jackson singled in the first inning and homered in the ninth. In the home opener at Bengal Field in Lewiston on June 30, he hit a double and a triple. In his final game as a Bronc on July 6, Jackson was hit in the head by a pitch in the first inning, but stayed in the game and drove in runs with two sacrifice flies. Complaining of a headache, he left the game in the ninth inning, was admitted to St. Joseph's Hospital in Lewiston, and remained overnight for observation.
Jackson played for two Class A teams in 1966, with the Broncs for just 12 games, and then 56 games with Modesto in the California League, where he hit 21 homers. He began 1967 with the Birmingham A's in the Double-A Southern League in Birmingham, Alabama, where Jackson got his first taste of racism, being one of only a few blacks on the team. He credits the team's manager at the time, John McNamara, for helping him through that difficult season.
MLB career
Kansas City / Oakland Athletics (1967–1975)
Jackson debuted in the major leagues with the A's in 1967 in a Friday doubleheader in Kansas City on June 9, a shutout sweep of the Cleveland Indians by scores of and at Municipal Stadium. (Jackson had his first career hit in the nightcap, a lead-off triple in the fifth inning off of long reliever Orlando Peña.)
The Athletics moved west to Oakland prior to the 1968 season. Jackson hit 47 home runs in 1969, and was briefly ahead of the pace that Roger Maris set when he broke the single-season record for home runs with 61 in 1961, and that of Babe Ruth when he set the previous record of 60 in 1927. Jackson later said that the sportswriters were claiming he was "dating a lady named 'Ruth Maris.'"
Slumping at the plate in May 1970, Athletics owner Charlie O. Finley threatened to send Jackson to the minors. Jackson hit 23 home runs while batting .237 for the 1970 season. The Athletics sent him to play in Puerto Rico, where he played for the Santurce team and hit 20 homers and knocked in 47 runs to lead the league in both departments. Jackson hit a memorable home run in the 1971 All-Star Game at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Batting for the American League against Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis, the ball he hit soared above the right-field stands, striking the transformer of a light standard on the right field roof. While with the Angels in 1984, he hit a home run over that roof.
In 1971, the Athletics won the American League's West division, their first title of any kind since 1931, when they played in Philadelphia. They were swept in three games in the American League Championship Series by the Baltimore Orioles. The A's won the division again in 1972; their series with the Tigers went the full five games, and Jackson scored the tying run in the clincher on a steal of home. In the process, however, he tore a hamstring and was unable to play in the World Series. The A's still managed to defeat the Cincinnati Reds in seven games. It was the first championship won by a San Francisco Bay Area team in any major league sport.
During spring training in 1972, Jackson showed up with a mustache. Though his teammates wanted him to shave it off, Jackson refused. Finley liked the mustache so much that he offered each player $300 to grow one, and hosted a "Mustache Day" featuring the last MLB player to wear a mustache, Frenchy Bordagaray, as master of ceremonies.
Jackson helped the Athletics win the pennant again in 1973, and was named Most Valuable Player of the American League for the season. The A's defeated the New York Mets in seven hard-fought games in the World Series. This time, Jackson was not only able to play, but his performance led to his being awarded the Series's MVP award. In the third inning of that seventh game, which ended in a 5–2 score, the A's jumped out to a 4–0 lead as both Bert Campaneris and Jackson hit two-run home runs off Jon Matlack—the only two home runs Oakland hit the entire Series. The A's won the World Series again in 1974, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.
Besides hitting 254 home runs in nine years with the Athletics, Jackson was also no stranger to controversy or conflict in Oakland. Sports author Dick Crouser wrote, "When the late Al Helfer was broadcasting the Oakland A's games, he was not too enthusiastic about Reggie Jackson's speed or his hustle. Once, with Jackson on third, teammate Rick Monday hit a long home run. 'Jackson should score easily on that one,' commented Helfer. Crouser also noted that, "Nobody seems to be neutral on Reggie Jackson. You're either a fan or a detractor." When teammate Darold Knowles was asked if Jackson was a hotdog (i.e., a show-off), he famously replied, "There isn't enough mustard in the world to cover Reggie Jackson."
In February 1974, Jackson won an arbitration case for a $135,000 salary for the season, nearly doubling his previous year's $70,000. On June 5, outfielder Billy North and Jackson engaged in a clubhouse fight at Detroit's Tiger Stadium. Jackson injured his shoulder, and catcher Ray Fosse, attempting to separate the combatants, suffered a crushed disk in his neck, costing him three months on the disabled list. In October, the A's went on to win a third consecutive World Series.
Prior to the 1975 season, Jackson sought $168,000, but arbitration went against him this time and he settled for $140,000. The A's won a fifth consecutive division title, but the loss of pitcher Catfish Hunter, baseball's first modern free agent, left them vulnerable, and they were swept in the ALCS by the Boston Red Sox.
Baltimore Orioles (1976)
Paid $140,000 in 1975 and one of nine Oakland players refusing to sign 1976 contracts, Jackson sought a three-year $600,000 pact. With free agency imminent after the season and the expectations of higher salaries for which Athletics owner Finley was unwilling to pay, he was traded along with Ken Holtzman and minor-league right-handed pitcher Bill Van Bommel to the Baltimore Orioles for Don Baylor, Mike Torrez, and Paul Mitchell on April 2, 1976. Jackson had not signed a contract and threatened to sit out the season; he reported to the Orioles four weeks later, and made his first plate appearance on Baltimore and Oakland both finished second in their respective divisions in ; the Yankees and Royals advanced to the ALCS, the first without the A's since 1970. During Jackson's lone season in Baltimore he stole 28 bases, a career-best. Jim Palmer later wrote, "I would say Reggie Jackson was arrogant. But the word arrogant isn't arrogant enough." However, he thought the Orioles made a "brick-brained" mistake by not signing him to a contract, allowing him to become a free agent.
New York Yankees (1977–1981)
The Yankees won the pennant in 1976 but were swept in the World Series by the Reds. A month later on November 29, they signed Jackson to a five-year contract totaling $2.96 million ($ in current dollar terms). The number 9 that he had worn in Oakland and Baltimore was already used by Yankees third baseman Graig Nettles; Jackson asked for number 42 in memory of Jackie Robinson, but that number was given to pitching coach Art Fowler before the start of the season. Noting that Hank Aaron, at the time the holder of the career record for the most home runs, had just retired, Jackson asked for and received number 44 as a tribute to Aaron. Jackson wore number 20 for one game during spring training as a tribute to the also recently retired Frank Robinson, then he switched to number 44.
Jackson's first season with the Yankees in 1977 was a difficult one. Although team owner George Steinbrenner and several players, most notably catcher and team captain Thurman Munson and outfielder Lou Piniella, were excited about his arrival, the team's field manager Billy Martin was not. Martin had managed the Tigers in 1972, when Jackson's A's beat them in the playoffs. Jackson was once quoted as saying of Martin, "I hate him, but if I played for him, I'd probably love him."
The relationship between Jackson and his new teammates was strained due to an interview with SPORT magazine writer Robert Ward. During spring training at the Yankees' camp in Fort Lauderdale, Jackson and Ward were having drinks at a nearby bar. Jackson's version of the story is that he noted that the Yankees had won the pennant the year before, but lost the World Series to the Reds, and suggested that they needed one thing more to win it all, and pointed out the various ingredients in his drink. Ward suggested that Jackson might be "the straw that stirs the drink." But when the story appeared in the June 1977 issue of SPORT, Ward quoted Jackson as saying, "This team, it all flows from me. I'm the straw that stirs the drink. Maybe I should say me and Munson, but he can only stir it bad."Jackson has consistently denied saying anything negative about Munson in the interview and he has said that his quotes were taken out of context. However, Dave Anderson of The New York Times subsequently wrote that he had drinks with Jackson in July 1977, and that Jackson told him, "I'm still the straw that stirs the drink. Not Munson, not nobody else on this club." Regardless, as Munson was beloved by his teammates, Martin, Steinbrenner and Yankee fans, the relationships between them and Jackson became very strained.
On June 18, in a 10–4 loss to the Boston Red Sox in a nationally televised game at Fenway Park in Boston, Jim Rice, a powerful hitter but notoriously slow runner, hit a ball into shallow right field that Jackson appeared to weakly attempt to field. Jackson failed to reach the ball, which fell far in front of him, thereby allowing Rice to reach second base. Furious, Martin removed Jackson from the game without even waiting for the end of the inning, sending Paul Blair out to replace him. When Jackson arrived at the dugout, Martin yelled that Jackson had shown him up. They argued, and Jackson said that Martin's heavy drinking had impaired his judgment. Despite Jackson being 18 years younger, about two inches taller and maybe 40 pounds heavier, Martin lunged at him, and had to be restrained by coaches Yogi Berra and Elston Howard. Red Sox fans could see this in the dugout and began cheering wildly, and the NBC TV cameras showed the confrontation to the entire country.
Yankees management defused the situation by the next day, but the relationship between Jackson and Martin was permanently poisoned. However, George Steinbrenner made a crucial intervention when he gave Martin the option of either having Jackson bat in the fourth or "cleanup" spot for the rest of the season, or losing his job. Martin made the change and Jackson's hitting improved (he had 13 home runs and 49 RBIs over his next 50 games), and the team went on a winning streak. On September 14, while in a tight three-way race for the American League Eastern Division crown with the Red Sox and Orioles, Jackson ended a game with the Red Sox by hitting a home run off Reggie Cleveland, giving the Yankees a 2–0 win. The Yankees won the division by two and a half games over the Red Sox and Orioles, and came from behind in the top of the ninth inning in the fifth and final game of the American League Championship Series to beat the Kansas City Royals for the pennant.
Mr. October
During the World Series against the Dodgers, Munson was interviewed, and suggested that Jackson, because of his past post-season performances, might be the better interview subject. "Go ask Mister October", he said, giving Jackson a nickname that would stick. (In Oakland, he had been known as "Jax" and "Buck.") Jackson hit home runs in Games Four and Five of the Series.
Jackson's crowning achievement came with his three-home-run performance in World Series-clinching Game Six, each on the first pitch, off three Dodgers pitchers. (His first plate-appearance, during the second inning, resulted in a four-pitch walk.) The first came off starter Burt Hooton, and was a line drive shot into the lower right field seats at Yankee Stadium. The second was a much faster line drive off reliever Elías Sosa into roughly the same area. With the fans chanting his name, "Reg-GIE! Reg-GIE! Reg-GIE!", the third came off reliever Charlie Hough, a knuckleball pitcher, making the distance of this home run particularly remarkable. It was a towering drive into the black-painted batter's eye seats in center, away. Jackson stated afterwards that the scouting reports provided by Gene Michael and Birdie Tebbetts played a large role in his success. Their reports indicated that the Dodgers would attempt to pitch him inside and Jackson was prepared.
Since Jackson had hit a home run off Dodger pitcher Don Sutton in his last at bat in Game Five, his three home runs in Game Six meant that he had hit four home runs on four consecutive swings of the bat against as many Dodgers pitchers. Jackson became the first player to win the World Series MVP award for two teams. In 27 World Series games, he amassed 10 home runs, including a record five during the 1977 Series (the last three on first pitches), 24 RBI and a .357 batting average. Babe Ruth, Albert Pujols, and Pablo Sandoval are the only other players to hit three home runs in a single World Series game. Babe Ruth accomplishing the feat twice – in 1926 and 1928 (both in Game Four). With 25 total bases, Jackson also broke Ruth's record of 22 in the latter Series; this remains a World Series record, Willie Stargell tying it in the 1979 World Series. Chase Utley (2009, Philadelphia) and George Springer (2017, Houston) have since tied Jackson's record for most home runs in a single World Series.
Fans had been getting rowdy in anticipation of Game 6's end, and some had actually thrown firecrackers out near Jackson's area in right field. Jackson was alarmed enough about this to walk off the field, in order to get a helmet from the Yankee bench to protect himself. Shortly after this point, as the end of the game neared, fans were bold enough to climb over the wall, draping their legs over the side in preparation for the moment when they planned to rush onto the field. When that moment came, after pitcher Mike Torrez caught a pop-up for the game's final out, Jackson started running at top speed off the field, actually body-checking past some of these fans filling the playing field in the manner of a football linebacker.
The Bronx Zoo
The Yankees' home opener of the 1978 season, on April 13 against the Chicago White Sox, featured a new product, the "Reggie!" bar. In 1976, while playing in Baltimore, Jackson had said, "If I played in New York, they'd name a candy bar after me." The Standard Brands company responded with a circular "bar" of peanuts dipped in caramel and covered in chocolate, a confection that was originally named the "Wayne Bun" as it was made in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The "Reggie!" bars were handed to fans as they walked into Yankee Stadium. Jackson hit a home run, and when he returned to right field the next inning, fans began throwing the Reggie bars on the field in celebration. Jackson told the press that this confused him, thinking that maybe the fans did not like the candy. The Yankees won the game, 4–2.
But the Yankees could not maintain their success, as manager Billy Martin lost control. On July 23, after suspending Jackson for disobeying a sign during a July 17 game, Martin made a statement about his two main antagonists, referring to comments Jackson had made and team owner George Steinbrenner's 1972 violation of campaign-finance laws: "They're made for each other. One's a born liar, the other's convicted." It was moments like these that gave the Yankees the nickname "The Bronx Zoo."
Martin resigned the next day (some sources have said he was actually fired), and was replaced by Bob Lemon, a Hall of Fame pitcher for the Cleveland Indians who had been recently fired as manager of the White Sox. Steinbrenner, a Cleveland-area native, had hired former Indians star Al Rosen as his team president (replacing another Cleveland figure, Gabe Paul). Steinbrenner jumped at the chance to involve another hero of his youth with the Yankees; Lemon had been one of Steinbrenner's coaches during the Bombers' pennant-winning 1976 season.
After being 14 games behind the first-place Red Sox on July 18, the Yankees finished the season in a tie for first place. The two teams played a one-game playoff for the division title at Fenway Park, with the Yankees winning 5–4. Although the home run by light-hitting shortstop Bucky Dent in the seventh inning got the most notice, it was an eighth-inning home run by Jackson that gave the Yankees the fifth run they ended up needing. The next day, with the American League Championship Series with the Royals beginning, Jackson hit a home run off the Royals' top reliever at the time, Al Hrabosky, the flamboyant "Mad Hungarian." The Yankees won the pennant in four games, their third straight.
Jackson was once again in the center of events in the World Series, again against the Dodgers. Los Angeles won the first two games at Dodger Stadium, taking the second when rookie reliever Bob Welch struck Jackson out with two men on base with two outs in the ninth inning. The series then moved to New York, and after the Yankees won Game Three on several fine defensive plays by third baseman Graig Nettles, Game Four saw Jackson in the middle of a controversial play on the basepaths. In the sixth inning, after collecting an RBI single, Jackson was struck in the hip–possibly on purpose–by a ball thrown by Dodger shortstop Bill Russell as Jackson was being forced at second base. Instead of completing a double play that would have ended the inning, the ball caromed into foul territory and allowed Thurman Munson to score the Yankees' second run of the inning. In spite of the Dodgers' protests of interference on Jackson's part, the umpires allowed the play to stand. The Yankees tied the game in the eighth inning and eventually won in the tenth.
Following a blowout win in Game Five, both teams headed back to Los Angeles. In Game Six, Jackson got his revenge against Welch by blasting a two-run home run in the seventh inning, putting the finishing touch on a series-clinching, 7–2 win for the Yankees.
On April 19, 1979, following a Yankee loss to the Baltimore Orioles, Jackson started kidding Cliff Johnson about his inability to hit Goose Gossage. While Johnson was showering, Gossage insisted to Jackson that he struck out Johnson all the time when he used to face him. When Jackson relayed this information to Johnson upon his return to the locker room, a fight started between Johnson and the pitcher. Gossage tore ligaments in his right thumb and missed three months of the season. Teammate Tommy John called it "a demoralizing blow to the team." Jackson joined Gossage on the disabled list for a month in June with a torn calf muscle. In 131 games, he batted .297 with 29 home runs and 89 RBI.
1980–81 seasons
In 1980, Jackson batted .300 for the only time in his career, and his 41 home runs tied with Ben Oglivie of the Milwaukee Brewers for the American League lead. However, the Yankees were swept in the ALCS by the Kansas City Royals. That year, he won the inaugural Silver Slugger Award as a designated hitter.
As he entered the last year of his Yankee contract in 1981, Jackson endured several difficulties from George Steinbrenner. After the owner consulted Jackson about signing then-free agent Dave Winfield, Jackson expected Steinbrenner to work out a new contract for him as well. Steinbrenner never did (some say never intending to) and Jackson played the season as a free agent. Jackson started slowly with the bat, and when the 1981 Major League Baseball strike began, Steinbrenner invoked a clause in Jackson's contract forcing him to take a complete physical examination. Jackson was outraged and blasted Steinbrenner in the media. When the season resumed, Jackson's hitting improved, partly to show Steinbrenner he wasn't finished as a player. He hit a long home run into the upper deck in Game Five of the strike-forced 1981 American League Division Series with the Brewers, and the Yankees went on to win the pennant again. However, Jackson injured himself running the bases in Game Two of the 1981 ALCS and missed the first two games of the World Series, both of which the Yankees won.
Jackson was medically cleared to play Game Three, but manager Bob Lemon refused to start him or even play him, allegedly acting under orders from Steinbrenner. The Yankees lost that game and Jackson played the remainder of the series, hitting a home run in Game Four. However, they lost the last three games and the World Series to the Dodgers.
California Angels (1982–1986) and Oakland Athletics (1987)
Jackson became a free-agent again once the 1981 season was over. The owner of the California Angels, entertainer Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract.
On April 27, 1982, in Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry. The at-bat began with Yankee fans, angry at Steinbrenner for letting Jackson get away, starting the "Reg-GIE!" chant, and ended it with the fans chanting "Steinbrenner sucks!" By the time of Jackson's election to the Hall of Fame, Steinbrenner had begun to say that letting him go was the biggest mistake he had made as Yankee owner.
That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986, but lost the American League Championship Series both times. On September 17, 1984, on the 17th anniversary of the day he hit his first home run, he hit his 500th, at Anaheim Stadium off Bud Black of the Royals.
In 1987, he signed a one-year contract to return to the A's, wearing the number 44 with which he was now most associated rather than the number 9 he previously wore in Oakland. He announced he would retire after the season, at the age of 41. In his last at-bat, at Comiskey Park in Chicago on October 4, he collected a broken-bat single up the middle, but the A's lost to the White Sox, 5–2. Jackson was the last player in the major leagues to have played for the Kansas City Athletics.
Legacy
Jackson played 21 seasons and reached the post-season in 11 of them, winning six pennants and five World Series. His accomplishments include winning both the regular-season and World Series MVP awards in 1973, hitting 563 career home runs (sixth all-time at the time of his retirement), maintaining a .490 career slugging percentage, being named to 14 All-Star teams, and the dubious distinction of being the all-time leader in strikeouts with 2,597 (he finished with 13 more career strikeouts than hits) and second on the all-time list for most Golden sombreros (at least four strikeouts in a game) with 23 – he led this statistic until 2014, when he was surpassed by Ryan Howard. Jackson was the first major leaguer to hit 100 home runs for three different clubs, having hit over 100 for the Athletics, Yankees, and Angels. He is the only player in the 500 home run club that never had consecutive 30 home run seasons in a career.
With the Yankees, Jackson was the center of attention when it came to the media. Tommy John thought this was ultimately helpful to the team. "He was a two-way buffer between the team and Steinbrenner, and between us and the press. That allowed other guys to go about their business in relative peace."
Personal life
During his freshman year at Arizona State, he met Jennie Campos, a Mexican-American. Jackson asked Campos on a date, and discovered many similarities, including the ability to speak Spanish, and being raised in a single parent home (Campos's father was killed in the Korean War). An assistant football coach tried to break up the couple because Jackson was black and Campos was considered white. The coach contacted Campos's uncle, a wealthy benefactor of the school, and he warned the couple that their being together was a bad idea. But the relationship held up and she later became his wife. They divorced in 1973. Kimberly, his only child, was born in the late 1980s.
During the off-season, though still active in baseball, Jackson worked as a field reporter and color commentator for ABC Sports. Just over a month before signing with the Yankees in the fall of 1976, Jackson did analysis in the ABC booth with Keith Jackson and Howard Cosell the night his future team won the American League pennant on a homer by Chris Chambliss. During the 1980s (1983, 1985, and 1987 respectively), Jackson was given the task of presiding over the World Series Trophy presentations. In addition, Jackson did color commentary for the 1984 National League Championship Series (alongside Don Drysdale and Earl Weaver). After his retirement as an active player, Jackson returned to his color commentary role covering the 1988 American League Championship Series (alongside Gary Bender and Joe Morgan) for ABC.
Jackson appeared in the film The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, portraying an Angels outfielder hypnotically programmed to kill the Queen of the United Kingdom. He also appeared in Richie Rich, BASEketball, Summer of Sam and The Benchwarmers. In 1979, Jackson was a guest star in an episode of the television sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, and in an episode of The Love Boat as himself. He played himself in the Archie Bunker's Place episode "Reggie-3 Archie-0" in 1982, a 1990 MacGyver episode, "Squeeze Play", The Jeffersons episode "The Unnatural” from 1985, and the Malcolm in the Middle episode "Polly in the Middle", from 2004. Jackson was also considered for the role of Geordi La Forge in the series Star Trek: The Next Generation, a role that ultimately went to LeVar Burton. From 1981 to 1982, he hosted Reggie Jackson's World of Sports for Nickelodeon, which continued in reruns until 1985.
He co-authored a book in 2010, Sixty-Feet Six-Inches, with fellow Hall of Famer Bob Gibson. The book, whose title refers to the distance between the pitcher's mound and home plate, details their careers and approach to the game.
The 1988 Sega Master System baseball video game Reggie Jackson Baseball, endorsed by Jackson, was sold exclusively in the United States. Outside of the U.S., it was released as American Baseball.
Jackson was the de facto spokesperson for the Upper Deck Company during the early 1990s, appearing in numerous advertisements, appearances, and participating in the company's Heroes of Baseball exhibition games. This affiliation also included the company's "Find the Reggie" promotion which inserted 2500 autograph cards into packs of 1990 Upper Deck Baseball High Series packs. This inclusion of an autograph card marked an important first in what would become a very popular trend in the trading card hobby.
Jackson has endured three fires to personal property, including a June 20, 1976 fire at his home in Oakland that destroyed his 1973 MVP award, World Series trophies and All-Star rings. The same home was again burned down during the Oakland firestorm of 1991, which destroyed more baseball memorabilia in addition to other valuable collections. In 1988, a warehouse holding several of Jackson's collectible cars was damaged in a fire, with several of the cars, valued at $3.2 million, ruined.
In Tampa in 2005, Jackson's car was struck from behind and flipped over several times. Jackson escaped with minor injuries, later saying "...it was God tapping me on the shoulder... It makes you think about your purpose, about His plan for you."
Jackson called on former San Francisco 49ers head coach and ordained minister Mike Singletary for spiritual guidance. Jackson credits Singletary, stating "he helped me drop that shell I put up."
Vehicle- and parking- related attacks on Jackson
Jackson was the victim of an attempted shooting in the early morning hours of June 1, 1980. A few hours after hitting the game-winning 11th inning home run at a home game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Jackson drove his vehicle to the singles bars he frequented in a "posh" neighborhood of "swinging pubs and night spots amid expensive high-rise apartments" in Manhattan's Upper East Side to celebrate. While searching for a parking spot, he asked the driver of a vehicle that was blocking the way to move, and a passenger in that vehicle then began yelling obscenities and racial slurs at Jackson, before throwing a broken bottle at Jackson's car.
After other passerby recognized Jackson and began joking with him about apprehending them, one of the men in the other car, 25 year old Manhattan resident Angel Viera, allegedly returned with a .38 caliber revolver and fired three shots at Jackson, each missing. Viera was criminally charged with attempted murder and illegal possession of deadly weapon. News of the incident was the third story ever broadcast on CNN, which held its inaugural broadcast later that day.
In the early morning of August 12, 1980, as Jackson completed a night of celebrating his 400th career home run slugged several hours earlier against the White Sox, Jackson was accosted as he left his favored nightspot, Jim McMullen's Bar on the Upper East Side, and entered his Rolls-Royce parked outside. A young man leveled a large-bore pistol, likely a .45 caliber automatic, at Jackson's face. Jackson told police that the gun was the largest that he had ever seen, and Jackson believed that he was going to be shot. When the man lowered the weapon to reach into Jackson's car to take the ignition key, Jackson shoved the door open into the man, sending him sprawling. The man then ran off and dropped the car keys near the scene, eluding pursuers.
On March 22, 1985, Jackson was attacked after a California Angels spring training 8-1 exhibition victory over the Cleveland Indians at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, Arizona. Witnesses said that a man who had heckled Jackson throughout the game followed Jackson out to the field's parking lot to continue to do so. As Jackson finished signing autographs for fans he attempted to enter a vehicle belonging to teammate Brian Downing, but the man blocked his entry and insisted on fighting Jackson. According to Jackson, the man began pounding on the door and windshield of the car, yelling at Jackson in Spanish for an autograph and then to offer cocaine. Jackson and other fans nearby restrained the man until he calmed down, at which point the man again asked for an autograph.
On the morning of March 30, 1985, as Jackson left his bungalow at the Angels' spring training residence of the Gene Autry Hotel in Palm Springs (now the Parker Palm Springs) before a Giants game, he noticed two men driving an automobile on the hotel lawns and pedestrian paths while drinking alcohol. After the men recognized Jackson and asked for directions to the Palm Spring strip business district, he warned them to leave before they got into trouble and before he was forced to call the police. They then began heckling his baseball abilities and used an obscenity and racial slur against him. After the men left, Jackson called police, but before police arrived, the men came back to the hotel, asked the front desk to call Jackson to the front lobby, and when he arrived, threatened to assault Jackson. When Jackson grabbed one of the men, the other raised a tire iron over his head. As Jackson moved towards the second man, he ran away but was blocked by a parked car, allowing Jackson to capture him and seize the tire iron and pass it to a nearby Angels executive who had witnessed the event. One of the men was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and the other cited for disturbing the peace.
In an inverse situation, on July 19, 1977, Jackson was signing autographs for fans after the conclusion of the 1977 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, held at Yankee Stadium that year, in the stadium parking lot. According to a statement from Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, several teens entered the parking lot and began shouting obscenities at Jackson. Jackson ignored the teens until one made a "particularly vile remark" about Jackson's mother. Jackson then chased off the teens, one of whom fell while running. The teen claimed that Jackson's foot made contact with the teen's wrist, which Jackson denied. Against the advice of criminal court judge Bernard Klieger, the teen's lawyer insisted that a criminal complaint for harassment be authorized against Jackson, which Klieger did "reluctantly".
Post-retirement honors
Jackson and Steinbrenner reconciled, and Steinbrenner hired Jackson as a "special assistant to the principal owner", making him a consultant and a liaison to the team's players, particularly those of minority standing. By this point, the Yankees, long noted for being slow to adapt to changes in race relations, had come to develop many minority players in their farm system and seek out others via trades and free agency. Jackson usually appears in uniform at the Yankees' spring training complex in Tampa, Florida, and was sought out for advice by recent stars as Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. "His experience is vast, and he's especially good with the young players in our minor league system, the 17- and 18-year old kids. They respect him and what he's accomplished in his career. When Reggie Jackson tells a young kid how he might improve his swing, he tends to listen," said Hal Steinbrenner, Yankees managing general partner and co-chairperson.
Jackson was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1993. He chose to wear a Yankees cap on his Hall of Fame plaque after the Oakland Athletics unceremoniously fired him from a coaching position in 1991.
The Yankees retired Jackson's uniform number 44 on August 14, 1993, shortly after his induction into the Hall of Fame. The Athletics retired his number 9 on May 22, 2004. He is one of only ten MLB players to have their numbers retired by more than one team, and one of only four to have different numbers retired by two MLB teams.
In 1999, Jackson placed 48th on The Sporting News' 100 Greatest Baseball Players list. That same year, he was named one of 100 finalists for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, but was not one of the 30 players chosen by the fans.
The Yankees dedicated a plaque in Jackson's honor on July 6, 2002, that now hangs in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. The plaque calls him "One of the most colorful and exciting players of his era" and "a prolific hitter who thrived in pressure situations." Each Yankee so honored and still living was on hand for the dedication: Phil Rizzuto, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford and Don Mattingly. Ron Guidry, a teammate of Jackson's for all five of his seasons with the Yankees, was there, and was to be honored with a Monument Park plaque the next season. Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Ernie Banks, players whom Jackson admired while growing up, attended the ceremony at his invitation. Like Jackson, each was a member of the Hall of Fame and had hit over 500 career home runs. Each had also played in the Negro leagues, as had Jackson's father, Martinez Jackson.
Jackson expanded his love of antique cars into a chain of auto dealerships in California, and used his contacts to become one of the foremost traders of sports memorabilia. He has also been the public face of a group attempting to purchase a major league team, already having made unsuccessful attempts to buy the Athletics and the Angels. His attempt to acquire the Angels along with Jimmy Nederlander (minority owner of the New York Yankees), Jackie Autry (widow of former Angels owner Gene Autry) and other investors was thwarted by Mexican-American billionaire Arturo Moreno, who outbid Jackson's group by nearly $50 million for the team in the winter of 2002.
In a July 2012 interview with Sports Illustrated, Jackson was critical of the Baseball Writers' Association of America as he believes that the organization has lowered its standards for admission into the Hall of Fame. He has also been critical of players associated with performance-enhancing drugs, including distant cousin Barry Bonds, stating "I believe that Hank Aaron is the home run king, not Barry Bonds, as great of a player Bonds was." Of Alex Rodriguez, Jackson remarked, "Al's a very good friend. But I think there are real questions about his numbers. As much as I like him, what he admitted about his usage does cloud some of his numbers." On July 12, the Yankees released a statement regarding the Sports Illustrated interview in which Jackson said, "In trying to convey my feelings about a few issues that I am passionate about, I made the mistake of naming some specific players." It had been reported that he was told by the Yankees to steer clear from the team, although general manager Brian Cashman stated that Jackson had not been banned but only told to not join the club on a road trip to Boston and would later be free to interact with the club. Jackson stated, "I continue to have a strong relationship with the club, and look forward to continuing my role with the team."
In 2007, ESPN aired a miniseries called The Bronx Is Burning about the 1977 Yankees, with the conflicts and controversies involving Jackson, portrayed by Daniel Sunjata, a central part of the storyline. The series infuriated Jackson, as he felt that he was portrayed as selfish and arrogant. He also expressed frustration that the filmmakers did not consult with him while making the miniseries, saying "I feel betrayed."
In 2008, Jackson threw the ceremonial first pitch at the Yankees' opening-day game, the last at the original Yankee Stadium. He also threw out the first pitch at the first game at the new Yankee Stadium (an exhibition game).
On October 9, 2009, Jackson threw the ceremonial opening pitch at Game 2 of the ALDS between the Yankees and the Minnesota Twins. On October 18, 2010, the Ride of Fame honored Jackson with his image on a New York City double-decker tour bus.
On September 5, 2018, before an Athletics game against the Yankees in Oakland, Jackson was inducted into the new Oakland Athletics Hall of Fame. He joined fellow inductees Rickey Henderson, Dave Stewart, Dennis Eckersley, Catfish Hunter and Rollie Fingers.
See also
List of Puerto Ricans
DHL Hometown Heroes
Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
Major League Baseball titles leaders
List of Major League Baseball home run records
500 home run club
List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
List of Major League Baseball career total bases leaders
List of Major League Baseball career bases on balls leaders
List of Major League Baseball career at-bat leaders
List of Major League Baseball career games played leaders
List of Major League Baseball career plate appearance leaders
List of Major League Baseball career strikeouts by batters leaders
Notes
References
External links
ReggieJackson.com
The Sporting News' Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments: Reggie! Reggie! Reggie!
Sports Illustrated – covers
Reggie Jackson Exclusive Interview for MSG's The Bronx is Burning: Summer of '77
1946 births
Living people
People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania
African-American baseball players
African-American baseball coaches
All-American college baseball players
American League Most Valuable Player Award winners
American League All-Stars
American League home run champions
American League RBI champions
American sportspeople of Puerto Rican descent
Arizona State Sun Devils baseball players
Arizona State Sun Devils football players
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Kansas City Athletics players
Major League Baseball broadcasters
Major League Baseball designated hitters
Major League Baseball hitting coaches
Baseball players from Pennsylvania
Major League Baseball right fielders
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Oakland Athletics players
Oakland Athletics coaches
Baseball players from Oakland, California
Puerto Rican baseball players
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Lewiston Broncs players
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Silver Slugger Award winners
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American sportspeople | true | [
"\"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",
"How Children Fail is a non-fiction book by John Holt that was published in 1964 and republished in 1982 in a revised edition. It has sold over a million copies. In it, he cites personal teaching and research experiences that led him to the belief that traditional schooling does more harm than good to a child's ability and desire to truly learn.\n\nSynopsis\nIn How Children Fail, John Holt states that children love to learn but hate to be taught. His experiences in the classroom as a teacher and as a researcher brought him to conclude that every child is intelligent. However, children become unintelligent because they are accustomed by teachers and schools to strive only for teacher approval and the “right\" answers and consequently forget everything else. There, children see value not in thinking, discovery, and understanding but only in playing the power game of school.\n\nChildren believe that they must please and obey the teacher, the adults, at all costs. They learn how to manipulate teachers to gain clues about what the teacher really wants. Through the teacher’s body language, facial expressions and other clues, they learn what might be the right answer. They mumble, straddle the answer, get the teacher to answer their own question, and take wild guesses while waiting to see what happens, all in order to increase the chances for a right answer.\n\nWhen children are very young, they have natural curiosity about the world, trying diligently to figure out what is real. As they become \"producers\" rather than \"thinkers,\" they fall away from exploration and start fishing for the right answers with little thought. They believe that they must always be right and so quickly forget mistakes and how the mistakes were made. They believe that the only good response from the teacher is a yes and that a no is a defeat.\n\nThey fear wrong answers and shy away from challenges because they may not have the right answer. That, in the school setting, does their thinking and learning a great disservice. A teacher's job is to help them overcome their fears of failure and explore the problem for real learning. Too often, teachers are doing the opposite, building children’s fears up to monumental proportions. Children need to see that failure is honorable and that it helps them construct meaning. It should not be seen as humiliating but as a step to real learning. Being afraid of mistakes, they never try to understand their own mistakes and cannot and will not try to understand when their thinking is faulty. Adding to children’s fear in school is corporal punishment and humiliation, both of which can scare children into right/wrong thinking and away from their natural exploratory thinking.\n\nHolt maintains that when teachers praise students, they rob them of the joy of discovering truth for themselves. They should be aiding them by guiding them to explore and learn as their interests move them. In mathematics, children learn algorithms, but when faced with problems with Cuisenaire rods, they cannot apply their learning to real situations. Their learning is superficial in that they can sometimes spit out the algorithm when faced with a problem on paper, but they have no understanding of how or why the algorithm works and no deep understanding about numbers.\n\nHolt believes that end of year achievement tests do not show real learning. Teachers (Holt included) generally cram for these tests in the weeks preceding. Meanwhile, the material learned is forgotten shortly after the tests because it was not motivated by interest and has no practical use.\n\nSee also\nHow Children Learn\nUnschooling\n\nReferences\n\n1964 non-fiction books\nBooks about education\nAmerican non-fiction books"
] |
[
"Reggie Jackson",
"California Angels (1982-86) and Oakland Athletics (1987)",
"how did he join the angels",
"Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract.",
"Did Jackson do well there",
"Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry.",
"what else did he achieve there",
"That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986,",
"Did they win any more",
"lost the American League Championship Series both times.",
"Did he achieve any personal goals during this time",
"On September 17, 1984, on the 17th anniversary of the day he hit his first home run, he hit his 500th, at Anaheim Stadium off Bud Black of the Royals.",
"Did he have any other achievements",
"In 1987, he signed a one-year contract to return to the A's, wearing the number 44",
"What was special about 44",
"the number 44 with which he was now most associated rather than the number 9 he previously wore in Oakland.",
"Is there anything else I should learn about him",
"Jackson was the last player in the major leagues to have played for the Kansas City Athletics."
] | C_a115a3119c04420bb2dbe71f36612907_0 | Did the A's disband | 9 | Did the A's disband | Reggie Jackson | Jackson became a free-agent again once the 1981 season was over. The owner of the California Angels, entertainer Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract. On April 27, 1982, in Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry. The at-bat began with Yankee fans, angry at Steinbrenner for letting Jackson get away, starting the "Reg-GIE!" chant, and ended it with the fans chanting "Steinbrenner sucks!" By the time of Jackson's election to the Hall of Fame, Steinbrenner had begun to say that letting him go was the biggest mistake he had made as Yankee owner. That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986, but lost the American League Championship Series both times. On September 17, 1984, on the 17th anniversary of the day he hit his first home run, he hit his 500th, at Anaheim Stadium off Bud Black of the Royals. In 1987, he signed a one-year contract to return to the A's, wearing the number 44 with which he was now most associated rather than the number 9 he previously wore in Oakland. He announced he would retire after the season, at the age of 41. In his last at-bat, at Comiskey Park in Chicago on October 4, he collected a broken-bat single up the middle, but the A's lost to the White Sox, 5-2. Jackson was the last player in the major leagues to have played for the Kansas City Athletics. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Reginald Martinez Jackson (born May 18, 1946) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and California Angels. Jackson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993.
Jackson was nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the Athletics and the Yankees. He helped Oakland win five consecutive American League West divisional titles, three consecutive American League pennants and three consecutive World Series titles, from 1972 to 1974. Jackson helped New York win four American League East divisional pennants, three American League pennants and two consecutive World Series titles, in 1977 and 1978. He also helped the California Angels win two AL West divisional titles in 1982 and 1986. Jackson hit three consecutive home runs at Yankee Stadium in the clinching game six of the 1977 World Series.
Jackson hit 563 career home runs and was an American League (AL) All-Star for 14 seasons. He won two Silver Slugger Awards, the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award in 1973, two World Series MVP Awards, and the Babe Ruth Award in 1977. The Yankees and Athletics retired his team uniform number in 1993 and 2004. Jackson currently serves as a special advisor to the Houston Astros.
Jackson led his teams to first place ten times over his 21-year career.
Early years
Jackson was born in the Wyncote neighborhood of Cheltenham Township, just north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Martinez Jackson, who was half Puerto Rican, worked as a tailor and was a former second baseman with the Newark Eagles of Negro league baseball. He was the youngest of four children from his mother, Clara. He also had two half-siblings from his father's first marriage. His parents divorced when he was four; his mother took four of his siblings with her, while his father took Reggie and one of the siblings from his first marriage, though one sibling later returned to Wyncote. Martinez Jackson was a single father, and theirs was one of the few black families in Wyncote.
Jackson graduated from Cheltenham High School in 1964, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track and field. A tailback in football, he injured his knee in an early season game in his junior year in the fall of 1962. He was told by the doctors he was never to play football again, but Jackson returned for the final game of the season. In that game, Jackson fractured five cervical vertebrae, which caused him to spend six weeks in the hospital and another month in a neck cast. Doctors told Jackson that he might never walk again, let alone play football, but Jackson defied the odds again. On the baseball team, he batted .550 and threw several no-hitters. In the middle of his senior year, Jackson's father was arrested for bootlegging and was sentenced to six months in jail.
Collegiate athletic career
For football, Jackson was recruited by Alabama, Georgia, and Oklahoma, all of whom were willing to break the color barrier just for Jackson. (Oklahoma had black football players before 1964, including Prentice Gautt, a star running back recruited in 1957, who played in the NFL.) Jackson declined Alabama and Georgia because he was fearful of the South at the time, and declined Oklahoma because they told him to stop dating white girls. For baseball, Jackson was scouted by Hans Lobert of the San Francisco Giants who was desperate to sign him. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins also made offers, and the hometown Philadelphia Phillies gave him a tryout but declined because of his "hitting skills".
His father wanted his son to go to college, where Jackson wanted to play both football and baseball. He accepted a football scholarship from Arizona State University in Tempe; his high school football coach knew ASU's head football coach Frank Kush, and they discussed the possibility of his playing both sports. After a recruiting trip, Kush decided that Jackson had the ability and willingness to work to join the squad.
One day after football practice, he approached ASU baseball coach Bobby Winkles and asked if he could join the team. Winkles said he would give Jackson a look, and the next day while still in his football gear, he hit a home run on the second pitch he saw; in five at bats he hit three home runs. He was allowed to practice with the team, but could not join the squad because the NCAA had a rule forbidding the use of freshman players. Jackson switched permanently to baseball following his freshman year, as he did not want to become a defensive back. To hone his skills, Winkles assigned him to a Baltimore Orioles-affiliated amateur team. He broke numerous team records for the squad, and the Orioles offered him a $50,000 signing bonus if he joined the team. Jackson declined the offer stating that he did not want to forfeit his college scholarship.
In the beginning of his sophomore year in 1966, Jackson replaced Rick Monday (the first player ever selected in the Major League Baseball draft and a future teammate with the A's) at center field. He broke the team record for most home runs in a single season, led the team in numerous other categories and was first team All-American. Many scouts were looking at him play, including Tom Greenwade of the New York Yankees (who discovered Mickey Mantle), and Danny Murtaugh of the Pittsburgh Pirates. In his final game at Arizona State, he showed his potential by being only a triple away from hitting for the cycle, making a sliding catch, and having an assist at home plate. Jackson was the first college player to hit a home run out of Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
Minor leagues
In the 1966 Major League Baseball draft on June 7, Jackson was selected by the Kansas City Athletics. He was the second overall pick, behind 17-year-old catcher Steve Chilcott, who was taken by the New York Mets. According to Jackson, Winkles told him that the Mets did not select him because he had a white girlfriend. Winkles later denied the story, stating that he did not know the reason why Jackson was not drafted by the Mets. It was later confirmed by Joe McDonald that the Mets drafted Steve Chilcott because of need, the person running the Mets at the time was George Weiss, so the true motive may never be known.
Jackson, age 20, signed with the A's for $95,000 on June 13 and reported for his first training camp with the Lewis-Clark Broncs of the short season Single-A Northwest League in Lewiston, Idaho, managed by Grady Wilson. He made his professional debut as a center fielder in the season opener on June 24 at Bethel Park in Eugene, Oregon, but was hitless in five at-bats. In the next game, Jackson singled in the first inning and homered in the ninth. In the home opener at Bengal Field in Lewiston on June 30, he hit a double and a triple. In his final game as a Bronc on July 6, Jackson was hit in the head by a pitch in the first inning, but stayed in the game and drove in runs with two sacrifice flies. Complaining of a headache, he left the game in the ninth inning, was admitted to St. Joseph's Hospital in Lewiston, and remained overnight for observation.
Jackson played for two Class A teams in 1966, with the Broncs for just 12 games, and then 56 games with Modesto in the California League, where he hit 21 homers. He began 1967 with the Birmingham A's in the Double-A Southern League in Birmingham, Alabama, where Jackson got his first taste of racism, being one of only a few blacks on the team. He credits the team's manager at the time, John McNamara, for helping him through that difficult season.
MLB career
Kansas City / Oakland Athletics (1967–1975)
Jackson debuted in the major leagues with the A's in 1967 in a Friday doubleheader in Kansas City on June 9, a shutout sweep of the Cleveland Indians by scores of and at Municipal Stadium. (Jackson had his first career hit in the nightcap, a lead-off triple in the fifth inning off of long reliever Orlando Peña.)
The Athletics moved west to Oakland prior to the 1968 season. Jackson hit 47 home runs in 1969, and was briefly ahead of the pace that Roger Maris set when he broke the single-season record for home runs with 61 in 1961, and that of Babe Ruth when he set the previous record of 60 in 1927. Jackson later said that the sportswriters were claiming he was "dating a lady named 'Ruth Maris.'"
Slumping at the plate in May 1970, Athletics owner Charlie O. Finley threatened to send Jackson to the minors. Jackson hit 23 home runs while batting .237 for the 1970 season. The Athletics sent him to play in Puerto Rico, where he played for the Santurce team and hit 20 homers and knocked in 47 runs to lead the league in both departments. Jackson hit a memorable home run in the 1971 All-Star Game at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Batting for the American League against Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis, the ball he hit soared above the right-field stands, striking the transformer of a light standard on the right field roof. While with the Angels in 1984, he hit a home run over that roof.
In 1971, the Athletics won the American League's West division, their first title of any kind since 1931, when they played in Philadelphia. They were swept in three games in the American League Championship Series by the Baltimore Orioles. The A's won the division again in 1972; their series with the Tigers went the full five games, and Jackson scored the tying run in the clincher on a steal of home. In the process, however, he tore a hamstring and was unable to play in the World Series. The A's still managed to defeat the Cincinnati Reds in seven games. It was the first championship won by a San Francisco Bay Area team in any major league sport.
During spring training in 1972, Jackson showed up with a mustache. Though his teammates wanted him to shave it off, Jackson refused. Finley liked the mustache so much that he offered each player $300 to grow one, and hosted a "Mustache Day" featuring the last MLB player to wear a mustache, Frenchy Bordagaray, as master of ceremonies.
Jackson helped the Athletics win the pennant again in 1973, and was named Most Valuable Player of the American League for the season. The A's defeated the New York Mets in seven hard-fought games in the World Series. This time, Jackson was not only able to play, but his performance led to his being awarded the Series's MVP award. In the third inning of that seventh game, which ended in a 5–2 score, the A's jumped out to a 4–0 lead as both Bert Campaneris and Jackson hit two-run home runs off Jon Matlack—the only two home runs Oakland hit the entire Series. The A's won the World Series again in 1974, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.
Besides hitting 254 home runs in nine years with the Athletics, Jackson was also no stranger to controversy or conflict in Oakland. Sports author Dick Crouser wrote, "When the late Al Helfer was broadcasting the Oakland A's games, he was not too enthusiastic about Reggie Jackson's speed or his hustle. Once, with Jackson on third, teammate Rick Monday hit a long home run. 'Jackson should score easily on that one,' commented Helfer. Crouser also noted that, "Nobody seems to be neutral on Reggie Jackson. You're either a fan or a detractor." When teammate Darold Knowles was asked if Jackson was a hotdog (i.e., a show-off), he famously replied, "There isn't enough mustard in the world to cover Reggie Jackson."
In February 1974, Jackson won an arbitration case for a $135,000 salary for the season, nearly doubling his previous year's $70,000. On June 5, outfielder Billy North and Jackson engaged in a clubhouse fight at Detroit's Tiger Stadium. Jackson injured his shoulder, and catcher Ray Fosse, attempting to separate the combatants, suffered a crushed disk in his neck, costing him three months on the disabled list. In October, the A's went on to win a third consecutive World Series.
Prior to the 1975 season, Jackson sought $168,000, but arbitration went against him this time and he settled for $140,000. The A's won a fifth consecutive division title, but the loss of pitcher Catfish Hunter, baseball's first modern free agent, left them vulnerable, and they were swept in the ALCS by the Boston Red Sox.
Baltimore Orioles (1976)
Paid $140,000 in 1975 and one of nine Oakland players refusing to sign 1976 contracts, Jackson sought a three-year $600,000 pact. With free agency imminent after the season and the expectations of higher salaries for which Athletics owner Finley was unwilling to pay, he was traded along with Ken Holtzman and minor-league right-handed pitcher Bill Van Bommel to the Baltimore Orioles for Don Baylor, Mike Torrez, and Paul Mitchell on April 2, 1976. Jackson had not signed a contract and threatened to sit out the season; he reported to the Orioles four weeks later, and made his first plate appearance on Baltimore and Oakland both finished second in their respective divisions in ; the Yankees and Royals advanced to the ALCS, the first without the A's since 1970. During Jackson's lone season in Baltimore he stole 28 bases, a career-best. Jim Palmer later wrote, "I would say Reggie Jackson was arrogant. But the word arrogant isn't arrogant enough." However, he thought the Orioles made a "brick-brained" mistake by not signing him to a contract, allowing him to become a free agent.
New York Yankees (1977–1981)
The Yankees won the pennant in 1976 but were swept in the World Series by the Reds. A month later on November 29, they signed Jackson to a five-year contract totaling $2.96 million ($ in current dollar terms). The number 9 that he had worn in Oakland and Baltimore was already used by Yankees third baseman Graig Nettles; Jackson asked for number 42 in memory of Jackie Robinson, but that number was given to pitching coach Art Fowler before the start of the season. Noting that Hank Aaron, at the time the holder of the career record for the most home runs, had just retired, Jackson asked for and received number 44 as a tribute to Aaron. Jackson wore number 20 for one game during spring training as a tribute to the also recently retired Frank Robinson, then he switched to number 44.
Jackson's first season with the Yankees in 1977 was a difficult one. Although team owner George Steinbrenner and several players, most notably catcher and team captain Thurman Munson and outfielder Lou Piniella, were excited about his arrival, the team's field manager Billy Martin was not. Martin had managed the Tigers in 1972, when Jackson's A's beat them in the playoffs. Jackson was once quoted as saying of Martin, "I hate him, but if I played for him, I'd probably love him."
The relationship between Jackson and his new teammates was strained due to an interview with SPORT magazine writer Robert Ward. During spring training at the Yankees' camp in Fort Lauderdale, Jackson and Ward were having drinks at a nearby bar. Jackson's version of the story is that he noted that the Yankees had won the pennant the year before, but lost the World Series to the Reds, and suggested that they needed one thing more to win it all, and pointed out the various ingredients in his drink. Ward suggested that Jackson might be "the straw that stirs the drink." But when the story appeared in the June 1977 issue of SPORT, Ward quoted Jackson as saying, "This team, it all flows from me. I'm the straw that stirs the drink. Maybe I should say me and Munson, but he can only stir it bad."Jackson has consistently denied saying anything negative about Munson in the interview and he has said that his quotes were taken out of context. However, Dave Anderson of The New York Times subsequently wrote that he had drinks with Jackson in July 1977, and that Jackson told him, "I'm still the straw that stirs the drink. Not Munson, not nobody else on this club." Regardless, as Munson was beloved by his teammates, Martin, Steinbrenner and Yankee fans, the relationships between them and Jackson became very strained.
On June 18, in a 10–4 loss to the Boston Red Sox in a nationally televised game at Fenway Park in Boston, Jim Rice, a powerful hitter but notoriously slow runner, hit a ball into shallow right field that Jackson appeared to weakly attempt to field. Jackson failed to reach the ball, which fell far in front of him, thereby allowing Rice to reach second base. Furious, Martin removed Jackson from the game without even waiting for the end of the inning, sending Paul Blair out to replace him. When Jackson arrived at the dugout, Martin yelled that Jackson had shown him up. They argued, and Jackson said that Martin's heavy drinking had impaired his judgment. Despite Jackson being 18 years younger, about two inches taller and maybe 40 pounds heavier, Martin lunged at him, and had to be restrained by coaches Yogi Berra and Elston Howard. Red Sox fans could see this in the dugout and began cheering wildly, and the NBC TV cameras showed the confrontation to the entire country.
Yankees management defused the situation by the next day, but the relationship between Jackson and Martin was permanently poisoned. However, George Steinbrenner made a crucial intervention when he gave Martin the option of either having Jackson bat in the fourth or "cleanup" spot for the rest of the season, or losing his job. Martin made the change and Jackson's hitting improved (he had 13 home runs and 49 RBIs over his next 50 games), and the team went on a winning streak. On September 14, while in a tight three-way race for the American League Eastern Division crown with the Red Sox and Orioles, Jackson ended a game with the Red Sox by hitting a home run off Reggie Cleveland, giving the Yankees a 2–0 win. The Yankees won the division by two and a half games over the Red Sox and Orioles, and came from behind in the top of the ninth inning in the fifth and final game of the American League Championship Series to beat the Kansas City Royals for the pennant.
Mr. October
During the World Series against the Dodgers, Munson was interviewed, and suggested that Jackson, because of his past post-season performances, might be the better interview subject. "Go ask Mister October", he said, giving Jackson a nickname that would stick. (In Oakland, he had been known as "Jax" and "Buck.") Jackson hit home runs in Games Four and Five of the Series.
Jackson's crowning achievement came with his three-home-run performance in World Series-clinching Game Six, each on the first pitch, off three Dodgers pitchers. (His first plate-appearance, during the second inning, resulted in a four-pitch walk.) The first came off starter Burt Hooton, and was a line drive shot into the lower right field seats at Yankee Stadium. The second was a much faster line drive off reliever Elías Sosa into roughly the same area. With the fans chanting his name, "Reg-GIE! Reg-GIE! Reg-GIE!", the third came off reliever Charlie Hough, a knuckleball pitcher, making the distance of this home run particularly remarkable. It was a towering drive into the black-painted batter's eye seats in center, away. Jackson stated afterwards that the scouting reports provided by Gene Michael and Birdie Tebbetts played a large role in his success. Their reports indicated that the Dodgers would attempt to pitch him inside and Jackson was prepared.
Since Jackson had hit a home run off Dodger pitcher Don Sutton in his last at bat in Game Five, his three home runs in Game Six meant that he had hit four home runs on four consecutive swings of the bat against as many Dodgers pitchers. Jackson became the first player to win the World Series MVP award for two teams. In 27 World Series games, he amassed 10 home runs, including a record five during the 1977 Series (the last three on first pitches), 24 RBI and a .357 batting average. Babe Ruth, Albert Pujols, and Pablo Sandoval are the only other players to hit three home runs in a single World Series game. Babe Ruth accomplishing the feat twice – in 1926 and 1928 (both in Game Four). With 25 total bases, Jackson also broke Ruth's record of 22 in the latter Series; this remains a World Series record, Willie Stargell tying it in the 1979 World Series. Chase Utley (2009, Philadelphia) and George Springer (2017, Houston) have since tied Jackson's record for most home runs in a single World Series.
Fans had been getting rowdy in anticipation of Game 6's end, and some had actually thrown firecrackers out near Jackson's area in right field. Jackson was alarmed enough about this to walk off the field, in order to get a helmet from the Yankee bench to protect himself. Shortly after this point, as the end of the game neared, fans were bold enough to climb over the wall, draping their legs over the side in preparation for the moment when they planned to rush onto the field. When that moment came, after pitcher Mike Torrez caught a pop-up for the game's final out, Jackson started running at top speed off the field, actually body-checking past some of these fans filling the playing field in the manner of a football linebacker.
The Bronx Zoo
The Yankees' home opener of the 1978 season, on April 13 against the Chicago White Sox, featured a new product, the "Reggie!" bar. In 1976, while playing in Baltimore, Jackson had said, "If I played in New York, they'd name a candy bar after me." The Standard Brands company responded with a circular "bar" of peanuts dipped in caramel and covered in chocolate, a confection that was originally named the "Wayne Bun" as it was made in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The "Reggie!" bars were handed to fans as they walked into Yankee Stadium. Jackson hit a home run, and when he returned to right field the next inning, fans began throwing the Reggie bars on the field in celebration. Jackson told the press that this confused him, thinking that maybe the fans did not like the candy. The Yankees won the game, 4–2.
But the Yankees could not maintain their success, as manager Billy Martin lost control. On July 23, after suspending Jackson for disobeying a sign during a July 17 game, Martin made a statement about his two main antagonists, referring to comments Jackson had made and team owner George Steinbrenner's 1972 violation of campaign-finance laws: "They're made for each other. One's a born liar, the other's convicted." It was moments like these that gave the Yankees the nickname "The Bronx Zoo."
Martin resigned the next day (some sources have said he was actually fired), and was replaced by Bob Lemon, a Hall of Fame pitcher for the Cleveland Indians who had been recently fired as manager of the White Sox. Steinbrenner, a Cleveland-area native, had hired former Indians star Al Rosen as his team president (replacing another Cleveland figure, Gabe Paul). Steinbrenner jumped at the chance to involve another hero of his youth with the Yankees; Lemon had been one of Steinbrenner's coaches during the Bombers' pennant-winning 1976 season.
After being 14 games behind the first-place Red Sox on July 18, the Yankees finished the season in a tie for first place. The two teams played a one-game playoff for the division title at Fenway Park, with the Yankees winning 5–4. Although the home run by light-hitting shortstop Bucky Dent in the seventh inning got the most notice, it was an eighth-inning home run by Jackson that gave the Yankees the fifth run they ended up needing. The next day, with the American League Championship Series with the Royals beginning, Jackson hit a home run off the Royals' top reliever at the time, Al Hrabosky, the flamboyant "Mad Hungarian." The Yankees won the pennant in four games, their third straight.
Jackson was once again in the center of events in the World Series, again against the Dodgers. Los Angeles won the first two games at Dodger Stadium, taking the second when rookie reliever Bob Welch struck Jackson out with two men on base with two outs in the ninth inning. The series then moved to New York, and after the Yankees won Game Three on several fine defensive plays by third baseman Graig Nettles, Game Four saw Jackson in the middle of a controversial play on the basepaths. In the sixth inning, after collecting an RBI single, Jackson was struck in the hip–possibly on purpose–by a ball thrown by Dodger shortstop Bill Russell as Jackson was being forced at second base. Instead of completing a double play that would have ended the inning, the ball caromed into foul territory and allowed Thurman Munson to score the Yankees' second run of the inning. In spite of the Dodgers' protests of interference on Jackson's part, the umpires allowed the play to stand. The Yankees tied the game in the eighth inning and eventually won in the tenth.
Following a blowout win in Game Five, both teams headed back to Los Angeles. In Game Six, Jackson got his revenge against Welch by blasting a two-run home run in the seventh inning, putting the finishing touch on a series-clinching, 7–2 win for the Yankees.
On April 19, 1979, following a Yankee loss to the Baltimore Orioles, Jackson started kidding Cliff Johnson about his inability to hit Goose Gossage. While Johnson was showering, Gossage insisted to Jackson that he struck out Johnson all the time when he used to face him. When Jackson relayed this information to Johnson upon his return to the locker room, a fight started between Johnson and the pitcher. Gossage tore ligaments in his right thumb and missed three months of the season. Teammate Tommy John called it "a demoralizing blow to the team." Jackson joined Gossage on the disabled list for a month in June with a torn calf muscle. In 131 games, he batted .297 with 29 home runs and 89 RBI.
1980–81 seasons
In 1980, Jackson batted .300 for the only time in his career, and his 41 home runs tied with Ben Oglivie of the Milwaukee Brewers for the American League lead. However, the Yankees were swept in the ALCS by the Kansas City Royals. That year, he won the inaugural Silver Slugger Award as a designated hitter.
As he entered the last year of his Yankee contract in 1981, Jackson endured several difficulties from George Steinbrenner. After the owner consulted Jackson about signing then-free agent Dave Winfield, Jackson expected Steinbrenner to work out a new contract for him as well. Steinbrenner never did (some say never intending to) and Jackson played the season as a free agent. Jackson started slowly with the bat, and when the 1981 Major League Baseball strike began, Steinbrenner invoked a clause in Jackson's contract forcing him to take a complete physical examination. Jackson was outraged and blasted Steinbrenner in the media. When the season resumed, Jackson's hitting improved, partly to show Steinbrenner he wasn't finished as a player. He hit a long home run into the upper deck in Game Five of the strike-forced 1981 American League Division Series with the Brewers, and the Yankees went on to win the pennant again. However, Jackson injured himself running the bases in Game Two of the 1981 ALCS and missed the first two games of the World Series, both of which the Yankees won.
Jackson was medically cleared to play Game Three, but manager Bob Lemon refused to start him or even play him, allegedly acting under orders from Steinbrenner. The Yankees lost that game and Jackson played the remainder of the series, hitting a home run in Game Four. However, they lost the last three games and the World Series to the Dodgers.
California Angels (1982–1986) and Oakland Athletics (1987)
Jackson became a free-agent again once the 1981 season was over. The owner of the California Angels, entertainer Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract.
On April 27, 1982, in Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry. The at-bat began with Yankee fans, angry at Steinbrenner for letting Jackson get away, starting the "Reg-GIE!" chant, and ended it with the fans chanting "Steinbrenner sucks!" By the time of Jackson's election to the Hall of Fame, Steinbrenner had begun to say that letting him go was the biggest mistake he had made as Yankee owner.
That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986, but lost the American League Championship Series both times. On September 17, 1984, on the 17th anniversary of the day he hit his first home run, he hit his 500th, at Anaheim Stadium off Bud Black of the Royals.
In 1987, he signed a one-year contract to return to the A's, wearing the number 44 with which he was now most associated rather than the number 9 he previously wore in Oakland. He announced he would retire after the season, at the age of 41. In his last at-bat, at Comiskey Park in Chicago on October 4, he collected a broken-bat single up the middle, but the A's lost to the White Sox, 5–2. Jackson was the last player in the major leagues to have played for the Kansas City Athletics.
Legacy
Jackson played 21 seasons and reached the post-season in 11 of them, winning six pennants and five World Series. His accomplishments include winning both the regular-season and World Series MVP awards in 1973, hitting 563 career home runs (sixth all-time at the time of his retirement), maintaining a .490 career slugging percentage, being named to 14 All-Star teams, and the dubious distinction of being the all-time leader in strikeouts with 2,597 (he finished with 13 more career strikeouts than hits) and second on the all-time list for most Golden sombreros (at least four strikeouts in a game) with 23 – he led this statistic until 2014, when he was surpassed by Ryan Howard. Jackson was the first major leaguer to hit 100 home runs for three different clubs, having hit over 100 for the Athletics, Yankees, and Angels. He is the only player in the 500 home run club that never had consecutive 30 home run seasons in a career.
With the Yankees, Jackson was the center of attention when it came to the media. Tommy John thought this was ultimately helpful to the team. "He was a two-way buffer between the team and Steinbrenner, and between us and the press. That allowed other guys to go about their business in relative peace."
Personal life
During his freshman year at Arizona State, he met Jennie Campos, a Mexican-American. Jackson asked Campos on a date, and discovered many similarities, including the ability to speak Spanish, and being raised in a single parent home (Campos's father was killed in the Korean War). An assistant football coach tried to break up the couple because Jackson was black and Campos was considered white. The coach contacted Campos's uncle, a wealthy benefactor of the school, and he warned the couple that their being together was a bad idea. But the relationship held up and she later became his wife. They divorced in 1973. Kimberly, his only child, was born in the late 1980s.
During the off-season, though still active in baseball, Jackson worked as a field reporter and color commentator for ABC Sports. Just over a month before signing with the Yankees in the fall of 1976, Jackson did analysis in the ABC booth with Keith Jackson and Howard Cosell the night his future team won the American League pennant on a homer by Chris Chambliss. During the 1980s (1983, 1985, and 1987 respectively), Jackson was given the task of presiding over the World Series Trophy presentations. In addition, Jackson did color commentary for the 1984 National League Championship Series (alongside Don Drysdale and Earl Weaver). After his retirement as an active player, Jackson returned to his color commentary role covering the 1988 American League Championship Series (alongside Gary Bender and Joe Morgan) for ABC.
Jackson appeared in the film The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, portraying an Angels outfielder hypnotically programmed to kill the Queen of the United Kingdom. He also appeared in Richie Rich, BASEketball, Summer of Sam and The Benchwarmers. In 1979, Jackson was a guest star in an episode of the television sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, and in an episode of The Love Boat as himself. He played himself in the Archie Bunker's Place episode "Reggie-3 Archie-0" in 1982, a 1990 MacGyver episode, "Squeeze Play", The Jeffersons episode "The Unnatural” from 1985, and the Malcolm in the Middle episode "Polly in the Middle", from 2004. Jackson was also considered for the role of Geordi La Forge in the series Star Trek: The Next Generation, a role that ultimately went to LeVar Burton. From 1981 to 1982, he hosted Reggie Jackson's World of Sports for Nickelodeon, which continued in reruns until 1985.
He co-authored a book in 2010, Sixty-Feet Six-Inches, with fellow Hall of Famer Bob Gibson. The book, whose title refers to the distance between the pitcher's mound and home plate, details their careers and approach to the game.
The 1988 Sega Master System baseball video game Reggie Jackson Baseball, endorsed by Jackson, was sold exclusively in the United States. Outside of the U.S., it was released as American Baseball.
Jackson was the de facto spokesperson for the Upper Deck Company during the early 1990s, appearing in numerous advertisements, appearances, and participating in the company's Heroes of Baseball exhibition games. This affiliation also included the company's "Find the Reggie" promotion which inserted 2500 autograph cards into packs of 1990 Upper Deck Baseball High Series packs. This inclusion of an autograph card marked an important first in what would become a very popular trend in the trading card hobby.
Jackson has endured three fires to personal property, including a June 20, 1976 fire at his home in Oakland that destroyed his 1973 MVP award, World Series trophies and All-Star rings. The same home was again burned down during the Oakland firestorm of 1991, which destroyed more baseball memorabilia in addition to other valuable collections. In 1988, a warehouse holding several of Jackson's collectible cars was damaged in a fire, with several of the cars, valued at $3.2 million, ruined.
In Tampa in 2005, Jackson's car was struck from behind and flipped over several times. Jackson escaped with minor injuries, later saying "...it was God tapping me on the shoulder... It makes you think about your purpose, about His plan for you."
Jackson called on former San Francisco 49ers head coach and ordained minister Mike Singletary for spiritual guidance. Jackson credits Singletary, stating "he helped me drop that shell I put up."
Vehicle- and parking- related attacks on Jackson
Jackson was the victim of an attempted shooting in the early morning hours of June 1, 1980. A few hours after hitting the game-winning 11th inning home run at a home game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Jackson drove his vehicle to the singles bars he frequented in a "posh" neighborhood of "swinging pubs and night spots amid expensive high-rise apartments" in Manhattan's Upper East Side to celebrate. While searching for a parking spot, he asked the driver of a vehicle that was blocking the way to move, and a passenger in that vehicle then began yelling obscenities and racial slurs at Jackson, before throwing a broken bottle at Jackson's car.
After other passerby recognized Jackson and began joking with him about apprehending them, one of the men in the other car, 25 year old Manhattan resident Angel Viera, allegedly returned with a .38 caliber revolver and fired three shots at Jackson, each missing. Viera was criminally charged with attempted murder and illegal possession of deadly weapon. News of the incident was the third story ever broadcast on CNN, which held its inaugural broadcast later that day.
In the early morning of August 12, 1980, as Jackson completed a night of celebrating his 400th career home run slugged several hours earlier against the White Sox, Jackson was accosted as he left his favored nightspot, Jim McMullen's Bar on the Upper East Side, and entered his Rolls-Royce parked outside. A young man leveled a large-bore pistol, likely a .45 caliber automatic, at Jackson's face. Jackson told police that the gun was the largest that he had ever seen, and Jackson believed that he was going to be shot. When the man lowered the weapon to reach into Jackson's car to take the ignition key, Jackson shoved the door open into the man, sending him sprawling. The man then ran off and dropped the car keys near the scene, eluding pursuers.
On March 22, 1985, Jackson was attacked after a California Angels spring training 8-1 exhibition victory over the Cleveland Indians at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, Arizona. Witnesses said that a man who had heckled Jackson throughout the game followed Jackson out to the field's parking lot to continue to do so. As Jackson finished signing autographs for fans he attempted to enter a vehicle belonging to teammate Brian Downing, but the man blocked his entry and insisted on fighting Jackson. According to Jackson, the man began pounding on the door and windshield of the car, yelling at Jackson in Spanish for an autograph and then to offer cocaine. Jackson and other fans nearby restrained the man until he calmed down, at which point the man again asked for an autograph.
On the morning of March 30, 1985, as Jackson left his bungalow at the Angels' spring training residence of the Gene Autry Hotel in Palm Springs (now the Parker Palm Springs) before a Giants game, he noticed two men driving an automobile on the hotel lawns and pedestrian paths while drinking alcohol. After the men recognized Jackson and asked for directions to the Palm Spring strip business district, he warned them to leave before they got into trouble and before he was forced to call the police. They then began heckling his baseball abilities and used an obscenity and racial slur against him. After the men left, Jackson called police, but before police arrived, the men came back to the hotel, asked the front desk to call Jackson to the front lobby, and when he arrived, threatened to assault Jackson. When Jackson grabbed one of the men, the other raised a tire iron over his head. As Jackson moved towards the second man, he ran away but was blocked by a parked car, allowing Jackson to capture him and seize the tire iron and pass it to a nearby Angels executive who had witnessed the event. One of the men was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and the other cited for disturbing the peace.
In an inverse situation, on July 19, 1977, Jackson was signing autographs for fans after the conclusion of the 1977 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, held at Yankee Stadium that year, in the stadium parking lot. According to a statement from Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, several teens entered the parking lot and began shouting obscenities at Jackson. Jackson ignored the teens until one made a "particularly vile remark" about Jackson's mother. Jackson then chased off the teens, one of whom fell while running. The teen claimed that Jackson's foot made contact with the teen's wrist, which Jackson denied. Against the advice of criminal court judge Bernard Klieger, the teen's lawyer insisted that a criminal complaint for harassment be authorized against Jackson, which Klieger did "reluctantly".
Post-retirement honors
Jackson and Steinbrenner reconciled, and Steinbrenner hired Jackson as a "special assistant to the principal owner", making him a consultant and a liaison to the team's players, particularly those of minority standing. By this point, the Yankees, long noted for being slow to adapt to changes in race relations, had come to develop many minority players in their farm system and seek out others via trades and free agency. Jackson usually appears in uniform at the Yankees' spring training complex in Tampa, Florida, and was sought out for advice by recent stars as Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. "His experience is vast, and he's especially good with the young players in our minor league system, the 17- and 18-year old kids. They respect him and what he's accomplished in his career. When Reggie Jackson tells a young kid how he might improve his swing, he tends to listen," said Hal Steinbrenner, Yankees managing general partner and co-chairperson.
Jackson was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1993. He chose to wear a Yankees cap on his Hall of Fame plaque after the Oakland Athletics unceremoniously fired him from a coaching position in 1991.
The Yankees retired Jackson's uniform number 44 on August 14, 1993, shortly after his induction into the Hall of Fame. The Athletics retired his number 9 on May 22, 2004. He is one of only ten MLB players to have their numbers retired by more than one team, and one of only four to have different numbers retired by two MLB teams.
In 1999, Jackson placed 48th on The Sporting News' 100 Greatest Baseball Players list. That same year, he was named one of 100 finalists for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, but was not one of the 30 players chosen by the fans.
The Yankees dedicated a plaque in Jackson's honor on July 6, 2002, that now hangs in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. The plaque calls him "One of the most colorful and exciting players of his era" and "a prolific hitter who thrived in pressure situations." Each Yankee so honored and still living was on hand for the dedication: Phil Rizzuto, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford and Don Mattingly. Ron Guidry, a teammate of Jackson's for all five of his seasons with the Yankees, was there, and was to be honored with a Monument Park plaque the next season. Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Ernie Banks, players whom Jackson admired while growing up, attended the ceremony at his invitation. Like Jackson, each was a member of the Hall of Fame and had hit over 500 career home runs. Each had also played in the Negro leagues, as had Jackson's father, Martinez Jackson.
Jackson expanded his love of antique cars into a chain of auto dealerships in California, and used his contacts to become one of the foremost traders of sports memorabilia. He has also been the public face of a group attempting to purchase a major league team, already having made unsuccessful attempts to buy the Athletics and the Angels. His attempt to acquire the Angels along with Jimmy Nederlander (minority owner of the New York Yankees), Jackie Autry (widow of former Angels owner Gene Autry) and other investors was thwarted by Mexican-American billionaire Arturo Moreno, who outbid Jackson's group by nearly $50 million for the team in the winter of 2002.
In a July 2012 interview with Sports Illustrated, Jackson was critical of the Baseball Writers' Association of America as he believes that the organization has lowered its standards for admission into the Hall of Fame. He has also been critical of players associated with performance-enhancing drugs, including distant cousin Barry Bonds, stating "I believe that Hank Aaron is the home run king, not Barry Bonds, as great of a player Bonds was." Of Alex Rodriguez, Jackson remarked, "Al's a very good friend. But I think there are real questions about his numbers. As much as I like him, what he admitted about his usage does cloud some of his numbers." On July 12, the Yankees released a statement regarding the Sports Illustrated interview in which Jackson said, "In trying to convey my feelings about a few issues that I am passionate about, I made the mistake of naming some specific players." It had been reported that he was told by the Yankees to steer clear from the team, although general manager Brian Cashman stated that Jackson had not been banned but only told to not join the club on a road trip to Boston and would later be free to interact with the club. Jackson stated, "I continue to have a strong relationship with the club, and look forward to continuing my role with the team."
In 2007, ESPN aired a miniseries called The Bronx Is Burning about the 1977 Yankees, with the conflicts and controversies involving Jackson, portrayed by Daniel Sunjata, a central part of the storyline. The series infuriated Jackson, as he felt that he was portrayed as selfish and arrogant. He also expressed frustration that the filmmakers did not consult with him while making the miniseries, saying "I feel betrayed."
In 2008, Jackson threw the ceremonial first pitch at the Yankees' opening-day game, the last at the original Yankee Stadium. He also threw out the first pitch at the first game at the new Yankee Stadium (an exhibition game).
On October 9, 2009, Jackson threw the ceremonial opening pitch at Game 2 of the ALDS between the Yankees and the Minnesota Twins. On October 18, 2010, the Ride of Fame honored Jackson with his image on a New York City double-decker tour bus.
On September 5, 2018, before an Athletics game against the Yankees in Oakland, Jackson was inducted into the new Oakland Athletics Hall of Fame. He joined fellow inductees Rickey Henderson, Dave Stewart, Dennis Eckersley, Catfish Hunter and Rollie Fingers.
See also
List of Puerto Ricans
DHL Hometown Heroes
Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
Major League Baseball titles leaders
List of Major League Baseball home run records
500 home run club
List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
List of Major League Baseball career total bases leaders
List of Major League Baseball career bases on balls leaders
List of Major League Baseball career at-bat leaders
List of Major League Baseball career games played leaders
List of Major League Baseball career plate appearance leaders
List of Major League Baseball career strikeouts by batters leaders
Notes
References
External links
ReggieJackson.com
The Sporting News' Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments: Reggie! Reggie! Reggie!
Sports Illustrated – covers
Reggie Jackson Exclusive Interview for MSG's The Bronx is Burning: Summer of '77
1946 births
Living people
People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania
African-American baseball players
African-American baseball coaches
All-American college baseball players
American League Most Valuable Player Award winners
American League All-Stars
American League home run champions
American League RBI champions
American sportspeople of Puerto Rican descent
Arizona State Sun Devils baseball players
Arizona State Sun Devils football players
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Kansas City Athletics players
Major League Baseball broadcasters
Major League Baseball designated hitters
Major League Baseball hitting coaches
Baseball players from Pennsylvania
Major League Baseball right fielders
World Series Most Valuable Player Award winners
New York Yankees executives
New York Yankees players
Oakland Athletics players
Oakland Athletics coaches
Baseball players from Oakland, California
Puerto Rican baseball players
Major League Baseball players with retired numbers
Lewiston Broncs players
Modesto Reds players
Birmingham A's players
American car collectors
Silver Slugger Award winners
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American sportspeople | false | [
"Disband was an all-female No Wave performance group in New York City from 1978–1982. Modeled after a rock band, the members were artists rather than musicians. The band's sound was a type of a cappella No Wave. Disband performed mostly at art venues like Public Arts International/Free Speech, Franklin Furnace, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center and Hallwalls. Disband was popular with the Feminist art audience due to songs like \"Every Girl\", \"Hey Baby\", and \"Fashions\".\n\nIn 2008, Disband reunited to perform at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center as part of the exhibition \"Wack! Art and the Feminist Revolution.\". This show originated at Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.\n\nThe core members of Disband were Ilona Granet, Donna Henes, Ingrid Sischy, Diane Torr, and Martha Wilson. Early band members included Barbara Ess, Daile Kaplan, April Gornick, and Barbara Kruger who wrote a couple of their songs.\n\nBesides their roles as artists, the members were active in the downtown scene. Ilona Granet, Barbara Ess and Daile Kaplan played in other bands like Static, the Y Pants, and The Gynecologists. Martha Wilson was the founder of Franklin Furnace, an exhibition space. Ingrid Sischy was editor of Artforum and Interview.\n\nDiscography \nDisband never put out any records, but in 2008 a DVD of their performances, Best of Disband, was released. In 2009, Primary Information put out Disband's first CD.\n\nSee also\nNoise music\nABC No Rio\nNo wave\nColab\nTellus Audio Cassette Magazine\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Wack! at P.S.1\n Franklin Furnace\n Martha Wilson\n Dianne Torr\n\nAll-female punk bands\nAmerican feminists\nNo wave groups\nCulture of New York City\nFeminist musicians",
"The Funen Life Regiment () was an infantry regiment of the Royal Danish Army. On 1 November 1991 it was merged with the King's Jutlandic Regiment of Foot, into Slesvigske Fodregiment.\n\nHistory\nIt was one of the oldest regiments in the Danish army and could trace its history back to 1614 when it was raised under the name Fynske Fenle Knægte af Jydske Regiment Landsfolk. The Regiment participated in all Danish wars since 1625, including Torstenson War (1643–1645) Northern Wars (1658–1660), Scanian War (1675–1679), Great Northern War (1700), Great Northern War (1709–1720), Slaget på Reden (1801), Gunboat War (1807–1814), First Schleswig War (1848–1850) and Second Schleswig War (1864). It was furthermore in foreign war service during 1689–1714. The regimental flag has the battle honours Lutter am Barenberg 1626, Wismar 1675, Christianstad 1677–78, Stralsund 1715, Dybbøl 1848, Isted 1850 and Dybbøl 1864.\n\nOrganisation\nDisband units\n 1st battalion (I/FLR), Founded 1961, Disband 1990. Mechanized Infantry Battalion\n Staff Company\n 1st Armored Infantry Company\n 2nd Armored Infantry Company\n (blue) 3rd Tank Squadron (Along with from 1974 to 1981)\n 4th Motorised Infantry Company\n 2nd battalion (II/FLR), Founded 1961, Disband 1990. Infantry Battalion.\n Staff Company\n 1st Motorised Infantry Company\n 2nd Motorised Infantry Company\n 3rd Motorised Infantry Company\n 3rd battalion (III/FLR), Founded 1961, Disband 1990. Infantry Battalion.\n Staff Company\n 1st Infantry Company\n 2nd Infantry Company\n 3rd Infantry Company \n 4th battalion (IV/FLR), Founded 1961, Disband 1990. Motorised Infantry Battalion.\n Staff Company\n 1st Motorised Infantry Company\n 2nd Motorised Infantry Company\n 3rd Motorised Infantry Company \n 4th Tank Destroyer Squadron\n\nNames of the regiment\n\nStandards\n\nReferences\n\n Lærebog for Hærens Menige, Hærkommandoen, marts 1960\n\nDanish Army regiments\n1614 establishments in Denmark\nMilitary units and formations established in 1614\nMilitary units and formations disestablished in 1991"
] |
[
"Reggie Jackson",
"California Angels (1982-86) and Oakland Athletics (1987)",
"how did he join the angels",
"Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract.",
"Did Jackson do well there",
"Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry.",
"what else did he achieve there",
"That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986,",
"Did they win any more",
"lost the American League Championship Series both times.",
"Did he achieve any personal goals during this time",
"On September 17, 1984, on the 17th anniversary of the day he hit his first home run, he hit his 500th, at Anaheim Stadium off Bud Black of the Royals.",
"Did he have any other achievements",
"In 1987, he signed a one-year contract to return to the A's, wearing the number 44",
"What was special about 44",
"the number 44 with which he was now most associated rather than the number 9 he previously wore in Oakland.",
"Is there anything else I should learn about him",
"Jackson was the last player in the major leagues to have played for the Kansas City Athletics.",
"Did the A's disband",
"I don't know."
] | C_a115a3119c04420bb2dbe71f36612907_0 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 10 | Besides Reggie Jackson being the last player in the major leagues to play for the Kansas City Athletics, are there any interesting aspects about this article? | Reggie Jackson | Jackson became a free-agent again once the 1981 season was over. The owner of the California Angels, entertainer Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract. On April 27, 1982, in Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry. The at-bat began with Yankee fans, angry at Steinbrenner for letting Jackson get away, starting the "Reg-GIE!" chant, and ended it with the fans chanting "Steinbrenner sucks!" By the time of Jackson's election to the Hall of Fame, Steinbrenner had begun to say that letting him go was the biggest mistake he had made as Yankee owner. That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986, but lost the American League Championship Series both times. On September 17, 1984, on the 17th anniversary of the day he hit his first home run, he hit his 500th, at Anaheim Stadium off Bud Black of the Royals. In 1987, he signed a one-year contract to return to the A's, wearing the number 44 with which he was now most associated rather than the number 9 he previously wore in Oakland. He announced he would retire after the season, at the age of 41. In his last at-bat, at Comiskey Park in Chicago on October 4, he collected a broken-bat single up the middle, but the A's lost to the White Sox, 5-2. Jackson was the last player in the major leagues to have played for the Kansas City Athletics. CANNOTANSWER | Jackson's election to the Hall of Fame, Steinbrenner had begun to say that letting him go was the biggest mistake he had made as Yankee owner. | Reginald Martinez Jackson (born May 18, 1946) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and California Angels. Jackson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993.
Jackson was nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the Athletics and the Yankees. He helped Oakland win five consecutive American League West divisional titles, three consecutive American League pennants and three consecutive World Series titles, from 1972 to 1974. Jackson helped New York win four American League East divisional pennants, three American League pennants and two consecutive World Series titles, in 1977 and 1978. He also helped the California Angels win two AL West divisional titles in 1982 and 1986. Jackson hit three consecutive home runs at Yankee Stadium in the clinching game six of the 1977 World Series.
Jackson hit 563 career home runs and was an American League (AL) All-Star for 14 seasons. He won two Silver Slugger Awards, the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award in 1973, two World Series MVP Awards, and the Babe Ruth Award in 1977. The Yankees and Athletics retired his team uniform number in 1993 and 2004. Jackson currently serves as a special advisor to the Houston Astros.
Jackson led his teams to first place ten times over his 21-year career.
Early years
Jackson was born in the Wyncote neighborhood of Cheltenham Township, just north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Martinez Jackson, who was half Puerto Rican, worked as a tailor and was a former second baseman with the Newark Eagles of Negro league baseball. He was the youngest of four children from his mother, Clara. He also had two half-siblings from his father's first marriage. His parents divorced when he was four; his mother took four of his siblings with her, while his father took Reggie and one of the siblings from his first marriage, though one sibling later returned to Wyncote. Martinez Jackson was a single father, and theirs was one of the few black families in Wyncote.
Jackson graduated from Cheltenham High School in 1964, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track and field. A tailback in football, he injured his knee in an early season game in his junior year in the fall of 1962. He was told by the doctors he was never to play football again, but Jackson returned for the final game of the season. In that game, Jackson fractured five cervical vertebrae, which caused him to spend six weeks in the hospital and another month in a neck cast. Doctors told Jackson that he might never walk again, let alone play football, but Jackson defied the odds again. On the baseball team, he batted .550 and threw several no-hitters. In the middle of his senior year, Jackson's father was arrested for bootlegging and was sentenced to six months in jail.
Collegiate athletic career
For football, Jackson was recruited by Alabama, Georgia, and Oklahoma, all of whom were willing to break the color barrier just for Jackson. (Oklahoma had black football players before 1964, including Prentice Gautt, a star running back recruited in 1957, who played in the NFL.) Jackson declined Alabama and Georgia because he was fearful of the South at the time, and declined Oklahoma because they told him to stop dating white girls. For baseball, Jackson was scouted by Hans Lobert of the San Francisco Giants who was desperate to sign him. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins also made offers, and the hometown Philadelphia Phillies gave him a tryout but declined because of his "hitting skills".
His father wanted his son to go to college, where Jackson wanted to play both football and baseball. He accepted a football scholarship from Arizona State University in Tempe; his high school football coach knew ASU's head football coach Frank Kush, and they discussed the possibility of his playing both sports. After a recruiting trip, Kush decided that Jackson had the ability and willingness to work to join the squad.
One day after football practice, he approached ASU baseball coach Bobby Winkles and asked if he could join the team. Winkles said he would give Jackson a look, and the next day while still in his football gear, he hit a home run on the second pitch he saw; in five at bats he hit three home runs. He was allowed to practice with the team, but could not join the squad because the NCAA had a rule forbidding the use of freshman players. Jackson switched permanently to baseball following his freshman year, as he did not want to become a defensive back. To hone his skills, Winkles assigned him to a Baltimore Orioles-affiliated amateur team. He broke numerous team records for the squad, and the Orioles offered him a $50,000 signing bonus if he joined the team. Jackson declined the offer stating that he did not want to forfeit his college scholarship.
In the beginning of his sophomore year in 1966, Jackson replaced Rick Monday (the first player ever selected in the Major League Baseball draft and a future teammate with the A's) at center field. He broke the team record for most home runs in a single season, led the team in numerous other categories and was first team All-American. Many scouts were looking at him play, including Tom Greenwade of the New York Yankees (who discovered Mickey Mantle), and Danny Murtaugh of the Pittsburgh Pirates. In his final game at Arizona State, he showed his potential by being only a triple away from hitting for the cycle, making a sliding catch, and having an assist at home plate. Jackson was the first college player to hit a home run out of Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
Minor leagues
In the 1966 Major League Baseball draft on June 7, Jackson was selected by the Kansas City Athletics. He was the second overall pick, behind 17-year-old catcher Steve Chilcott, who was taken by the New York Mets. According to Jackson, Winkles told him that the Mets did not select him because he had a white girlfriend. Winkles later denied the story, stating that he did not know the reason why Jackson was not drafted by the Mets. It was later confirmed by Joe McDonald that the Mets drafted Steve Chilcott because of need, the person running the Mets at the time was George Weiss, so the true motive may never be known.
Jackson, age 20, signed with the A's for $95,000 on June 13 and reported for his first training camp with the Lewis-Clark Broncs of the short season Single-A Northwest League in Lewiston, Idaho, managed by Grady Wilson. He made his professional debut as a center fielder in the season opener on June 24 at Bethel Park in Eugene, Oregon, but was hitless in five at-bats. In the next game, Jackson singled in the first inning and homered in the ninth. In the home opener at Bengal Field in Lewiston on June 30, he hit a double and a triple. In his final game as a Bronc on July 6, Jackson was hit in the head by a pitch in the first inning, but stayed in the game and drove in runs with two sacrifice flies. Complaining of a headache, he left the game in the ninth inning, was admitted to St. Joseph's Hospital in Lewiston, and remained overnight for observation.
Jackson played for two Class A teams in 1966, with the Broncs for just 12 games, and then 56 games with Modesto in the California League, where he hit 21 homers. He began 1967 with the Birmingham A's in the Double-A Southern League in Birmingham, Alabama, where Jackson got his first taste of racism, being one of only a few blacks on the team. He credits the team's manager at the time, John McNamara, for helping him through that difficult season.
MLB career
Kansas City / Oakland Athletics (1967–1975)
Jackson debuted in the major leagues with the A's in 1967 in a Friday doubleheader in Kansas City on June 9, a shutout sweep of the Cleveland Indians by scores of and at Municipal Stadium. (Jackson had his first career hit in the nightcap, a lead-off triple in the fifth inning off of long reliever Orlando Peña.)
The Athletics moved west to Oakland prior to the 1968 season. Jackson hit 47 home runs in 1969, and was briefly ahead of the pace that Roger Maris set when he broke the single-season record for home runs with 61 in 1961, and that of Babe Ruth when he set the previous record of 60 in 1927. Jackson later said that the sportswriters were claiming he was "dating a lady named 'Ruth Maris.'"
Slumping at the plate in May 1970, Athletics owner Charlie O. Finley threatened to send Jackson to the minors. Jackson hit 23 home runs while batting .237 for the 1970 season. The Athletics sent him to play in Puerto Rico, where he played for the Santurce team and hit 20 homers and knocked in 47 runs to lead the league in both departments. Jackson hit a memorable home run in the 1971 All-Star Game at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Batting for the American League against Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis, the ball he hit soared above the right-field stands, striking the transformer of a light standard on the right field roof. While with the Angels in 1984, he hit a home run over that roof.
In 1971, the Athletics won the American League's West division, their first title of any kind since 1931, when they played in Philadelphia. They were swept in three games in the American League Championship Series by the Baltimore Orioles. The A's won the division again in 1972; their series with the Tigers went the full five games, and Jackson scored the tying run in the clincher on a steal of home. In the process, however, he tore a hamstring and was unable to play in the World Series. The A's still managed to defeat the Cincinnati Reds in seven games. It was the first championship won by a San Francisco Bay Area team in any major league sport.
During spring training in 1972, Jackson showed up with a mustache. Though his teammates wanted him to shave it off, Jackson refused. Finley liked the mustache so much that he offered each player $300 to grow one, and hosted a "Mustache Day" featuring the last MLB player to wear a mustache, Frenchy Bordagaray, as master of ceremonies.
Jackson helped the Athletics win the pennant again in 1973, and was named Most Valuable Player of the American League for the season. The A's defeated the New York Mets in seven hard-fought games in the World Series. This time, Jackson was not only able to play, but his performance led to his being awarded the Series's MVP award. In the third inning of that seventh game, which ended in a 5–2 score, the A's jumped out to a 4–0 lead as both Bert Campaneris and Jackson hit two-run home runs off Jon Matlack—the only two home runs Oakland hit the entire Series. The A's won the World Series again in 1974, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.
Besides hitting 254 home runs in nine years with the Athletics, Jackson was also no stranger to controversy or conflict in Oakland. Sports author Dick Crouser wrote, "When the late Al Helfer was broadcasting the Oakland A's games, he was not too enthusiastic about Reggie Jackson's speed or his hustle. Once, with Jackson on third, teammate Rick Monday hit a long home run. 'Jackson should score easily on that one,' commented Helfer. Crouser also noted that, "Nobody seems to be neutral on Reggie Jackson. You're either a fan or a detractor." When teammate Darold Knowles was asked if Jackson was a hotdog (i.e., a show-off), he famously replied, "There isn't enough mustard in the world to cover Reggie Jackson."
In February 1974, Jackson won an arbitration case for a $135,000 salary for the season, nearly doubling his previous year's $70,000. On June 5, outfielder Billy North and Jackson engaged in a clubhouse fight at Detroit's Tiger Stadium. Jackson injured his shoulder, and catcher Ray Fosse, attempting to separate the combatants, suffered a crushed disk in his neck, costing him three months on the disabled list. In October, the A's went on to win a third consecutive World Series.
Prior to the 1975 season, Jackson sought $168,000, but arbitration went against him this time and he settled for $140,000. The A's won a fifth consecutive division title, but the loss of pitcher Catfish Hunter, baseball's first modern free agent, left them vulnerable, and they were swept in the ALCS by the Boston Red Sox.
Baltimore Orioles (1976)
Paid $140,000 in 1975 and one of nine Oakland players refusing to sign 1976 contracts, Jackson sought a three-year $600,000 pact. With free agency imminent after the season and the expectations of higher salaries for which Athletics owner Finley was unwilling to pay, he was traded along with Ken Holtzman and minor-league right-handed pitcher Bill Van Bommel to the Baltimore Orioles for Don Baylor, Mike Torrez, and Paul Mitchell on April 2, 1976. Jackson had not signed a contract and threatened to sit out the season; he reported to the Orioles four weeks later, and made his first plate appearance on Baltimore and Oakland both finished second in their respective divisions in ; the Yankees and Royals advanced to the ALCS, the first without the A's since 1970. During Jackson's lone season in Baltimore he stole 28 bases, a career-best. Jim Palmer later wrote, "I would say Reggie Jackson was arrogant. But the word arrogant isn't arrogant enough." However, he thought the Orioles made a "brick-brained" mistake by not signing him to a contract, allowing him to become a free agent.
New York Yankees (1977–1981)
The Yankees won the pennant in 1976 but were swept in the World Series by the Reds. A month later on November 29, they signed Jackson to a five-year contract totaling $2.96 million ($ in current dollar terms). The number 9 that he had worn in Oakland and Baltimore was already used by Yankees third baseman Graig Nettles; Jackson asked for number 42 in memory of Jackie Robinson, but that number was given to pitching coach Art Fowler before the start of the season. Noting that Hank Aaron, at the time the holder of the career record for the most home runs, had just retired, Jackson asked for and received number 44 as a tribute to Aaron. Jackson wore number 20 for one game during spring training as a tribute to the also recently retired Frank Robinson, then he switched to number 44.
Jackson's first season with the Yankees in 1977 was a difficult one. Although team owner George Steinbrenner and several players, most notably catcher and team captain Thurman Munson and outfielder Lou Piniella, were excited about his arrival, the team's field manager Billy Martin was not. Martin had managed the Tigers in 1972, when Jackson's A's beat them in the playoffs. Jackson was once quoted as saying of Martin, "I hate him, but if I played for him, I'd probably love him."
The relationship between Jackson and his new teammates was strained due to an interview with SPORT magazine writer Robert Ward. During spring training at the Yankees' camp in Fort Lauderdale, Jackson and Ward were having drinks at a nearby bar. Jackson's version of the story is that he noted that the Yankees had won the pennant the year before, but lost the World Series to the Reds, and suggested that they needed one thing more to win it all, and pointed out the various ingredients in his drink. Ward suggested that Jackson might be "the straw that stirs the drink." But when the story appeared in the June 1977 issue of SPORT, Ward quoted Jackson as saying, "This team, it all flows from me. I'm the straw that stirs the drink. Maybe I should say me and Munson, but he can only stir it bad."Jackson has consistently denied saying anything negative about Munson in the interview and he has said that his quotes were taken out of context. However, Dave Anderson of The New York Times subsequently wrote that he had drinks with Jackson in July 1977, and that Jackson told him, "I'm still the straw that stirs the drink. Not Munson, not nobody else on this club." Regardless, as Munson was beloved by his teammates, Martin, Steinbrenner and Yankee fans, the relationships between them and Jackson became very strained.
On June 18, in a 10–4 loss to the Boston Red Sox in a nationally televised game at Fenway Park in Boston, Jim Rice, a powerful hitter but notoriously slow runner, hit a ball into shallow right field that Jackson appeared to weakly attempt to field. Jackson failed to reach the ball, which fell far in front of him, thereby allowing Rice to reach second base. Furious, Martin removed Jackson from the game without even waiting for the end of the inning, sending Paul Blair out to replace him. When Jackson arrived at the dugout, Martin yelled that Jackson had shown him up. They argued, and Jackson said that Martin's heavy drinking had impaired his judgment. Despite Jackson being 18 years younger, about two inches taller and maybe 40 pounds heavier, Martin lunged at him, and had to be restrained by coaches Yogi Berra and Elston Howard. Red Sox fans could see this in the dugout and began cheering wildly, and the NBC TV cameras showed the confrontation to the entire country.
Yankees management defused the situation by the next day, but the relationship between Jackson and Martin was permanently poisoned. However, George Steinbrenner made a crucial intervention when he gave Martin the option of either having Jackson bat in the fourth or "cleanup" spot for the rest of the season, or losing his job. Martin made the change and Jackson's hitting improved (he had 13 home runs and 49 RBIs over his next 50 games), and the team went on a winning streak. On September 14, while in a tight three-way race for the American League Eastern Division crown with the Red Sox and Orioles, Jackson ended a game with the Red Sox by hitting a home run off Reggie Cleveland, giving the Yankees a 2–0 win. The Yankees won the division by two and a half games over the Red Sox and Orioles, and came from behind in the top of the ninth inning in the fifth and final game of the American League Championship Series to beat the Kansas City Royals for the pennant.
Mr. October
During the World Series against the Dodgers, Munson was interviewed, and suggested that Jackson, because of his past post-season performances, might be the better interview subject. "Go ask Mister October", he said, giving Jackson a nickname that would stick. (In Oakland, he had been known as "Jax" and "Buck.") Jackson hit home runs in Games Four and Five of the Series.
Jackson's crowning achievement came with his three-home-run performance in World Series-clinching Game Six, each on the first pitch, off three Dodgers pitchers. (His first plate-appearance, during the second inning, resulted in a four-pitch walk.) The first came off starter Burt Hooton, and was a line drive shot into the lower right field seats at Yankee Stadium. The second was a much faster line drive off reliever Elías Sosa into roughly the same area. With the fans chanting his name, "Reg-GIE! Reg-GIE! Reg-GIE!", the third came off reliever Charlie Hough, a knuckleball pitcher, making the distance of this home run particularly remarkable. It was a towering drive into the black-painted batter's eye seats in center, away. Jackson stated afterwards that the scouting reports provided by Gene Michael and Birdie Tebbetts played a large role in his success. Their reports indicated that the Dodgers would attempt to pitch him inside and Jackson was prepared.
Since Jackson had hit a home run off Dodger pitcher Don Sutton in his last at bat in Game Five, his three home runs in Game Six meant that he had hit four home runs on four consecutive swings of the bat against as many Dodgers pitchers. Jackson became the first player to win the World Series MVP award for two teams. In 27 World Series games, he amassed 10 home runs, including a record five during the 1977 Series (the last three on first pitches), 24 RBI and a .357 batting average. Babe Ruth, Albert Pujols, and Pablo Sandoval are the only other players to hit three home runs in a single World Series game. Babe Ruth accomplishing the feat twice – in 1926 and 1928 (both in Game Four). With 25 total bases, Jackson also broke Ruth's record of 22 in the latter Series; this remains a World Series record, Willie Stargell tying it in the 1979 World Series. Chase Utley (2009, Philadelphia) and George Springer (2017, Houston) have since tied Jackson's record for most home runs in a single World Series.
Fans had been getting rowdy in anticipation of Game 6's end, and some had actually thrown firecrackers out near Jackson's area in right field. Jackson was alarmed enough about this to walk off the field, in order to get a helmet from the Yankee bench to protect himself. Shortly after this point, as the end of the game neared, fans were bold enough to climb over the wall, draping their legs over the side in preparation for the moment when they planned to rush onto the field. When that moment came, after pitcher Mike Torrez caught a pop-up for the game's final out, Jackson started running at top speed off the field, actually body-checking past some of these fans filling the playing field in the manner of a football linebacker.
The Bronx Zoo
The Yankees' home opener of the 1978 season, on April 13 against the Chicago White Sox, featured a new product, the "Reggie!" bar. In 1976, while playing in Baltimore, Jackson had said, "If I played in New York, they'd name a candy bar after me." The Standard Brands company responded with a circular "bar" of peanuts dipped in caramel and covered in chocolate, a confection that was originally named the "Wayne Bun" as it was made in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The "Reggie!" bars were handed to fans as they walked into Yankee Stadium. Jackson hit a home run, and when he returned to right field the next inning, fans began throwing the Reggie bars on the field in celebration. Jackson told the press that this confused him, thinking that maybe the fans did not like the candy. The Yankees won the game, 4–2.
But the Yankees could not maintain their success, as manager Billy Martin lost control. On July 23, after suspending Jackson for disobeying a sign during a July 17 game, Martin made a statement about his two main antagonists, referring to comments Jackson had made and team owner George Steinbrenner's 1972 violation of campaign-finance laws: "They're made for each other. One's a born liar, the other's convicted." It was moments like these that gave the Yankees the nickname "The Bronx Zoo."
Martin resigned the next day (some sources have said he was actually fired), and was replaced by Bob Lemon, a Hall of Fame pitcher for the Cleveland Indians who had been recently fired as manager of the White Sox. Steinbrenner, a Cleveland-area native, had hired former Indians star Al Rosen as his team president (replacing another Cleveland figure, Gabe Paul). Steinbrenner jumped at the chance to involve another hero of his youth with the Yankees; Lemon had been one of Steinbrenner's coaches during the Bombers' pennant-winning 1976 season.
After being 14 games behind the first-place Red Sox on July 18, the Yankees finished the season in a tie for first place. The two teams played a one-game playoff for the division title at Fenway Park, with the Yankees winning 5–4. Although the home run by light-hitting shortstop Bucky Dent in the seventh inning got the most notice, it was an eighth-inning home run by Jackson that gave the Yankees the fifth run they ended up needing. The next day, with the American League Championship Series with the Royals beginning, Jackson hit a home run off the Royals' top reliever at the time, Al Hrabosky, the flamboyant "Mad Hungarian." The Yankees won the pennant in four games, their third straight.
Jackson was once again in the center of events in the World Series, again against the Dodgers. Los Angeles won the first two games at Dodger Stadium, taking the second when rookie reliever Bob Welch struck Jackson out with two men on base with two outs in the ninth inning. The series then moved to New York, and after the Yankees won Game Three on several fine defensive plays by third baseman Graig Nettles, Game Four saw Jackson in the middle of a controversial play on the basepaths. In the sixth inning, after collecting an RBI single, Jackson was struck in the hip–possibly on purpose–by a ball thrown by Dodger shortstop Bill Russell as Jackson was being forced at second base. Instead of completing a double play that would have ended the inning, the ball caromed into foul territory and allowed Thurman Munson to score the Yankees' second run of the inning. In spite of the Dodgers' protests of interference on Jackson's part, the umpires allowed the play to stand. The Yankees tied the game in the eighth inning and eventually won in the tenth.
Following a blowout win in Game Five, both teams headed back to Los Angeles. In Game Six, Jackson got his revenge against Welch by blasting a two-run home run in the seventh inning, putting the finishing touch on a series-clinching, 7–2 win for the Yankees.
On April 19, 1979, following a Yankee loss to the Baltimore Orioles, Jackson started kidding Cliff Johnson about his inability to hit Goose Gossage. While Johnson was showering, Gossage insisted to Jackson that he struck out Johnson all the time when he used to face him. When Jackson relayed this information to Johnson upon his return to the locker room, a fight started between Johnson and the pitcher. Gossage tore ligaments in his right thumb and missed three months of the season. Teammate Tommy John called it "a demoralizing blow to the team." Jackson joined Gossage on the disabled list for a month in June with a torn calf muscle. In 131 games, he batted .297 with 29 home runs and 89 RBI.
1980–81 seasons
In 1980, Jackson batted .300 for the only time in his career, and his 41 home runs tied with Ben Oglivie of the Milwaukee Brewers for the American League lead. However, the Yankees were swept in the ALCS by the Kansas City Royals. That year, he won the inaugural Silver Slugger Award as a designated hitter.
As he entered the last year of his Yankee contract in 1981, Jackson endured several difficulties from George Steinbrenner. After the owner consulted Jackson about signing then-free agent Dave Winfield, Jackson expected Steinbrenner to work out a new contract for him as well. Steinbrenner never did (some say never intending to) and Jackson played the season as a free agent. Jackson started slowly with the bat, and when the 1981 Major League Baseball strike began, Steinbrenner invoked a clause in Jackson's contract forcing him to take a complete physical examination. Jackson was outraged and blasted Steinbrenner in the media. When the season resumed, Jackson's hitting improved, partly to show Steinbrenner he wasn't finished as a player. He hit a long home run into the upper deck in Game Five of the strike-forced 1981 American League Division Series with the Brewers, and the Yankees went on to win the pennant again. However, Jackson injured himself running the bases in Game Two of the 1981 ALCS and missed the first two games of the World Series, both of which the Yankees won.
Jackson was medically cleared to play Game Three, but manager Bob Lemon refused to start him or even play him, allegedly acting under orders from Steinbrenner. The Yankees lost that game and Jackson played the remainder of the series, hitting a home run in Game Four. However, they lost the last three games and the World Series to the Dodgers.
California Angels (1982–1986) and Oakland Athletics (1987)
Jackson became a free-agent again once the 1981 season was over. The owner of the California Angels, entertainer Gene Autry, had heard of Jackson's desire to return to California to play, and signed him to a five-year contract.
On April 27, 1982, in Jackson's first game back at Yankee Stadium with the Angels, he broke out of a terrible season-starting slump to hit a home run off former teammate Ron Guidry. The at-bat began with Yankee fans, angry at Steinbrenner for letting Jackson get away, starting the "Reg-GIE!" chant, and ended it with the fans chanting "Steinbrenner sucks!" By the time of Jackson's election to the Hall of Fame, Steinbrenner had begun to say that letting him go was the biggest mistake he had made as Yankee owner.
That season, the Angels won the American League West, and would do so again in 1986, but lost the American League Championship Series both times. On September 17, 1984, on the 17th anniversary of the day he hit his first home run, he hit his 500th, at Anaheim Stadium off Bud Black of the Royals.
In 1987, he signed a one-year contract to return to the A's, wearing the number 44 with which he was now most associated rather than the number 9 he previously wore in Oakland. He announced he would retire after the season, at the age of 41. In his last at-bat, at Comiskey Park in Chicago on October 4, he collected a broken-bat single up the middle, but the A's lost to the White Sox, 5–2. Jackson was the last player in the major leagues to have played for the Kansas City Athletics.
Legacy
Jackson played 21 seasons and reached the post-season in 11 of them, winning six pennants and five World Series. His accomplishments include winning both the regular-season and World Series MVP awards in 1973, hitting 563 career home runs (sixth all-time at the time of his retirement), maintaining a .490 career slugging percentage, being named to 14 All-Star teams, and the dubious distinction of being the all-time leader in strikeouts with 2,597 (he finished with 13 more career strikeouts than hits) and second on the all-time list for most Golden sombreros (at least four strikeouts in a game) with 23 – he led this statistic until 2014, when he was surpassed by Ryan Howard. Jackson was the first major leaguer to hit 100 home runs for three different clubs, having hit over 100 for the Athletics, Yankees, and Angels. He is the only player in the 500 home run club that never had consecutive 30 home run seasons in a career.
With the Yankees, Jackson was the center of attention when it came to the media. Tommy John thought this was ultimately helpful to the team. "He was a two-way buffer between the team and Steinbrenner, and between us and the press. That allowed other guys to go about their business in relative peace."
Personal life
During his freshman year at Arizona State, he met Jennie Campos, a Mexican-American. Jackson asked Campos on a date, and discovered many similarities, including the ability to speak Spanish, and being raised in a single parent home (Campos's father was killed in the Korean War). An assistant football coach tried to break up the couple because Jackson was black and Campos was considered white. The coach contacted Campos's uncle, a wealthy benefactor of the school, and he warned the couple that their being together was a bad idea. But the relationship held up and she later became his wife. They divorced in 1973. Kimberly, his only child, was born in the late 1980s.
During the off-season, though still active in baseball, Jackson worked as a field reporter and color commentator for ABC Sports. Just over a month before signing with the Yankees in the fall of 1976, Jackson did analysis in the ABC booth with Keith Jackson and Howard Cosell the night his future team won the American League pennant on a homer by Chris Chambliss. During the 1980s (1983, 1985, and 1987 respectively), Jackson was given the task of presiding over the World Series Trophy presentations. In addition, Jackson did color commentary for the 1984 National League Championship Series (alongside Don Drysdale and Earl Weaver). After his retirement as an active player, Jackson returned to his color commentary role covering the 1988 American League Championship Series (alongside Gary Bender and Joe Morgan) for ABC.
Jackson appeared in the film The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, portraying an Angels outfielder hypnotically programmed to kill the Queen of the United Kingdom. He also appeared in Richie Rich, BASEketball, Summer of Sam and The Benchwarmers. In 1979, Jackson was a guest star in an episode of the television sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, and in an episode of The Love Boat as himself. He played himself in the Archie Bunker's Place episode "Reggie-3 Archie-0" in 1982, a 1990 MacGyver episode, "Squeeze Play", The Jeffersons episode "The Unnatural” from 1985, and the Malcolm in the Middle episode "Polly in the Middle", from 2004. Jackson was also considered for the role of Geordi La Forge in the series Star Trek: The Next Generation, a role that ultimately went to LeVar Burton. From 1981 to 1982, he hosted Reggie Jackson's World of Sports for Nickelodeon, which continued in reruns until 1985.
He co-authored a book in 2010, Sixty-Feet Six-Inches, with fellow Hall of Famer Bob Gibson. The book, whose title refers to the distance between the pitcher's mound and home plate, details their careers and approach to the game.
The 1988 Sega Master System baseball video game Reggie Jackson Baseball, endorsed by Jackson, was sold exclusively in the United States. Outside of the U.S., it was released as American Baseball.
Jackson was the de facto spokesperson for the Upper Deck Company during the early 1990s, appearing in numerous advertisements, appearances, and participating in the company's Heroes of Baseball exhibition games. This affiliation also included the company's "Find the Reggie" promotion which inserted 2500 autograph cards into packs of 1990 Upper Deck Baseball High Series packs. This inclusion of an autograph card marked an important first in what would become a very popular trend in the trading card hobby.
Jackson has endured three fires to personal property, including a June 20, 1976 fire at his home in Oakland that destroyed his 1973 MVP award, World Series trophies and All-Star rings. The same home was again burned down during the Oakland firestorm of 1991, which destroyed more baseball memorabilia in addition to other valuable collections. In 1988, a warehouse holding several of Jackson's collectible cars was damaged in a fire, with several of the cars, valued at $3.2 million, ruined.
In Tampa in 2005, Jackson's car was struck from behind and flipped over several times. Jackson escaped with minor injuries, later saying "...it was God tapping me on the shoulder... It makes you think about your purpose, about His plan for you."
Jackson called on former San Francisco 49ers head coach and ordained minister Mike Singletary for spiritual guidance. Jackson credits Singletary, stating "he helped me drop that shell I put up."
Vehicle- and parking- related attacks on Jackson
Jackson was the victim of an attempted shooting in the early morning hours of June 1, 1980. A few hours after hitting the game-winning 11th inning home run at a home game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Jackson drove his vehicle to the singles bars he frequented in a "posh" neighborhood of "swinging pubs and night spots amid expensive high-rise apartments" in Manhattan's Upper East Side to celebrate. While searching for a parking spot, he asked the driver of a vehicle that was blocking the way to move, and a passenger in that vehicle then began yelling obscenities and racial slurs at Jackson, before throwing a broken bottle at Jackson's car.
After other passerby recognized Jackson and began joking with him about apprehending them, one of the men in the other car, 25 year old Manhattan resident Angel Viera, allegedly returned with a .38 caliber revolver and fired three shots at Jackson, each missing. Viera was criminally charged with attempted murder and illegal possession of deadly weapon. News of the incident was the third story ever broadcast on CNN, which held its inaugural broadcast later that day.
In the early morning of August 12, 1980, as Jackson completed a night of celebrating his 400th career home run slugged several hours earlier against the White Sox, Jackson was accosted as he left his favored nightspot, Jim McMullen's Bar on the Upper East Side, and entered his Rolls-Royce parked outside. A young man leveled a large-bore pistol, likely a .45 caliber automatic, at Jackson's face. Jackson told police that the gun was the largest that he had ever seen, and Jackson believed that he was going to be shot. When the man lowered the weapon to reach into Jackson's car to take the ignition key, Jackson shoved the door open into the man, sending him sprawling. The man then ran off and dropped the car keys near the scene, eluding pursuers.
On March 22, 1985, Jackson was attacked after a California Angels spring training 8-1 exhibition victory over the Cleveland Indians at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, Arizona. Witnesses said that a man who had heckled Jackson throughout the game followed Jackson out to the field's parking lot to continue to do so. As Jackson finished signing autographs for fans he attempted to enter a vehicle belonging to teammate Brian Downing, but the man blocked his entry and insisted on fighting Jackson. According to Jackson, the man began pounding on the door and windshield of the car, yelling at Jackson in Spanish for an autograph and then to offer cocaine. Jackson and other fans nearby restrained the man until he calmed down, at which point the man again asked for an autograph.
On the morning of March 30, 1985, as Jackson left his bungalow at the Angels' spring training residence of the Gene Autry Hotel in Palm Springs (now the Parker Palm Springs) before a Giants game, he noticed two men driving an automobile on the hotel lawns and pedestrian paths while drinking alcohol. After the men recognized Jackson and asked for directions to the Palm Spring strip business district, he warned them to leave before they got into trouble and before he was forced to call the police. They then began heckling his baseball abilities and used an obscenity and racial slur against him. After the men left, Jackson called police, but before police arrived, the men came back to the hotel, asked the front desk to call Jackson to the front lobby, and when he arrived, threatened to assault Jackson. When Jackson grabbed one of the men, the other raised a tire iron over his head. As Jackson moved towards the second man, he ran away but was blocked by a parked car, allowing Jackson to capture him and seize the tire iron and pass it to a nearby Angels executive who had witnessed the event. One of the men was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and the other cited for disturbing the peace.
In an inverse situation, on July 19, 1977, Jackson was signing autographs for fans after the conclusion of the 1977 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, held at Yankee Stadium that year, in the stadium parking lot. According to a statement from Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, several teens entered the parking lot and began shouting obscenities at Jackson. Jackson ignored the teens until one made a "particularly vile remark" about Jackson's mother. Jackson then chased off the teens, one of whom fell while running. The teen claimed that Jackson's foot made contact with the teen's wrist, which Jackson denied. Against the advice of criminal court judge Bernard Klieger, the teen's lawyer insisted that a criminal complaint for harassment be authorized against Jackson, which Klieger did "reluctantly".
Post-retirement honors
Jackson and Steinbrenner reconciled, and Steinbrenner hired Jackson as a "special assistant to the principal owner", making him a consultant and a liaison to the team's players, particularly those of minority standing. By this point, the Yankees, long noted for being slow to adapt to changes in race relations, had come to develop many minority players in their farm system and seek out others via trades and free agency. Jackson usually appears in uniform at the Yankees' spring training complex in Tampa, Florida, and was sought out for advice by recent stars as Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. "His experience is vast, and he's especially good with the young players in our minor league system, the 17- and 18-year old kids. They respect him and what he's accomplished in his career. When Reggie Jackson tells a young kid how he might improve his swing, he tends to listen," said Hal Steinbrenner, Yankees managing general partner and co-chairperson.
Jackson was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1993. He chose to wear a Yankees cap on his Hall of Fame plaque after the Oakland Athletics unceremoniously fired him from a coaching position in 1991.
The Yankees retired Jackson's uniform number 44 on August 14, 1993, shortly after his induction into the Hall of Fame. The Athletics retired his number 9 on May 22, 2004. He is one of only ten MLB players to have their numbers retired by more than one team, and one of only four to have different numbers retired by two MLB teams.
In 1999, Jackson placed 48th on The Sporting News' 100 Greatest Baseball Players list. That same year, he was named one of 100 finalists for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, but was not one of the 30 players chosen by the fans.
The Yankees dedicated a plaque in Jackson's honor on July 6, 2002, that now hangs in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. The plaque calls him "One of the most colorful and exciting players of his era" and "a prolific hitter who thrived in pressure situations." Each Yankee so honored and still living was on hand for the dedication: Phil Rizzuto, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford and Don Mattingly. Ron Guidry, a teammate of Jackson's for all five of his seasons with the Yankees, was there, and was to be honored with a Monument Park plaque the next season. Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Ernie Banks, players whom Jackson admired while growing up, attended the ceremony at his invitation. Like Jackson, each was a member of the Hall of Fame and had hit over 500 career home runs. Each had also played in the Negro leagues, as had Jackson's father, Martinez Jackson.
Jackson expanded his love of antique cars into a chain of auto dealerships in California, and used his contacts to become one of the foremost traders of sports memorabilia. He has also been the public face of a group attempting to purchase a major league team, already having made unsuccessful attempts to buy the Athletics and the Angels. His attempt to acquire the Angels along with Jimmy Nederlander (minority owner of the New York Yankees), Jackie Autry (widow of former Angels owner Gene Autry) and other investors was thwarted by Mexican-American billionaire Arturo Moreno, who outbid Jackson's group by nearly $50 million for the team in the winter of 2002.
In a July 2012 interview with Sports Illustrated, Jackson was critical of the Baseball Writers' Association of America as he believes that the organization has lowered its standards for admission into the Hall of Fame. He has also been critical of players associated with performance-enhancing drugs, including distant cousin Barry Bonds, stating "I believe that Hank Aaron is the home run king, not Barry Bonds, as great of a player Bonds was." Of Alex Rodriguez, Jackson remarked, "Al's a very good friend. But I think there are real questions about his numbers. As much as I like him, what he admitted about his usage does cloud some of his numbers." On July 12, the Yankees released a statement regarding the Sports Illustrated interview in which Jackson said, "In trying to convey my feelings about a few issues that I am passionate about, I made the mistake of naming some specific players." It had been reported that he was told by the Yankees to steer clear from the team, although general manager Brian Cashman stated that Jackson had not been banned but only told to not join the club on a road trip to Boston and would later be free to interact with the club. Jackson stated, "I continue to have a strong relationship with the club, and look forward to continuing my role with the team."
In 2007, ESPN aired a miniseries called The Bronx Is Burning about the 1977 Yankees, with the conflicts and controversies involving Jackson, portrayed by Daniel Sunjata, a central part of the storyline. The series infuriated Jackson, as he felt that he was portrayed as selfish and arrogant. He also expressed frustration that the filmmakers did not consult with him while making the miniseries, saying "I feel betrayed."
In 2008, Jackson threw the ceremonial first pitch at the Yankees' opening-day game, the last at the original Yankee Stadium. He also threw out the first pitch at the first game at the new Yankee Stadium (an exhibition game).
On October 9, 2009, Jackson threw the ceremonial opening pitch at Game 2 of the ALDS between the Yankees and the Minnesota Twins. On October 18, 2010, the Ride of Fame honored Jackson with his image on a New York City double-decker tour bus.
On September 5, 2018, before an Athletics game against the Yankees in Oakland, Jackson was inducted into the new Oakland Athletics Hall of Fame. He joined fellow inductees Rickey Henderson, Dave Stewart, Dennis Eckersley, Catfish Hunter and Rollie Fingers.
See also
List of Puerto Ricans
DHL Hometown Heroes
Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
Major League Baseball titles leaders
List of Major League Baseball home run records
500 home run club
List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
List of Major League Baseball career total bases leaders
List of Major League Baseball career bases on balls leaders
List of Major League Baseball career at-bat leaders
List of Major League Baseball career games played leaders
List of Major League Baseball career plate appearance leaders
List of Major League Baseball career strikeouts by batters leaders
Notes
References
External links
ReggieJackson.com
The Sporting News' Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments: Reggie! Reggie! Reggie!
Sports Illustrated – covers
Reggie Jackson Exclusive Interview for MSG's The Bronx is Burning: Summer of '77
1946 births
Living people
People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania
African-American baseball players
African-American baseball coaches
All-American college baseball players
American League Most Valuable Player Award winners
American League All-Stars
American League home run champions
American League RBI champions
American sportspeople of Puerto Rican descent
Arizona State Sun Devils baseball players
Arizona State Sun Devils football players
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Kansas City Athletics players
Major League Baseball broadcasters
Major League Baseball designated hitters
Major League Baseball hitting coaches
Baseball players from Pennsylvania
Major League Baseball right fielders
World Series Most Valuable Player Award winners
New York Yankees executives
New York Yankees players
Oakland Athletics players
Oakland Athletics coaches
Baseball players from Oakland, California
Puerto Rican baseball players
Major League Baseball players with retired numbers
Lewiston Broncs players
Modesto Reds players
Birmingham A's players
American car collectors
Silver Slugger Award winners
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American sportspeople | 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"
] |
[
"Paddy Chayefsky",
"Television"
] | C_462557c8eedd4281a41bd27c205c6da5_0 | When did Paddy begin television? | 1 | When did Paddy Chayefsky begin television? | Paddy Chayefsky | He moved into television with scripts for Danger, The Gulf Playhouse and Manhunt. Philco Television Playhouse producer Fred Coe saw the Danger and Manhunt episodes and enlisted Chayefsky to adapt the story It Happened on the Brooklyn Subway about a photographer on a New York subway train who reunites a concentration camp survivor with his long-lost wife. Chayefsky's first script to be telecast was a 1949 adaptation of Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run? for Philco. Since he had always wanted to use a synagogue as backdrop, he wrote Holiday Song, telecast in 1952 and also in 1954. He submitted more work to Philco, including Printer's Measure, The Bachelor Party (1953) and The Big Deal (1953). One of these teleplays, Mother (April 4, 1954), received a new production October 24, 1994 on Great Performances with Anne Bancroft in the title role. Curiously, original teleplays from the 1950s are almost never revived for new TV productions, so the 1994 production of Mother was a conspicuous rarity. In 1953, Chayefsky wrote Marty, which was premiered on The Philco Television Playhouse, with Rod Steiger and Nancy Marchand. Marty is about a decent, hard-working Bronx butcher, pining for the company of a woman in his life but despairing of ever finding true love in a relationship. Fate pairs him with a plain, shy schoolteacher named Clara whom he rescues from the embarrassment of being abandoned by her blind date in a local dance hall. The production, the actors and Chayefsky's naturalistic dialogue received much critical acclaim and influenced subsequent live television dramas. Chayefsky had a unique clause in his Marty contract that stated that only he could write the screenplay, which he did for the 1955 movie. Chayefsky's The Great American Hoax was broadcast May 15, 1957 during the second season of The 20th Century Fox Hour. This was actually a rewrite of his earlier Fox film, As Young as You Feel (1951) with Monty Woolley and Marilyn Monroe. The Great American Hoax was shown on the FX channel after Fox restored some The 20th Century Fox Hour episodes and telecast them under the new title Fox Hour of Stars beginning in 2002. CANNOTANSWER | 1949 | Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky (January 29, 1923 – August 1, 1981) was an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for writing both adapted and original screenplays.
He was one of the most renowned dramatists of the Golden Age of Television. His intimate, realistic scripts provided a naturalistic style of television drama for the 1950s, dramatizing the lives of ordinary Americans. Martin Gottfried wrote in All His Jazz that Chayefsky was "the most successful graduate of television's slice of life school of naturalism."
Following his critically acclaimed teleplays, Chayefsky became a noted playwright and novelist. As a screenwriter, he received three Academy Awards for Marty (1955), The Hospital (1971) and Network (1976). The movie Marty was based on his own television drama about two lonely people finding love. Network was a satire of the television industry and The Hospital was also satiric. Film historian David Thomson called The Hospital "years ahead of its time. […] Few films capture the disaster of America's self-destructive idealism so well." His screenplay for Network is often regarded as his masterpiece, and has been hailed as "the kind of literate, darkly funny and breathtakingly prescient material that prompts many to claim it as the greatest screenplay of the 20th century."
Chayefsky's early stories were frequently influenced by the author's childhood in The Bronx. Chayefsky was part of the inaugural class of inductees into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Television Hall of Fame. He received this honor three years after his death, in 1984.
Early life
Sidney Chayefsky was born in the Bronx, New York City to Russian-Jewish immigrants Harry and Gussie (Stuchevsky) Chayefsky. Harry Chayefsky's father served for twenty-five years in the Russian army so the family was allowed to live in Moscow, while Gussie Stuchevsky lived in a village near Odessa. Harry and Gussie emigrated to the US in 1907 and 1909 respectively.
Harry Chayefsky worked for a New Jersey milk distribution company in which he eventually took a controlling interest and renamed Dellwood Dairies. The family lived in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and Mount Vernon, New York, moving temporarily to Bailey Avenue in the West Bronx at the time of Sidney Chayefsky's birth while a larger house in Mount Vernon was being completed. He had two older brothers, William and Winn.
As a toddler Chayefsky showed signs of being gifted, and could "speak intelligently" at two and a half. His father suffered a financial reversal during the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and the family moved back to the Bronx. Chayefsky attended a public elementary school. As a boy, Chayefsky was noted for his verbal ability, which won him friends. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School, where he served as editor of the school's literary magazine, "The Magpie." He graduated from Clinton in 1939 at age 16 and attended the City College of New York, graduating with a degree in social sciences in 1943. While at City College he played for the semi-professional football team Kingsbridge Trojans. He studied languages at Fordham University during his Army service.
Military service
In 1943, two weeks before his graduation from City College, Chayefsky was drafted into the United States Army, and served in combat in Europe. While in the Army he adopted the nickname "Paddy." The nickname was given spontaneously when he was awakened at dawn for kitchen duty. Although actually Jewish, he asked to be excused to attend Mass. "Sure you do, Paddy," said the officer, and the name stuck.
Chayefsky was wounded by a land mine while serving with the 104th Infantry Division in the European Theatre near Aachen, Germany. He was awarded the Purple Heart. The wound left him badly scarred, contributing to his shyness around women. While recovering from his injuries in the Army Hospital near Cirencester, England, he wrote the book and lyrics to a musical comedy, No T.O. for Love. First produced in 1945 by the Special Services Unit, the show toured European Army bases for two years.
The London opening of No T.O. for Love at the Scala Theatre in the West End was the beginning of Chayefsky's theatrical career. During the London production of this musical, Chayefsky encountered Joshua Logan, a future collaborator, and Garson Kanin, who invited Chayefsky to collaborate with him on a documentary of the Allied invasion, The True Glory.
Career
1940s
Returning to the United States, Chayefsky worked in his uncle's print shop, Regal Press, an experience which provided a background for his later teleplay, Printer's Measure (1953), as well as his story for the movie As Young as You Feel (1951). Kanin enabled Chayefsky to spend time working on his second play, Put Them All Together (later known as M is for Mother), but it was never produced. Producers Mike Gordon and Jerry Bressler gave him a junior writer's contract. He wrote a story, The Great American Hoax, which sold to Good Housekeeping but was never published.
Chayefsky went to Hollywood in 1947 with the aim of becoming a screenwriter. His friends Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon found him a job in the accounting office of Universal Pictures. He studied acting at the Actor's Lab and Kanin got him a bit part in the film A Double Life. He returned to New York, submitted scripts, and was hired as an apprentice scriptwriter by Universal. His script outlines were not accepted and he was fired after six weeks. After returning to New York, Chayefsky wrote the outline for a play that he submitted to the Wiilliam Morris Agency. The agency, treating it as a novella, submitted it to Good Housekeeping magazine. Movie rights were purchased by Twentieth Century Fox, and Chayefsky was hired to write the script, and he returned to Hollywood in 1948. But Chayefsky was discouraged by the studio system, which involved rewrites and relegated writers to inferior roles, so he quit and moved back to New York, vowing not to return.
During the late 1940s, he began working full-time on short stories and radio scripts, and during that period, he was a gagwriter for radio host Robert Q. Lewis. Chayefsky later recalled, "I sold some plays to men who had an uncanny ability not to raise money."
Early 1950s
During 1951–52, Chayefsky wrote adaptations for radio's Theater Guild on the Air: The Meanest Man in the World (with James Stewart), Cavalcade of America, Tommy (with Van Heflin and Ruth Gordon) and Over 21 (with Wally Cox).
His play The Man Who Made the Mountain Shake was noticed by Elia Kazan, and his wife, Molly Kazan, helped Chayefsky with revisions. It was retitled Fifth From Garibaldi but was never produced. In 1951, the movie As Young as You Feel was adapted from a Chayefsky story.
He moved into television with scripts for Danger, The Gulf Playhouse and Manhunt. Philco Television Playhouse producer Fred Coe saw the Danger and Manhunt episodes and enlisted Chayefsky to adapt the story It Happened on the Brooklyn Subway about a photographer on a New York City Subway train who reunites a concentration camp survivor with his long-lost wife. Chayefsky's first script to be telecast was a 1949 adaptation of Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run? for Philco.
Since he had always wanted to use a synagogue as backdrop, he wrote Holiday Song, telecast in 1952 and also in 1954. He submitted more work to Philco, including Printer's Measure, The Bachelor Party (1953) and The Big Deal (1953).
The seventh season of Philco Television Playhouse began September 19, 1954 with E. G. Marshall and Eva Marie Saint in Chayefsky's Middle of the Night, a play which relocated to Broadway theaters 15 months later; In 1956, Middle of the Night opened on Broadway with Edward G. Robinson and Gena Rowlands, and its success led to a national tour. It was filmed by Columbia Pictures in 1959 with Kim Novak and Fredric March.
Marty and fame
In 1953, Chayefsky wrote Marty, which was premiered on The Philco Television Playhouse, with Rod Steiger and Nancy Marchand. Marty is about a decent, hard-working Bronx butcher, pining for the company of a woman in his life but despairing of ever finding true love in a relationship. Fate pairs him with a plain, shy schoolteacher named Clara whom he rescues from the embarrassment of being abandoned by her blind date in a local dance hall. The production, the actors and Chayefsky's naturalistic dialogue received much critical acclaim and influenced subsequent live television dramas.
Chayefsky was initially uninterested when producer Harold Hecht sought to buy film rights for Marty for Hecht-Hill-Lancaster. Chayefsky, still upset by his treatment years before, demanded creative control, consultation on casting, and the same director as in the TV version, Delbert Mann. Surprisingly, Hecht agreed to all of Chayefsky's demands, and named Chayefsky "associate producer" of the film. Chayefsky then requested and was granted "co-director" status, so that he could take over production if Mann was fired.
The screenplay was little changed from the teleplay, but with Clara's role expanded. Chayefsky was involved in all casting decisions and had a cameo role, playing one of Marty's friends, unseen, in a car. Actress Betsy Blair, playing Clara, faced difficulties because of her affiliation with left-wing causes, and United Artists demanded that she be removed. Chayefsky refused, and her husband Gene Kelly also intervened on her behalf. Blair remained in the cast.
In September 1954, after most of the movie had been filmed, the studio ceased production due to accounting and financial difficulties. Producer Harold Hecht encountered resistance to the Marty project from his partner Burt Lancaster from the beginning, with Lancaster "only tolerating" it. The film had a limited publicity budget. But reviews were glowing, and the film won the Palme d'Or at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Picture, greatly boosting Chayefsky's career.
Late 1950s
After his success with Marty, Chayefsky continued to write for TV and theater as well as films. Chayefsky's The Great American Hoax was broadcast May 15, 1957 during the second season of The 20th Century Fox Hour.
His TV play The Bachelor Party was bought by United Artists and The Catered Affair was bought by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Gore Vidal was hired to write the screenplay by MGM, while Chayefsky wrote the Bachelor Party. Catered Affair did well in Europe but poorly in U.S. theaters, and was not a success.
Bachelor Party was budgeted at $750,000, twice Marty budget, but received far less acclaim and was viewed by United Artists as artistically inferior. The studio chose instead to promote another Hecht-Hill-Lancaster film, Sweet Smell of Success, which the studio believed to be better. Bachelor Party turned out to be a commercial failure, and never made a profit.
Chayefsky wrote a film adaptation of his Broadway play Middle of the Night, originally writing the female lead role for Marilyn Monroe. She passed on the part, which went to Kim Novak. He also commenced work on The Goddess, the story of the rise and fall of a movie star resembling Monroe. The star of The Goddess, Kim Stanley, despised the film and refused to publicize it. He and Stanley clashed during production of the film, in which Chayefsky served as producer as well as screenwriter. Despite her requests, Chayefsky refused to change any aspect of the script. Monroe's husband, Arthur Miller believed that the film was based on his wife's life and protested to Chayefsky. The film received positive reviews, and Chayefsky received an Academy Award nomination for his script. A New York Herald Tribune reviewer called the film "a substantial advance in the work of Chayefsky."
Chayefsky denied for years that the film was based on Monroe, but Chayefsky's biographer Shaun Considine observes that not only was she the prototype but the film "captured her longing and despair" accurately.
In 1958 Chayefsky began adapting Middle of the Night as a film, and he decided not to use the star of the Broadway version, Edward G.Robinson, with whom he had clashed, choosing instead Frederic March. Elizabeth Taylor initially agreed to appear in the female lead, but dropped out. Kim Novak was ultimately cast in the part. The film was chosen as the American entry at the Cannes Film Festival, but reviews were mixed and the film had only a short run in theaters.
The Tenth Man (1959) marked Chayefsky's second Broadway theatrical success, garnering 1960 Tony Award nominations for Best Play, Best Director (Tyrone Guthrie) and Best Scenic Design. Guthrie received another nomination for Chayefsky's Gideon, as did actor Fredric March. Chayefsky's final Broadway theatrical production, a play based on the life of Joseph Stalin, The Passion of Josef D, received unfavorable reviews and ran for only 15 performances.
Although Chayefsky was an early writer for the television medium, he eventually abandoned it, "decrying the lack of interest the networks demonstrated toward quality programming". As a result, during the course of his career, he constantly toyed with the idea of lampooning the television industry, which he succeeded in doing with Network.
The Americanization of Emily
Although Chayefsky wished only to do original screenplays, he was persuaded by producer Martin Ransohoff to adapt William Bradford Huie's 1959 novel that was eventually filmed with the book's title The Americanization of Emily (1964). The novel dealt with interservice rivalries prior to the Normandy landings during World War II, with a love story at the center of the plot. Chayefsky agreed to adapting the novel but only if he could fundamentally change the story. He made the titular character more sophisticated, but refusing to be "Americanized" by accepting material goods.
William Wyler was initially brought in as the director, but his relationship with Chayefsky deteriorated when he sought to change the script. William Holden was initially cast in the male lead, but that led to conflict when he asked that Julie Andrews be replaced by his then-girlfriend, Capucine. James Garner, adept at comedy with sophisticated dialogue but originally slated to play a supporting role, replaced Holden and delivered a critically acclaimed performance while James Coburn took over the part originally meant for Garner. Both James Garner and Julie Andrews always maintained that The Americanization of Emily was their favorite film of their own work. The film opened in August 1964 to superlative reviews but was a box office failure, possibly due to its extremely controversial anti-war stance at the dawn of the Vietnam War. The studio changed the title in the middle of its release, calling it Emily...she's super! to avoid confusing part of the public with a seven-syllable word in the title. The film has since been praised as a "vanguard anti-war film."
1960s 'fallow period'
The failure of Americanization of Emily and Josef D. on Broadway shook Chayefsky's confidence, and was the beginning of a what his biographer Shaun Considine calls a "fallow period." He agreed to do novel adaptations, which he had previously shunned, and was hired to adapt the Richard Jessup novel The Cincinnati Kid. Director Sam Peckinpah rejected the script, and Chayefsky was fired. Peckinpah was replaced by Norman Jewison shortly after the film began production.
Chayefsky worked for a time on adapting Huie's book Three Lives for Mississippi, about the murders of three civil rights workers in 1964, and in 1967 was hired to adapt the Broadway musical Paint Your Wagon. He was fired from the film after producing a script that Alan Jay Lerner, the playwright and producer, felt lacked "a musical structure." Chayefsky had his name removed as screenwriter but remained as adapter.
Comeback with The Hospital
In 1969 and 1970. Chayefsky began to consider a film that would be set among the civil unrest taking place at the time. When his wife Susan received poor care at a hospital, he pitched to United Artists a story based at a hospital. To ensure that he had the same kind of creative control given to playwrights, he formed Simcha Productions, named after the Hebrew version of his given name, Sidney. He then commenced research, reading medical books and visiting hospitals.
The leading character in the film, Dr. Herbert Bock, included many of Chayefsky's personal traits. Bock had been a "boy genius" who felt bitter and that his life was over. One of the monologues of George C. Scott as Bock in the film, in which Bock says he is miserable and considering suicide, was repeated verbatim from a conversation that Chayefsky had with a business associate during that time.
The long speeches written for Bock and other characters by Chayefsky, later praised by critics, met resistance from United Artists executives during the making of the film. The script was described as "too talky" and containing excessive medical terminology. But Chayefsky, as producer, prevailed. He also vetoed the studio's suggestion that Walter Matthau or Burt Lancaster be hired for the lead role, insisting on Scott. Chayefsky worked on the dialogue with Diana Rigg, the female lead, but Scott rejected his input.
After filming, Chayefsky spoke the opening narration after several actors were rejected for the job. It was supposed to be temporary, but became the one that was used in the film. Although some initial reviews were negative, the film received rave reviews from leading critics, and was a box office hit. Chayefsky won an Academy Award for his script, and his career was revived.
Network
Chayefsky believed that television news desensitized viewers to violence and murder, and he was shocked one day when a respected news anchorman "rattled off inanities." He asked his friend, the NBC News anchor John Chancellor, if it was possible for an anchorman to go crazy on the air, and Chancellor replied "Every day." Within a week of that conversation, Chayefsky had written the rough draft of a script, centering on an elderly, disillusioned anchor who announces he will commit suicide on the air. In 1974, a local news anchor, Christine Chubbuck, committed suicide during a broadcast.
Chayefsky researched the project by watching hours of television and consulting with NBC executive David Tebet, who allowed Chayefsky to attend programming meetings. He later conducted research at CBS and met with Walter Cronkite. The completed script reflected his research and his personal view, prevalent at the time, that Arabs were "buying up" U.S. corporations. The "mad as hell" speech was a deeply personal statement reflecting the core of Chayefsky's beliefs during the early 1970s. Chayefsky later called it an easy speech to write, reflecting his view that people had a right to get mad.
The script encountered difficulty because of film industry concerns that it was too tough on television. Ultimately it was decided that the film would be a co-production of MGM and United Artists, with Chayefsky having complete creative control. The deal was announced in July 1975. George C. Scott was offered the role of Max Schumacher but rejected it, and the role went to William Holden. Chayefsky refused requests by UA and MGM to give the film a "softer" ending, feeling that ending with the Howard Beale character assassinated would alienate audiences.
Outside the expected negative reviews from television network film critics, the film was a critical and box office success, winning ten Academy Award nominations, and Chayefsky won his third Academy Award, making him the only three-time solo recipient of a screenwriting Oscar; all the other three-time winners (Francis Ford Coppola, Charles Brackett, Woody Allen, and Billy Wilder) shared at least one of their awards with co-writers. When Peter Finch posthumously won Best Actor, Chayefsky was to accept on his behalf, but he defied the show's producer, William Friedkin, and called Finch's wife Eletha to the stage accept the award.
The film is said to have "presaged the advent of reality television by twenty years" and was a "sardonic satire" of the television industry, dealing with the "dehumanization of modern life."
Altered States and decline
After Network Chayefsky explored an offer from Warren Beatty to write a film based on the life of John Reed and his book Ten Days That Shook the World. He agreed to do research, and spent three months exploring the subject of what eventually became the Beatty film Reds. Negotiations with Beatty's lawyers failed.
In the spring of 1977, Chayefsky began work on a project delving into "man's search of his true self." The genesis of the idea was a joke with his friends Bob Fosse and Herb Gardner. The three cooked up a joke project to remake King Kong, in which Kong becomes a movie star. The comic project got Chayefsky interested in exploring the origins of the human spirit. That evolved into a project updating the theme of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Chayefsky conducted research on genetic regression, speaking to doctors and professors of anthropology and human genetics. He then began a rough outline of a story in which the lead character immerses himself in an isolation tank, and with the aid of hallucinogens regresses to become a prehuman creature. Chayefsky wrote an eighty-seven page treatment and, at the suggestion of Columbia executive Daniel Melnick, he adapted it into a novel
Film rights were bought by Columbia Pictures for nearly $1 million, and with the same creative control and financial terms as for Network. Chayefsky suffered greatly from stress while working on the novel, resulting in a heart attack in 1977. The heart attack resulted in strict dietary and lifestyle restrictions. The novel, titled Altered States, was published by HarperCollins in June 1978 and received mixed reviews. Chayefsky did not promote the book, which he viewed only as a blueprint for the screenplay.
Since his contract gave him creative control, Chayefsky participated in the selection of William Hurt and Blair Brown as the leads. Arthur Penn was initially hired as director, but left after disagreements with Chayefsky. He was replaced by Ken Russell.
Chayefsky made it clear that he would allow no input into the dialogue or narrative, which Russell felt was too "soppy." Russell was confident that he could get rid of Chayefsky, but found that "the monkey on my back was always there and wouldn't let go." Russell was polite and deferential prior to production but after rehearsals began in 1979 "began to treat Paddy as a nonentity" and was "mean and sarcastic," according to the film's producer Howard Gottfried, who called Russell a "duplicitous, mean man."
Chayefsky had the power to fire Russell, but was told by Gottfried that he could only do so if he took over direction himself. He left for New York and continued to monitor production. The actors were not permitted to alter the dialogue. Chayefsky later said that in retaliation the actors were instructed to speak the lines while eating or too fast. Russell stated that the fast pace and overlapping dialogue was Chayefsky's idea.
Upset by the filming of his screenplay, Chayefsky withdrew from the production of Altered States and took his name off the credits, substituting the pseudonym Sidney Aaron.
Personality and characteristics
In his book Mad as Hell: The Making of Network and the Fateful Vision of the Angriest Man in Movies, journalist Dave Itzkoff wrote that the Howard Beale character in Network was a product of Chayefsky's many frustrations. Itzkoff wrote: "Where others avoided conflict, he cultivated it and embraced it, His fury nourished him, making him intense and unpredictable, but also keeping him focused and productive." Itzkoff describes Chayefsky as "intensely troubled, a huge egomaniac and control freak, dispirited about the world, wryly comic, and a both present and absent family man."
In his biography of Chayefsky's friend Bob Fosse, drama critic Martin Gottfried said Chayefsky was compact and burly in the bulky way of a schoolyard athlete, with thick dark hair and a bent nose that could pass for a streetfighter's. He was a grown-up with one foot in the boys' clubs of his city youth, a street snob who would not allow the loss of his nostalgia. He was an intellectual competitor, always spoiling for a political argument or a philosophical argument, or any exchange over any issue, changing sides for the fun of the fray. A liberal, he was annoyed by liberals; a proud Jew, he wouldn't let anyone call him a "Jewish writer".In his biography Mad as Hell, author Shaun Considine says that Chayefsky had a "dual personality". Chayefsky's "Paddy" persona had "character, caprice; it appealed to his sense of swagger" and gave him confidence to stand up for his rights. "Sidney" was the "silent creator" who had the talent and genius.
Chayefsky was under psychoanalysis for years, beginning in the late 1950s, to deal with his volatile behavior and rage, which at times was difficult to control.
Political activism
Opposition to McCarthyism
Early in his career, Chayefsky was an opponent of McCarthyism. He signed a telegram signed by other writers and performers protesting federal inaction after a concert featuring Paul Robeson in Peekskill, New York, prompted violence in which 150 persons were injured. As a result, his name appeared in the anti-Communist vigilante publication The Firing Line, published by the American Legion. Although Chayefsky feared being subpoeanaed and his career ruined, that never happened. Actress Betsy Blair described Chayefsky as a Social Democrat and as an anti-Marxist.
He opposed the Vietnam War as a "stupid and utterly unnecessary war whose principal victim would be the United States" and sent a letter to President Richard Nixon decrying the My Lai Massacre, saying Americans were in danger of turning into "a nation of bad Germans."
Soviet Jews and Israel
In the 1970s Chayefsky worked for the cause of Soviet Jews, and in 1971 went to Brussels as part of an American delegation to the International Conference on Soviet Jewry. Believing that the conference was insufficiently aggressive, he founded a new activist group in New York, Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East. Co-founders included Colleen Dewhurst, Frank Gervasi, Leon Uris, Gerold Frank and Elie Wiesel. Chayefsky believed that "Zionists" was a code word for "Jews" by Marxist anti-Semites.
Chayefsky was increasingly interested in Israel at that time. In an interview with Women's Wear Daily in 1971, he said that he believed that Jews around the world were in imminent danger of genocide. Journalist Dave Itzkoff writes that in the 1970s his views on Israel possessed a "more aggressive and admittedly paranoid streak." He believed that anti-Semitism was rife in the U.S., especially in the New Left, and once physically confronted a heckler who used an anti-Semitic slur during a David Steinberg performance. While filming The Hospital, Chayefsky commenced work on a film project called "The Habbakuk Conspiracy," which he described as a "study of life within an Arab guerrilla cell on the West Bank of the Jordan." The project was sold to United Artists but never filmed, which resulted in lingering resentment toward the studio.
Chayefsky composed, without credit, pro-Israel ads for the Anti-Defamation League at the time of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. In the late 1970s Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East placed full-page newspaper ads written by Chayefsky attacking the Palestine Liberation Organization for the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics.
He rejected Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave for the role of the female lead in Network because of their "anti-Israel leanings," even though Redgrave was director Sidney Lumet's first choice. Redgrave, accepting the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Julia, made a speech denouncing "Zionist hoodlums." Chayefsky, appearing later, upbraided Redgrave and said "a simple 'Thank you' would have sufficed." The Redgrave and Chayefsky remarks prompted controversy.
Family
Chayefsky met his future wife Susan Sackler during his 1940s stay in Hollywood. The couple married in February 1949. Their son Dan was born in 1955.
Chayefsky's relationship with his wife was strained for much of their marriage, and she became withdrawn and unwilling to appear with him as he became more prominent. Gwen Verdon, wife of his friend Bob Fosse, only saw Susan Chayefsky five times in her life.
Susan Chayefsky suffered from muscular dystrophy, and Dan Chayefsky described himself to author Dave Itzkoff as "a self-destructive teen who brought more pressure to the family home." Despite an alleged affair with Kim Novak, which resulted in his asking his wife for a divorce, Paddy Chayefsky remained married to Susan Chayefsky until his death, and sought her opinion on his screenplays, including Network. She died in 2000.
Death
Chayefsky contracted pleurisy in 1980 and again in 1981. Tests revealed cancer, but he refused surgery out of fear that surgeons would "cut me up because of that movie I wrote about them," referring to The Hospital. He opted for chemotherapy. He died in a New York hospital on August 1, 1981, aged 58, and was interred in the Sharon Gardens Division of Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, Westchester County, New York.
Longtime friend Bob Fosse performed a tap dance at the funeral, as part of a deal he and Chayefsky had made when Fosse was in the hospital for open-heart surgery. If Fosse died first, Chayefsky promised to deliver a tedious eulogy or Fosse would dance at Chayefsky's memorial if he were the one to die first. His personal papers are at the Wisconsin Historical Society and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Billy Rose Theatre Division.
Filmography
The True Glory (1945) (uncredited)
As Young as You Feel (1951) (story)
Marty (1955)
The Catered Affair (1956)
The Bachelor Party (1957)
The Goddess (1958)
Middle of the Night (1959)
The Americanization of Emily (1964)
Paint Your Wagon (1969) (adaptation)
The Hospital (1971)
Network (1976)
Altered States (1980) (as "Sidney Aaron")
Television and stage plays
Television (selection)
1950–1955 Danger
1951–1952 Manhunt
1951–1960 Goodyear Playhouse
1952–1954 Philco Television Playhouse
1952 Holiday Song
1952 The Reluctant Citizen
1953 Printer's Measure
1953 Marty
1953 The Big Deal
1953 The Bachelor Party
1953 The Sixth Year
1953 Catch My Boy On Sunday
1954 The Mother
1954 Middle of the Night
1955 The Catered Affair
1956 The Great American Hoax
Stage
No T.O. for Love (1945)
Middle of the Night (1956)
The Tenth Man (1959)
Gideon (1961)
The Passion of Josef D. (1964)
The Latent Heterosexual (originally titled The Accountant's Tale or The Case of the Latent Heterosexual) (1968)
Novels
Altered States: A Novel (1978)
Academy Awards
References
Bibliography
External links
The Angry Man WNYC: On The Media audio profile of Paddy Chayefsky, October 27, 2006
Paddy Chayefsky papers at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Paddy Chayefsky Papers at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research.
Museum of Broadcast Communications: Paddy Chayefsky
1923 births
1981 deaths
United States Army personnel of World War II
American male screenwriters
Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners
City College of New York alumni
DeWitt Clinton High School alumni
Fordham University alumni
People from the Bronx
Jewish American dramatists and playwrights
Burials at Kensico Cemetery
Jewish American military personnel
Jewish American screenwriters
American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Best Screenplay Golden Globe winners
Best Screenplay BAFTA Award winners
Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners
20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
American male dramatists and playwrights
20th-century American male writers
Screenwriters from New York (state)
20th-century American screenwriters
Landmine victims
Military personnel from New York City
United States Army soldiers
20th-century American Jews
American Jews | true | [
"Tonicha \"Toni\" Daggert is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera, Emmerdale, played by Kerry Stacey.\n\nCasting\n\nStacey's casting was one of three new signings announced for Emmerdale in November 2005. Toni was introduced as the cousin of established character Danny Daggert (Cleveland Campbell)\n\nIn November 2006, it was reported Stacey had quit the serial.\n\nStorylines\nToni meets Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) while on holiday in Portugal and agrees to return to Emmerdale with him and pretend to be his internet girlfriend, Fireblade. The whole scheme is designed to upset Paddy’s receptionist Jo Stiles (Roxanne Pallett) who had invented the sexy stranger to boost Paddy’s confidence. After the joke was plays out, Toni revealed herself to be the fun-loving cousin of local boy Danny Daggert and settled into life in the village and takes a job in the Woolpack after impressing landlady Diane Sugden (Elizabeth Estensen) and got a job behind the bar. She has a one-night stand with Ivan Jones (Daniel Brocklebank) much to Nicola Blackstock's (Nicola Wheeler) fury. Toni sets her sights on Paddy's business partner Hari Prasad (John Nayagam) and flirts with him, hoping for a date. Toni is oblivious to Paddy's feelings for her and when he confesses she accuses him of trying to ruin her chances with Hari. Things are awkward for a while but she and Paddy come through it.\n\nToni regrets rejecting Paddy when he becomes close to Del Dingle (Hayley Tamaddon) and she realised she did have feelings for him and tries to win him back. Del confronts Toni in the Woolpack kitchen and warns off her off Paddy. When Toni refuses, a fight ensues and Toni is severely burned with hot fat. Despite being an accident, Paddy is horrified at Del's actions and dumps her. \nToni and Paddy get together and eventually get engaged after Paddy proposes but the proposal is revealed as accidental and the two split. Toni makes peace with Paddy and Del before leaving.\n\nReferences\n\nSee also\n List of Emmerdale characters (2005)\n\nEmmerdale characters\nTelevision characters introduced in 2005\nBritish female characters in television\nFictional Black British people\nFictional bartenders",
"When Paddy Met Sally is a two-part television documentary shown on Channel 5 in the UK featuring Irish Traveller and Celebrity Big Brother 2011 winner Paddy Doherty and Sally Bercow, wife of the Speaker of the House of Commons. The show is similar to Wife Swap. \n\nThe pair met in the Big Brother house in August 2011 and became unlikely friends. For the two one-hour episodes of When Paddy Met Sally, Bercow moved into Doherty's chalet on his travellers' site in north Wales, living by his rules in episode one and hers in episode two. The programme first aired on 9 and 16 January 2012.\n\nRatings\n\nExternal links\n\n2012 British television series debuts\n2012 British television series endings\nBritish reality television series\nChannel 5 (British TV channel) reality television shows\nTelevision series by Endemol\nEnglish-language television shows"
] |
[
"Paddy Chayefsky",
"Television",
"When did Paddy begin television?",
"1949"
] | C_462557c8eedd4281a41bd27c205c6da5_0 | What was the name of the show? | 2 | What was the name of Paddy Chayefsky's first show? | Paddy Chayefsky | He moved into television with scripts for Danger, The Gulf Playhouse and Manhunt. Philco Television Playhouse producer Fred Coe saw the Danger and Manhunt episodes and enlisted Chayefsky to adapt the story It Happened on the Brooklyn Subway about a photographer on a New York subway train who reunites a concentration camp survivor with his long-lost wife. Chayefsky's first script to be telecast was a 1949 adaptation of Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run? for Philco. Since he had always wanted to use a synagogue as backdrop, he wrote Holiday Song, telecast in 1952 and also in 1954. He submitted more work to Philco, including Printer's Measure, The Bachelor Party (1953) and The Big Deal (1953). One of these teleplays, Mother (April 4, 1954), received a new production October 24, 1994 on Great Performances with Anne Bancroft in the title role. Curiously, original teleplays from the 1950s are almost never revived for new TV productions, so the 1994 production of Mother was a conspicuous rarity. In 1953, Chayefsky wrote Marty, which was premiered on The Philco Television Playhouse, with Rod Steiger and Nancy Marchand. Marty is about a decent, hard-working Bronx butcher, pining for the company of a woman in his life but despairing of ever finding true love in a relationship. Fate pairs him with a plain, shy schoolteacher named Clara whom he rescues from the embarrassment of being abandoned by her blind date in a local dance hall. The production, the actors and Chayefsky's naturalistic dialogue received much critical acclaim and influenced subsequent live television dramas. Chayefsky had a unique clause in his Marty contract that stated that only he could write the screenplay, which he did for the 1955 movie. Chayefsky's The Great American Hoax was broadcast May 15, 1957 during the second season of The 20th Century Fox Hour. This was actually a rewrite of his earlier Fox film, As Young as You Feel (1951) with Monty Woolley and Marilyn Monroe. The Great American Hoax was shown on the FX channel after Fox restored some The 20th Century Fox Hour episodes and telecast them under the new title Fox Hour of Stars beginning in 2002. CANNOTANSWER | 1949 adaptation of Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run? for Philco. | Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky (January 29, 1923 – August 1, 1981) was an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for writing both adapted and original screenplays.
He was one of the most renowned dramatists of the Golden Age of Television. His intimate, realistic scripts provided a naturalistic style of television drama for the 1950s, dramatizing the lives of ordinary Americans. Martin Gottfried wrote in All His Jazz that Chayefsky was "the most successful graduate of television's slice of life school of naturalism."
Following his critically acclaimed teleplays, Chayefsky became a noted playwright and novelist. As a screenwriter, he received three Academy Awards for Marty (1955), The Hospital (1971) and Network (1976). The movie Marty was based on his own television drama about two lonely people finding love. Network was a satire of the television industry and The Hospital was also satiric. Film historian David Thomson called The Hospital "years ahead of its time. […] Few films capture the disaster of America's self-destructive idealism so well." His screenplay for Network is often regarded as his masterpiece, and has been hailed as "the kind of literate, darkly funny and breathtakingly prescient material that prompts many to claim it as the greatest screenplay of the 20th century."
Chayefsky's early stories were frequently influenced by the author's childhood in The Bronx. Chayefsky was part of the inaugural class of inductees into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Television Hall of Fame. He received this honor three years after his death, in 1984.
Early life
Sidney Chayefsky was born in the Bronx, New York City to Russian-Jewish immigrants Harry and Gussie (Stuchevsky) Chayefsky. Harry Chayefsky's father served for twenty-five years in the Russian army so the family was allowed to live in Moscow, while Gussie Stuchevsky lived in a village near Odessa. Harry and Gussie emigrated to the US in 1907 and 1909 respectively.
Harry Chayefsky worked for a New Jersey milk distribution company in which he eventually took a controlling interest and renamed Dellwood Dairies. The family lived in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and Mount Vernon, New York, moving temporarily to Bailey Avenue in the West Bronx at the time of Sidney Chayefsky's birth while a larger house in Mount Vernon was being completed. He had two older brothers, William and Winn.
As a toddler Chayefsky showed signs of being gifted, and could "speak intelligently" at two and a half. His father suffered a financial reversal during the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and the family moved back to the Bronx. Chayefsky attended a public elementary school. As a boy, Chayefsky was noted for his verbal ability, which won him friends. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School, where he served as editor of the school's literary magazine, "The Magpie." He graduated from Clinton in 1939 at age 16 and attended the City College of New York, graduating with a degree in social sciences in 1943. While at City College he played for the semi-professional football team Kingsbridge Trojans. He studied languages at Fordham University during his Army service.
Military service
In 1943, two weeks before his graduation from City College, Chayefsky was drafted into the United States Army, and served in combat in Europe. While in the Army he adopted the nickname "Paddy." The nickname was given spontaneously when he was awakened at dawn for kitchen duty. Although actually Jewish, he asked to be excused to attend Mass. "Sure you do, Paddy," said the officer, and the name stuck.
Chayefsky was wounded by a land mine while serving with the 104th Infantry Division in the European Theatre near Aachen, Germany. He was awarded the Purple Heart. The wound left him badly scarred, contributing to his shyness around women. While recovering from his injuries in the Army Hospital near Cirencester, England, he wrote the book and lyrics to a musical comedy, No T.O. for Love. First produced in 1945 by the Special Services Unit, the show toured European Army bases for two years.
The London opening of No T.O. for Love at the Scala Theatre in the West End was the beginning of Chayefsky's theatrical career. During the London production of this musical, Chayefsky encountered Joshua Logan, a future collaborator, and Garson Kanin, who invited Chayefsky to collaborate with him on a documentary of the Allied invasion, The True Glory.
Career
1940s
Returning to the United States, Chayefsky worked in his uncle's print shop, Regal Press, an experience which provided a background for his later teleplay, Printer's Measure (1953), as well as his story for the movie As Young as You Feel (1951). Kanin enabled Chayefsky to spend time working on his second play, Put Them All Together (later known as M is for Mother), but it was never produced. Producers Mike Gordon and Jerry Bressler gave him a junior writer's contract. He wrote a story, The Great American Hoax, which sold to Good Housekeeping but was never published.
Chayefsky went to Hollywood in 1947 with the aim of becoming a screenwriter. His friends Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon found him a job in the accounting office of Universal Pictures. He studied acting at the Actor's Lab and Kanin got him a bit part in the film A Double Life. He returned to New York, submitted scripts, and was hired as an apprentice scriptwriter by Universal. His script outlines were not accepted and he was fired after six weeks. After returning to New York, Chayefsky wrote the outline for a play that he submitted to the Wiilliam Morris Agency. The agency, treating it as a novella, submitted it to Good Housekeeping magazine. Movie rights were purchased by Twentieth Century Fox, and Chayefsky was hired to write the script, and he returned to Hollywood in 1948. But Chayefsky was discouraged by the studio system, which involved rewrites and relegated writers to inferior roles, so he quit and moved back to New York, vowing not to return.
During the late 1940s, he began working full-time on short stories and radio scripts, and during that period, he was a gagwriter for radio host Robert Q. Lewis. Chayefsky later recalled, "I sold some plays to men who had an uncanny ability not to raise money."
Early 1950s
During 1951–52, Chayefsky wrote adaptations for radio's Theater Guild on the Air: The Meanest Man in the World (with James Stewart), Cavalcade of America, Tommy (with Van Heflin and Ruth Gordon) and Over 21 (with Wally Cox).
His play The Man Who Made the Mountain Shake was noticed by Elia Kazan, and his wife, Molly Kazan, helped Chayefsky with revisions. It was retitled Fifth From Garibaldi but was never produced. In 1951, the movie As Young as You Feel was adapted from a Chayefsky story.
He moved into television with scripts for Danger, The Gulf Playhouse and Manhunt. Philco Television Playhouse producer Fred Coe saw the Danger and Manhunt episodes and enlisted Chayefsky to adapt the story It Happened on the Brooklyn Subway about a photographer on a New York City Subway train who reunites a concentration camp survivor with his long-lost wife. Chayefsky's first script to be telecast was a 1949 adaptation of Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run? for Philco.
Since he had always wanted to use a synagogue as backdrop, he wrote Holiday Song, telecast in 1952 and also in 1954. He submitted more work to Philco, including Printer's Measure, The Bachelor Party (1953) and The Big Deal (1953).
The seventh season of Philco Television Playhouse began September 19, 1954 with E. G. Marshall and Eva Marie Saint in Chayefsky's Middle of the Night, a play which relocated to Broadway theaters 15 months later; In 1956, Middle of the Night opened on Broadway with Edward G. Robinson and Gena Rowlands, and its success led to a national tour. It was filmed by Columbia Pictures in 1959 with Kim Novak and Fredric March.
Marty and fame
In 1953, Chayefsky wrote Marty, which was premiered on The Philco Television Playhouse, with Rod Steiger and Nancy Marchand. Marty is about a decent, hard-working Bronx butcher, pining for the company of a woman in his life but despairing of ever finding true love in a relationship. Fate pairs him with a plain, shy schoolteacher named Clara whom he rescues from the embarrassment of being abandoned by her blind date in a local dance hall. The production, the actors and Chayefsky's naturalistic dialogue received much critical acclaim and influenced subsequent live television dramas.
Chayefsky was initially uninterested when producer Harold Hecht sought to buy film rights for Marty for Hecht-Hill-Lancaster. Chayefsky, still upset by his treatment years before, demanded creative control, consultation on casting, and the same director as in the TV version, Delbert Mann. Surprisingly, Hecht agreed to all of Chayefsky's demands, and named Chayefsky "associate producer" of the film. Chayefsky then requested and was granted "co-director" status, so that he could take over production if Mann was fired.
The screenplay was little changed from the teleplay, but with Clara's role expanded. Chayefsky was involved in all casting decisions and had a cameo role, playing one of Marty's friends, unseen, in a car. Actress Betsy Blair, playing Clara, faced difficulties because of her affiliation with left-wing causes, and United Artists demanded that she be removed. Chayefsky refused, and her husband Gene Kelly also intervened on her behalf. Blair remained in the cast.
In September 1954, after most of the movie had been filmed, the studio ceased production due to accounting and financial difficulties. Producer Harold Hecht encountered resistance to the Marty project from his partner Burt Lancaster from the beginning, with Lancaster "only tolerating" it. The film had a limited publicity budget. But reviews were glowing, and the film won the Palme d'Or at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Picture, greatly boosting Chayefsky's career.
Late 1950s
After his success with Marty, Chayefsky continued to write for TV and theater as well as films. Chayefsky's The Great American Hoax was broadcast May 15, 1957 during the second season of The 20th Century Fox Hour.
His TV play The Bachelor Party was bought by United Artists and The Catered Affair was bought by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Gore Vidal was hired to write the screenplay by MGM, while Chayefsky wrote the Bachelor Party. Catered Affair did well in Europe but poorly in U.S. theaters, and was not a success.
Bachelor Party was budgeted at $750,000, twice Marty budget, but received far less acclaim and was viewed by United Artists as artistically inferior. The studio chose instead to promote another Hecht-Hill-Lancaster film, Sweet Smell of Success, which the studio believed to be better. Bachelor Party turned out to be a commercial failure, and never made a profit.
Chayefsky wrote a film adaptation of his Broadway play Middle of the Night, originally writing the female lead role for Marilyn Monroe. She passed on the part, which went to Kim Novak. He also commenced work on The Goddess, the story of the rise and fall of a movie star resembling Monroe. The star of The Goddess, Kim Stanley, despised the film and refused to publicize it. He and Stanley clashed during production of the film, in which Chayefsky served as producer as well as screenwriter. Despite her requests, Chayefsky refused to change any aspect of the script. Monroe's husband, Arthur Miller believed that the film was based on his wife's life and protested to Chayefsky. The film received positive reviews, and Chayefsky received an Academy Award nomination for his script. A New York Herald Tribune reviewer called the film "a substantial advance in the work of Chayefsky."
Chayefsky denied for years that the film was based on Monroe, but Chayefsky's biographer Shaun Considine observes that not only was she the prototype but the film "captured her longing and despair" accurately.
In 1958 Chayefsky began adapting Middle of the Night as a film, and he decided not to use the star of the Broadway version, Edward G.Robinson, with whom he had clashed, choosing instead Frederic March. Elizabeth Taylor initially agreed to appear in the female lead, but dropped out. Kim Novak was ultimately cast in the part. The film was chosen as the American entry at the Cannes Film Festival, but reviews were mixed and the film had only a short run in theaters.
The Tenth Man (1959) marked Chayefsky's second Broadway theatrical success, garnering 1960 Tony Award nominations for Best Play, Best Director (Tyrone Guthrie) and Best Scenic Design. Guthrie received another nomination for Chayefsky's Gideon, as did actor Fredric March. Chayefsky's final Broadway theatrical production, a play based on the life of Joseph Stalin, The Passion of Josef D, received unfavorable reviews and ran for only 15 performances.
Although Chayefsky was an early writer for the television medium, he eventually abandoned it, "decrying the lack of interest the networks demonstrated toward quality programming". As a result, during the course of his career, he constantly toyed with the idea of lampooning the television industry, which he succeeded in doing with Network.
The Americanization of Emily
Although Chayefsky wished only to do original screenplays, he was persuaded by producer Martin Ransohoff to adapt William Bradford Huie's 1959 novel that was eventually filmed with the book's title The Americanization of Emily (1964). The novel dealt with interservice rivalries prior to the Normandy landings during World War II, with a love story at the center of the plot. Chayefsky agreed to adapting the novel but only if he could fundamentally change the story. He made the titular character more sophisticated, but refusing to be "Americanized" by accepting material goods.
William Wyler was initially brought in as the director, but his relationship with Chayefsky deteriorated when he sought to change the script. William Holden was initially cast in the male lead, but that led to conflict when he asked that Julie Andrews be replaced by his then-girlfriend, Capucine. James Garner, adept at comedy with sophisticated dialogue but originally slated to play a supporting role, replaced Holden and delivered a critically acclaimed performance while James Coburn took over the part originally meant for Garner. Both James Garner and Julie Andrews always maintained that The Americanization of Emily was their favorite film of their own work. The film opened in August 1964 to superlative reviews but was a box office failure, possibly due to its extremely controversial anti-war stance at the dawn of the Vietnam War. The studio changed the title in the middle of its release, calling it Emily...she's super! to avoid confusing part of the public with a seven-syllable word in the title. The film has since been praised as a "vanguard anti-war film."
1960s 'fallow period'
The failure of Americanization of Emily and Josef D. on Broadway shook Chayefsky's confidence, and was the beginning of a what his biographer Shaun Considine calls a "fallow period." He agreed to do novel adaptations, which he had previously shunned, and was hired to adapt the Richard Jessup novel The Cincinnati Kid. Director Sam Peckinpah rejected the script, and Chayefsky was fired. Peckinpah was replaced by Norman Jewison shortly after the film began production.
Chayefsky worked for a time on adapting Huie's book Three Lives for Mississippi, about the murders of three civil rights workers in 1964, and in 1967 was hired to adapt the Broadway musical Paint Your Wagon. He was fired from the film after producing a script that Alan Jay Lerner, the playwright and producer, felt lacked "a musical structure." Chayefsky had his name removed as screenwriter but remained as adapter.
Comeback with The Hospital
In 1969 and 1970. Chayefsky began to consider a film that would be set among the civil unrest taking place at the time. When his wife Susan received poor care at a hospital, he pitched to United Artists a story based at a hospital. To ensure that he had the same kind of creative control given to playwrights, he formed Simcha Productions, named after the Hebrew version of his given name, Sidney. He then commenced research, reading medical books and visiting hospitals.
The leading character in the film, Dr. Herbert Bock, included many of Chayefsky's personal traits. Bock had been a "boy genius" who felt bitter and that his life was over. One of the monologues of George C. Scott as Bock in the film, in which Bock says he is miserable and considering suicide, was repeated verbatim from a conversation that Chayefsky had with a business associate during that time.
The long speeches written for Bock and other characters by Chayefsky, later praised by critics, met resistance from United Artists executives during the making of the film. The script was described as "too talky" and containing excessive medical terminology. But Chayefsky, as producer, prevailed. He also vetoed the studio's suggestion that Walter Matthau or Burt Lancaster be hired for the lead role, insisting on Scott. Chayefsky worked on the dialogue with Diana Rigg, the female lead, but Scott rejected his input.
After filming, Chayefsky spoke the opening narration after several actors were rejected for the job. It was supposed to be temporary, but became the one that was used in the film. Although some initial reviews were negative, the film received rave reviews from leading critics, and was a box office hit. Chayefsky won an Academy Award for his script, and his career was revived.
Network
Chayefsky believed that television news desensitized viewers to violence and murder, and he was shocked one day when a respected news anchorman "rattled off inanities." He asked his friend, the NBC News anchor John Chancellor, if it was possible for an anchorman to go crazy on the air, and Chancellor replied "Every day." Within a week of that conversation, Chayefsky had written the rough draft of a script, centering on an elderly, disillusioned anchor who announces he will commit suicide on the air. In 1974, a local news anchor, Christine Chubbuck, committed suicide during a broadcast.
Chayefsky researched the project by watching hours of television and consulting with NBC executive David Tebet, who allowed Chayefsky to attend programming meetings. He later conducted research at CBS and met with Walter Cronkite. The completed script reflected his research and his personal view, prevalent at the time, that Arabs were "buying up" U.S. corporations. The "mad as hell" speech was a deeply personal statement reflecting the core of Chayefsky's beliefs during the early 1970s. Chayefsky later called it an easy speech to write, reflecting his view that people had a right to get mad.
The script encountered difficulty because of film industry concerns that it was too tough on television. Ultimately it was decided that the film would be a co-production of MGM and United Artists, with Chayefsky having complete creative control. The deal was announced in July 1975. George C. Scott was offered the role of Max Schumacher but rejected it, and the role went to William Holden. Chayefsky refused requests by UA and MGM to give the film a "softer" ending, feeling that ending with the Howard Beale character assassinated would alienate audiences.
Outside the expected negative reviews from television network film critics, the film was a critical and box office success, winning ten Academy Award nominations, and Chayefsky won his third Academy Award, making him the only three-time solo recipient of a screenwriting Oscar; all the other three-time winners (Francis Ford Coppola, Charles Brackett, Woody Allen, and Billy Wilder) shared at least one of their awards with co-writers. When Peter Finch posthumously won Best Actor, Chayefsky was to accept on his behalf, but he defied the show's producer, William Friedkin, and called Finch's wife Eletha to the stage accept the award.
The film is said to have "presaged the advent of reality television by twenty years" and was a "sardonic satire" of the television industry, dealing with the "dehumanization of modern life."
Altered States and decline
After Network Chayefsky explored an offer from Warren Beatty to write a film based on the life of John Reed and his book Ten Days That Shook the World. He agreed to do research, and spent three months exploring the subject of what eventually became the Beatty film Reds. Negotiations with Beatty's lawyers failed.
In the spring of 1977, Chayefsky began work on a project delving into "man's search of his true self." The genesis of the idea was a joke with his friends Bob Fosse and Herb Gardner. The three cooked up a joke project to remake King Kong, in which Kong becomes a movie star. The comic project got Chayefsky interested in exploring the origins of the human spirit. That evolved into a project updating the theme of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Chayefsky conducted research on genetic regression, speaking to doctors and professors of anthropology and human genetics. He then began a rough outline of a story in which the lead character immerses himself in an isolation tank, and with the aid of hallucinogens regresses to become a prehuman creature. Chayefsky wrote an eighty-seven page treatment and, at the suggestion of Columbia executive Daniel Melnick, he adapted it into a novel
Film rights were bought by Columbia Pictures for nearly $1 million, and with the same creative control and financial terms as for Network. Chayefsky suffered greatly from stress while working on the novel, resulting in a heart attack in 1977. The heart attack resulted in strict dietary and lifestyle restrictions. The novel, titled Altered States, was published by HarperCollins in June 1978 and received mixed reviews. Chayefsky did not promote the book, which he viewed only as a blueprint for the screenplay.
Since his contract gave him creative control, Chayefsky participated in the selection of William Hurt and Blair Brown as the leads. Arthur Penn was initially hired as director, but left after disagreements with Chayefsky. He was replaced by Ken Russell.
Chayefsky made it clear that he would allow no input into the dialogue or narrative, which Russell felt was too "soppy." Russell was confident that he could get rid of Chayefsky, but found that "the monkey on my back was always there and wouldn't let go." Russell was polite and deferential prior to production but after rehearsals began in 1979 "began to treat Paddy as a nonentity" and was "mean and sarcastic," according to the film's producer Howard Gottfried, who called Russell a "duplicitous, mean man."
Chayefsky had the power to fire Russell, but was told by Gottfried that he could only do so if he took over direction himself. He left for New York and continued to monitor production. The actors were not permitted to alter the dialogue. Chayefsky later said that in retaliation the actors were instructed to speak the lines while eating or too fast. Russell stated that the fast pace and overlapping dialogue was Chayefsky's idea.
Upset by the filming of his screenplay, Chayefsky withdrew from the production of Altered States and took his name off the credits, substituting the pseudonym Sidney Aaron.
Personality and characteristics
In his book Mad as Hell: The Making of Network and the Fateful Vision of the Angriest Man in Movies, journalist Dave Itzkoff wrote that the Howard Beale character in Network was a product of Chayefsky's many frustrations. Itzkoff wrote: "Where others avoided conflict, he cultivated it and embraced it, His fury nourished him, making him intense and unpredictable, but also keeping him focused and productive." Itzkoff describes Chayefsky as "intensely troubled, a huge egomaniac and control freak, dispirited about the world, wryly comic, and a both present and absent family man."
In his biography of Chayefsky's friend Bob Fosse, drama critic Martin Gottfried said Chayefsky was compact and burly in the bulky way of a schoolyard athlete, with thick dark hair and a bent nose that could pass for a streetfighter's. He was a grown-up with one foot in the boys' clubs of his city youth, a street snob who would not allow the loss of his nostalgia. He was an intellectual competitor, always spoiling for a political argument or a philosophical argument, or any exchange over any issue, changing sides for the fun of the fray. A liberal, he was annoyed by liberals; a proud Jew, he wouldn't let anyone call him a "Jewish writer".In his biography Mad as Hell, author Shaun Considine says that Chayefsky had a "dual personality". Chayefsky's "Paddy" persona had "character, caprice; it appealed to his sense of swagger" and gave him confidence to stand up for his rights. "Sidney" was the "silent creator" who had the talent and genius.
Chayefsky was under psychoanalysis for years, beginning in the late 1950s, to deal with his volatile behavior and rage, which at times was difficult to control.
Political activism
Opposition to McCarthyism
Early in his career, Chayefsky was an opponent of McCarthyism. He signed a telegram signed by other writers and performers protesting federal inaction after a concert featuring Paul Robeson in Peekskill, New York, prompted violence in which 150 persons were injured. As a result, his name appeared in the anti-Communist vigilante publication The Firing Line, published by the American Legion. Although Chayefsky feared being subpoeanaed and his career ruined, that never happened. Actress Betsy Blair described Chayefsky as a Social Democrat and as an anti-Marxist.
He opposed the Vietnam War as a "stupid and utterly unnecessary war whose principal victim would be the United States" and sent a letter to President Richard Nixon decrying the My Lai Massacre, saying Americans were in danger of turning into "a nation of bad Germans."
Soviet Jews and Israel
In the 1970s Chayefsky worked for the cause of Soviet Jews, and in 1971 went to Brussels as part of an American delegation to the International Conference on Soviet Jewry. Believing that the conference was insufficiently aggressive, he founded a new activist group in New York, Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East. Co-founders included Colleen Dewhurst, Frank Gervasi, Leon Uris, Gerold Frank and Elie Wiesel. Chayefsky believed that "Zionists" was a code word for "Jews" by Marxist anti-Semites.
Chayefsky was increasingly interested in Israel at that time. In an interview with Women's Wear Daily in 1971, he said that he believed that Jews around the world were in imminent danger of genocide. Journalist Dave Itzkoff writes that in the 1970s his views on Israel possessed a "more aggressive and admittedly paranoid streak." He believed that anti-Semitism was rife in the U.S., especially in the New Left, and once physically confronted a heckler who used an anti-Semitic slur during a David Steinberg performance. While filming The Hospital, Chayefsky commenced work on a film project called "The Habbakuk Conspiracy," which he described as a "study of life within an Arab guerrilla cell on the West Bank of the Jordan." The project was sold to United Artists but never filmed, which resulted in lingering resentment toward the studio.
Chayefsky composed, without credit, pro-Israel ads for the Anti-Defamation League at the time of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. In the late 1970s Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East placed full-page newspaper ads written by Chayefsky attacking the Palestine Liberation Organization for the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics.
He rejected Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave for the role of the female lead in Network because of their "anti-Israel leanings," even though Redgrave was director Sidney Lumet's first choice. Redgrave, accepting the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Julia, made a speech denouncing "Zionist hoodlums." Chayefsky, appearing later, upbraided Redgrave and said "a simple 'Thank you' would have sufficed." The Redgrave and Chayefsky remarks prompted controversy.
Family
Chayefsky met his future wife Susan Sackler during his 1940s stay in Hollywood. The couple married in February 1949. Their son Dan was born in 1955.
Chayefsky's relationship with his wife was strained for much of their marriage, and she became withdrawn and unwilling to appear with him as he became more prominent. Gwen Verdon, wife of his friend Bob Fosse, only saw Susan Chayefsky five times in her life.
Susan Chayefsky suffered from muscular dystrophy, and Dan Chayefsky described himself to author Dave Itzkoff as "a self-destructive teen who brought more pressure to the family home." Despite an alleged affair with Kim Novak, which resulted in his asking his wife for a divorce, Paddy Chayefsky remained married to Susan Chayefsky until his death, and sought her opinion on his screenplays, including Network. She died in 2000.
Death
Chayefsky contracted pleurisy in 1980 and again in 1981. Tests revealed cancer, but he refused surgery out of fear that surgeons would "cut me up because of that movie I wrote about them," referring to The Hospital. He opted for chemotherapy. He died in a New York hospital on August 1, 1981, aged 58, and was interred in the Sharon Gardens Division of Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, Westchester County, New York.
Longtime friend Bob Fosse performed a tap dance at the funeral, as part of a deal he and Chayefsky had made when Fosse was in the hospital for open-heart surgery. If Fosse died first, Chayefsky promised to deliver a tedious eulogy or Fosse would dance at Chayefsky's memorial if he were the one to die first. His personal papers are at the Wisconsin Historical Society and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Billy Rose Theatre Division.
Filmography
The True Glory (1945) (uncredited)
As Young as You Feel (1951) (story)
Marty (1955)
The Catered Affair (1956)
The Bachelor Party (1957)
The Goddess (1958)
Middle of the Night (1959)
The Americanization of Emily (1964)
Paint Your Wagon (1969) (adaptation)
The Hospital (1971)
Network (1976)
Altered States (1980) (as "Sidney Aaron")
Television and stage plays
Television (selection)
1950–1955 Danger
1951–1952 Manhunt
1951–1960 Goodyear Playhouse
1952–1954 Philco Television Playhouse
1952 Holiday Song
1952 The Reluctant Citizen
1953 Printer's Measure
1953 Marty
1953 The Big Deal
1953 The Bachelor Party
1953 The Sixth Year
1953 Catch My Boy On Sunday
1954 The Mother
1954 Middle of the Night
1955 The Catered Affair
1956 The Great American Hoax
Stage
No T.O. for Love (1945)
Middle of the Night (1956)
The Tenth Man (1959)
Gideon (1961)
The Passion of Josef D. (1964)
The Latent Heterosexual (originally titled The Accountant's Tale or The Case of the Latent Heterosexual) (1968)
Novels
Altered States: A Novel (1978)
Academy Awards
References
Bibliography
External links
The Angry Man WNYC: On The Media audio profile of Paddy Chayefsky, October 27, 2006
Paddy Chayefsky papers at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Paddy Chayefsky Papers at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research.
Museum of Broadcast Communications: Paddy Chayefsky
1923 births
1981 deaths
United States Army personnel of World War II
American male screenwriters
Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners
City College of New York alumni
DeWitt Clinton High School alumni
Fordham University alumni
People from the Bronx
Jewish American dramatists and playwrights
Burials at Kensico Cemetery
Jewish American military personnel
Jewish American screenwriters
American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Best Screenplay Golden Globe winners
Best Screenplay BAFTA Award winners
Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners
20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
American male dramatists and playwrights
20th-century American male writers
Screenwriters from New York (state)
20th-century American screenwriters
Landmine victims
Military personnel from New York City
United States Army soldiers
20th-century American Jews
American Jews | true | [
"What's My Name? was a 30-minute radio program in the United States. The program was hosted by Arlene Francis and was among the first radio shows to offer cash prizes to contestants.\n\nFormat\nContestants on What's My Name? had to identify a person from a maximum of 10 clues given by the show's two hosts. People to be identified were celebrities and historical characters. In the show's early days, a correct guess on the first clue earned the contestant $10; the amount earned dropped by $1 with each additional clue. In 1948, the top prize was increased to $100, with $50 and $25 prizes, respectively, for identification on the second and third clues.\n\nThe program also involved listener participation to some extent, as listeners could send in questions to be used on the air. People who submitted questions received $10 for each question used.\n\nA review of the first episode of What's My Name? offered little hope for its future, calling it \"a rather drab show.\" The reviewer explained: \"The program got off to a bad start in that the participants, for the most part, were unable to guess the identities of the characters asked for in the game until long after the listeners got the drift of the proceedings.\" The reviewer did, however, note that the show was \"ably conducted by Bud Hulick and Arlene Francis.\"\n\nFrancis was a constant on What's My Name?, serving as the hostess in all eight of its iterations on radio while her male counterparts changed. Hulick was the host in three versions. Other hosts over the years were Fred Uttal, John Reed King, Ward Wilson and Carl Frank. Harry Salter and his orchestra provided the music.\n\nOne source noted that What's My Name? \"helped make a broadcasting fixture out of Arlene Francis.\"\n\nA 1942 review gave What's My Name? a much better evaluation than the earlier review mentioned above. Paul Ackerman wrote in The Billboard, \"Name is well produced, moves quickly and manages to maintain an informal atmosphere directly traceable to Miss Francis's and Mr. King's manner with the contestants.\"\n\nBackground\nWhat's My Name? was the brainchild of radio writers Joe Cross and Ed Byron. An August 1940 magazine article related that, after listening to a program called Professor Quiz, \"the two of them shut themselves up in a hotel room, vowing they wouldn't come out until they'd thought up a game program that was as much fun as Professor Quiz. What's My Name? was the result.\"\n\nTelevision\n\nA version of What's My Name? was incorporated into the Paul Winchell-Jerry Mahoney Show on television. The program (originally titled The Speidel Show after its sponsor) ran from September 18, 1950 to May 23, 1954. In the show's early years, each episode began with a comedy skit featuring Winchell and Mahoney. That skit was followed by a quiz segment, What's My Name?, similar to the radio program. The host for the quiz was Ted Brown.\n\nThe TV version of the quiz failed to achieve the success of its radio predecessor. A review in The Billboard in August 1951 said: Speidel has tried hard all season to combine the very accomplished Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney team and the former What's My Name? format into a successful stanza. The attempt has failed and, if anything, the talents of the ventriloquist and his little pal have been blunted by misuse.\"\n\nBy 1953, the What's My Name? component of the Paul Winchell-Jerry Mahoney Show had been removed.\n\nBroadcast Schedule\n\nNote: \"NA\"—information was not listed on the cited page.\n\nReferences \n\nAmerican game shows\n1930s American radio programs\n1940s American radio programs\n1950s American radio programs\nAmerican radio game shows\n1930s American game shows\n1940s American game shows\n1950s American game shows\nMutual Broadcasting System programs\nNBC radio programs\nABC radio programs",
"Thingee is a puppet which was used as an unofficial ambassador and icon for New Zealand children's television during the 1990s, appearing in multiple television shows such as The Son of a Gunn Show, and also children's programme, What Now. He appeared on T-shirts, dolls, puzzles and advertising all over New Zealand. He was voiced by After School camera operator and director Alan Henderson, brother of Tony, who died on 15 February 2020.\n\nAppearance\nThingee was usually presented as a grey (with brown undertones) humanoid thing with large bulbous eyes, a large toothless snout and a domed head. In a similar manner to the Rainbow characters Zippy and George, he was generally shown from the shoulders up, with one arm.\n\nCharacter history\nAccording to Stephen Campbell, one of the creators, both Thingee's name and species were accidental. The puppet was originally based on a duck, and the name used as a placeholder until they thought of a proper one.\n\nThingee first appeared on After School in 1987, under the hosting of Richard Evans and Annie Roach. Viewers first saw what was believed to be perhaps the egg of a dragon, Thingee existed in egg form for several weeks on the show until he hatched. Thingee later teamed up with Jason Gunn, who would from then on become his regular colleague, in 1988 when Jason took over as host for After School. Jason and Thingee continued working together in 1989 on After 2.\n\nFrom 1992 on he co-hosted Jason Gunn vehicles Jase TV and The Son of a Gunn Show. They later starred in the straight to video film Jason and Thingee's Big Adventure. Thingee also appeared in celebrity editions of Wheel of Fortune, test cricket commentary and Face the Music in 1992.\n\nFrom 1996 he was a host on the Sunday morning television show What Now, where it was revealed that the character was an alien and eventually Thingee made contact with his people and made the decision to return home to his own planet. As a result, the character was retired from New Zealand television.\n\nAppearances after retirement\n\n 2001 – Thingee helped co-host the What Now 20th birthday party\n 2007 – Thingee came back to TV on the TVNZ lifestyle show Good Morning\n 2008 – A further appearance on Good Morning, due to the TVNZ Goodnight Kiwi returning to the airwaves\n 2010 – Thingee appeared once again on Good Morning in celebration of the 50th anniversary of TVNZ\n 2010 – In a dream on the show Wanna-Ben\n 2012 – Wishing TVNZ U a Happy Birthday\n 2015 – TV3 appearance on 7 Days (S07E09) alongside Jason Gunn\n 2017 – SKY Sport behind the scenes at the cricket\n\nAppearances in popular culture\nDuring a recording of Son of a Gunn in 1994, one of Thingee's eyeballs popped out. While this outtake was not included in the episode that was eventually broadcast, shortly afterwards the clip was screened on a TVNZ bloopers show, where it found fame and became an iconic Kiwi television moment. The eyepop scene was used in the opening credits of the satirical show Eating Media Lunch.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n The Day I Met Thingee, New Zealand Herald\n The Son of a Gunn Show: Thingee's Eye Pop\n\nNew Zealand culture\nNew Zealand television personalities\nPuppets"
] |
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"Paddy Chayefsky",
"Television",
"When did Paddy begin television?",
"1949",
"What was the name of the show?",
"1949 adaptation of Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run? for Philco."
] | C_462557c8eedd4281a41bd27c205c6da5_0 | Did he write this show, or act? | 3 | Did Paddy Chayefsky write What Makes Sammy Run or act? | Paddy Chayefsky | He moved into television with scripts for Danger, The Gulf Playhouse and Manhunt. Philco Television Playhouse producer Fred Coe saw the Danger and Manhunt episodes and enlisted Chayefsky to adapt the story It Happened on the Brooklyn Subway about a photographer on a New York subway train who reunites a concentration camp survivor with his long-lost wife. Chayefsky's first script to be telecast was a 1949 adaptation of Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run? for Philco. Since he had always wanted to use a synagogue as backdrop, he wrote Holiday Song, telecast in 1952 and also in 1954. He submitted more work to Philco, including Printer's Measure, The Bachelor Party (1953) and The Big Deal (1953). One of these teleplays, Mother (April 4, 1954), received a new production October 24, 1994 on Great Performances with Anne Bancroft in the title role. Curiously, original teleplays from the 1950s are almost never revived for new TV productions, so the 1994 production of Mother was a conspicuous rarity. In 1953, Chayefsky wrote Marty, which was premiered on The Philco Television Playhouse, with Rod Steiger and Nancy Marchand. Marty is about a decent, hard-working Bronx butcher, pining for the company of a woman in his life but despairing of ever finding true love in a relationship. Fate pairs him with a plain, shy schoolteacher named Clara whom he rescues from the embarrassment of being abandoned by her blind date in a local dance hall. The production, the actors and Chayefsky's naturalistic dialogue received much critical acclaim and influenced subsequent live television dramas. Chayefsky had a unique clause in his Marty contract that stated that only he could write the screenplay, which he did for the 1955 movie. Chayefsky's The Great American Hoax was broadcast May 15, 1957 during the second season of The 20th Century Fox Hour. This was actually a rewrite of his earlier Fox film, As Young as You Feel (1951) with Monty Woolley and Marilyn Monroe. The Great American Hoax was shown on the FX channel after Fox restored some The 20th Century Fox Hour episodes and telecast them under the new title Fox Hour of Stars beginning in 2002. CANNOTANSWER | first script to be telecast | Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky (January 29, 1923 – August 1, 1981) was an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for writing both adapted and original screenplays.
He was one of the most renowned dramatists of the Golden Age of Television. His intimate, realistic scripts provided a naturalistic style of television drama for the 1950s, dramatizing the lives of ordinary Americans. Martin Gottfried wrote in All His Jazz that Chayefsky was "the most successful graduate of television's slice of life school of naturalism."
Following his critically acclaimed teleplays, Chayefsky became a noted playwright and novelist. As a screenwriter, he received three Academy Awards for Marty (1955), The Hospital (1971) and Network (1976). The movie Marty was based on his own television drama about two lonely people finding love. Network was a satire of the television industry and The Hospital was also satiric. Film historian David Thomson called The Hospital "years ahead of its time. […] Few films capture the disaster of America's self-destructive idealism so well." His screenplay for Network is often regarded as his masterpiece, and has been hailed as "the kind of literate, darkly funny and breathtakingly prescient material that prompts many to claim it as the greatest screenplay of the 20th century."
Chayefsky's early stories were frequently influenced by the author's childhood in The Bronx. Chayefsky was part of the inaugural class of inductees into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Television Hall of Fame. He received this honor three years after his death, in 1984.
Early life
Sidney Chayefsky was born in the Bronx, New York City to Russian-Jewish immigrants Harry and Gussie (Stuchevsky) Chayefsky. Harry Chayefsky's father served for twenty-five years in the Russian army so the family was allowed to live in Moscow, while Gussie Stuchevsky lived in a village near Odessa. Harry and Gussie emigrated to the US in 1907 and 1909 respectively.
Harry Chayefsky worked for a New Jersey milk distribution company in which he eventually took a controlling interest and renamed Dellwood Dairies. The family lived in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and Mount Vernon, New York, moving temporarily to Bailey Avenue in the West Bronx at the time of Sidney Chayefsky's birth while a larger house in Mount Vernon was being completed. He had two older brothers, William and Winn.
As a toddler Chayefsky showed signs of being gifted, and could "speak intelligently" at two and a half. His father suffered a financial reversal during the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and the family moved back to the Bronx. Chayefsky attended a public elementary school. As a boy, Chayefsky was noted for his verbal ability, which won him friends. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School, where he served as editor of the school's literary magazine, "The Magpie." He graduated from Clinton in 1939 at age 16 and attended the City College of New York, graduating with a degree in social sciences in 1943. While at City College he played for the semi-professional football team Kingsbridge Trojans. He studied languages at Fordham University during his Army service.
Military service
In 1943, two weeks before his graduation from City College, Chayefsky was drafted into the United States Army, and served in combat in Europe. While in the Army he adopted the nickname "Paddy." The nickname was given spontaneously when he was awakened at dawn for kitchen duty. Although actually Jewish, he asked to be excused to attend Mass. "Sure you do, Paddy," said the officer, and the name stuck.
Chayefsky was wounded by a land mine while serving with the 104th Infantry Division in the European Theatre near Aachen, Germany. He was awarded the Purple Heart. The wound left him badly scarred, contributing to his shyness around women. While recovering from his injuries in the Army Hospital near Cirencester, England, he wrote the book and lyrics to a musical comedy, No T.O. for Love. First produced in 1945 by the Special Services Unit, the show toured European Army bases for two years.
The London opening of No T.O. for Love at the Scala Theatre in the West End was the beginning of Chayefsky's theatrical career. During the London production of this musical, Chayefsky encountered Joshua Logan, a future collaborator, and Garson Kanin, who invited Chayefsky to collaborate with him on a documentary of the Allied invasion, The True Glory.
Career
1940s
Returning to the United States, Chayefsky worked in his uncle's print shop, Regal Press, an experience which provided a background for his later teleplay, Printer's Measure (1953), as well as his story for the movie As Young as You Feel (1951). Kanin enabled Chayefsky to spend time working on his second play, Put Them All Together (later known as M is for Mother), but it was never produced. Producers Mike Gordon and Jerry Bressler gave him a junior writer's contract. He wrote a story, The Great American Hoax, which sold to Good Housekeeping but was never published.
Chayefsky went to Hollywood in 1947 with the aim of becoming a screenwriter. His friends Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon found him a job in the accounting office of Universal Pictures. He studied acting at the Actor's Lab and Kanin got him a bit part in the film A Double Life. He returned to New York, submitted scripts, and was hired as an apprentice scriptwriter by Universal. His script outlines were not accepted and he was fired after six weeks. After returning to New York, Chayefsky wrote the outline for a play that he submitted to the Wiilliam Morris Agency. The agency, treating it as a novella, submitted it to Good Housekeeping magazine. Movie rights were purchased by Twentieth Century Fox, and Chayefsky was hired to write the script, and he returned to Hollywood in 1948. But Chayefsky was discouraged by the studio system, which involved rewrites and relegated writers to inferior roles, so he quit and moved back to New York, vowing not to return.
During the late 1940s, he began working full-time on short stories and radio scripts, and during that period, he was a gagwriter for radio host Robert Q. Lewis. Chayefsky later recalled, "I sold some plays to men who had an uncanny ability not to raise money."
Early 1950s
During 1951–52, Chayefsky wrote adaptations for radio's Theater Guild on the Air: The Meanest Man in the World (with James Stewart), Cavalcade of America, Tommy (with Van Heflin and Ruth Gordon) and Over 21 (with Wally Cox).
His play The Man Who Made the Mountain Shake was noticed by Elia Kazan, and his wife, Molly Kazan, helped Chayefsky with revisions. It was retitled Fifth From Garibaldi but was never produced. In 1951, the movie As Young as You Feel was adapted from a Chayefsky story.
He moved into television with scripts for Danger, The Gulf Playhouse and Manhunt. Philco Television Playhouse producer Fred Coe saw the Danger and Manhunt episodes and enlisted Chayefsky to adapt the story It Happened on the Brooklyn Subway about a photographer on a New York City Subway train who reunites a concentration camp survivor with his long-lost wife. Chayefsky's first script to be telecast was a 1949 adaptation of Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run? for Philco.
Since he had always wanted to use a synagogue as backdrop, he wrote Holiday Song, telecast in 1952 and also in 1954. He submitted more work to Philco, including Printer's Measure, The Bachelor Party (1953) and The Big Deal (1953).
The seventh season of Philco Television Playhouse began September 19, 1954 with E. G. Marshall and Eva Marie Saint in Chayefsky's Middle of the Night, a play which relocated to Broadway theaters 15 months later; In 1956, Middle of the Night opened on Broadway with Edward G. Robinson and Gena Rowlands, and its success led to a national tour. It was filmed by Columbia Pictures in 1959 with Kim Novak and Fredric March.
Marty and fame
In 1953, Chayefsky wrote Marty, which was premiered on The Philco Television Playhouse, with Rod Steiger and Nancy Marchand. Marty is about a decent, hard-working Bronx butcher, pining for the company of a woman in his life but despairing of ever finding true love in a relationship. Fate pairs him with a plain, shy schoolteacher named Clara whom he rescues from the embarrassment of being abandoned by her blind date in a local dance hall. The production, the actors and Chayefsky's naturalistic dialogue received much critical acclaim and influenced subsequent live television dramas.
Chayefsky was initially uninterested when producer Harold Hecht sought to buy film rights for Marty for Hecht-Hill-Lancaster. Chayefsky, still upset by his treatment years before, demanded creative control, consultation on casting, and the same director as in the TV version, Delbert Mann. Surprisingly, Hecht agreed to all of Chayefsky's demands, and named Chayefsky "associate producer" of the film. Chayefsky then requested and was granted "co-director" status, so that he could take over production if Mann was fired.
The screenplay was little changed from the teleplay, but with Clara's role expanded. Chayefsky was involved in all casting decisions and had a cameo role, playing one of Marty's friends, unseen, in a car. Actress Betsy Blair, playing Clara, faced difficulties because of her affiliation with left-wing causes, and United Artists demanded that she be removed. Chayefsky refused, and her husband Gene Kelly also intervened on her behalf. Blair remained in the cast.
In September 1954, after most of the movie had been filmed, the studio ceased production due to accounting and financial difficulties. Producer Harold Hecht encountered resistance to the Marty project from his partner Burt Lancaster from the beginning, with Lancaster "only tolerating" it. The film had a limited publicity budget. But reviews were glowing, and the film won the Palme d'Or at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Picture, greatly boosting Chayefsky's career.
Late 1950s
After his success with Marty, Chayefsky continued to write for TV and theater as well as films. Chayefsky's The Great American Hoax was broadcast May 15, 1957 during the second season of The 20th Century Fox Hour.
His TV play The Bachelor Party was bought by United Artists and The Catered Affair was bought by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Gore Vidal was hired to write the screenplay by MGM, while Chayefsky wrote the Bachelor Party. Catered Affair did well in Europe but poorly in U.S. theaters, and was not a success.
Bachelor Party was budgeted at $750,000, twice Marty budget, but received far less acclaim and was viewed by United Artists as artistically inferior. The studio chose instead to promote another Hecht-Hill-Lancaster film, Sweet Smell of Success, which the studio believed to be better. Bachelor Party turned out to be a commercial failure, and never made a profit.
Chayefsky wrote a film adaptation of his Broadway play Middle of the Night, originally writing the female lead role for Marilyn Monroe. She passed on the part, which went to Kim Novak. He also commenced work on The Goddess, the story of the rise and fall of a movie star resembling Monroe. The star of The Goddess, Kim Stanley, despised the film and refused to publicize it. He and Stanley clashed during production of the film, in which Chayefsky served as producer as well as screenwriter. Despite her requests, Chayefsky refused to change any aspect of the script. Monroe's husband, Arthur Miller believed that the film was based on his wife's life and protested to Chayefsky. The film received positive reviews, and Chayefsky received an Academy Award nomination for his script. A New York Herald Tribune reviewer called the film "a substantial advance in the work of Chayefsky."
Chayefsky denied for years that the film was based on Monroe, but Chayefsky's biographer Shaun Considine observes that not only was she the prototype but the film "captured her longing and despair" accurately.
In 1958 Chayefsky began adapting Middle of the Night as a film, and he decided not to use the star of the Broadway version, Edward G.Robinson, with whom he had clashed, choosing instead Frederic March. Elizabeth Taylor initially agreed to appear in the female lead, but dropped out. Kim Novak was ultimately cast in the part. The film was chosen as the American entry at the Cannes Film Festival, but reviews were mixed and the film had only a short run in theaters.
The Tenth Man (1959) marked Chayefsky's second Broadway theatrical success, garnering 1960 Tony Award nominations for Best Play, Best Director (Tyrone Guthrie) and Best Scenic Design. Guthrie received another nomination for Chayefsky's Gideon, as did actor Fredric March. Chayefsky's final Broadway theatrical production, a play based on the life of Joseph Stalin, The Passion of Josef D, received unfavorable reviews and ran for only 15 performances.
Although Chayefsky was an early writer for the television medium, he eventually abandoned it, "decrying the lack of interest the networks demonstrated toward quality programming". As a result, during the course of his career, he constantly toyed with the idea of lampooning the television industry, which he succeeded in doing with Network.
The Americanization of Emily
Although Chayefsky wished only to do original screenplays, he was persuaded by producer Martin Ransohoff to adapt William Bradford Huie's 1959 novel that was eventually filmed with the book's title The Americanization of Emily (1964). The novel dealt with interservice rivalries prior to the Normandy landings during World War II, with a love story at the center of the plot. Chayefsky agreed to adapting the novel but only if he could fundamentally change the story. He made the titular character more sophisticated, but refusing to be "Americanized" by accepting material goods.
William Wyler was initially brought in as the director, but his relationship with Chayefsky deteriorated when he sought to change the script. William Holden was initially cast in the male lead, but that led to conflict when he asked that Julie Andrews be replaced by his then-girlfriend, Capucine. James Garner, adept at comedy with sophisticated dialogue but originally slated to play a supporting role, replaced Holden and delivered a critically acclaimed performance while James Coburn took over the part originally meant for Garner. Both James Garner and Julie Andrews always maintained that The Americanization of Emily was their favorite film of their own work. The film opened in August 1964 to superlative reviews but was a box office failure, possibly due to its extremely controversial anti-war stance at the dawn of the Vietnam War. The studio changed the title in the middle of its release, calling it Emily...she's super! to avoid confusing part of the public with a seven-syllable word in the title. The film has since been praised as a "vanguard anti-war film."
1960s 'fallow period'
The failure of Americanization of Emily and Josef D. on Broadway shook Chayefsky's confidence, and was the beginning of a what his biographer Shaun Considine calls a "fallow period." He agreed to do novel adaptations, which he had previously shunned, and was hired to adapt the Richard Jessup novel The Cincinnati Kid. Director Sam Peckinpah rejected the script, and Chayefsky was fired. Peckinpah was replaced by Norman Jewison shortly after the film began production.
Chayefsky worked for a time on adapting Huie's book Three Lives for Mississippi, about the murders of three civil rights workers in 1964, and in 1967 was hired to adapt the Broadway musical Paint Your Wagon. He was fired from the film after producing a script that Alan Jay Lerner, the playwright and producer, felt lacked "a musical structure." Chayefsky had his name removed as screenwriter but remained as adapter.
Comeback with The Hospital
In 1969 and 1970. Chayefsky began to consider a film that would be set among the civil unrest taking place at the time. When his wife Susan received poor care at a hospital, he pitched to United Artists a story based at a hospital. To ensure that he had the same kind of creative control given to playwrights, he formed Simcha Productions, named after the Hebrew version of his given name, Sidney. He then commenced research, reading medical books and visiting hospitals.
The leading character in the film, Dr. Herbert Bock, included many of Chayefsky's personal traits. Bock had been a "boy genius" who felt bitter and that his life was over. One of the monologues of George C. Scott as Bock in the film, in which Bock says he is miserable and considering suicide, was repeated verbatim from a conversation that Chayefsky had with a business associate during that time.
The long speeches written for Bock and other characters by Chayefsky, later praised by critics, met resistance from United Artists executives during the making of the film. The script was described as "too talky" and containing excessive medical terminology. But Chayefsky, as producer, prevailed. He also vetoed the studio's suggestion that Walter Matthau or Burt Lancaster be hired for the lead role, insisting on Scott. Chayefsky worked on the dialogue with Diana Rigg, the female lead, but Scott rejected his input.
After filming, Chayefsky spoke the opening narration after several actors were rejected for the job. It was supposed to be temporary, but became the one that was used in the film. Although some initial reviews were negative, the film received rave reviews from leading critics, and was a box office hit. Chayefsky won an Academy Award for his script, and his career was revived.
Network
Chayefsky believed that television news desensitized viewers to violence and murder, and he was shocked one day when a respected news anchorman "rattled off inanities." He asked his friend, the NBC News anchor John Chancellor, if it was possible for an anchorman to go crazy on the air, and Chancellor replied "Every day." Within a week of that conversation, Chayefsky had written the rough draft of a script, centering on an elderly, disillusioned anchor who announces he will commit suicide on the air. In 1974, a local news anchor, Christine Chubbuck, committed suicide during a broadcast.
Chayefsky researched the project by watching hours of television and consulting with NBC executive David Tebet, who allowed Chayefsky to attend programming meetings. He later conducted research at CBS and met with Walter Cronkite. The completed script reflected his research and his personal view, prevalent at the time, that Arabs were "buying up" U.S. corporations. The "mad as hell" speech was a deeply personal statement reflecting the core of Chayefsky's beliefs during the early 1970s. Chayefsky later called it an easy speech to write, reflecting his view that people had a right to get mad.
The script encountered difficulty because of film industry concerns that it was too tough on television. Ultimately it was decided that the film would be a co-production of MGM and United Artists, with Chayefsky having complete creative control. The deal was announced in July 1975. George C. Scott was offered the role of Max Schumacher but rejected it, and the role went to William Holden. Chayefsky refused requests by UA and MGM to give the film a "softer" ending, feeling that ending with the Howard Beale character assassinated would alienate audiences.
Outside the expected negative reviews from television network film critics, the film was a critical and box office success, winning ten Academy Award nominations, and Chayefsky won his third Academy Award, making him the only three-time solo recipient of a screenwriting Oscar; all the other three-time winners (Francis Ford Coppola, Charles Brackett, Woody Allen, and Billy Wilder) shared at least one of their awards with co-writers. When Peter Finch posthumously won Best Actor, Chayefsky was to accept on his behalf, but he defied the show's producer, William Friedkin, and called Finch's wife Eletha to the stage accept the award.
The film is said to have "presaged the advent of reality television by twenty years" and was a "sardonic satire" of the television industry, dealing with the "dehumanization of modern life."
Altered States and decline
After Network Chayefsky explored an offer from Warren Beatty to write a film based on the life of John Reed and his book Ten Days That Shook the World. He agreed to do research, and spent three months exploring the subject of what eventually became the Beatty film Reds. Negotiations with Beatty's lawyers failed.
In the spring of 1977, Chayefsky began work on a project delving into "man's search of his true self." The genesis of the idea was a joke with his friends Bob Fosse and Herb Gardner. The three cooked up a joke project to remake King Kong, in which Kong becomes a movie star. The comic project got Chayefsky interested in exploring the origins of the human spirit. That evolved into a project updating the theme of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Chayefsky conducted research on genetic regression, speaking to doctors and professors of anthropology and human genetics. He then began a rough outline of a story in which the lead character immerses himself in an isolation tank, and with the aid of hallucinogens regresses to become a prehuman creature. Chayefsky wrote an eighty-seven page treatment and, at the suggestion of Columbia executive Daniel Melnick, he adapted it into a novel
Film rights were bought by Columbia Pictures for nearly $1 million, and with the same creative control and financial terms as for Network. Chayefsky suffered greatly from stress while working on the novel, resulting in a heart attack in 1977. The heart attack resulted in strict dietary and lifestyle restrictions. The novel, titled Altered States, was published by HarperCollins in June 1978 and received mixed reviews. Chayefsky did not promote the book, which he viewed only as a blueprint for the screenplay.
Since his contract gave him creative control, Chayefsky participated in the selection of William Hurt and Blair Brown as the leads. Arthur Penn was initially hired as director, but left after disagreements with Chayefsky. He was replaced by Ken Russell.
Chayefsky made it clear that he would allow no input into the dialogue or narrative, which Russell felt was too "soppy." Russell was confident that he could get rid of Chayefsky, but found that "the monkey on my back was always there and wouldn't let go." Russell was polite and deferential prior to production but after rehearsals began in 1979 "began to treat Paddy as a nonentity" and was "mean and sarcastic," according to the film's producer Howard Gottfried, who called Russell a "duplicitous, mean man."
Chayefsky had the power to fire Russell, but was told by Gottfried that he could only do so if he took over direction himself. He left for New York and continued to monitor production. The actors were not permitted to alter the dialogue. Chayefsky later said that in retaliation the actors were instructed to speak the lines while eating or too fast. Russell stated that the fast pace and overlapping dialogue was Chayefsky's idea.
Upset by the filming of his screenplay, Chayefsky withdrew from the production of Altered States and took his name off the credits, substituting the pseudonym Sidney Aaron.
Personality and characteristics
In his book Mad as Hell: The Making of Network and the Fateful Vision of the Angriest Man in Movies, journalist Dave Itzkoff wrote that the Howard Beale character in Network was a product of Chayefsky's many frustrations. Itzkoff wrote: "Where others avoided conflict, he cultivated it and embraced it, His fury nourished him, making him intense and unpredictable, but also keeping him focused and productive." Itzkoff describes Chayefsky as "intensely troubled, a huge egomaniac and control freak, dispirited about the world, wryly comic, and a both present and absent family man."
In his biography of Chayefsky's friend Bob Fosse, drama critic Martin Gottfried said Chayefsky was compact and burly in the bulky way of a schoolyard athlete, with thick dark hair and a bent nose that could pass for a streetfighter's. He was a grown-up with one foot in the boys' clubs of his city youth, a street snob who would not allow the loss of his nostalgia. He was an intellectual competitor, always spoiling for a political argument or a philosophical argument, or any exchange over any issue, changing sides for the fun of the fray. A liberal, he was annoyed by liberals; a proud Jew, he wouldn't let anyone call him a "Jewish writer".In his biography Mad as Hell, author Shaun Considine says that Chayefsky had a "dual personality". Chayefsky's "Paddy" persona had "character, caprice; it appealed to his sense of swagger" and gave him confidence to stand up for his rights. "Sidney" was the "silent creator" who had the talent and genius.
Chayefsky was under psychoanalysis for years, beginning in the late 1950s, to deal with his volatile behavior and rage, which at times was difficult to control.
Political activism
Opposition to McCarthyism
Early in his career, Chayefsky was an opponent of McCarthyism. He signed a telegram signed by other writers and performers protesting federal inaction after a concert featuring Paul Robeson in Peekskill, New York, prompted violence in which 150 persons were injured. As a result, his name appeared in the anti-Communist vigilante publication The Firing Line, published by the American Legion. Although Chayefsky feared being subpoeanaed and his career ruined, that never happened. Actress Betsy Blair described Chayefsky as a Social Democrat and as an anti-Marxist.
He opposed the Vietnam War as a "stupid and utterly unnecessary war whose principal victim would be the United States" and sent a letter to President Richard Nixon decrying the My Lai Massacre, saying Americans were in danger of turning into "a nation of bad Germans."
Soviet Jews and Israel
In the 1970s Chayefsky worked for the cause of Soviet Jews, and in 1971 went to Brussels as part of an American delegation to the International Conference on Soviet Jewry. Believing that the conference was insufficiently aggressive, he founded a new activist group in New York, Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East. Co-founders included Colleen Dewhurst, Frank Gervasi, Leon Uris, Gerold Frank and Elie Wiesel. Chayefsky believed that "Zionists" was a code word for "Jews" by Marxist anti-Semites.
Chayefsky was increasingly interested in Israel at that time. In an interview with Women's Wear Daily in 1971, he said that he believed that Jews around the world were in imminent danger of genocide. Journalist Dave Itzkoff writes that in the 1970s his views on Israel possessed a "more aggressive and admittedly paranoid streak." He believed that anti-Semitism was rife in the U.S., especially in the New Left, and once physically confronted a heckler who used an anti-Semitic slur during a David Steinberg performance. While filming The Hospital, Chayefsky commenced work on a film project called "The Habbakuk Conspiracy," which he described as a "study of life within an Arab guerrilla cell on the West Bank of the Jordan." The project was sold to United Artists but never filmed, which resulted in lingering resentment toward the studio.
Chayefsky composed, without credit, pro-Israel ads for the Anti-Defamation League at the time of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. In the late 1970s Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East placed full-page newspaper ads written by Chayefsky attacking the Palestine Liberation Organization for the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics.
He rejected Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave for the role of the female lead in Network because of their "anti-Israel leanings," even though Redgrave was director Sidney Lumet's first choice. Redgrave, accepting the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Julia, made a speech denouncing "Zionist hoodlums." Chayefsky, appearing later, upbraided Redgrave and said "a simple 'Thank you' would have sufficed." The Redgrave and Chayefsky remarks prompted controversy.
Family
Chayefsky met his future wife Susan Sackler during his 1940s stay in Hollywood. The couple married in February 1949. Their son Dan was born in 1955.
Chayefsky's relationship with his wife was strained for much of their marriage, and she became withdrawn and unwilling to appear with him as he became more prominent. Gwen Verdon, wife of his friend Bob Fosse, only saw Susan Chayefsky five times in her life.
Susan Chayefsky suffered from muscular dystrophy, and Dan Chayefsky described himself to author Dave Itzkoff as "a self-destructive teen who brought more pressure to the family home." Despite an alleged affair with Kim Novak, which resulted in his asking his wife for a divorce, Paddy Chayefsky remained married to Susan Chayefsky until his death, and sought her opinion on his screenplays, including Network. She died in 2000.
Death
Chayefsky contracted pleurisy in 1980 and again in 1981. Tests revealed cancer, but he refused surgery out of fear that surgeons would "cut me up because of that movie I wrote about them," referring to The Hospital. He opted for chemotherapy. He died in a New York hospital on August 1, 1981, aged 58, and was interred in the Sharon Gardens Division of Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, Westchester County, New York.
Longtime friend Bob Fosse performed a tap dance at the funeral, as part of a deal he and Chayefsky had made when Fosse was in the hospital for open-heart surgery. If Fosse died first, Chayefsky promised to deliver a tedious eulogy or Fosse would dance at Chayefsky's memorial if he were the one to die first. His personal papers are at the Wisconsin Historical Society and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Billy Rose Theatre Division.
Filmography
The True Glory (1945) (uncredited)
As Young as You Feel (1951) (story)
Marty (1955)
The Catered Affair (1956)
The Bachelor Party (1957)
The Goddess (1958)
Middle of the Night (1959)
The Americanization of Emily (1964)
Paint Your Wagon (1969) (adaptation)
The Hospital (1971)
Network (1976)
Altered States (1980) (as "Sidney Aaron")
Television and stage plays
Television (selection)
1950–1955 Danger
1951–1952 Manhunt
1951–1960 Goodyear Playhouse
1952–1954 Philco Television Playhouse
1952 Holiday Song
1952 The Reluctant Citizen
1953 Printer's Measure
1953 Marty
1953 The Big Deal
1953 The Bachelor Party
1953 The Sixth Year
1953 Catch My Boy On Sunday
1954 The Mother
1954 Middle of the Night
1955 The Catered Affair
1956 The Great American Hoax
Stage
No T.O. for Love (1945)
Middle of the Night (1956)
The Tenth Man (1959)
Gideon (1961)
The Passion of Josef D. (1964)
The Latent Heterosexual (originally titled The Accountant's Tale or The Case of the Latent Heterosexual) (1968)
Novels
Altered States: A Novel (1978)
Academy Awards
References
Bibliography
External links
The Angry Man WNYC: On The Media audio profile of Paddy Chayefsky, October 27, 2006
Paddy Chayefsky papers at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Paddy Chayefsky Papers at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research.
Museum of Broadcast Communications: Paddy Chayefsky
1923 births
1981 deaths
United States Army personnel of World War II
American male screenwriters
Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners
City College of New York alumni
DeWitt Clinton High School alumni
Fordham University alumni
People from the Bronx
Jewish American dramatists and playwrights
Burials at Kensico Cemetery
Jewish American military personnel
Jewish American screenwriters
American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Best Screenplay Golden Globe winners
Best Screenplay BAFTA Award winners
Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners
20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
American male dramatists and playwrights
20th-century American male writers
Screenwriters from New York (state)
20th-century American screenwriters
Landmine victims
Military personnel from New York City
United States Army soldiers
20th-century American Jews
American Jews | true | [
"The Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB) is a write-in ballot for use by overseas American citizens. Under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, the ballot was created for citizens who \"have made a timely application for but have not received their regular ballot from the state or territory, subject to certain conditions.\" Parts of the act are administered by the Federal Voting Assistance Program.\n\nSee also\nAbsentee ballot\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOfficial Federal Voting Assistance Program website\nFederal Write-In Absentee Ballot info page for citizens on the FVAP's website\nFederal Write-In Absentee Ballot info page for uniformed service members on the FVAP's website\nA PDF download of the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot from the FVAP website\n\nElections in the United States",
"The Other Steve and Edie is a cabaret act conceived by Stephen Wallem and Edie Falco, with musical direction by three-time After Dark Award winner, Beckie Menzie and direction by Tony Humrichouser. Throughout the show, the duo performed songs ranging from contemporary pop and jazz standards to show tunes and original material. It ran for a limited, sold-out engagement from February 4 through 6th, 2011 at the Laurie Beechman Theatre in the heart of New York city's theater district.\n\nBoth Wallem and Falco currently star in Showtime's Nurse Jackie. Wallem is a veteran of the theatre, (having performed with Patti Lupone, Audra McDonald, Michael Cerveris and George Hearn as well as a one-man cabaret act titled \"Off the Wallem\").\n\nThe show received positive reviews, with one critic saying, \"Yes, Edie can sing and this show revealed another side of this multi-talented performer. Falco did everything right, beginning with selecting Wallem as her partner\" and \"Good actors know how to connect with an audience during a performance and this Steve and Edie certainly did that… This cabaret act was refreshing, bringing two new talents (to cabaret, at least) into the fold\".\n\nReferences\n\nAmerican cabaret performers"
] |
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"Paddy Chayefsky",
"Television",
"When did Paddy begin television?",
"1949",
"What was the name of the show?",
"1949 adaptation of Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run? for Philco.",
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] | C_462557c8eedd4281a41bd27c205c6da5_0 | What other scripts did he write? | 4 | What other scripts did Paddy Chayefsky write aside from What Makes Sammy Run? | Paddy Chayefsky | He moved into television with scripts for Danger, The Gulf Playhouse and Manhunt. Philco Television Playhouse producer Fred Coe saw the Danger and Manhunt episodes and enlisted Chayefsky to adapt the story It Happened on the Brooklyn Subway about a photographer on a New York subway train who reunites a concentration camp survivor with his long-lost wife. Chayefsky's first script to be telecast was a 1949 adaptation of Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run? for Philco. Since he had always wanted to use a synagogue as backdrop, he wrote Holiday Song, telecast in 1952 and also in 1954. He submitted more work to Philco, including Printer's Measure, The Bachelor Party (1953) and The Big Deal (1953). One of these teleplays, Mother (April 4, 1954), received a new production October 24, 1994 on Great Performances with Anne Bancroft in the title role. Curiously, original teleplays from the 1950s are almost never revived for new TV productions, so the 1994 production of Mother was a conspicuous rarity. In 1953, Chayefsky wrote Marty, which was premiered on The Philco Television Playhouse, with Rod Steiger and Nancy Marchand. Marty is about a decent, hard-working Bronx butcher, pining for the company of a woman in his life but despairing of ever finding true love in a relationship. Fate pairs him with a plain, shy schoolteacher named Clara whom he rescues from the embarrassment of being abandoned by her blind date in a local dance hall. The production, the actors and Chayefsky's naturalistic dialogue received much critical acclaim and influenced subsequent live television dramas. Chayefsky had a unique clause in his Marty contract that stated that only he could write the screenplay, which he did for the 1955 movie. Chayefsky's The Great American Hoax was broadcast May 15, 1957 during the second season of The 20th Century Fox Hour. This was actually a rewrite of his earlier Fox film, As Young as You Feel (1951) with Monty Woolley and Marilyn Monroe. The Great American Hoax was shown on the FX channel after Fox restored some The 20th Century Fox Hour episodes and telecast them under the new title Fox Hour of Stars beginning in 2002. CANNOTANSWER | he wrote Holiday Song, | Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky (January 29, 1923 – August 1, 1981) was an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for writing both adapted and original screenplays.
He was one of the most renowned dramatists of the Golden Age of Television. His intimate, realistic scripts provided a naturalistic style of television drama for the 1950s, dramatizing the lives of ordinary Americans. Martin Gottfried wrote in All His Jazz that Chayefsky was "the most successful graduate of television's slice of life school of naturalism."
Following his critically acclaimed teleplays, Chayefsky became a noted playwright and novelist. As a screenwriter, he received three Academy Awards for Marty (1955), The Hospital (1971) and Network (1976). The movie Marty was based on his own television drama about two lonely people finding love. Network was a satire of the television industry and The Hospital was also satiric. Film historian David Thomson called The Hospital "years ahead of its time. […] Few films capture the disaster of America's self-destructive idealism so well." His screenplay for Network is often regarded as his masterpiece, and has been hailed as "the kind of literate, darkly funny and breathtakingly prescient material that prompts many to claim it as the greatest screenplay of the 20th century."
Chayefsky's early stories were frequently influenced by the author's childhood in The Bronx. Chayefsky was part of the inaugural class of inductees into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Television Hall of Fame. He received this honor three years after his death, in 1984.
Early life
Sidney Chayefsky was born in the Bronx, New York City to Russian-Jewish immigrants Harry and Gussie (Stuchevsky) Chayefsky. Harry Chayefsky's father served for twenty-five years in the Russian army so the family was allowed to live in Moscow, while Gussie Stuchevsky lived in a village near Odessa. Harry and Gussie emigrated to the US in 1907 and 1909 respectively.
Harry Chayefsky worked for a New Jersey milk distribution company in which he eventually took a controlling interest and renamed Dellwood Dairies. The family lived in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and Mount Vernon, New York, moving temporarily to Bailey Avenue in the West Bronx at the time of Sidney Chayefsky's birth while a larger house in Mount Vernon was being completed. He had two older brothers, William and Winn.
As a toddler Chayefsky showed signs of being gifted, and could "speak intelligently" at two and a half. His father suffered a financial reversal during the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and the family moved back to the Bronx. Chayefsky attended a public elementary school. As a boy, Chayefsky was noted for his verbal ability, which won him friends. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School, where he served as editor of the school's literary magazine, "The Magpie." He graduated from Clinton in 1939 at age 16 and attended the City College of New York, graduating with a degree in social sciences in 1943. While at City College he played for the semi-professional football team Kingsbridge Trojans. He studied languages at Fordham University during his Army service.
Military service
In 1943, two weeks before his graduation from City College, Chayefsky was drafted into the United States Army, and served in combat in Europe. While in the Army he adopted the nickname "Paddy." The nickname was given spontaneously when he was awakened at dawn for kitchen duty. Although actually Jewish, he asked to be excused to attend Mass. "Sure you do, Paddy," said the officer, and the name stuck.
Chayefsky was wounded by a land mine while serving with the 104th Infantry Division in the European Theatre near Aachen, Germany. He was awarded the Purple Heart. The wound left him badly scarred, contributing to his shyness around women. While recovering from his injuries in the Army Hospital near Cirencester, England, he wrote the book and lyrics to a musical comedy, No T.O. for Love. First produced in 1945 by the Special Services Unit, the show toured European Army bases for two years.
The London opening of No T.O. for Love at the Scala Theatre in the West End was the beginning of Chayefsky's theatrical career. During the London production of this musical, Chayefsky encountered Joshua Logan, a future collaborator, and Garson Kanin, who invited Chayefsky to collaborate with him on a documentary of the Allied invasion, The True Glory.
Career
1940s
Returning to the United States, Chayefsky worked in his uncle's print shop, Regal Press, an experience which provided a background for his later teleplay, Printer's Measure (1953), as well as his story for the movie As Young as You Feel (1951). Kanin enabled Chayefsky to spend time working on his second play, Put Them All Together (later known as M is for Mother), but it was never produced. Producers Mike Gordon and Jerry Bressler gave him a junior writer's contract. He wrote a story, The Great American Hoax, which sold to Good Housekeeping but was never published.
Chayefsky went to Hollywood in 1947 with the aim of becoming a screenwriter. His friends Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon found him a job in the accounting office of Universal Pictures. He studied acting at the Actor's Lab and Kanin got him a bit part in the film A Double Life. He returned to New York, submitted scripts, and was hired as an apprentice scriptwriter by Universal. His script outlines were not accepted and he was fired after six weeks. After returning to New York, Chayefsky wrote the outline for a play that he submitted to the Wiilliam Morris Agency. The agency, treating it as a novella, submitted it to Good Housekeeping magazine. Movie rights were purchased by Twentieth Century Fox, and Chayefsky was hired to write the script, and he returned to Hollywood in 1948. But Chayefsky was discouraged by the studio system, which involved rewrites and relegated writers to inferior roles, so he quit and moved back to New York, vowing not to return.
During the late 1940s, he began working full-time on short stories and radio scripts, and during that period, he was a gagwriter for radio host Robert Q. Lewis. Chayefsky later recalled, "I sold some plays to men who had an uncanny ability not to raise money."
Early 1950s
During 1951–52, Chayefsky wrote adaptations for radio's Theater Guild on the Air: The Meanest Man in the World (with James Stewart), Cavalcade of America, Tommy (with Van Heflin and Ruth Gordon) and Over 21 (with Wally Cox).
His play The Man Who Made the Mountain Shake was noticed by Elia Kazan, and his wife, Molly Kazan, helped Chayefsky with revisions. It was retitled Fifth From Garibaldi but was never produced. In 1951, the movie As Young as You Feel was adapted from a Chayefsky story.
He moved into television with scripts for Danger, The Gulf Playhouse and Manhunt. Philco Television Playhouse producer Fred Coe saw the Danger and Manhunt episodes and enlisted Chayefsky to adapt the story It Happened on the Brooklyn Subway about a photographer on a New York City Subway train who reunites a concentration camp survivor with his long-lost wife. Chayefsky's first script to be telecast was a 1949 adaptation of Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run? for Philco.
Since he had always wanted to use a synagogue as backdrop, he wrote Holiday Song, telecast in 1952 and also in 1954. He submitted more work to Philco, including Printer's Measure, The Bachelor Party (1953) and The Big Deal (1953).
The seventh season of Philco Television Playhouse began September 19, 1954 with E. G. Marshall and Eva Marie Saint in Chayefsky's Middle of the Night, a play which relocated to Broadway theaters 15 months later; In 1956, Middle of the Night opened on Broadway with Edward G. Robinson and Gena Rowlands, and its success led to a national tour. It was filmed by Columbia Pictures in 1959 with Kim Novak and Fredric March.
Marty and fame
In 1953, Chayefsky wrote Marty, which was premiered on The Philco Television Playhouse, with Rod Steiger and Nancy Marchand. Marty is about a decent, hard-working Bronx butcher, pining for the company of a woman in his life but despairing of ever finding true love in a relationship. Fate pairs him with a plain, shy schoolteacher named Clara whom he rescues from the embarrassment of being abandoned by her blind date in a local dance hall. The production, the actors and Chayefsky's naturalistic dialogue received much critical acclaim and influenced subsequent live television dramas.
Chayefsky was initially uninterested when producer Harold Hecht sought to buy film rights for Marty for Hecht-Hill-Lancaster. Chayefsky, still upset by his treatment years before, demanded creative control, consultation on casting, and the same director as in the TV version, Delbert Mann. Surprisingly, Hecht agreed to all of Chayefsky's demands, and named Chayefsky "associate producer" of the film. Chayefsky then requested and was granted "co-director" status, so that he could take over production if Mann was fired.
The screenplay was little changed from the teleplay, but with Clara's role expanded. Chayefsky was involved in all casting decisions and had a cameo role, playing one of Marty's friends, unseen, in a car. Actress Betsy Blair, playing Clara, faced difficulties because of her affiliation with left-wing causes, and United Artists demanded that she be removed. Chayefsky refused, and her husband Gene Kelly also intervened on her behalf. Blair remained in the cast.
In September 1954, after most of the movie had been filmed, the studio ceased production due to accounting and financial difficulties. Producer Harold Hecht encountered resistance to the Marty project from his partner Burt Lancaster from the beginning, with Lancaster "only tolerating" it. The film had a limited publicity budget. But reviews were glowing, and the film won the Palme d'Or at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Picture, greatly boosting Chayefsky's career.
Late 1950s
After his success with Marty, Chayefsky continued to write for TV and theater as well as films. Chayefsky's The Great American Hoax was broadcast May 15, 1957 during the second season of The 20th Century Fox Hour.
His TV play The Bachelor Party was bought by United Artists and The Catered Affair was bought by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Gore Vidal was hired to write the screenplay by MGM, while Chayefsky wrote the Bachelor Party. Catered Affair did well in Europe but poorly in U.S. theaters, and was not a success.
Bachelor Party was budgeted at $750,000, twice Marty budget, but received far less acclaim and was viewed by United Artists as artistically inferior. The studio chose instead to promote another Hecht-Hill-Lancaster film, Sweet Smell of Success, which the studio believed to be better. Bachelor Party turned out to be a commercial failure, and never made a profit.
Chayefsky wrote a film adaptation of his Broadway play Middle of the Night, originally writing the female lead role for Marilyn Monroe. She passed on the part, which went to Kim Novak. He also commenced work on The Goddess, the story of the rise and fall of a movie star resembling Monroe. The star of The Goddess, Kim Stanley, despised the film and refused to publicize it. He and Stanley clashed during production of the film, in which Chayefsky served as producer as well as screenwriter. Despite her requests, Chayefsky refused to change any aspect of the script. Monroe's husband, Arthur Miller believed that the film was based on his wife's life and protested to Chayefsky. The film received positive reviews, and Chayefsky received an Academy Award nomination for his script. A New York Herald Tribune reviewer called the film "a substantial advance in the work of Chayefsky."
Chayefsky denied for years that the film was based on Monroe, but Chayefsky's biographer Shaun Considine observes that not only was she the prototype but the film "captured her longing and despair" accurately.
In 1958 Chayefsky began adapting Middle of the Night as a film, and he decided not to use the star of the Broadway version, Edward G.Robinson, with whom he had clashed, choosing instead Frederic March. Elizabeth Taylor initially agreed to appear in the female lead, but dropped out. Kim Novak was ultimately cast in the part. The film was chosen as the American entry at the Cannes Film Festival, but reviews were mixed and the film had only a short run in theaters.
The Tenth Man (1959) marked Chayefsky's second Broadway theatrical success, garnering 1960 Tony Award nominations for Best Play, Best Director (Tyrone Guthrie) and Best Scenic Design. Guthrie received another nomination for Chayefsky's Gideon, as did actor Fredric March. Chayefsky's final Broadway theatrical production, a play based on the life of Joseph Stalin, The Passion of Josef D, received unfavorable reviews and ran for only 15 performances.
Although Chayefsky was an early writer for the television medium, he eventually abandoned it, "decrying the lack of interest the networks demonstrated toward quality programming". As a result, during the course of his career, he constantly toyed with the idea of lampooning the television industry, which he succeeded in doing with Network.
The Americanization of Emily
Although Chayefsky wished only to do original screenplays, he was persuaded by producer Martin Ransohoff to adapt William Bradford Huie's 1959 novel that was eventually filmed with the book's title The Americanization of Emily (1964). The novel dealt with interservice rivalries prior to the Normandy landings during World War II, with a love story at the center of the plot. Chayefsky agreed to adapting the novel but only if he could fundamentally change the story. He made the titular character more sophisticated, but refusing to be "Americanized" by accepting material goods.
William Wyler was initially brought in as the director, but his relationship with Chayefsky deteriorated when he sought to change the script. William Holden was initially cast in the male lead, but that led to conflict when he asked that Julie Andrews be replaced by his then-girlfriend, Capucine. James Garner, adept at comedy with sophisticated dialogue but originally slated to play a supporting role, replaced Holden and delivered a critically acclaimed performance while James Coburn took over the part originally meant for Garner. Both James Garner and Julie Andrews always maintained that The Americanization of Emily was their favorite film of their own work. The film opened in August 1964 to superlative reviews but was a box office failure, possibly due to its extremely controversial anti-war stance at the dawn of the Vietnam War. The studio changed the title in the middle of its release, calling it Emily...she's super! to avoid confusing part of the public with a seven-syllable word in the title. The film has since been praised as a "vanguard anti-war film."
1960s 'fallow period'
The failure of Americanization of Emily and Josef D. on Broadway shook Chayefsky's confidence, and was the beginning of a what his biographer Shaun Considine calls a "fallow period." He agreed to do novel adaptations, which he had previously shunned, and was hired to adapt the Richard Jessup novel The Cincinnati Kid. Director Sam Peckinpah rejected the script, and Chayefsky was fired. Peckinpah was replaced by Norman Jewison shortly after the film began production.
Chayefsky worked for a time on adapting Huie's book Three Lives for Mississippi, about the murders of three civil rights workers in 1964, and in 1967 was hired to adapt the Broadway musical Paint Your Wagon. He was fired from the film after producing a script that Alan Jay Lerner, the playwright and producer, felt lacked "a musical structure." Chayefsky had his name removed as screenwriter but remained as adapter.
Comeback with The Hospital
In 1969 and 1970. Chayefsky began to consider a film that would be set among the civil unrest taking place at the time. When his wife Susan received poor care at a hospital, he pitched to United Artists a story based at a hospital. To ensure that he had the same kind of creative control given to playwrights, he formed Simcha Productions, named after the Hebrew version of his given name, Sidney. He then commenced research, reading medical books and visiting hospitals.
The leading character in the film, Dr. Herbert Bock, included many of Chayefsky's personal traits. Bock had been a "boy genius" who felt bitter and that his life was over. One of the monologues of George C. Scott as Bock in the film, in which Bock says he is miserable and considering suicide, was repeated verbatim from a conversation that Chayefsky had with a business associate during that time.
The long speeches written for Bock and other characters by Chayefsky, later praised by critics, met resistance from United Artists executives during the making of the film. The script was described as "too talky" and containing excessive medical terminology. But Chayefsky, as producer, prevailed. He also vetoed the studio's suggestion that Walter Matthau or Burt Lancaster be hired for the lead role, insisting on Scott. Chayefsky worked on the dialogue with Diana Rigg, the female lead, but Scott rejected his input.
After filming, Chayefsky spoke the opening narration after several actors were rejected for the job. It was supposed to be temporary, but became the one that was used in the film. Although some initial reviews were negative, the film received rave reviews from leading critics, and was a box office hit. Chayefsky won an Academy Award for his script, and his career was revived.
Network
Chayefsky believed that television news desensitized viewers to violence and murder, and he was shocked one day when a respected news anchorman "rattled off inanities." He asked his friend, the NBC News anchor John Chancellor, if it was possible for an anchorman to go crazy on the air, and Chancellor replied "Every day." Within a week of that conversation, Chayefsky had written the rough draft of a script, centering on an elderly, disillusioned anchor who announces he will commit suicide on the air. In 1974, a local news anchor, Christine Chubbuck, committed suicide during a broadcast.
Chayefsky researched the project by watching hours of television and consulting with NBC executive David Tebet, who allowed Chayefsky to attend programming meetings. He later conducted research at CBS and met with Walter Cronkite. The completed script reflected his research and his personal view, prevalent at the time, that Arabs were "buying up" U.S. corporations. The "mad as hell" speech was a deeply personal statement reflecting the core of Chayefsky's beliefs during the early 1970s. Chayefsky later called it an easy speech to write, reflecting his view that people had a right to get mad.
The script encountered difficulty because of film industry concerns that it was too tough on television. Ultimately it was decided that the film would be a co-production of MGM and United Artists, with Chayefsky having complete creative control. The deal was announced in July 1975. George C. Scott was offered the role of Max Schumacher but rejected it, and the role went to William Holden. Chayefsky refused requests by UA and MGM to give the film a "softer" ending, feeling that ending with the Howard Beale character assassinated would alienate audiences.
Outside the expected negative reviews from television network film critics, the film was a critical and box office success, winning ten Academy Award nominations, and Chayefsky won his third Academy Award, making him the only three-time solo recipient of a screenwriting Oscar; all the other three-time winners (Francis Ford Coppola, Charles Brackett, Woody Allen, and Billy Wilder) shared at least one of their awards with co-writers. When Peter Finch posthumously won Best Actor, Chayefsky was to accept on his behalf, but he defied the show's producer, William Friedkin, and called Finch's wife Eletha to the stage accept the award.
The film is said to have "presaged the advent of reality television by twenty years" and was a "sardonic satire" of the television industry, dealing with the "dehumanization of modern life."
Altered States and decline
After Network Chayefsky explored an offer from Warren Beatty to write a film based on the life of John Reed and his book Ten Days That Shook the World. He agreed to do research, and spent three months exploring the subject of what eventually became the Beatty film Reds. Negotiations with Beatty's lawyers failed.
In the spring of 1977, Chayefsky began work on a project delving into "man's search of his true self." The genesis of the idea was a joke with his friends Bob Fosse and Herb Gardner. The three cooked up a joke project to remake King Kong, in which Kong becomes a movie star. The comic project got Chayefsky interested in exploring the origins of the human spirit. That evolved into a project updating the theme of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Chayefsky conducted research on genetic regression, speaking to doctors and professors of anthropology and human genetics. He then began a rough outline of a story in which the lead character immerses himself in an isolation tank, and with the aid of hallucinogens regresses to become a prehuman creature. Chayefsky wrote an eighty-seven page treatment and, at the suggestion of Columbia executive Daniel Melnick, he adapted it into a novel
Film rights were bought by Columbia Pictures for nearly $1 million, and with the same creative control and financial terms as for Network. Chayefsky suffered greatly from stress while working on the novel, resulting in a heart attack in 1977. The heart attack resulted in strict dietary and lifestyle restrictions. The novel, titled Altered States, was published by HarperCollins in June 1978 and received mixed reviews. Chayefsky did not promote the book, which he viewed only as a blueprint for the screenplay.
Since his contract gave him creative control, Chayefsky participated in the selection of William Hurt and Blair Brown as the leads. Arthur Penn was initially hired as director, but left after disagreements with Chayefsky. He was replaced by Ken Russell.
Chayefsky made it clear that he would allow no input into the dialogue or narrative, which Russell felt was too "soppy." Russell was confident that he could get rid of Chayefsky, but found that "the monkey on my back was always there and wouldn't let go." Russell was polite and deferential prior to production but after rehearsals began in 1979 "began to treat Paddy as a nonentity" and was "mean and sarcastic," according to the film's producer Howard Gottfried, who called Russell a "duplicitous, mean man."
Chayefsky had the power to fire Russell, but was told by Gottfried that he could only do so if he took over direction himself. He left for New York and continued to monitor production. The actors were not permitted to alter the dialogue. Chayefsky later said that in retaliation the actors were instructed to speak the lines while eating or too fast. Russell stated that the fast pace and overlapping dialogue was Chayefsky's idea.
Upset by the filming of his screenplay, Chayefsky withdrew from the production of Altered States and took his name off the credits, substituting the pseudonym Sidney Aaron.
Personality and characteristics
In his book Mad as Hell: The Making of Network and the Fateful Vision of the Angriest Man in Movies, journalist Dave Itzkoff wrote that the Howard Beale character in Network was a product of Chayefsky's many frustrations. Itzkoff wrote: "Where others avoided conflict, he cultivated it and embraced it, His fury nourished him, making him intense and unpredictable, but also keeping him focused and productive." Itzkoff describes Chayefsky as "intensely troubled, a huge egomaniac and control freak, dispirited about the world, wryly comic, and a both present and absent family man."
In his biography of Chayefsky's friend Bob Fosse, drama critic Martin Gottfried said Chayefsky was compact and burly in the bulky way of a schoolyard athlete, with thick dark hair and a bent nose that could pass for a streetfighter's. He was a grown-up with one foot in the boys' clubs of his city youth, a street snob who would not allow the loss of his nostalgia. He was an intellectual competitor, always spoiling for a political argument or a philosophical argument, or any exchange over any issue, changing sides for the fun of the fray. A liberal, he was annoyed by liberals; a proud Jew, he wouldn't let anyone call him a "Jewish writer".In his biography Mad as Hell, author Shaun Considine says that Chayefsky had a "dual personality". Chayefsky's "Paddy" persona had "character, caprice; it appealed to his sense of swagger" and gave him confidence to stand up for his rights. "Sidney" was the "silent creator" who had the talent and genius.
Chayefsky was under psychoanalysis for years, beginning in the late 1950s, to deal with his volatile behavior and rage, which at times was difficult to control.
Political activism
Opposition to McCarthyism
Early in his career, Chayefsky was an opponent of McCarthyism. He signed a telegram signed by other writers and performers protesting federal inaction after a concert featuring Paul Robeson in Peekskill, New York, prompted violence in which 150 persons were injured. As a result, his name appeared in the anti-Communist vigilante publication The Firing Line, published by the American Legion. Although Chayefsky feared being subpoeanaed and his career ruined, that never happened. Actress Betsy Blair described Chayefsky as a Social Democrat and as an anti-Marxist.
He opposed the Vietnam War as a "stupid and utterly unnecessary war whose principal victim would be the United States" and sent a letter to President Richard Nixon decrying the My Lai Massacre, saying Americans were in danger of turning into "a nation of bad Germans."
Soviet Jews and Israel
In the 1970s Chayefsky worked for the cause of Soviet Jews, and in 1971 went to Brussels as part of an American delegation to the International Conference on Soviet Jewry. Believing that the conference was insufficiently aggressive, he founded a new activist group in New York, Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East. Co-founders included Colleen Dewhurst, Frank Gervasi, Leon Uris, Gerold Frank and Elie Wiesel. Chayefsky believed that "Zionists" was a code word for "Jews" by Marxist anti-Semites.
Chayefsky was increasingly interested in Israel at that time. In an interview with Women's Wear Daily in 1971, he said that he believed that Jews around the world were in imminent danger of genocide. Journalist Dave Itzkoff writes that in the 1970s his views on Israel possessed a "more aggressive and admittedly paranoid streak." He believed that anti-Semitism was rife in the U.S., especially in the New Left, and once physically confronted a heckler who used an anti-Semitic slur during a David Steinberg performance. While filming The Hospital, Chayefsky commenced work on a film project called "The Habbakuk Conspiracy," which he described as a "study of life within an Arab guerrilla cell on the West Bank of the Jordan." The project was sold to United Artists but never filmed, which resulted in lingering resentment toward the studio.
Chayefsky composed, without credit, pro-Israel ads for the Anti-Defamation League at the time of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. In the late 1970s Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East placed full-page newspaper ads written by Chayefsky attacking the Palestine Liberation Organization for the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics.
He rejected Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave for the role of the female lead in Network because of their "anti-Israel leanings," even though Redgrave was director Sidney Lumet's first choice. Redgrave, accepting the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Julia, made a speech denouncing "Zionist hoodlums." Chayefsky, appearing later, upbraided Redgrave and said "a simple 'Thank you' would have sufficed." The Redgrave and Chayefsky remarks prompted controversy.
Family
Chayefsky met his future wife Susan Sackler during his 1940s stay in Hollywood. The couple married in February 1949. Their son Dan was born in 1955.
Chayefsky's relationship with his wife was strained for much of their marriage, and she became withdrawn and unwilling to appear with him as he became more prominent. Gwen Verdon, wife of his friend Bob Fosse, only saw Susan Chayefsky five times in her life.
Susan Chayefsky suffered from muscular dystrophy, and Dan Chayefsky described himself to author Dave Itzkoff as "a self-destructive teen who brought more pressure to the family home." Despite an alleged affair with Kim Novak, which resulted in his asking his wife for a divorce, Paddy Chayefsky remained married to Susan Chayefsky until his death, and sought her opinion on his screenplays, including Network. She died in 2000.
Death
Chayefsky contracted pleurisy in 1980 and again in 1981. Tests revealed cancer, but he refused surgery out of fear that surgeons would "cut me up because of that movie I wrote about them," referring to The Hospital. He opted for chemotherapy. He died in a New York hospital on August 1, 1981, aged 58, and was interred in the Sharon Gardens Division of Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, Westchester County, New York.
Longtime friend Bob Fosse performed a tap dance at the funeral, as part of a deal he and Chayefsky had made when Fosse was in the hospital for open-heart surgery. If Fosse died first, Chayefsky promised to deliver a tedious eulogy or Fosse would dance at Chayefsky's memorial if he were the one to die first. His personal papers are at the Wisconsin Historical Society and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Billy Rose Theatre Division.
Filmography
The True Glory (1945) (uncredited)
As Young as You Feel (1951) (story)
Marty (1955)
The Catered Affair (1956)
The Bachelor Party (1957)
The Goddess (1958)
Middle of the Night (1959)
The Americanization of Emily (1964)
Paint Your Wagon (1969) (adaptation)
The Hospital (1971)
Network (1976)
Altered States (1980) (as "Sidney Aaron")
Television and stage plays
Television (selection)
1950–1955 Danger
1951–1952 Manhunt
1951–1960 Goodyear Playhouse
1952–1954 Philco Television Playhouse
1952 Holiday Song
1952 The Reluctant Citizen
1953 Printer's Measure
1953 Marty
1953 The Big Deal
1953 The Bachelor Party
1953 The Sixth Year
1953 Catch My Boy On Sunday
1954 The Mother
1954 Middle of the Night
1955 The Catered Affair
1956 The Great American Hoax
Stage
No T.O. for Love (1945)
Middle of the Night (1956)
The Tenth Man (1959)
Gideon (1961)
The Passion of Josef D. (1964)
The Latent Heterosexual (originally titled The Accountant's Tale or The Case of the Latent Heterosexual) (1968)
Novels
Altered States: A Novel (1978)
Academy Awards
References
Bibliography
External links
The Angry Man WNYC: On The Media audio profile of Paddy Chayefsky, October 27, 2006
Paddy Chayefsky papers at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Paddy Chayefsky Papers at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research.
Museum of Broadcast Communications: Paddy Chayefsky
1923 births
1981 deaths
United States Army personnel of World War II
American male screenwriters
Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners
City College of New York alumni
DeWitt Clinton High School alumni
Fordham University alumni
People from the Bronx
Jewish American dramatists and playwrights
Burials at Kensico Cemetery
Jewish American military personnel
Jewish American screenwriters
American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Best Screenplay Golden Globe winners
Best Screenplay BAFTA Award winners
Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners
20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
American male dramatists and playwrights
20th-century American male writers
Screenwriters from New York (state)
20th-century American screenwriters
Landmine victims
Military personnel from New York City
United States Army soldiers
20th-century American Jews
American Jews | true | [
"Indic may refer to:\n\n Indic languages (disambiguation)\n Various scripts:\n Brahmic scripts, a family of scripts used to write Indian and other Asian languages\n Kharoshthi (extinct)\n Indian numerals\n Indian religions, also known as the Dharmic faiths\n Other things related to the Indian subcontinent\n\nSee also\n Inđić, a Serbian surname\n Indica (disambiguation)",
"Rencong is any native writing system found in central and south Sumatra, including Kerinci, Bengkulu, Palembang and Lampung. These scripts lasted until the 18th century, when the Dutch colonized Indonesia. These scripts were used to write manuscripts in native languages and in Malay, such as the Tanjung Tanah Code of Law. The Malay writing was gradually replaced by the Jawi script, a localized version of the Arabic script.\n\nRencong scripts were often written on tree bark, bamboo, horns and palmyra-palm leaves. Many of the Rencong scripts are also known as \"Surat Ulu,\" or \"upriver scripts,\" given their prevalence away from a coastline.\n\nThe term \"Rencong\" is often confused with \"Rejang,\" which refers to a specific set of related scripts that were used to write various dialects of the Rejang language and for writing Malay in the region.\n\nThis map below shows the distribution of various Rencong scripts in South Sumatra:\n\nSee also\n\n Rejang script\n Lampung script\n List of languages of Indonesia\n\nReferences \n\nBrahmic scripts\nIndonesian scripts"
] |
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"What was the name of the show?",
"1949 adaptation of Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run? for Philco.",
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] | C_462557c8eedd4281a41bd27c205c6da5_0 | What year was Holiday song written? | 5 | What year was Holiday song written by Paddy Chayefsky? | Paddy Chayefsky | He moved into television with scripts for Danger, The Gulf Playhouse and Manhunt. Philco Television Playhouse producer Fred Coe saw the Danger and Manhunt episodes and enlisted Chayefsky to adapt the story It Happened on the Brooklyn Subway about a photographer on a New York subway train who reunites a concentration camp survivor with his long-lost wife. Chayefsky's first script to be telecast was a 1949 adaptation of Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run? for Philco. Since he had always wanted to use a synagogue as backdrop, he wrote Holiday Song, telecast in 1952 and also in 1954. He submitted more work to Philco, including Printer's Measure, The Bachelor Party (1953) and The Big Deal (1953). One of these teleplays, Mother (April 4, 1954), received a new production October 24, 1994 on Great Performances with Anne Bancroft in the title role. Curiously, original teleplays from the 1950s are almost never revived for new TV productions, so the 1994 production of Mother was a conspicuous rarity. In 1953, Chayefsky wrote Marty, which was premiered on The Philco Television Playhouse, with Rod Steiger and Nancy Marchand. Marty is about a decent, hard-working Bronx butcher, pining for the company of a woman in his life but despairing of ever finding true love in a relationship. Fate pairs him with a plain, shy schoolteacher named Clara whom he rescues from the embarrassment of being abandoned by her blind date in a local dance hall. The production, the actors and Chayefsky's naturalistic dialogue received much critical acclaim and influenced subsequent live television dramas. Chayefsky had a unique clause in his Marty contract that stated that only he could write the screenplay, which he did for the 1955 movie. Chayefsky's The Great American Hoax was broadcast May 15, 1957 during the second season of The 20th Century Fox Hour. This was actually a rewrite of his earlier Fox film, As Young as You Feel (1951) with Monty Woolley and Marilyn Monroe. The Great American Hoax was shown on the FX channel after Fox restored some The 20th Century Fox Hour episodes and telecast them under the new title Fox Hour of Stars beginning in 2002. CANNOTANSWER | telecast in 1952 and also in 1954. | Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky (January 29, 1923 – August 1, 1981) was an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for writing both adapted and original screenplays.
He was one of the most renowned dramatists of the Golden Age of Television. His intimate, realistic scripts provided a naturalistic style of television drama for the 1950s, dramatizing the lives of ordinary Americans. Martin Gottfried wrote in All His Jazz that Chayefsky was "the most successful graduate of television's slice of life school of naturalism."
Following his critically acclaimed teleplays, Chayefsky became a noted playwright and novelist. As a screenwriter, he received three Academy Awards for Marty (1955), The Hospital (1971) and Network (1976). The movie Marty was based on his own television drama about two lonely people finding love. Network was a satire of the television industry and The Hospital was also satiric. Film historian David Thomson called The Hospital "years ahead of its time. […] Few films capture the disaster of America's self-destructive idealism so well." His screenplay for Network is often regarded as his masterpiece, and has been hailed as "the kind of literate, darkly funny and breathtakingly prescient material that prompts many to claim it as the greatest screenplay of the 20th century."
Chayefsky's early stories were frequently influenced by the author's childhood in The Bronx. Chayefsky was part of the inaugural class of inductees into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Television Hall of Fame. He received this honor three years after his death, in 1984.
Early life
Sidney Chayefsky was born in the Bronx, New York City to Russian-Jewish immigrants Harry and Gussie (Stuchevsky) Chayefsky. Harry Chayefsky's father served for twenty-five years in the Russian army so the family was allowed to live in Moscow, while Gussie Stuchevsky lived in a village near Odessa. Harry and Gussie emigrated to the US in 1907 and 1909 respectively.
Harry Chayefsky worked for a New Jersey milk distribution company in which he eventually took a controlling interest and renamed Dellwood Dairies. The family lived in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and Mount Vernon, New York, moving temporarily to Bailey Avenue in the West Bronx at the time of Sidney Chayefsky's birth while a larger house in Mount Vernon was being completed. He had two older brothers, William and Winn.
As a toddler Chayefsky showed signs of being gifted, and could "speak intelligently" at two and a half. His father suffered a financial reversal during the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and the family moved back to the Bronx. Chayefsky attended a public elementary school. As a boy, Chayefsky was noted for his verbal ability, which won him friends. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School, where he served as editor of the school's literary magazine, "The Magpie." He graduated from Clinton in 1939 at age 16 and attended the City College of New York, graduating with a degree in social sciences in 1943. While at City College he played for the semi-professional football team Kingsbridge Trojans. He studied languages at Fordham University during his Army service.
Military service
In 1943, two weeks before his graduation from City College, Chayefsky was drafted into the United States Army, and served in combat in Europe. While in the Army he adopted the nickname "Paddy." The nickname was given spontaneously when he was awakened at dawn for kitchen duty. Although actually Jewish, he asked to be excused to attend Mass. "Sure you do, Paddy," said the officer, and the name stuck.
Chayefsky was wounded by a land mine while serving with the 104th Infantry Division in the European Theatre near Aachen, Germany. He was awarded the Purple Heart. The wound left him badly scarred, contributing to his shyness around women. While recovering from his injuries in the Army Hospital near Cirencester, England, he wrote the book and lyrics to a musical comedy, No T.O. for Love. First produced in 1945 by the Special Services Unit, the show toured European Army bases for two years.
The London opening of No T.O. for Love at the Scala Theatre in the West End was the beginning of Chayefsky's theatrical career. During the London production of this musical, Chayefsky encountered Joshua Logan, a future collaborator, and Garson Kanin, who invited Chayefsky to collaborate with him on a documentary of the Allied invasion, The True Glory.
Career
1940s
Returning to the United States, Chayefsky worked in his uncle's print shop, Regal Press, an experience which provided a background for his later teleplay, Printer's Measure (1953), as well as his story for the movie As Young as You Feel (1951). Kanin enabled Chayefsky to spend time working on his second play, Put Them All Together (later known as M is for Mother), but it was never produced. Producers Mike Gordon and Jerry Bressler gave him a junior writer's contract. He wrote a story, The Great American Hoax, which sold to Good Housekeeping but was never published.
Chayefsky went to Hollywood in 1947 with the aim of becoming a screenwriter. His friends Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon found him a job in the accounting office of Universal Pictures. He studied acting at the Actor's Lab and Kanin got him a bit part in the film A Double Life. He returned to New York, submitted scripts, and was hired as an apprentice scriptwriter by Universal. His script outlines were not accepted and he was fired after six weeks. After returning to New York, Chayefsky wrote the outline for a play that he submitted to the Wiilliam Morris Agency. The agency, treating it as a novella, submitted it to Good Housekeeping magazine. Movie rights were purchased by Twentieth Century Fox, and Chayefsky was hired to write the script, and he returned to Hollywood in 1948. But Chayefsky was discouraged by the studio system, which involved rewrites and relegated writers to inferior roles, so he quit and moved back to New York, vowing not to return.
During the late 1940s, he began working full-time on short stories and radio scripts, and during that period, he was a gagwriter for radio host Robert Q. Lewis. Chayefsky later recalled, "I sold some plays to men who had an uncanny ability not to raise money."
Early 1950s
During 1951–52, Chayefsky wrote adaptations for radio's Theater Guild on the Air: The Meanest Man in the World (with James Stewart), Cavalcade of America, Tommy (with Van Heflin and Ruth Gordon) and Over 21 (with Wally Cox).
His play The Man Who Made the Mountain Shake was noticed by Elia Kazan, and his wife, Molly Kazan, helped Chayefsky with revisions. It was retitled Fifth From Garibaldi but was never produced. In 1951, the movie As Young as You Feel was adapted from a Chayefsky story.
He moved into television with scripts for Danger, The Gulf Playhouse and Manhunt. Philco Television Playhouse producer Fred Coe saw the Danger and Manhunt episodes and enlisted Chayefsky to adapt the story It Happened on the Brooklyn Subway about a photographer on a New York City Subway train who reunites a concentration camp survivor with his long-lost wife. Chayefsky's first script to be telecast was a 1949 adaptation of Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run? for Philco.
Since he had always wanted to use a synagogue as backdrop, he wrote Holiday Song, telecast in 1952 and also in 1954. He submitted more work to Philco, including Printer's Measure, The Bachelor Party (1953) and The Big Deal (1953).
The seventh season of Philco Television Playhouse began September 19, 1954 with E. G. Marshall and Eva Marie Saint in Chayefsky's Middle of the Night, a play which relocated to Broadway theaters 15 months later; In 1956, Middle of the Night opened on Broadway with Edward G. Robinson and Gena Rowlands, and its success led to a national tour. It was filmed by Columbia Pictures in 1959 with Kim Novak and Fredric March.
Marty and fame
In 1953, Chayefsky wrote Marty, which was premiered on The Philco Television Playhouse, with Rod Steiger and Nancy Marchand. Marty is about a decent, hard-working Bronx butcher, pining for the company of a woman in his life but despairing of ever finding true love in a relationship. Fate pairs him with a plain, shy schoolteacher named Clara whom he rescues from the embarrassment of being abandoned by her blind date in a local dance hall. The production, the actors and Chayefsky's naturalistic dialogue received much critical acclaim and influenced subsequent live television dramas.
Chayefsky was initially uninterested when producer Harold Hecht sought to buy film rights for Marty for Hecht-Hill-Lancaster. Chayefsky, still upset by his treatment years before, demanded creative control, consultation on casting, and the same director as in the TV version, Delbert Mann. Surprisingly, Hecht agreed to all of Chayefsky's demands, and named Chayefsky "associate producer" of the film. Chayefsky then requested and was granted "co-director" status, so that he could take over production if Mann was fired.
The screenplay was little changed from the teleplay, but with Clara's role expanded. Chayefsky was involved in all casting decisions and had a cameo role, playing one of Marty's friends, unseen, in a car. Actress Betsy Blair, playing Clara, faced difficulties because of her affiliation with left-wing causes, and United Artists demanded that she be removed. Chayefsky refused, and her husband Gene Kelly also intervened on her behalf. Blair remained in the cast.
In September 1954, after most of the movie had been filmed, the studio ceased production due to accounting and financial difficulties. Producer Harold Hecht encountered resistance to the Marty project from his partner Burt Lancaster from the beginning, with Lancaster "only tolerating" it. The film had a limited publicity budget. But reviews were glowing, and the film won the Palme d'Or at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Picture, greatly boosting Chayefsky's career.
Late 1950s
After his success with Marty, Chayefsky continued to write for TV and theater as well as films. Chayefsky's The Great American Hoax was broadcast May 15, 1957 during the second season of The 20th Century Fox Hour.
His TV play The Bachelor Party was bought by United Artists and The Catered Affair was bought by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Gore Vidal was hired to write the screenplay by MGM, while Chayefsky wrote the Bachelor Party. Catered Affair did well in Europe but poorly in U.S. theaters, and was not a success.
Bachelor Party was budgeted at $750,000, twice Marty budget, but received far less acclaim and was viewed by United Artists as artistically inferior. The studio chose instead to promote another Hecht-Hill-Lancaster film, Sweet Smell of Success, which the studio believed to be better. Bachelor Party turned out to be a commercial failure, and never made a profit.
Chayefsky wrote a film adaptation of his Broadway play Middle of the Night, originally writing the female lead role for Marilyn Monroe. She passed on the part, which went to Kim Novak. He also commenced work on The Goddess, the story of the rise and fall of a movie star resembling Monroe. The star of The Goddess, Kim Stanley, despised the film and refused to publicize it. He and Stanley clashed during production of the film, in which Chayefsky served as producer as well as screenwriter. Despite her requests, Chayefsky refused to change any aspect of the script. Monroe's husband, Arthur Miller believed that the film was based on his wife's life and protested to Chayefsky. The film received positive reviews, and Chayefsky received an Academy Award nomination for his script. A New York Herald Tribune reviewer called the film "a substantial advance in the work of Chayefsky."
Chayefsky denied for years that the film was based on Monroe, but Chayefsky's biographer Shaun Considine observes that not only was she the prototype but the film "captured her longing and despair" accurately.
In 1958 Chayefsky began adapting Middle of the Night as a film, and he decided not to use the star of the Broadway version, Edward G.Robinson, with whom he had clashed, choosing instead Frederic March. Elizabeth Taylor initially agreed to appear in the female lead, but dropped out. Kim Novak was ultimately cast in the part. The film was chosen as the American entry at the Cannes Film Festival, but reviews were mixed and the film had only a short run in theaters.
The Tenth Man (1959) marked Chayefsky's second Broadway theatrical success, garnering 1960 Tony Award nominations for Best Play, Best Director (Tyrone Guthrie) and Best Scenic Design. Guthrie received another nomination for Chayefsky's Gideon, as did actor Fredric March. Chayefsky's final Broadway theatrical production, a play based on the life of Joseph Stalin, The Passion of Josef D, received unfavorable reviews and ran for only 15 performances.
Although Chayefsky was an early writer for the television medium, he eventually abandoned it, "decrying the lack of interest the networks demonstrated toward quality programming". As a result, during the course of his career, he constantly toyed with the idea of lampooning the television industry, which he succeeded in doing with Network.
The Americanization of Emily
Although Chayefsky wished only to do original screenplays, he was persuaded by producer Martin Ransohoff to adapt William Bradford Huie's 1959 novel that was eventually filmed with the book's title The Americanization of Emily (1964). The novel dealt with interservice rivalries prior to the Normandy landings during World War II, with a love story at the center of the plot. Chayefsky agreed to adapting the novel but only if he could fundamentally change the story. He made the titular character more sophisticated, but refusing to be "Americanized" by accepting material goods.
William Wyler was initially brought in as the director, but his relationship with Chayefsky deteriorated when he sought to change the script. William Holden was initially cast in the male lead, but that led to conflict when he asked that Julie Andrews be replaced by his then-girlfriend, Capucine. James Garner, adept at comedy with sophisticated dialogue but originally slated to play a supporting role, replaced Holden and delivered a critically acclaimed performance while James Coburn took over the part originally meant for Garner. Both James Garner and Julie Andrews always maintained that The Americanization of Emily was their favorite film of their own work. The film opened in August 1964 to superlative reviews but was a box office failure, possibly due to its extremely controversial anti-war stance at the dawn of the Vietnam War. The studio changed the title in the middle of its release, calling it Emily...she's super! to avoid confusing part of the public with a seven-syllable word in the title. The film has since been praised as a "vanguard anti-war film."
1960s 'fallow period'
The failure of Americanization of Emily and Josef D. on Broadway shook Chayefsky's confidence, and was the beginning of a what his biographer Shaun Considine calls a "fallow period." He agreed to do novel adaptations, which he had previously shunned, and was hired to adapt the Richard Jessup novel The Cincinnati Kid. Director Sam Peckinpah rejected the script, and Chayefsky was fired. Peckinpah was replaced by Norman Jewison shortly after the film began production.
Chayefsky worked for a time on adapting Huie's book Three Lives for Mississippi, about the murders of three civil rights workers in 1964, and in 1967 was hired to adapt the Broadway musical Paint Your Wagon. He was fired from the film after producing a script that Alan Jay Lerner, the playwright and producer, felt lacked "a musical structure." Chayefsky had his name removed as screenwriter but remained as adapter.
Comeback with The Hospital
In 1969 and 1970. Chayefsky began to consider a film that would be set among the civil unrest taking place at the time. When his wife Susan received poor care at a hospital, he pitched to United Artists a story based at a hospital. To ensure that he had the same kind of creative control given to playwrights, he formed Simcha Productions, named after the Hebrew version of his given name, Sidney. He then commenced research, reading medical books and visiting hospitals.
The leading character in the film, Dr. Herbert Bock, included many of Chayefsky's personal traits. Bock had been a "boy genius" who felt bitter and that his life was over. One of the monologues of George C. Scott as Bock in the film, in which Bock says he is miserable and considering suicide, was repeated verbatim from a conversation that Chayefsky had with a business associate during that time.
The long speeches written for Bock and other characters by Chayefsky, later praised by critics, met resistance from United Artists executives during the making of the film. The script was described as "too talky" and containing excessive medical terminology. But Chayefsky, as producer, prevailed. He also vetoed the studio's suggestion that Walter Matthau or Burt Lancaster be hired for the lead role, insisting on Scott. Chayefsky worked on the dialogue with Diana Rigg, the female lead, but Scott rejected his input.
After filming, Chayefsky spoke the opening narration after several actors were rejected for the job. It was supposed to be temporary, but became the one that was used in the film. Although some initial reviews were negative, the film received rave reviews from leading critics, and was a box office hit. Chayefsky won an Academy Award for his script, and his career was revived.
Network
Chayefsky believed that television news desensitized viewers to violence and murder, and he was shocked one day when a respected news anchorman "rattled off inanities." He asked his friend, the NBC News anchor John Chancellor, if it was possible for an anchorman to go crazy on the air, and Chancellor replied "Every day." Within a week of that conversation, Chayefsky had written the rough draft of a script, centering on an elderly, disillusioned anchor who announces he will commit suicide on the air. In 1974, a local news anchor, Christine Chubbuck, committed suicide during a broadcast.
Chayefsky researched the project by watching hours of television and consulting with NBC executive David Tebet, who allowed Chayefsky to attend programming meetings. He later conducted research at CBS and met with Walter Cronkite. The completed script reflected his research and his personal view, prevalent at the time, that Arabs were "buying up" U.S. corporations. The "mad as hell" speech was a deeply personal statement reflecting the core of Chayefsky's beliefs during the early 1970s. Chayefsky later called it an easy speech to write, reflecting his view that people had a right to get mad.
The script encountered difficulty because of film industry concerns that it was too tough on television. Ultimately it was decided that the film would be a co-production of MGM and United Artists, with Chayefsky having complete creative control. The deal was announced in July 1975. George C. Scott was offered the role of Max Schumacher but rejected it, and the role went to William Holden. Chayefsky refused requests by UA and MGM to give the film a "softer" ending, feeling that ending with the Howard Beale character assassinated would alienate audiences.
Outside the expected negative reviews from television network film critics, the film was a critical and box office success, winning ten Academy Award nominations, and Chayefsky won his third Academy Award, making him the only three-time solo recipient of a screenwriting Oscar; all the other three-time winners (Francis Ford Coppola, Charles Brackett, Woody Allen, and Billy Wilder) shared at least one of their awards with co-writers. When Peter Finch posthumously won Best Actor, Chayefsky was to accept on his behalf, but he defied the show's producer, William Friedkin, and called Finch's wife Eletha to the stage accept the award.
The film is said to have "presaged the advent of reality television by twenty years" and was a "sardonic satire" of the television industry, dealing with the "dehumanization of modern life."
Altered States and decline
After Network Chayefsky explored an offer from Warren Beatty to write a film based on the life of John Reed and his book Ten Days That Shook the World. He agreed to do research, and spent three months exploring the subject of what eventually became the Beatty film Reds. Negotiations with Beatty's lawyers failed.
In the spring of 1977, Chayefsky began work on a project delving into "man's search of his true self." The genesis of the idea was a joke with his friends Bob Fosse and Herb Gardner. The three cooked up a joke project to remake King Kong, in which Kong becomes a movie star. The comic project got Chayefsky interested in exploring the origins of the human spirit. That evolved into a project updating the theme of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Chayefsky conducted research on genetic regression, speaking to doctors and professors of anthropology and human genetics. He then began a rough outline of a story in which the lead character immerses himself in an isolation tank, and with the aid of hallucinogens regresses to become a prehuman creature. Chayefsky wrote an eighty-seven page treatment and, at the suggestion of Columbia executive Daniel Melnick, he adapted it into a novel
Film rights were bought by Columbia Pictures for nearly $1 million, and with the same creative control and financial terms as for Network. Chayefsky suffered greatly from stress while working on the novel, resulting in a heart attack in 1977. The heart attack resulted in strict dietary and lifestyle restrictions. The novel, titled Altered States, was published by HarperCollins in June 1978 and received mixed reviews. Chayefsky did not promote the book, which he viewed only as a blueprint for the screenplay.
Since his contract gave him creative control, Chayefsky participated in the selection of William Hurt and Blair Brown as the leads. Arthur Penn was initially hired as director, but left after disagreements with Chayefsky. He was replaced by Ken Russell.
Chayefsky made it clear that he would allow no input into the dialogue or narrative, which Russell felt was too "soppy." Russell was confident that he could get rid of Chayefsky, but found that "the monkey on my back was always there and wouldn't let go." Russell was polite and deferential prior to production but after rehearsals began in 1979 "began to treat Paddy as a nonentity" and was "mean and sarcastic," according to the film's producer Howard Gottfried, who called Russell a "duplicitous, mean man."
Chayefsky had the power to fire Russell, but was told by Gottfried that he could only do so if he took over direction himself. He left for New York and continued to monitor production. The actors were not permitted to alter the dialogue. Chayefsky later said that in retaliation the actors were instructed to speak the lines while eating or too fast. Russell stated that the fast pace and overlapping dialogue was Chayefsky's idea.
Upset by the filming of his screenplay, Chayefsky withdrew from the production of Altered States and took his name off the credits, substituting the pseudonym Sidney Aaron.
Personality and characteristics
In his book Mad as Hell: The Making of Network and the Fateful Vision of the Angriest Man in Movies, journalist Dave Itzkoff wrote that the Howard Beale character in Network was a product of Chayefsky's many frustrations. Itzkoff wrote: "Where others avoided conflict, he cultivated it and embraced it, His fury nourished him, making him intense and unpredictable, but also keeping him focused and productive." Itzkoff describes Chayefsky as "intensely troubled, a huge egomaniac and control freak, dispirited about the world, wryly comic, and a both present and absent family man."
In his biography of Chayefsky's friend Bob Fosse, drama critic Martin Gottfried said Chayefsky was compact and burly in the bulky way of a schoolyard athlete, with thick dark hair and a bent nose that could pass for a streetfighter's. He was a grown-up with one foot in the boys' clubs of his city youth, a street snob who would not allow the loss of his nostalgia. He was an intellectual competitor, always spoiling for a political argument or a philosophical argument, or any exchange over any issue, changing sides for the fun of the fray. A liberal, he was annoyed by liberals; a proud Jew, he wouldn't let anyone call him a "Jewish writer".In his biography Mad as Hell, author Shaun Considine says that Chayefsky had a "dual personality". Chayefsky's "Paddy" persona had "character, caprice; it appealed to his sense of swagger" and gave him confidence to stand up for his rights. "Sidney" was the "silent creator" who had the talent and genius.
Chayefsky was under psychoanalysis for years, beginning in the late 1950s, to deal with his volatile behavior and rage, which at times was difficult to control.
Political activism
Opposition to McCarthyism
Early in his career, Chayefsky was an opponent of McCarthyism. He signed a telegram signed by other writers and performers protesting federal inaction after a concert featuring Paul Robeson in Peekskill, New York, prompted violence in which 150 persons were injured. As a result, his name appeared in the anti-Communist vigilante publication The Firing Line, published by the American Legion. Although Chayefsky feared being subpoeanaed and his career ruined, that never happened. Actress Betsy Blair described Chayefsky as a Social Democrat and as an anti-Marxist.
He opposed the Vietnam War as a "stupid and utterly unnecessary war whose principal victim would be the United States" and sent a letter to President Richard Nixon decrying the My Lai Massacre, saying Americans were in danger of turning into "a nation of bad Germans."
Soviet Jews and Israel
In the 1970s Chayefsky worked for the cause of Soviet Jews, and in 1971 went to Brussels as part of an American delegation to the International Conference on Soviet Jewry. Believing that the conference was insufficiently aggressive, he founded a new activist group in New York, Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East. Co-founders included Colleen Dewhurst, Frank Gervasi, Leon Uris, Gerold Frank and Elie Wiesel. Chayefsky believed that "Zionists" was a code word for "Jews" by Marxist anti-Semites.
Chayefsky was increasingly interested in Israel at that time. In an interview with Women's Wear Daily in 1971, he said that he believed that Jews around the world were in imminent danger of genocide. Journalist Dave Itzkoff writes that in the 1970s his views on Israel possessed a "more aggressive and admittedly paranoid streak." He believed that anti-Semitism was rife in the U.S., especially in the New Left, and once physically confronted a heckler who used an anti-Semitic slur during a David Steinberg performance. While filming The Hospital, Chayefsky commenced work on a film project called "The Habbakuk Conspiracy," which he described as a "study of life within an Arab guerrilla cell on the West Bank of the Jordan." The project was sold to United Artists but never filmed, which resulted in lingering resentment toward the studio.
Chayefsky composed, without credit, pro-Israel ads for the Anti-Defamation League at the time of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. In the late 1970s Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East placed full-page newspaper ads written by Chayefsky attacking the Palestine Liberation Organization for the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics.
He rejected Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave for the role of the female lead in Network because of their "anti-Israel leanings," even though Redgrave was director Sidney Lumet's first choice. Redgrave, accepting the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Julia, made a speech denouncing "Zionist hoodlums." Chayefsky, appearing later, upbraided Redgrave and said "a simple 'Thank you' would have sufficed." The Redgrave and Chayefsky remarks prompted controversy.
Family
Chayefsky met his future wife Susan Sackler during his 1940s stay in Hollywood. The couple married in February 1949. Their son Dan was born in 1955.
Chayefsky's relationship with his wife was strained for much of their marriage, and she became withdrawn and unwilling to appear with him as he became more prominent. Gwen Verdon, wife of his friend Bob Fosse, only saw Susan Chayefsky five times in her life.
Susan Chayefsky suffered from muscular dystrophy, and Dan Chayefsky described himself to author Dave Itzkoff as "a self-destructive teen who brought more pressure to the family home." Despite an alleged affair with Kim Novak, which resulted in his asking his wife for a divorce, Paddy Chayefsky remained married to Susan Chayefsky until his death, and sought her opinion on his screenplays, including Network. She died in 2000.
Death
Chayefsky contracted pleurisy in 1980 and again in 1981. Tests revealed cancer, but he refused surgery out of fear that surgeons would "cut me up because of that movie I wrote about them," referring to The Hospital. He opted for chemotherapy. He died in a New York hospital on August 1, 1981, aged 58, and was interred in the Sharon Gardens Division of Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, Westchester County, New York.
Longtime friend Bob Fosse performed a tap dance at the funeral, as part of a deal he and Chayefsky had made when Fosse was in the hospital for open-heart surgery. If Fosse died first, Chayefsky promised to deliver a tedious eulogy or Fosse would dance at Chayefsky's memorial if he were the one to die first. His personal papers are at the Wisconsin Historical Society and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Billy Rose Theatre Division.
Filmography
The True Glory (1945) (uncredited)
As Young as You Feel (1951) (story)
Marty (1955)
The Catered Affair (1956)
The Bachelor Party (1957)
The Goddess (1958)
Middle of the Night (1959)
The Americanization of Emily (1964)
Paint Your Wagon (1969) (adaptation)
The Hospital (1971)
Network (1976)
Altered States (1980) (as "Sidney Aaron")
Television and stage plays
Television (selection)
1950–1955 Danger
1951–1952 Manhunt
1951–1960 Goodyear Playhouse
1952–1954 Philco Television Playhouse
1952 Holiday Song
1952 The Reluctant Citizen
1953 Printer's Measure
1953 Marty
1953 The Big Deal
1953 The Bachelor Party
1953 The Sixth Year
1953 Catch My Boy On Sunday
1954 The Mother
1954 Middle of the Night
1955 The Catered Affair
1956 The Great American Hoax
Stage
No T.O. for Love (1945)
Middle of the Night (1956)
The Tenth Man (1959)
Gideon (1961)
The Passion of Josef D. (1964)
The Latent Heterosexual (originally titled The Accountant's Tale or The Case of the Latent Heterosexual) (1968)
Novels
Altered States: A Novel (1978)
Academy Awards
References
Bibliography
External links
The Angry Man WNYC: On The Media audio profile of Paddy Chayefsky, October 27, 2006
Paddy Chayefsky papers at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Paddy Chayefsky Papers at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research.
Museum of Broadcast Communications: Paddy Chayefsky
1923 births
1981 deaths
United States Army personnel of World War II
American male screenwriters
Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners
City College of New York alumni
DeWitt Clinton High School alumni
Fordham University alumni
People from the Bronx
Jewish American dramatists and playwrights
Burials at Kensico Cemetery
Jewish American military personnel
Jewish American screenwriters
American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Best Screenplay Golden Globe winners
Best Screenplay BAFTA Award winners
Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners
20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
American male dramatists and playwrights
20th-century American male writers
Screenwriters from New York (state)
20th-century American screenwriters
Landmine victims
Military personnel from New York City
United States Army soldiers
20th-century American Jews
American Jews | true | [
"\"Holiday\" is a song by English rapper Dizzee Rascal, released as the third single from his fourth studio album, Tongue n' Cheek. It was produced by Calvin Harris, with chorus vocals by R&B singer Chrome. Harris originally wrote the song for girl group, The Saturdays, but it was rejected. The song was released digitally on 23 August 2009, with a physical copy that followed on 31 August 2009. The single debuted in the UK at number-one upon initial release, bringing Dizzee's total of number-one singles to three (four including charity singles), as well as marking the fourth top ten hit and twelfth top forty hit from the rapper.\n\nCritical reception\nVicki of BBC Chart Blog gave the song a positive review stating:\n\n\"'Holiday' is a totally cheesy but totally harmless, fun song. It's designed to give people that are on holiday a great excuse to dance madly and us folks back home in Britain who need that holiday an even greater one. This song hasn't got the explosive feel that 'Bonkers' has and thus it doesn't have the same sense of longevity, but what it does have is a very now feel (not least because this song wouldn't have worked so well in November...)\n\nLooking out the window now as I reach the end of this review, I'm amazed to see it has stopped raining and that the sun is trying to peep through the clouds. But then, maybe I shouldn't be that surprised – after all, this has officially been Dizzee's summer and this song is a little ray of sunshine.\" The song was awarded a 4 star.\n\nTrack listing\nCD single\n \"Holiday\" – 3:41\n \"Holiday\" – 6:02\n \"Holiday\" – 3:25\n \"Live, Large N' In Charge\" – 3:51\n\n12\" single\n \"Holiday\" \n \"Holiday\" \n \"Live, Large N' In Charge\"\n \"Holiday\" \n \"Holiday\" \n\niTunes Australian single\n \"Holiday\" \n \"Holiday\" \n \"Live Large 'N' In Charge\"\n\niTunes UK EP\n \"Holiday\" \n \"Holiday\" \n \"Holiday\" \n \"Live Large 'N' In Charge\"\n \"Holiday\"\n\nCredits and personnel\nWriters: Dylan Mills, Calvin Harris, Nick Detnon\nProducer: Calvin Harris\nInstruments performed and arranged by Calvin Harris\nMixing: Calvin Harris\nLyrics written and performed by Dizzee Rascal\nChorus vocals performed by Chrome\nBacking vocals performed by The Doctor \nVocals recorded and produced by Nick Cage\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nCertifications\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\n2009 singles\nDizzee Rascal songs\nUK Singles Chart number-one singles\n2009 songs\nSongs written by Calvin Harris\nSongs written by Dizzee Rascal",
"\"Hip Hop Holiday\" is the debut single from New Zealand hip hop group 3 The Hard Way. It reached #1 in the New Zealand singles chart and #17 in Australia. A mid-song reggae breakdown was provided by Bobbylon of the Hallelujah Picassos.\n\nBackground \n\nThe song was built around a substantial interpolation of \"Dreadlock Holiday\" by 10cc. However, the rights were never cleared, resulting in the song being officially credited to \"Dreadlock Holiday\" songwriters Eric Stewart, Graham Gouldman, with all royalties going to the pair.\n\nThe success of the song in New Zealand and Australia led to extensive touring of both countries and the recording and release of band's debut album, Old School Prankstas\n\n\"Hip Hop Holiday\" was nominated for Single of the Year at the 1995 New Zealand Music Awards.\n\nMusic video \n\nA music video was made for \"Hip Hop Holiday\", directed by Clinton Phillips. The video was filmed in Auckland, New Zealand and features the group driving around the city in a convertible and hosting a house party in suburban Auckland.\n\nTrack listings\n\nCD single (DG016, D11633)\n \"Hip Hop Holiday\" (Radio Mix) - feat Bobbylon\n \"Get Down\" (First Up Mix)\t\t\n \"Hip Hop Holiday\" (Freestyle Mix)\t\t\n \"Get Down\" (Extended Mix)\n\nCharts\n\n\"Hip Hop Holiday\" was the first hip hop song by a New Zealand artist to reach #1 in the New Zealand charts. The song was also certified gold in New Zealand.\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\n \"Hip Hop Holiday\" at Discogs\n \"Hip Hop Holiday\" music video\n\nNumber-one singles in New Zealand\n1994 debut singles\nSongs written by Eric Stewart\nSongs written by Graham Gouldman\n1994 songs"
] |
[
"Paddy Chayefsky",
"Television",
"When did Paddy begin television?",
"1949",
"What was the name of the show?",
"1949 adaptation of Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run? for Philco.",
"Did he write this show, or act?",
"first script to be telecast",
"What other scripts did he write?",
"he wrote Holiday Song,",
"What year was Holiday song written?",
"telecast in 1952 and also in 1954."
] | C_462557c8eedd4281a41bd27c205c6da5_0 | Was any of his scripts written successful? | 6 | Was any of Paddy Chayefsky's scripts written successful? | Paddy Chayefsky | He moved into television with scripts for Danger, The Gulf Playhouse and Manhunt. Philco Television Playhouse producer Fred Coe saw the Danger and Manhunt episodes and enlisted Chayefsky to adapt the story It Happened on the Brooklyn Subway about a photographer on a New York subway train who reunites a concentration camp survivor with his long-lost wife. Chayefsky's first script to be telecast was a 1949 adaptation of Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run? for Philco. Since he had always wanted to use a synagogue as backdrop, he wrote Holiday Song, telecast in 1952 and also in 1954. He submitted more work to Philco, including Printer's Measure, The Bachelor Party (1953) and The Big Deal (1953). One of these teleplays, Mother (April 4, 1954), received a new production October 24, 1994 on Great Performances with Anne Bancroft in the title role. Curiously, original teleplays from the 1950s are almost never revived for new TV productions, so the 1994 production of Mother was a conspicuous rarity. In 1953, Chayefsky wrote Marty, which was premiered on The Philco Television Playhouse, with Rod Steiger and Nancy Marchand. Marty is about a decent, hard-working Bronx butcher, pining for the company of a woman in his life but despairing of ever finding true love in a relationship. Fate pairs him with a plain, shy schoolteacher named Clara whom he rescues from the embarrassment of being abandoned by her blind date in a local dance hall. The production, the actors and Chayefsky's naturalistic dialogue received much critical acclaim and influenced subsequent live television dramas. Chayefsky had a unique clause in his Marty contract that stated that only he could write the screenplay, which he did for the 1955 movie. Chayefsky's The Great American Hoax was broadcast May 15, 1957 during the second season of The 20th Century Fox Hour. This was actually a rewrite of his earlier Fox film, As Young as You Feel (1951) with Monty Woolley and Marilyn Monroe. The Great American Hoax was shown on the FX channel after Fox restored some The 20th Century Fox Hour episodes and telecast them under the new title Fox Hour of Stars beginning in 2002. CANNOTANSWER | One of these teleplays, Mother (April 4, 1954), received a new production October 24, 1994 on Great Performances with Anne Bancroft in the title role. | Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky (January 29, 1923 – August 1, 1981) was an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for writing both adapted and original screenplays.
He was one of the most renowned dramatists of the Golden Age of Television. His intimate, realistic scripts provided a naturalistic style of television drama for the 1950s, dramatizing the lives of ordinary Americans. Martin Gottfried wrote in All His Jazz that Chayefsky was "the most successful graduate of television's slice of life school of naturalism."
Following his critically acclaimed teleplays, Chayefsky became a noted playwright and novelist. As a screenwriter, he received three Academy Awards for Marty (1955), The Hospital (1971) and Network (1976). The movie Marty was based on his own television drama about two lonely people finding love. Network was a satire of the television industry and The Hospital was also satiric. Film historian David Thomson called The Hospital "years ahead of its time. […] Few films capture the disaster of America's self-destructive idealism so well." His screenplay for Network is often regarded as his masterpiece, and has been hailed as "the kind of literate, darkly funny and breathtakingly prescient material that prompts many to claim it as the greatest screenplay of the 20th century."
Chayefsky's early stories were frequently influenced by the author's childhood in The Bronx. Chayefsky was part of the inaugural class of inductees into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Television Hall of Fame. He received this honor three years after his death, in 1984.
Early life
Sidney Chayefsky was born in the Bronx, New York City to Russian-Jewish immigrants Harry and Gussie (Stuchevsky) Chayefsky. Harry Chayefsky's father served for twenty-five years in the Russian army so the family was allowed to live in Moscow, while Gussie Stuchevsky lived in a village near Odessa. Harry and Gussie emigrated to the US in 1907 and 1909 respectively.
Harry Chayefsky worked for a New Jersey milk distribution company in which he eventually took a controlling interest and renamed Dellwood Dairies. The family lived in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and Mount Vernon, New York, moving temporarily to Bailey Avenue in the West Bronx at the time of Sidney Chayefsky's birth while a larger house in Mount Vernon was being completed. He had two older brothers, William and Winn.
As a toddler Chayefsky showed signs of being gifted, and could "speak intelligently" at two and a half. His father suffered a financial reversal during the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and the family moved back to the Bronx. Chayefsky attended a public elementary school. As a boy, Chayefsky was noted for his verbal ability, which won him friends. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School, where he served as editor of the school's literary magazine, "The Magpie." He graduated from Clinton in 1939 at age 16 and attended the City College of New York, graduating with a degree in social sciences in 1943. While at City College he played for the semi-professional football team Kingsbridge Trojans. He studied languages at Fordham University during his Army service.
Military service
In 1943, two weeks before his graduation from City College, Chayefsky was drafted into the United States Army, and served in combat in Europe. While in the Army he adopted the nickname "Paddy." The nickname was given spontaneously when he was awakened at dawn for kitchen duty. Although actually Jewish, he asked to be excused to attend Mass. "Sure you do, Paddy," said the officer, and the name stuck.
Chayefsky was wounded by a land mine while serving with the 104th Infantry Division in the European Theatre near Aachen, Germany. He was awarded the Purple Heart. The wound left him badly scarred, contributing to his shyness around women. While recovering from his injuries in the Army Hospital near Cirencester, England, he wrote the book and lyrics to a musical comedy, No T.O. for Love. First produced in 1945 by the Special Services Unit, the show toured European Army bases for two years.
The London opening of No T.O. for Love at the Scala Theatre in the West End was the beginning of Chayefsky's theatrical career. During the London production of this musical, Chayefsky encountered Joshua Logan, a future collaborator, and Garson Kanin, who invited Chayefsky to collaborate with him on a documentary of the Allied invasion, The True Glory.
Career
1940s
Returning to the United States, Chayefsky worked in his uncle's print shop, Regal Press, an experience which provided a background for his later teleplay, Printer's Measure (1953), as well as his story for the movie As Young as You Feel (1951). Kanin enabled Chayefsky to spend time working on his second play, Put Them All Together (later known as M is for Mother), but it was never produced. Producers Mike Gordon and Jerry Bressler gave him a junior writer's contract. He wrote a story, The Great American Hoax, which sold to Good Housekeeping but was never published.
Chayefsky went to Hollywood in 1947 with the aim of becoming a screenwriter. His friends Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon found him a job in the accounting office of Universal Pictures. He studied acting at the Actor's Lab and Kanin got him a bit part in the film A Double Life. He returned to New York, submitted scripts, and was hired as an apprentice scriptwriter by Universal. His script outlines were not accepted and he was fired after six weeks. After returning to New York, Chayefsky wrote the outline for a play that he submitted to the Wiilliam Morris Agency. The agency, treating it as a novella, submitted it to Good Housekeeping magazine. Movie rights were purchased by Twentieth Century Fox, and Chayefsky was hired to write the script, and he returned to Hollywood in 1948. But Chayefsky was discouraged by the studio system, which involved rewrites and relegated writers to inferior roles, so he quit and moved back to New York, vowing not to return.
During the late 1940s, he began working full-time on short stories and radio scripts, and during that period, he was a gagwriter for radio host Robert Q. Lewis. Chayefsky later recalled, "I sold some plays to men who had an uncanny ability not to raise money."
Early 1950s
During 1951–52, Chayefsky wrote adaptations for radio's Theater Guild on the Air: The Meanest Man in the World (with James Stewart), Cavalcade of America, Tommy (with Van Heflin and Ruth Gordon) and Over 21 (with Wally Cox).
His play The Man Who Made the Mountain Shake was noticed by Elia Kazan, and his wife, Molly Kazan, helped Chayefsky with revisions. It was retitled Fifth From Garibaldi but was never produced. In 1951, the movie As Young as You Feel was adapted from a Chayefsky story.
He moved into television with scripts for Danger, The Gulf Playhouse and Manhunt. Philco Television Playhouse producer Fred Coe saw the Danger and Manhunt episodes and enlisted Chayefsky to adapt the story It Happened on the Brooklyn Subway about a photographer on a New York City Subway train who reunites a concentration camp survivor with his long-lost wife. Chayefsky's first script to be telecast was a 1949 adaptation of Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run? for Philco.
Since he had always wanted to use a synagogue as backdrop, he wrote Holiday Song, telecast in 1952 and also in 1954. He submitted more work to Philco, including Printer's Measure, The Bachelor Party (1953) and The Big Deal (1953).
The seventh season of Philco Television Playhouse began September 19, 1954 with E. G. Marshall and Eva Marie Saint in Chayefsky's Middle of the Night, a play which relocated to Broadway theaters 15 months later; In 1956, Middle of the Night opened on Broadway with Edward G. Robinson and Gena Rowlands, and its success led to a national tour. It was filmed by Columbia Pictures in 1959 with Kim Novak and Fredric March.
Marty and fame
In 1953, Chayefsky wrote Marty, which was premiered on The Philco Television Playhouse, with Rod Steiger and Nancy Marchand. Marty is about a decent, hard-working Bronx butcher, pining for the company of a woman in his life but despairing of ever finding true love in a relationship. Fate pairs him with a plain, shy schoolteacher named Clara whom he rescues from the embarrassment of being abandoned by her blind date in a local dance hall. The production, the actors and Chayefsky's naturalistic dialogue received much critical acclaim and influenced subsequent live television dramas.
Chayefsky was initially uninterested when producer Harold Hecht sought to buy film rights for Marty for Hecht-Hill-Lancaster. Chayefsky, still upset by his treatment years before, demanded creative control, consultation on casting, and the same director as in the TV version, Delbert Mann. Surprisingly, Hecht agreed to all of Chayefsky's demands, and named Chayefsky "associate producer" of the film. Chayefsky then requested and was granted "co-director" status, so that he could take over production if Mann was fired.
The screenplay was little changed from the teleplay, but with Clara's role expanded. Chayefsky was involved in all casting decisions and had a cameo role, playing one of Marty's friends, unseen, in a car. Actress Betsy Blair, playing Clara, faced difficulties because of her affiliation with left-wing causes, and United Artists demanded that she be removed. Chayefsky refused, and her husband Gene Kelly also intervened on her behalf. Blair remained in the cast.
In September 1954, after most of the movie had been filmed, the studio ceased production due to accounting and financial difficulties. Producer Harold Hecht encountered resistance to the Marty project from his partner Burt Lancaster from the beginning, with Lancaster "only tolerating" it. The film had a limited publicity budget. But reviews were glowing, and the film won the Palme d'Or at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Picture, greatly boosting Chayefsky's career.
Late 1950s
After his success with Marty, Chayefsky continued to write for TV and theater as well as films. Chayefsky's The Great American Hoax was broadcast May 15, 1957 during the second season of The 20th Century Fox Hour.
His TV play The Bachelor Party was bought by United Artists and The Catered Affair was bought by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Gore Vidal was hired to write the screenplay by MGM, while Chayefsky wrote the Bachelor Party. Catered Affair did well in Europe but poorly in U.S. theaters, and was not a success.
Bachelor Party was budgeted at $750,000, twice Marty budget, but received far less acclaim and was viewed by United Artists as artistically inferior. The studio chose instead to promote another Hecht-Hill-Lancaster film, Sweet Smell of Success, which the studio believed to be better. Bachelor Party turned out to be a commercial failure, and never made a profit.
Chayefsky wrote a film adaptation of his Broadway play Middle of the Night, originally writing the female lead role for Marilyn Monroe. She passed on the part, which went to Kim Novak. He also commenced work on The Goddess, the story of the rise and fall of a movie star resembling Monroe. The star of The Goddess, Kim Stanley, despised the film and refused to publicize it. He and Stanley clashed during production of the film, in which Chayefsky served as producer as well as screenwriter. Despite her requests, Chayefsky refused to change any aspect of the script. Monroe's husband, Arthur Miller believed that the film was based on his wife's life and protested to Chayefsky. The film received positive reviews, and Chayefsky received an Academy Award nomination for his script. A New York Herald Tribune reviewer called the film "a substantial advance in the work of Chayefsky."
Chayefsky denied for years that the film was based on Monroe, but Chayefsky's biographer Shaun Considine observes that not only was she the prototype but the film "captured her longing and despair" accurately.
In 1958 Chayefsky began adapting Middle of the Night as a film, and he decided not to use the star of the Broadway version, Edward G.Robinson, with whom he had clashed, choosing instead Frederic March. Elizabeth Taylor initially agreed to appear in the female lead, but dropped out. Kim Novak was ultimately cast in the part. The film was chosen as the American entry at the Cannes Film Festival, but reviews were mixed and the film had only a short run in theaters.
The Tenth Man (1959) marked Chayefsky's second Broadway theatrical success, garnering 1960 Tony Award nominations for Best Play, Best Director (Tyrone Guthrie) and Best Scenic Design. Guthrie received another nomination for Chayefsky's Gideon, as did actor Fredric March. Chayefsky's final Broadway theatrical production, a play based on the life of Joseph Stalin, The Passion of Josef D, received unfavorable reviews and ran for only 15 performances.
Although Chayefsky was an early writer for the television medium, he eventually abandoned it, "decrying the lack of interest the networks demonstrated toward quality programming". As a result, during the course of his career, he constantly toyed with the idea of lampooning the television industry, which he succeeded in doing with Network.
The Americanization of Emily
Although Chayefsky wished only to do original screenplays, he was persuaded by producer Martin Ransohoff to adapt William Bradford Huie's 1959 novel that was eventually filmed with the book's title The Americanization of Emily (1964). The novel dealt with interservice rivalries prior to the Normandy landings during World War II, with a love story at the center of the plot. Chayefsky agreed to adapting the novel but only if he could fundamentally change the story. He made the titular character more sophisticated, but refusing to be "Americanized" by accepting material goods.
William Wyler was initially brought in as the director, but his relationship with Chayefsky deteriorated when he sought to change the script. William Holden was initially cast in the male lead, but that led to conflict when he asked that Julie Andrews be replaced by his then-girlfriend, Capucine. James Garner, adept at comedy with sophisticated dialogue but originally slated to play a supporting role, replaced Holden and delivered a critically acclaimed performance while James Coburn took over the part originally meant for Garner. Both James Garner and Julie Andrews always maintained that The Americanization of Emily was their favorite film of their own work. The film opened in August 1964 to superlative reviews but was a box office failure, possibly due to its extremely controversial anti-war stance at the dawn of the Vietnam War. The studio changed the title in the middle of its release, calling it Emily...she's super! to avoid confusing part of the public with a seven-syllable word in the title. The film has since been praised as a "vanguard anti-war film."
1960s 'fallow period'
The failure of Americanization of Emily and Josef D. on Broadway shook Chayefsky's confidence, and was the beginning of a what his biographer Shaun Considine calls a "fallow period." He agreed to do novel adaptations, which he had previously shunned, and was hired to adapt the Richard Jessup novel The Cincinnati Kid. Director Sam Peckinpah rejected the script, and Chayefsky was fired. Peckinpah was replaced by Norman Jewison shortly after the film began production.
Chayefsky worked for a time on adapting Huie's book Three Lives for Mississippi, about the murders of three civil rights workers in 1964, and in 1967 was hired to adapt the Broadway musical Paint Your Wagon. He was fired from the film after producing a script that Alan Jay Lerner, the playwright and producer, felt lacked "a musical structure." Chayefsky had his name removed as screenwriter but remained as adapter.
Comeback with The Hospital
In 1969 and 1970. Chayefsky began to consider a film that would be set among the civil unrest taking place at the time. When his wife Susan received poor care at a hospital, he pitched to United Artists a story based at a hospital. To ensure that he had the same kind of creative control given to playwrights, he formed Simcha Productions, named after the Hebrew version of his given name, Sidney. He then commenced research, reading medical books and visiting hospitals.
The leading character in the film, Dr. Herbert Bock, included many of Chayefsky's personal traits. Bock had been a "boy genius" who felt bitter and that his life was over. One of the monologues of George C. Scott as Bock in the film, in which Bock says he is miserable and considering suicide, was repeated verbatim from a conversation that Chayefsky had with a business associate during that time.
The long speeches written for Bock and other characters by Chayefsky, later praised by critics, met resistance from United Artists executives during the making of the film. The script was described as "too talky" and containing excessive medical terminology. But Chayefsky, as producer, prevailed. He also vetoed the studio's suggestion that Walter Matthau or Burt Lancaster be hired for the lead role, insisting on Scott. Chayefsky worked on the dialogue with Diana Rigg, the female lead, but Scott rejected his input.
After filming, Chayefsky spoke the opening narration after several actors were rejected for the job. It was supposed to be temporary, but became the one that was used in the film. Although some initial reviews were negative, the film received rave reviews from leading critics, and was a box office hit. Chayefsky won an Academy Award for his script, and his career was revived.
Network
Chayefsky believed that television news desensitized viewers to violence and murder, and he was shocked one day when a respected news anchorman "rattled off inanities." He asked his friend, the NBC News anchor John Chancellor, if it was possible for an anchorman to go crazy on the air, and Chancellor replied "Every day." Within a week of that conversation, Chayefsky had written the rough draft of a script, centering on an elderly, disillusioned anchor who announces he will commit suicide on the air. In 1974, a local news anchor, Christine Chubbuck, committed suicide during a broadcast.
Chayefsky researched the project by watching hours of television and consulting with NBC executive David Tebet, who allowed Chayefsky to attend programming meetings. He later conducted research at CBS and met with Walter Cronkite. The completed script reflected his research and his personal view, prevalent at the time, that Arabs were "buying up" U.S. corporations. The "mad as hell" speech was a deeply personal statement reflecting the core of Chayefsky's beliefs during the early 1970s. Chayefsky later called it an easy speech to write, reflecting his view that people had a right to get mad.
The script encountered difficulty because of film industry concerns that it was too tough on television. Ultimately it was decided that the film would be a co-production of MGM and United Artists, with Chayefsky having complete creative control. The deal was announced in July 1975. George C. Scott was offered the role of Max Schumacher but rejected it, and the role went to William Holden. Chayefsky refused requests by UA and MGM to give the film a "softer" ending, feeling that ending with the Howard Beale character assassinated would alienate audiences.
Outside the expected negative reviews from television network film critics, the film was a critical and box office success, winning ten Academy Award nominations, and Chayefsky won his third Academy Award, making him the only three-time solo recipient of a screenwriting Oscar; all the other three-time winners (Francis Ford Coppola, Charles Brackett, Woody Allen, and Billy Wilder) shared at least one of their awards with co-writers. When Peter Finch posthumously won Best Actor, Chayefsky was to accept on his behalf, but he defied the show's producer, William Friedkin, and called Finch's wife Eletha to the stage accept the award.
The film is said to have "presaged the advent of reality television by twenty years" and was a "sardonic satire" of the television industry, dealing with the "dehumanization of modern life."
Altered States and decline
After Network Chayefsky explored an offer from Warren Beatty to write a film based on the life of John Reed and his book Ten Days That Shook the World. He agreed to do research, and spent three months exploring the subject of what eventually became the Beatty film Reds. Negotiations with Beatty's lawyers failed.
In the spring of 1977, Chayefsky began work on a project delving into "man's search of his true self." The genesis of the idea was a joke with his friends Bob Fosse and Herb Gardner. The three cooked up a joke project to remake King Kong, in which Kong becomes a movie star. The comic project got Chayefsky interested in exploring the origins of the human spirit. That evolved into a project updating the theme of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Chayefsky conducted research on genetic regression, speaking to doctors and professors of anthropology and human genetics. He then began a rough outline of a story in which the lead character immerses himself in an isolation tank, and with the aid of hallucinogens regresses to become a prehuman creature. Chayefsky wrote an eighty-seven page treatment and, at the suggestion of Columbia executive Daniel Melnick, he adapted it into a novel
Film rights were bought by Columbia Pictures for nearly $1 million, and with the same creative control and financial terms as for Network. Chayefsky suffered greatly from stress while working on the novel, resulting in a heart attack in 1977. The heart attack resulted in strict dietary and lifestyle restrictions. The novel, titled Altered States, was published by HarperCollins in June 1978 and received mixed reviews. Chayefsky did not promote the book, which he viewed only as a blueprint for the screenplay.
Since his contract gave him creative control, Chayefsky participated in the selection of William Hurt and Blair Brown as the leads. Arthur Penn was initially hired as director, but left after disagreements with Chayefsky. He was replaced by Ken Russell.
Chayefsky made it clear that he would allow no input into the dialogue or narrative, which Russell felt was too "soppy." Russell was confident that he could get rid of Chayefsky, but found that "the monkey on my back was always there and wouldn't let go." Russell was polite and deferential prior to production but after rehearsals began in 1979 "began to treat Paddy as a nonentity" and was "mean and sarcastic," according to the film's producer Howard Gottfried, who called Russell a "duplicitous, mean man."
Chayefsky had the power to fire Russell, but was told by Gottfried that he could only do so if he took over direction himself. He left for New York and continued to monitor production. The actors were not permitted to alter the dialogue. Chayefsky later said that in retaliation the actors were instructed to speak the lines while eating or too fast. Russell stated that the fast pace and overlapping dialogue was Chayefsky's idea.
Upset by the filming of his screenplay, Chayefsky withdrew from the production of Altered States and took his name off the credits, substituting the pseudonym Sidney Aaron.
Personality and characteristics
In his book Mad as Hell: The Making of Network and the Fateful Vision of the Angriest Man in Movies, journalist Dave Itzkoff wrote that the Howard Beale character in Network was a product of Chayefsky's many frustrations. Itzkoff wrote: "Where others avoided conflict, he cultivated it and embraced it, His fury nourished him, making him intense and unpredictable, but also keeping him focused and productive." Itzkoff describes Chayefsky as "intensely troubled, a huge egomaniac and control freak, dispirited about the world, wryly comic, and a both present and absent family man."
In his biography of Chayefsky's friend Bob Fosse, drama critic Martin Gottfried said Chayefsky was compact and burly in the bulky way of a schoolyard athlete, with thick dark hair and a bent nose that could pass for a streetfighter's. He was a grown-up with one foot in the boys' clubs of his city youth, a street snob who would not allow the loss of his nostalgia. He was an intellectual competitor, always spoiling for a political argument or a philosophical argument, or any exchange over any issue, changing sides for the fun of the fray. A liberal, he was annoyed by liberals; a proud Jew, he wouldn't let anyone call him a "Jewish writer".In his biography Mad as Hell, author Shaun Considine says that Chayefsky had a "dual personality". Chayefsky's "Paddy" persona had "character, caprice; it appealed to his sense of swagger" and gave him confidence to stand up for his rights. "Sidney" was the "silent creator" who had the talent and genius.
Chayefsky was under psychoanalysis for years, beginning in the late 1950s, to deal with his volatile behavior and rage, which at times was difficult to control.
Political activism
Opposition to McCarthyism
Early in his career, Chayefsky was an opponent of McCarthyism. He signed a telegram signed by other writers and performers protesting federal inaction after a concert featuring Paul Robeson in Peekskill, New York, prompted violence in which 150 persons were injured. As a result, his name appeared in the anti-Communist vigilante publication The Firing Line, published by the American Legion. Although Chayefsky feared being subpoeanaed and his career ruined, that never happened. Actress Betsy Blair described Chayefsky as a Social Democrat and as an anti-Marxist.
He opposed the Vietnam War as a "stupid and utterly unnecessary war whose principal victim would be the United States" and sent a letter to President Richard Nixon decrying the My Lai Massacre, saying Americans were in danger of turning into "a nation of bad Germans."
Soviet Jews and Israel
In the 1970s Chayefsky worked for the cause of Soviet Jews, and in 1971 went to Brussels as part of an American delegation to the International Conference on Soviet Jewry. Believing that the conference was insufficiently aggressive, he founded a new activist group in New York, Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East. Co-founders included Colleen Dewhurst, Frank Gervasi, Leon Uris, Gerold Frank and Elie Wiesel. Chayefsky believed that "Zionists" was a code word for "Jews" by Marxist anti-Semites.
Chayefsky was increasingly interested in Israel at that time. In an interview with Women's Wear Daily in 1971, he said that he believed that Jews around the world were in imminent danger of genocide. Journalist Dave Itzkoff writes that in the 1970s his views on Israel possessed a "more aggressive and admittedly paranoid streak." He believed that anti-Semitism was rife in the U.S., especially in the New Left, and once physically confronted a heckler who used an anti-Semitic slur during a David Steinberg performance. While filming The Hospital, Chayefsky commenced work on a film project called "The Habbakuk Conspiracy," which he described as a "study of life within an Arab guerrilla cell on the West Bank of the Jordan." The project was sold to United Artists but never filmed, which resulted in lingering resentment toward the studio.
Chayefsky composed, without credit, pro-Israel ads for the Anti-Defamation League at the time of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. In the late 1970s Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East placed full-page newspaper ads written by Chayefsky attacking the Palestine Liberation Organization for the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics.
He rejected Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave for the role of the female lead in Network because of their "anti-Israel leanings," even though Redgrave was director Sidney Lumet's first choice. Redgrave, accepting the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Julia, made a speech denouncing "Zionist hoodlums." Chayefsky, appearing later, upbraided Redgrave and said "a simple 'Thank you' would have sufficed." The Redgrave and Chayefsky remarks prompted controversy.
Family
Chayefsky met his future wife Susan Sackler during his 1940s stay in Hollywood. The couple married in February 1949. Their son Dan was born in 1955.
Chayefsky's relationship with his wife was strained for much of their marriage, and she became withdrawn and unwilling to appear with him as he became more prominent. Gwen Verdon, wife of his friend Bob Fosse, only saw Susan Chayefsky five times in her life.
Susan Chayefsky suffered from muscular dystrophy, and Dan Chayefsky described himself to author Dave Itzkoff as "a self-destructive teen who brought more pressure to the family home." Despite an alleged affair with Kim Novak, which resulted in his asking his wife for a divorce, Paddy Chayefsky remained married to Susan Chayefsky until his death, and sought her opinion on his screenplays, including Network. She died in 2000.
Death
Chayefsky contracted pleurisy in 1980 and again in 1981. Tests revealed cancer, but he refused surgery out of fear that surgeons would "cut me up because of that movie I wrote about them," referring to The Hospital. He opted for chemotherapy. He died in a New York hospital on August 1, 1981, aged 58, and was interred in the Sharon Gardens Division of Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, Westchester County, New York.
Longtime friend Bob Fosse performed a tap dance at the funeral, as part of a deal he and Chayefsky had made when Fosse was in the hospital for open-heart surgery. If Fosse died first, Chayefsky promised to deliver a tedious eulogy or Fosse would dance at Chayefsky's memorial if he were the one to die first. His personal papers are at the Wisconsin Historical Society and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Billy Rose Theatre Division.
Filmography
The True Glory (1945) (uncredited)
As Young as You Feel (1951) (story)
Marty (1955)
The Catered Affair (1956)
The Bachelor Party (1957)
The Goddess (1958)
Middle of the Night (1959)
The Americanization of Emily (1964)
Paint Your Wagon (1969) (adaptation)
The Hospital (1971)
Network (1976)
Altered States (1980) (as "Sidney Aaron")
Television and stage plays
Television (selection)
1950–1955 Danger
1951–1952 Manhunt
1951–1960 Goodyear Playhouse
1952–1954 Philco Television Playhouse
1952 Holiday Song
1952 The Reluctant Citizen
1953 Printer's Measure
1953 Marty
1953 The Big Deal
1953 The Bachelor Party
1953 The Sixth Year
1953 Catch My Boy On Sunday
1954 The Mother
1954 Middle of the Night
1955 The Catered Affair
1956 The Great American Hoax
Stage
No T.O. for Love (1945)
Middle of the Night (1956)
The Tenth Man (1959)
Gideon (1961)
The Passion of Josef D. (1964)
The Latent Heterosexual (originally titled The Accountant's Tale or The Case of the Latent Heterosexual) (1968)
Novels
Altered States: A Novel (1978)
Academy Awards
References
Bibliography
External links
The Angry Man WNYC: On The Media audio profile of Paddy Chayefsky, October 27, 2006
Paddy Chayefsky papers at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Paddy Chayefsky Papers at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research.
Museum of Broadcast Communications: Paddy Chayefsky
1923 births
1981 deaths
United States Army personnel of World War II
American male screenwriters
Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners
City College of New York alumni
DeWitt Clinton High School alumni
Fordham University alumni
People from the Bronx
Jewish American dramatists and playwrights
Burials at Kensico Cemetery
Jewish American military personnel
Jewish American screenwriters
American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Best Screenplay Golden Globe winners
Best Screenplay BAFTA Award winners
Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners
20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
American male dramatists and playwrights
20th-century American male writers
Screenwriters from New York (state)
20th-century American screenwriters
Landmine victims
Military personnel from New York City
United States Army soldiers
20th-century American Jews
American Jews | false | [
", known by the pen name , was a Japanese screenwriter who wrote many films for Toho studios. Kimura scripted several films for director Ishirō Honda, including Matango, Frankenstein Conquers the World, The War of the Gargantuas, King Kong Escapes, and Destroy All Monsters. He was a member of the Japanese Communist Party whose screenplays often included political themes. His scripts are frequently contrasted with those written by Shinichi Sekizawa, whose scripts for kaiju films typically had a more lightweight, \"fun\" tone. \n\nKimura considered the screenplay for Ishirō Honda's Matango to be his best work, and he considered all of his scripts from Frankenstein Conquers the World onward to be merely work for hire.\n\nKimura was known for having a dark and gloomy personality, and he was reportedly never very close to any of his fellow Toho employees. He died from a throat obstruction in his Tokyo apartment in 1988.\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1912 births\n1988 deaths\nJapanese screenwriters\nKansai University alumni\n20th-century screenwriters",
"Rencong is any native writing system found in central and south Sumatra, including Kerinci, Bengkulu, Palembang and Lampung. These scripts lasted until the 18th century, when the Dutch colonized Indonesia. These scripts were used to write manuscripts in native languages and in Malay, such as the Tanjung Tanah Code of Law. The Malay writing was gradually replaced by the Jawi script, a localized version of the Arabic script.\n\nRencong scripts were often written on tree bark, bamboo, horns and palmyra-palm leaves. Many of the Rencong scripts are also known as \"Surat Ulu,\" or \"upriver scripts,\" given their prevalence away from a coastline.\n\nThe term \"Rencong\" is often confused with \"Rejang,\" which refers to a specific set of related scripts that were used to write various dialects of the Rejang language and for writing Malay in the region.\n\nThis map below shows the distribution of various Rencong scripts in South Sumatra:\n\nSee also\n\n Rejang script\n Lampung script\n List of languages of Indonesia\n\nReferences \n\nBrahmic scripts\nIndonesian scripts"
] |
[
"Paddy Chayefsky",
"Television",
"When did Paddy begin television?",
"1949",
"What was the name of the show?",
"1949 adaptation of Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run? for Philco.",
"Did he write this show, or act?",
"first script to be telecast",
"What other scripts did he write?",
"he wrote Holiday Song,",
"What year was Holiday song written?",
"telecast in 1952 and also in 1954.",
"Was any of his scripts written successful?",
"One of these teleplays, Mother (April 4, 1954), received a new production October 24, 1994 on Great Performances with Anne Bancroft in the title role."
] | C_462557c8eedd4281a41bd27c205c6da5_0 | What was Anne major role if it states or what was that script about? | 7 | What was Anne Bancroft major role on Great Performance about? | Paddy Chayefsky | He moved into television with scripts for Danger, The Gulf Playhouse and Manhunt. Philco Television Playhouse producer Fred Coe saw the Danger and Manhunt episodes and enlisted Chayefsky to adapt the story It Happened on the Brooklyn Subway about a photographer on a New York subway train who reunites a concentration camp survivor with his long-lost wife. Chayefsky's first script to be telecast was a 1949 adaptation of Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run? for Philco. Since he had always wanted to use a synagogue as backdrop, he wrote Holiday Song, telecast in 1952 and also in 1954. He submitted more work to Philco, including Printer's Measure, The Bachelor Party (1953) and The Big Deal (1953). One of these teleplays, Mother (April 4, 1954), received a new production October 24, 1994 on Great Performances with Anne Bancroft in the title role. Curiously, original teleplays from the 1950s are almost never revived for new TV productions, so the 1994 production of Mother was a conspicuous rarity. In 1953, Chayefsky wrote Marty, which was premiered on The Philco Television Playhouse, with Rod Steiger and Nancy Marchand. Marty is about a decent, hard-working Bronx butcher, pining for the company of a woman in his life but despairing of ever finding true love in a relationship. Fate pairs him with a plain, shy schoolteacher named Clara whom he rescues from the embarrassment of being abandoned by her blind date in a local dance hall. The production, the actors and Chayefsky's naturalistic dialogue received much critical acclaim and influenced subsequent live television dramas. Chayefsky had a unique clause in his Marty contract that stated that only he could write the screenplay, which he did for the 1955 movie. Chayefsky's The Great American Hoax was broadcast May 15, 1957 during the second season of The 20th Century Fox Hour. This was actually a rewrite of his earlier Fox film, As Young as You Feel (1951) with Monty Woolley and Marilyn Monroe. The Great American Hoax was shown on the FX channel after Fox restored some The 20th Century Fox Hour episodes and telecast them under the new title Fox Hour of Stars beginning in 2002. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky (January 29, 1923 – August 1, 1981) was an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for writing both adapted and original screenplays.
He was one of the most renowned dramatists of the Golden Age of Television. His intimate, realistic scripts provided a naturalistic style of television drama for the 1950s, dramatizing the lives of ordinary Americans. Martin Gottfried wrote in All His Jazz that Chayefsky was "the most successful graduate of television's slice of life school of naturalism."
Following his critically acclaimed teleplays, Chayefsky became a noted playwright and novelist. As a screenwriter, he received three Academy Awards for Marty (1955), The Hospital (1971) and Network (1976). The movie Marty was based on his own television drama about two lonely people finding love. Network was a satire of the television industry and The Hospital was also satiric. Film historian David Thomson called The Hospital "years ahead of its time. […] Few films capture the disaster of America's self-destructive idealism so well." His screenplay for Network is often regarded as his masterpiece, and has been hailed as "the kind of literate, darkly funny and breathtakingly prescient material that prompts many to claim it as the greatest screenplay of the 20th century."
Chayefsky's early stories were frequently influenced by the author's childhood in The Bronx. Chayefsky was part of the inaugural class of inductees into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Television Hall of Fame. He received this honor three years after his death, in 1984.
Early life
Sidney Chayefsky was born in the Bronx, New York City to Russian-Jewish immigrants Harry and Gussie (Stuchevsky) Chayefsky. Harry Chayefsky's father served for twenty-five years in the Russian army so the family was allowed to live in Moscow, while Gussie Stuchevsky lived in a village near Odessa. Harry and Gussie emigrated to the US in 1907 and 1909 respectively.
Harry Chayefsky worked for a New Jersey milk distribution company in which he eventually took a controlling interest and renamed Dellwood Dairies. The family lived in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and Mount Vernon, New York, moving temporarily to Bailey Avenue in the West Bronx at the time of Sidney Chayefsky's birth while a larger house in Mount Vernon was being completed. He had two older brothers, William and Winn.
As a toddler Chayefsky showed signs of being gifted, and could "speak intelligently" at two and a half. His father suffered a financial reversal during the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and the family moved back to the Bronx. Chayefsky attended a public elementary school. As a boy, Chayefsky was noted for his verbal ability, which won him friends. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School, where he served as editor of the school's literary magazine, "The Magpie." He graduated from Clinton in 1939 at age 16 and attended the City College of New York, graduating with a degree in social sciences in 1943. While at City College he played for the semi-professional football team Kingsbridge Trojans. He studied languages at Fordham University during his Army service.
Military service
In 1943, two weeks before his graduation from City College, Chayefsky was drafted into the United States Army, and served in combat in Europe. While in the Army he adopted the nickname "Paddy." The nickname was given spontaneously when he was awakened at dawn for kitchen duty. Although actually Jewish, he asked to be excused to attend Mass. "Sure you do, Paddy," said the officer, and the name stuck.
Chayefsky was wounded by a land mine while serving with the 104th Infantry Division in the European Theatre near Aachen, Germany. He was awarded the Purple Heart. The wound left him badly scarred, contributing to his shyness around women. While recovering from his injuries in the Army Hospital near Cirencester, England, he wrote the book and lyrics to a musical comedy, No T.O. for Love. First produced in 1945 by the Special Services Unit, the show toured European Army bases for two years.
The London opening of No T.O. for Love at the Scala Theatre in the West End was the beginning of Chayefsky's theatrical career. During the London production of this musical, Chayefsky encountered Joshua Logan, a future collaborator, and Garson Kanin, who invited Chayefsky to collaborate with him on a documentary of the Allied invasion, The True Glory.
Career
1940s
Returning to the United States, Chayefsky worked in his uncle's print shop, Regal Press, an experience which provided a background for his later teleplay, Printer's Measure (1953), as well as his story for the movie As Young as You Feel (1951). Kanin enabled Chayefsky to spend time working on his second play, Put Them All Together (later known as M is for Mother), but it was never produced. Producers Mike Gordon and Jerry Bressler gave him a junior writer's contract. He wrote a story, The Great American Hoax, which sold to Good Housekeeping but was never published.
Chayefsky went to Hollywood in 1947 with the aim of becoming a screenwriter. His friends Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon found him a job in the accounting office of Universal Pictures. He studied acting at the Actor's Lab and Kanin got him a bit part in the film A Double Life. He returned to New York, submitted scripts, and was hired as an apprentice scriptwriter by Universal. His script outlines were not accepted and he was fired after six weeks. After returning to New York, Chayefsky wrote the outline for a play that he submitted to the Wiilliam Morris Agency. The agency, treating it as a novella, submitted it to Good Housekeeping magazine. Movie rights were purchased by Twentieth Century Fox, and Chayefsky was hired to write the script, and he returned to Hollywood in 1948. But Chayefsky was discouraged by the studio system, which involved rewrites and relegated writers to inferior roles, so he quit and moved back to New York, vowing not to return.
During the late 1940s, he began working full-time on short stories and radio scripts, and during that period, he was a gagwriter for radio host Robert Q. Lewis. Chayefsky later recalled, "I sold some plays to men who had an uncanny ability not to raise money."
Early 1950s
During 1951–52, Chayefsky wrote adaptations for radio's Theater Guild on the Air: The Meanest Man in the World (with James Stewart), Cavalcade of America, Tommy (with Van Heflin and Ruth Gordon) and Over 21 (with Wally Cox).
His play The Man Who Made the Mountain Shake was noticed by Elia Kazan, and his wife, Molly Kazan, helped Chayefsky with revisions. It was retitled Fifth From Garibaldi but was never produced. In 1951, the movie As Young as You Feel was adapted from a Chayefsky story.
He moved into television with scripts for Danger, The Gulf Playhouse and Manhunt. Philco Television Playhouse producer Fred Coe saw the Danger and Manhunt episodes and enlisted Chayefsky to adapt the story It Happened on the Brooklyn Subway about a photographer on a New York City Subway train who reunites a concentration camp survivor with his long-lost wife. Chayefsky's first script to be telecast was a 1949 adaptation of Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run? for Philco.
Since he had always wanted to use a synagogue as backdrop, he wrote Holiday Song, telecast in 1952 and also in 1954. He submitted more work to Philco, including Printer's Measure, The Bachelor Party (1953) and The Big Deal (1953).
The seventh season of Philco Television Playhouse began September 19, 1954 with E. G. Marshall and Eva Marie Saint in Chayefsky's Middle of the Night, a play which relocated to Broadway theaters 15 months later; In 1956, Middle of the Night opened on Broadway with Edward G. Robinson and Gena Rowlands, and its success led to a national tour. It was filmed by Columbia Pictures in 1959 with Kim Novak and Fredric March.
Marty and fame
In 1953, Chayefsky wrote Marty, which was premiered on The Philco Television Playhouse, with Rod Steiger and Nancy Marchand. Marty is about a decent, hard-working Bronx butcher, pining for the company of a woman in his life but despairing of ever finding true love in a relationship. Fate pairs him with a plain, shy schoolteacher named Clara whom he rescues from the embarrassment of being abandoned by her blind date in a local dance hall. The production, the actors and Chayefsky's naturalistic dialogue received much critical acclaim and influenced subsequent live television dramas.
Chayefsky was initially uninterested when producer Harold Hecht sought to buy film rights for Marty for Hecht-Hill-Lancaster. Chayefsky, still upset by his treatment years before, demanded creative control, consultation on casting, and the same director as in the TV version, Delbert Mann. Surprisingly, Hecht agreed to all of Chayefsky's demands, and named Chayefsky "associate producer" of the film. Chayefsky then requested and was granted "co-director" status, so that he could take over production if Mann was fired.
The screenplay was little changed from the teleplay, but with Clara's role expanded. Chayefsky was involved in all casting decisions and had a cameo role, playing one of Marty's friends, unseen, in a car. Actress Betsy Blair, playing Clara, faced difficulties because of her affiliation with left-wing causes, and United Artists demanded that she be removed. Chayefsky refused, and her husband Gene Kelly also intervened on her behalf. Blair remained in the cast.
In September 1954, after most of the movie had been filmed, the studio ceased production due to accounting and financial difficulties. Producer Harold Hecht encountered resistance to the Marty project from his partner Burt Lancaster from the beginning, with Lancaster "only tolerating" it. The film had a limited publicity budget. But reviews were glowing, and the film won the Palme d'Or at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Picture, greatly boosting Chayefsky's career.
Late 1950s
After his success with Marty, Chayefsky continued to write for TV and theater as well as films. Chayefsky's The Great American Hoax was broadcast May 15, 1957 during the second season of The 20th Century Fox Hour.
His TV play The Bachelor Party was bought by United Artists and The Catered Affair was bought by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Gore Vidal was hired to write the screenplay by MGM, while Chayefsky wrote the Bachelor Party. Catered Affair did well in Europe but poorly in U.S. theaters, and was not a success.
Bachelor Party was budgeted at $750,000, twice Marty budget, but received far less acclaim and was viewed by United Artists as artistically inferior. The studio chose instead to promote another Hecht-Hill-Lancaster film, Sweet Smell of Success, which the studio believed to be better. Bachelor Party turned out to be a commercial failure, and never made a profit.
Chayefsky wrote a film adaptation of his Broadway play Middle of the Night, originally writing the female lead role for Marilyn Monroe. She passed on the part, which went to Kim Novak. He also commenced work on The Goddess, the story of the rise and fall of a movie star resembling Monroe. The star of The Goddess, Kim Stanley, despised the film and refused to publicize it. He and Stanley clashed during production of the film, in which Chayefsky served as producer as well as screenwriter. Despite her requests, Chayefsky refused to change any aspect of the script. Monroe's husband, Arthur Miller believed that the film was based on his wife's life and protested to Chayefsky. The film received positive reviews, and Chayefsky received an Academy Award nomination for his script. A New York Herald Tribune reviewer called the film "a substantial advance in the work of Chayefsky."
Chayefsky denied for years that the film was based on Monroe, but Chayefsky's biographer Shaun Considine observes that not only was she the prototype but the film "captured her longing and despair" accurately.
In 1958 Chayefsky began adapting Middle of the Night as a film, and he decided not to use the star of the Broadway version, Edward G.Robinson, with whom he had clashed, choosing instead Frederic March. Elizabeth Taylor initially agreed to appear in the female lead, but dropped out. Kim Novak was ultimately cast in the part. The film was chosen as the American entry at the Cannes Film Festival, but reviews were mixed and the film had only a short run in theaters.
The Tenth Man (1959) marked Chayefsky's second Broadway theatrical success, garnering 1960 Tony Award nominations for Best Play, Best Director (Tyrone Guthrie) and Best Scenic Design. Guthrie received another nomination for Chayefsky's Gideon, as did actor Fredric March. Chayefsky's final Broadway theatrical production, a play based on the life of Joseph Stalin, The Passion of Josef D, received unfavorable reviews and ran for only 15 performances.
Although Chayefsky was an early writer for the television medium, he eventually abandoned it, "decrying the lack of interest the networks demonstrated toward quality programming". As a result, during the course of his career, he constantly toyed with the idea of lampooning the television industry, which he succeeded in doing with Network.
The Americanization of Emily
Although Chayefsky wished only to do original screenplays, he was persuaded by producer Martin Ransohoff to adapt William Bradford Huie's 1959 novel that was eventually filmed with the book's title The Americanization of Emily (1964). The novel dealt with interservice rivalries prior to the Normandy landings during World War II, with a love story at the center of the plot. Chayefsky agreed to adapting the novel but only if he could fundamentally change the story. He made the titular character more sophisticated, but refusing to be "Americanized" by accepting material goods.
William Wyler was initially brought in as the director, but his relationship with Chayefsky deteriorated when he sought to change the script. William Holden was initially cast in the male lead, but that led to conflict when he asked that Julie Andrews be replaced by his then-girlfriend, Capucine. James Garner, adept at comedy with sophisticated dialogue but originally slated to play a supporting role, replaced Holden and delivered a critically acclaimed performance while James Coburn took over the part originally meant for Garner. Both James Garner and Julie Andrews always maintained that The Americanization of Emily was their favorite film of their own work. The film opened in August 1964 to superlative reviews but was a box office failure, possibly due to its extremely controversial anti-war stance at the dawn of the Vietnam War. The studio changed the title in the middle of its release, calling it Emily...she's super! to avoid confusing part of the public with a seven-syllable word in the title. The film has since been praised as a "vanguard anti-war film."
1960s 'fallow period'
The failure of Americanization of Emily and Josef D. on Broadway shook Chayefsky's confidence, and was the beginning of a what his biographer Shaun Considine calls a "fallow period." He agreed to do novel adaptations, which he had previously shunned, and was hired to adapt the Richard Jessup novel The Cincinnati Kid. Director Sam Peckinpah rejected the script, and Chayefsky was fired. Peckinpah was replaced by Norman Jewison shortly after the film began production.
Chayefsky worked for a time on adapting Huie's book Three Lives for Mississippi, about the murders of three civil rights workers in 1964, and in 1967 was hired to adapt the Broadway musical Paint Your Wagon. He was fired from the film after producing a script that Alan Jay Lerner, the playwright and producer, felt lacked "a musical structure." Chayefsky had his name removed as screenwriter but remained as adapter.
Comeback with The Hospital
In 1969 and 1970. Chayefsky began to consider a film that would be set among the civil unrest taking place at the time. When his wife Susan received poor care at a hospital, he pitched to United Artists a story based at a hospital. To ensure that he had the same kind of creative control given to playwrights, he formed Simcha Productions, named after the Hebrew version of his given name, Sidney. He then commenced research, reading medical books and visiting hospitals.
The leading character in the film, Dr. Herbert Bock, included many of Chayefsky's personal traits. Bock had been a "boy genius" who felt bitter and that his life was over. One of the monologues of George C. Scott as Bock in the film, in which Bock says he is miserable and considering suicide, was repeated verbatim from a conversation that Chayefsky had with a business associate during that time.
The long speeches written for Bock and other characters by Chayefsky, later praised by critics, met resistance from United Artists executives during the making of the film. The script was described as "too talky" and containing excessive medical terminology. But Chayefsky, as producer, prevailed. He also vetoed the studio's suggestion that Walter Matthau or Burt Lancaster be hired for the lead role, insisting on Scott. Chayefsky worked on the dialogue with Diana Rigg, the female lead, but Scott rejected his input.
After filming, Chayefsky spoke the opening narration after several actors were rejected for the job. It was supposed to be temporary, but became the one that was used in the film. Although some initial reviews were negative, the film received rave reviews from leading critics, and was a box office hit. Chayefsky won an Academy Award for his script, and his career was revived.
Network
Chayefsky believed that television news desensitized viewers to violence and murder, and he was shocked one day when a respected news anchorman "rattled off inanities." He asked his friend, the NBC News anchor John Chancellor, if it was possible for an anchorman to go crazy on the air, and Chancellor replied "Every day." Within a week of that conversation, Chayefsky had written the rough draft of a script, centering on an elderly, disillusioned anchor who announces he will commit suicide on the air. In 1974, a local news anchor, Christine Chubbuck, committed suicide during a broadcast.
Chayefsky researched the project by watching hours of television and consulting with NBC executive David Tebet, who allowed Chayefsky to attend programming meetings. He later conducted research at CBS and met with Walter Cronkite. The completed script reflected his research and his personal view, prevalent at the time, that Arabs were "buying up" U.S. corporations. The "mad as hell" speech was a deeply personal statement reflecting the core of Chayefsky's beliefs during the early 1970s. Chayefsky later called it an easy speech to write, reflecting his view that people had a right to get mad.
The script encountered difficulty because of film industry concerns that it was too tough on television. Ultimately it was decided that the film would be a co-production of MGM and United Artists, with Chayefsky having complete creative control. The deal was announced in July 1975. George C. Scott was offered the role of Max Schumacher but rejected it, and the role went to William Holden. Chayefsky refused requests by UA and MGM to give the film a "softer" ending, feeling that ending with the Howard Beale character assassinated would alienate audiences.
Outside the expected negative reviews from television network film critics, the film was a critical and box office success, winning ten Academy Award nominations, and Chayefsky won his third Academy Award, making him the only three-time solo recipient of a screenwriting Oscar; all the other three-time winners (Francis Ford Coppola, Charles Brackett, Woody Allen, and Billy Wilder) shared at least one of their awards with co-writers. When Peter Finch posthumously won Best Actor, Chayefsky was to accept on his behalf, but he defied the show's producer, William Friedkin, and called Finch's wife Eletha to the stage accept the award.
The film is said to have "presaged the advent of reality television by twenty years" and was a "sardonic satire" of the television industry, dealing with the "dehumanization of modern life."
Altered States and decline
After Network Chayefsky explored an offer from Warren Beatty to write a film based on the life of John Reed and his book Ten Days That Shook the World. He agreed to do research, and spent three months exploring the subject of what eventually became the Beatty film Reds. Negotiations with Beatty's lawyers failed.
In the spring of 1977, Chayefsky began work on a project delving into "man's search of his true self." The genesis of the idea was a joke with his friends Bob Fosse and Herb Gardner. The three cooked up a joke project to remake King Kong, in which Kong becomes a movie star. The comic project got Chayefsky interested in exploring the origins of the human spirit. That evolved into a project updating the theme of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Chayefsky conducted research on genetic regression, speaking to doctors and professors of anthropology and human genetics. He then began a rough outline of a story in which the lead character immerses himself in an isolation tank, and with the aid of hallucinogens regresses to become a prehuman creature. Chayefsky wrote an eighty-seven page treatment and, at the suggestion of Columbia executive Daniel Melnick, he adapted it into a novel
Film rights were bought by Columbia Pictures for nearly $1 million, and with the same creative control and financial terms as for Network. Chayefsky suffered greatly from stress while working on the novel, resulting in a heart attack in 1977. The heart attack resulted in strict dietary and lifestyle restrictions. The novel, titled Altered States, was published by HarperCollins in June 1978 and received mixed reviews. Chayefsky did not promote the book, which he viewed only as a blueprint for the screenplay.
Since his contract gave him creative control, Chayefsky participated in the selection of William Hurt and Blair Brown as the leads. Arthur Penn was initially hired as director, but left after disagreements with Chayefsky. He was replaced by Ken Russell.
Chayefsky made it clear that he would allow no input into the dialogue or narrative, which Russell felt was too "soppy." Russell was confident that he could get rid of Chayefsky, but found that "the monkey on my back was always there and wouldn't let go." Russell was polite and deferential prior to production but after rehearsals began in 1979 "began to treat Paddy as a nonentity" and was "mean and sarcastic," according to the film's producer Howard Gottfried, who called Russell a "duplicitous, mean man."
Chayefsky had the power to fire Russell, but was told by Gottfried that he could only do so if he took over direction himself. He left for New York and continued to monitor production. The actors were not permitted to alter the dialogue. Chayefsky later said that in retaliation the actors were instructed to speak the lines while eating or too fast. Russell stated that the fast pace and overlapping dialogue was Chayefsky's idea.
Upset by the filming of his screenplay, Chayefsky withdrew from the production of Altered States and took his name off the credits, substituting the pseudonym Sidney Aaron.
Personality and characteristics
In his book Mad as Hell: The Making of Network and the Fateful Vision of the Angriest Man in Movies, journalist Dave Itzkoff wrote that the Howard Beale character in Network was a product of Chayefsky's many frustrations. Itzkoff wrote: "Where others avoided conflict, he cultivated it and embraced it, His fury nourished him, making him intense and unpredictable, but also keeping him focused and productive." Itzkoff describes Chayefsky as "intensely troubled, a huge egomaniac and control freak, dispirited about the world, wryly comic, and a both present and absent family man."
In his biography of Chayefsky's friend Bob Fosse, drama critic Martin Gottfried said Chayefsky was compact and burly in the bulky way of a schoolyard athlete, with thick dark hair and a bent nose that could pass for a streetfighter's. He was a grown-up with one foot in the boys' clubs of his city youth, a street snob who would not allow the loss of his nostalgia. He was an intellectual competitor, always spoiling for a political argument or a philosophical argument, or any exchange over any issue, changing sides for the fun of the fray. A liberal, he was annoyed by liberals; a proud Jew, he wouldn't let anyone call him a "Jewish writer".In his biography Mad as Hell, author Shaun Considine says that Chayefsky had a "dual personality". Chayefsky's "Paddy" persona had "character, caprice; it appealed to his sense of swagger" and gave him confidence to stand up for his rights. "Sidney" was the "silent creator" who had the talent and genius.
Chayefsky was under psychoanalysis for years, beginning in the late 1950s, to deal with his volatile behavior and rage, which at times was difficult to control.
Political activism
Opposition to McCarthyism
Early in his career, Chayefsky was an opponent of McCarthyism. He signed a telegram signed by other writers and performers protesting federal inaction after a concert featuring Paul Robeson in Peekskill, New York, prompted violence in which 150 persons were injured. As a result, his name appeared in the anti-Communist vigilante publication The Firing Line, published by the American Legion. Although Chayefsky feared being subpoeanaed and his career ruined, that never happened. Actress Betsy Blair described Chayefsky as a Social Democrat and as an anti-Marxist.
He opposed the Vietnam War as a "stupid and utterly unnecessary war whose principal victim would be the United States" and sent a letter to President Richard Nixon decrying the My Lai Massacre, saying Americans were in danger of turning into "a nation of bad Germans."
Soviet Jews and Israel
In the 1970s Chayefsky worked for the cause of Soviet Jews, and in 1971 went to Brussels as part of an American delegation to the International Conference on Soviet Jewry. Believing that the conference was insufficiently aggressive, he founded a new activist group in New York, Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East. Co-founders included Colleen Dewhurst, Frank Gervasi, Leon Uris, Gerold Frank and Elie Wiesel. Chayefsky believed that "Zionists" was a code word for "Jews" by Marxist anti-Semites.
Chayefsky was increasingly interested in Israel at that time. In an interview with Women's Wear Daily in 1971, he said that he believed that Jews around the world were in imminent danger of genocide. Journalist Dave Itzkoff writes that in the 1970s his views on Israel possessed a "more aggressive and admittedly paranoid streak." He believed that anti-Semitism was rife in the U.S., especially in the New Left, and once physically confronted a heckler who used an anti-Semitic slur during a David Steinberg performance. While filming The Hospital, Chayefsky commenced work on a film project called "The Habbakuk Conspiracy," which he described as a "study of life within an Arab guerrilla cell on the West Bank of the Jordan." The project was sold to United Artists but never filmed, which resulted in lingering resentment toward the studio.
Chayefsky composed, without credit, pro-Israel ads for the Anti-Defamation League at the time of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. In the late 1970s Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East placed full-page newspaper ads written by Chayefsky attacking the Palestine Liberation Organization for the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics.
He rejected Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave for the role of the female lead in Network because of their "anti-Israel leanings," even though Redgrave was director Sidney Lumet's first choice. Redgrave, accepting the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Julia, made a speech denouncing "Zionist hoodlums." Chayefsky, appearing later, upbraided Redgrave and said "a simple 'Thank you' would have sufficed." The Redgrave and Chayefsky remarks prompted controversy.
Family
Chayefsky met his future wife Susan Sackler during his 1940s stay in Hollywood. The couple married in February 1949. Their son Dan was born in 1955.
Chayefsky's relationship with his wife was strained for much of their marriage, and she became withdrawn and unwilling to appear with him as he became more prominent. Gwen Verdon, wife of his friend Bob Fosse, only saw Susan Chayefsky five times in her life.
Susan Chayefsky suffered from muscular dystrophy, and Dan Chayefsky described himself to author Dave Itzkoff as "a self-destructive teen who brought more pressure to the family home." Despite an alleged affair with Kim Novak, which resulted in his asking his wife for a divorce, Paddy Chayefsky remained married to Susan Chayefsky until his death, and sought her opinion on his screenplays, including Network. She died in 2000.
Death
Chayefsky contracted pleurisy in 1980 and again in 1981. Tests revealed cancer, but he refused surgery out of fear that surgeons would "cut me up because of that movie I wrote about them," referring to The Hospital. He opted for chemotherapy. He died in a New York hospital on August 1, 1981, aged 58, and was interred in the Sharon Gardens Division of Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, Westchester County, New York.
Longtime friend Bob Fosse performed a tap dance at the funeral, as part of a deal he and Chayefsky had made when Fosse was in the hospital for open-heart surgery. If Fosse died first, Chayefsky promised to deliver a tedious eulogy or Fosse would dance at Chayefsky's memorial if he were the one to die first. His personal papers are at the Wisconsin Historical Society and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Billy Rose Theatre Division.
Filmography
The True Glory (1945) (uncredited)
As Young as You Feel (1951) (story)
Marty (1955)
The Catered Affair (1956)
The Bachelor Party (1957)
The Goddess (1958)
Middle of the Night (1959)
The Americanization of Emily (1964)
Paint Your Wagon (1969) (adaptation)
The Hospital (1971)
Network (1976)
Altered States (1980) (as "Sidney Aaron")
Television and stage plays
Television (selection)
1950–1955 Danger
1951–1952 Manhunt
1951–1960 Goodyear Playhouse
1952–1954 Philco Television Playhouse
1952 Holiday Song
1952 The Reluctant Citizen
1953 Printer's Measure
1953 Marty
1953 The Big Deal
1953 The Bachelor Party
1953 The Sixth Year
1953 Catch My Boy On Sunday
1954 The Mother
1954 Middle of the Night
1955 The Catered Affair
1956 The Great American Hoax
Stage
No T.O. for Love (1945)
Middle of the Night (1956)
The Tenth Man (1959)
Gideon (1961)
The Passion of Josef D. (1964)
The Latent Heterosexual (originally titled The Accountant's Tale or The Case of the Latent Heterosexual) (1968)
Novels
Altered States: A Novel (1978)
Academy Awards
References
Bibliography
External links
The Angry Man WNYC: On The Media audio profile of Paddy Chayefsky, October 27, 2006
Paddy Chayefsky papers at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Paddy Chayefsky Papers at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research.
Museum of Broadcast Communications: Paddy Chayefsky
1923 births
1981 deaths
United States Army personnel of World War II
American male screenwriters
Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners
City College of New York alumni
DeWitt Clinton High School alumni
Fordham University alumni
People from the Bronx
Jewish American dramatists and playwrights
Burials at Kensico Cemetery
Jewish American military personnel
Jewish American screenwriters
American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Best Screenplay Golden Globe winners
Best Screenplay BAFTA Award winners
Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners
20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
American male dramatists and playwrights
20th-century American male writers
Screenwriters from New York (state)
20th-century American screenwriters
Landmine victims
Military personnel from New York City
United States Army soldiers
20th-century American Jews
American Jews | false | [
"The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister is a 2010 British biographical historical drama film about 19th-century Yorkshire landowner Anne Lister. Made for television, the film was directed by James Kent and starred Maxine Peake as Lister. The script by Jane English drew from Lister's diaries, written in code, and decoded many years after her death. The story follows Lister's lesbian relationships and her independent lifestyle as an industrialist. The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister held its world premiere screening at the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival in March 2010 and was broadcast in the United Kingdom by the BBC in May 2010.\n\nPlot\nAnne Lister (Maxine Peake) is a young unmarried woman living in 19th century Yorkshire, at Shibden Hall, with her aunt (Gemma Jones) and uncle (Alan David). The one thing she wants from life is to have someone to love and to share her life with. The person she has in mind is Mariana Belcombe (Anna Madeley), with whom she has been conducting a secret romantic and sexual relationship. The relationship breaks apart when Mariana marries a rich widower named Charles Lawton (Michael Culkin). Depressed, Anne devotes her time to studying. A year after Mariana's wedding, Anne begins to think about finding another lover. She meets a young woman in church named Miss Browne (Tina O'Brien), and they become close friends.\n\nMariana asks Anne to meet her in a hotel in Manchester. There, the two women talk and Mariana tells Anne that she has missed her, and that one day, when her husband has died, they might live together as widow and companion. She says that her husband is not healthy, and will not have long to live. Anne agrees and they buy wedding rings, to wear around their necks until they can live together. Returning to Shibden, Anne ignores the attention of Miss Browne. A local industrialist named Christopher Rawson (Dean Lennox Kelly) proposes marriage to Anne. She turns him down and says that she could only marry for love. He tells her that people talk about her and call her 'Gentleman Jack.' Later, Anne tells her aunt and uncle that she does not want a husband, that she wants to be independent and intends one day to live with a female companion. Mariana visits her on her birthday and they continue their sexual relationship.\n\nAnne attends a party with her acquaintances, including Rawson and the Lawtons. Mariana sees Anne wearing her wedding ring clearly on show and is unhappy with Anne drawing attention to herself. Anne complains that Charles Lawton is not as unhealthy as Mariana had led her to believe. Rawson sees the two women talking together and has a conversation of his own with Lawton. When Mariana returns to her husband's side, he looks dazed and asks her how Anne loves her. After the party, Mariana writes to Anne and tells her that her husband is suspicious. She tells Anne not to write to her anymore.\n\nAnne's uncle dies and she inherits his wealth. She writes to Mariana, asking her to come to live with her at once. Mariana replies that she will be travelling nearby in a month's time and that they will discuss what to do then. When the time comes, Anne meets Mariana's coach coming along the road and excitedly gets in. Mariana is angry at her drawing attention to herself. She tells Anne that she would rather die than have people know about their relationship. She says that they could be happy together, but would have to live apart. Anne tells her that she wants to spend her life with someone, and leaves.\n\nWhen Rawson offers to buy some land from Anne to sink a mine, she declines and says that she will mine it herself. She forms a business alliance with Ann Walker (Christine Bottomley), an unmarried acquaintance who has recently inherited her own fortune. They become close friends. Soon the two women are intimidated and harassed by Rawson, now their business rival. For protection, Ann Walker goes to stay at Shibden with Anne. Her aunt (Richenda Carey) comes to tell her niece that people are spreading shocking rumours about the two women. She asks Ann to return home before she ruins her family's name and warns her that she may ruin her chance of finding a husband. Ann tells her that she does not want a husband. When her aunt leaves, she tells Anne that she wants to live at Shibden with her. Anne asks her if she understands what the rumours and insinuations are about. Ann says that she does and makes it clear that she wants them to be together romantically.\n\nMariana visits Anne and says that she could leave Charles now. She asks if there is still a place for her in Anne's heart, but Anne says that she has found someone she is happy with now, and Mariana leaves. Afterwards, Anne is seen planting flowers in the greenhouse with Ann. Through an obituary we learn that Anne Lister died at the age of 49 while travelling with Ann Walker in the Caucasus Mountains.\n\nCast\n Maxine Peake as Anne Lister\n Anna Madeley as Mariana\n Susan Lynch as Isabella ('Tib') Norcliffe\n Christine Bottomley as Ann Walker\n Gemma Jones as Aunt Lister\n Alan David as Uncle Lister\n Richenda Carey as Mrs. Priestley\n Michael Culkin as Charles Lawton\n Dean Lennox Kelly as Christopher Rawson\n\nBackground and production\nAnne Lister was a wealthy, unmarried woman who inherited Shibden Hall in West Yorkshire from her uncle in 1826. Throughout her life, she kept diaries which chronicled the details of her everyday life, including her lesbian relationships, her financial concerns, her industrial activities and her work improving Shibden Hall. The diaries contain more than 4,000,000 words and about a sixth of them (those concerning the intimate details of her romantic and sexual relationships) were written in code. The code, derived from a combination of algebra and Ancient Greek, was deciphered in the 1930s.\n\nThe script for The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister was written by Jane English and the film was directed by James Kent. Maxine Peake, who had not previously heard of Lister, was keen to take part in a production with several strong female characters. She said of her role, \"[I]t was a privilege – I panicked about playing her at first because she is such an important figure and because she is very much part of lesbian and gay culture and you want to do a good job.\" She spent time with Lister expert Helena Whitbread, learning more about Lister's personality. For this part Peake was able to work with Dean Lennox Kelly, her former on-screen partner from Shameless.\n\nBefore filming began, the cast rehearsed in director Kent's flat. Location shooting took place during November and December 2009 in various locations in Yorkshire; including Shibden Hall, Newburgh Priory, Bramham Park, Oakwell Hall, the North York Moors and the city of York.\n\nRelease\nThe film premièred at the 24th London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival on 17 March 2010. It was broadcast in the United Kingdom by BBC Two and BBC HD on 31 May 2010. It played at the opening night of San Francisco's Frameline Film Festival on 17 June 2010 and was broadcast in Australia by ABC1 on 13 November 2011.\n\nReception\nIn its BBC broadcast, The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister drew 1.878 million viewers (7.8%) and 50,000 more, simultaneously, on BBC HD. Critics gave a mixed response to the drama.\n\nThe Daily Telegraphs John Preston was positive about the film and particularly praised Maxine Peake's acting. He said, \"Peake is an extraordinary actress – both intensely human in her vulnerability and intensely disquieting [...] veering between predatory seductiveness and agonised self-pity.\" For The Scotsman, Andrea Mullaney gave a mixed review. She praised Peake's \"excellent\" and \"fiery\" performance and said that \"played [Lister] with great energy, her small, alert face full of expression and emotion\". She said, though, that the story \"should have been more gripping than it was\" but that script \"wobbled around\" and was too lengthy.\n\nWriting for Metro, Keith Watson called the film \"mesmerising and liberating\". He praised Peake's performance and enjoyed the contrast between her scenes of \"pushing politeness to its limits\" and \"snatching carnal ecstasy\". In a review of British television programmes broadcast that week, Euan Ferguson of The Observer called the film the \"drama of the week\" and said that it \"gripped, and haunted, and was beautifully and cleverly played\".\n\nSarah Dempster in The Guardian was unimpressed with the film, criticising the \"misery\" and \"gloom\" and said that \"Peake's presence in a production is not generally conducive to LOLZ.\" Rachel Cooke gave a somewhat negative review for the New Statesman, criticising the overemphasis on Lister's sex-life and the parts of her life missing from the script. She said that the story would not have received any attention if not for the lesbianism of the main character. She said that Peake, \"a wonderful actor\", was \"especially weird\" and her characterisation of Lister was \"rapacious and cocky, petulant and manipulative\". She praised Susan Lynch, playing Lister's friend Tib, as \"excellent\". Overall, she said the film was \"sex-obsessed, reductionist stuff\".\n\nSee also\nGentleman Jack – BBC One/HBO television series about Anne Lister.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister on BBC Two\n \n The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister at BFI\n The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister at BBFC\n\n2010 films\n2010 biographical drama films\n2010 LGBT-related films\n2010 television films\n2010s historical films\nBritish biographical films\nBritish drama films\nBritish films\nBritish historical films\nBritish LGBT-related films\nBritish romance films\nBritish television films\nLesbian-related films\nLesbian-related television shows\nLGBT-related drama films\nFilms set in the 19th century\nFilms set in Yorkshire\nFilms directed by James Kent (director)\nBBC television dramas\nBBC Film films",
"Stanley is a 1984 Australian comedy film directed by Esben Storm and starring Peter Bensley and Graham Kennedy.\n\nProduction\nAndrew Gaty had developed the original script. He had a man working for him called Steve Kibbler, who had worked with Esben Storm. Gaty asked Storm what he thought of the script and Storm did not like it. Gaty then hired him to rewrite and direct the movie, with Stanley Mann acting as script editor. Storm:\nAndrew had certain things that he wanted, which I had to accommodate, but within that I was trying to make a comedy about acceptance and prejudice. But even though it was hugely unsuccessful, it was my first attempt at comedy, which I really enjoyed. Some people still come up and say they like it and have it in their collections and talk about it being hugely underrated.\nThe producers originally wanted to import Tom Conti to play the lead but Actors Equity objected. Peter Bensley was cast instead.\n\nRelease\nThe film was unsuccessful at the box office. Ebsen Storm later said:\nI think the script was okay. It's very hard to do comedy, and it's either funny or it isn't. I learnt a lot about comedy on that one. I think we would've been better off if the budget hadn't been so high, if we hadn't been trying to be so glossy. Andrew was very intent on making a sort of glossy big-style movie, and in the beginning the whole thing was all predicated on getting an American or an international star to play the lead. We had Tom Conti but they wouldn't let us bring him in. That could've made the difference.\nFilmink later said \"To understand how the lawyers and stockbrokers raised $4 million for this comedy, it helps to remember how big a hit Arthur was in 1981, so presumably investors were hopeful of a success with this similar tale of an amiable but dimwitted rich kid.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nStanley at IMDb\nStanley at Oz Movies\n\nAustralian films"
] |
[
"Paddy Chayefsky",
"Television",
"When did Paddy begin television?",
"1949",
"What was the name of the show?",
"1949 adaptation of Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run? for Philco.",
"Did he write this show, or act?",
"first script to be telecast",
"What other scripts did he write?",
"he wrote Holiday Song,",
"What year was Holiday song written?",
"telecast in 1952 and also in 1954.",
"Was any of his scripts written successful?",
"One of these teleplays, Mother (April 4, 1954), received a new production October 24, 1994 on Great Performances with Anne Bancroft in the title role.",
"What was Anne major role if it states or what was that script about?",
"I don't know."
] | C_462557c8eedd4281a41bd27c205c6da5_0 | What other interesting things happened for Paddy during his career in television? | 8 | What other interesting things happened for Paddy Chayefsky during career in television besides show scripts writing? | Paddy Chayefsky | He moved into television with scripts for Danger, The Gulf Playhouse and Manhunt. Philco Television Playhouse producer Fred Coe saw the Danger and Manhunt episodes and enlisted Chayefsky to adapt the story It Happened on the Brooklyn Subway about a photographer on a New York subway train who reunites a concentration camp survivor with his long-lost wife. Chayefsky's first script to be telecast was a 1949 adaptation of Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run? for Philco. Since he had always wanted to use a synagogue as backdrop, he wrote Holiday Song, telecast in 1952 and also in 1954. He submitted more work to Philco, including Printer's Measure, The Bachelor Party (1953) and The Big Deal (1953). One of these teleplays, Mother (April 4, 1954), received a new production October 24, 1994 on Great Performances with Anne Bancroft in the title role. Curiously, original teleplays from the 1950s are almost never revived for new TV productions, so the 1994 production of Mother was a conspicuous rarity. In 1953, Chayefsky wrote Marty, which was premiered on The Philco Television Playhouse, with Rod Steiger and Nancy Marchand. Marty is about a decent, hard-working Bronx butcher, pining for the company of a woman in his life but despairing of ever finding true love in a relationship. Fate pairs him with a plain, shy schoolteacher named Clara whom he rescues from the embarrassment of being abandoned by her blind date in a local dance hall. The production, the actors and Chayefsky's naturalistic dialogue received much critical acclaim and influenced subsequent live television dramas. Chayefsky had a unique clause in his Marty contract that stated that only he could write the screenplay, which he did for the 1955 movie. Chayefsky's The Great American Hoax was broadcast May 15, 1957 during the second season of The 20th Century Fox Hour. This was actually a rewrite of his earlier Fox film, As Young as You Feel (1951) with Monty Woolley and Marilyn Monroe. The Great American Hoax was shown on the FX channel after Fox restored some The 20th Century Fox Hour episodes and telecast them under the new title Fox Hour of Stars beginning in 2002. CANNOTANSWER | Chayefsky wrote Marty, which was premiered on The Philco Television Playhouse, with Rod Steiger and Nancy Marchand. | Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky (January 29, 1923 – August 1, 1981) was an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for writing both adapted and original screenplays.
He was one of the most renowned dramatists of the Golden Age of Television. His intimate, realistic scripts provided a naturalistic style of television drama for the 1950s, dramatizing the lives of ordinary Americans. Martin Gottfried wrote in All His Jazz that Chayefsky was "the most successful graduate of television's slice of life school of naturalism."
Following his critically acclaimed teleplays, Chayefsky became a noted playwright and novelist. As a screenwriter, he received three Academy Awards for Marty (1955), The Hospital (1971) and Network (1976). The movie Marty was based on his own television drama about two lonely people finding love. Network was a satire of the television industry and The Hospital was also satiric. Film historian David Thomson called The Hospital "years ahead of its time. […] Few films capture the disaster of America's self-destructive idealism so well." His screenplay for Network is often regarded as his masterpiece, and has been hailed as "the kind of literate, darkly funny and breathtakingly prescient material that prompts many to claim it as the greatest screenplay of the 20th century."
Chayefsky's early stories were frequently influenced by the author's childhood in The Bronx. Chayefsky was part of the inaugural class of inductees into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Television Hall of Fame. He received this honor three years after his death, in 1984.
Early life
Sidney Chayefsky was born in the Bronx, New York City to Russian-Jewish immigrants Harry and Gussie (Stuchevsky) Chayefsky. Harry Chayefsky's father served for twenty-five years in the Russian army so the family was allowed to live in Moscow, while Gussie Stuchevsky lived in a village near Odessa. Harry and Gussie emigrated to the US in 1907 and 1909 respectively.
Harry Chayefsky worked for a New Jersey milk distribution company in which he eventually took a controlling interest and renamed Dellwood Dairies. The family lived in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and Mount Vernon, New York, moving temporarily to Bailey Avenue in the West Bronx at the time of Sidney Chayefsky's birth while a larger house in Mount Vernon was being completed. He had two older brothers, William and Winn.
As a toddler Chayefsky showed signs of being gifted, and could "speak intelligently" at two and a half. His father suffered a financial reversal during the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and the family moved back to the Bronx. Chayefsky attended a public elementary school. As a boy, Chayefsky was noted for his verbal ability, which won him friends. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School, where he served as editor of the school's literary magazine, "The Magpie." He graduated from Clinton in 1939 at age 16 and attended the City College of New York, graduating with a degree in social sciences in 1943. While at City College he played for the semi-professional football team Kingsbridge Trojans. He studied languages at Fordham University during his Army service.
Military service
In 1943, two weeks before his graduation from City College, Chayefsky was drafted into the United States Army, and served in combat in Europe. While in the Army he adopted the nickname "Paddy." The nickname was given spontaneously when he was awakened at dawn for kitchen duty. Although actually Jewish, he asked to be excused to attend Mass. "Sure you do, Paddy," said the officer, and the name stuck.
Chayefsky was wounded by a land mine while serving with the 104th Infantry Division in the European Theatre near Aachen, Germany. He was awarded the Purple Heart. The wound left him badly scarred, contributing to his shyness around women. While recovering from his injuries in the Army Hospital near Cirencester, England, he wrote the book and lyrics to a musical comedy, No T.O. for Love. First produced in 1945 by the Special Services Unit, the show toured European Army bases for two years.
The London opening of No T.O. for Love at the Scala Theatre in the West End was the beginning of Chayefsky's theatrical career. During the London production of this musical, Chayefsky encountered Joshua Logan, a future collaborator, and Garson Kanin, who invited Chayefsky to collaborate with him on a documentary of the Allied invasion, The True Glory.
Career
1940s
Returning to the United States, Chayefsky worked in his uncle's print shop, Regal Press, an experience which provided a background for his later teleplay, Printer's Measure (1953), as well as his story for the movie As Young as You Feel (1951). Kanin enabled Chayefsky to spend time working on his second play, Put Them All Together (later known as M is for Mother), but it was never produced. Producers Mike Gordon and Jerry Bressler gave him a junior writer's contract. He wrote a story, The Great American Hoax, which sold to Good Housekeeping but was never published.
Chayefsky went to Hollywood in 1947 with the aim of becoming a screenwriter. His friends Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon found him a job in the accounting office of Universal Pictures. He studied acting at the Actor's Lab and Kanin got him a bit part in the film A Double Life. He returned to New York, submitted scripts, and was hired as an apprentice scriptwriter by Universal. His script outlines were not accepted and he was fired after six weeks. After returning to New York, Chayefsky wrote the outline for a play that he submitted to the Wiilliam Morris Agency. The agency, treating it as a novella, submitted it to Good Housekeeping magazine. Movie rights were purchased by Twentieth Century Fox, and Chayefsky was hired to write the script, and he returned to Hollywood in 1948. But Chayefsky was discouraged by the studio system, which involved rewrites and relegated writers to inferior roles, so he quit and moved back to New York, vowing not to return.
During the late 1940s, he began working full-time on short stories and radio scripts, and during that period, he was a gagwriter for radio host Robert Q. Lewis. Chayefsky later recalled, "I sold some plays to men who had an uncanny ability not to raise money."
Early 1950s
During 1951–52, Chayefsky wrote adaptations for radio's Theater Guild on the Air: The Meanest Man in the World (with James Stewart), Cavalcade of America, Tommy (with Van Heflin and Ruth Gordon) and Over 21 (with Wally Cox).
His play The Man Who Made the Mountain Shake was noticed by Elia Kazan, and his wife, Molly Kazan, helped Chayefsky with revisions. It was retitled Fifth From Garibaldi but was never produced. In 1951, the movie As Young as You Feel was adapted from a Chayefsky story.
He moved into television with scripts for Danger, The Gulf Playhouse and Manhunt. Philco Television Playhouse producer Fred Coe saw the Danger and Manhunt episodes and enlisted Chayefsky to adapt the story It Happened on the Brooklyn Subway about a photographer on a New York City Subway train who reunites a concentration camp survivor with his long-lost wife. Chayefsky's first script to be telecast was a 1949 adaptation of Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run? for Philco.
Since he had always wanted to use a synagogue as backdrop, he wrote Holiday Song, telecast in 1952 and also in 1954. He submitted more work to Philco, including Printer's Measure, The Bachelor Party (1953) and The Big Deal (1953).
The seventh season of Philco Television Playhouse began September 19, 1954 with E. G. Marshall and Eva Marie Saint in Chayefsky's Middle of the Night, a play which relocated to Broadway theaters 15 months later; In 1956, Middle of the Night opened on Broadway with Edward G. Robinson and Gena Rowlands, and its success led to a national tour. It was filmed by Columbia Pictures in 1959 with Kim Novak and Fredric March.
Marty and fame
In 1953, Chayefsky wrote Marty, which was premiered on The Philco Television Playhouse, with Rod Steiger and Nancy Marchand. Marty is about a decent, hard-working Bronx butcher, pining for the company of a woman in his life but despairing of ever finding true love in a relationship. Fate pairs him with a plain, shy schoolteacher named Clara whom he rescues from the embarrassment of being abandoned by her blind date in a local dance hall. The production, the actors and Chayefsky's naturalistic dialogue received much critical acclaim and influenced subsequent live television dramas.
Chayefsky was initially uninterested when producer Harold Hecht sought to buy film rights for Marty for Hecht-Hill-Lancaster. Chayefsky, still upset by his treatment years before, demanded creative control, consultation on casting, and the same director as in the TV version, Delbert Mann. Surprisingly, Hecht agreed to all of Chayefsky's demands, and named Chayefsky "associate producer" of the film. Chayefsky then requested and was granted "co-director" status, so that he could take over production if Mann was fired.
The screenplay was little changed from the teleplay, but with Clara's role expanded. Chayefsky was involved in all casting decisions and had a cameo role, playing one of Marty's friends, unseen, in a car. Actress Betsy Blair, playing Clara, faced difficulties because of her affiliation with left-wing causes, and United Artists demanded that she be removed. Chayefsky refused, and her husband Gene Kelly also intervened on her behalf. Blair remained in the cast.
In September 1954, after most of the movie had been filmed, the studio ceased production due to accounting and financial difficulties. Producer Harold Hecht encountered resistance to the Marty project from his partner Burt Lancaster from the beginning, with Lancaster "only tolerating" it. The film had a limited publicity budget. But reviews were glowing, and the film won the Palme d'Or at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Picture, greatly boosting Chayefsky's career.
Late 1950s
After his success with Marty, Chayefsky continued to write for TV and theater as well as films. Chayefsky's The Great American Hoax was broadcast May 15, 1957 during the second season of The 20th Century Fox Hour.
His TV play The Bachelor Party was bought by United Artists and The Catered Affair was bought by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Gore Vidal was hired to write the screenplay by MGM, while Chayefsky wrote the Bachelor Party. Catered Affair did well in Europe but poorly in U.S. theaters, and was not a success.
Bachelor Party was budgeted at $750,000, twice Marty budget, but received far less acclaim and was viewed by United Artists as artistically inferior. The studio chose instead to promote another Hecht-Hill-Lancaster film, Sweet Smell of Success, which the studio believed to be better. Bachelor Party turned out to be a commercial failure, and never made a profit.
Chayefsky wrote a film adaptation of his Broadway play Middle of the Night, originally writing the female lead role for Marilyn Monroe. She passed on the part, which went to Kim Novak. He also commenced work on The Goddess, the story of the rise and fall of a movie star resembling Monroe. The star of The Goddess, Kim Stanley, despised the film and refused to publicize it. He and Stanley clashed during production of the film, in which Chayefsky served as producer as well as screenwriter. Despite her requests, Chayefsky refused to change any aspect of the script. Monroe's husband, Arthur Miller believed that the film was based on his wife's life and protested to Chayefsky. The film received positive reviews, and Chayefsky received an Academy Award nomination for his script. A New York Herald Tribune reviewer called the film "a substantial advance in the work of Chayefsky."
Chayefsky denied for years that the film was based on Monroe, but Chayefsky's biographer Shaun Considine observes that not only was she the prototype but the film "captured her longing and despair" accurately.
In 1958 Chayefsky began adapting Middle of the Night as a film, and he decided not to use the star of the Broadway version, Edward G.Robinson, with whom he had clashed, choosing instead Frederic March. Elizabeth Taylor initially agreed to appear in the female lead, but dropped out. Kim Novak was ultimately cast in the part. The film was chosen as the American entry at the Cannes Film Festival, but reviews were mixed and the film had only a short run in theaters.
The Tenth Man (1959) marked Chayefsky's second Broadway theatrical success, garnering 1960 Tony Award nominations for Best Play, Best Director (Tyrone Guthrie) and Best Scenic Design. Guthrie received another nomination for Chayefsky's Gideon, as did actor Fredric March. Chayefsky's final Broadway theatrical production, a play based on the life of Joseph Stalin, The Passion of Josef D, received unfavorable reviews and ran for only 15 performances.
Although Chayefsky was an early writer for the television medium, he eventually abandoned it, "decrying the lack of interest the networks demonstrated toward quality programming". As a result, during the course of his career, he constantly toyed with the idea of lampooning the television industry, which he succeeded in doing with Network.
The Americanization of Emily
Although Chayefsky wished only to do original screenplays, he was persuaded by producer Martin Ransohoff to adapt William Bradford Huie's 1959 novel that was eventually filmed with the book's title The Americanization of Emily (1964). The novel dealt with interservice rivalries prior to the Normandy landings during World War II, with a love story at the center of the plot. Chayefsky agreed to adapting the novel but only if he could fundamentally change the story. He made the titular character more sophisticated, but refusing to be "Americanized" by accepting material goods.
William Wyler was initially brought in as the director, but his relationship with Chayefsky deteriorated when he sought to change the script. William Holden was initially cast in the male lead, but that led to conflict when he asked that Julie Andrews be replaced by his then-girlfriend, Capucine. James Garner, adept at comedy with sophisticated dialogue but originally slated to play a supporting role, replaced Holden and delivered a critically acclaimed performance while James Coburn took over the part originally meant for Garner. Both James Garner and Julie Andrews always maintained that The Americanization of Emily was their favorite film of their own work. The film opened in August 1964 to superlative reviews but was a box office failure, possibly due to its extremely controversial anti-war stance at the dawn of the Vietnam War. The studio changed the title in the middle of its release, calling it Emily...she's super! to avoid confusing part of the public with a seven-syllable word in the title. The film has since been praised as a "vanguard anti-war film."
1960s 'fallow period'
The failure of Americanization of Emily and Josef D. on Broadway shook Chayefsky's confidence, and was the beginning of a what his biographer Shaun Considine calls a "fallow period." He agreed to do novel adaptations, which he had previously shunned, and was hired to adapt the Richard Jessup novel The Cincinnati Kid. Director Sam Peckinpah rejected the script, and Chayefsky was fired. Peckinpah was replaced by Norman Jewison shortly after the film began production.
Chayefsky worked for a time on adapting Huie's book Three Lives for Mississippi, about the murders of three civil rights workers in 1964, and in 1967 was hired to adapt the Broadway musical Paint Your Wagon. He was fired from the film after producing a script that Alan Jay Lerner, the playwright and producer, felt lacked "a musical structure." Chayefsky had his name removed as screenwriter but remained as adapter.
Comeback with The Hospital
In 1969 and 1970. Chayefsky began to consider a film that would be set among the civil unrest taking place at the time. When his wife Susan received poor care at a hospital, he pitched to United Artists a story based at a hospital. To ensure that he had the same kind of creative control given to playwrights, he formed Simcha Productions, named after the Hebrew version of his given name, Sidney. He then commenced research, reading medical books and visiting hospitals.
The leading character in the film, Dr. Herbert Bock, included many of Chayefsky's personal traits. Bock had been a "boy genius" who felt bitter and that his life was over. One of the monologues of George C. Scott as Bock in the film, in which Bock says he is miserable and considering suicide, was repeated verbatim from a conversation that Chayefsky had with a business associate during that time.
The long speeches written for Bock and other characters by Chayefsky, later praised by critics, met resistance from United Artists executives during the making of the film. The script was described as "too talky" and containing excessive medical terminology. But Chayefsky, as producer, prevailed. He also vetoed the studio's suggestion that Walter Matthau or Burt Lancaster be hired for the lead role, insisting on Scott. Chayefsky worked on the dialogue with Diana Rigg, the female lead, but Scott rejected his input.
After filming, Chayefsky spoke the opening narration after several actors were rejected for the job. It was supposed to be temporary, but became the one that was used in the film. Although some initial reviews were negative, the film received rave reviews from leading critics, and was a box office hit. Chayefsky won an Academy Award for his script, and his career was revived.
Network
Chayefsky believed that television news desensitized viewers to violence and murder, and he was shocked one day when a respected news anchorman "rattled off inanities." He asked his friend, the NBC News anchor John Chancellor, if it was possible for an anchorman to go crazy on the air, and Chancellor replied "Every day." Within a week of that conversation, Chayefsky had written the rough draft of a script, centering on an elderly, disillusioned anchor who announces he will commit suicide on the air. In 1974, a local news anchor, Christine Chubbuck, committed suicide during a broadcast.
Chayefsky researched the project by watching hours of television and consulting with NBC executive David Tebet, who allowed Chayefsky to attend programming meetings. He later conducted research at CBS and met with Walter Cronkite. The completed script reflected his research and his personal view, prevalent at the time, that Arabs were "buying up" U.S. corporations. The "mad as hell" speech was a deeply personal statement reflecting the core of Chayefsky's beliefs during the early 1970s. Chayefsky later called it an easy speech to write, reflecting his view that people had a right to get mad.
The script encountered difficulty because of film industry concerns that it was too tough on television. Ultimately it was decided that the film would be a co-production of MGM and United Artists, with Chayefsky having complete creative control. The deal was announced in July 1975. George C. Scott was offered the role of Max Schumacher but rejected it, and the role went to William Holden. Chayefsky refused requests by UA and MGM to give the film a "softer" ending, feeling that ending with the Howard Beale character assassinated would alienate audiences.
Outside the expected negative reviews from television network film critics, the film was a critical and box office success, winning ten Academy Award nominations, and Chayefsky won his third Academy Award, making him the only three-time solo recipient of a screenwriting Oscar; all the other three-time winners (Francis Ford Coppola, Charles Brackett, Woody Allen, and Billy Wilder) shared at least one of their awards with co-writers. When Peter Finch posthumously won Best Actor, Chayefsky was to accept on his behalf, but he defied the show's producer, William Friedkin, and called Finch's wife Eletha to the stage accept the award.
The film is said to have "presaged the advent of reality television by twenty years" and was a "sardonic satire" of the television industry, dealing with the "dehumanization of modern life."
Altered States and decline
After Network Chayefsky explored an offer from Warren Beatty to write a film based on the life of John Reed and his book Ten Days That Shook the World. He agreed to do research, and spent three months exploring the subject of what eventually became the Beatty film Reds. Negotiations with Beatty's lawyers failed.
In the spring of 1977, Chayefsky began work on a project delving into "man's search of his true self." The genesis of the idea was a joke with his friends Bob Fosse and Herb Gardner. The three cooked up a joke project to remake King Kong, in which Kong becomes a movie star. The comic project got Chayefsky interested in exploring the origins of the human spirit. That evolved into a project updating the theme of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Chayefsky conducted research on genetic regression, speaking to doctors and professors of anthropology and human genetics. He then began a rough outline of a story in which the lead character immerses himself in an isolation tank, and with the aid of hallucinogens regresses to become a prehuman creature. Chayefsky wrote an eighty-seven page treatment and, at the suggestion of Columbia executive Daniel Melnick, he adapted it into a novel
Film rights were bought by Columbia Pictures for nearly $1 million, and with the same creative control and financial terms as for Network. Chayefsky suffered greatly from stress while working on the novel, resulting in a heart attack in 1977. The heart attack resulted in strict dietary and lifestyle restrictions. The novel, titled Altered States, was published by HarperCollins in June 1978 and received mixed reviews. Chayefsky did not promote the book, which he viewed only as a blueprint for the screenplay.
Since his contract gave him creative control, Chayefsky participated in the selection of William Hurt and Blair Brown as the leads. Arthur Penn was initially hired as director, but left after disagreements with Chayefsky. He was replaced by Ken Russell.
Chayefsky made it clear that he would allow no input into the dialogue or narrative, which Russell felt was too "soppy." Russell was confident that he could get rid of Chayefsky, but found that "the monkey on my back was always there and wouldn't let go." Russell was polite and deferential prior to production but after rehearsals began in 1979 "began to treat Paddy as a nonentity" and was "mean and sarcastic," according to the film's producer Howard Gottfried, who called Russell a "duplicitous, mean man."
Chayefsky had the power to fire Russell, but was told by Gottfried that he could only do so if he took over direction himself. He left for New York and continued to monitor production. The actors were not permitted to alter the dialogue. Chayefsky later said that in retaliation the actors were instructed to speak the lines while eating or too fast. Russell stated that the fast pace and overlapping dialogue was Chayefsky's idea.
Upset by the filming of his screenplay, Chayefsky withdrew from the production of Altered States and took his name off the credits, substituting the pseudonym Sidney Aaron.
Personality and characteristics
In his book Mad as Hell: The Making of Network and the Fateful Vision of the Angriest Man in Movies, journalist Dave Itzkoff wrote that the Howard Beale character in Network was a product of Chayefsky's many frustrations. Itzkoff wrote: "Where others avoided conflict, he cultivated it and embraced it, His fury nourished him, making him intense and unpredictable, but also keeping him focused and productive." Itzkoff describes Chayefsky as "intensely troubled, a huge egomaniac and control freak, dispirited about the world, wryly comic, and a both present and absent family man."
In his biography of Chayefsky's friend Bob Fosse, drama critic Martin Gottfried said Chayefsky was compact and burly in the bulky way of a schoolyard athlete, with thick dark hair and a bent nose that could pass for a streetfighter's. He was a grown-up with one foot in the boys' clubs of his city youth, a street snob who would not allow the loss of his nostalgia. He was an intellectual competitor, always spoiling for a political argument or a philosophical argument, or any exchange over any issue, changing sides for the fun of the fray. A liberal, he was annoyed by liberals; a proud Jew, he wouldn't let anyone call him a "Jewish writer".In his biography Mad as Hell, author Shaun Considine says that Chayefsky had a "dual personality". Chayefsky's "Paddy" persona had "character, caprice; it appealed to his sense of swagger" and gave him confidence to stand up for his rights. "Sidney" was the "silent creator" who had the talent and genius.
Chayefsky was under psychoanalysis for years, beginning in the late 1950s, to deal with his volatile behavior and rage, which at times was difficult to control.
Political activism
Opposition to McCarthyism
Early in his career, Chayefsky was an opponent of McCarthyism. He signed a telegram signed by other writers and performers protesting federal inaction after a concert featuring Paul Robeson in Peekskill, New York, prompted violence in which 150 persons were injured. As a result, his name appeared in the anti-Communist vigilante publication The Firing Line, published by the American Legion. Although Chayefsky feared being subpoeanaed and his career ruined, that never happened. Actress Betsy Blair described Chayefsky as a Social Democrat and as an anti-Marxist.
He opposed the Vietnam War as a "stupid and utterly unnecessary war whose principal victim would be the United States" and sent a letter to President Richard Nixon decrying the My Lai Massacre, saying Americans were in danger of turning into "a nation of bad Germans."
Soviet Jews and Israel
In the 1970s Chayefsky worked for the cause of Soviet Jews, and in 1971 went to Brussels as part of an American delegation to the International Conference on Soviet Jewry. Believing that the conference was insufficiently aggressive, he founded a new activist group in New York, Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East. Co-founders included Colleen Dewhurst, Frank Gervasi, Leon Uris, Gerold Frank and Elie Wiesel. Chayefsky believed that "Zionists" was a code word for "Jews" by Marxist anti-Semites.
Chayefsky was increasingly interested in Israel at that time. In an interview with Women's Wear Daily in 1971, he said that he believed that Jews around the world were in imminent danger of genocide. Journalist Dave Itzkoff writes that in the 1970s his views on Israel possessed a "more aggressive and admittedly paranoid streak." He believed that anti-Semitism was rife in the U.S., especially in the New Left, and once physically confronted a heckler who used an anti-Semitic slur during a David Steinberg performance. While filming The Hospital, Chayefsky commenced work on a film project called "The Habbakuk Conspiracy," which he described as a "study of life within an Arab guerrilla cell on the West Bank of the Jordan." The project was sold to United Artists but never filmed, which resulted in lingering resentment toward the studio.
Chayefsky composed, without credit, pro-Israel ads for the Anti-Defamation League at the time of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. In the late 1970s Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East placed full-page newspaper ads written by Chayefsky attacking the Palestine Liberation Organization for the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics.
He rejected Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave for the role of the female lead in Network because of their "anti-Israel leanings," even though Redgrave was director Sidney Lumet's first choice. Redgrave, accepting the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Julia, made a speech denouncing "Zionist hoodlums." Chayefsky, appearing later, upbraided Redgrave and said "a simple 'Thank you' would have sufficed." The Redgrave and Chayefsky remarks prompted controversy.
Family
Chayefsky met his future wife Susan Sackler during his 1940s stay in Hollywood. The couple married in February 1949. Their son Dan was born in 1955.
Chayefsky's relationship with his wife was strained for much of their marriage, and she became withdrawn and unwilling to appear with him as he became more prominent. Gwen Verdon, wife of his friend Bob Fosse, only saw Susan Chayefsky five times in her life.
Susan Chayefsky suffered from muscular dystrophy, and Dan Chayefsky described himself to author Dave Itzkoff as "a self-destructive teen who brought more pressure to the family home." Despite an alleged affair with Kim Novak, which resulted in his asking his wife for a divorce, Paddy Chayefsky remained married to Susan Chayefsky until his death, and sought her opinion on his screenplays, including Network. She died in 2000.
Death
Chayefsky contracted pleurisy in 1980 and again in 1981. Tests revealed cancer, but he refused surgery out of fear that surgeons would "cut me up because of that movie I wrote about them," referring to The Hospital. He opted for chemotherapy. He died in a New York hospital on August 1, 1981, aged 58, and was interred in the Sharon Gardens Division of Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, Westchester County, New York.
Longtime friend Bob Fosse performed a tap dance at the funeral, as part of a deal he and Chayefsky had made when Fosse was in the hospital for open-heart surgery. If Fosse died first, Chayefsky promised to deliver a tedious eulogy or Fosse would dance at Chayefsky's memorial if he were the one to die first. His personal papers are at the Wisconsin Historical Society and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Billy Rose Theatre Division.
Filmography
The True Glory (1945) (uncredited)
As Young as You Feel (1951) (story)
Marty (1955)
The Catered Affair (1956)
The Bachelor Party (1957)
The Goddess (1958)
Middle of the Night (1959)
The Americanization of Emily (1964)
Paint Your Wagon (1969) (adaptation)
The Hospital (1971)
Network (1976)
Altered States (1980) (as "Sidney Aaron")
Television and stage plays
Television (selection)
1950–1955 Danger
1951–1952 Manhunt
1951–1960 Goodyear Playhouse
1952–1954 Philco Television Playhouse
1952 Holiday Song
1952 The Reluctant Citizen
1953 Printer's Measure
1953 Marty
1953 The Big Deal
1953 The Bachelor Party
1953 The Sixth Year
1953 Catch My Boy On Sunday
1954 The Mother
1954 Middle of the Night
1955 The Catered Affair
1956 The Great American Hoax
Stage
No T.O. for Love (1945)
Middle of the Night (1956)
The Tenth Man (1959)
Gideon (1961)
The Passion of Josef D. (1964)
The Latent Heterosexual (originally titled The Accountant's Tale or The Case of the Latent Heterosexual) (1968)
Novels
Altered States: A Novel (1978)
Academy Awards
References
Bibliography
External links
The Angry Man WNYC: On The Media audio profile of Paddy Chayefsky, October 27, 2006
Paddy Chayefsky papers at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Paddy Chayefsky Papers at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research.
Museum of Broadcast Communications: Paddy Chayefsky
1923 births
1981 deaths
United States Army personnel of World War II
American male screenwriters
Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners
City College of New York alumni
DeWitt Clinton High School alumni
Fordham University alumni
People from the Bronx
Jewish American dramatists and playwrights
Burials at Kensico Cemetery
Jewish American military personnel
Jewish American screenwriters
American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Best Screenplay Golden Globe winners
Best Screenplay BAFTA Award winners
Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners
20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
American male dramatists and playwrights
20th-century American male writers
Screenwriters from New York (state)
20th-century American screenwriters
Landmine victims
Military personnel from New York City
United States Army soldiers
20th-century American Jews
American Jews | true | [
"Tonicha \"Toni\" Daggert is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera, Emmerdale, played by Kerry Stacey.\n\nCasting\n\nStacey's casting was one of three new signings announced for Emmerdale in November 2005. Toni was introduced as the cousin of established character Danny Daggert (Cleveland Campbell)\n\nIn November 2006, it was reported Stacey had quit the serial.\n\nStorylines\nToni meets Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) while on holiday in Portugal and agrees to return to Emmerdale with him and pretend to be his internet girlfriend, Fireblade. The whole scheme is designed to upset Paddy’s receptionist Jo Stiles (Roxanne Pallett) who had invented the sexy stranger to boost Paddy’s confidence. After the joke was plays out, Toni revealed herself to be the fun-loving cousin of local boy Danny Daggert and settled into life in the village and takes a job in the Woolpack after impressing landlady Diane Sugden (Elizabeth Estensen) and got a job behind the bar. She has a one-night stand with Ivan Jones (Daniel Brocklebank) much to Nicola Blackstock's (Nicola Wheeler) fury. Toni sets her sights on Paddy's business partner Hari Prasad (John Nayagam) and flirts with him, hoping for a date. Toni is oblivious to Paddy's feelings for her and when he confesses she accuses him of trying to ruin her chances with Hari. Things are awkward for a while but she and Paddy come through it.\n\nToni regrets rejecting Paddy when he becomes close to Del Dingle (Hayley Tamaddon) and she realised she did have feelings for him and tries to win him back. Del confronts Toni in the Woolpack kitchen and warns off her off Paddy. When Toni refuses, a fight ensues and Toni is severely burned with hot fat. Despite being an accident, Paddy is horrified at Del's actions and dumps her. \nToni and Paddy get together and eventually get engaged after Paddy proposes but the proposal is revealed as accidental and the two split. Toni makes peace with Paddy and Del before leaving.\n\nReferences\n\nSee also\n List of Emmerdale characters (2005)\n\nEmmerdale characters\nTelevision characters introduced in 2005\nBritish female characters in television\nFictional Black British people\nFictional bartenders",
"Paddy's TV Guide is a British television comedy series created, written and presented by Paddy McGuinness, and broadcast on Channel 4 from 18 January to 8 March 2013. Paddy presents the show from Granada Studios in Manchester, where he guides viewers through the good, bad and ugly world of television, including some TV gold from his archives. The show also features David Plant as \"Terry\".\n\nOverview\nPaddy McGuinness uses his 10-foot plasma television and \"Paddy Player\" to offer a guide through life. It all takes place in a mock-up of his living room, where the comedy sidekick invites an audience to guffaw at a selection of archive TV and video clips, inter-cut with his scripted reactions. David Plant starred as the non speaking Terry\n\nList of episodes\n\nReception\nThe first episode brought in an average of 1.3 million viewers, but ratings slumped for the rest of the series - not a single other episode was one of Channel 4's top 30 most viewed programmes of the week.\n\nThe show was universally panned by critics. Nick Norton of \"Off the Box\" said \"The premise of Paddy's TV Guide, in which the host presents a series of lamentable clips from wretched television shows, all on a set theme each episode, is of little consequence. What is remarkable is the line in the credits that tells us it was \"Adapted from an original TV format by Paddy McGuiness and ITV\". Which means that either ITV thought the show was too substandard even for the dreck it fills ITV2's schedule with, or Channel 4 actually paid good money to take it off its hands. Either way, shame on Channel 4. As [Stewart] Lee himself might say, to watch it really is the equivalent of letting somebody straddle your face and defecate directly onto your eyeballs.\"\n\nShouting at Cows's Pippa Harris said: \"Paddy's TV Guide is the kind of curve ball Channel 4 likes to throw in amongst Homeland and documentaries about dolphin murder and the alarming 5 minute thought-provokers like Random Acts. Into the mix will suddenly appear something that seems to have burst through the wall from next door at ITV, offerings like the eejit-whisperers of Tool Academy, the now defunct Love Shaft, and the chat shows they keep trying to give to any female celebrity that can make it through a comedy panel show without clawing Jimmy Carr's face off (remember Charlotte Church's chat show? Anyone?). The rest of it drones on with a smattering of sub-Hill physical sketches and commentary that adds about as much as those dialogue boxes that pop up in front of YouTube clips. I don't think any of this is really Paddy's fault – the problem is this format has been done before and much better; he's out of his depth. If he must be on the goggle-box, someone needs to lead him back towards the neon glow of the gameshow.\".\n\nAlex Fletcher of Digital Spy was highly critical of the show: \"...occasionally a TV monster does cross my path and bewitches with me its sheer awfulness. Celebrity Wrestling, The Farm, \"TOWIE Live\", Mark Wright's Hollywood Nights and now joining that list is Paddy's TV Guide. ...Paddy's TV Guide is a weird mix of not particularly amusing video clips and buttock-clenchingly awful editing that squeezes hysterical audience laughter on top of every inoffensive but utterly unamusing comment from the show's host.\" Fletcher concluded his review by saying: \"Bafflingly bad, Paddy will do well to wipe this whole project from his wiki page and pretend it never happened if he knows what's best for him.\"\n\nRedbrick.me's Rosie Pooley slated the programme as well. She said, \"I guarantee that 10 minutes spent on youtube will bring up funnier material than Paddy manages to muster. What Channel 4 has yet to realise is that when Paddy is not swinging out the one-liners with a group of 30 girls lapping up every word, every joke he fluffs up falls flat and makes Paddy’s TV Guide frankly awkward to watch.\"\n\nSee also\n Clive James/Floyd on Television/Tarrant on TV - a similar show made by ITV between 1982 - 2006\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n2010s British comedy television series\n2013 British television series debuts\n2013 British television series endings\nChannel 4 comedy\nEnglish-language television shows\nTelevision series about television\nTelevision series by ITV Studios"
] |
[
"Paddy Chayefsky",
"Television",
"When did Paddy begin television?",
"1949",
"What was the name of the show?",
"1949 adaptation of Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run? for Philco.",
"Did he write this show, or act?",
"first script to be telecast",
"What other scripts did he write?",
"he wrote Holiday Song,",
"What year was Holiday song written?",
"telecast in 1952 and also in 1954.",
"Was any of his scripts written successful?",
"One of these teleplays, Mother (April 4, 1954), received a new production October 24, 1994 on Great Performances with Anne Bancroft in the title role.",
"What was Anne major role if it states or what was that script about?",
"I don't know.",
"What other interesting things happened for Paddy during his career in television?",
"Chayefsky wrote Marty, which was premiered on The Philco Television Playhouse, with Rod Steiger and Nancy Marchand."
] | C_462557c8eedd4281a41bd27c205c6da5_0 | Did he win any awards for any of his films? | 9 | Did Paddy Chayefsky win any awards for any of his films? | Paddy Chayefsky | He moved into television with scripts for Danger, The Gulf Playhouse and Manhunt. Philco Television Playhouse producer Fred Coe saw the Danger and Manhunt episodes and enlisted Chayefsky to adapt the story It Happened on the Brooklyn Subway about a photographer on a New York subway train who reunites a concentration camp survivor with his long-lost wife. Chayefsky's first script to be telecast was a 1949 adaptation of Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run? for Philco. Since he had always wanted to use a synagogue as backdrop, he wrote Holiday Song, telecast in 1952 and also in 1954. He submitted more work to Philco, including Printer's Measure, The Bachelor Party (1953) and The Big Deal (1953). One of these teleplays, Mother (April 4, 1954), received a new production October 24, 1994 on Great Performances with Anne Bancroft in the title role. Curiously, original teleplays from the 1950s are almost never revived for new TV productions, so the 1994 production of Mother was a conspicuous rarity. In 1953, Chayefsky wrote Marty, which was premiered on The Philco Television Playhouse, with Rod Steiger and Nancy Marchand. Marty is about a decent, hard-working Bronx butcher, pining for the company of a woman in his life but despairing of ever finding true love in a relationship. Fate pairs him with a plain, shy schoolteacher named Clara whom he rescues from the embarrassment of being abandoned by her blind date in a local dance hall. The production, the actors and Chayefsky's naturalistic dialogue received much critical acclaim and influenced subsequent live television dramas. Chayefsky had a unique clause in his Marty contract that stated that only he could write the screenplay, which he did for the 1955 movie. Chayefsky's The Great American Hoax was broadcast May 15, 1957 during the second season of The 20th Century Fox Hour. This was actually a rewrite of his earlier Fox film, As Young as You Feel (1951) with Monty Woolley and Marilyn Monroe. The Great American Hoax was shown on the FX channel after Fox restored some The 20th Century Fox Hour episodes and telecast them under the new title Fox Hour of Stars beginning in 2002. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky (January 29, 1923 – August 1, 1981) was an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for writing both adapted and original screenplays.
He was one of the most renowned dramatists of the Golden Age of Television. His intimate, realistic scripts provided a naturalistic style of television drama for the 1950s, dramatizing the lives of ordinary Americans. Martin Gottfried wrote in All His Jazz that Chayefsky was "the most successful graduate of television's slice of life school of naturalism."
Following his critically acclaimed teleplays, Chayefsky became a noted playwright and novelist. As a screenwriter, he received three Academy Awards for Marty (1955), The Hospital (1971) and Network (1976). The movie Marty was based on his own television drama about two lonely people finding love. Network was a satire of the television industry and The Hospital was also satiric. Film historian David Thomson called The Hospital "years ahead of its time. […] Few films capture the disaster of America's self-destructive idealism so well." His screenplay for Network is often regarded as his masterpiece, and has been hailed as "the kind of literate, darkly funny and breathtakingly prescient material that prompts many to claim it as the greatest screenplay of the 20th century."
Chayefsky's early stories were frequently influenced by the author's childhood in The Bronx. Chayefsky was part of the inaugural class of inductees into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Television Hall of Fame. He received this honor three years after his death, in 1984.
Early life
Sidney Chayefsky was born in the Bronx, New York City to Russian-Jewish immigrants Harry and Gussie (Stuchevsky) Chayefsky. Harry Chayefsky's father served for twenty-five years in the Russian army so the family was allowed to live in Moscow, while Gussie Stuchevsky lived in a village near Odessa. Harry and Gussie emigrated to the US in 1907 and 1909 respectively.
Harry Chayefsky worked for a New Jersey milk distribution company in which he eventually took a controlling interest and renamed Dellwood Dairies. The family lived in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and Mount Vernon, New York, moving temporarily to Bailey Avenue in the West Bronx at the time of Sidney Chayefsky's birth while a larger house in Mount Vernon was being completed. He had two older brothers, William and Winn.
As a toddler Chayefsky showed signs of being gifted, and could "speak intelligently" at two and a half. His father suffered a financial reversal during the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and the family moved back to the Bronx. Chayefsky attended a public elementary school. As a boy, Chayefsky was noted for his verbal ability, which won him friends. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School, where he served as editor of the school's literary magazine, "The Magpie." He graduated from Clinton in 1939 at age 16 and attended the City College of New York, graduating with a degree in social sciences in 1943. While at City College he played for the semi-professional football team Kingsbridge Trojans. He studied languages at Fordham University during his Army service.
Military service
In 1943, two weeks before his graduation from City College, Chayefsky was drafted into the United States Army, and served in combat in Europe. While in the Army he adopted the nickname "Paddy." The nickname was given spontaneously when he was awakened at dawn for kitchen duty. Although actually Jewish, he asked to be excused to attend Mass. "Sure you do, Paddy," said the officer, and the name stuck.
Chayefsky was wounded by a land mine while serving with the 104th Infantry Division in the European Theatre near Aachen, Germany. He was awarded the Purple Heart. The wound left him badly scarred, contributing to his shyness around women. While recovering from his injuries in the Army Hospital near Cirencester, England, he wrote the book and lyrics to a musical comedy, No T.O. for Love. First produced in 1945 by the Special Services Unit, the show toured European Army bases for two years.
The London opening of No T.O. for Love at the Scala Theatre in the West End was the beginning of Chayefsky's theatrical career. During the London production of this musical, Chayefsky encountered Joshua Logan, a future collaborator, and Garson Kanin, who invited Chayefsky to collaborate with him on a documentary of the Allied invasion, The True Glory.
Career
1940s
Returning to the United States, Chayefsky worked in his uncle's print shop, Regal Press, an experience which provided a background for his later teleplay, Printer's Measure (1953), as well as his story for the movie As Young as You Feel (1951). Kanin enabled Chayefsky to spend time working on his second play, Put Them All Together (later known as M is for Mother), but it was never produced. Producers Mike Gordon and Jerry Bressler gave him a junior writer's contract. He wrote a story, The Great American Hoax, which sold to Good Housekeeping but was never published.
Chayefsky went to Hollywood in 1947 with the aim of becoming a screenwriter. His friends Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon found him a job in the accounting office of Universal Pictures. He studied acting at the Actor's Lab and Kanin got him a bit part in the film A Double Life. He returned to New York, submitted scripts, and was hired as an apprentice scriptwriter by Universal. His script outlines were not accepted and he was fired after six weeks. After returning to New York, Chayefsky wrote the outline for a play that he submitted to the Wiilliam Morris Agency. The agency, treating it as a novella, submitted it to Good Housekeeping magazine. Movie rights were purchased by Twentieth Century Fox, and Chayefsky was hired to write the script, and he returned to Hollywood in 1948. But Chayefsky was discouraged by the studio system, which involved rewrites and relegated writers to inferior roles, so he quit and moved back to New York, vowing not to return.
During the late 1940s, he began working full-time on short stories and radio scripts, and during that period, he was a gagwriter for radio host Robert Q. Lewis. Chayefsky later recalled, "I sold some plays to men who had an uncanny ability not to raise money."
Early 1950s
During 1951–52, Chayefsky wrote adaptations for radio's Theater Guild on the Air: The Meanest Man in the World (with James Stewart), Cavalcade of America, Tommy (with Van Heflin and Ruth Gordon) and Over 21 (with Wally Cox).
His play The Man Who Made the Mountain Shake was noticed by Elia Kazan, and his wife, Molly Kazan, helped Chayefsky with revisions. It was retitled Fifth From Garibaldi but was never produced. In 1951, the movie As Young as You Feel was adapted from a Chayefsky story.
He moved into television with scripts for Danger, The Gulf Playhouse and Manhunt. Philco Television Playhouse producer Fred Coe saw the Danger and Manhunt episodes and enlisted Chayefsky to adapt the story It Happened on the Brooklyn Subway about a photographer on a New York City Subway train who reunites a concentration camp survivor with his long-lost wife. Chayefsky's first script to be telecast was a 1949 adaptation of Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run? for Philco.
Since he had always wanted to use a synagogue as backdrop, he wrote Holiday Song, telecast in 1952 and also in 1954. He submitted more work to Philco, including Printer's Measure, The Bachelor Party (1953) and The Big Deal (1953).
The seventh season of Philco Television Playhouse began September 19, 1954 with E. G. Marshall and Eva Marie Saint in Chayefsky's Middle of the Night, a play which relocated to Broadway theaters 15 months later; In 1956, Middle of the Night opened on Broadway with Edward G. Robinson and Gena Rowlands, and its success led to a national tour. It was filmed by Columbia Pictures in 1959 with Kim Novak and Fredric March.
Marty and fame
In 1953, Chayefsky wrote Marty, which was premiered on The Philco Television Playhouse, with Rod Steiger and Nancy Marchand. Marty is about a decent, hard-working Bronx butcher, pining for the company of a woman in his life but despairing of ever finding true love in a relationship. Fate pairs him with a plain, shy schoolteacher named Clara whom he rescues from the embarrassment of being abandoned by her blind date in a local dance hall. The production, the actors and Chayefsky's naturalistic dialogue received much critical acclaim and influenced subsequent live television dramas.
Chayefsky was initially uninterested when producer Harold Hecht sought to buy film rights for Marty for Hecht-Hill-Lancaster. Chayefsky, still upset by his treatment years before, demanded creative control, consultation on casting, and the same director as in the TV version, Delbert Mann. Surprisingly, Hecht agreed to all of Chayefsky's demands, and named Chayefsky "associate producer" of the film. Chayefsky then requested and was granted "co-director" status, so that he could take over production if Mann was fired.
The screenplay was little changed from the teleplay, but with Clara's role expanded. Chayefsky was involved in all casting decisions and had a cameo role, playing one of Marty's friends, unseen, in a car. Actress Betsy Blair, playing Clara, faced difficulties because of her affiliation with left-wing causes, and United Artists demanded that she be removed. Chayefsky refused, and her husband Gene Kelly also intervened on her behalf. Blair remained in the cast.
In September 1954, after most of the movie had been filmed, the studio ceased production due to accounting and financial difficulties. Producer Harold Hecht encountered resistance to the Marty project from his partner Burt Lancaster from the beginning, with Lancaster "only tolerating" it. The film had a limited publicity budget. But reviews were glowing, and the film won the Palme d'Or at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Picture, greatly boosting Chayefsky's career.
Late 1950s
After his success with Marty, Chayefsky continued to write for TV and theater as well as films. Chayefsky's The Great American Hoax was broadcast May 15, 1957 during the second season of The 20th Century Fox Hour.
His TV play The Bachelor Party was bought by United Artists and The Catered Affair was bought by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Gore Vidal was hired to write the screenplay by MGM, while Chayefsky wrote the Bachelor Party. Catered Affair did well in Europe but poorly in U.S. theaters, and was not a success.
Bachelor Party was budgeted at $750,000, twice Marty budget, but received far less acclaim and was viewed by United Artists as artistically inferior. The studio chose instead to promote another Hecht-Hill-Lancaster film, Sweet Smell of Success, which the studio believed to be better. Bachelor Party turned out to be a commercial failure, and never made a profit.
Chayefsky wrote a film adaptation of his Broadway play Middle of the Night, originally writing the female lead role for Marilyn Monroe. She passed on the part, which went to Kim Novak. He also commenced work on The Goddess, the story of the rise and fall of a movie star resembling Monroe. The star of The Goddess, Kim Stanley, despised the film and refused to publicize it. He and Stanley clashed during production of the film, in which Chayefsky served as producer as well as screenwriter. Despite her requests, Chayefsky refused to change any aspect of the script. Monroe's husband, Arthur Miller believed that the film was based on his wife's life and protested to Chayefsky. The film received positive reviews, and Chayefsky received an Academy Award nomination for his script. A New York Herald Tribune reviewer called the film "a substantial advance in the work of Chayefsky."
Chayefsky denied for years that the film was based on Monroe, but Chayefsky's biographer Shaun Considine observes that not only was she the prototype but the film "captured her longing and despair" accurately.
In 1958 Chayefsky began adapting Middle of the Night as a film, and he decided not to use the star of the Broadway version, Edward G.Robinson, with whom he had clashed, choosing instead Frederic March. Elizabeth Taylor initially agreed to appear in the female lead, but dropped out. Kim Novak was ultimately cast in the part. The film was chosen as the American entry at the Cannes Film Festival, but reviews were mixed and the film had only a short run in theaters.
The Tenth Man (1959) marked Chayefsky's second Broadway theatrical success, garnering 1960 Tony Award nominations for Best Play, Best Director (Tyrone Guthrie) and Best Scenic Design. Guthrie received another nomination for Chayefsky's Gideon, as did actor Fredric March. Chayefsky's final Broadway theatrical production, a play based on the life of Joseph Stalin, The Passion of Josef D, received unfavorable reviews and ran for only 15 performances.
Although Chayefsky was an early writer for the television medium, he eventually abandoned it, "decrying the lack of interest the networks demonstrated toward quality programming". As a result, during the course of his career, he constantly toyed with the idea of lampooning the television industry, which he succeeded in doing with Network.
The Americanization of Emily
Although Chayefsky wished only to do original screenplays, he was persuaded by producer Martin Ransohoff to adapt William Bradford Huie's 1959 novel that was eventually filmed with the book's title The Americanization of Emily (1964). The novel dealt with interservice rivalries prior to the Normandy landings during World War II, with a love story at the center of the plot. Chayefsky agreed to adapting the novel but only if he could fundamentally change the story. He made the titular character more sophisticated, but refusing to be "Americanized" by accepting material goods.
William Wyler was initially brought in as the director, but his relationship with Chayefsky deteriorated when he sought to change the script. William Holden was initially cast in the male lead, but that led to conflict when he asked that Julie Andrews be replaced by his then-girlfriend, Capucine. James Garner, adept at comedy with sophisticated dialogue but originally slated to play a supporting role, replaced Holden and delivered a critically acclaimed performance while James Coburn took over the part originally meant for Garner. Both James Garner and Julie Andrews always maintained that The Americanization of Emily was their favorite film of their own work. The film opened in August 1964 to superlative reviews but was a box office failure, possibly due to its extremely controversial anti-war stance at the dawn of the Vietnam War. The studio changed the title in the middle of its release, calling it Emily...she's super! to avoid confusing part of the public with a seven-syllable word in the title. The film has since been praised as a "vanguard anti-war film."
1960s 'fallow period'
The failure of Americanization of Emily and Josef D. on Broadway shook Chayefsky's confidence, and was the beginning of a what his biographer Shaun Considine calls a "fallow period." He agreed to do novel adaptations, which he had previously shunned, and was hired to adapt the Richard Jessup novel The Cincinnati Kid. Director Sam Peckinpah rejected the script, and Chayefsky was fired. Peckinpah was replaced by Norman Jewison shortly after the film began production.
Chayefsky worked for a time on adapting Huie's book Three Lives for Mississippi, about the murders of three civil rights workers in 1964, and in 1967 was hired to adapt the Broadway musical Paint Your Wagon. He was fired from the film after producing a script that Alan Jay Lerner, the playwright and producer, felt lacked "a musical structure." Chayefsky had his name removed as screenwriter but remained as adapter.
Comeback with The Hospital
In 1969 and 1970. Chayefsky began to consider a film that would be set among the civil unrest taking place at the time. When his wife Susan received poor care at a hospital, he pitched to United Artists a story based at a hospital. To ensure that he had the same kind of creative control given to playwrights, he formed Simcha Productions, named after the Hebrew version of his given name, Sidney. He then commenced research, reading medical books and visiting hospitals.
The leading character in the film, Dr. Herbert Bock, included many of Chayefsky's personal traits. Bock had been a "boy genius" who felt bitter and that his life was over. One of the monologues of George C. Scott as Bock in the film, in which Bock says he is miserable and considering suicide, was repeated verbatim from a conversation that Chayefsky had with a business associate during that time.
The long speeches written for Bock and other characters by Chayefsky, later praised by critics, met resistance from United Artists executives during the making of the film. The script was described as "too talky" and containing excessive medical terminology. But Chayefsky, as producer, prevailed. He also vetoed the studio's suggestion that Walter Matthau or Burt Lancaster be hired for the lead role, insisting on Scott. Chayefsky worked on the dialogue with Diana Rigg, the female lead, but Scott rejected his input.
After filming, Chayefsky spoke the opening narration after several actors were rejected for the job. It was supposed to be temporary, but became the one that was used in the film. Although some initial reviews were negative, the film received rave reviews from leading critics, and was a box office hit. Chayefsky won an Academy Award for his script, and his career was revived.
Network
Chayefsky believed that television news desensitized viewers to violence and murder, and he was shocked one day when a respected news anchorman "rattled off inanities." He asked his friend, the NBC News anchor John Chancellor, if it was possible for an anchorman to go crazy on the air, and Chancellor replied "Every day." Within a week of that conversation, Chayefsky had written the rough draft of a script, centering on an elderly, disillusioned anchor who announces he will commit suicide on the air. In 1974, a local news anchor, Christine Chubbuck, committed suicide during a broadcast.
Chayefsky researched the project by watching hours of television and consulting with NBC executive David Tebet, who allowed Chayefsky to attend programming meetings. He later conducted research at CBS and met with Walter Cronkite. The completed script reflected his research and his personal view, prevalent at the time, that Arabs were "buying up" U.S. corporations. The "mad as hell" speech was a deeply personal statement reflecting the core of Chayefsky's beliefs during the early 1970s. Chayefsky later called it an easy speech to write, reflecting his view that people had a right to get mad.
The script encountered difficulty because of film industry concerns that it was too tough on television. Ultimately it was decided that the film would be a co-production of MGM and United Artists, with Chayefsky having complete creative control. The deal was announced in July 1975. George C. Scott was offered the role of Max Schumacher but rejected it, and the role went to William Holden. Chayefsky refused requests by UA and MGM to give the film a "softer" ending, feeling that ending with the Howard Beale character assassinated would alienate audiences.
Outside the expected negative reviews from television network film critics, the film was a critical and box office success, winning ten Academy Award nominations, and Chayefsky won his third Academy Award, making him the only three-time solo recipient of a screenwriting Oscar; all the other three-time winners (Francis Ford Coppola, Charles Brackett, Woody Allen, and Billy Wilder) shared at least one of their awards with co-writers. When Peter Finch posthumously won Best Actor, Chayefsky was to accept on his behalf, but he defied the show's producer, William Friedkin, and called Finch's wife Eletha to the stage accept the award.
The film is said to have "presaged the advent of reality television by twenty years" and was a "sardonic satire" of the television industry, dealing with the "dehumanization of modern life."
Altered States and decline
After Network Chayefsky explored an offer from Warren Beatty to write a film based on the life of John Reed and his book Ten Days That Shook the World. He agreed to do research, and spent three months exploring the subject of what eventually became the Beatty film Reds. Negotiations with Beatty's lawyers failed.
In the spring of 1977, Chayefsky began work on a project delving into "man's search of his true self." The genesis of the idea was a joke with his friends Bob Fosse and Herb Gardner. The three cooked up a joke project to remake King Kong, in which Kong becomes a movie star. The comic project got Chayefsky interested in exploring the origins of the human spirit. That evolved into a project updating the theme of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Chayefsky conducted research on genetic regression, speaking to doctors and professors of anthropology and human genetics. He then began a rough outline of a story in which the lead character immerses himself in an isolation tank, and with the aid of hallucinogens regresses to become a prehuman creature. Chayefsky wrote an eighty-seven page treatment and, at the suggestion of Columbia executive Daniel Melnick, he adapted it into a novel
Film rights were bought by Columbia Pictures for nearly $1 million, and with the same creative control and financial terms as for Network. Chayefsky suffered greatly from stress while working on the novel, resulting in a heart attack in 1977. The heart attack resulted in strict dietary and lifestyle restrictions. The novel, titled Altered States, was published by HarperCollins in June 1978 and received mixed reviews. Chayefsky did not promote the book, which he viewed only as a blueprint for the screenplay.
Since his contract gave him creative control, Chayefsky participated in the selection of William Hurt and Blair Brown as the leads. Arthur Penn was initially hired as director, but left after disagreements with Chayefsky. He was replaced by Ken Russell.
Chayefsky made it clear that he would allow no input into the dialogue or narrative, which Russell felt was too "soppy." Russell was confident that he could get rid of Chayefsky, but found that "the monkey on my back was always there and wouldn't let go." Russell was polite and deferential prior to production but after rehearsals began in 1979 "began to treat Paddy as a nonentity" and was "mean and sarcastic," according to the film's producer Howard Gottfried, who called Russell a "duplicitous, mean man."
Chayefsky had the power to fire Russell, but was told by Gottfried that he could only do so if he took over direction himself. He left for New York and continued to monitor production. The actors were not permitted to alter the dialogue. Chayefsky later said that in retaliation the actors were instructed to speak the lines while eating or too fast. Russell stated that the fast pace and overlapping dialogue was Chayefsky's idea.
Upset by the filming of his screenplay, Chayefsky withdrew from the production of Altered States and took his name off the credits, substituting the pseudonym Sidney Aaron.
Personality and characteristics
In his book Mad as Hell: The Making of Network and the Fateful Vision of the Angriest Man in Movies, journalist Dave Itzkoff wrote that the Howard Beale character in Network was a product of Chayefsky's many frustrations. Itzkoff wrote: "Where others avoided conflict, he cultivated it and embraced it, His fury nourished him, making him intense and unpredictable, but also keeping him focused and productive." Itzkoff describes Chayefsky as "intensely troubled, a huge egomaniac and control freak, dispirited about the world, wryly comic, and a both present and absent family man."
In his biography of Chayefsky's friend Bob Fosse, drama critic Martin Gottfried said Chayefsky was compact and burly in the bulky way of a schoolyard athlete, with thick dark hair and a bent nose that could pass for a streetfighter's. He was a grown-up with one foot in the boys' clubs of his city youth, a street snob who would not allow the loss of his nostalgia. He was an intellectual competitor, always spoiling for a political argument or a philosophical argument, or any exchange over any issue, changing sides for the fun of the fray. A liberal, he was annoyed by liberals; a proud Jew, he wouldn't let anyone call him a "Jewish writer".In his biography Mad as Hell, author Shaun Considine says that Chayefsky had a "dual personality". Chayefsky's "Paddy" persona had "character, caprice; it appealed to his sense of swagger" and gave him confidence to stand up for his rights. "Sidney" was the "silent creator" who had the talent and genius.
Chayefsky was under psychoanalysis for years, beginning in the late 1950s, to deal with his volatile behavior and rage, which at times was difficult to control.
Political activism
Opposition to McCarthyism
Early in his career, Chayefsky was an opponent of McCarthyism. He signed a telegram signed by other writers and performers protesting federal inaction after a concert featuring Paul Robeson in Peekskill, New York, prompted violence in which 150 persons were injured. As a result, his name appeared in the anti-Communist vigilante publication The Firing Line, published by the American Legion. Although Chayefsky feared being subpoeanaed and his career ruined, that never happened. Actress Betsy Blair described Chayefsky as a Social Democrat and as an anti-Marxist.
He opposed the Vietnam War as a "stupid and utterly unnecessary war whose principal victim would be the United States" and sent a letter to President Richard Nixon decrying the My Lai Massacre, saying Americans were in danger of turning into "a nation of bad Germans."
Soviet Jews and Israel
In the 1970s Chayefsky worked for the cause of Soviet Jews, and in 1971 went to Brussels as part of an American delegation to the International Conference on Soviet Jewry. Believing that the conference was insufficiently aggressive, he founded a new activist group in New York, Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East. Co-founders included Colleen Dewhurst, Frank Gervasi, Leon Uris, Gerold Frank and Elie Wiesel. Chayefsky believed that "Zionists" was a code word for "Jews" by Marxist anti-Semites.
Chayefsky was increasingly interested in Israel at that time. In an interview with Women's Wear Daily in 1971, he said that he believed that Jews around the world were in imminent danger of genocide. Journalist Dave Itzkoff writes that in the 1970s his views on Israel possessed a "more aggressive and admittedly paranoid streak." He believed that anti-Semitism was rife in the U.S., especially in the New Left, and once physically confronted a heckler who used an anti-Semitic slur during a David Steinberg performance. While filming The Hospital, Chayefsky commenced work on a film project called "The Habbakuk Conspiracy," which he described as a "study of life within an Arab guerrilla cell on the West Bank of the Jordan." The project was sold to United Artists but never filmed, which resulted in lingering resentment toward the studio.
Chayefsky composed, without credit, pro-Israel ads for the Anti-Defamation League at the time of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. In the late 1970s Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East placed full-page newspaper ads written by Chayefsky attacking the Palestine Liberation Organization for the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics.
He rejected Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave for the role of the female lead in Network because of their "anti-Israel leanings," even though Redgrave was director Sidney Lumet's first choice. Redgrave, accepting the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Julia, made a speech denouncing "Zionist hoodlums." Chayefsky, appearing later, upbraided Redgrave and said "a simple 'Thank you' would have sufficed." The Redgrave and Chayefsky remarks prompted controversy.
Family
Chayefsky met his future wife Susan Sackler during his 1940s stay in Hollywood. The couple married in February 1949. Their son Dan was born in 1955.
Chayefsky's relationship with his wife was strained for much of their marriage, and she became withdrawn and unwilling to appear with him as he became more prominent. Gwen Verdon, wife of his friend Bob Fosse, only saw Susan Chayefsky five times in her life.
Susan Chayefsky suffered from muscular dystrophy, and Dan Chayefsky described himself to author Dave Itzkoff as "a self-destructive teen who brought more pressure to the family home." Despite an alleged affair with Kim Novak, which resulted in his asking his wife for a divorce, Paddy Chayefsky remained married to Susan Chayefsky until his death, and sought her opinion on his screenplays, including Network. She died in 2000.
Death
Chayefsky contracted pleurisy in 1980 and again in 1981. Tests revealed cancer, but he refused surgery out of fear that surgeons would "cut me up because of that movie I wrote about them," referring to The Hospital. He opted for chemotherapy. He died in a New York hospital on August 1, 1981, aged 58, and was interred in the Sharon Gardens Division of Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, Westchester County, New York.
Longtime friend Bob Fosse performed a tap dance at the funeral, as part of a deal he and Chayefsky had made when Fosse was in the hospital for open-heart surgery. If Fosse died first, Chayefsky promised to deliver a tedious eulogy or Fosse would dance at Chayefsky's memorial if he were the one to die first. His personal papers are at the Wisconsin Historical Society and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Billy Rose Theatre Division.
Filmography
The True Glory (1945) (uncredited)
As Young as You Feel (1951) (story)
Marty (1955)
The Catered Affair (1956)
The Bachelor Party (1957)
The Goddess (1958)
Middle of the Night (1959)
The Americanization of Emily (1964)
Paint Your Wagon (1969) (adaptation)
The Hospital (1971)
Network (1976)
Altered States (1980) (as "Sidney Aaron")
Television and stage plays
Television (selection)
1950–1955 Danger
1951–1952 Manhunt
1951–1960 Goodyear Playhouse
1952–1954 Philco Television Playhouse
1952 Holiday Song
1952 The Reluctant Citizen
1953 Printer's Measure
1953 Marty
1953 The Big Deal
1953 The Bachelor Party
1953 The Sixth Year
1953 Catch My Boy On Sunday
1954 The Mother
1954 Middle of the Night
1955 The Catered Affair
1956 The Great American Hoax
Stage
No T.O. for Love (1945)
Middle of the Night (1956)
The Tenth Man (1959)
Gideon (1961)
The Passion of Josef D. (1964)
The Latent Heterosexual (originally titled The Accountant's Tale or The Case of the Latent Heterosexual) (1968)
Novels
Altered States: A Novel (1978)
Academy Awards
References
Bibliography
External links
The Angry Man WNYC: On The Media audio profile of Paddy Chayefsky, October 27, 2006
Paddy Chayefsky papers at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Paddy Chayefsky Papers at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research.
Museum of Broadcast Communications: Paddy Chayefsky
1923 births
1981 deaths
United States Army personnel of World War II
American male screenwriters
Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners
City College of New York alumni
DeWitt Clinton High School alumni
Fordham University alumni
People from the Bronx
Jewish American dramatists and playwrights
Burials at Kensico Cemetery
Jewish American military personnel
Jewish American screenwriters
American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Best Screenplay Golden Globe winners
Best Screenplay BAFTA Award winners
Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners
20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
American male dramatists and playwrights
20th-century American male writers
Screenwriters from New York (state)
20th-century American screenwriters
Landmine victims
Military personnel from New York City
United States Army soldiers
20th-century American Jews
American Jews | false | [
"This is a list of films with performances that have been nominated in all of the Academy Award acting categories.\n\nThe Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences annually bestows Academy Awards for acting performances in the following four categories: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress.\n\nFilms \n\nAs of the 93rd Academy Awards (2020), there have been fifteen films containing at least one nominated performance in each of the four Academy Award acting categories. \n\nIn the following list, award winners are listed in bold with gold background; others listed are nominees who did not win. No film has ever won all four awards.\n\nSuperlatives \n\nNo film has won all four awards.\n\nTwo films won three awards: \n\n A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) \n Network (1976)\n\nFour films hold a total of five nominations, each with an additional nomination within one of the four categories:\n\n Mrs. Miniver (1942) – two nominations for Best Supporting Actress\n From Here to Eternity (1953) – two nominations for Best Actor\n Bonnie and Clyde (1968) – two nominations for Best Supporting Actor\n Network (1976) – two nominations for Best Actor\n\nThree of the nominated films failed to win any of the four awards: \n\n My Man Godfrey (1936) – also failed to win any other Academy Awards\n Sunset Boulevard (1950)\n American Hustle (2013) – also failed to win any other Academy Awards\n\nOnly two of the nominated films won Best Picture:\n\n Mrs. Miniver (1942)\n From Here to Eternity (1953)\n\nOnly one of the nominated films was not nominated for Best Picture:\n\n My Man Godfrey (1936)\n\nFive performers were nominated for their work in two different films that received nominations in all acting categories (winners in bold):\n\n William Holden (Sunset Boulevard, Network)\n Warren Beatty (Bonnie and Clyde, Reds)\n Faye Dunaway (Bonnie and Clyde, Network)\n Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle)\n Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle)\n\nOnly one director has directed two films that received nominations in all four categories:\n\n David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle)\n\nThe 40th Academy Awards (1967) was the only ceremony in which multiple films held at least one nomination in all four acting categories:\n\n Bonnie and Clyde\n Guess Who's Coming to Dinner\n\nAll of the films, except My Man Godfrey and For Whom the Bell Tolls, were also nominated for the \"Big Five\" categories (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted)).\n\nSee also \n\n List of Big Five Academy Award winners and nominees\n List of films with two or more Academy Awards in an acting category\n\nActing nom",
"The Filmfare Award for Best Film is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films.\n\nThe award was first given in 1954. Here is a list of the award winners and the nominees of the respective years. Each individual entry shows the title followed by the production company and the producer.\n\nYash Raj Films has produced 18 films that have been nominated, the most for any production house. It also shares the most wins at 4 along with Bimal Roy Productions and UTV Motion Pictures. While Yash Chopra has been the producer of most of the nominated and all the winning films of Yash Raj Films, Bimal Roy has been the producer of all the nominated films of Bimal Roy Productions, thus making them the producer with the most wins. Bimal Roy, Yash Chopra, and Sanjay Leela Bhansali have each directed 4 winning films, the most for any director. Aamir Khan has starred in 9 winning films which is the most for any actor in a leading role.\n\nWinners and nominees\n\n1950s\n\n1960s\n\n1970s\n\n1980s\n\n1990s\n\n2000s\n\n2010s\n\n2020s\n\nSpecial 50 Year Award\n\nIn 2005, Filmfare announced the best movie of the last 50 years as Sholay, although the film did not win the Filmfare Award for Best Film in its year of release.\n\nSee also\n Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie\n Filmfare Awards\n Bollywood\n Cinema of India\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nFilmfare Awards Best Film\n\nF\nAwards for best film"
] |
[
"Norm O'Neill",
"Style"
] | C_baff9fdd38f3450abb1dc86c3df32d24_0 | What was Norm's style? | 1 | What was Norm's style? | Norm O'Neill | Standing six feet tall, O'Neill was compared to Don Bradman upon his entry into Test cricket. At his best, he was a dynamic stroke maker who was a crowd favourite because of his ability to score at a high pace, in particular with his power off the back foot. He was noted for his nimble footwork, which he used to negate spin bowling; however this slowed in his later career as he put on weight. O'Neill particularly liked to sweep the slower bowlers. He often put too much emphasis on his right hand, allowing a large space between his hands on the bat handle, and then turning his right shoulder too square towards the bowler. The renowned English batsman and captain Wally Hammond said that O'Neill was the best all-round batsman he had seen since World War II. O'Neill's tall build, strength and good looks also drew comparison to his boyhood idol Keith Miller. Despite the comparisons to Bradman, O'Neill was much taller and broader, and was often impetuous whereas Bradman was known for his patience and lack of rashness. O'Neill was also criticised for hitting across the line early in his innings. O'Neill was highly regarded for his style and entertainment values. Teammate Alan Davidson said "once set he was the most exhilarating player you'd ever want to see--he was dynamite. He'd play attacking shots off balls other people would only think of defending. He had wonderful skill and technique. His shots off the back foot down the ground off fast bowlers--you can't really describe how good they were." His captain for Australia and New South Wales, Richie Benaud said that he was "one of the greatest entertainers we've had in Australian cricket". O'Neill's style led the British writer EW Swanton to say "the art of batting, he reminded us, was not dead, merely inexplicably dormant" Wisden opined that "A high innings by O'Neill is a thing of masterful beauty. His stroking is delectable, immense in its power." Later in his career, O'Neill became a nervous and superstitious batsman, particular at the start of an innings. He wrote "batting is a lonely business" in his 1964 autobiography Ins and Outs, opining that he sometimes found first-class cricket to be "depressing and lonely". He was regarded as an excellent fieldsman at cover, with a powerful and accurate throw, described by Wisden as a "dream throw" honed from a junior career as a baseballer. He was named as utility player in the 1957 All Australian baseball team, and his ability was such that he was approached by Major League Baseball scouts. Before the retirement of Neil Harvey, he and O'Neill fielded in tandem in the covers and the pair were regarded as the finest fielding combination of the time. CANNOTANSWER | he was a dynamic stroke maker who was a crowd favourite because of his ability to score at a high pace, | Norman Clifford Louis O'Neill (19 February 1937 – 3 March 2008) was a cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. A right-handed batsman known for his back foot strokeplay, O'Neill made his state debut aged 18, before progressing to Test selection aged 21 in late 1958. Early in his career, O'Neill was one of the foremost batsmen in the Australian team, scoring three Test centuries and topping the run-scoring aggregates on a 1959–60 tour of the Indian subcontinent which helped Australia win its last Test and series on Pakistani soil for 39 years, as well as another series in India. His career peaked in 1960–61 when he scored 181 in the Tied Test against the West Indies, and at the end of the series, had a career average of 58.25.
O'Neill's performances on the 1961 tour of England saw him named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year. Thereafter his form was less formidable, characterised by nervousness and fidgeting at the start of his innings. Persistent knee problems, as well as a controversial media attack on the legality of West Indian bowler Charlie Griffith, saw him dropped from the Australian team after 1965. O'Neill also bowled occasional leg spin and was regarded as one of the finest fielders of his era. He later became a cricket commentator and his son Mark O'Neill also played cricket at state level.
He was inducted into the Australian Hall of Fame by the CA in 2018.
Early years
The son of a builder, O'Neill was born in Carlton, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales. He had no cricketing associations on his father's side of the family, but his maternal uncle, Ron Campion, played for the Glebe club in Sydney Grade Cricket. Campion trained for cricket near the O'Neill family home, at Bexley Oval. O'Neill accompanied his uncle to cricket from the age of seven and was given batting practice at the end of each session. At Bexley Primary school, O'Neill was denied a chance to play cricket as the school did not field a team. Moving on to Kogarah Intermediate High School, O'Neill played cricket in defiance of a teacher who recommended that he take up athletics. As a teenager, O'Neill idolised Keith Miller after his uncle took him to the Sydney Cricket Ground: O'Neill saw Miller play that day and was impressed with the way he hit the ball off the back foot.
Under his uncle's guidance, O'Neill joined the St George Cricket Club, in the Sydney Grade competition. He steadily moved up through the grades and broke into the first grade side at the age of 16. Sensing his potential, the club's selectors informed him that regardless of form, he would play the full season, which allowed him to be uninhibited in his batting. He made 108 in seven innings. The next season, he was out 12 times leg before wicket in 15 innings, and run out in the other three. O'Neill attributed his failures to over-aggressiveness and resolved to improve his patience. In the second match of the new season, the 17-year-old O'Neill made his first century. With all five state selectors onlooking, he made 28 in the next match and was called into the state squad.
Shield debut
O'Neill made his debut for New South Wales at the age of 18 against South Australia during the 1955–56 season. His lack of contribution was highlighted against the backdrop of his team's crushing innings victory: O'Neill failed to score a run or take a wicket. New South Wales bowled first and had South Australia at 6/49 when Miller introduced O'Neill's occasional leg spin, presumably to ease the debutant's nerves by bringing him into the game. The home team struck 18 from three overs. O'Neill was listed to bat in the lower middle order but after the top order had made a big start, Miller brought O'Neill up. He came in against the second new ball and was clean bowled. O'Neill was dropped and did not play another match for the season, but had gained invaluable experience.
O'Neill steadily rose in the 1956–57 season. At the start of the season, with many players still on international duty during the closing stages of the tour to England and the subsequent stopover in the Indian subcontinent, O'Neill was recalled and made 60 and 63 not out against Queensland at the start of the season. This saw him retain his place when the Test players returned. After making a pair of single-figures scored, he made a sequence of three 60s against South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia, He was rewarded with selection in the one-off match between Ray Lindwall's XI and Neil Harvey's XI, which doubled as a national selection trial, before making his first ton (127) against South Australia. He ended the season with 567 runs at 43.61, and earned selection for a non-Test tour of New Zealand under Ian Craig, in a team composed mainly of young players. He made 102 not out in the only "Test" match that he played, helping to set up a ten-wicket win. heading the tour averages with 218 runs at 72.66. Despite this, he was overlooked for the 1957–58 Test tour of South Africa. It was regarded as one of the most controversial decisions of the decade.
O'Neill responded during the 1957–58 Sheffield Shield season weakened by the absence of the Test players, aggregating 1,005 runs at 83.75 and taking 26 wickets at 20.42 with his leg spinners, thus topping the national bowling and batting averages. Prior to the season, he had never taken a first-class wicket. In the opening match of the summer, he took 3/74 against Queensland. He then took a total of 5/51 scored 33 and 48 not out in a six-wicket win over Western Australia before taking 3/52 and adding two fifties in the return match. He then broke through for his first century of the season, scoring 114 and taking 3/44 in a ten-wicket win over South Australia. However, he reached more productive levels in the second half of the season.
This comprised 175 against Victoria, 74 and 48 against Queensland, 125 and 23* against South Australia and 233 against Victoria. His 233 was made in little over four hours and featured 38 fours. It was the first time that a New South Welshman (let alone a twenty-year-old) had scored 1,000 in a Shield season. Bradman and Bill Ponsford were the only others before him. He added 12 wickets in the final four matches, including 2/50 and 4/40 in the match against Queensland. O'Neill's performances played a large part in his state's fifth consecutive title.
These performances led former Test leg spinner Bill O'Reilly to compare him to Bradman and former Test opening batsman Jack Fingleton to lament his non-selection for the South African tour and its reflection on the plight of Australian cricket.
At the time, his employers refused to make allowances for him to play sport, forcing him to begin work at six in the morning. As a result, he considered moving to South Australia, where a grocery magnate offered him employment and financial incentives. However, he stayed after state officials intervened, with Sir Ronald Irish, the Australian chairman of Rothmans, providing him with a job in Sydney. At the time, O'Neill had another offer. Having represented his state in baseball and been nominated in the All-Australian team in 1957, he was approached by the New York Yankees, having had experience at a pitcher and short stop. O'Neill was offered a fee more than 25 times that for a single Test match, as well as travel costs and accommodation, to trial with the Yankees. He agreed, but Irish dissuaded him less than a week before his scheduled departure.
Test debut
Identified as a future Test prospect, he was selected in a Western Australia Combined XI for a match against the touring England cricket team at the start of the 1958–59 season in Perth. Prior to the match, O'Neill was hounded by the media. The tourists decided to test him with short-pitched bowling, especially Fred Trueman. O'Neill decided to abstain from hooking, while attacking the spin of Jim Laker with a series of sweep shots. After four and a half hours of uncharacteristic restraint, he compiled 104 with an emphasis on off side play. He took a total of 2/67, removing Fred Trueman and Arthur Milton.
He scored 85 against Western Australia and then made 84 not out for New South Wales against England. He was selected for an Australian XI, which played the tourists in a dress rehearsal before the Tests. He made one and two as Australia were crushed by 345 runs.
Nevertheless, O'Neill was selected to make his debut in the five-Test series against England, playing in all of the matches. The First Test in Brisbane was a low scoring match described by Australian captain Richie Benaud as producing "some of the slowest and worst cricket imaginable", O'Neill made 34 in Australia's first innings of 186 to help secure a lead of 52. He then top-scored with an unbeaten 71 in the second innings, guiding Australia to an eight-wicket victory. O'Neill scored 71 of the last 89 runs scored while he was at the crease, refusing to be dried up by the England's usage of leg theory. It enlivened a match plagued by time-wasting, and best remembered for a depressingly slow innings by England's Trevor Bailey, who scored 68 from 426 balls in seven and a half hours. England captain Peter May described O'Neill's innings as "sparkling" and said that it made "everything which had gone before look even more wretched". Retired English player Ian Peebles, writing in the Sunday Times, said "Although O'Neill is in the very early stages of his career, it is already something of an occasion when he comes to the wicket, and one can sense the expectancy of the crowd and the heightened tension of the opposition". Wisden opined that O'Neill had "saved a game that had been tortuous for days". For his part, O'Neill said that the dour play was "unbelievable" and that he was "just about falling to sleep" in the field.
He struck 77 in the rain-affected drawn Third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground and followed this with 56 in the Fourth Test in Adelaide. Despite making a duck in the Fifth Test, he ended the series as the second highest runscorer with 282 at 56.40 as Australia took the series 4–0. He bowled two overs without success. Outside the Tests, O'Neill scored 155 and 128 against Victoria and Western Australia respectively as New South Wales completed their sixth successive Sheffield Shield win.
Career peak
The following season O'Neill was Australia's leading batsman during the 1959–60 tour to Pakistan and India, where he was a part of the last Australian team to win a Test on Pakistani soil for 39 years. After a quiet match in the First Test eight-wicket win in Dacca in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), in which he scored two and 26 not out, O'Neill played a key role in the victory in the Second Test in Lahore that was to Australia's last in Pakistan until 1998. O'Neill made his maiden Test century of 134 in the first innings to give Australia a 245-run lead. He then took his maiden Test wicket in Pakistan's second innings, that of Shujauddin. This left Australia chasing a target of 122 in the last two hours on the final day. The chase was on schedule with O'Neill partnering Neil Harvey when the Pakistanis began wasting time to prevent an Australian victory. This was implemented by swapping fielders very slowly when the left and right-handed combination of Harvey and O'Neill took a single, and overs began taking seven minutes instead of three. To counter this, Harvey deliberately backed away when a ball was aimed at the stumps and threw away his wicket by letting himself be bowled for 37. This allowed Benaud to come in and bat with O'Neill so that the two right-handed batsmen would give no opportunity to waste time by switching the field. Benaud then threatened Pakistani captain Imtiaz Ahmed with a formal complaint over the time-wasting, and proceedings returned to their normal pace. Australia made the target with a few minutes to spare, with O'Neill on 43. O'Neill failed to make double figures in the final Test, which was drawn, but ended the series with 218 runs at 72.66. In another tour match, against the President's XI, O'Neill scored an unbeaten 52 in a low-scoring match as Australia stumbled to their target of 116 with only three wickets in hand.
O'Neill's performances in Pakistan was such that the parents in one cricket-following Karachi family named their new son Anil for its resemblance to O'Neill. Anil Dalpat went on to become the first Hindu to represent Pakistan, playing nine Tests in the 1980s as a wicketkeeper.
On the five-Test Indian series which followed, O'Neill started slowly, aggregating 60 runs in the first two Tests, which were shared 1–1. He returned to form with a leg-side dominated 163 in a high-scoring draw in the Third Test at Brabourne Stadium in Bombay. After scoring 40 in an innings victory in the Fourth Test in Madras, Australia needed a draw in the Fifth Test in Calcutta with four players injured or ill, while Benaud had a dislocated spinning finger. O'Neill scored 113 in the first innings to help a depleted team take a 137-run first innings lead and prevent India from squaring the series. He was Australia's leading scorer in the Tests, with 376 runs at 62.66. He also made his highest first-class score of 284, against an Indian President's XI in Ahmedabad. He was the top scorer for the whole subcontinental Test tour, with 594 runs in eight matches at 66.00.
He returned to Australia and played in one match for New South Wales at the end of the 1959–60 season, scoring 175 as his state defeated Western Australia and won a seventh Shield in a row. Prior to the following Australian summer, O'Neill was part of an International Cavaliers team that toured South Africa. He scored 133 runs at 21.83.
In the lead-up to the 1960–61 home Tests series against the West Indies, O'Neill scored 156 not to set up an innings win for his state over the tourists. He then struck 181 in the first innings of the opening match at Brisbane, his highest Test score. The innings prompted teammate Bob Simpson to say "if God gave me an hour to watch someone I'd seen, I'd request to see Norman O'Neill. He had the style." Australia took a first innings lead and O'Neill made 26 in the second innings as Australia collapsed towards a likely defeat before recovering; the match ended in the first Tied Test in history. This was the peak of O'Neill's career. Having played 14 Tests, he was averaging 67.68 with the bat.
He then struck 114 as his state defeated the tourists by an innings, and he made 40 and a duck as the Australians took the series lead in the Second Test. He made 70 and 71 in the Third Test loss in Sydney, one of the few players able to combat Lance Gibbs effectively, top-scoring in the first innings and second top-scoring in the second innings. He then made 65 in the second innings in the Fourth Test at Adelaide, where Australia held on by one wicket for a draw. He contributed 48 in the second innings of the Fifth Test as Australia appeared headed for a series victory. However, a late collapse ensued, and Australia scraped home by two wickets to take the series 2–1. O'Neill ended the series with 522 runs at 52.20. O'Neill gained attention during the summer for frequently losing his wicket by impulsively sweeping. This was attributed to the dominance of his bottom hand, which saw his bat swinging across the line of flight of the ball. Despite the criticism, he was at the peak of his international career, having made 1398 runs at 58.35 in his first 18 Tests.
Wisden Cricketer of the Year
O'Neill was selected for the tour of England in 1961, and he warmed up by scoring centuries in consecutive matches against Tasmania for the Australian squad. During the English summer, O'Neill scored 1981 runs at 60.03, narrowly missing becoming only the fourth post-war player after Don Bradman, Neil Harvey and Bill Lawry to make 2,000 runs in an Ashes tour.
In the third match against Yorkshire, which was O'Neill's second for the tour, he scored an unbeaten 100 marked by his cover driving. He followed this with a 74 against Lancashire before a 124 two matches later against Glamorgan, which was described by Wisden as the best of the season. He scored 73 against Gloucestershire and made 122 on his first appearance at Lord's, against the Marylebone Cricket Club, in what was effectively a dress rehearsal for the Tests. Australia went on to win by 63 runs. In the next match against Sussex, O'Neill was carried from the ground after suffering a knee injury, and after failing to bat in either innings, it appeared he would be sidelined for a substantial period.
However, he recovered to be selected for the First Test at Edgbaston, just five days later. He made 82 as Australia scored 9/516 declared and took a 321-run first innings lead, but England could not be dismissed in the second innings and salvaged a draw. He continued his form with an unbeaten 104 against Kent between the Tests.
The "Battle of the Ridge" in the Second Test at Lord's—the home of cricket—was an unhappy one for O'Neill. On an erratic pitch with a visible ridge that caused uneven bounce, O'Neill made one and a duck as an Australia scraped home by five wickets in a low-scoring match.
He returned to the county matches and scored 162 against Lancashire, before scoring 27 and 19 as England squared the series in the Third Test at Headingley. O'Neill then scored 142 against Northamptonshire, but the hosts were able to tie the scores when stumps were drawn with four wickets in hand.
After rectifying a technical fault, O'Neill made 67 in the second innings of the Fourth Test at Old Trafford with the series tied at 1–1, helping Australia take a narrow victory to retain the Ashes. Heading into the final Test, O'Neill had a consistent run, scoring three fifties in four innings. He made his first century against England in the Fifth Test at The Oval with 117 as Australia drew the match to take the series. He did so after being given a "lucky coin" by a spectator and being dropped at second slip when he was on 19. He scored 324 runs at 40.50 in the Tests and was subsequently named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year for 1962. Following the Tests, O'Neill added four half-centuries in five innings in a consistent run towards the close of the tour. He left English soil with 138 against Minor Counties, in a non-first-class match. In all first-class matches, he made seven centuries, and his run aggregate was second only to Lawry, who made 2,019 runs.
International decline
After this tour, his form began to decline, as he became prone to uncertain and fidgety starts to his innings, which earned him the nickname "Nervous Norm". A persistent knee injury increasingly troubled him and was to end his career. The 1961–62 Australian team was purely domestic with no touring Test team, and New South Wales completed their ninth Sheffield Shield title in a row, O'Neill had a poor season, scoring only 377 runs at 25.13, passing fifty only twice.
The 1962–63 home Ashes series was Australia's first Test matches in 18 months. After an unproductive season last year, O'Neill started the new summer with 15 and 2/30 for a Western Australia Combined XI against Ted Dexter's Englishmen. His victims with the ball were Dexter and batsman Tom Graveney. He then made his first century in over a year, scoring 131 against Western Australia for his state. O'Neill completed his preparation for the Tests by helping New South Wales to defeat Dexter's men by an innings. He scored 143 and took 2/36, removing Graveney and leading batsman Colin Cowdrey.
O'Neill made 56 in the First Test drawn at Brisbane but failed to pass 20 in the next two matches, which were shared by the two teams. After his wife made him a pair of "lucky lemon socks", he scored 100 in the first innings of the drawn Fourth Test in Adelaide, which turned out to be his last Test century with fifteen Tests before the end of his career. With Alan Davidson injured during the match, O'Neill was required to bowl substantially, conceding 49 runs in what was his most expensive performance to date. He scored 73 in the Fifth Test in Sydney to finish the series with 310 runs at 34.44, substantially below his career average of 53.8 prior to the series. He also took two wickets, one in each of the Third and Fifth Tests, removing Fred Titmus and Dexter respectively. Outside the Tests, O'Neill struggled and passed 25 once in eight other non-Test innings. This was a 93 against arch-rivals Victoria, which was not enough to prevent defeat. Victoria went on to win the Sheffield Shield and end New South Wales' nine-year winning streak.
At the end of the season, he embarked on a tour with the International Cavaliers, which toured Africa, mostly playing against provincial teams. He played in seven matches and had a productive series, scoring 541 runs at 41.54 including a century and four fifties. He also bowled more frequently than usual taking seven wickets at 53.29.
The following season in 1963–64, O'Neill started poorly, passing 12 only once in his first six innings. However, he was retained for the team for the First Test against South Africa in Brisbane, where he scored 82 and 19 not out in a drawn match. He continued his resurgence with 36 and 61 not out the following fixture against Victoria, but was injured during the second innings and forced to retire hurt. This meant that he missed the Second Test, which Australia won by eight wickets. O'Neill returned and scored half centuries in each of the next two Tests. He also took two wickets to end the series with 285 runs at 40.71 and three wickets at 32.33. He added a further two half-centuries in the remaining Shield matches.
O'Neill retained his place for the 1964 tour to England, and scored a century against Western Australia for the touring squad before departing for the northern hemisphere. After failing to pass 16 in his first two outings, he struck form against Glamorgan, scoring 65 and an unbeaten 109. He then added 151 and 17 not out, leading the way as the Australians defeated the MCC by nine wickets in a dress rehearsal for the Tests. However, O'Neill scored 98 in the first four innings of the opening two Tests and was forced out of the Third Test with a knee injury, the only non-draw of the series, which Australia won. Nevertheless, he passed 50 in each of the four tour matches during this period, including a 134 against Yorkshire and 90 against Northamptonshire.
O'Neill returned for the final two Tests and ended the series with only 156 runs at 31.20 in five Tests without passing fifty and going wicketless. He added another century against Kent and two further fifties in the closing stages of the English summer.
His 1964–65 tour of the subcontinent on the way back to Australia was even worse, a far cry from his leading role in the previous tour to the subcontinent. After making 40 and 0 in the First Test win in Madras, he was unable to bat either innings in the Second Test in Bombay after being hospitalised due to persistent vomiting, injury as Australia ceded their series lead. He missed the remainder of the series, the Third Test in Calcutta and a one-off Test in Pakistan. Upon his return home, he has a shortened domestic season before Australia left for the West Indies. In five domestic matches, he scored 357 runs at 59.50, including a 133 not against South Australia.
O'Neill started the 1964–65 tour of the West Indies strongly, scoring a century in the first match against Jamaica. He was often injured during the tour, but was at his most productive with the bat since the last series against the Caribbean team four years earlier. He made many starts, passing 20 in six of his seven Test innings, but was unable to convert them into big scores. In the First Test, O'Neill was struck on the hand by Wes Hall and was sent to hospital for X-rays after a break was suspected. During the Second Test, it was the turn of Charlie Griffith to send O'Neill to hospital, after hitting him on the forearm and causing a large bruise. His 51 and 74* in the Fourth Test at Bridgetown, Barbados, the last Test of his career, was the only time he passed 50 for the series. He ended with 266 runs at 44.33, missing the Fifth Test due to a broken hand. He managed a healthy return with the ball, taking nine of his 17 Test wickets in the series with an average of 25.55. This included his Test best of 4/41 with his leg-spin in the Second Test in Port of Spain, Trinidad. In this match, he cleaned up the hosts' tail in the first innings, removing Jackie Hendriks, Wes Hall, Charlie Griffith and Lance Gibbs.
At the end of the tour, O'Neill garnered controversy by writing outspoken newspaper columns accusing opposition pace spearhead Charlie Griffith of chucking. He was one of several Australians who took exception to Griffith's bowling action, and he put his name to a series of feature articles in Sydney's Daily Mirror. These labelled Griffith as "an obvious chucker", saying the hosts had been "wrong to play" him. O'Neill stated that "If he is allowed to continue throwing, he could kill someone". O'Neill also expressed his desire to not have to face bowling that he deemed to be illegal. When the Daily Mirror syndicated the columns, London's Daily Mail ignored an embargo and printed the pieces while the Australians were on their homeward flight, putting O'Neill in breach of his tour contract, which forbade players from commenting in the media during tours.
The West Indies lodged an official complaint with Australia, and the Australian Cricket Board replied that it deplored the published comments, although noting that as O'Neill's touring contract had expired at the end of the tour, the point was moot. Nevertheless, the ACB changed its stance on players' writing, so that they could no longer comment on a tour until three months after its conclusion. The event is often perceived to have been a factor in O'Neill's eventual departure from the national scene.
Outside the Tests, O'Neill performed strongly in three matches against regional teams, scoring centuries in each of them. He scored 125, 125, and 101 in his only three innings, against Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados.
Retirement
The following season, O'Neill was overlooked for selection in all five Tests against the touring England team. Returning to New South Wales, he scored 473 runs at 39.42, including two centuries.
O'Neill was omitted from the squad that toured South Africa in 1966–67, ending his Test career. He continued his Shield career while his former teammates were on the other side of the Indian Ocean, compiling 741 runs at 74.10 in a strong season. He started the season with 117 against Western Australia, before scoring a pair of 78s in the return match, helping his team to a tense 13-run win. He then scored 128 and 22 not out against Victoria and finished his season with 160 and 80 against South Australia, scoring a majority of his team's first innings score.
As a result, he was selected for an Australian Second XI to tour New Zealand. He scored 69 runs at 17.25 in two international matches and made his last first-class century, scoring 101 and 58 not out against Auckland.
O'Neill retired upon his return to Australia due to a knee injury. He left a reputation as a highly entertaining batsman who did not manage to fulfil his early promise. "A disappointment he was, perhaps, but his cricket will be recalled when those of lesser gifts are forgotten", opined the writer EW Swanton.
In 61 matches for New South Wales, he scored 5419 runs at 52.61. He compiled 3879 runs at 61.57 for St George in grade competition before transferring to Sutherland in the 1965–66 club. He scored 168 on his new club's first day in the competition.
A cigarette salesman by trade, he became a commentator in retirement. He married Gwen Wallace, a track and field athlete who won relay gold for Australia at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. They had two sons and a daughter. Their eldest child Mark O'Neill represented New South Wales and Western Australia in the 1980s. O'Neill also co-owned a racehorse with Richie Benaud, Barry Jarman and Ray Steele, named Pall Mallan, and it won a race in 1961.
On 3 March 2008, O'Neill died in Erina, New South Wales, due to the effects of throat cancer. He was 71.
Style
Standing six feet tall, O'Neill was compared to Don Bradman upon his entry into Test cricket. At his best, he was a dynamic stroke maker who was a crowd favourite because of his ability to score at a high pace, in particular with his power off the back foot. He was noted for his nimble footwork, which he used to negate spin bowling; however, this slowed in his later career as he put on weight. O'Neill particularly liked to sweep the slower bowlers. He often put too much emphasis on his right hand, allowing a large space between his hands on the bat handle, and then turning his right shoulder too square towards the bowler. The renowned English batsman and captain Wally Hammond said that O'Neill was the best all-round batsman he had seen since World War II. O'Neill's tall build, strength and good looks also drew comparison to his boyhood idol Keith Miller. Despite the comparisons to Bradman, O'Neill was much taller and broader, and was often impetuous whereas Bradman was known for his patience and lack of rashness. O'Neill was also criticised for hitting across the line early in his innings.
O'Neill was highly regarded for his style and entertainment values. Teammate Alan Davidson said "once set he was the most exhilarating player you'd ever want to see—he was dynamite. He'd play attacking shots off balls other people would only think of defending. He had wonderful skill and technique. His shots off the back foot down the ground off fast bowlers—you can't really describe how good they were." His captain for Australia and New South Wales, Richie Benaud said that he was "one of the greatest entertainers we've had in Australian cricket". O'Neill's style led the British writer EW Swanton to say "the art of batting, he reminded us, was not dead, merely inexplicably dormant" Wisden opined that "A high innings by O'Neill is a thing of masterful beauty. His stroking is delectable, immense in its power."
Later in his career, O'Neill became a nervous and superstitious batsman, particular at the start of an innings. He wrote "batting is a lonely business" in his 1964 autobiography Ins and Outs, opining that he sometimes found first-class cricket to be "depressing and lonely".
He was regarded as an excellent fieldsman at cover, with a powerful and accurate throw, described by Wisden as a "dream throw" honed from a junior career as a baseballer. He was named as utility player in the 1957 All Australian baseball team, and his ability was such that he was approached by Major League Baseball scouts. Before the retirement of Neil Harvey, he and O'Neill fielded in tandem in the covers and the pair were regarded as the finest fielding combination of the time.
Test match performance
References
Notes
External links
1937 births
2008 deaths
Australia Test cricketers
Australian baseball players
Australian Cricket Hall of Fame inductees
Australian cricket commentators
Australian cricketers
Cricketers from Sydney
Deaths from cancer in New South Wales
Deaths from esophageal cancer
International Cavaliers cricketers
New South Wales cricketers
St George cricketers
Wisden Cricketers of the Year | true | [
"The 2009–10 St. John's Red Storm men's basketball team represented St. John's University during the 2009–10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was coached by Norm Roberts in his sixth year at the school. St. John's home games are played at Carnesecca Arena and Madison Square Garden and the team is a member of the Big East Conference.\n\nOn March 30, 2010, Steve Lavin was announced as the team's new head coach, replacing Norm Roberts, who was fired after six seasons as head coach.\n\nOff season\n\nDepartures\n\nClass of 2009 signees\n\nRoster\n\nSchedule\n\n|-\n!colspan=9 style=\"background:#FF0000; color:#FFFFFF;\"| Non-Conference Regular Season\n\n|-\n!colspan=9 style=\"background:#FF0000; color:#FFFFFF;\"| Big East Conference Regular Season\n\n|-\n!colspan=9 style=\"background:#FF0000; color:#FFFFFF;\"| Big East Tournament\n\n|-\n!colspan=9 style=\"background:#FF0000; color:#FFFFFF;\"| NIT Tournament\n\nReferences\n\nSt. John's Red Storm men's basketball seasons\nSt. John's\nSt. John's\nSt John\nSt John",
"The Norm Show is an American television sitcom that ran on ABC from March 24, 1999, to April 6, 2001. Starting in September 1999, the show's title was shortened to Norm. The series starred Norm Macdonald, who created the series with Bruce Helford.\n\nPlot\nThe show focused on the life of Norm Henderson (Norm Macdonald), a former NHL hockey player who is banned for life from the league because of gambling and tax evasion. To avoid jail time for these crimes, Norm must perform five years of community service as a full-time social worker. Other characters in the show included fellow social workers Laurie Freeman (Laurie Metcalf), Danny Sanchez (Ian Gomez), and Danny's sometime girlfriend and former prostitute Taylor Clayton (Nikki Cox). Norm's boss on the program for the first several episodes was named Anthony Curtis (Bruce Jarchow). This character was quickly replaced by a new boss, Max Denby (Max Wright), whom Norm frequently antagonized and pranked.\n\nThe second season of the show added Artie Lange as Norm's half-brother Artie, and Faith Ford as Shelly Kilmartin, Norm's probation officer and love interest.\n\nEpisodes\n\nCast and characters\n\nMain cast\n Norm Macdonald as Norm Henderson: Norm was once an NHL hockey player and greatly enjoyed it (though he was purportedly not very good). However, constant gambling and tax evasion caught up with him – leading him to being banned from hockey forever. He avoided jail time by agreeing to five years of community service as a social worker. He was not properly trained, however – saying he was only ever shown how to work the coffee maker (which he still did not understand). Norm often showed complete disregard for his work – speaking frankly about the clients' problems, playing with toys at his desk, openly mocking/defying his bosses, etc. Nonetheless, there were times he attempted to help others and do the right thing. Norm is a compulsive gambler and had to seek counseling. Norm also had a deep fear of death (attributed to his parents telling him nothing good would happen to him after he died), but a children's book about Heaven showed it was nothing to fear. At the end of the series, a technicality releases Norm from his community service, but he ends up voluntarily returning to work.\n Laurie Metcalf as Laurie Freeman: Laurie was previously Norm's social worker. Once he started working at the office, she became his co-worker and best friend. Often (and usually to her exasperation), she had to guide Norm in social work. Laurie is a dedicated social worker and frequently makes noteworthy proposals to help clients. However, she once lost her commitment when she felt like she was not making a difference. A visit to her old mentor (who was going to attempt suicide) showed Laurie that she should not let her job consume her, so she sought more of a social life. Laurie has a twin sister (also played by Metcalf), with whom she is argumentative.\n Ian Gomez as Danny Sanchez: Another social worker at the office, Danny is usually portrayed as quite effective at his job. He could usually be Norm's partner-in-crime – aiding in his gambling pool and other schemes. He was also a more sensitive man. His dad in contrast was always more of a man's man that ridiculed his job, so Danny found their get-togethers stressful at times. Danny was heartbroken when his dad died, however, but was surprised to learn that he was gay (at the funeral, no less). Danny had a long-term relationship with Taylor and was set to propose. When she broke up with him, he was devastated. He was horrified to learn that he was related to Hitler.\n Bruce Jarchow as Anthony Curtis (episodes 1–5): As Norm's first boss, he had a great deal of difficulty managing Norm, which induced a great deal of stress. Mr. Curtis has a daughter, with whom Norm ended up having sex. This caused Mr. Curtis to snap, and he actually attempted to shoot Norm from the roof. He was, however, tackled by the police.\n Amy Wilson as Molly Carver (season 1): Molly was hired as a new social worker a little while after Norm's sentence began. She believed that her education and street smarts enabled her to be an effective social worker without anyone's help. She disappeared without explanation after the first season.\n Max Wright as Max Denby (episodes 6-54): Norm's second boss. When Mr. Denby took over the office, he wanted to do nothing to risk getting fired and losing his pension. He even offered to allow Norm to do nothing throughout his community service. However, when Mr. Denby caused Laurie to quit, Norm tricked him into hiring her back – ending that deal. From then on, Norm did whatever he could to embarrass or undermine Mr. Denby's authority – much to his annoyance. Mr. Denby was married, but as he and his spouse clearly hated each other, they divorced. He also has a son and a daughter – neither of whom has a good relationship with him. Details about Mr. Denby's past include serving in the military (where he shot six of his own men) and working for the Nixon administration (though he was not involved in the infamous Watergate break-in).\n Artie Lange as Artie Henderson (seasons 2–3; guest season 1): Artie is Norm's overweight paternal half-brother. Artie at times lived in Norm's shadow while growing up. When he came to visit Norm, he seemed to turn things around and had become a bonafide success. However, he later admitted his business partner had ripped him off, and he lost everything. After moving to New York, Artie took up various jobs (including even subbing for Norm at the office when his back was injured). In the third season, Artie became a bartender at the gang's usual hangout. It was also revealed that in the tenth grade he knew The Drew Carey Show's Mimi Bobeck (then known as Miriam and purported to never wear make-up).\n Faith Ford as Shelly Kilmartin (season 3; recurring season 2): In the second season, Shelly was introduced as Norm's probation officer. Norm was immediately attracted to her and pursued her, but she insisted they keep their relationship professional. However, she eventually developed feelings for him and they began a relationship. Just as quickly, though, Shelly took a big job offer out of town and broke up with Norm. She returned a year later and the season saw Norm constantly trying to get back together with her. She continued to resist his advances, but she later admitted that she did love him.\n\nRecurring\n Nikki Cox as Taylor Clayton: A prostitute, Taylor was Norm's first client after he became a social worker. The case was not easy, but according to her, she turned her life around after Norm simply told her, \"You're a huge whore.\" She gave up being a prostitute and ended up working in the office. She formed a relationship with Danny, who was intending to propose. However, it turned out that Taylor loved Norm because of what he had done for her. Feeling guilty, she quit her job and left. She briefly returned to engage in an affair with Norm and to consider getting back together with Danny.\n Wiener Dog: A Dachshund, Wiener Dog lives in Norm's apartment and is a devoted pet. A running gag throughout the series is that Wiener Dog is quite smart for a dog, which Norm does not truly appreciate. (One example sees Norm asking for chips. Wiener Dog brings in some poker chips, but Norm says he wanted potato chips. When Wiener Dog returns with a bag of corn chips, Norm angrily says, \"Potato chips!\") Nonetheless, Norm has often used Wiener Dog in an attempt to make decisions (such as barking if he should do one thing or not). Also, Norm once tricked Mr. Denby into hiring Wiener Dog at the office.\n Patricia Belcher as Landlady: Norm's frequently angry landlady, though she is usually angry because Norm consistently fails to pay the rent. Her attempts to get Norm to pay have included removing his door and moving in with him. She is also certified to perform marriages. Her name never revealed, and she is just simply known as \"Landlady\".\n Kate Walsh as Jenny: Norm's other main love interest. Laurie set them up on a blind date and after some hi-jinx, they developed a strong attraction. However, Jenny was wooed back by her ex-boyfriend Kevin Fitzgerald, who – among other things – was going to help her become a vet. Norm managed to prove his love for her, but when he hesitated at the thought of marriage, she went back to Kevin. However, Norm interrupted their wedding ceremony and convinced Jenny to be with him. She disappeared after the second season (save for an out-of-order Season 3 episode) without explanation.\n\nGuest stars\nJack Warden guest-starred once as father of Ian Gomez's character, and fakes a grab at Norm's crotch (as he did in Dirty Work).\n\nProduction\nOriginally airing on Wednesday nights after The Drew Carey Show, the series was one of the top-rated sitcoms on ABC among adults 18-49 during its first season. In between the first and second seasons, ABC shortened the series' title to Norm to avoid a legal conflict with Michael Jantze's comic strip The Norm. ABC continued to keep the series on Wednesdays for its second season, though initially moved it an hour earlier. In November, the series moved back to its original timeslot, before moving back again in January. This caused ratings in the second season to fluctuate. When the series was renewed for a third season, ABC moved Norm to Friday nights (also known as the Friday night death slot), in an effort to create a new \"Working Comedy\" Friday night comedy lineup after the network disbanded TGIF. The third season saw even more time changes and ratings fluctuations. This, in addition to low ratings, caused ABC to cancel the series in May 2001.\n\nDVD release\nOn September 7, 2010, Shout! Factory released The Norm Show: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time. The 8-disc set features all 54 episodes of the series as well as a handful of running commentaries (only in seasons 1 and 2) by Norm Macdonald and Bruce Helford. The set has since been taken out of print.\n\nReception\n\nCritical reception\n\nRatings\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nNorm Macdonald\n1999 American television series debuts\n2001 American television series endings\n1990s American sitcoms\n2000s American sitcoms\nAmerican Broadcasting Company original programming\nEnglish-language television shows\nTelevision series by Mohawk Productions\nTelevision series by Warner Bros. Television Studios\nTelevision series created by Bruce Helford\nTelevision shows set in New York City"
] |
[
"Norm O'Neill",
"Style",
"What was Norm's style?",
"he was a dynamic stroke maker who was a crowd favourite because of his ability to score at a high pace,"
] | C_baff9fdd38f3450abb1dc86c3df32d24_0 | What were some strengths of his style? | 2 | What were some strengths of Norm's style? | Norm O'Neill | Standing six feet tall, O'Neill was compared to Don Bradman upon his entry into Test cricket. At his best, he was a dynamic stroke maker who was a crowd favourite because of his ability to score at a high pace, in particular with his power off the back foot. He was noted for his nimble footwork, which he used to negate spin bowling; however this slowed in his later career as he put on weight. O'Neill particularly liked to sweep the slower bowlers. He often put too much emphasis on his right hand, allowing a large space between his hands on the bat handle, and then turning his right shoulder too square towards the bowler. The renowned English batsman and captain Wally Hammond said that O'Neill was the best all-round batsman he had seen since World War II. O'Neill's tall build, strength and good looks also drew comparison to his boyhood idol Keith Miller. Despite the comparisons to Bradman, O'Neill was much taller and broader, and was often impetuous whereas Bradman was known for his patience and lack of rashness. O'Neill was also criticised for hitting across the line early in his innings. O'Neill was highly regarded for his style and entertainment values. Teammate Alan Davidson said "once set he was the most exhilarating player you'd ever want to see--he was dynamite. He'd play attacking shots off balls other people would only think of defending. He had wonderful skill and technique. His shots off the back foot down the ground off fast bowlers--you can't really describe how good they were." His captain for Australia and New South Wales, Richie Benaud said that he was "one of the greatest entertainers we've had in Australian cricket". O'Neill's style led the British writer EW Swanton to say "the art of batting, he reminded us, was not dead, merely inexplicably dormant" Wisden opined that "A high innings by O'Neill is a thing of masterful beauty. His stroking is delectable, immense in its power." Later in his career, O'Neill became a nervous and superstitious batsman, particular at the start of an innings. He wrote "batting is a lonely business" in his 1964 autobiography Ins and Outs, opining that he sometimes found first-class cricket to be "depressing and lonely". He was regarded as an excellent fieldsman at cover, with a powerful and accurate throw, described by Wisden as a "dream throw" honed from a junior career as a baseballer. He was named as utility player in the 1957 All Australian baseball team, and his ability was such that he was approached by Major League Baseball scouts. Before the retirement of Neil Harvey, he and O'Neill fielded in tandem in the covers and the pair were regarded as the finest fielding combination of the time. CANNOTANSWER | he was a dynamic stroke maker who was a crowd favourite because of his ability to score at a high pace, | Norman Clifford Louis O'Neill (19 February 1937 – 3 March 2008) was a cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. A right-handed batsman known for his back foot strokeplay, O'Neill made his state debut aged 18, before progressing to Test selection aged 21 in late 1958. Early in his career, O'Neill was one of the foremost batsmen in the Australian team, scoring three Test centuries and topping the run-scoring aggregates on a 1959–60 tour of the Indian subcontinent which helped Australia win its last Test and series on Pakistani soil for 39 years, as well as another series in India. His career peaked in 1960–61 when he scored 181 in the Tied Test against the West Indies, and at the end of the series, had a career average of 58.25.
O'Neill's performances on the 1961 tour of England saw him named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year. Thereafter his form was less formidable, characterised by nervousness and fidgeting at the start of his innings. Persistent knee problems, as well as a controversial media attack on the legality of West Indian bowler Charlie Griffith, saw him dropped from the Australian team after 1965. O'Neill also bowled occasional leg spin and was regarded as one of the finest fielders of his era. He later became a cricket commentator and his son Mark O'Neill also played cricket at state level.
He was inducted into the Australian Hall of Fame by the CA in 2018.
Early years
The son of a builder, O'Neill was born in Carlton, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales. He had no cricketing associations on his father's side of the family, but his maternal uncle, Ron Campion, played for the Glebe club in Sydney Grade Cricket. Campion trained for cricket near the O'Neill family home, at Bexley Oval. O'Neill accompanied his uncle to cricket from the age of seven and was given batting practice at the end of each session. At Bexley Primary school, O'Neill was denied a chance to play cricket as the school did not field a team. Moving on to Kogarah Intermediate High School, O'Neill played cricket in defiance of a teacher who recommended that he take up athletics. As a teenager, O'Neill idolised Keith Miller after his uncle took him to the Sydney Cricket Ground: O'Neill saw Miller play that day and was impressed with the way he hit the ball off the back foot.
Under his uncle's guidance, O'Neill joined the St George Cricket Club, in the Sydney Grade competition. He steadily moved up through the grades and broke into the first grade side at the age of 16. Sensing his potential, the club's selectors informed him that regardless of form, he would play the full season, which allowed him to be uninhibited in his batting. He made 108 in seven innings. The next season, he was out 12 times leg before wicket in 15 innings, and run out in the other three. O'Neill attributed his failures to over-aggressiveness and resolved to improve his patience. In the second match of the new season, the 17-year-old O'Neill made his first century. With all five state selectors onlooking, he made 28 in the next match and was called into the state squad.
Shield debut
O'Neill made his debut for New South Wales at the age of 18 against South Australia during the 1955–56 season. His lack of contribution was highlighted against the backdrop of his team's crushing innings victory: O'Neill failed to score a run or take a wicket. New South Wales bowled first and had South Australia at 6/49 when Miller introduced O'Neill's occasional leg spin, presumably to ease the debutant's nerves by bringing him into the game. The home team struck 18 from three overs. O'Neill was listed to bat in the lower middle order but after the top order had made a big start, Miller brought O'Neill up. He came in against the second new ball and was clean bowled. O'Neill was dropped and did not play another match for the season, but had gained invaluable experience.
O'Neill steadily rose in the 1956–57 season. At the start of the season, with many players still on international duty during the closing stages of the tour to England and the subsequent stopover in the Indian subcontinent, O'Neill was recalled and made 60 and 63 not out against Queensland at the start of the season. This saw him retain his place when the Test players returned. After making a pair of single-figures scored, he made a sequence of three 60s against South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia, He was rewarded with selection in the one-off match between Ray Lindwall's XI and Neil Harvey's XI, which doubled as a national selection trial, before making his first ton (127) against South Australia. He ended the season with 567 runs at 43.61, and earned selection for a non-Test tour of New Zealand under Ian Craig, in a team composed mainly of young players. He made 102 not out in the only "Test" match that he played, helping to set up a ten-wicket win. heading the tour averages with 218 runs at 72.66. Despite this, he was overlooked for the 1957–58 Test tour of South Africa. It was regarded as one of the most controversial decisions of the decade.
O'Neill responded during the 1957–58 Sheffield Shield season weakened by the absence of the Test players, aggregating 1,005 runs at 83.75 and taking 26 wickets at 20.42 with his leg spinners, thus topping the national bowling and batting averages. Prior to the season, he had never taken a first-class wicket. In the opening match of the summer, he took 3/74 against Queensland. He then took a total of 5/51 scored 33 and 48 not out in a six-wicket win over Western Australia before taking 3/52 and adding two fifties in the return match. He then broke through for his first century of the season, scoring 114 and taking 3/44 in a ten-wicket win over South Australia. However, he reached more productive levels in the second half of the season.
This comprised 175 against Victoria, 74 and 48 against Queensland, 125 and 23* against South Australia and 233 against Victoria. His 233 was made in little over four hours and featured 38 fours. It was the first time that a New South Welshman (let alone a twenty-year-old) had scored 1,000 in a Shield season. Bradman and Bill Ponsford were the only others before him. He added 12 wickets in the final four matches, including 2/50 and 4/40 in the match against Queensland. O'Neill's performances played a large part in his state's fifth consecutive title.
These performances led former Test leg spinner Bill O'Reilly to compare him to Bradman and former Test opening batsman Jack Fingleton to lament his non-selection for the South African tour and its reflection on the plight of Australian cricket.
At the time, his employers refused to make allowances for him to play sport, forcing him to begin work at six in the morning. As a result, he considered moving to South Australia, where a grocery magnate offered him employment and financial incentives. However, he stayed after state officials intervened, with Sir Ronald Irish, the Australian chairman of Rothmans, providing him with a job in Sydney. At the time, O'Neill had another offer. Having represented his state in baseball and been nominated in the All-Australian team in 1957, he was approached by the New York Yankees, having had experience at a pitcher and short stop. O'Neill was offered a fee more than 25 times that for a single Test match, as well as travel costs and accommodation, to trial with the Yankees. He agreed, but Irish dissuaded him less than a week before his scheduled departure.
Test debut
Identified as a future Test prospect, he was selected in a Western Australia Combined XI for a match against the touring England cricket team at the start of the 1958–59 season in Perth. Prior to the match, O'Neill was hounded by the media. The tourists decided to test him with short-pitched bowling, especially Fred Trueman. O'Neill decided to abstain from hooking, while attacking the spin of Jim Laker with a series of sweep shots. After four and a half hours of uncharacteristic restraint, he compiled 104 with an emphasis on off side play. He took a total of 2/67, removing Fred Trueman and Arthur Milton.
He scored 85 against Western Australia and then made 84 not out for New South Wales against England. He was selected for an Australian XI, which played the tourists in a dress rehearsal before the Tests. He made one and two as Australia were crushed by 345 runs.
Nevertheless, O'Neill was selected to make his debut in the five-Test series against England, playing in all of the matches. The First Test in Brisbane was a low scoring match described by Australian captain Richie Benaud as producing "some of the slowest and worst cricket imaginable", O'Neill made 34 in Australia's first innings of 186 to help secure a lead of 52. He then top-scored with an unbeaten 71 in the second innings, guiding Australia to an eight-wicket victory. O'Neill scored 71 of the last 89 runs scored while he was at the crease, refusing to be dried up by the England's usage of leg theory. It enlivened a match plagued by time-wasting, and best remembered for a depressingly slow innings by England's Trevor Bailey, who scored 68 from 426 balls in seven and a half hours. England captain Peter May described O'Neill's innings as "sparkling" and said that it made "everything which had gone before look even more wretched". Retired English player Ian Peebles, writing in the Sunday Times, said "Although O'Neill is in the very early stages of his career, it is already something of an occasion when he comes to the wicket, and one can sense the expectancy of the crowd and the heightened tension of the opposition". Wisden opined that O'Neill had "saved a game that had been tortuous for days". For his part, O'Neill said that the dour play was "unbelievable" and that he was "just about falling to sleep" in the field.
He struck 77 in the rain-affected drawn Third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground and followed this with 56 in the Fourth Test in Adelaide. Despite making a duck in the Fifth Test, he ended the series as the second highest runscorer with 282 at 56.40 as Australia took the series 4–0. He bowled two overs without success. Outside the Tests, O'Neill scored 155 and 128 against Victoria and Western Australia respectively as New South Wales completed their sixth successive Sheffield Shield win.
Career peak
The following season O'Neill was Australia's leading batsman during the 1959–60 tour to Pakistan and India, where he was a part of the last Australian team to win a Test on Pakistani soil for 39 years. After a quiet match in the First Test eight-wicket win in Dacca in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), in which he scored two and 26 not out, O'Neill played a key role in the victory in the Second Test in Lahore that was to Australia's last in Pakistan until 1998. O'Neill made his maiden Test century of 134 in the first innings to give Australia a 245-run lead. He then took his maiden Test wicket in Pakistan's second innings, that of Shujauddin. This left Australia chasing a target of 122 in the last two hours on the final day. The chase was on schedule with O'Neill partnering Neil Harvey when the Pakistanis began wasting time to prevent an Australian victory. This was implemented by swapping fielders very slowly when the left and right-handed combination of Harvey and O'Neill took a single, and overs began taking seven minutes instead of three. To counter this, Harvey deliberately backed away when a ball was aimed at the stumps and threw away his wicket by letting himself be bowled for 37. This allowed Benaud to come in and bat with O'Neill so that the two right-handed batsmen would give no opportunity to waste time by switching the field. Benaud then threatened Pakistani captain Imtiaz Ahmed with a formal complaint over the time-wasting, and proceedings returned to their normal pace. Australia made the target with a few minutes to spare, with O'Neill on 43. O'Neill failed to make double figures in the final Test, which was drawn, but ended the series with 218 runs at 72.66. In another tour match, against the President's XI, O'Neill scored an unbeaten 52 in a low-scoring match as Australia stumbled to their target of 116 with only three wickets in hand.
O'Neill's performances in Pakistan was such that the parents in one cricket-following Karachi family named their new son Anil for its resemblance to O'Neill. Anil Dalpat went on to become the first Hindu to represent Pakistan, playing nine Tests in the 1980s as a wicketkeeper.
On the five-Test Indian series which followed, O'Neill started slowly, aggregating 60 runs in the first two Tests, which were shared 1–1. He returned to form with a leg-side dominated 163 in a high-scoring draw in the Third Test at Brabourne Stadium in Bombay. After scoring 40 in an innings victory in the Fourth Test in Madras, Australia needed a draw in the Fifth Test in Calcutta with four players injured or ill, while Benaud had a dislocated spinning finger. O'Neill scored 113 in the first innings to help a depleted team take a 137-run first innings lead and prevent India from squaring the series. He was Australia's leading scorer in the Tests, with 376 runs at 62.66. He also made his highest first-class score of 284, against an Indian President's XI in Ahmedabad. He was the top scorer for the whole subcontinental Test tour, with 594 runs in eight matches at 66.00.
He returned to Australia and played in one match for New South Wales at the end of the 1959–60 season, scoring 175 as his state defeated Western Australia and won a seventh Shield in a row. Prior to the following Australian summer, O'Neill was part of an International Cavaliers team that toured South Africa. He scored 133 runs at 21.83.
In the lead-up to the 1960–61 home Tests series against the West Indies, O'Neill scored 156 not to set up an innings win for his state over the tourists. He then struck 181 in the first innings of the opening match at Brisbane, his highest Test score. The innings prompted teammate Bob Simpson to say "if God gave me an hour to watch someone I'd seen, I'd request to see Norman O'Neill. He had the style." Australia took a first innings lead and O'Neill made 26 in the second innings as Australia collapsed towards a likely defeat before recovering; the match ended in the first Tied Test in history. This was the peak of O'Neill's career. Having played 14 Tests, he was averaging 67.68 with the bat.
He then struck 114 as his state defeated the tourists by an innings, and he made 40 and a duck as the Australians took the series lead in the Second Test. He made 70 and 71 in the Third Test loss in Sydney, one of the few players able to combat Lance Gibbs effectively, top-scoring in the first innings and second top-scoring in the second innings. He then made 65 in the second innings in the Fourth Test at Adelaide, where Australia held on by one wicket for a draw. He contributed 48 in the second innings of the Fifth Test as Australia appeared headed for a series victory. However, a late collapse ensued, and Australia scraped home by two wickets to take the series 2–1. O'Neill ended the series with 522 runs at 52.20. O'Neill gained attention during the summer for frequently losing his wicket by impulsively sweeping. This was attributed to the dominance of his bottom hand, which saw his bat swinging across the line of flight of the ball. Despite the criticism, he was at the peak of his international career, having made 1398 runs at 58.35 in his first 18 Tests.
Wisden Cricketer of the Year
O'Neill was selected for the tour of England in 1961, and he warmed up by scoring centuries in consecutive matches against Tasmania for the Australian squad. During the English summer, O'Neill scored 1981 runs at 60.03, narrowly missing becoming only the fourth post-war player after Don Bradman, Neil Harvey and Bill Lawry to make 2,000 runs in an Ashes tour.
In the third match against Yorkshire, which was O'Neill's second for the tour, he scored an unbeaten 100 marked by his cover driving. He followed this with a 74 against Lancashire before a 124 two matches later against Glamorgan, which was described by Wisden as the best of the season. He scored 73 against Gloucestershire and made 122 on his first appearance at Lord's, against the Marylebone Cricket Club, in what was effectively a dress rehearsal for the Tests. Australia went on to win by 63 runs. In the next match against Sussex, O'Neill was carried from the ground after suffering a knee injury, and after failing to bat in either innings, it appeared he would be sidelined for a substantial period.
However, he recovered to be selected for the First Test at Edgbaston, just five days later. He made 82 as Australia scored 9/516 declared and took a 321-run first innings lead, but England could not be dismissed in the second innings and salvaged a draw. He continued his form with an unbeaten 104 against Kent between the Tests.
The "Battle of the Ridge" in the Second Test at Lord's—the home of cricket—was an unhappy one for O'Neill. On an erratic pitch with a visible ridge that caused uneven bounce, O'Neill made one and a duck as an Australia scraped home by five wickets in a low-scoring match.
He returned to the county matches and scored 162 against Lancashire, before scoring 27 and 19 as England squared the series in the Third Test at Headingley. O'Neill then scored 142 against Northamptonshire, but the hosts were able to tie the scores when stumps were drawn with four wickets in hand.
After rectifying a technical fault, O'Neill made 67 in the second innings of the Fourth Test at Old Trafford with the series tied at 1–1, helping Australia take a narrow victory to retain the Ashes. Heading into the final Test, O'Neill had a consistent run, scoring three fifties in four innings. He made his first century against England in the Fifth Test at The Oval with 117 as Australia drew the match to take the series. He did so after being given a "lucky coin" by a spectator and being dropped at second slip when he was on 19. He scored 324 runs at 40.50 in the Tests and was subsequently named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year for 1962. Following the Tests, O'Neill added four half-centuries in five innings in a consistent run towards the close of the tour. He left English soil with 138 against Minor Counties, in a non-first-class match. In all first-class matches, he made seven centuries, and his run aggregate was second only to Lawry, who made 2,019 runs.
International decline
After this tour, his form began to decline, as he became prone to uncertain and fidgety starts to his innings, which earned him the nickname "Nervous Norm". A persistent knee injury increasingly troubled him and was to end his career. The 1961–62 Australian team was purely domestic with no touring Test team, and New South Wales completed their ninth Sheffield Shield title in a row, O'Neill had a poor season, scoring only 377 runs at 25.13, passing fifty only twice.
The 1962–63 home Ashes series was Australia's first Test matches in 18 months. After an unproductive season last year, O'Neill started the new summer with 15 and 2/30 for a Western Australia Combined XI against Ted Dexter's Englishmen. His victims with the ball were Dexter and batsman Tom Graveney. He then made his first century in over a year, scoring 131 against Western Australia for his state. O'Neill completed his preparation for the Tests by helping New South Wales to defeat Dexter's men by an innings. He scored 143 and took 2/36, removing Graveney and leading batsman Colin Cowdrey.
O'Neill made 56 in the First Test drawn at Brisbane but failed to pass 20 in the next two matches, which were shared by the two teams. After his wife made him a pair of "lucky lemon socks", he scored 100 in the first innings of the drawn Fourth Test in Adelaide, which turned out to be his last Test century with fifteen Tests before the end of his career. With Alan Davidson injured during the match, O'Neill was required to bowl substantially, conceding 49 runs in what was his most expensive performance to date. He scored 73 in the Fifth Test in Sydney to finish the series with 310 runs at 34.44, substantially below his career average of 53.8 prior to the series. He also took two wickets, one in each of the Third and Fifth Tests, removing Fred Titmus and Dexter respectively. Outside the Tests, O'Neill struggled and passed 25 once in eight other non-Test innings. This was a 93 against arch-rivals Victoria, which was not enough to prevent defeat. Victoria went on to win the Sheffield Shield and end New South Wales' nine-year winning streak.
At the end of the season, he embarked on a tour with the International Cavaliers, which toured Africa, mostly playing against provincial teams. He played in seven matches and had a productive series, scoring 541 runs at 41.54 including a century and four fifties. He also bowled more frequently than usual taking seven wickets at 53.29.
The following season in 1963–64, O'Neill started poorly, passing 12 only once in his first six innings. However, he was retained for the team for the First Test against South Africa in Brisbane, where he scored 82 and 19 not out in a drawn match. He continued his resurgence with 36 and 61 not out the following fixture against Victoria, but was injured during the second innings and forced to retire hurt. This meant that he missed the Second Test, which Australia won by eight wickets. O'Neill returned and scored half centuries in each of the next two Tests. He also took two wickets to end the series with 285 runs at 40.71 and three wickets at 32.33. He added a further two half-centuries in the remaining Shield matches.
O'Neill retained his place for the 1964 tour to England, and scored a century against Western Australia for the touring squad before departing for the northern hemisphere. After failing to pass 16 in his first two outings, he struck form against Glamorgan, scoring 65 and an unbeaten 109. He then added 151 and 17 not out, leading the way as the Australians defeated the MCC by nine wickets in a dress rehearsal for the Tests. However, O'Neill scored 98 in the first four innings of the opening two Tests and was forced out of the Third Test with a knee injury, the only non-draw of the series, which Australia won. Nevertheless, he passed 50 in each of the four tour matches during this period, including a 134 against Yorkshire and 90 against Northamptonshire.
O'Neill returned for the final two Tests and ended the series with only 156 runs at 31.20 in five Tests without passing fifty and going wicketless. He added another century against Kent and two further fifties in the closing stages of the English summer.
His 1964–65 tour of the subcontinent on the way back to Australia was even worse, a far cry from his leading role in the previous tour to the subcontinent. After making 40 and 0 in the First Test win in Madras, he was unable to bat either innings in the Second Test in Bombay after being hospitalised due to persistent vomiting, injury as Australia ceded their series lead. He missed the remainder of the series, the Third Test in Calcutta and a one-off Test in Pakistan. Upon his return home, he has a shortened domestic season before Australia left for the West Indies. In five domestic matches, he scored 357 runs at 59.50, including a 133 not against South Australia.
O'Neill started the 1964–65 tour of the West Indies strongly, scoring a century in the first match against Jamaica. He was often injured during the tour, but was at his most productive with the bat since the last series against the Caribbean team four years earlier. He made many starts, passing 20 in six of his seven Test innings, but was unable to convert them into big scores. In the First Test, O'Neill was struck on the hand by Wes Hall and was sent to hospital for X-rays after a break was suspected. During the Second Test, it was the turn of Charlie Griffith to send O'Neill to hospital, after hitting him on the forearm and causing a large bruise. His 51 and 74* in the Fourth Test at Bridgetown, Barbados, the last Test of his career, was the only time he passed 50 for the series. He ended with 266 runs at 44.33, missing the Fifth Test due to a broken hand. He managed a healthy return with the ball, taking nine of his 17 Test wickets in the series with an average of 25.55. This included his Test best of 4/41 with his leg-spin in the Second Test in Port of Spain, Trinidad. In this match, he cleaned up the hosts' tail in the first innings, removing Jackie Hendriks, Wes Hall, Charlie Griffith and Lance Gibbs.
At the end of the tour, O'Neill garnered controversy by writing outspoken newspaper columns accusing opposition pace spearhead Charlie Griffith of chucking. He was one of several Australians who took exception to Griffith's bowling action, and he put his name to a series of feature articles in Sydney's Daily Mirror. These labelled Griffith as "an obvious chucker", saying the hosts had been "wrong to play" him. O'Neill stated that "If he is allowed to continue throwing, he could kill someone". O'Neill also expressed his desire to not have to face bowling that he deemed to be illegal. When the Daily Mirror syndicated the columns, London's Daily Mail ignored an embargo and printed the pieces while the Australians were on their homeward flight, putting O'Neill in breach of his tour contract, which forbade players from commenting in the media during tours.
The West Indies lodged an official complaint with Australia, and the Australian Cricket Board replied that it deplored the published comments, although noting that as O'Neill's touring contract had expired at the end of the tour, the point was moot. Nevertheless, the ACB changed its stance on players' writing, so that they could no longer comment on a tour until three months after its conclusion. The event is often perceived to have been a factor in O'Neill's eventual departure from the national scene.
Outside the Tests, O'Neill performed strongly in three matches against regional teams, scoring centuries in each of them. He scored 125, 125, and 101 in his only three innings, against Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados.
Retirement
The following season, O'Neill was overlooked for selection in all five Tests against the touring England team. Returning to New South Wales, he scored 473 runs at 39.42, including two centuries.
O'Neill was omitted from the squad that toured South Africa in 1966–67, ending his Test career. He continued his Shield career while his former teammates were on the other side of the Indian Ocean, compiling 741 runs at 74.10 in a strong season. He started the season with 117 against Western Australia, before scoring a pair of 78s in the return match, helping his team to a tense 13-run win. He then scored 128 and 22 not out against Victoria and finished his season with 160 and 80 against South Australia, scoring a majority of his team's first innings score.
As a result, he was selected for an Australian Second XI to tour New Zealand. He scored 69 runs at 17.25 in two international matches and made his last first-class century, scoring 101 and 58 not out against Auckland.
O'Neill retired upon his return to Australia due to a knee injury. He left a reputation as a highly entertaining batsman who did not manage to fulfil his early promise. "A disappointment he was, perhaps, but his cricket will be recalled when those of lesser gifts are forgotten", opined the writer EW Swanton.
In 61 matches for New South Wales, he scored 5419 runs at 52.61. He compiled 3879 runs at 61.57 for St George in grade competition before transferring to Sutherland in the 1965–66 club. He scored 168 on his new club's first day in the competition.
A cigarette salesman by trade, he became a commentator in retirement. He married Gwen Wallace, a track and field athlete who won relay gold for Australia at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. They had two sons and a daughter. Their eldest child Mark O'Neill represented New South Wales and Western Australia in the 1980s. O'Neill also co-owned a racehorse with Richie Benaud, Barry Jarman and Ray Steele, named Pall Mallan, and it won a race in 1961.
On 3 March 2008, O'Neill died in Erina, New South Wales, due to the effects of throat cancer. He was 71.
Style
Standing six feet tall, O'Neill was compared to Don Bradman upon his entry into Test cricket. At his best, he was a dynamic stroke maker who was a crowd favourite because of his ability to score at a high pace, in particular with his power off the back foot. He was noted for his nimble footwork, which he used to negate spin bowling; however, this slowed in his later career as he put on weight. O'Neill particularly liked to sweep the slower bowlers. He often put too much emphasis on his right hand, allowing a large space between his hands on the bat handle, and then turning his right shoulder too square towards the bowler. The renowned English batsman and captain Wally Hammond said that O'Neill was the best all-round batsman he had seen since World War II. O'Neill's tall build, strength and good looks also drew comparison to his boyhood idol Keith Miller. Despite the comparisons to Bradman, O'Neill was much taller and broader, and was often impetuous whereas Bradman was known for his patience and lack of rashness. O'Neill was also criticised for hitting across the line early in his innings.
O'Neill was highly regarded for his style and entertainment values. Teammate Alan Davidson said "once set he was the most exhilarating player you'd ever want to see—he was dynamite. He'd play attacking shots off balls other people would only think of defending. He had wonderful skill and technique. His shots off the back foot down the ground off fast bowlers—you can't really describe how good they were." His captain for Australia and New South Wales, Richie Benaud said that he was "one of the greatest entertainers we've had in Australian cricket". O'Neill's style led the British writer EW Swanton to say "the art of batting, he reminded us, was not dead, merely inexplicably dormant" Wisden opined that "A high innings by O'Neill is a thing of masterful beauty. His stroking is delectable, immense in its power."
Later in his career, O'Neill became a nervous and superstitious batsman, particular at the start of an innings. He wrote "batting is a lonely business" in his 1964 autobiography Ins and Outs, opining that he sometimes found first-class cricket to be "depressing and lonely".
He was regarded as an excellent fieldsman at cover, with a powerful and accurate throw, described by Wisden as a "dream throw" honed from a junior career as a baseballer. He was named as utility player in the 1957 All Australian baseball team, and his ability was such that he was approached by Major League Baseball scouts. Before the retirement of Neil Harvey, he and O'Neill fielded in tandem in the covers and the pair were regarded as the finest fielding combination of the time.
Test match performance
References
Notes
External links
1937 births
2008 deaths
Australia Test cricketers
Australian baseball players
Australian Cricket Hall of Fame inductees
Australian cricket commentators
Australian cricketers
Cricketers from Sydney
Deaths from cancer in New South Wales
Deaths from esophageal cancer
International Cavaliers cricketers
New South Wales cricketers
St George cricketers
Wisden Cricketers of the Year | true | [
"Robert Biswas-Diener (born July 27, 1972) is a positive psychologist, author and instructor at Portland State University. Biswas-Diener's mother is Carol Diener and his father is Ed Diener, both psychologists.\n\nBiswas-Diener's research focuses on income and happiness, culture and happiness, and positive psychology. Biswas-Diener's research has led him to areas such as India, Greenland, Israel, Kenya, and Spain, and he has been called the \"Indiana Jones of positive psychology\". He obtained his PhD in 2009 on \"Material wealth and subjective well-being\" from the University of Tromsø. Biswas-Diener is interested in looking into the difference between a procrastinator and what he calls an \"incubator\".\n\nBiswas-Diener is an author of books and articles and sits on the editorial boards of the Journal of Happiness Studies and Journal of Positive Psychology. Biswas-Diener also co-founded The Strengths Project, a charity whose mission is to \"help underprivileged individuals and groups realise their strengths to enhance quality of life and build on their life circumstances.\"\n\nHappiness \nThe psychological study of happiness is referred to as subjective well-being. Researchers are principally interested in the measurement, causes and consequences of being happy. Biswas-Diener has contributed to the study of happiness principally through his investigations of the well-being of exotic groups traditionally overlooked by psychologists. These include the Amish, the Maasai and homeless people.\n\nPositive diagnosis \nPositive psychologists have argued that there is a need create a taxonomy of “what goes right with people” as well as “what goes wrong with people.” Previous attempts have focused on uni-dimensional approaches such as identify individual strengths. Biswas-Diener has expanded on these approaches by creating a “multi-axial” approach to comprehensive diagnosis similar to the DSM Multi-axial Approach used in clinical psychology. His positive diagnosis model includes:\n Axis 1: Capacities (strengths and interests)\n Axis 2: Well-being (life satisfaction and psychological well-being)\n Axis 3: Future Orientation (hope and optimism)\n Axis 4: Situational Benefactors \n Axis 5: Values\n\nIncubators and procrastinators \nMany researchers have examined the phenomenon of procrastination. Some researchers have noted that procrastination can be adaptive. Biswas-Diener has examined the work styles of people who knowingly procrastinate and allow mounting anxiety to propel them to high performance, albeit “at the last minute.” He has identified this work style as “incubator.”\n\nStrengths \nA major area of interest within positive psychology theory and research has been on the topic of strengths. Strengths are disproportionately represented among publications in the Journal of Positive Psychology. Biswas-Diener and his colleagues argue that strengths are potentials rather than traits and that they can be cultivated through effort. Following from this argument is the idea that strengths can be over or underused and that “strengths development” is largely a matter of learning to use strengths appropriately to unique situations. They further argue that if used inappropriately strengths use may be associated with social costs or personal psychological harm.\n\nCourage \nBiswas-Diener has written that courage consists of two separable processes: managing the emotion of fear and “boosting the willingness to act”. He suggests that courage consists of skills that can be learned.\n\nBooks \n Jhangiani, R. & Biswas-Diener, R. (2017). Open:The philosophy and practices that are revolutionizing education and science. \n Kashdan, T. & Biswas-Diener, R. (2014). The Upside of Your Dark Side:Why being your whole self—not just your \"good self\"—drives success and fulfillment. \n Biswas-Diener, R. (2012). The Courage Quotient: How science can make you braver.\n Biswas-Diener, R. (2011). Positive psychology as social change.\n Biswas-Diener, Robert. (2010) Practicing Positive Psychology Coaching: Assessment, Diagnosis, and Intervention.\n Linley, A., Willars, J., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2010). The strengths book: Be confident, be successful, and enjoy better relationships by realising the best of you.\n Diener, Ed., and Biswas-Diener, Robert. (2008) Happiness: Unlocking the mysteries of psychological wealth.\n Biswas-Diener, R., and Ben Dean (2007) Positive Psychology Coaching (2007)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n CAPPEU.com\n\n1972 births\nLiving people\nAmerican psychologists\nPositive psychologists",
"The VIA Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS), formerly known as the \"Values in Action Inventory,\" is a proprietary psychological assessment measure designed to identify an individual's profile of character strengths.\n\nIt was created by Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman, researchers in the field of positive psychology, in order to operationalize their Character Strengths and Virtues Handbook (CSV). The CSV is the positive psychology counterpart to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) used in traditional psychology. Unlike the DSM, which scientifically categorizes human deficits and disorders, the CSV classifies positive human strengths. Moreover, the CSV is centered on helping people recognize and build upon their strengths. This aligned with the overall goal of the positive psychology movement, which aims to make people's lives more fulfilling, rather than simply treating mental illness. Notably, the VIA-IS is the tool by which people can identify their own positive strengths and learn how to capitalize on them.\n\nClassification of strengths\n Wisdom and Knowledge: creativity, curiosity, judgment, love of learning, perspective\n Courage: bravery, perseverance, honesty, zest\n Humanity: love, kindness, social intelligence\n Justice: teamwork, fairness, leadership\n Temperance: forgiveness, humility, prudence, self-regulation\n Transcendence: appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude, hope, humor, spirituality\n\nComposition and administration \nThe VIA-IS is composed of a 240 item measure of 24 character strengths (10 items per strength). On average, an individual will complete the VIA-IS in 30 to 40 minutes. Since 2001, the survey is available online for min $20 at www.viacharacter.org and over 400,000 people have participated so far. Participants are instructed to answer each item on the VIA-IS in terms of “whether the statement describes what you are like”. Participants respond according to a 5-point Likert scale ranging from (1= very much unlike me, 5= very much like me). Sample items include “I find the world a very interesting place”, which gauges curiosity, and “I always let bygone be bygones”, which gauges forgiveness. People can score anywhere from 10 to 50 points for each of the 24 strengths. Moreover, a higher score on a scale indicates that the participant more strongly identifies with that scale's associated strength. Score reports are delivered to each participant at the completion of the survey. Feedback is provided for the signature strengths, but not for the lesser strengths. The results rank order the participant's strengths from 1-24, with the top 4-7 strengths considered “signature strengths”.\n\nHistory \nAs a relatively new field of research, positive psychology lacked a common vocabulary for discussing measurable positive traits before 2004. Traditional psychology benefited from the creation of DSM, as it provided researchers and clinicians with the same set of language from which they could talk about the negative. As a first step in remedying this disparity between tradition and positive psychology, Peterson and Seligman set out to identify, organize and measure character.\n\nPeterson & Seligman began by defining the notion of character as traits that are possessed by an individual and are stable over time, but can still be impacted by setting and thus are subject to change. The researchers then started the process of identifying character strengths and virtues by brainstorming with a group of noted positive psychology scholars. Then, Peterson & Seligman examined ancient cultures (including their religions, politics, education and philosophies) for information about how people in the past construed human virtue. The researchers looked for virtues that were present across cultures and time. Six core virtues emerged from their analysis: courage, justice, humanity, temperance, transcendence and wisdom.\n\nNext, Peterson and Seligman proposed a model of classification which includes horizontal and vertical components. The hierarchical system is modeled after the Linnaean classification of species, which ranges from a specific species to more general and broad categories. The scientists stated the six core values are the broadest category and are, “core characteristics valued by moral philosophers and religious thinkers” (p. 13). Peterson and Seligman then moved down the hierarchy to identifying character strengths, which are, “the psychological processes or mechanisms that define the virtues” (p. 13).\n\nThe researchers began the process of identifying individual character strengths by brainstorming with a group of noted positive psychology scholars. This exercise generated a list of human strengths, which were helpful when consulting with Gallup Organization. Peterson and Seligman then performed an exhaustive literature search for work that directly addresses good character in the domains of, “psychiatry, youth development, philosophy and psychology” (p. 15). Some individuals who influenced Peterson and Seligman's choice of strengths include: Abraham Maslow, Erik Erikson, Ellen Greenberger, Marie Jahoda, Carol Ryff, Michael Cawley, Howard Gardner, Shalom Schwartz. In an effort to leave no stone unturned, the researchers also looked for virtue-laden messages in popular culture. For example, the researchers examined Hallmark greeting cards, personal ads, graffiti, bumper stickers and profiles of Pokémon characters.\n\nAfter identifying dozens of ‘candidate strengths’, the researchers needed to find a way to further refine their list. Therefore, Peterson & Seligman developed a list of 10 criteria (e.g., strengths must contribute to a sense of a fulfilling life, must be intrinsically valuable) to help them select the final 24 strengths for the CSV (see CSV for complete list of criteria). Approximately half of the strengths included in the CSV meet all 10 criteria, and half do not. By looking for similarities between candidate strengths, the researchers distributed 24 character strengths between six virtue categories. Only after creating this a priori organization of traits, the researchers performed, “an exploratory factor analysis of scale scores using varimax rotation,” (p. 632) from which five factors emerged. Peterson & Seligman state that they are not as concerned with how the 24 strengths are grouped into virtue clusters because, in the end, these traits are mixed together to form the character of a person.\n\nValidity and reliability \nPeterson and Seligman state that all character strengths must be measurable. Of the 24 strengths, most can be assessed using self-report questionnaires, behavioral observation, peer-report methods and clinical interviews. Three strengths, however, have yet to be reliably assessed: humility, modesty and bravery. The researchers acknowledge that some strengths are more difficult to assess than others, therefore methods of assessing these strengths are still in-progress.\n\nFor each strength, there are typically several measures that could be administered in order to assess a person's trait level for that strength. Time and energy, however, prohibit administering all of the measures for the 24 strengths in one testing session. To solve this problem, Peterson & Seligman designed a new measure, the VIA-IS, to assess all 24 strengths in relatively brief amount of time. Beginning in the fall of 2000, the researchers pilot tested the VIA-IS with a group of 250 adults. The researchers removed items that correlated poorly with the rest of the items in the same scale of interest. Peterson & Seligman repeated this process until Cronbach's alpha for all scales exceeded .70. Along the way, the researchers added in 3 reverse-scored items in each of the 24 scales as well. For the current version of the VIA-IS, test-retest correlations for all scales during a 4-month period are > .70.\n\nPeterson & Seligman (2004) provide limited data on the validity and reliability of the VIA-IS. In fact, the only published statistics are stated above. The researchers say that they will provide the full statistical results of their analysis of the VIA-IS in a future publication. However, other researchers have published studies that challenge the validity of this 6 factor structure.\n\nEmpirical findings and limitations\nAlthough researchers have not yet examined the validity and reliability of the VIA-IS, they are beginning to look at how the 24 character strengths are distributed within the United States and international populations. Researchers found that, within the United States, the most commonly endorsed strengths are kindness, fairness, honesty, gratitude and judgment. The lesser strengths demonstrated consistency across states and regions as well: prudence, modesty and self-regulation. The researchers did not find regional differences in the rank-order of strengths, with the exception of the South demonstrating slightly higher scores for religiousness.\n\nWhen the rank order of strengths in the U.S. is compared to that of 53 other countries, scientists found the relative pattern of rank ordering did not differ. This finding provides evidence to support Peterson & Seligman's (2004) assertion that their classification system is composed of universally acknowledged strengths.\n\nThe results of this study do have limitations. More specifically, respondents to the survey must speak English, as the VIA-IS was not translated into each respondent's native language. This may restrict the extension of these results to non-English speakers.\n\nIn an earlier study, researchers administered the English-language version of the VIA-IS to individuals in 40 countries (Steen, Park & Peterson, 2005; in Park, Peterson & Seligman, 2005). Worldwide, the following strengths were most associated with positive life satisfaction: hope, zest, gratitude and love. The researchers called these strengths of the heart'. Moreover, strengths associated with knowledge, such as love of learning and curiosity, were least correlated with life satisfaction.\n\nUnited Kingdom \nScientists have also performed more in-depth analyses of the VIA-IS when it is applied to populations outside of the United States. Unlike Park, Peterson & Seligman (2006), Linley and colleagues (2007) did not simply compare the rank-order of strengths of the U.S. to other countries. Linley and colleagues (2007) administered the VIA-IS to 17,056 individuals living in the United Kingdom between 2002 & 2005. Compared to the entire U.K. population, the study's sample was better educated, composed of more women and fewer elderly individuals.\n\nThe researchers found that as people aged, strength scores tended to increase. Using Pearson's correlations, researchers looked for associations between age and strengths. The following strengths showed the strongest correlations: love of learning, curiosity, forgiveness, self-regulation and fairness. Humor, however, did not follow this pattern and was negatively correlated with age.\n\nIn terms of statistically significant gender differences, women demonstrated higher scores for interpersonal strengths (kindness, love and social intelligence) and appreciation of beauty and gratitude. Men scored significantly higher than women on creativity. For men and women, four of the top five signature strengths were the same: open-mindedness, fairness, curiosity and love of learning.\n\nWhen the means and standard deviations were broken down by gender and age, they were consistent with those reported by U.S. samples. The rank ordering of strengths were comparable to the patterns found in the U.S. and other international samples. Once again, research supports Peterson & Seligman's (2004) assertion that the strengths listed in the CSV and VIA-IS are present in the majority of cultures.\n\nAn important limitation of this study, as with all studies that collect data via the internet, is that the samples tend to be more educated and from higher socioeconomic background because these individuals are more likely to have access and knowledge of the internet.\n\nJapan \nUnlike previous studies, Shimai and colleagues (2007) tested the applicability of a translated version of the VIA-IS to a sample in Japan. The researchers administered the VIA-IS to 308 young adults from Japan and 1099 young adults from the U.S. The scientists translated the VIA-IS into Japanese and then back to English in order to be examined by the original creators of the VIA-IS. They confirmed that the Japanese version of the VIA-IS demonstrated face validity, test-retest reliability and internal consistency before administering it to young adults.\n\nThe researchers found that top-ranked strengths (in terms of prevalence) for young adults in Japan, were similar to those of young adults in the U.S. The percentage of people who scored high or low on each character strength were similar between the two countries. Moreover, the scientists did not find a significant variation in the pattern of gender differences between the United States and Japan. Women in both countries were more likely than men to score highly on the strengths of kindness, love, gratitude, teamwork and appreciation of beauty, whereas men in both countries were more likely score highly on the strengths of open-mindedness, perspective, creativity, self-regulation and bravery. The correlations between specific strengths and happiness outcomes were consistent as well. More specifically, the strengths of zest, curiosity, gratitude, and hope were significantly positively correlated with subjective measures of happiness for both populations.\n\nDifferences between the young adults in Japan and the U.S. emerged as well. The rank-order of religiousness was the biggest difference between the cultures. For American young adults, religiousness was on average, the 14th most prevalent strength. For Japanese young adults, religiousness was, on average, the 19th most prevalent strength. The researchers attributed this finding to the fact that some of the items on the VIA-IS that assess religiousness were based on Western connotations of religiosity (e.g. monotheistic traditions).\n\nA notable limitation of this study is that the researchers examined young adults, rather than the population at-large. According to the researchers, young adults in Japan are more active participants in a more global, Americanized culture than the older generations. This could explain the commonalities found between young adults in Japan and the US.\n\nOverall, Shimai and colleagues demonstrated that the VIA-IS can be successfully and accurately translated into other languages. When this is done, however, researchers will need to ensure that the items on the scale are not culturally biased toward Western concepts.\n\nApplications \n\nOne of the major goals of positive psychology is to help people “cultivate and sustain the good life” (p. 640). The creation of the VIA-IS provides a practical measure that can be used to evaluate the efficacy of these positive interventions. As one example, consider the thousands of people participate in life coaching and character education programs every year (Eccles & Gootman, 2002; in Peterson & Seligman, 2004). Strengths of character are often the outcome of interest, yet these programs do not employ a rigorous outcome measure in order to gauge efficacy. Researchers propose that if these programs used the VIA-IS, then they may discover unanticipated benefits of their interventions and would facilitate objective evaluation of its outcome.\n\nPeterson & Seligman (2004) suggest that the VIA-IS could be used as a way to help people identify their signature strengths. With this knowledge, people could then begin to capitalize and build upon their signature strengths. Positive psychologists argue that the VIA-IS should not be used as a way to identify your ‘lesser strengths’ or weaknesses. Their approach departs from the medical model of traditional psychology, which focuses on fixing deficits. In contrast, positive psychologists emphasize that people should focus and build upon what they are doing well.\n\nCriticism \nMany studies have checked the factor structure of the CSV, on which the VIA-IS is based.\n\nUsing a second order factor analysis, Macdonald & colleagues (2008) found that the 24 strengths did not fit into the 6 higher order virtues model proposed in the CSV. None of the clusters of characters strengths that they found resembled the structure of the 6 virtue clusters of strengths. The researchers noted that many of the VIA character strengths cross-loaded onto multiple factors. Rather, the strengths were best represented by a one and four factor model. A one factor model would mean that the strengths are best accounted for by, “one overarching factor,” such as a global trait of character (p. 797). A four factor model more closely resembles the 'Big Five' model of personality. The character strengths in the four factor model could be organized into the following four groups: Niceness, Positivity, Intellect and Conscientiousness.\n\nPeterson and Seligman (2004) conducted a factor analysis and found that a five factor model, rather than their 6 hierarchical virtues model, best organized the strengths. Their study, however, did not include five of the character strengths in the results of their analysis. The researchers most likely did this because their results were plagued by the problem of strengths cross-loading on to multiple factors, similar to what occurred in Macdonald and colleagues (2008) study. Clearly, empirical evidence casts doubt on the link proposed by Peterson & Seligman (2004) between the 24 strengths and associated 6 higher order virtues.\n\nBrdar & Kashdan (2009) used more precise statistical tools to build upon the findings of the two earlier studies. They found that a four factor model (Interpersonal Strengths, Vitality, Fortitude and Cautiousness) explained 60% of the variance. One large, overarching factor explained 50% of the variance. The four factors found by Brdar and Kashdan (2009) are similar to the four factors found by Macdonald and colleagues (2008). Once again, the Brdar and Kashdan found that the 24 strengths did not fall into the 6 higher order virtues proposed by Peterson and Seligman (2004). The correlations found between many of the strengths demonstrates that each strength is not distinct, which contradicts the claims made by the creators of the VIA-IS.\n\nMcGrath (2014) modified the inventory by adding four new scales (Positivity, Future-Mindedness, Receptivity, Intellectual Pursuits) and removing four previous scales of Leadership, Zest, Hope and Gratitude. He suggested five virtues (second-order factors) instead of six hypothesized virtues by Peterson and Seligman (2004). These virtues were: Interpersonal, Emotional, Intellectual, Restraint, and Future Orientation. These factors / virtues resembled the ones identified in previous factor-analytic studies which have found very different factor structures than the ones hypothesized theoretically. Therefore, substantial evidence stands against original scale structures, in terms of nature of factors and their structures regarding content of items. McGrath (2014) also found that a lot of items that were part of original character strengths inventory (VIA-IS) were no more belonging to the same scales after confirmatory factor alayses. His new scales had some overlaps with previous scales, but had many new items from other scales that loaded onto them instead of previous ones. Mcgrath indicated that the original scale structure needs several modifications and future studies would yield a better structure for a second-generation model of strengths.\n\nCaution should be taken in interpreting the results from these four studies as their samples differ in age and country of origin.\n\nSee also \nCharacter Strengths and Virtues\nHappiness\nFlow\nBroaden-and-build\nMeaning of life\nVIA Institute on Character\n\nReferences \n\nMoral psychology\nPositive psychology\nPsychological tests and scales"
] |
[
"Norm O'Neill",
"Style",
"What was Norm's style?",
"he was a dynamic stroke maker who was a crowd favourite because of his ability to score at a high pace,",
"What were some strengths of his style?",
"he was a dynamic stroke maker who was a crowd favourite because of his ability to score at a high pace,"
] | C_baff9fdd38f3450abb1dc86c3df32d24_0 | Describe other aspects of his style. | 3 | Describe other aspects of Norm's style in addition to being a dynamic stroke maker. | Norm O'Neill | Standing six feet tall, O'Neill was compared to Don Bradman upon his entry into Test cricket. At his best, he was a dynamic stroke maker who was a crowd favourite because of his ability to score at a high pace, in particular with his power off the back foot. He was noted for his nimble footwork, which he used to negate spin bowling; however this slowed in his later career as he put on weight. O'Neill particularly liked to sweep the slower bowlers. He often put too much emphasis on his right hand, allowing a large space between his hands on the bat handle, and then turning his right shoulder too square towards the bowler. The renowned English batsman and captain Wally Hammond said that O'Neill was the best all-round batsman he had seen since World War II. O'Neill's tall build, strength and good looks also drew comparison to his boyhood idol Keith Miller. Despite the comparisons to Bradman, O'Neill was much taller and broader, and was often impetuous whereas Bradman was known for his patience and lack of rashness. O'Neill was also criticised for hitting across the line early in his innings. O'Neill was highly regarded for his style and entertainment values. Teammate Alan Davidson said "once set he was the most exhilarating player you'd ever want to see--he was dynamite. He'd play attacking shots off balls other people would only think of defending. He had wonderful skill and technique. His shots off the back foot down the ground off fast bowlers--you can't really describe how good they were." His captain for Australia and New South Wales, Richie Benaud said that he was "one of the greatest entertainers we've had in Australian cricket". O'Neill's style led the British writer EW Swanton to say "the art of batting, he reminded us, was not dead, merely inexplicably dormant" Wisden opined that "A high innings by O'Neill is a thing of masterful beauty. His stroking is delectable, immense in its power." Later in his career, O'Neill became a nervous and superstitious batsman, particular at the start of an innings. He wrote "batting is a lonely business" in his 1964 autobiography Ins and Outs, opining that he sometimes found first-class cricket to be "depressing and lonely". He was regarded as an excellent fieldsman at cover, with a powerful and accurate throw, described by Wisden as a "dream throw" honed from a junior career as a baseballer. He was named as utility player in the 1957 All Australian baseball team, and his ability was such that he was approached by Major League Baseball scouts. Before the retirement of Neil Harvey, he and O'Neill fielded in tandem in the covers and the pair were regarded as the finest fielding combination of the time. CANNOTANSWER | Wisden opined that "A high innings by O'Neill is a thing of masterful beauty. His stroking is delectable, immense in its power." | Norman Clifford Louis O'Neill (19 February 1937 – 3 March 2008) was a cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. A right-handed batsman known for his back foot strokeplay, O'Neill made his state debut aged 18, before progressing to Test selection aged 21 in late 1958. Early in his career, O'Neill was one of the foremost batsmen in the Australian team, scoring three Test centuries and topping the run-scoring aggregates on a 1959–60 tour of the Indian subcontinent which helped Australia win its last Test and series on Pakistani soil for 39 years, as well as another series in India. His career peaked in 1960–61 when he scored 181 in the Tied Test against the West Indies, and at the end of the series, had a career average of 58.25.
O'Neill's performances on the 1961 tour of England saw him named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year. Thereafter his form was less formidable, characterised by nervousness and fidgeting at the start of his innings. Persistent knee problems, as well as a controversial media attack on the legality of West Indian bowler Charlie Griffith, saw him dropped from the Australian team after 1965. O'Neill also bowled occasional leg spin and was regarded as one of the finest fielders of his era. He later became a cricket commentator and his son Mark O'Neill also played cricket at state level.
He was inducted into the Australian Hall of Fame by the CA in 2018.
Early years
The son of a builder, O'Neill was born in Carlton, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales. He had no cricketing associations on his father's side of the family, but his maternal uncle, Ron Campion, played for the Glebe club in Sydney Grade Cricket. Campion trained for cricket near the O'Neill family home, at Bexley Oval. O'Neill accompanied his uncle to cricket from the age of seven and was given batting practice at the end of each session. At Bexley Primary school, O'Neill was denied a chance to play cricket as the school did not field a team. Moving on to Kogarah Intermediate High School, O'Neill played cricket in defiance of a teacher who recommended that he take up athletics. As a teenager, O'Neill idolised Keith Miller after his uncle took him to the Sydney Cricket Ground: O'Neill saw Miller play that day and was impressed with the way he hit the ball off the back foot.
Under his uncle's guidance, O'Neill joined the St George Cricket Club, in the Sydney Grade competition. He steadily moved up through the grades and broke into the first grade side at the age of 16. Sensing his potential, the club's selectors informed him that regardless of form, he would play the full season, which allowed him to be uninhibited in his batting. He made 108 in seven innings. The next season, he was out 12 times leg before wicket in 15 innings, and run out in the other three. O'Neill attributed his failures to over-aggressiveness and resolved to improve his patience. In the second match of the new season, the 17-year-old O'Neill made his first century. With all five state selectors onlooking, he made 28 in the next match and was called into the state squad.
Shield debut
O'Neill made his debut for New South Wales at the age of 18 against South Australia during the 1955–56 season. His lack of contribution was highlighted against the backdrop of his team's crushing innings victory: O'Neill failed to score a run or take a wicket. New South Wales bowled first and had South Australia at 6/49 when Miller introduced O'Neill's occasional leg spin, presumably to ease the debutant's nerves by bringing him into the game. The home team struck 18 from three overs. O'Neill was listed to bat in the lower middle order but after the top order had made a big start, Miller brought O'Neill up. He came in against the second new ball and was clean bowled. O'Neill was dropped and did not play another match for the season, but had gained invaluable experience.
O'Neill steadily rose in the 1956–57 season. At the start of the season, with many players still on international duty during the closing stages of the tour to England and the subsequent stopover in the Indian subcontinent, O'Neill was recalled and made 60 and 63 not out against Queensland at the start of the season. This saw him retain his place when the Test players returned. After making a pair of single-figures scored, he made a sequence of three 60s against South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia, He was rewarded with selection in the one-off match between Ray Lindwall's XI and Neil Harvey's XI, which doubled as a national selection trial, before making his first ton (127) against South Australia. He ended the season with 567 runs at 43.61, and earned selection for a non-Test tour of New Zealand under Ian Craig, in a team composed mainly of young players. He made 102 not out in the only "Test" match that he played, helping to set up a ten-wicket win. heading the tour averages with 218 runs at 72.66. Despite this, he was overlooked for the 1957–58 Test tour of South Africa. It was regarded as one of the most controversial decisions of the decade.
O'Neill responded during the 1957–58 Sheffield Shield season weakened by the absence of the Test players, aggregating 1,005 runs at 83.75 and taking 26 wickets at 20.42 with his leg spinners, thus topping the national bowling and batting averages. Prior to the season, he had never taken a first-class wicket. In the opening match of the summer, he took 3/74 against Queensland. He then took a total of 5/51 scored 33 and 48 not out in a six-wicket win over Western Australia before taking 3/52 and adding two fifties in the return match. He then broke through for his first century of the season, scoring 114 and taking 3/44 in a ten-wicket win over South Australia. However, he reached more productive levels in the second half of the season.
This comprised 175 against Victoria, 74 and 48 against Queensland, 125 and 23* against South Australia and 233 against Victoria. His 233 was made in little over four hours and featured 38 fours. It was the first time that a New South Welshman (let alone a twenty-year-old) had scored 1,000 in a Shield season. Bradman and Bill Ponsford were the only others before him. He added 12 wickets in the final four matches, including 2/50 and 4/40 in the match against Queensland. O'Neill's performances played a large part in his state's fifth consecutive title.
These performances led former Test leg spinner Bill O'Reilly to compare him to Bradman and former Test opening batsman Jack Fingleton to lament his non-selection for the South African tour and its reflection on the plight of Australian cricket.
At the time, his employers refused to make allowances for him to play sport, forcing him to begin work at six in the morning. As a result, he considered moving to South Australia, where a grocery magnate offered him employment and financial incentives. However, he stayed after state officials intervened, with Sir Ronald Irish, the Australian chairman of Rothmans, providing him with a job in Sydney. At the time, O'Neill had another offer. Having represented his state in baseball and been nominated in the All-Australian team in 1957, he was approached by the New York Yankees, having had experience at a pitcher and short stop. O'Neill was offered a fee more than 25 times that for a single Test match, as well as travel costs and accommodation, to trial with the Yankees. He agreed, but Irish dissuaded him less than a week before his scheduled departure.
Test debut
Identified as a future Test prospect, he was selected in a Western Australia Combined XI for a match against the touring England cricket team at the start of the 1958–59 season in Perth. Prior to the match, O'Neill was hounded by the media. The tourists decided to test him with short-pitched bowling, especially Fred Trueman. O'Neill decided to abstain from hooking, while attacking the spin of Jim Laker with a series of sweep shots. After four and a half hours of uncharacteristic restraint, he compiled 104 with an emphasis on off side play. He took a total of 2/67, removing Fred Trueman and Arthur Milton.
He scored 85 against Western Australia and then made 84 not out for New South Wales against England. He was selected for an Australian XI, which played the tourists in a dress rehearsal before the Tests. He made one and two as Australia were crushed by 345 runs.
Nevertheless, O'Neill was selected to make his debut in the five-Test series against England, playing in all of the matches. The First Test in Brisbane was a low scoring match described by Australian captain Richie Benaud as producing "some of the slowest and worst cricket imaginable", O'Neill made 34 in Australia's first innings of 186 to help secure a lead of 52. He then top-scored with an unbeaten 71 in the second innings, guiding Australia to an eight-wicket victory. O'Neill scored 71 of the last 89 runs scored while he was at the crease, refusing to be dried up by the England's usage of leg theory. It enlivened a match plagued by time-wasting, and best remembered for a depressingly slow innings by England's Trevor Bailey, who scored 68 from 426 balls in seven and a half hours. England captain Peter May described O'Neill's innings as "sparkling" and said that it made "everything which had gone before look even more wretched". Retired English player Ian Peebles, writing in the Sunday Times, said "Although O'Neill is in the very early stages of his career, it is already something of an occasion when he comes to the wicket, and one can sense the expectancy of the crowd and the heightened tension of the opposition". Wisden opined that O'Neill had "saved a game that had been tortuous for days". For his part, O'Neill said that the dour play was "unbelievable" and that he was "just about falling to sleep" in the field.
He struck 77 in the rain-affected drawn Third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground and followed this with 56 in the Fourth Test in Adelaide. Despite making a duck in the Fifth Test, he ended the series as the second highest runscorer with 282 at 56.40 as Australia took the series 4–0. He bowled two overs without success. Outside the Tests, O'Neill scored 155 and 128 against Victoria and Western Australia respectively as New South Wales completed their sixth successive Sheffield Shield win.
Career peak
The following season O'Neill was Australia's leading batsman during the 1959–60 tour to Pakistan and India, where he was a part of the last Australian team to win a Test on Pakistani soil for 39 years. After a quiet match in the First Test eight-wicket win in Dacca in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), in which he scored two and 26 not out, O'Neill played a key role in the victory in the Second Test in Lahore that was to Australia's last in Pakistan until 1998. O'Neill made his maiden Test century of 134 in the first innings to give Australia a 245-run lead. He then took his maiden Test wicket in Pakistan's second innings, that of Shujauddin. This left Australia chasing a target of 122 in the last two hours on the final day. The chase was on schedule with O'Neill partnering Neil Harvey when the Pakistanis began wasting time to prevent an Australian victory. This was implemented by swapping fielders very slowly when the left and right-handed combination of Harvey and O'Neill took a single, and overs began taking seven minutes instead of three. To counter this, Harvey deliberately backed away when a ball was aimed at the stumps and threw away his wicket by letting himself be bowled for 37. This allowed Benaud to come in and bat with O'Neill so that the two right-handed batsmen would give no opportunity to waste time by switching the field. Benaud then threatened Pakistani captain Imtiaz Ahmed with a formal complaint over the time-wasting, and proceedings returned to their normal pace. Australia made the target with a few minutes to spare, with O'Neill on 43. O'Neill failed to make double figures in the final Test, which was drawn, but ended the series with 218 runs at 72.66. In another tour match, against the President's XI, O'Neill scored an unbeaten 52 in a low-scoring match as Australia stumbled to their target of 116 with only three wickets in hand.
O'Neill's performances in Pakistan was such that the parents in one cricket-following Karachi family named their new son Anil for its resemblance to O'Neill. Anil Dalpat went on to become the first Hindu to represent Pakistan, playing nine Tests in the 1980s as a wicketkeeper.
On the five-Test Indian series which followed, O'Neill started slowly, aggregating 60 runs in the first two Tests, which were shared 1–1. He returned to form with a leg-side dominated 163 in a high-scoring draw in the Third Test at Brabourne Stadium in Bombay. After scoring 40 in an innings victory in the Fourth Test in Madras, Australia needed a draw in the Fifth Test in Calcutta with four players injured or ill, while Benaud had a dislocated spinning finger. O'Neill scored 113 in the first innings to help a depleted team take a 137-run first innings lead and prevent India from squaring the series. He was Australia's leading scorer in the Tests, with 376 runs at 62.66. He also made his highest first-class score of 284, against an Indian President's XI in Ahmedabad. He was the top scorer for the whole subcontinental Test tour, with 594 runs in eight matches at 66.00.
He returned to Australia and played in one match for New South Wales at the end of the 1959–60 season, scoring 175 as his state defeated Western Australia and won a seventh Shield in a row. Prior to the following Australian summer, O'Neill was part of an International Cavaliers team that toured South Africa. He scored 133 runs at 21.83.
In the lead-up to the 1960–61 home Tests series against the West Indies, O'Neill scored 156 not to set up an innings win for his state over the tourists. He then struck 181 in the first innings of the opening match at Brisbane, his highest Test score. The innings prompted teammate Bob Simpson to say "if God gave me an hour to watch someone I'd seen, I'd request to see Norman O'Neill. He had the style." Australia took a first innings lead and O'Neill made 26 in the second innings as Australia collapsed towards a likely defeat before recovering; the match ended in the first Tied Test in history. This was the peak of O'Neill's career. Having played 14 Tests, he was averaging 67.68 with the bat.
He then struck 114 as his state defeated the tourists by an innings, and he made 40 and a duck as the Australians took the series lead in the Second Test. He made 70 and 71 in the Third Test loss in Sydney, one of the few players able to combat Lance Gibbs effectively, top-scoring in the first innings and second top-scoring in the second innings. He then made 65 in the second innings in the Fourth Test at Adelaide, where Australia held on by one wicket for a draw. He contributed 48 in the second innings of the Fifth Test as Australia appeared headed for a series victory. However, a late collapse ensued, and Australia scraped home by two wickets to take the series 2–1. O'Neill ended the series with 522 runs at 52.20. O'Neill gained attention during the summer for frequently losing his wicket by impulsively sweeping. This was attributed to the dominance of his bottom hand, which saw his bat swinging across the line of flight of the ball. Despite the criticism, he was at the peak of his international career, having made 1398 runs at 58.35 in his first 18 Tests.
Wisden Cricketer of the Year
O'Neill was selected for the tour of England in 1961, and he warmed up by scoring centuries in consecutive matches against Tasmania for the Australian squad. During the English summer, O'Neill scored 1981 runs at 60.03, narrowly missing becoming only the fourth post-war player after Don Bradman, Neil Harvey and Bill Lawry to make 2,000 runs in an Ashes tour.
In the third match against Yorkshire, which was O'Neill's second for the tour, he scored an unbeaten 100 marked by his cover driving. He followed this with a 74 against Lancashire before a 124 two matches later against Glamorgan, which was described by Wisden as the best of the season. He scored 73 against Gloucestershire and made 122 on his first appearance at Lord's, against the Marylebone Cricket Club, in what was effectively a dress rehearsal for the Tests. Australia went on to win by 63 runs. In the next match against Sussex, O'Neill was carried from the ground after suffering a knee injury, and after failing to bat in either innings, it appeared he would be sidelined for a substantial period.
However, he recovered to be selected for the First Test at Edgbaston, just five days later. He made 82 as Australia scored 9/516 declared and took a 321-run first innings lead, but England could not be dismissed in the second innings and salvaged a draw. He continued his form with an unbeaten 104 against Kent between the Tests.
The "Battle of the Ridge" in the Second Test at Lord's—the home of cricket—was an unhappy one for O'Neill. On an erratic pitch with a visible ridge that caused uneven bounce, O'Neill made one and a duck as an Australia scraped home by five wickets in a low-scoring match.
He returned to the county matches and scored 162 against Lancashire, before scoring 27 and 19 as England squared the series in the Third Test at Headingley. O'Neill then scored 142 against Northamptonshire, but the hosts were able to tie the scores when stumps were drawn with four wickets in hand.
After rectifying a technical fault, O'Neill made 67 in the second innings of the Fourth Test at Old Trafford with the series tied at 1–1, helping Australia take a narrow victory to retain the Ashes. Heading into the final Test, O'Neill had a consistent run, scoring three fifties in four innings. He made his first century against England in the Fifth Test at The Oval with 117 as Australia drew the match to take the series. He did so after being given a "lucky coin" by a spectator and being dropped at second slip when he was on 19. He scored 324 runs at 40.50 in the Tests and was subsequently named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year for 1962. Following the Tests, O'Neill added four half-centuries in five innings in a consistent run towards the close of the tour. He left English soil with 138 against Minor Counties, in a non-first-class match. In all first-class matches, he made seven centuries, and his run aggregate was second only to Lawry, who made 2,019 runs.
International decline
After this tour, his form began to decline, as he became prone to uncertain and fidgety starts to his innings, which earned him the nickname "Nervous Norm". A persistent knee injury increasingly troubled him and was to end his career. The 1961–62 Australian team was purely domestic with no touring Test team, and New South Wales completed their ninth Sheffield Shield title in a row, O'Neill had a poor season, scoring only 377 runs at 25.13, passing fifty only twice.
The 1962–63 home Ashes series was Australia's first Test matches in 18 months. After an unproductive season last year, O'Neill started the new summer with 15 and 2/30 for a Western Australia Combined XI against Ted Dexter's Englishmen. His victims with the ball were Dexter and batsman Tom Graveney. He then made his first century in over a year, scoring 131 against Western Australia for his state. O'Neill completed his preparation for the Tests by helping New South Wales to defeat Dexter's men by an innings. He scored 143 and took 2/36, removing Graveney and leading batsman Colin Cowdrey.
O'Neill made 56 in the First Test drawn at Brisbane but failed to pass 20 in the next two matches, which were shared by the two teams. After his wife made him a pair of "lucky lemon socks", he scored 100 in the first innings of the drawn Fourth Test in Adelaide, which turned out to be his last Test century with fifteen Tests before the end of his career. With Alan Davidson injured during the match, O'Neill was required to bowl substantially, conceding 49 runs in what was his most expensive performance to date. He scored 73 in the Fifth Test in Sydney to finish the series with 310 runs at 34.44, substantially below his career average of 53.8 prior to the series. He also took two wickets, one in each of the Third and Fifth Tests, removing Fred Titmus and Dexter respectively. Outside the Tests, O'Neill struggled and passed 25 once in eight other non-Test innings. This was a 93 against arch-rivals Victoria, which was not enough to prevent defeat. Victoria went on to win the Sheffield Shield and end New South Wales' nine-year winning streak.
At the end of the season, he embarked on a tour with the International Cavaliers, which toured Africa, mostly playing against provincial teams. He played in seven matches and had a productive series, scoring 541 runs at 41.54 including a century and four fifties. He also bowled more frequently than usual taking seven wickets at 53.29.
The following season in 1963–64, O'Neill started poorly, passing 12 only once in his first six innings. However, he was retained for the team for the First Test against South Africa in Brisbane, where he scored 82 and 19 not out in a drawn match. He continued his resurgence with 36 and 61 not out the following fixture against Victoria, but was injured during the second innings and forced to retire hurt. This meant that he missed the Second Test, which Australia won by eight wickets. O'Neill returned and scored half centuries in each of the next two Tests. He also took two wickets to end the series with 285 runs at 40.71 and three wickets at 32.33. He added a further two half-centuries in the remaining Shield matches.
O'Neill retained his place for the 1964 tour to England, and scored a century against Western Australia for the touring squad before departing for the northern hemisphere. After failing to pass 16 in his first two outings, he struck form against Glamorgan, scoring 65 and an unbeaten 109. He then added 151 and 17 not out, leading the way as the Australians defeated the MCC by nine wickets in a dress rehearsal for the Tests. However, O'Neill scored 98 in the first four innings of the opening two Tests and was forced out of the Third Test with a knee injury, the only non-draw of the series, which Australia won. Nevertheless, he passed 50 in each of the four tour matches during this period, including a 134 against Yorkshire and 90 against Northamptonshire.
O'Neill returned for the final two Tests and ended the series with only 156 runs at 31.20 in five Tests without passing fifty and going wicketless. He added another century against Kent and two further fifties in the closing stages of the English summer.
His 1964–65 tour of the subcontinent on the way back to Australia was even worse, a far cry from his leading role in the previous tour to the subcontinent. After making 40 and 0 in the First Test win in Madras, he was unable to bat either innings in the Second Test in Bombay after being hospitalised due to persistent vomiting, injury as Australia ceded their series lead. He missed the remainder of the series, the Third Test in Calcutta and a one-off Test in Pakistan. Upon his return home, he has a shortened domestic season before Australia left for the West Indies. In five domestic matches, he scored 357 runs at 59.50, including a 133 not against South Australia.
O'Neill started the 1964–65 tour of the West Indies strongly, scoring a century in the first match against Jamaica. He was often injured during the tour, but was at his most productive with the bat since the last series against the Caribbean team four years earlier. He made many starts, passing 20 in six of his seven Test innings, but was unable to convert them into big scores. In the First Test, O'Neill was struck on the hand by Wes Hall and was sent to hospital for X-rays after a break was suspected. During the Second Test, it was the turn of Charlie Griffith to send O'Neill to hospital, after hitting him on the forearm and causing a large bruise. His 51 and 74* in the Fourth Test at Bridgetown, Barbados, the last Test of his career, was the only time he passed 50 for the series. He ended with 266 runs at 44.33, missing the Fifth Test due to a broken hand. He managed a healthy return with the ball, taking nine of his 17 Test wickets in the series with an average of 25.55. This included his Test best of 4/41 with his leg-spin in the Second Test in Port of Spain, Trinidad. In this match, he cleaned up the hosts' tail in the first innings, removing Jackie Hendriks, Wes Hall, Charlie Griffith and Lance Gibbs.
At the end of the tour, O'Neill garnered controversy by writing outspoken newspaper columns accusing opposition pace spearhead Charlie Griffith of chucking. He was one of several Australians who took exception to Griffith's bowling action, and he put his name to a series of feature articles in Sydney's Daily Mirror. These labelled Griffith as "an obvious chucker", saying the hosts had been "wrong to play" him. O'Neill stated that "If he is allowed to continue throwing, he could kill someone". O'Neill also expressed his desire to not have to face bowling that he deemed to be illegal. When the Daily Mirror syndicated the columns, London's Daily Mail ignored an embargo and printed the pieces while the Australians were on their homeward flight, putting O'Neill in breach of his tour contract, which forbade players from commenting in the media during tours.
The West Indies lodged an official complaint with Australia, and the Australian Cricket Board replied that it deplored the published comments, although noting that as O'Neill's touring contract had expired at the end of the tour, the point was moot. Nevertheless, the ACB changed its stance on players' writing, so that they could no longer comment on a tour until three months after its conclusion. The event is often perceived to have been a factor in O'Neill's eventual departure from the national scene.
Outside the Tests, O'Neill performed strongly in three matches against regional teams, scoring centuries in each of them. He scored 125, 125, and 101 in his only three innings, against Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados.
Retirement
The following season, O'Neill was overlooked for selection in all five Tests against the touring England team. Returning to New South Wales, he scored 473 runs at 39.42, including two centuries.
O'Neill was omitted from the squad that toured South Africa in 1966–67, ending his Test career. He continued his Shield career while his former teammates were on the other side of the Indian Ocean, compiling 741 runs at 74.10 in a strong season. He started the season with 117 against Western Australia, before scoring a pair of 78s in the return match, helping his team to a tense 13-run win. He then scored 128 and 22 not out against Victoria and finished his season with 160 and 80 against South Australia, scoring a majority of his team's first innings score.
As a result, he was selected for an Australian Second XI to tour New Zealand. He scored 69 runs at 17.25 in two international matches and made his last first-class century, scoring 101 and 58 not out against Auckland.
O'Neill retired upon his return to Australia due to a knee injury. He left a reputation as a highly entertaining batsman who did not manage to fulfil his early promise. "A disappointment he was, perhaps, but his cricket will be recalled when those of lesser gifts are forgotten", opined the writer EW Swanton.
In 61 matches for New South Wales, he scored 5419 runs at 52.61. He compiled 3879 runs at 61.57 for St George in grade competition before transferring to Sutherland in the 1965–66 club. He scored 168 on his new club's first day in the competition.
A cigarette salesman by trade, he became a commentator in retirement. He married Gwen Wallace, a track and field athlete who won relay gold for Australia at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. They had two sons and a daughter. Their eldest child Mark O'Neill represented New South Wales and Western Australia in the 1980s. O'Neill also co-owned a racehorse with Richie Benaud, Barry Jarman and Ray Steele, named Pall Mallan, and it won a race in 1961.
On 3 March 2008, O'Neill died in Erina, New South Wales, due to the effects of throat cancer. He was 71.
Style
Standing six feet tall, O'Neill was compared to Don Bradman upon his entry into Test cricket. At his best, he was a dynamic stroke maker who was a crowd favourite because of his ability to score at a high pace, in particular with his power off the back foot. He was noted for his nimble footwork, which he used to negate spin bowling; however, this slowed in his later career as he put on weight. O'Neill particularly liked to sweep the slower bowlers. He often put too much emphasis on his right hand, allowing a large space between his hands on the bat handle, and then turning his right shoulder too square towards the bowler. The renowned English batsman and captain Wally Hammond said that O'Neill was the best all-round batsman he had seen since World War II. O'Neill's tall build, strength and good looks also drew comparison to his boyhood idol Keith Miller. Despite the comparisons to Bradman, O'Neill was much taller and broader, and was often impetuous whereas Bradman was known for his patience and lack of rashness. O'Neill was also criticised for hitting across the line early in his innings.
O'Neill was highly regarded for his style and entertainment values. Teammate Alan Davidson said "once set he was the most exhilarating player you'd ever want to see—he was dynamite. He'd play attacking shots off balls other people would only think of defending. He had wonderful skill and technique. His shots off the back foot down the ground off fast bowlers—you can't really describe how good they were." His captain for Australia and New South Wales, Richie Benaud said that he was "one of the greatest entertainers we've had in Australian cricket". O'Neill's style led the British writer EW Swanton to say "the art of batting, he reminded us, was not dead, merely inexplicably dormant" Wisden opined that "A high innings by O'Neill is a thing of masterful beauty. His stroking is delectable, immense in its power."
Later in his career, O'Neill became a nervous and superstitious batsman, particular at the start of an innings. He wrote "batting is a lonely business" in his 1964 autobiography Ins and Outs, opining that he sometimes found first-class cricket to be "depressing and lonely".
He was regarded as an excellent fieldsman at cover, with a powerful and accurate throw, described by Wisden as a "dream throw" honed from a junior career as a baseballer. He was named as utility player in the 1957 All Australian baseball team, and his ability was such that he was approached by Major League Baseball scouts. Before the retirement of Neil Harvey, he and O'Neill fielded in tandem in the covers and the pair were regarded as the finest fielding combination of the time.
Test match performance
References
Notes
External links
1937 births
2008 deaths
Australia Test cricketers
Australian baseball players
Australian Cricket Hall of Fame inductees
Australian cricket commentators
Australian cricketers
Cricketers from Sydney
Deaths from cancer in New South Wales
Deaths from esophageal cancer
International Cavaliers cricketers
New South Wales cricketers
St George cricketers
Wisden Cricketers of the Year | true | [
"Fakear (), born Théo Le Vigoureux on 13 May 1991, is a French DJ, musician and producer of electronic music.\n\nMusical style and influence \nBoasting a distinct style akin to that of French musician and producer CloZee, Fakear's music is best described as \"world bass,\" a term also used to describe CloZee's music. \n\nMany of his song are characterized by East Asian influences; there's an emphasis on melody, transparency, the focus on individual instruments, and the use of word orientation. Specifically, Japanese influences. \n\nJapanese music often looks to represent natural sounds—and the sounds of life itself—through the use of percussion, wind and string instruments. In traditional Japanese music, there is a noticeable absence of regular chords and a sparse rhythm. All of the rhythms are 'ma'-based and silence is an important part of the songs. Many of these aspects of Japanese music can be heard in Fakear's music.\n\nDiscography\n\nAlbums\n\nSingles \n\nBIRD, 2011, digital album\n PICTURAL EP, 2011, digital album\n BACKSTREET EP, 2011, digital album\n Washin' Machine, 2012, digital album\n Morning In Japan, 2013, EP\n Dark Lands, 2013, EP\n SAUVAGE, 2014, EP\n ASAKUSA, 2015, EP\n Animal, 2016, album\n Vegetal, 2016, EP\n Morning in Japan (Deluxe Edition), 2017, EP\n Karmaprana, 2017, EP\n All Glows, 2018, album\n Everything Will Grow Again, 2020, album\n\nExternal links \n \n Fakear's Soundcloud\n\nReferences \n\n1991 births\nLiving people\nCounter Records artists\nFrench electronic musicians\nPeople from Caen",
"James Laughead (July 21, 1909 – 1978) was a photographer whose style defined the art of posed sports photography. He developed techniques for posing athletes to appear as if they were in action. He coined the term \"huck 'n' buck\" to describe the style. His photos appeared in Life and in Sports Illustrated. His style was of posing players was often imitated, and influenced many of the sports photographers of his era.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1909 births\n1978 deaths\nPlace of birth missing\nSports photographers"
] |
[
"Norm O'Neill",
"Style",
"What was Norm's style?",
"he was a dynamic stroke maker who was a crowd favourite because of his ability to score at a high pace,",
"What were some strengths of his style?",
"he was a dynamic stroke maker who was a crowd favourite because of his ability to score at a high pace,",
"Describe other aspects of his style.",
"Wisden opined that \"A high innings by O'Neill is a thing of masterful beauty. His stroking is delectable, immense in its power.\""
] | C_baff9fdd38f3450abb1dc86c3df32d24_0 | Did his style have any weaknesses? | 4 | Did Norm's style have any weaknesses? | Norm O'Neill | Standing six feet tall, O'Neill was compared to Don Bradman upon his entry into Test cricket. At his best, he was a dynamic stroke maker who was a crowd favourite because of his ability to score at a high pace, in particular with his power off the back foot. He was noted for his nimble footwork, which he used to negate spin bowling; however this slowed in his later career as he put on weight. O'Neill particularly liked to sweep the slower bowlers. He often put too much emphasis on his right hand, allowing a large space between his hands on the bat handle, and then turning his right shoulder too square towards the bowler. The renowned English batsman and captain Wally Hammond said that O'Neill was the best all-round batsman he had seen since World War II. O'Neill's tall build, strength and good looks also drew comparison to his boyhood idol Keith Miller. Despite the comparisons to Bradman, O'Neill was much taller and broader, and was often impetuous whereas Bradman was known for his patience and lack of rashness. O'Neill was also criticised for hitting across the line early in his innings. O'Neill was highly regarded for his style and entertainment values. Teammate Alan Davidson said "once set he was the most exhilarating player you'd ever want to see--he was dynamite. He'd play attacking shots off balls other people would only think of defending. He had wonderful skill and technique. His shots off the back foot down the ground off fast bowlers--you can't really describe how good they were." His captain for Australia and New South Wales, Richie Benaud said that he was "one of the greatest entertainers we've had in Australian cricket". O'Neill's style led the British writer EW Swanton to say "the art of batting, he reminded us, was not dead, merely inexplicably dormant" Wisden opined that "A high innings by O'Neill is a thing of masterful beauty. His stroking is delectable, immense in its power." Later in his career, O'Neill became a nervous and superstitious batsman, particular at the start of an innings. He wrote "batting is a lonely business" in his 1964 autobiography Ins and Outs, opining that he sometimes found first-class cricket to be "depressing and lonely". He was regarded as an excellent fieldsman at cover, with a powerful and accurate throw, described by Wisden as a "dream throw" honed from a junior career as a baseballer. He was named as utility player in the 1957 All Australian baseball team, and his ability was such that he was approached by Major League Baseball scouts. Before the retirement of Neil Harvey, he and O'Neill fielded in tandem in the covers and the pair were regarded as the finest fielding combination of the time. CANNOTANSWER | He often put too much emphasis on his right hand, | Norman Clifford Louis O'Neill (19 February 1937 – 3 March 2008) was a cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. A right-handed batsman known for his back foot strokeplay, O'Neill made his state debut aged 18, before progressing to Test selection aged 21 in late 1958. Early in his career, O'Neill was one of the foremost batsmen in the Australian team, scoring three Test centuries and topping the run-scoring aggregates on a 1959–60 tour of the Indian subcontinent which helped Australia win its last Test and series on Pakistani soil for 39 years, as well as another series in India. His career peaked in 1960–61 when he scored 181 in the Tied Test against the West Indies, and at the end of the series, had a career average of 58.25.
O'Neill's performances on the 1961 tour of England saw him named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year. Thereafter his form was less formidable, characterised by nervousness and fidgeting at the start of his innings. Persistent knee problems, as well as a controversial media attack on the legality of West Indian bowler Charlie Griffith, saw him dropped from the Australian team after 1965. O'Neill also bowled occasional leg spin and was regarded as one of the finest fielders of his era. He later became a cricket commentator and his son Mark O'Neill also played cricket at state level.
He was inducted into the Australian Hall of Fame by the CA in 2018.
Early years
The son of a builder, O'Neill was born in Carlton, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales. He had no cricketing associations on his father's side of the family, but his maternal uncle, Ron Campion, played for the Glebe club in Sydney Grade Cricket. Campion trained for cricket near the O'Neill family home, at Bexley Oval. O'Neill accompanied his uncle to cricket from the age of seven and was given batting practice at the end of each session. At Bexley Primary school, O'Neill was denied a chance to play cricket as the school did not field a team. Moving on to Kogarah Intermediate High School, O'Neill played cricket in defiance of a teacher who recommended that he take up athletics. As a teenager, O'Neill idolised Keith Miller after his uncle took him to the Sydney Cricket Ground: O'Neill saw Miller play that day and was impressed with the way he hit the ball off the back foot.
Under his uncle's guidance, O'Neill joined the St George Cricket Club, in the Sydney Grade competition. He steadily moved up through the grades and broke into the first grade side at the age of 16. Sensing his potential, the club's selectors informed him that regardless of form, he would play the full season, which allowed him to be uninhibited in his batting. He made 108 in seven innings. The next season, he was out 12 times leg before wicket in 15 innings, and run out in the other three. O'Neill attributed his failures to over-aggressiveness and resolved to improve his patience. In the second match of the new season, the 17-year-old O'Neill made his first century. With all five state selectors onlooking, he made 28 in the next match and was called into the state squad.
Shield debut
O'Neill made his debut for New South Wales at the age of 18 against South Australia during the 1955–56 season. His lack of contribution was highlighted against the backdrop of his team's crushing innings victory: O'Neill failed to score a run or take a wicket. New South Wales bowled first and had South Australia at 6/49 when Miller introduced O'Neill's occasional leg spin, presumably to ease the debutant's nerves by bringing him into the game. The home team struck 18 from three overs. O'Neill was listed to bat in the lower middle order but after the top order had made a big start, Miller brought O'Neill up. He came in against the second new ball and was clean bowled. O'Neill was dropped and did not play another match for the season, but had gained invaluable experience.
O'Neill steadily rose in the 1956–57 season. At the start of the season, with many players still on international duty during the closing stages of the tour to England and the subsequent stopover in the Indian subcontinent, O'Neill was recalled and made 60 and 63 not out against Queensland at the start of the season. This saw him retain his place when the Test players returned. After making a pair of single-figures scored, he made a sequence of three 60s against South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia, He was rewarded with selection in the one-off match between Ray Lindwall's XI and Neil Harvey's XI, which doubled as a national selection trial, before making his first ton (127) against South Australia. He ended the season with 567 runs at 43.61, and earned selection for a non-Test tour of New Zealand under Ian Craig, in a team composed mainly of young players. He made 102 not out in the only "Test" match that he played, helping to set up a ten-wicket win. heading the tour averages with 218 runs at 72.66. Despite this, he was overlooked for the 1957–58 Test tour of South Africa. It was regarded as one of the most controversial decisions of the decade.
O'Neill responded during the 1957–58 Sheffield Shield season weakened by the absence of the Test players, aggregating 1,005 runs at 83.75 and taking 26 wickets at 20.42 with his leg spinners, thus topping the national bowling and batting averages. Prior to the season, he had never taken a first-class wicket. In the opening match of the summer, he took 3/74 against Queensland. He then took a total of 5/51 scored 33 and 48 not out in a six-wicket win over Western Australia before taking 3/52 and adding two fifties in the return match. He then broke through for his first century of the season, scoring 114 and taking 3/44 in a ten-wicket win over South Australia. However, he reached more productive levels in the second half of the season.
This comprised 175 against Victoria, 74 and 48 against Queensland, 125 and 23* against South Australia and 233 against Victoria. His 233 was made in little over four hours and featured 38 fours. It was the first time that a New South Welshman (let alone a twenty-year-old) had scored 1,000 in a Shield season. Bradman and Bill Ponsford were the only others before him. He added 12 wickets in the final four matches, including 2/50 and 4/40 in the match against Queensland. O'Neill's performances played a large part in his state's fifth consecutive title.
These performances led former Test leg spinner Bill O'Reilly to compare him to Bradman and former Test opening batsman Jack Fingleton to lament his non-selection for the South African tour and its reflection on the plight of Australian cricket.
At the time, his employers refused to make allowances for him to play sport, forcing him to begin work at six in the morning. As a result, he considered moving to South Australia, where a grocery magnate offered him employment and financial incentives. However, he stayed after state officials intervened, with Sir Ronald Irish, the Australian chairman of Rothmans, providing him with a job in Sydney. At the time, O'Neill had another offer. Having represented his state in baseball and been nominated in the All-Australian team in 1957, he was approached by the New York Yankees, having had experience at a pitcher and short stop. O'Neill was offered a fee more than 25 times that for a single Test match, as well as travel costs and accommodation, to trial with the Yankees. He agreed, but Irish dissuaded him less than a week before his scheduled departure.
Test debut
Identified as a future Test prospect, he was selected in a Western Australia Combined XI for a match against the touring England cricket team at the start of the 1958–59 season in Perth. Prior to the match, O'Neill was hounded by the media. The tourists decided to test him with short-pitched bowling, especially Fred Trueman. O'Neill decided to abstain from hooking, while attacking the spin of Jim Laker with a series of sweep shots. After four and a half hours of uncharacteristic restraint, he compiled 104 with an emphasis on off side play. He took a total of 2/67, removing Fred Trueman and Arthur Milton.
He scored 85 against Western Australia and then made 84 not out for New South Wales against England. He was selected for an Australian XI, which played the tourists in a dress rehearsal before the Tests. He made one and two as Australia were crushed by 345 runs.
Nevertheless, O'Neill was selected to make his debut in the five-Test series against England, playing in all of the matches. The First Test in Brisbane was a low scoring match described by Australian captain Richie Benaud as producing "some of the slowest and worst cricket imaginable", O'Neill made 34 in Australia's first innings of 186 to help secure a lead of 52. He then top-scored with an unbeaten 71 in the second innings, guiding Australia to an eight-wicket victory. O'Neill scored 71 of the last 89 runs scored while he was at the crease, refusing to be dried up by the England's usage of leg theory. It enlivened a match plagued by time-wasting, and best remembered for a depressingly slow innings by England's Trevor Bailey, who scored 68 from 426 balls in seven and a half hours. England captain Peter May described O'Neill's innings as "sparkling" and said that it made "everything which had gone before look even more wretched". Retired English player Ian Peebles, writing in the Sunday Times, said "Although O'Neill is in the very early stages of his career, it is already something of an occasion when he comes to the wicket, and one can sense the expectancy of the crowd and the heightened tension of the opposition". Wisden opined that O'Neill had "saved a game that had been tortuous for days". For his part, O'Neill said that the dour play was "unbelievable" and that he was "just about falling to sleep" in the field.
He struck 77 in the rain-affected drawn Third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground and followed this with 56 in the Fourth Test in Adelaide. Despite making a duck in the Fifth Test, he ended the series as the second highest runscorer with 282 at 56.40 as Australia took the series 4–0. He bowled two overs without success. Outside the Tests, O'Neill scored 155 and 128 against Victoria and Western Australia respectively as New South Wales completed their sixth successive Sheffield Shield win.
Career peak
The following season O'Neill was Australia's leading batsman during the 1959–60 tour to Pakistan and India, where he was a part of the last Australian team to win a Test on Pakistani soil for 39 years. After a quiet match in the First Test eight-wicket win in Dacca in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), in which he scored two and 26 not out, O'Neill played a key role in the victory in the Second Test in Lahore that was to Australia's last in Pakistan until 1998. O'Neill made his maiden Test century of 134 in the first innings to give Australia a 245-run lead. He then took his maiden Test wicket in Pakistan's second innings, that of Shujauddin. This left Australia chasing a target of 122 in the last two hours on the final day. The chase was on schedule with O'Neill partnering Neil Harvey when the Pakistanis began wasting time to prevent an Australian victory. This was implemented by swapping fielders very slowly when the left and right-handed combination of Harvey and O'Neill took a single, and overs began taking seven minutes instead of three. To counter this, Harvey deliberately backed away when a ball was aimed at the stumps and threw away his wicket by letting himself be bowled for 37. This allowed Benaud to come in and bat with O'Neill so that the two right-handed batsmen would give no opportunity to waste time by switching the field. Benaud then threatened Pakistani captain Imtiaz Ahmed with a formal complaint over the time-wasting, and proceedings returned to their normal pace. Australia made the target with a few minutes to spare, with O'Neill on 43. O'Neill failed to make double figures in the final Test, which was drawn, but ended the series with 218 runs at 72.66. In another tour match, against the President's XI, O'Neill scored an unbeaten 52 in a low-scoring match as Australia stumbled to their target of 116 with only three wickets in hand.
O'Neill's performances in Pakistan was such that the parents in one cricket-following Karachi family named their new son Anil for its resemblance to O'Neill. Anil Dalpat went on to become the first Hindu to represent Pakistan, playing nine Tests in the 1980s as a wicketkeeper.
On the five-Test Indian series which followed, O'Neill started slowly, aggregating 60 runs in the first two Tests, which were shared 1–1. He returned to form with a leg-side dominated 163 in a high-scoring draw in the Third Test at Brabourne Stadium in Bombay. After scoring 40 in an innings victory in the Fourth Test in Madras, Australia needed a draw in the Fifth Test in Calcutta with four players injured or ill, while Benaud had a dislocated spinning finger. O'Neill scored 113 in the first innings to help a depleted team take a 137-run first innings lead and prevent India from squaring the series. He was Australia's leading scorer in the Tests, with 376 runs at 62.66. He also made his highest first-class score of 284, against an Indian President's XI in Ahmedabad. He was the top scorer for the whole subcontinental Test tour, with 594 runs in eight matches at 66.00.
He returned to Australia and played in one match for New South Wales at the end of the 1959–60 season, scoring 175 as his state defeated Western Australia and won a seventh Shield in a row. Prior to the following Australian summer, O'Neill was part of an International Cavaliers team that toured South Africa. He scored 133 runs at 21.83.
In the lead-up to the 1960–61 home Tests series against the West Indies, O'Neill scored 156 not to set up an innings win for his state over the tourists. He then struck 181 in the first innings of the opening match at Brisbane, his highest Test score. The innings prompted teammate Bob Simpson to say "if God gave me an hour to watch someone I'd seen, I'd request to see Norman O'Neill. He had the style." Australia took a first innings lead and O'Neill made 26 in the second innings as Australia collapsed towards a likely defeat before recovering; the match ended in the first Tied Test in history. This was the peak of O'Neill's career. Having played 14 Tests, he was averaging 67.68 with the bat.
He then struck 114 as his state defeated the tourists by an innings, and he made 40 and a duck as the Australians took the series lead in the Second Test. He made 70 and 71 in the Third Test loss in Sydney, one of the few players able to combat Lance Gibbs effectively, top-scoring in the first innings and second top-scoring in the second innings. He then made 65 in the second innings in the Fourth Test at Adelaide, where Australia held on by one wicket for a draw. He contributed 48 in the second innings of the Fifth Test as Australia appeared headed for a series victory. However, a late collapse ensued, and Australia scraped home by two wickets to take the series 2–1. O'Neill ended the series with 522 runs at 52.20. O'Neill gained attention during the summer for frequently losing his wicket by impulsively sweeping. This was attributed to the dominance of his bottom hand, which saw his bat swinging across the line of flight of the ball. Despite the criticism, he was at the peak of his international career, having made 1398 runs at 58.35 in his first 18 Tests.
Wisden Cricketer of the Year
O'Neill was selected for the tour of England in 1961, and he warmed up by scoring centuries in consecutive matches against Tasmania for the Australian squad. During the English summer, O'Neill scored 1981 runs at 60.03, narrowly missing becoming only the fourth post-war player after Don Bradman, Neil Harvey and Bill Lawry to make 2,000 runs in an Ashes tour.
In the third match against Yorkshire, which was O'Neill's second for the tour, he scored an unbeaten 100 marked by his cover driving. He followed this with a 74 against Lancashire before a 124 two matches later against Glamorgan, which was described by Wisden as the best of the season. He scored 73 against Gloucestershire and made 122 on his first appearance at Lord's, against the Marylebone Cricket Club, in what was effectively a dress rehearsal for the Tests. Australia went on to win by 63 runs. In the next match against Sussex, O'Neill was carried from the ground after suffering a knee injury, and after failing to bat in either innings, it appeared he would be sidelined for a substantial period.
However, he recovered to be selected for the First Test at Edgbaston, just five days later. He made 82 as Australia scored 9/516 declared and took a 321-run first innings lead, but England could not be dismissed in the second innings and salvaged a draw. He continued his form with an unbeaten 104 against Kent between the Tests.
The "Battle of the Ridge" in the Second Test at Lord's—the home of cricket—was an unhappy one for O'Neill. On an erratic pitch with a visible ridge that caused uneven bounce, O'Neill made one and a duck as an Australia scraped home by five wickets in a low-scoring match.
He returned to the county matches and scored 162 against Lancashire, before scoring 27 and 19 as England squared the series in the Third Test at Headingley. O'Neill then scored 142 against Northamptonshire, but the hosts were able to tie the scores when stumps were drawn with four wickets in hand.
After rectifying a technical fault, O'Neill made 67 in the second innings of the Fourth Test at Old Trafford with the series tied at 1–1, helping Australia take a narrow victory to retain the Ashes. Heading into the final Test, O'Neill had a consistent run, scoring three fifties in four innings. He made his first century against England in the Fifth Test at The Oval with 117 as Australia drew the match to take the series. He did so after being given a "lucky coin" by a spectator and being dropped at second slip when he was on 19. He scored 324 runs at 40.50 in the Tests and was subsequently named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year for 1962. Following the Tests, O'Neill added four half-centuries in five innings in a consistent run towards the close of the tour. He left English soil with 138 against Minor Counties, in a non-first-class match. In all first-class matches, he made seven centuries, and his run aggregate was second only to Lawry, who made 2,019 runs.
International decline
After this tour, his form began to decline, as he became prone to uncertain and fidgety starts to his innings, which earned him the nickname "Nervous Norm". A persistent knee injury increasingly troubled him and was to end his career. The 1961–62 Australian team was purely domestic with no touring Test team, and New South Wales completed their ninth Sheffield Shield title in a row, O'Neill had a poor season, scoring only 377 runs at 25.13, passing fifty only twice.
The 1962–63 home Ashes series was Australia's first Test matches in 18 months. After an unproductive season last year, O'Neill started the new summer with 15 and 2/30 for a Western Australia Combined XI against Ted Dexter's Englishmen. His victims with the ball were Dexter and batsman Tom Graveney. He then made his first century in over a year, scoring 131 against Western Australia for his state. O'Neill completed his preparation for the Tests by helping New South Wales to defeat Dexter's men by an innings. He scored 143 and took 2/36, removing Graveney and leading batsman Colin Cowdrey.
O'Neill made 56 in the First Test drawn at Brisbane but failed to pass 20 in the next two matches, which were shared by the two teams. After his wife made him a pair of "lucky lemon socks", he scored 100 in the first innings of the drawn Fourth Test in Adelaide, which turned out to be his last Test century with fifteen Tests before the end of his career. With Alan Davidson injured during the match, O'Neill was required to bowl substantially, conceding 49 runs in what was his most expensive performance to date. He scored 73 in the Fifth Test in Sydney to finish the series with 310 runs at 34.44, substantially below his career average of 53.8 prior to the series. He also took two wickets, one in each of the Third and Fifth Tests, removing Fred Titmus and Dexter respectively. Outside the Tests, O'Neill struggled and passed 25 once in eight other non-Test innings. This was a 93 against arch-rivals Victoria, which was not enough to prevent defeat. Victoria went on to win the Sheffield Shield and end New South Wales' nine-year winning streak.
At the end of the season, he embarked on a tour with the International Cavaliers, which toured Africa, mostly playing against provincial teams. He played in seven matches and had a productive series, scoring 541 runs at 41.54 including a century and four fifties. He also bowled more frequently than usual taking seven wickets at 53.29.
The following season in 1963–64, O'Neill started poorly, passing 12 only once in his first six innings. However, he was retained for the team for the First Test against South Africa in Brisbane, where he scored 82 and 19 not out in a drawn match. He continued his resurgence with 36 and 61 not out the following fixture against Victoria, but was injured during the second innings and forced to retire hurt. This meant that he missed the Second Test, which Australia won by eight wickets. O'Neill returned and scored half centuries in each of the next two Tests. He also took two wickets to end the series with 285 runs at 40.71 and three wickets at 32.33. He added a further two half-centuries in the remaining Shield matches.
O'Neill retained his place for the 1964 tour to England, and scored a century against Western Australia for the touring squad before departing for the northern hemisphere. After failing to pass 16 in his first two outings, he struck form against Glamorgan, scoring 65 and an unbeaten 109. He then added 151 and 17 not out, leading the way as the Australians defeated the MCC by nine wickets in a dress rehearsal for the Tests. However, O'Neill scored 98 in the first four innings of the opening two Tests and was forced out of the Third Test with a knee injury, the only non-draw of the series, which Australia won. Nevertheless, he passed 50 in each of the four tour matches during this period, including a 134 against Yorkshire and 90 against Northamptonshire.
O'Neill returned for the final two Tests and ended the series with only 156 runs at 31.20 in five Tests without passing fifty and going wicketless. He added another century against Kent and two further fifties in the closing stages of the English summer.
His 1964–65 tour of the subcontinent on the way back to Australia was even worse, a far cry from his leading role in the previous tour to the subcontinent. After making 40 and 0 in the First Test win in Madras, he was unable to bat either innings in the Second Test in Bombay after being hospitalised due to persistent vomiting, injury as Australia ceded their series lead. He missed the remainder of the series, the Third Test in Calcutta and a one-off Test in Pakistan. Upon his return home, he has a shortened domestic season before Australia left for the West Indies. In five domestic matches, he scored 357 runs at 59.50, including a 133 not against South Australia.
O'Neill started the 1964–65 tour of the West Indies strongly, scoring a century in the first match against Jamaica. He was often injured during the tour, but was at his most productive with the bat since the last series against the Caribbean team four years earlier. He made many starts, passing 20 in six of his seven Test innings, but was unable to convert them into big scores. In the First Test, O'Neill was struck on the hand by Wes Hall and was sent to hospital for X-rays after a break was suspected. During the Second Test, it was the turn of Charlie Griffith to send O'Neill to hospital, after hitting him on the forearm and causing a large bruise. His 51 and 74* in the Fourth Test at Bridgetown, Barbados, the last Test of his career, was the only time he passed 50 for the series. He ended with 266 runs at 44.33, missing the Fifth Test due to a broken hand. He managed a healthy return with the ball, taking nine of his 17 Test wickets in the series with an average of 25.55. This included his Test best of 4/41 with his leg-spin in the Second Test in Port of Spain, Trinidad. In this match, he cleaned up the hosts' tail in the first innings, removing Jackie Hendriks, Wes Hall, Charlie Griffith and Lance Gibbs.
At the end of the tour, O'Neill garnered controversy by writing outspoken newspaper columns accusing opposition pace spearhead Charlie Griffith of chucking. He was one of several Australians who took exception to Griffith's bowling action, and he put his name to a series of feature articles in Sydney's Daily Mirror. These labelled Griffith as "an obvious chucker", saying the hosts had been "wrong to play" him. O'Neill stated that "If he is allowed to continue throwing, he could kill someone". O'Neill also expressed his desire to not have to face bowling that he deemed to be illegal. When the Daily Mirror syndicated the columns, London's Daily Mail ignored an embargo and printed the pieces while the Australians were on their homeward flight, putting O'Neill in breach of his tour contract, which forbade players from commenting in the media during tours.
The West Indies lodged an official complaint with Australia, and the Australian Cricket Board replied that it deplored the published comments, although noting that as O'Neill's touring contract had expired at the end of the tour, the point was moot. Nevertheless, the ACB changed its stance on players' writing, so that they could no longer comment on a tour until three months after its conclusion. The event is often perceived to have been a factor in O'Neill's eventual departure from the national scene.
Outside the Tests, O'Neill performed strongly in three matches against regional teams, scoring centuries in each of them. He scored 125, 125, and 101 in his only three innings, against Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados.
Retirement
The following season, O'Neill was overlooked for selection in all five Tests against the touring England team. Returning to New South Wales, he scored 473 runs at 39.42, including two centuries.
O'Neill was omitted from the squad that toured South Africa in 1966–67, ending his Test career. He continued his Shield career while his former teammates were on the other side of the Indian Ocean, compiling 741 runs at 74.10 in a strong season. He started the season with 117 against Western Australia, before scoring a pair of 78s in the return match, helping his team to a tense 13-run win. He then scored 128 and 22 not out against Victoria and finished his season with 160 and 80 against South Australia, scoring a majority of his team's first innings score.
As a result, he was selected for an Australian Second XI to tour New Zealand. He scored 69 runs at 17.25 in two international matches and made his last first-class century, scoring 101 and 58 not out against Auckland.
O'Neill retired upon his return to Australia due to a knee injury. He left a reputation as a highly entertaining batsman who did not manage to fulfil his early promise. "A disappointment he was, perhaps, but his cricket will be recalled when those of lesser gifts are forgotten", opined the writer EW Swanton.
In 61 matches for New South Wales, he scored 5419 runs at 52.61. He compiled 3879 runs at 61.57 for St George in grade competition before transferring to Sutherland in the 1965–66 club. He scored 168 on his new club's first day in the competition.
A cigarette salesman by trade, he became a commentator in retirement. He married Gwen Wallace, a track and field athlete who won relay gold for Australia at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. They had two sons and a daughter. Their eldest child Mark O'Neill represented New South Wales and Western Australia in the 1980s. O'Neill also co-owned a racehorse with Richie Benaud, Barry Jarman and Ray Steele, named Pall Mallan, and it won a race in 1961.
On 3 March 2008, O'Neill died in Erina, New South Wales, due to the effects of throat cancer. He was 71.
Style
Standing six feet tall, O'Neill was compared to Don Bradman upon his entry into Test cricket. At his best, he was a dynamic stroke maker who was a crowd favourite because of his ability to score at a high pace, in particular with his power off the back foot. He was noted for his nimble footwork, which he used to negate spin bowling; however, this slowed in his later career as he put on weight. O'Neill particularly liked to sweep the slower bowlers. He often put too much emphasis on his right hand, allowing a large space between his hands on the bat handle, and then turning his right shoulder too square towards the bowler. The renowned English batsman and captain Wally Hammond said that O'Neill was the best all-round batsman he had seen since World War II. O'Neill's tall build, strength and good looks also drew comparison to his boyhood idol Keith Miller. Despite the comparisons to Bradman, O'Neill was much taller and broader, and was often impetuous whereas Bradman was known for his patience and lack of rashness. O'Neill was also criticised for hitting across the line early in his innings.
O'Neill was highly regarded for his style and entertainment values. Teammate Alan Davidson said "once set he was the most exhilarating player you'd ever want to see—he was dynamite. He'd play attacking shots off balls other people would only think of defending. He had wonderful skill and technique. His shots off the back foot down the ground off fast bowlers—you can't really describe how good they were." His captain for Australia and New South Wales, Richie Benaud said that he was "one of the greatest entertainers we've had in Australian cricket". O'Neill's style led the British writer EW Swanton to say "the art of batting, he reminded us, was not dead, merely inexplicably dormant" Wisden opined that "A high innings by O'Neill is a thing of masterful beauty. His stroking is delectable, immense in its power."
Later in his career, O'Neill became a nervous and superstitious batsman, particular at the start of an innings. He wrote "batting is a lonely business" in his 1964 autobiography Ins and Outs, opining that he sometimes found first-class cricket to be "depressing and lonely".
He was regarded as an excellent fieldsman at cover, with a powerful and accurate throw, described by Wisden as a "dream throw" honed from a junior career as a baseballer. He was named as utility player in the 1957 All Australian baseball team, and his ability was such that he was approached by Major League Baseball scouts. Before the retirement of Neil Harvey, he and O'Neill fielded in tandem in the covers and the pair were regarded as the finest fielding combination of the time.
Test match performance
References
Notes
External links
1937 births
2008 deaths
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Australian cricketers
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Wisden Cricketers of the Year | true | [
"\"Strengths and weaknesses of evolution\" is a controversial phrase that has been proposed for (and in Texas introduced into) public school science curricula. Those proposing the phrase, such as the chairman of the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE), Don McLeroy, purport that there are weaknesses in the theory of evolution and in the evidence that life has evolved that should be taught for a balanced treatment of the subject of evolution. The scientific community rejects that any substantive weaknesses exist in the scientific theory, or in the data that it explains, and views the examples that have been given in support of the phrasing as being without merit and long refuted.\n\nThis has led scientists and journalists to conclude that the phrase is a creationist tactic to introduce religion into science courses. The phrase was introduced by the SBOE in the late 1980s. Since then it has been promoted in California and Missouri. In late 2008, it became a highly publicized issue as the Texas SBOE held public hearings on whether this language should be removed from the curriculum. According to the National Center for Science Education, the phrase, like 'Teach the controversy' and 'Critical Analysis of Evolution', is an attempt in a series of legal and political tactics adopted by intelligent design advocates to encourage educators to teach fallacious information — that a controversy exists among scientists over whether evolution has occurred.\n\nHistory\n\nTexas SBOE\nThe \"strengths and weaknesses\" language was included in the curriculum standards in Texas to appease creationists when the SBOE first mandated the teaching of evolution in the late 1980s.\n\nIn 2003, the \"strengths and weaknesses\" language in the standards was employed by members of the board in an unsuccessful attempt to dilute the treatment of evolution in the biology textbooks they were considering.\n\nIn September 2008 the 21st Century Science Coalition released a petition to remove the phrase \"strengths and weaknesses\" from the public school guidelines for science classrooms in Texas. As of November 2008, 588 scientists at Texas universities and 777 other scientists across the state have signed the petition.\n\nIn the summer of 2008/2009 the Texas SBOE is determining the curriculum for the next decade, including deciding whether the \"strengths and weaknesses\" of evolution should be taught. While this language was described by The New York Times as a \"benign-sounding phrase\", they mention that critics state that it is a new strategy to undermine the teaching of evolution, and for students to hear religious objections under the heading of scientific discourse. The then SBOE Chairman, Don McLeroy, a Young Earth creationist dentist from Central Texas, denied that the language \"is subterfuge for bringing in creationism.\" McLeroy views the debate as being between \"two systems of science\" — \"a creationist system and a naturalist system\". These views have alarmed Texas educators, including former chairman of the department of medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas Dan Foster, who stated that \"[s]erious students will not come to study in our universities if Texas is labeled scientifically backward\".\n\nIn December 2008, the San Antonio Express-News stated in an editorial that the Texas SBOE has a \"long history of trying to water down the science curriculum with criticisms of evolution that lack scientific credibility.\"\n\nIn January 2009, the Texas SBOE voted to remove the 'Strengths and Weaknesses\" language, but its conservative faction, led by Don McLeroy, managed to pass several amendments to the science curriculum that opponents describe as opening the door to teaching objections to evolution that might lead students to reject it. These included one amendment that compels science teachers to teach about aspects of the fossil record that do not neatly fit with gradualism, but rather show the relatively sudden appearance of some species while others seem to remain unchanged for millions of years. Prominent University of Texas biology professor David Hillis described the amendments as \"mak[ing] no sense to me ... It's a clear indication that the chairman of the state school board doesn’t understand the science.\" Board member Ken Mercer of San Antonio, who voted to keep \"strengths and weaknesses\" described his support for the language in explicitly religious terms: \"It's an issue of freedom of religion.\" This view was contradicted by fellow social conservative board member Barbara Cargill, who stated \"[t]his isn’t about religion.\"\n\nOn March 13, 2009 a bill (HB 4224) was introduced in the Texas House of Representatives that would require the Texas SBOE to restore the \"strengths and weaknesses\" language in the state science standards.\n\nCalifornia\nIn 2003 and 2004, creationist lawyer Larry Caldwell sought to persuade the Roseville Joint Union High School District Board of Trustees to adopt a policy which included teaching \"the scientific strengths and weaknesses\" of evolution. When this was rejected, he filed a complaint in federal court against the district, alleging that his civil rights were violated during the controversy, resulting in a summary judgment against him in September 2007.\n\nDiscovery Institute\nIn February 2008 the Discovery Institute created an Academic Freedom petition that stated \"Teachers should be protected from being fired, harassed, intimidated, or discriminated against for objectively presenting the scientific strengths and weaknesses of Darwinian theory.\"\n\nMissouri\n\nIn February 2009, House Bill 656, introduced in the Missouri House of Representatives, proposed that \"teachers shall be permitted to help students understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of theories of biological and chemical evolution.\" This bill died when the Missouri legislative session ended on May 15, 2009.\n\nTennessee\nOn February 9, 2011, Tennessee House of Representatives member Bill Dunn introduced House Bill 368, which states that \"teachers shall be permitted to help students understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories covered in the course being taught.\" On February 16, 2011, Tennessee State Senator Bo Watson introduced an identical bill, Senate Bill 893. The House Bill was passed by the House Education Committee on March 29, 2011, and referred to the House Calendar and Rules Committee. Alan I. Leshner, the Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Executive Publisher of the journal Science, wrote to the House of Representatives opposing the Bill, stating \"There is virtually no scientific controversy among the overwhelming majority of researchers on the core facts of global warming and evolution. Asserting that there are significant scientific controversies about the overall nature of these concepts when there are none will only confuse students, not enlighten them.\"\n\nEducational and scientific value\n\nWhile anti-evolution members of the Texas SBOE have claimed their \"weaknesses\" campaign has nothing to do with faith, that \"We're not putting religion in books\", scientists have rebutted that these weaknesses are simply falsehoods. Scientists testified at the state board hearing in November 2008 that evolution is a scientific theory, not a hypothesis and thus does not have weaknesses.\n\nSome scientists, including Andrew Ellington, professor of biochemistry at the University of Texas, and Robert Dennison, Houston Independent School District's AP science lead teacher, are concerned that the mention of \"weaknesses\" in the curriculum standards has had a chilling effect on science teachers.\n\nIn a survey commissioned by the Texas Freedom Network, \"94% of Texas scientists indicated that claimed \"weaknesses\" are not valid scientific objections to evolution (with 87% saying that they “strongly disagree” that such weaknesses should be considered valid).\"\n\nSpecific weaknesses and their scientific rebuttals\n\nSupporters of the 'strengths and weaknesses of evolution' language have proposed the following as weaknesses of evolution, and the scientific community has responded with the following rebuttals:\n\nSee also\n Academic Freedom bills\n Christine Comer\n Creation–evolution controversy\n Critical Analysis of Evolution\n Free Speech on Evolution\n Intelligent design in politics\n Neo-creationism\n Stand up for science\n Teach the controversy\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nIndex to Creationist Claims at TalkOrigins Archive\nSpontaneous Generation and the Origin of Life by John S. Wilkins\nArchived Audio Files of Texas SBOE meetings\nTranscript (and link to audio file) of a lecture given by Texas SBOE Chairman Don McLeroy on Evolution and Creationism\n\nIntelligent design movement\nReligion and politics\nIntelligent design controversies\nDiscovery Institute campaigns\nDenialism",
"Strengths and weaknesses may refer to:\nStrengths and weaknesses (personality)\nSWOT analysis, analysing strengths and weaknesses in strategic planning\nStrengths and weaknesses of evolution"
] |
[
"Norm O'Neill",
"Style",
"What was Norm's style?",
"he was a dynamic stroke maker who was a crowd favourite because of his ability to score at a high pace,",
"What were some strengths of his style?",
"he was a dynamic stroke maker who was a crowd favourite because of his ability to score at a high pace,",
"Describe other aspects of his style.",
"Wisden opined that \"A high innings by O'Neill is a thing of masterful beauty. His stroking is delectable, immense in its power.\"",
"Did his style have any weaknesses?",
"He often put too much emphasis on his right hand,"
] | C_baff9fdd38f3450abb1dc86c3df32d24_0 | How did his style compare to other players? | 5 | How did Norm's style compare to other players? | Norm O'Neill | Standing six feet tall, O'Neill was compared to Don Bradman upon his entry into Test cricket. At his best, he was a dynamic stroke maker who was a crowd favourite because of his ability to score at a high pace, in particular with his power off the back foot. He was noted for his nimble footwork, which he used to negate spin bowling; however this slowed in his later career as he put on weight. O'Neill particularly liked to sweep the slower bowlers. He often put too much emphasis on his right hand, allowing a large space between his hands on the bat handle, and then turning his right shoulder too square towards the bowler. The renowned English batsman and captain Wally Hammond said that O'Neill was the best all-round batsman he had seen since World War II. O'Neill's tall build, strength and good looks also drew comparison to his boyhood idol Keith Miller. Despite the comparisons to Bradman, O'Neill was much taller and broader, and was often impetuous whereas Bradman was known for his patience and lack of rashness. O'Neill was also criticised for hitting across the line early in his innings. O'Neill was highly regarded for his style and entertainment values. Teammate Alan Davidson said "once set he was the most exhilarating player you'd ever want to see--he was dynamite. He'd play attacking shots off balls other people would only think of defending. He had wonderful skill and technique. His shots off the back foot down the ground off fast bowlers--you can't really describe how good they were." His captain for Australia and New South Wales, Richie Benaud said that he was "one of the greatest entertainers we've had in Australian cricket". O'Neill's style led the British writer EW Swanton to say "the art of batting, he reminded us, was not dead, merely inexplicably dormant" Wisden opined that "A high innings by O'Neill is a thing of masterful beauty. His stroking is delectable, immense in its power." Later in his career, O'Neill became a nervous and superstitious batsman, particular at the start of an innings. He wrote "batting is a lonely business" in his 1964 autobiography Ins and Outs, opining that he sometimes found first-class cricket to be "depressing and lonely". He was regarded as an excellent fieldsman at cover, with a powerful and accurate throw, described by Wisden as a "dream throw" honed from a junior career as a baseballer. He was named as utility player in the 1957 All Australian baseball team, and his ability was such that he was approached by Major League Baseball scouts. Before the retirement of Neil Harvey, he and O'Neill fielded in tandem in the covers and the pair were regarded as the finest fielding combination of the time. CANNOTANSWER | He was named as utility player in the 1957 All Australian baseball team, | Norman Clifford Louis O'Neill (19 February 1937 – 3 March 2008) was a cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. A right-handed batsman known for his back foot strokeplay, O'Neill made his state debut aged 18, before progressing to Test selection aged 21 in late 1958. Early in his career, O'Neill was one of the foremost batsmen in the Australian team, scoring three Test centuries and topping the run-scoring aggregates on a 1959–60 tour of the Indian subcontinent which helped Australia win its last Test and series on Pakistani soil for 39 years, as well as another series in India. His career peaked in 1960–61 when he scored 181 in the Tied Test against the West Indies, and at the end of the series, had a career average of 58.25.
O'Neill's performances on the 1961 tour of England saw him named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year. Thereafter his form was less formidable, characterised by nervousness and fidgeting at the start of his innings. Persistent knee problems, as well as a controversial media attack on the legality of West Indian bowler Charlie Griffith, saw him dropped from the Australian team after 1965. O'Neill also bowled occasional leg spin and was regarded as one of the finest fielders of his era. He later became a cricket commentator and his son Mark O'Neill also played cricket at state level.
He was inducted into the Australian Hall of Fame by the CA in 2018.
Early years
The son of a builder, O'Neill was born in Carlton, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales. He had no cricketing associations on his father's side of the family, but his maternal uncle, Ron Campion, played for the Glebe club in Sydney Grade Cricket. Campion trained for cricket near the O'Neill family home, at Bexley Oval. O'Neill accompanied his uncle to cricket from the age of seven and was given batting practice at the end of each session. At Bexley Primary school, O'Neill was denied a chance to play cricket as the school did not field a team. Moving on to Kogarah Intermediate High School, O'Neill played cricket in defiance of a teacher who recommended that he take up athletics. As a teenager, O'Neill idolised Keith Miller after his uncle took him to the Sydney Cricket Ground: O'Neill saw Miller play that day and was impressed with the way he hit the ball off the back foot.
Under his uncle's guidance, O'Neill joined the St George Cricket Club, in the Sydney Grade competition. He steadily moved up through the grades and broke into the first grade side at the age of 16. Sensing his potential, the club's selectors informed him that regardless of form, he would play the full season, which allowed him to be uninhibited in his batting. He made 108 in seven innings. The next season, he was out 12 times leg before wicket in 15 innings, and run out in the other three. O'Neill attributed his failures to over-aggressiveness and resolved to improve his patience. In the second match of the new season, the 17-year-old O'Neill made his first century. With all five state selectors onlooking, he made 28 in the next match and was called into the state squad.
Shield debut
O'Neill made his debut for New South Wales at the age of 18 against South Australia during the 1955–56 season. His lack of contribution was highlighted against the backdrop of his team's crushing innings victory: O'Neill failed to score a run or take a wicket. New South Wales bowled first and had South Australia at 6/49 when Miller introduced O'Neill's occasional leg spin, presumably to ease the debutant's nerves by bringing him into the game. The home team struck 18 from three overs. O'Neill was listed to bat in the lower middle order but after the top order had made a big start, Miller brought O'Neill up. He came in against the second new ball and was clean bowled. O'Neill was dropped and did not play another match for the season, but had gained invaluable experience.
O'Neill steadily rose in the 1956–57 season. At the start of the season, with many players still on international duty during the closing stages of the tour to England and the subsequent stopover in the Indian subcontinent, O'Neill was recalled and made 60 and 63 not out against Queensland at the start of the season. This saw him retain his place when the Test players returned. After making a pair of single-figures scored, he made a sequence of three 60s against South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia, He was rewarded with selection in the one-off match between Ray Lindwall's XI and Neil Harvey's XI, which doubled as a national selection trial, before making his first ton (127) against South Australia. He ended the season with 567 runs at 43.61, and earned selection for a non-Test tour of New Zealand under Ian Craig, in a team composed mainly of young players. He made 102 not out in the only "Test" match that he played, helping to set up a ten-wicket win. heading the tour averages with 218 runs at 72.66. Despite this, he was overlooked for the 1957–58 Test tour of South Africa. It was regarded as one of the most controversial decisions of the decade.
O'Neill responded during the 1957–58 Sheffield Shield season weakened by the absence of the Test players, aggregating 1,005 runs at 83.75 and taking 26 wickets at 20.42 with his leg spinners, thus topping the national bowling and batting averages. Prior to the season, he had never taken a first-class wicket. In the opening match of the summer, he took 3/74 against Queensland. He then took a total of 5/51 scored 33 and 48 not out in a six-wicket win over Western Australia before taking 3/52 and adding two fifties in the return match. He then broke through for his first century of the season, scoring 114 and taking 3/44 in a ten-wicket win over South Australia. However, he reached more productive levels in the second half of the season.
This comprised 175 against Victoria, 74 and 48 against Queensland, 125 and 23* against South Australia and 233 against Victoria. His 233 was made in little over four hours and featured 38 fours. It was the first time that a New South Welshman (let alone a twenty-year-old) had scored 1,000 in a Shield season. Bradman and Bill Ponsford were the only others before him. He added 12 wickets in the final four matches, including 2/50 and 4/40 in the match against Queensland. O'Neill's performances played a large part in his state's fifth consecutive title.
These performances led former Test leg spinner Bill O'Reilly to compare him to Bradman and former Test opening batsman Jack Fingleton to lament his non-selection for the South African tour and its reflection on the plight of Australian cricket.
At the time, his employers refused to make allowances for him to play sport, forcing him to begin work at six in the morning. As a result, he considered moving to South Australia, where a grocery magnate offered him employment and financial incentives. However, he stayed after state officials intervened, with Sir Ronald Irish, the Australian chairman of Rothmans, providing him with a job in Sydney. At the time, O'Neill had another offer. Having represented his state in baseball and been nominated in the All-Australian team in 1957, he was approached by the New York Yankees, having had experience at a pitcher and short stop. O'Neill was offered a fee more than 25 times that for a single Test match, as well as travel costs and accommodation, to trial with the Yankees. He agreed, but Irish dissuaded him less than a week before his scheduled departure.
Test debut
Identified as a future Test prospect, he was selected in a Western Australia Combined XI for a match against the touring England cricket team at the start of the 1958–59 season in Perth. Prior to the match, O'Neill was hounded by the media. The tourists decided to test him with short-pitched bowling, especially Fred Trueman. O'Neill decided to abstain from hooking, while attacking the spin of Jim Laker with a series of sweep shots. After four and a half hours of uncharacteristic restraint, he compiled 104 with an emphasis on off side play. He took a total of 2/67, removing Fred Trueman and Arthur Milton.
He scored 85 against Western Australia and then made 84 not out for New South Wales against England. He was selected for an Australian XI, which played the tourists in a dress rehearsal before the Tests. He made one and two as Australia were crushed by 345 runs.
Nevertheless, O'Neill was selected to make his debut in the five-Test series against England, playing in all of the matches. The First Test in Brisbane was a low scoring match described by Australian captain Richie Benaud as producing "some of the slowest and worst cricket imaginable", O'Neill made 34 in Australia's first innings of 186 to help secure a lead of 52. He then top-scored with an unbeaten 71 in the second innings, guiding Australia to an eight-wicket victory. O'Neill scored 71 of the last 89 runs scored while he was at the crease, refusing to be dried up by the England's usage of leg theory. It enlivened a match plagued by time-wasting, and best remembered for a depressingly slow innings by England's Trevor Bailey, who scored 68 from 426 balls in seven and a half hours. England captain Peter May described O'Neill's innings as "sparkling" and said that it made "everything which had gone before look even more wretched". Retired English player Ian Peebles, writing in the Sunday Times, said "Although O'Neill is in the very early stages of his career, it is already something of an occasion when he comes to the wicket, and one can sense the expectancy of the crowd and the heightened tension of the opposition". Wisden opined that O'Neill had "saved a game that had been tortuous for days". For his part, O'Neill said that the dour play was "unbelievable" and that he was "just about falling to sleep" in the field.
He struck 77 in the rain-affected drawn Third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground and followed this with 56 in the Fourth Test in Adelaide. Despite making a duck in the Fifth Test, he ended the series as the second highest runscorer with 282 at 56.40 as Australia took the series 4–0. He bowled two overs without success. Outside the Tests, O'Neill scored 155 and 128 against Victoria and Western Australia respectively as New South Wales completed their sixth successive Sheffield Shield win.
Career peak
The following season O'Neill was Australia's leading batsman during the 1959–60 tour to Pakistan and India, where he was a part of the last Australian team to win a Test on Pakistani soil for 39 years. After a quiet match in the First Test eight-wicket win in Dacca in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), in which he scored two and 26 not out, O'Neill played a key role in the victory in the Second Test in Lahore that was to Australia's last in Pakistan until 1998. O'Neill made his maiden Test century of 134 in the first innings to give Australia a 245-run lead. He then took his maiden Test wicket in Pakistan's second innings, that of Shujauddin. This left Australia chasing a target of 122 in the last two hours on the final day. The chase was on schedule with O'Neill partnering Neil Harvey when the Pakistanis began wasting time to prevent an Australian victory. This was implemented by swapping fielders very slowly when the left and right-handed combination of Harvey and O'Neill took a single, and overs began taking seven minutes instead of three. To counter this, Harvey deliberately backed away when a ball was aimed at the stumps and threw away his wicket by letting himself be bowled for 37. This allowed Benaud to come in and bat with O'Neill so that the two right-handed batsmen would give no opportunity to waste time by switching the field. Benaud then threatened Pakistani captain Imtiaz Ahmed with a formal complaint over the time-wasting, and proceedings returned to their normal pace. Australia made the target with a few minutes to spare, with O'Neill on 43. O'Neill failed to make double figures in the final Test, which was drawn, but ended the series with 218 runs at 72.66. In another tour match, against the President's XI, O'Neill scored an unbeaten 52 in a low-scoring match as Australia stumbled to their target of 116 with only three wickets in hand.
O'Neill's performances in Pakistan was such that the parents in one cricket-following Karachi family named their new son Anil for its resemblance to O'Neill. Anil Dalpat went on to become the first Hindu to represent Pakistan, playing nine Tests in the 1980s as a wicketkeeper.
On the five-Test Indian series which followed, O'Neill started slowly, aggregating 60 runs in the first two Tests, which were shared 1–1. He returned to form with a leg-side dominated 163 in a high-scoring draw in the Third Test at Brabourne Stadium in Bombay. After scoring 40 in an innings victory in the Fourth Test in Madras, Australia needed a draw in the Fifth Test in Calcutta with four players injured or ill, while Benaud had a dislocated spinning finger. O'Neill scored 113 in the first innings to help a depleted team take a 137-run first innings lead and prevent India from squaring the series. He was Australia's leading scorer in the Tests, with 376 runs at 62.66. He also made his highest first-class score of 284, against an Indian President's XI in Ahmedabad. He was the top scorer for the whole subcontinental Test tour, with 594 runs in eight matches at 66.00.
He returned to Australia and played in one match for New South Wales at the end of the 1959–60 season, scoring 175 as his state defeated Western Australia and won a seventh Shield in a row. Prior to the following Australian summer, O'Neill was part of an International Cavaliers team that toured South Africa. He scored 133 runs at 21.83.
In the lead-up to the 1960–61 home Tests series against the West Indies, O'Neill scored 156 not to set up an innings win for his state over the tourists. He then struck 181 in the first innings of the opening match at Brisbane, his highest Test score. The innings prompted teammate Bob Simpson to say "if God gave me an hour to watch someone I'd seen, I'd request to see Norman O'Neill. He had the style." Australia took a first innings lead and O'Neill made 26 in the second innings as Australia collapsed towards a likely defeat before recovering; the match ended in the first Tied Test in history. This was the peak of O'Neill's career. Having played 14 Tests, he was averaging 67.68 with the bat.
He then struck 114 as his state defeated the tourists by an innings, and he made 40 and a duck as the Australians took the series lead in the Second Test. He made 70 and 71 in the Third Test loss in Sydney, one of the few players able to combat Lance Gibbs effectively, top-scoring in the first innings and second top-scoring in the second innings. He then made 65 in the second innings in the Fourth Test at Adelaide, where Australia held on by one wicket for a draw. He contributed 48 in the second innings of the Fifth Test as Australia appeared headed for a series victory. However, a late collapse ensued, and Australia scraped home by two wickets to take the series 2–1. O'Neill ended the series with 522 runs at 52.20. O'Neill gained attention during the summer for frequently losing his wicket by impulsively sweeping. This was attributed to the dominance of his bottom hand, which saw his bat swinging across the line of flight of the ball. Despite the criticism, he was at the peak of his international career, having made 1398 runs at 58.35 in his first 18 Tests.
Wisden Cricketer of the Year
O'Neill was selected for the tour of England in 1961, and he warmed up by scoring centuries in consecutive matches against Tasmania for the Australian squad. During the English summer, O'Neill scored 1981 runs at 60.03, narrowly missing becoming only the fourth post-war player after Don Bradman, Neil Harvey and Bill Lawry to make 2,000 runs in an Ashes tour.
In the third match against Yorkshire, which was O'Neill's second for the tour, he scored an unbeaten 100 marked by his cover driving. He followed this with a 74 against Lancashire before a 124 two matches later against Glamorgan, which was described by Wisden as the best of the season. He scored 73 against Gloucestershire and made 122 on his first appearance at Lord's, against the Marylebone Cricket Club, in what was effectively a dress rehearsal for the Tests. Australia went on to win by 63 runs. In the next match against Sussex, O'Neill was carried from the ground after suffering a knee injury, and after failing to bat in either innings, it appeared he would be sidelined for a substantial period.
However, he recovered to be selected for the First Test at Edgbaston, just five days later. He made 82 as Australia scored 9/516 declared and took a 321-run first innings lead, but England could not be dismissed in the second innings and salvaged a draw. He continued his form with an unbeaten 104 against Kent between the Tests.
The "Battle of the Ridge" in the Second Test at Lord's—the home of cricket—was an unhappy one for O'Neill. On an erratic pitch with a visible ridge that caused uneven bounce, O'Neill made one and a duck as an Australia scraped home by five wickets in a low-scoring match.
He returned to the county matches and scored 162 against Lancashire, before scoring 27 and 19 as England squared the series in the Third Test at Headingley. O'Neill then scored 142 against Northamptonshire, but the hosts were able to tie the scores when stumps were drawn with four wickets in hand.
After rectifying a technical fault, O'Neill made 67 in the second innings of the Fourth Test at Old Trafford with the series tied at 1–1, helping Australia take a narrow victory to retain the Ashes. Heading into the final Test, O'Neill had a consistent run, scoring three fifties in four innings. He made his first century against England in the Fifth Test at The Oval with 117 as Australia drew the match to take the series. He did so after being given a "lucky coin" by a spectator and being dropped at second slip when he was on 19. He scored 324 runs at 40.50 in the Tests and was subsequently named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year for 1962. Following the Tests, O'Neill added four half-centuries in five innings in a consistent run towards the close of the tour. He left English soil with 138 against Minor Counties, in a non-first-class match. In all first-class matches, he made seven centuries, and his run aggregate was second only to Lawry, who made 2,019 runs.
International decline
After this tour, his form began to decline, as he became prone to uncertain and fidgety starts to his innings, which earned him the nickname "Nervous Norm". A persistent knee injury increasingly troubled him and was to end his career. The 1961–62 Australian team was purely domestic with no touring Test team, and New South Wales completed their ninth Sheffield Shield title in a row, O'Neill had a poor season, scoring only 377 runs at 25.13, passing fifty only twice.
The 1962–63 home Ashes series was Australia's first Test matches in 18 months. After an unproductive season last year, O'Neill started the new summer with 15 and 2/30 for a Western Australia Combined XI against Ted Dexter's Englishmen. His victims with the ball were Dexter and batsman Tom Graveney. He then made his first century in over a year, scoring 131 against Western Australia for his state. O'Neill completed his preparation for the Tests by helping New South Wales to defeat Dexter's men by an innings. He scored 143 and took 2/36, removing Graveney and leading batsman Colin Cowdrey.
O'Neill made 56 in the First Test drawn at Brisbane but failed to pass 20 in the next two matches, which were shared by the two teams. After his wife made him a pair of "lucky lemon socks", he scored 100 in the first innings of the drawn Fourth Test in Adelaide, which turned out to be his last Test century with fifteen Tests before the end of his career. With Alan Davidson injured during the match, O'Neill was required to bowl substantially, conceding 49 runs in what was his most expensive performance to date. He scored 73 in the Fifth Test in Sydney to finish the series with 310 runs at 34.44, substantially below his career average of 53.8 prior to the series. He also took two wickets, one in each of the Third and Fifth Tests, removing Fred Titmus and Dexter respectively. Outside the Tests, O'Neill struggled and passed 25 once in eight other non-Test innings. This was a 93 against arch-rivals Victoria, which was not enough to prevent defeat. Victoria went on to win the Sheffield Shield and end New South Wales' nine-year winning streak.
At the end of the season, he embarked on a tour with the International Cavaliers, which toured Africa, mostly playing against provincial teams. He played in seven matches and had a productive series, scoring 541 runs at 41.54 including a century and four fifties. He also bowled more frequently than usual taking seven wickets at 53.29.
The following season in 1963–64, O'Neill started poorly, passing 12 only once in his first six innings. However, he was retained for the team for the First Test against South Africa in Brisbane, where he scored 82 and 19 not out in a drawn match. He continued his resurgence with 36 and 61 not out the following fixture against Victoria, but was injured during the second innings and forced to retire hurt. This meant that he missed the Second Test, which Australia won by eight wickets. O'Neill returned and scored half centuries in each of the next two Tests. He also took two wickets to end the series with 285 runs at 40.71 and three wickets at 32.33. He added a further two half-centuries in the remaining Shield matches.
O'Neill retained his place for the 1964 tour to England, and scored a century against Western Australia for the touring squad before departing for the northern hemisphere. After failing to pass 16 in his first two outings, he struck form against Glamorgan, scoring 65 and an unbeaten 109. He then added 151 and 17 not out, leading the way as the Australians defeated the MCC by nine wickets in a dress rehearsal for the Tests. However, O'Neill scored 98 in the first four innings of the opening two Tests and was forced out of the Third Test with a knee injury, the only non-draw of the series, which Australia won. Nevertheless, he passed 50 in each of the four tour matches during this period, including a 134 against Yorkshire and 90 against Northamptonshire.
O'Neill returned for the final two Tests and ended the series with only 156 runs at 31.20 in five Tests without passing fifty and going wicketless. He added another century against Kent and two further fifties in the closing stages of the English summer.
His 1964–65 tour of the subcontinent on the way back to Australia was even worse, a far cry from his leading role in the previous tour to the subcontinent. After making 40 and 0 in the First Test win in Madras, he was unable to bat either innings in the Second Test in Bombay after being hospitalised due to persistent vomiting, injury as Australia ceded their series lead. He missed the remainder of the series, the Third Test in Calcutta and a one-off Test in Pakistan. Upon his return home, he has a shortened domestic season before Australia left for the West Indies. In five domestic matches, he scored 357 runs at 59.50, including a 133 not against South Australia.
O'Neill started the 1964–65 tour of the West Indies strongly, scoring a century in the first match against Jamaica. He was often injured during the tour, but was at his most productive with the bat since the last series against the Caribbean team four years earlier. He made many starts, passing 20 in six of his seven Test innings, but was unable to convert them into big scores. In the First Test, O'Neill was struck on the hand by Wes Hall and was sent to hospital for X-rays after a break was suspected. During the Second Test, it was the turn of Charlie Griffith to send O'Neill to hospital, after hitting him on the forearm and causing a large bruise. His 51 and 74* in the Fourth Test at Bridgetown, Barbados, the last Test of his career, was the only time he passed 50 for the series. He ended with 266 runs at 44.33, missing the Fifth Test due to a broken hand. He managed a healthy return with the ball, taking nine of his 17 Test wickets in the series with an average of 25.55. This included his Test best of 4/41 with his leg-spin in the Second Test in Port of Spain, Trinidad. In this match, he cleaned up the hosts' tail in the first innings, removing Jackie Hendriks, Wes Hall, Charlie Griffith and Lance Gibbs.
At the end of the tour, O'Neill garnered controversy by writing outspoken newspaper columns accusing opposition pace spearhead Charlie Griffith of chucking. He was one of several Australians who took exception to Griffith's bowling action, and he put his name to a series of feature articles in Sydney's Daily Mirror. These labelled Griffith as "an obvious chucker", saying the hosts had been "wrong to play" him. O'Neill stated that "If he is allowed to continue throwing, he could kill someone". O'Neill also expressed his desire to not have to face bowling that he deemed to be illegal. When the Daily Mirror syndicated the columns, London's Daily Mail ignored an embargo and printed the pieces while the Australians were on their homeward flight, putting O'Neill in breach of his tour contract, which forbade players from commenting in the media during tours.
The West Indies lodged an official complaint with Australia, and the Australian Cricket Board replied that it deplored the published comments, although noting that as O'Neill's touring contract had expired at the end of the tour, the point was moot. Nevertheless, the ACB changed its stance on players' writing, so that they could no longer comment on a tour until three months after its conclusion. The event is often perceived to have been a factor in O'Neill's eventual departure from the national scene.
Outside the Tests, O'Neill performed strongly in three matches against regional teams, scoring centuries in each of them. He scored 125, 125, and 101 in his only three innings, against Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados.
Retirement
The following season, O'Neill was overlooked for selection in all five Tests against the touring England team. Returning to New South Wales, he scored 473 runs at 39.42, including two centuries.
O'Neill was omitted from the squad that toured South Africa in 1966–67, ending his Test career. He continued his Shield career while his former teammates were on the other side of the Indian Ocean, compiling 741 runs at 74.10 in a strong season. He started the season with 117 against Western Australia, before scoring a pair of 78s in the return match, helping his team to a tense 13-run win. He then scored 128 and 22 not out against Victoria and finished his season with 160 and 80 against South Australia, scoring a majority of his team's first innings score.
As a result, he was selected for an Australian Second XI to tour New Zealand. He scored 69 runs at 17.25 in two international matches and made his last first-class century, scoring 101 and 58 not out against Auckland.
O'Neill retired upon his return to Australia due to a knee injury. He left a reputation as a highly entertaining batsman who did not manage to fulfil his early promise. "A disappointment he was, perhaps, but his cricket will be recalled when those of lesser gifts are forgotten", opined the writer EW Swanton.
In 61 matches for New South Wales, he scored 5419 runs at 52.61. He compiled 3879 runs at 61.57 for St George in grade competition before transferring to Sutherland in the 1965–66 club. He scored 168 on his new club's first day in the competition.
A cigarette salesman by trade, he became a commentator in retirement. He married Gwen Wallace, a track and field athlete who won relay gold for Australia at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. They had two sons and a daughter. Their eldest child Mark O'Neill represented New South Wales and Western Australia in the 1980s. O'Neill also co-owned a racehorse with Richie Benaud, Barry Jarman and Ray Steele, named Pall Mallan, and it won a race in 1961.
On 3 March 2008, O'Neill died in Erina, New South Wales, due to the effects of throat cancer. He was 71.
Style
Standing six feet tall, O'Neill was compared to Don Bradman upon his entry into Test cricket. At his best, he was a dynamic stroke maker who was a crowd favourite because of his ability to score at a high pace, in particular with his power off the back foot. He was noted for his nimble footwork, which he used to negate spin bowling; however, this slowed in his later career as he put on weight. O'Neill particularly liked to sweep the slower bowlers. He often put too much emphasis on his right hand, allowing a large space between his hands on the bat handle, and then turning his right shoulder too square towards the bowler. The renowned English batsman and captain Wally Hammond said that O'Neill was the best all-round batsman he had seen since World War II. O'Neill's tall build, strength and good looks also drew comparison to his boyhood idol Keith Miller. Despite the comparisons to Bradman, O'Neill was much taller and broader, and was often impetuous whereas Bradman was known for his patience and lack of rashness. O'Neill was also criticised for hitting across the line early in his innings.
O'Neill was highly regarded for his style and entertainment values. Teammate Alan Davidson said "once set he was the most exhilarating player you'd ever want to see—he was dynamite. He'd play attacking shots off balls other people would only think of defending. He had wonderful skill and technique. His shots off the back foot down the ground off fast bowlers—you can't really describe how good they were." His captain for Australia and New South Wales, Richie Benaud said that he was "one of the greatest entertainers we've had in Australian cricket". O'Neill's style led the British writer EW Swanton to say "the art of batting, he reminded us, was not dead, merely inexplicably dormant" Wisden opined that "A high innings by O'Neill is a thing of masterful beauty. His stroking is delectable, immense in its power."
Later in his career, O'Neill became a nervous and superstitious batsman, particular at the start of an innings. He wrote "batting is a lonely business" in his 1964 autobiography Ins and Outs, opining that he sometimes found first-class cricket to be "depressing and lonely".
He was regarded as an excellent fieldsman at cover, with a powerful and accurate throw, described by Wisden as a "dream throw" honed from a junior career as a baseballer. He was named as utility player in the 1957 All Australian baseball team, and his ability was such that he was approached by Major League Baseball scouts. Before the retirement of Neil Harvey, he and O'Neill fielded in tandem in the covers and the pair were regarded as the finest fielding combination of the time.
Test match performance
References
Notes
External links
1937 births
2008 deaths
Australia Test cricketers
Australian baseball players
Australian Cricket Hall of Fame inductees
Australian cricket commentators
Australian cricketers
Cricketers from Sydney
Deaths from cancer in New South Wales
Deaths from esophageal cancer
International Cavaliers cricketers
New South Wales cricketers
St George cricketers
Wisden Cricketers of the Year | true | [
"Several methods have been suggested for comparing the greatest chess players in history. There is agreement on a statistical system to rate the strengths of current players, called the Elo system, but disagreement about methods used to compare players from different generations who never competed against each other.\n\nStatistical methods\n\nElo system\n\nThe best-known statistical was devised by Arpad Elo in 1960 and elaborated on in his 1978 book The Rating of Chessplayers, Past and Present. He gave ratings to players corresponding to their performance over the best five-year span of their career. According to this system the highest ratings achieved were:\n\n 2725: José Raúl Capablanca\n 2720: Mikhail Botvinnik, Emanuel Lasker\n 2700: Mikhail Tal\n 2690: Alexander Alekhine, Paul Morphy, Vasily Smyslov\n\nThough published in 1978, Elo's list did not include five-year averages for later players Bobby Fischer and Anatoly Karpov. It did list January 1978 ratings of 2780 for Fischer and 2725 for Karpov.)\n\nIn 1970, FIDE adopted Elo's system for rating current players, so one way to compare players of different eras is to compare their Elo ratings. The best-ever Elo ratings are tabulated below.\n\nAs of December 2015, there were 101 chess players in history who broke 2700, and fourteen of them exceeded 2800. The high peak ratings of Fischer, Karpov, and Kasparov are notable for being achieved last century (1972, 1994, and 1999 respectively). However, Fischer and Karpov are no longer in the top 20.\n\n{| class=\"wikitable sortable\" style=\"font-size:100%;\"\n|+Table of top 20 rated players of all-time, with date their best ratings were first achieved\n!Rank\n!Rating\n!Player\n!Date\n!Age\n\n|- style=\"text-align: center;\"\n|011\n| 2882\n| style=\"text-align: left;\" | Magnus Carlsen\n|2014-05May 2014\n|\n\n|- style=\"text-align: center;\"\n|022\n| 2851\n| style=\"text-align: left;\" | Garry Kasparov\n|1999-07July 1999\n|\n\n|- style=\"text-align: center;\"\n|033\n| 2844\n| style=\"text-align: left;\" | Fabiano Caruana\n|2014-10October 2014\n|\n\n|- style=\"text-align: center;\"\n|044\n| 2830\n| style=\"text-align: left;\" | Levon Aronian\n|2014-03March 2014\n|\n\n|- style=\"text-align: center;\"\n|055 \n| 2822\n| style=\"text-align: left;\" | Wesley So\n|2017-02February 2017\n|\n\n|- style=\"text-align: center;\"\n|066\n| 2820\n| style=\"text-align: left;\" | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov\n|2018-09September 2018\n|\n\n|- style=\"text-align: center;\"\n|077\n| 2819\n| style=\"text-align: left;\" | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave\n|2016-08 August 2016\n|\n\n|- style=\"text-align: center;\"\n|088 (tie)\n| 2817\n| style=\"text-align: left;\" | Viswanathan Anand\n|2011-03March 2011\n|\n\n|- style=\"text-align: center;\"\n|088 (tie)\n| 2817\n| style=\"text-align: left;\" | Vladimir Kramnik\n| |2016-10October 2016\n|\n\n|- style=\"text-align: center;\"\n|1010 (tie)\n| 2816\n| style=\"text-align: left;\" | Veselin Topalov\n|2015–07July 2015\n|\n\n|- style=\"text-align: center;\"\n|1010 (tie)\n| 2816\n| style=\"text-align: left;\" | Hikaru Nakamura\n|2015-10October 2015\n|\n\n|- style=\"text-align: center;\"\n|1010 (tie)\n| 2816\n| style=\"text-align: left;\" | Ding Liren\n|2018-11November 2018\n|\n\n|- style=\"text-align: center;\"\n|1313\n| 2810\n| style=\"text-align: left;\" | Alexander Grischuk\n|2014-12December 2014\n|\n\n|- style=\"text-align: center;\"\n|1414\n| 2804\n| style=\"text-align: left;\" | Alireza Firouzja\n|2021-11December 2021\n|\n\n|- style=\"text-align: center;\"\n|1515 \n| 2798\n| style=\"text-align: left;\" | Anish Giri\n|2015-10October 2015\n|\n\n|- style=\"text-align: center;\"\n|1616\n| 2793\n| style=\"text-align: left;\" | Teimour Radjabov\n|2012-11November 2012\n|\n\n|- style=\"text-align: center;\"\n|1717\n| 2792\n| style=\"text-align: left;\" | Ian Nepomniachtchi\n|2021-05May 2021\n|\n\n|- style=\"text-align: center;\"\n|1818 (tie)\n| 2788\n| style=\"text-align: left;\" | Alexander Morozevich\n|2008-07July 2008\n|\n\n|- style=\"text-align: center;\"\n|1818 (tie)\n| 2788\n| style=\"text-align: left;\" | Sergey Karjakin\n|2011-07July 2011\n|\n\n|- style=\"text-align: center;\"\n|2020\n| 2787\n| style=\"text-align: left;\" | Vassily Ivanchuk\n|2007–10October 2007\n|\n\n|- style=\"text-align: center;\"\n|}\n\nAverage rating over time \nThe average Elo rating of top players has risen over time. For instance, the average of the top 10 active players rose from 2751 in July 2000 to 2794 in July 2014, a 43-point increase in 14 years. The average rating of the top 100 players, meanwhile, increased from 2644 to 2703, a 59-point increase. Many people believe that this rise is mostly due to an anomaly known as ratings inflation, making it impractical to compare players of different eras.\n\nElo said it was futile to attempt to use ratings to compare players from different eras and that they could only measure the strength of a player as compared to his or her contemporaries. He also stated that the process of rating players was in any case rather approximate - he compared it to \"the measurement of the position of a cork bobbing up and down on the surface of agitated water with a yard stick tied to a rope and which is swaying in the wind\".\n\nChessmetrics\n\nMany statisticians besides Elo have devised similar methods to retrospectively rate players. Jeff Sonas' rating system is called \"Chessmetrics\". This system takes account of many games played after the publication of Elo's book, and claims to take account of the rating inflation that the Elo system has allegedly suffered.\n\nOne caveat is that a Chessmetrics rating takes into account the frequency of play. According to Sonas, \"As soon as you go a month without playing, your Chessmetrics rating will start to drop.\"\n\nSonas, like Elo, claims that it is impossible to compare the strength of players from different eras, saying:\n\nNevertheless, Sonas' website does compare players from different eras. Including data until December 2004, the ratings were:\n\nIn 2005, Sonas used Chessmetrics to evaluate historical annual performance ratings and came to the conclusion that Kasparov was dominant for the most years, followed by Karpov and Lasker. He also published the following list of the highest ratings ever attained according to calculations done at the start of each month:\n\n{| class=\"wikitable sortable\" style=\"font-size:100%;\"\n!Rank\n!Rating\n!Player\n|-\n| align=center | 1\n| align=center | 2895\n| Bobby Fischer\n|-\n| align=center | 2\n| align=center | 2886\n| Garry Kasparov\n|-\n| align=center | 3\n| align=center | 2885\n| Mikhail Botvinnik\n|-\n| align=center | 4\n| align=center | 2878\n| Emanuel Lasker\n|-\n| align=center | 5\n| align=center | 2877\n| José Capablanca\n|-\n| align=center | 6\n| align=center | 2860\n| Alexander Alekhine\n|-\n| align=center | 7\n| align=center | 2848\n| Anatoly Karpov\n|-\n| align=center | 8\n| align=center | 2833\n| Viswanathan Anand\n|-\n| align=center | 9\n| align=center | 2826\n| Vladimir Kramnik\n|-\n| align=center | 10\n| align=center | 2826\n| Wilhelm Steinitz\n|}\n\nWarriors of the Mind\nIn contrast to Elo and Sonas's systems, Raymond Keene and Nathan Divinsky's book Warriors of the Mind attempts to establish a rating system claiming to compare directly the strength of players active in different eras, and so determine the strongest player of all time (through December 2004). Considering games played between sixty-four of the strongest players in history, they came up with the following top ten:\n\nGarry Kasparov, 3096\nAnatoly Karpov, 2876\nBobby Fischer, 2690\nMikhail Botvinnik, 2616\nJosé Raúl Capablanca, 2552\nEmanuel Lasker, 2550\nViktor Korchnoi, 2535\nBoris Spassky, 2480\nVasily Smyslov, 2413\nTigran Petrosian, 2363\n\nThese \"Divinsky numbers\" are not on the same scale as Elo ratings (the last person on the list, Johannes Zukertort, has a Divinsky number of 873, which would be a beginner-level Elo rating). Keene and Divinsky's system has met with limited acceptance, and Warriors of the Mind has been accused of arbitrarily selecting players and bias towards modern players.\n\nMoves played compared with computer choices \nThe idea of this approach is to compare the moves played by humans to top engine moves, with the rationale that players more likely to choose these moves are also stronger.\n\nEarly efforts\nA computer-based method of analyzing chess abilities across history came from Matej Guid and Ivan Bratko at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, in 2006. \nA similar project was conducted for World Champions in 2007–08 using Rybka 2.3.2a (then-strongest chess program) and a modified version of Guid and Bratko's program \"Crafty\". \nCAPS (Computer Aggregated Precision Score) is a system created by Chess.com that compares players from different eras by finding the percentage of moves that matches that of a chess engine.\n\nMarkovian model \nIn 2017 Jean-Marc Alliot of the Toulouse Computer Science Research Institute (IRIT) presented a new method, based on a Markovian interpretation of a chess game. Starting with those of Wilhelm Steinitz, all 26,000 games played since then by chess world champions have been processed by a supercomputer using the Stockfish chess engine (rated above 3310 Elo).\n \nThese predictions have proven not only to be extremely close to the actual results when players have played concrete games against one another, but to also fare better than those based on Elo scores. The results demonstrate that the level of chess players has been steadily increasing. Magnus Carlsen (in 2013) tops the list, while Vladimir Kramnik (in 1999) is second, Bobby Fischer (in 1971) is third, and Garry Kasparov (in 2001) is fourth.\n\nSubjective lists\nMany prominent players and chess writers have offered their own rankings of players.\n\nBobby Fischer (1964 and 1970)\nIn 1964, Bobby Fischer listed his top 10 in Chessworld magazine: Morphy, Staunton, Steinitz, Tarrasch, Chigorin, Alekhine, Capablanca, Spassky, Tal, and Reshevsky. He considered Morphy to be \"perhaps the most accurate\", writing: \"In a set match he would beat anyone alive today.\"\n\nIn 1970, Fischer named Morphy, Steinitz, Capablanca, Botvinnik, Petrosian, Tal, Spassky, Reshevsky, Svetozar Gligorić and Bent Larsen the greatest chess players in history.\n\nIrving Chernev (1974)\nIn 1974, popular chess author Irving Chernev published an article titled Who were the greatest? in the English magazine CHESS. He followed this up with his 1976 book The Golden Dozen, in which he ranked his all-time top twelve: 1. Capablanca, 2. Alekhine, 3. Lasker, 4. Fischer, 5. Botvinnik, 6. Petrosian, 7. Tal, 8. Smyslov, 9. Spassky, 10. Bronstein, 11. Rubinstein, and 12. Nimzowitsch.\n\nMiguel Quinteros (1992)\nIn a 1992 interview GM Miguel Quinteros gave the opinion: \"I think Fischer was and still is the greatest chess player of all time. [...] During his absence other good chess players have appeared. But no one equals Fischer's talent and perfection.\"\n\nViswanathan Anand (2000, 2008 and 2012) \nIn 2000, when Karpov, Korchnoi and Kasparov were still active, Anand listed his top 10 as: Fischer, Morphy, Lasker, Capablanca, Steinitz, Tal, Korchnoi, Keres, Karpov and Kasparov.\n\nWhen interviewed in 2008 shortly after Fischer's death, he ranked Fischer and Kasparov as the greatest, with Kasparov a little ahead by virtue of being on top for so many years.\n\nIn 2012, Anand stated that he considered Fischer the best player and also the greatest, because of the hurdles he faced.\n\nChess Informant readers (2001)\nSvetozar Gligorić reported in his book Shall We Play Fischerandom Chess? (Batsford, 2002):At the beginning of 2001 a large poll for the \"Ten Greatest Chess Players of the 20th Century, selected by Chess Informant readers\" resulted in Fischer having the highest percentage of votes and finishing as No. 1, ahead of Kasparov, Alekhine, Capablanca, Botvinnik, Karpov, Tal, Lasker, Anand and Korchnoi.\n\nDavid Edmonds and John Eidinow (2004)\nBBC award-winning journalists, from their book Bobby Fischer Goes to War: How the Soviets Lost the Most Extraordinary Chess Match of All Time (HarperCollins, 2004): Fischer, some will maintain, was the outstanding player in chess history, though there are powerful advocates too for Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, and Kasparov. Many chess players will dismiss such comparisons as meaningless, akin to the futile attempt to grade the supreme musicians of all time. But the manner in which Fischer stormed his way to Reykjavik, his breathtaking dominance at the Palma de Majorca Interzonal, the trouncings of Taimanov, Larsen, and Petrosian—all this was unprecedented. There never has been an era in modern chess during which one player has so overshadowed all others.\n\nVladimir Kramnik (2005 and 2011) \nIn a 2005 interview, Vladimir Kramnik (World Champion from 2000 to 2007) did not name a greatest player, but stated, \"The other world champions had something 'missing'. I can't say the same about Kasparov: he can do everything.\"\n\nIn an interview in 2011, Vladimir Kramnik said about Anand: \"I always considered him to be a colossal talent, one of the greatest in the whole history of chess\", \"I think that in terms of play Anand is in no way weaker than Kasparov\", and \"In the last 5–6 years he's made a qualitative leap that's made it possible to consider him one of the great chess players\".\n\nLeonard Barden (2008)\nIn his 2008 obituary of Bobby Fischer, Leonard Barden wrote that most experts ranked Kasparov as the best ever player, with probably Fischer second and Karpov third.\n\nLevon Aronian (2012, 2015, and 2022) \nIn a 2012 interview, Levon Aronian stated that he considers Alexander Alekhine the best player of all time.\n\nIn a 2015 interview after the 8th round of the Sinquefield Cup, Levon Aronian stated that he considers Garry Kasparov the strongest player of all time.\n\nIn a 2022 interview after the 5th round of the first leg in FIDE Grand Prix 2022, when asked if he thought that in the future Garry Kasparov or Magnus Carlsen would be considered the 'GOAT' Levon Aronian stated that \"I kind of feel that Magnus will be the greatest for a long long time, because for me he is probably already the greatest but it is still continuing. It will take a long time to beat his achievements.\"\n\nMagnus Carlsen (2012, 2015, 2020 and 2021) \nIn 2012, Magnus Carlsen said that Kasparov is the greatest player of all time, adding that while Fischer may have been better at his best, Kasparov remained at the top for much longer.\n\nIn December 2015 he said he would like to play Fischer and Kasparov at their peak performance.\n\nIn January 2020, Carlsen said, \"Kasparov had 20 years uninterrupted as the world No 1. And I would say for very few of those years was there any doubt that he was the best player. He must be considered as the best in history.\" He made a similar claim in 2021, saying \"Garry Kasparov, in my opinion, the greatest player there's ever been...\"\n\nWorld Champions by world title reigns\n\nThe table below organises the world champions in order of championship wins. (For the purpose of this table, a successful defence counts as a win, even if the match was drawn.) The table is made more complicated by the split between the \"Classical\" and FIDE world titles between 1993 and 2006.\n\nSee also\n\nList of FIDE chess world number ones\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nComparison of top chess players\nHistory of chess\nChess rating systems\nComparison of sports",
"Compare++ is an auxiliary tool for programmers and Web developers. The tool can syntax-aware compare text files and folders quickly, do 3-way merge. It is useful to detect differences of codes and match. In the review of Softsea in the June 2, 2010, Compare++ was awarded 5 stars rating. Compare++ runs on Microsoft Windows and is compatible with Windows 7.\n\nOn May 31, 2010, Compare++ got an Editor's Pick by Brothersoft. The editor described that \"Compare++ structured compares and merges code, files and folders, and can detect function changes\" and \"highlights differences in a side-by-side interface\".\n\nSinix, writing for Russian Software Developer Network (RSDN) on May 15, 2010, commented the beta version of Compare++ and said \"Compare++ (beta, but the potential is good)\", and \"Compare++ already knows how to detect and align methods, but only for C++ files. They promise to support other languages\". In version 2, it can do syntax-aware comparison not only for C/C++ but also for Java, C#, Javascript, CSS.\n\nFeatures\nAccording to the description on pcmag.com, Compare++ includes following features:\n Do data comparison, source code structured comparison, smart code diff and directory synchronization;\n Ignore comment, newline, pure format changes;\n Compare similar functions even from different files;\n Aligns and compares sub-sections of files such as C++ functions, classes;\n In-place editing and comparing of files;\n Compare or open the containing folder for loaded files;\n Integrates with other products such as revision control system;\n Command line interface;\n\nSee also \nComparison of file comparison tools\n\nReferences \nWarning: According to Norton, BrotherSoft is rated red. Use it with extreme caution.\n\nExternal links \n \n\nFile comparison tools"
] |
[
"Marco Rubio",
"Majority whip and majority leader"
] | C_73dbaf1c87df466ba9becc5d8faf2076_0 | What is the majority whip? | 1 | What is the majority whip? | Marco Rubio | Later in 2000, the majority leader of the House, Mike Fasano, promoted Rubio to be one of two majority whips. National Journal described that position as typically requiring a lot of arm-twisting, but said Rubio took a different approach that relied more on persuading legislators and less on coercing them. Fasano resigned in September 2001 as majority leader of the House due to disagreements with the House speaker, and the speaker passed over Rubio to appoint a more experienced replacement for Fasano. Rubio volunteered to work on redistricting, which he accomplished by dividing the state into five regions, then working individually with the lawmakers involved, and this work helped to cement his relationships with GOP leaders. In December 2002, Rubio was appointed House Majority Leader by Speaker Johnnie Byrd. He persuaded Speaker Byrd to restructure the job of Majority Leader, so that legislative wrangling would be left to the whip's office, and Rubio would become the main spokesperson for the House GOP. According to National Journal, during this period Rubio did not entirely adhere to doctrinaire conservative principles, and some colleagues described him as a centrist "who sought out Democrats and groups that don't typically align with the GOP". He co-sponsored legislation that would have let farm workers sue growers in state court if they were shortchanged on pay, and co-sponsored a bill for giving in-state tuition rates to the children of undocumented immigrants. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, he voiced suspicion about expanding police detention powers, and helped defeat a GOP bill that would have required colleges to increase reporting to the state about foreign students. As a state representative, Rubio requested legislative earmarks (called "Community Budget Issue Requests" in Florida), totaling about $145 million for 2001 and 2002, but none thereafter. Additionally, an office in the executive branch compiled a longer list of spending requests by legislators, including Rubio, as did the non-profit group Florida TaxWatch. Many of those listed items were for health and social programs that Rubio has described as "the kind of thing that legislators would get attacked on if we didn't fund them." A 2010 report by the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald said that some of Rubio's spending requests dovetailed with his personal interests. For example, Rubio requested a $20 million appropriation for Jackson Memorial Hospital to subsidize care for the poor and uninsured, and Rubio later did work for that hospital as a consultant. A spokesman for Rubio has said that the items in question helped the whole county, that Rubio did not lobby to get them approved, that the hospital money was necessary and non-controversial, and that Rubio is "a limited-government conservative ... not a no-government conservative". CANNOTANSWER | National Journal described that position as typically requiring a lot of arm-twisting, | Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 28, 1971) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States Senator from Florida, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives from 2006 to 2008. Rubio unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 2016, winning presidential primaries in Minnesota, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Rubio is a Cuban American from Miami, Florida. After serving as a city commissioner for West Miami in the 1990s, he was elected to represent the 111th district in the Florida House of Representatives in 2000. Subsequently, he was elected speaker of the Florida House; he served for two years beginning in November 2006. Upon leaving the Florida Legislature in 2008 due to term limits, Rubio taught at Florida International University.
Rubio was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010. In April 2015, he decided to run for president instead of seeking reelection to the Senate. He suspended his campaign for the presidency on March 15, 2016, after losing the Florida Republican primary to the eventual winner of the presidential election, Donald Trump. He then decided to run for reelection to the Senate, winning a second term later that year. During the 2016 Republican presidential primary campaign in which Rubio and Trump were opponents, Rubio was critical of Trump. Rubio ultimately endorsed Trump before the 2016 general election and was largely supportive of Trump during his presidency. Due to his influence on U.S. policy on Latin America during the Trump Administration, he was described as a "virtual secretary of state for Latin America."
Early life and education
Marco Antonio Rubio was born in Miami, Florida, the second son and third child of Mario Rubio Reina and Oriales (née Garcia) Rubio. His parents were Cubans who immigrated to the United States in 1956 during the regime of Fulgencio Batista, two and a half years before Fidel Castro ascended to power after the Cuban Revolution. His mother made at least four return trips to Cuba after Castro's takeover, including a month-long trip in 1961. Neither of Rubio's parents was a U.S. citizen at the time of Rubio's birth, but his parents applied for U.S. citizenship and were naturalized in 1975. Some relatives of Rubio's were admitted to the U.S. as refugees.
Rubio's maternal grandfather, Pedro Victor Garcia, immigrated to the U.S. legally in 1956, but returned to Cuba to find work in 1959. When he fled communist Cuba and returned to the U.S. in 1962 without a visa, he was detained as an undocumented immigrant and an immigration judge ordered him to be deported. Immigration officials reversed their decision later that day, the deportation order was not enforced, and Garcia was given a legal status of "parolee" that allowed him to stay in the U.S. Garcia re-applied for permanent resident status in 1966 following passage of the Cuban Adjustment Act, at which point his residency was approved. Rubio enjoyed a close relationship with his grandfather during his childhood.
In October 2011, The Washington Post reported that Rubio's previous statements that his parents were forced to leave Cuba in 1959 (after Fidel Castro came to power) were embellishments. His parents actually left Cuba in 1956, during the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. According to the Post, "[in] Florida, being connected to the post-revolution exile community gives a politician cachet that could never be achieved by someone identified with the pre-Castro exodus, a group sometimes viewed with suspicion." Rubio denied that he had embellished his family history, stating that his public statements about his family were based on "family lore". Rubio asserted that his parents intended to return to Cuba in the 1960s. He added that his mother took his two elder siblings back to Cuba in 1961 with the intention of living there permanently (his father remained behind in Miami "wrapping up the family's matters"), but the nation's move toward communism caused the family to change its plans. Rubio stated that "[the] essence of my family story is why they came to America in the first place; and why they had to stay."
Rubio has three siblings: older brother Mario, older sister Barbara (married to Orlando Cicilia), and younger sister Veronica (formerly married to entertainer Carlos Ponce). Growing up, his family was Catholic, though from age8 to age11 he and his family attended The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while living in Las Vegas. During those years in Nevada, his father worked as a bartender at Sam's Town Hotel and his mother as a housekeeper at the Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino. He received his first communion as a Catholic in 1984 before moving back to Miami with his family a year later. He was confirmed and later married in the Catholic Church.
Rubio attended South Miami Senior High School, graduating in 1989. He attended Tarkio College in Missouri for one year on a football scholarship before enrolling at Santa Fe Community College (now Santa Fe College) in Gainesville, Florida. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Florida in 1993 and his Juris Doctor cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law in 1996. Rubio has said that he incurred $100,000 in student loans. He paid off those loans in 2012.
Early career
While studying law, Rubio interned for U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. He also worked on Republican senator Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign. In April 1998, two years after finishing law school, Rubio was elected to a seat as city commissioner for West Miami. He became a member of the Florida House of Representatives in early 2000.
Florida House of Representatives
Elections and concurrent employment
In late 1999, a special election was called to fill the seat for the 111th House District in the Florida House of Representatives, representing Miami. It was considered a safe Republican seat, so Rubio's main challenge was to win the GOP nomination. He campaigned as a moderate, advocating tax cuts and early childhood education.
Rubio placed second in the Republican primary on December 14, 1999, but won the run-off election for the Republican nomination, defeating Angel Zayon (a television and radio reporter who was popular with Cuban exiles) by just 64 votes. He then defeated Democrat Anastasia Garcia with 72% of the vote in a January 25, 2000, special election.
In November 2000, Rubio won re-election unopposed. In 2002, he won re-election to a second full term unopposed. In 2004, he won re-election to a third full term with 66% of the vote. In 2006, he won re-election to a fourth full term unopposed.
Rubio spent almost nine years in the Florida House of Representatives. Since the Florida legislative session officially lasted only sixty days, he spent about half of each year in Miami, where he practiced law, first at a law firm that specialized in land use and zoning until 2014 when he took a position with Broad and Cassel, a Miami law and lobbying firm (though state law precluded him from engaging in lobbying or introducing legislation on behalf of the firm's clients).
Tenure
When Rubio took his seat in the legislature in Tallahassee in January 2000, voters in Florida had recently approved a constitutional amendment on term limits. This created openings for new legislative leaders due to many senior incumbents having to retire. According to an article in National Journal, Rubio also gained an extra advantage in that regard, because he was sworn in early due to the special election, and he would take advantage of these opportunities to join the GOP leadership.
Majority whip and majority leader
Later in 2000, the majority leader of the House, Mike Fasano, promoted Rubio to be one of two majority whips. National Journal described that position as typically requiring a lot of arm-twisting, but said Rubio took a different approach that relied more on persuading legislators and less on coercing them.
Fasano resigned in September 2001 as majority leader of the House due to disagreements with the House speaker, and the speaker passed over Rubio to appoint a more experienced replacement for Fasano. Rubio volunteered to work on redistricting, which he accomplished by dividing the state into five regions, then working individually with the lawmakers involved, and this work helped to cement his relationships with GOP leaders.
In December 2002, Rubio was appointed House majority leader by Speaker Johnnie Byrd. He persuaded Speaker Byrd to restructure the job of majority leader, so that legislative wrangling would be left to the whip's office, and Rubio would become the main spokesperson for the House GOP.
According to National Journal, during this period Rubio did not entirely adhere to doctrinaire conservative principles, and some colleagues described him as a centrist "who sought out Democrats and groups that don’t typically align with the GOP". He co-sponsored legislation that would have let farmworkers sue growers in state court if they were shortchanged on pay, and co-sponsored a bill for giving in-state tuition rates to the children of undocumented immigrants. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, he voiced suspicion about expanding police detention powers and helped defeat a GOP bill that would have required colleges to increase reporting to the state about foreign students.
As a state representative, Rubio requested legislative earmarks (called "Community Budget Issue Requests" in Florida), totaling about $145million for 2001 and 2002, but none thereafter. Additionally, an office in the executive branch compiled a longer list of spending requests by legislators, including Rubio, as did the non-profit group Florida TaxWatch. Many of those listed items were for health and social programs that Rubio has described as "the kind of thing that legislators would get attacked on if we didn't fund them". A 2010 report by the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald said that some of Rubio's spending requests dovetailed with his personal interests. For example, Rubio requested a $20million appropriation for Jackson Memorial Hospital to subsidize care for the poor and uninsured, and Rubio later did work for that hospital as a consultant. A spokesman for Rubio has said that the items in question helped the whole county, that Rubio did not lobby to get them approved, that the hospital money was necessary and non-controversial, and that Rubio is "a limited-government conservative... not a no-government conservative".
House speaker
On September 13, 2005, at age 34, Rubio became speaker after State Representatives Dennis Baxley, Jeff Kottkamp, and Dennis A. Ross dropped out. He was sworn in a year later, in November 2006. He became the first Cuban American to be speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, and would remain speaker until November 2008.
When he was chosen as future speaker in 2005, Rubio delivered a speech to the House in which he asked members to look in their desks, where they each found a hardcover book titled 100 Innovative Ideas For Florida's Future; but the book was blank because it had not yet been written, and Rubio told his colleagues that they would fill in the pages together with the help of ordinary Floridians. In 2006, after traveling around the state and talking with citizens, and compiling their ideas, Rubio published the book. The National Journal called this book "the centerpiece of Rubio's early speakership". About 24 of the "ideas" became law, while another 10 were partially enacted. Among the items from his 2006 book that became law were multiple-year car registrations, a requirement that high schools provide more vocational courses, and an expanded voucher-like school-choice program. Rubio's defenders, and some critics, point out that nationwide economic difficulties overlapped with much of Rubio's speakership, and so funding new legislative proposals became difficult.
As Rubio took office as Speaker, Jeb Bush was completing his term as governor, and Bush left office in January 2007. Rubio hired 18 Bush aides, leading capitol insiders to say the speaker's suite was "the governor's office in exile". An article in National Journal described Rubio's style as being very different from Bush's; where Bush was a very assertive manager of affairs in Tallahassee, Rubio's style was to delegate certain powers, relinquish others, and invite political rivals into his inner circle. As the incoming speaker, he decided to open a private dining room for legislators, which he said would give members more privacy, free from being pursued by lobbyists, though the expense led to a public relations problem.
In 2006, Florida enacted into law limitations upon the authority of the state government to take private property, in response to the 2005 Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. City of New London which took a broad view of governmental power to take private property under eminent domain. This state legislation had been proposed by a special committee chaired by Rubio prior to his speakership.
Jeb Bush was succeeded by Charlie Crist, a moderate Republican who took office in January 2007. Rubio and Crist clashed frequently. Their sharpest clash involved the governor's initiative to expand casino gambling in Florida. Rubio sued Crist for bypassing the Florida Legislature in order to make a deal with the Seminole Tribe. The Florida Supreme Court sided with Rubio and blocked the deal.
Rubio also was a critic of Crist's strategy to fight climate change through an executive order creating new automobile and utility emissions standards. Rubio accused Crist of imposing "European-style big government mandates", and the legislature under Rubio's leadership weakened the impact of Crist's climate change initiative. Rubio said that Crist's approach would harm consumers by driving up utility bills without having much effect upon the environment, and that a better approach would be to promote biofuel (e.g. ethanol), solar panels, and energy efficiency.
Rubio introduced a plan to reduce state property taxes to 2001 levels (and potentially eliminate them altogether), while increasing sales taxes by 1% to 2.5% to fund schools. The proposal would have reduced property taxes in the state by $40–50billion. His proposal passed the House, but was opposed by Governor Crist and Florida Senate Republicans, who said that the increase in sales tax would disproportionately affect the poor. So, Rubio agreed to smaller changes, and Crist's proposal to double the state's property tax exemption from $25,000 to $50,000 (for a tax reduction estimated by Crist to be $33billion) ultimately passed. Legislators called it the largest tax cut in Florida's history up until then. At the time, Republican anti-tax activist Grover Norquist described Rubio as "the most pro-taxpayer legislative leader in the country".
As Speaker, Rubio "aggressively tried to push Florida to the political right", according to NBC News, and frequently clashed with the Florida Senate, which was run by more moderate Republicans, and with then-Governor Charlie Crist, a centrist Republican at the time. Although a conservative, "behind the scenes many Democrats considered Rubio someone with whom they could work," according to biographer Manuel Roig-Franzia. Dan Gelber of Miami, the House Democratic leader at the time of Rubio's speakership, considered him "a true conservative" but not "a reflexive partisan", saying: "He didn't have an objection to working with the other side simply because they were the other side. To put it bluntly, he wasn't a jerk." Gelber considered Rubio "a severe conservative, really far to the right, but probably the most talented spokesman the severe right could ever hope for."
While speaker of the Florida House, Rubio shared a residence in Tallahassee with another Florida State Representative, David Rivera, which the two co-owned. The house later went into foreclosure in 2010 after several missed mortgage payments. At that point, Rubio assumed responsibility for the payments, and the house was eventually sold.
In 2007, Florida state senator Tony Hill (D-Jacksonville), chairman of the state legislature's Black Caucus, requested that the legislature apologize for slavery, and Rubio said the idea merited discussion. The following year, a supportive Rubio said such apologies can be important albeit symbolic; he pointed out that even in 2008 young African-American males "believe that the American dream is not available to them". He helped set up a council on issues facing black men and boys, persuaded colleagues to replicate the Harlem Children's Zone in the Miami neighborhood of Liberty City, and supported efforts to promote literacy and mentoring for black children and others.
In 2010 during Rubio's Senate campaign, and again in 2015 during his presidential campaign, issues were raised by the media and his political opponents about some items charged by Rubio to his Republican Party of Florida American Express card during his time as House speaker. Rubio charged about $110,000 during those two years, of which $16,000 was personal expenses unrelated to party business, such as groceries and plane tickets. Rubio said that he personally paid American Express more than $16,000 for these personal expenses. In 2012, the Florida Commission on Ethics cleared Rubio of wrongdoing in his use of the party-issued credit card, although the commission inspector said that Rubio exhibited a "level of negligence" in not using his personal MasterCard. In November 2015, Rubio released his party credit card statements for January 2005 through October 2006, which showed eight personal charges totaling $7,243.74, all of which he had personally reimbursed, in most instances by the next billing period. When releasing the charge records, Rubio spokesman Todd Harris said, "These statements are more than 10 years old. And the only people who ask about them today are the liberal media and our political opponents. We are releasing them now because Marco has nothing to hide."
Professorship
After leaving the Florida Legislature in 2008, Rubio began teaching under a fellowship appointment at Florida International University (FIU) as an adjunct professor. In 2011, after entering the U.S. Senate, he rejoined the FIU faculty. Rubio teaches in the Department of Politics and International Relations, which is part of FIU's Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs. He has taught undergraduate courses on Florida politics, political parties, and legislative politics.
Rubio's appointment as an FIU professor was initially criticized. The university obtained considerable state funding when Rubio was speaker of the Florida House, and many other university jobs were being eliminated due to funding issues at the time FIU appointed him to the faculty. When Rubio accepted the fellowship appointment as an adjunct professor at FIU, he agreed to raise most of the funding for his position from private sources.
U.S. Senate
Elections
2010
On May 5, 2009, Rubio stated his intent to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mel Martínez, who had decided not to seek re-election and subsequently resigned before completing his term. Prior to launching his campaign, Rubio had met with fundraisers and supporters throughout the state. Initially trailing by double digits in the primary against the incumbent governor of his own party, Charlie Crist, Rubio eventually surpassed Crist in polling for the Republican nomination. In his campaign, Rubio received the support of members of the Tea Party, many of whom were dissatisfied with Crist's policies as governor. On April 28, 2010, Crist stated he would be running without a party affiliation, effectively ceding the Republican nomination to Rubio. Several of Crist's top fundraisers, as well as Republican leadership, refused to support Crist after Rubio won the Republican nomination for the Senate.
On November 2, 2010, Rubio won the general election with 49 percent of the vote to Crist's 30% and Democrat Kendrick Meek's 20%. When Rubio was sworn in to the U.S. Senate, he and Bob Menendez of New Jersey were the only two Latino Americans in the Senate.
2016
In April 2015, Rubio decided to run for president instead of seeking re-election to the Senate. After suspending his presidential campaign on March 15, 2016, Rubio "seemed to open the door to running for re-election" on June 13, 2016, citing the previous day's Orlando nightclub shooting and how "it really gives you pause, to think a little bit about your service to your country and where you can be most useful to your country." Rubio officially started his campaign nine days later, on June 22. Rubio won the Republican primary on August 30, 2016, defeating Carlos Beruff. He faced Democratic nominee Patrick Murphy in the general election, defeating him with almost 52% of the vote.
Tenure as senator
During Rubio's first four years in the U.S. Senate, Republicans were in the minority. After the 2014 midterm elections, the Republicans obtained majority control of the Senate, giving Rubio and the Republicans vast federal influence during the final two years of Barack Obama's presidency, as well as during all four years of Donald Trump's presidency. After the 2020 elections, the Democrats regained majority control of the Senate, and Rubio has reassumed minority status within the Senate.
2011–2015
Shortly after taking office in 2011, Rubio said he had no interest in running for president or vice president in the 2012 presidential election. In March 2012, when he endorsed Mitt Romney for president, Rubio said that he did not expect to be or want to be selected as a vice presidential running mate, but was vetted for vice president by the Romney campaign. Former Romney aide Beth Myers has said that the vetting process turned up nothing disqualifying about Rubio.
Upon taking office, Rubio hired Cesar Conda as his chief of staff. Conda, a former adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney, and former top aide to Sens. Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.) and Robert Kasten (R-Wis.), was succeeded in 2014 as Rubio's chief of staff by his deputy, Alberto Martinez, but Conda remained as a part-time adviser.
During his first year in office, Rubio became an influential defender of the United States embargo against Cuba and induced the State Department to withdraw an ambassadorial nomination of Jonathan D. Farrar, who was the Chief of Mission of the United States Interests Section in Havana from 2008 to 2011. Rubio believed that Farrar was not assertive enough toward the Castro regime. Also in 2011, Rubio was invited to visit the Reagan Library, during which he gave a well-publicized speech praising its namesake, and also rescued Nancy Reagan from falling.
In March 2011, Rubio supported U.S. participation in the military campaign in Libya to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. He urged that Senate leaders bring "a bi-partisan resolution to the Senate floor authorizing the president's decision to participate in allied military action in Libya". The administration decided that no congressional authorization was needed under the War Powers Resolution; Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) joined Rubio in writing an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal in June 2011 again urging passage of such authorization. In October 2011, Rubio joined several other senators in pushing for continued engagement to "help Libya lay the foundation for sustainable security". Soon after Gadhafi was ousted, Rubio warned there was a serious threat posed by the spread of militias and weapons, and called for more U.S. involvement to counter that threat.
Rubio voted against the Budget Control Act of 2011, which included mandatory automatic budget cuts from sequestration. He later said that defense spending should never have been linked to taxes and the deficit, calling the policy a "terrible idea" based on a "false choice".
The following month, Rubio and Senator Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware, co-sponsored the American Growth, Recovery, Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Act (AGREE Act), which would have extended many tax credits and exemptions for businesses investing in research and development, equipment, and other capital; provided a tax credit for veterans who start a business franchise; allowed an increase in immigration for certain types of work visas; and strengthened copyright protections.
Rubio voted against the 2012 "fiscal cliff" resolutions. Although he received some criticism for this position, he responded: "Thousands of small businesses, not just the wealthy, will now be forced to decide how they'll pay this new tax, and, chances are, they'll do it by firing employees, cutting back their hours and benefits, or postponing the new hires they were looking to make. And to make matters worse, it does nothing to bring our dangerous debt under control."
In 2013, Rubio was part of the bipartisan "Gang of Eight" senators that crafted comprehensive immigration reform legislation. Rubio proposed a plan providing a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States involving payment of fines and back taxes, background checks, and a probationary period; that pathway was to be implemented only after strengthening border security. The bill passed the Senate 68 to 32 with his support, but Rubio then signaled that the bill should not be taken up by the House because other priorities, like repealing Obamacare, were a higher priority for him; the House never did take up the bill. Rubio has since explained that he still supports reform, but a different approach instead of a single comprehensive bill.
Rubio was chosen to deliver the Republican response to President Obama's 2013 State of the Union Address. It marked the first time the response was delivered in English and Spanish. Rubio's attempt to draw a strong line against the looming defense sequestration was undercut by fellow Republican senator Rand Paul's additional response to Obama's speech that called for the sequester to be carried out.
In April 2013, Rubio voted against an expansion of background checks for gun purchases, contending that such increased regulatory measures would do little to help capture criminals.
Rubio voted against publishing the Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture. In 2016, Rubio said the U.S. should "find out everything they know" from captured terrorists and should not telegraph "the enemy what interrogation techniques we will or won't use."
2015–2021
Republicans took control of the U.S. Senate as a result of the elections in November 2014. As this new period of Republican control began, Rubio pushed for the elimination of the "risk corridors" used by the federal government to compensate insurers for their losses as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The risk corridors were intended to be funded by profitable insurers participating in the PPACA, but since insurer losses have significantly exceeded their profits in the program, the risk corridors have been depleted. His efforts contributed to the inclusion of a provision in the 2014 federal budget that prevented other funding sources from being tapped to replenish the risk corridors.
In March 2015, Rubio and Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, proposed a tax plan that according to The Wall Street Journal, combined thinking from "old-fashioned, Reagan-era supply-siders" and a "breed of largely younger conservative reform thinkers" concerned with the tax burden on the middle class. The plan would lower the top corporate income tax rate from 38% to 25%, eliminate taxes on capital gains, dividends, and inherited estates, and create a new child tax credit worth up to $2,500 per child. The plan would set the top individual income tax rate at 35%. It also included a proposal to replace the means-tested welfare system, including food stamps and the Earned Income Tax Credit, with a new "consolidated system of benefits".
According to analysis by Vocativ as reported by Fox News, Rubio missed 8.3% of total votes from January 2011 to February 2015. From October 27, 2014, to October 26, 2015, Rubio voted in 74% of Senate votes, according to an analysis by GovTrack.us, which tracks congressional voting records. In 2015, Rubio was absent for about 35% of Senate votes. In historical context Rubio's attendance record for Senate votes is not exceptional among senators seeking a presidential nomination; John McCain missed a much higher percentage of votes in 2007. But it was the worst of the three senators who campaigned for the presidency in 2015.
During his Senate tenure, Rubio has co-sponsored bills on issues ranging from humanitarian crises in Haiti to the Russian incursion into Ukraine, and was a frequent and prominent critic of Obama's efforts in national security.
On May 17, 2016, Rubio broke from the Republican majority in his support of Obama's request for $2 billion in emergency spending on the Zika virus at a time when Florida accounted for roughly 20% of the recorded cases of Zika in the U.S., acknowledging that it was the president's request but adding, "it's really the scientists' request, the doctors' request, the public health sector's request for how to address this issue." On August 6, Rubio said he did not believe in terminating Zika-infected pregnancies.
On December 13, after President-elect Trump nominated Rex Tillerson as his Secretary of State in the incoming administration, Rubio expressed concern about the selection. On January 11, Rubio questioned Tillerson during a Senate committee hearing on his confirmation, saying afterward he would "do what's right". On January 23, Rubio said that he would vote to confirm Tillerson, saying that a delay in the appointment would be counter to national interests.
On April 5, 2017, Rubio said Bashar al-Assad felt he could act with "impunity" in knowing the United States was not prioritizing removing him from office. The next day, Rubio praised Trump's ordered strike: "By acting decisively against the very facility from which Assad launched his murderous chemical weapons attack, President Trump has made it clear to Assad and those who empower him that the days of committing war crimes with impunity are over."
In September 2017, Rubio defended Trump's decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. He called the program, which provided temporary stay for some undocumented immigrants brought into the U.S. as minors, "unconstitutional".
In the first session of the 115th United States Congress, Rubio was ranked the tenth most bipartisan senator by the Bipartisan Index, published by The Lugar Center and Georgetown's McCourt School of Public Policy.
While ballots were being counted in a close Florida Senate race between Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson and Republican challenger Rick Scott, Rubio claimed without evidence that Democrats were conspiring with election officials to illicitly install Nelson. He claimed without evidence that "Democrat lawyers" were descending on Florida and that "they have been very clear they aren't here to make sure every vote is counted." He claimed that Broward County officials were engaged in "ongoing" legal violations, without specifying what those were. Election monitors found no evidence of voter fraud in Broward County, and the Florida State Department found no evidence of criminal activity.
In 2019, Rubio defended Trump's decision to host the G7 conference at the Trump National Doral Miami, a resort Trump owns. Rubio called the decision "great" and said it would be good for local businesses.
In 2020, Rubio supported the nomination of Judy Shelton to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Shelton had received bipartisan criticism over her support for the gold standard and other unorthodox monetary policy views.
After Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 presidential election and Trump made false claims of election fraud, Rubio defended Trump's right to assert said claims and challenge the election results, saying any "irregularities" and "claims of broken election laws" could not be claimed false until the courts ruled on them. Rubio later shifted his rhetoric to saying that concerns from Republican voters over "potential irregularities" in the election demanded redress. By November 23, 2020, Rubio referred to Biden as president-elect.
Rubio described the 2021 United States Capitol attack as unpatriotic and "3rd world-style anti-American anarchy". Of the rioters, Rubio said some of them were adherents "to a conspiracy theory and others got caught up in the moment. The result was a national embarrassment." After Congress was allowed to return to session, Rubio voted to certify the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count. In February 2021, Rubio voted to acquit Trump for his role in inciting the mob to storm the Capitol.
On May 28, 2021, Rubio voted against creating the January 6 commission.
Committee assignments
Rubio's committee memberships are as follows:
Committee on Appropriations
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Select Committee on Intelligence (Ranking Member)
Committee on Foreign Relations
Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women's Issues (Ranking Member)
Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy
Subcommittee on State Department and USAID Management, International Operations, and Bilateral International Development
Special Committee on Aging
Caucuses
Senate Republican Conference
2016 presidential campaign
Rubio said in April 2014 that he would not run for both the Senate and president in 2016, as Florida law prohibits a candidate from appearing twice on a ballot, but at that time he did not rule out running for either office. He later indicated that even if he would not win the Republican nomination for president, he would not run for reelection to the Senate. Also in April 2014, the departure of Cesar Conda, Rubio's chief of staff since 2011, was seen as a sign of Rubio's plans to run for president in 2016. Conda departed to lead Rubio's Reclaim America PAC as a senior adviser. Groups supporting Rubio raised over $530,000 in the first three months of 2014, most of which was spent on consultants and data analytics, in what was seen as preparations for a presidential campaign.
A poll from the WMUR/University, tracking New Hampshire Republican primary voters' sentiment, showed Rubio at the top alongside Kentucky senator Rand Paul later in 2013, but as of April 18, 2014, he had dropped to 10th place behind other Republican contenders. The poll, however, also suggested that Rubio was not disliked by the primary voters, which was thought to be positive for him if other candidates had chosen not to run. Rubio placed second among potential 2016 Republican presidential candidates in an online poll of likely voters conducted by Zogby Analytics in January 2015.
In January 2015, it was reported that Rubio had begun contacting top donors and appointing advisors for a potential 2016 run, including George Seay, who previously worked on such campaigns as Rick Perry's in 2012 and Mitt Romney's in 2008, and Jim Rubright, who had previously worked for Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, and John McCain. Rubio also instructed his aides to "prepare for a presidential campaign" prior to a Team Marco 2016 fundraising meeting in South Beach.
On April 13, 2015, Rubio launched his campaign for president in 2016. Rubio was believed to be a viable candidate for the 2016 presidential race who could attract many parts of the GOP base, partly because of his youthfulness and oratorical skill. Rubio had pitched his candidacy as an effort to restore the American Dream for middle and working-class families, who might have found his background as a working-class Cuban-American appealing.
Republican primaries
In the first Republican primary, the February1 Iowa caucuses, Rubio finished third, behind candidates Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. During a nationally televised debate among Republican candidates in New Hampshire on February 6, 2016, Rubio was criticized by rival Chris Christie for speaking repetitiously and sounding scripted. On February 9, when he placed fifth in the New Hampshire primary results, Rubio took the blame and acknowledged a poor debate performance. In the third Republican contest, the South Carolina primary on February 20, Rubio finished second, but did not gain any delegates as Trump won all of South Carolina's congressional districts and thus delegates. Jeb Bush left the race that day, leading to a surge in campaign donations and endorsements to Rubio. On February 23, Rubio finished second in the Nevada caucuses, again losing to Trump. Trump called Rubio's remarks at the February 25 debate "robotic" due to Rubio's repeated use of the same talking points; Rubio was later followed by hecklers who were dressed as robots.
At another Republican debate on February 25, Rubio repeatedly criticized frontrunner candidate Donald Trump. It was described by CNN as a "turning point in style" as Rubio had previously largely ignored Trump during his campaign, and this deviated from Rubio's signature "optimistic campaign message". The next day Rubio continued turning Trump's attacks against him, even ridiculing Trump's physical appearance. On March 1, called 'Super Tuesday' with eleven Republican contests on that day, Rubio's sole victory was in Minnesota, the first state he had won since voting began a month prior. Rubio went on to win further contests in Puerto Rico on March6 and the District of Columbia on March 12, but lost eight other contests from March5 to 8. Around that time, Rubio revealed he was not "entirely proud" of his personal attacks on Trump.
On March 15, Rubio suspended his campaign after placing second in his own home state of Florida. Hours earlier, Rubio had expressed expectations for a Florida win, and said he would continue to campaign (in Utah) "irrespective of" that night's results. The result was that Rubio won 27.0% of the Florida vote, while Trump won 45.7% and all of Florida's delegates. The conclusion of the six March 15 contests (out of which Rubio won none) left Rubio with 169 delegates on the race to reach 1237, but Ted Cruz already had 411 and Trump 673. On March 17, Rubio ruled out runs for the vice-presidency, governorship of Florida and even re-election for his senate seat. He stated only that he would be a "private citizen" by January 2017, leading to some media speculation of the termination of his political career.
After candidacy
On April 12, during an interview with Mark Levin, Rubio expressed his wishes that Republicans would nominate a conservative candidate, name-dropping Cruz. This was interpreted as an endorsement of Cruz, though Rubio clarified the following day that he had only been answering a question. Rubio would later explain his decision to not endorse Cruz being due to his belief that the endorsement would not significantly benefit him and a desire to let the election cycle play out. On April 22, Rubio said he was not interested in being the vice presidential candidate to any of the remaining GOP contenders. On May 16, Rubio posted several tweets in which he critiqued sources reporting that he despised the Senate and a Washington Post story that claimed he was unsure of his next move after his unsuccessful presidential bid, typing, "I have only said like 10000 times I will be a private citizen in January."
On May 18, after Trump expressed a willingness to meet with Kim Jong-un, Rubio said Kim was "not a stable person" and furthered that Trump was open to the meeting only due to inexperience with the North Korea leader. On May 26, Rubio told reporters that he was backing Trump due to his view that the presumptive nominee was a better choice than Hillary Clinton for the presidency and that as president, Trump would sign a repeal of the Affordable Care Act and replace the late Antonin Scalia with another conservative Supreme Court Justice. He also confirmed that he would be attending the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, where he intended to release his pledged delegates to support Trump. On May 29, Rubio continued disavowing vice presidential speculation but indicated an interest in playing a role in Trump's campaign. On June 6, Rubio rebuked Trump's comments on Gonzalo P. Curiel, who Trump accused of being biased against him on the basis of his ethnicity, as "offensive" while speaking with reporters, advising that Trump should cease defending the remarks and defending the judge as "an American".
On July 6, Olivia Perez-Cubas, Rubio's Senate campaign spokeswoman, said he would not be attending the Republican National Convention due to planned campaigning on the days the convention was scheduled to take place.
During the Republican primary campaign in which Rubio and Donald Trump were opponents, Rubio criticized Trump, including, in February 2016, calling Trump a "con artist" and saying that Trump is "wholly unprepared to be president of the United States". In June 2016, after Trump became the presumptive GOP nominee, Rubio reaffirmed his February 2016 comments that we must not hand "the nuclear codes of the United States to an erratic individual". However, after Trump won the Republican Party's nomination, Rubio endorsed him on July 20, 2016. Following the October 7, 2016, Donald Trump Access Hollywood controversy, Rubio wrote that "Donald's comments were vulgar, egregious & impossible to justify. No one should ever talk about any woman in those terms, even in private." On October 11, 2016, Rubio reaffirmed his support of Trump. On October 25, 2016, it was reported that Rubio was booed off a stage for endorsing Trump by a crowd of mostly Latino voters, at the annual Calle Orange street festival in downtown Orlando.
Political positions
As of early 2015, Rubio had a rating of 98.67 by the American Conservative Union, based on his lifetime voting record in the Senate. According to the National Journal, in 2013 Rubio was the 17th most conservative senator. The Club for Growth gave Rubio ratings of 93 percent and 91 percent based on his voting record in 2014 and 2013 respectively, and he has a lifetime rating from the organization above 90 percent.
Rubio initially won his U.S. Senate seat with strong Tea Party backing, but his 2013 support for comprehensive immigration reform legislation led to a decline in their support for him. Rubio's stance on military, foreign policy, and national security issuessuch as his support for arming the Syrian rebels and for the NSAalienated some libertarian Tea Party activists.
Rubio supports balancing the federal budget, while prioritizing defense spending. He rejects the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change, which is that climate change is real, progressing, harmful, and primarily caused by humans, arguing that human activity does not play a major role and claiming that proposals to address climate change would be ineffective and economically harmful. He opposes the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and has voted to repeal it. He opposes net neutrality, a policy that requires Internet service providers to treat data on the Internet the same regardless of its source or content. Early in his Senate tenure, Rubio was involved in bipartisan negotiations to provide a pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants while implementing various measures to strengthen the U.S. border; the bill passed the Senate but was blocked by immigration hardliners in the House. Over time, Rubio distanced himself from his previous efforts to reach a compromise on immigration, and developed more hardline views on immigration, rejecting bipartisan immigration reform efforts in 2018.
Rubio is an outspoken opponent of abortion. He has said that he would ban it even in cases of rape and incest, but with exceptions if the mother's life is in danger.
Rubio has expressed caution about efforts to reduce penalties for drug crimes, saying that "too often" the conversation about criminal justice reform "starts and ends with drug policy". He has said that he would be open to legalizing non-psychoactive forms of cannabis for medical use, but otherwise opposes its legalization for recreational and medical purposes. Rubio has said that if elected president he would enforce federal law in states that have legalized cannabis.
Rubio supports setting corporate taxes at 25%, reforming the tax code, and capping economic regulations, and proposes to increase the social security retirement age based on longer life expectancy. He supports expanding public charter schools, opposes Common Core State Standards, and advocates closing the federal Department of Education.
Rubio supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq and military intervention in Libya. Rubio voiced support for a Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen against Houthi rebels. Regarding Iran, he supports tough sanctions, and scrapping the recent nuclear deal; on the Islamic State, he favors aiding local Sunni forces in Iraq and Syria. Rubio says that, because background checks cannot be done under present circumstances, the United States cannot accept more Syrian refugees. He supports working with allies to set up no-fly zones in Syria to protect civilians from Bashar al-Assad. He favors collection of bulk metadata for purposes of national security. He has said that gun control laws consistently fail to achieve their purpose. He is supportive of the Trans Pacific Partnership, saying that the U.S. risks being excluded from global trade unless it is more open to trade. He is wary of China regarding national security and human rights, and wants to boost the U.S. military presence in that region but hopes for greater economic growth as a result of trading with that country. He also believes the U.S. should support democracy, freedom, and true autonomy of the people of Hong Kong. On capital punishment, Rubio favors streamlining the appeals process.
Rubio condemned the genocide of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar and called for a stronger response to the crisis. Rubio is a staunch supporter of Israel. He is a co-sponsor of a Senate resolution expressing objection to the UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which condemned Israeli settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories as a violation of international law. Rubio condemned Turkey's wide-ranging crackdown on dissent following a failed July 2016 coup.
At a February 2018 CNN town hall event in the wake of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Rubio defended his record of accepting contributions from the National Rifle Association (NRA), saying, "The influence of these groups comes not from money. The influence comes from the millions of people that agree with the agenda, the millions of Americans that support the NRA."
In March 2018, Rubio defended the decision of the Trump administration to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. Experts noted that the inclusion of such a question would likely result in severe undercounting of the population and faulty data, as undocumented immigrants would be less likely to respond to the census. Fellow Republican members of Congress from Florida, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart, criticized the Trump administration's decision on the basis that it could lead to a faulty census and disadvantage Florida in terms of congressional apportionment and fund apportionment.
In July 2018, Rubio offered an amendment to a major congressional spending bill to potentially force companies that purchase real estate in cash to disclose their owners as "an attempt to root out criminals who use illicit funds and anonymous shell companies to buy homes".
On August 28, 2018, Rubio and 16 other members of Congress urged the United States to impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act against Chinese officials who are responsible for human rights abuses against the Uyghur Muslim minority in Xinjiang.
Rubio opposed the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"). On April 27, 2020, the US Supreme Court voted 8–1 to defeat his attempt to undermine the Act.
In March 2016, Rubio opposed President Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, saying, "I don't think we should be moving forward with a nominee in the last year of this president's term. I would say that even if it was a Republican president." In September 2020, Rubio applauded Trump's nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the court after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death, voting to confirm her on October 26, 86 days before the expiration of Trump's presidential term. No Democrat voted for her, nor did Maine's independent Angus King, Republican Susan Collins, or Vermont independent Bernie Sanders.
Rubio has a mixed relationship with Donald Trump. During the Republican primaries in the 2016 presidential election, they harshly criticized each other. But during Trump's presidency, Rubio "[supported] just about everything Trump said and did", according to the Sun-Sentinel.
In May 2021, Rubio argued that "Wall Street must stop enabling Communist China" in The American Prospect and on his website. "Americans from across the political spectrum should feel emboldened by the growing bipartisan awakening to the threat that the CCP poses to American workers, families, and communities", he wrote. "As we deploy legislative solutions to tackle this challenge, Democrats must not allow our corporate and financial sectors’ leftward shift on social issues to blind them to the enormity of China as a geo-economic threat."
Personal life
Rubio is a Roman Catholic and attends Catholic Mass at Church of the Little Flower in Coral Gables, Florida. He also previously attended Christ Fellowship, a Southern Baptist Church in West Kendall, Florida.
In 1998, Rubio married Jeanette Dousdebes, a former bank teller and Miami Dolphins cheerleader, in a Catholic ceremony at the Church of the Little Flower. They have four children. Rubio and his family live in West Miami, Florida.
As of 2018, according to OpenSecrets.org, Rubio's net worth was negative, owing more than $1.8 million.
Electoral history
Writings
Honors
Rubio has been awarded the following foreign honor:
Commander of the Order of the Star of Romania, Romania (June 8, 2017)
See also
Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act
Republican Party presidential candidates, 2016
Florida Republican primary, 2016
List of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States Congress
References
External links
Florida House of Representatives – Marco Rubio
Senator Marco Rubio official U.S. Senate website
Marco Rubio for U.S. Senate official campaign website
Public statement on the Impeachment trial of Donald Trump
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1971 births
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
21st-century American politicians
21st-century Roman Catholics
American male non-fiction writers
21st-century American memoirists
American political writers
American politicians of Cuban descent
American Roman Catholics
American anti-communists
Articles containing video clips
Christians from Florida
Florida city council members
Florida International University faculty
Florida lawyers
Florida Republicans
Former Latter Day Saints
Hispanic and Latino American candidates for President of the United States
Hispanic and Latino American members of the United States Congress
Hispanic and Latino American politicians
Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Florida
Living people
Members of the Florida House of Representatives
Commanders of the Order of the Star of Romania
Republican Party United States senators from Florida
Speakers of the Florida House of Representatives
Tea Party movement activists
United States senators from Florida
University of Florida College of Liberal Arts and Sciences alumni
University of Miami School of Law alumni
Writers from Miami | true | [
"The One Hundred Thirty-Fourth Ohio General Assembly is the current meeting of the Ohio state legislature, composed of the Ohio State Senate and the Ohio House of Representatives. It convened in Columbus, Ohio on January 4, 2021 and is scheduled to adjourn December 31, 2022. The apportionment of legislative districts is based on the 2010 United States Census and 2011 redistricting plan. The Ohio Republican Party retained the majority in both the Ohio Senate and Ohio House of Representatives.\n\nParty summary \nResignations and new members are discussed in the \"Changes in membership\" section, below.\n\nSenate\n\nHouse of Representatives\n\nLeadership\n\nSenate \n\n Senate President: Matt Huffman\n President Pro Tempore: Jay Hottinger\n\n Majority (Republican) leadership \n\n Majority Floor Leader: Kirk Schuring\n Majority Whip: Rob McColley\n\n Minority (Democratic) leadership\n\n Senate Minority Leader: Kenny Yuko\n Assistant Minority Leader: Cecil Thomas\n Minority Whip: Nickie Antonio\n Assistant Minority Whip: Tina Maharath\n\nHouse of Representatives \n\n Speaker of the House: Robert Cupp\n Speaker Pro Tempore: Tim Ginter\n\n Majority (Republican) leadership \n\n Majority Floor Leader: Bill Seitz\n Assistant Majority Floor Leader: Rick Carfagna\n Majority Whip: Don Jones\n Assistant Majority Whip: Cindy Abrams\n\n Minority (Democratic) leadership\n\n House Minority Leader: Allison Russo\n Assistant Minority Leader: Thomas West\n Minority Whip: Jessica Miranda\n Assistant Minority Whip: Richard Brown\n\nMembership\n\nSenate\n\nHouse of Representatives\n\nChanges in membership\n\nSenate\n\nHouse of Representatives\n\nCommittees \nListed alphabetically by chamber, including Chairperson and Ranking Member.\n\nSenate\n\nHouse of Representatives\n\nJoint Committees\n\nSee also \n\n List of Ohio state legislatures\n\nReferences \n\nOhio legislative sessions\n2021 U.S. legislative sessions\n2022 U.S. legislative sessions\n2021 in Ohio",
"The Speaker of the Jigawa State House of Assembly is the political head of the Jigawa State House of Assembly. He is the presiding officer of whose chief function is to guide and regulate the proceedings in the State House of Assembly . He is assisted by the Deputy Speaker. The current Speaker is Rt. Hon. Idris Garba Kareka and the current Deputy Speaker Rt. Hon. Sulaiman Musa Kadira and are both members of the APC. The Speaker and his Deputy are also assisted by principal officers including the Majority Leader, Deputy Majority Leader, Minority Leader, Deputy Minority Leader, Chief Whip, Deputy Chief Whip, Minority Whip, and Deputy Minority Whip. In addition, there are Committees in the State House of Assembly chaired by Committee Chairmen.\n\nList of speakers of the Jigawa State House of Assembly\n\nReferences\n\nState lower houses in Nigeria"
] |
[
"Marco Rubio",
"Majority whip and majority leader",
"What is the majority whip?",
"National Journal described that position as typically requiring a lot of arm-twisting,"
] | C_73dbaf1c87df466ba9becc5d8faf2076_0 | Why does it require arm twisting? | 2 | Why does the position of majority whip typically require a lot of arm-twisting? | Marco Rubio | Later in 2000, the majority leader of the House, Mike Fasano, promoted Rubio to be one of two majority whips. National Journal described that position as typically requiring a lot of arm-twisting, but said Rubio took a different approach that relied more on persuading legislators and less on coercing them. Fasano resigned in September 2001 as majority leader of the House due to disagreements with the House speaker, and the speaker passed over Rubio to appoint a more experienced replacement for Fasano. Rubio volunteered to work on redistricting, which he accomplished by dividing the state into five regions, then working individually with the lawmakers involved, and this work helped to cement his relationships with GOP leaders. In December 2002, Rubio was appointed House Majority Leader by Speaker Johnnie Byrd. He persuaded Speaker Byrd to restructure the job of Majority Leader, so that legislative wrangling would be left to the whip's office, and Rubio would become the main spokesperson for the House GOP. According to National Journal, during this period Rubio did not entirely adhere to doctrinaire conservative principles, and some colleagues described him as a centrist "who sought out Democrats and groups that don't typically align with the GOP". He co-sponsored legislation that would have let farm workers sue growers in state court if they were shortchanged on pay, and co-sponsored a bill for giving in-state tuition rates to the children of undocumented immigrants. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, he voiced suspicion about expanding police detention powers, and helped defeat a GOP bill that would have required colleges to increase reporting to the state about foreign students. As a state representative, Rubio requested legislative earmarks (called "Community Budget Issue Requests" in Florida), totaling about $145 million for 2001 and 2002, but none thereafter. Additionally, an office in the executive branch compiled a longer list of spending requests by legislators, including Rubio, as did the non-profit group Florida TaxWatch. Many of those listed items were for health and social programs that Rubio has described as "the kind of thing that legislators would get attacked on if we didn't fund them." A 2010 report by the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald said that some of Rubio's spending requests dovetailed with his personal interests. For example, Rubio requested a $20 million appropriation for Jackson Memorial Hospital to subsidize care for the poor and uninsured, and Rubio later did work for that hospital as a consultant. A spokesman for Rubio has said that the items in question helped the whole county, that Rubio did not lobby to get them approved, that the hospital money was necessary and non-controversial, and that Rubio is "a limited-government conservative ... not a no-government conservative". CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 28, 1971) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States Senator from Florida, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives from 2006 to 2008. Rubio unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 2016, winning presidential primaries in Minnesota, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Rubio is a Cuban American from Miami, Florida. After serving as a city commissioner for West Miami in the 1990s, he was elected to represent the 111th district in the Florida House of Representatives in 2000. Subsequently, he was elected speaker of the Florida House; he served for two years beginning in November 2006. Upon leaving the Florida Legislature in 2008 due to term limits, Rubio taught at Florida International University.
Rubio was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010. In April 2015, he decided to run for president instead of seeking reelection to the Senate. He suspended his campaign for the presidency on March 15, 2016, after losing the Florida Republican primary to the eventual winner of the presidential election, Donald Trump. He then decided to run for reelection to the Senate, winning a second term later that year. During the 2016 Republican presidential primary campaign in which Rubio and Trump were opponents, Rubio was critical of Trump. Rubio ultimately endorsed Trump before the 2016 general election and was largely supportive of Trump during his presidency. Due to his influence on U.S. policy on Latin America during the Trump Administration, he was described as a "virtual secretary of state for Latin America."
Early life and education
Marco Antonio Rubio was born in Miami, Florida, the second son and third child of Mario Rubio Reina and Oriales (née Garcia) Rubio. His parents were Cubans who immigrated to the United States in 1956 during the regime of Fulgencio Batista, two and a half years before Fidel Castro ascended to power after the Cuban Revolution. His mother made at least four return trips to Cuba after Castro's takeover, including a month-long trip in 1961. Neither of Rubio's parents was a U.S. citizen at the time of Rubio's birth, but his parents applied for U.S. citizenship and were naturalized in 1975. Some relatives of Rubio's were admitted to the U.S. as refugees.
Rubio's maternal grandfather, Pedro Victor Garcia, immigrated to the U.S. legally in 1956, but returned to Cuba to find work in 1959. When he fled communist Cuba and returned to the U.S. in 1962 without a visa, he was detained as an undocumented immigrant and an immigration judge ordered him to be deported. Immigration officials reversed their decision later that day, the deportation order was not enforced, and Garcia was given a legal status of "parolee" that allowed him to stay in the U.S. Garcia re-applied for permanent resident status in 1966 following passage of the Cuban Adjustment Act, at which point his residency was approved. Rubio enjoyed a close relationship with his grandfather during his childhood.
In October 2011, The Washington Post reported that Rubio's previous statements that his parents were forced to leave Cuba in 1959 (after Fidel Castro came to power) were embellishments. His parents actually left Cuba in 1956, during the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. According to the Post, "[in] Florida, being connected to the post-revolution exile community gives a politician cachet that could never be achieved by someone identified with the pre-Castro exodus, a group sometimes viewed with suspicion." Rubio denied that he had embellished his family history, stating that his public statements about his family were based on "family lore". Rubio asserted that his parents intended to return to Cuba in the 1960s. He added that his mother took his two elder siblings back to Cuba in 1961 with the intention of living there permanently (his father remained behind in Miami "wrapping up the family's matters"), but the nation's move toward communism caused the family to change its plans. Rubio stated that "[the] essence of my family story is why they came to America in the first place; and why they had to stay."
Rubio has three siblings: older brother Mario, older sister Barbara (married to Orlando Cicilia), and younger sister Veronica (formerly married to entertainer Carlos Ponce). Growing up, his family was Catholic, though from age8 to age11 he and his family attended The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while living in Las Vegas. During those years in Nevada, his father worked as a bartender at Sam's Town Hotel and his mother as a housekeeper at the Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino. He received his first communion as a Catholic in 1984 before moving back to Miami with his family a year later. He was confirmed and later married in the Catholic Church.
Rubio attended South Miami Senior High School, graduating in 1989. He attended Tarkio College in Missouri for one year on a football scholarship before enrolling at Santa Fe Community College (now Santa Fe College) in Gainesville, Florida. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Florida in 1993 and his Juris Doctor cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law in 1996. Rubio has said that he incurred $100,000 in student loans. He paid off those loans in 2012.
Early career
While studying law, Rubio interned for U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. He also worked on Republican senator Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign. In April 1998, two years after finishing law school, Rubio was elected to a seat as city commissioner for West Miami. He became a member of the Florida House of Representatives in early 2000.
Florida House of Representatives
Elections and concurrent employment
In late 1999, a special election was called to fill the seat for the 111th House District in the Florida House of Representatives, representing Miami. It was considered a safe Republican seat, so Rubio's main challenge was to win the GOP nomination. He campaigned as a moderate, advocating tax cuts and early childhood education.
Rubio placed second in the Republican primary on December 14, 1999, but won the run-off election for the Republican nomination, defeating Angel Zayon (a television and radio reporter who was popular with Cuban exiles) by just 64 votes. He then defeated Democrat Anastasia Garcia with 72% of the vote in a January 25, 2000, special election.
In November 2000, Rubio won re-election unopposed. In 2002, he won re-election to a second full term unopposed. In 2004, he won re-election to a third full term with 66% of the vote. In 2006, he won re-election to a fourth full term unopposed.
Rubio spent almost nine years in the Florida House of Representatives. Since the Florida legislative session officially lasted only sixty days, he spent about half of each year in Miami, where he practiced law, first at a law firm that specialized in land use and zoning until 2014 when he took a position with Broad and Cassel, a Miami law and lobbying firm (though state law precluded him from engaging in lobbying or introducing legislation on behalf of the firm's clients).
Tenure
When Rubio took his seat in the legislature in Tallahassee in January 2000, voters in Florida had recently approved a constitutional amendment on term limits. This created openings for new legislative leaders due to many senior incumbents having to retire. According to an article in National Journal, Rubio also gained an extra advantage in that regard, because he was sworn in early due to the special election, and he would take advantage of these opportunities to join the GOP leadership.
Majority whip and majority leader
Later in 2000, the majority leader of the House, Mike Fasano, promoted Rubio to be one of two majority whips. National Journal described that position as typically requiring a lot of arm-twisting, but said Rubio took a different approach that relied more on persuading legislators and less on coercing them.
Fasano resigned in September 2001 as majority leader of the House due to disagreements with the House speaker, and the speaker passed over Rubio to appoint a more experienced replacement for Fasano. Rubio volunteered to work on redistricting, which he accomplished by dividing the state into five regions, then working individually with the lawmakers involved, and this work helped to cement his relationships with GOP leaders.
In December 2002, Rubio was appointed House majority leader by Speaker Johnnie Byrd. He persuaded Speaker Byrd to restructure the job of majority leader, so that legislative wrangling would be left to the whip's office, and Rubio would become the main spokesperson for the House GOP.
According to National Journal, during this period Rubio did not entirely adhere to doctrinaire conservative principles, and some colleagues described him as a centrist "who sought out Democrats and groups that don’t typically align with the GOP". He co-sponsored legislation that would have let farmworkers sue growers in state court if they were shortchanged on pay, and co-sponsored a bill for giving in-state tuition rates to the children of undocumented immigrants. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, he voiced suspicion about expanding police detention powers and helped defeat a GOP bill that would have required colleges to increase reporting to the state about foreign students.
As a state representative, Rubio requested legislative earmarks (called "Community Budget Issue Requests" in Florida), totaling about $145million for 2001 and 2002, but none thereafter. Additionally, an office in the executive branch compiled a longer list of spending requests by legislators, including Rubio, as did the non-profit group Florida TaxWatch. Many of those listed items were for health and social programs that Rubio has described as "the kind of thing that legislators would get attacked on if we didn't fund them". A 2010 report by the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald said that some of Rubio's spending requests dovetailed with his personal interests. For example, Rubio requested a $20million appropriation for Jackson Memorial Hospital to subsidize care for the poor and uninsured, and Rubio later did work for that hospital as a consultant. A spokesman for Rubio has said that the items in question helped the whole county, that Rubio did not lobby to get them approved, that the hospital money was necessary and non-controversial, and that Rubio is "a limited-government conservative... not a no-government conservative".
House speaker
On September 13, 2005, at age 34, Rubio became speaker after State Representatives Dennis Baxley, Jeff Kottkamp, and Dennis A. Ross dropped out. He was sworn in a year later, in November 2006. He became the first Cuban American to be speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, and would remain speaker until November 2008.
When he was chosen as future speaker in 2005, Rubio delivered a speech to the House in which he asked members to look in their desks, where they each found a hardcover book titled 100 Innovative Ideas For Florida's Future; but the book was blank because it had not yet been written, and Rubio told his colleagues that they would fill in the pages together with the help of ordinary Floridians. In 2006, after traveling around the state and talking with citizens, and compiling their ideas, Rubio published the book. The National Journal called this book "the centerpiece of Rubio's early speakership". About 24 of the "ideas" became law, while another 10 were partially enacted. Among the items from his 2006 book that became law were multiple-year car registrations, a requirement that high schools provide more vocational courses, and an expanded voucher-like school-choice program. Rubio's defenders, and some critics, point out that nationwide economic difficulties overlapped with much of Rubio's speakership, and so funding new legislative proposals became difficult.
As Rubio took office as Speaker, Jeb Bush was completing his term as governor, and Bush left office in January 2007. Rubio hired 18 Bush aides, leading capitol insiders to say the speaker's suite was "the governor's office in exile". An article in National Journal described Rubio's style as being very different from Bush's; where Bush was a very assertive manager of affairs in Tallahassee, Rubio's style was to delegate certain powers, relinquish others, and invite political rivals into his inner circle. As the incoming speaker, he decided to open a private dining room for legislators, which he said would give members more privacy, free from being pursued by lobbyists, though the expense led to a public relations problem.
In 2006, Florida enacted into law limitations upon the authority of the state government to take private property, in response to the 2005 Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. City of New London which took a broad view of governmental power to take private property under eminent domain. This state legislation had been proposed by a special committee chaired by Rubio prior to his speakership.
Jeb Bush was succeeded by Charlie Crist, a moderate Republican who took office in January 2007. Rubio and Crist clashed frequently. Their sharpest clash involved the governor's initiative to expand casino gambling in Florida. Rubio sued Crist for bypassing the Florida Legislature in order to make a deal with the Seminole Tribe. The Florida Supreme Court sided with Rubio and blocked the deal.
Rubio also was a critic of Crist's strategy to fight climate change through an executive order creating new automobile and utility emissions standards. Rubio accused Crist of imposing "European-style big government mandates", and the legislature under Rubio's leadership weakened the impact of Crist's climate change initiative. Rubio said that Crist's approach would harm consumers by driving up utility bills without having much effect upon the environment, and that a better approach would be to promote biofuel (e.g. ethanol), solar panels, and energy efficiency.
Rubio introduced a plan to reduce state property taxes to 2001 levels (and potentially eliminate them altogether), while increasing sales taxes by 1% to 2.5% to fund schools. The proposal would have reduced property taxes in the state by $40–50billion. His proposal passed the House, but was opposed by Governor Crist and Florida Senate Republicans, who said that the increase in sales tax would disproportionately affect the poor. So, Rubio agreed to smaller changes, and Crist's proposal to double the state's property tax exemption from $25,000 to $50,000 (for a tax reduction estimated by Crist to be $33billion) ultimately passed. Legislators called it the largest tax cut in Florida's history up until then. At the time, Republican anti-tax activist Grover Norquist described Rubio as "the most pro-taxpayer legislative leader in the country".
As Speaker, Rubio "aggressively tried to push Florida to the political right", according to NBC News, and frequently clashed with the Florida Senate, which was run by more moderate Republicans, and with then-Governor Charlie Crist, a centrist Republican at the time. Although a conservative, "behind the scenes many Democrats considered Rubio someone with whom they could work," according to biographer Manuel Roig-Franzia. Dan Gelber of Miami, the House Democratic leader at the time of Rubio's speakership, considered him "a true conservative" but not "a reflexive partisan", saying: "He didn't have an objection to working with the other side simply because they were the other side. To put it bluntly, he wasn't a jerk." Gelber considered Rubio "a severe conservative, really far to the right, but probably the most talented spokesman the severe right could ever hope for."
While speaker of the Florida House, Rubio shared a residence in Tallahassee with another Florida State Representative, David Rivera, which the two co-owned. The house later went into foreclosure in 2010 after several missed mortgage payments. At that point, Rubio assumed responsibility for the payments, and the house was eventually sold.
In 2007, Florida state senator Tony Hill (D-Jacksonville), chairman of the state legislature's Black Caucus, requested that the legislature apologize for slavery, and Rubio said the idea merited discussion. The following year, a supportive Rubio said such apologies can be important albeit symbolic; he pointed out that even in 2008 young African-American males "believe that the American dream is not available to them". He helped set up a council on issues facing black men and boys, persuaded colleagues to replicate the Harlem Children's Zone in the Miami neighborhood of Liberty City, and supported efforts to promote literacy and mentoring for black children and others.
In 2010 during Rubio's Senate campaign, and again in 2015 during his presidential campaign, issues were raised by the media and his political opponents about some items charged by Rubio to his Republican Party of Florida American Express card during his time as House speaker. Rubio charged about $110,000 during those two years, of which $16,000 was personal expenses unrelated to party business, such as groceries and plane tickets. Rubio said that he personally paid American Express more than $16,000 for these personal expenses. In 2012, the Florida Commission on Ethics cleared Rubio of wrongdoing in his use of the party-issued credit card, although the commission inspector said that Rubio exhibited a "level of negligence" in not using his personal MasterCard. In November 2015, Rubio released his party credit card statements for January 2005 through October 2006, which showed eight personal charges totaling $7,243.74, all of which he had personally reimbursed, in most instances by the next billing period. When releasing the charge records, Rubio spokesman Todd Harris said, "These statements are more than 10 years old. And the only people who ask about them today are the liberal media and our political opponents. We are releasing them now because Marco has nothing to hide."
Professorship
After leaving the Florida Legislature in 2008, Rubio began teaching under a fellowship appointment at Florida International University (FIU) as an adjunct professor. In 2011, after entering the U.S. Senate, he rejoined the FIU faculty. Rubio teaches in the Department of Politics and International Relations, which is part of FIU's Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs. He has taught undergraduate courses on Florida politics, political parties, and legislative politics.
Rubio's appointment as an FIU professor was initially criticized. The university obtained considerable state funding when Rubio was speaker of the Florida House, and many other university jobs were being eliminated due to funding issues at the time FIU appointed him to the faculty. When Rubio accepted the fellowship appointment as an adjunct professor at FIU, he agreed to raise most of the funding for his position from private sources.
U.S. Senate
Elections
2010
On May 5, 2009, Rubio stated his intent to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mel Martínez, who had decided not to seek re-election and subsequently resigned before completing his term. Prior to launching his campaign, Rubio had met with fundraisers and supporters throughout the state. Initially trailing by double digits in the primary against the incumbent governor of his own party, Charlie Crist, Rubio eventually surpassed Crist in polling for the Republican nomination. In his campaign, Rubio received the support of members of the Tea Party, many of whom were dissatisfied with Crist's policies as governor. On April 28, 2010, Crist stated he would be running without a party affiliation, effectively ceding the Republican nomination to Rubio. Several of Crist's top fundraisers, as well as Republican leadership, refused to support Crist after Rubio won the Republican nomination for the Senate.
On November 2, 2010, Rubio won the general election with 49 percent of the vote to Crist's 30% and Democrat Kendrick Meek's 20%. When Rubio was sworn in to the U.S. Senate, he and Bob Menendez of New Jersey were the only two Latino Americans in the Senate.
2016
In April 2015, Rubio decided to run for president instead of seeking re-election to the Senate. After suspending his presidential campaign on March 15, 2016, Rubio "seemed to open the door to running for re-election" on June 13, 2016, citing the previous day's Orlando nightclub shooting and how "it really gives you pause, to think a little bit about your service to your country and where you can be most useful to your country." Rubio officially started his campaign nine days later, on June 22. Rubio won the Republican primary on August 30, 2016, defeating Carlos Beruff. He faced Democratic nominee Patrick Murphy in the general election, defeating him with almost 52% of the vote.
Tenure as senator
During Rubio's first four years in the U.S. Senate, Republicans were in the minority. After the 2014 midterm elections, the Republicans obtained majority control of the Senate, giving Rubio and the Republicans vast federal influence during the final two years of Barack Obama's presidency, as well as during all four years of Donald Trump's presidency. After the 2020 elections, the Democrats regained majority control of the Senate, and Rubio has reassumed minority status within the Senate.
2011–2015
Shortly after taking office in 2011, Rubio said he had no interest in running for president or vice president in the 2012 presidential election. In March 2012, when he endorsed Mitt Romney for president, Rubio said that he did not expect to be or want to be selected as a vice presidential running mate, but was vetted for vice president by the Romney campaign. Former Romney aide Beth Myers has said that the vetting process turned up nothing disqualifying about Rubio.
Upon taking office, Rubio hired Cesar Conda as his chief of staff. Conda, a former adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney, and former top aide to Sens. Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.) and Robert Kasten (R-Wis.), was succeeded in 2014 as Rubio's chief of staff by his deputy, Alberto Martinez, but Conda remained as a part-time adviser.
During his first year in office, Rubio became an influential defender of the United States embargo against Cuba and induced the State Department to withdraw an ambassadorial nomination of Jonathan D. Farrar, who was the Chief of Mission of the United States Interests Section in Havana from 2008 to 2011. Rubio believed that Farrar was not assertive enough toward the Castro regime. Also in 2011, Rubio was invited to visit the Reagan Library, during which he gave a well-publicized speech praising its namesake, and also rescued Nancy Reagan from falling.
In March 2011, Rubio supported U.S. participation in the military campaign in Libya to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. He urged that Senate leaders bring "a bi-partisan resolution to the Senate floor authorizing the president's decision to participate in allied military action in Libya". The administration decided that no congressional authorization was needed under the War Powers Resolution; Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) joined Rubio in writing an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal in June 2011 again urging passage of such authorization. In October 2011, Rubio joined several other senators in pushing for continued engagement to "help Libya lay the foundation for sustainable security". Soon after Gadhafi was ousted, Rubio warned there was a serious threat posed by the spread of militias and weapons, and called for more U.S. involvement to counter that threat.
Rubio voted against the Budget Control Act of 2011, which included mandatory automatic budget cuts from sequestration. He later said that defense spending should never have been linked to taxes and the deficit, calling the policy a "terrible idea" based on a "false choice".
The following month, Rubio and Senator Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware, co-sponsored the American Growth, Recovery, Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Act (AGREE Act), which would have extended many tax credits and exemptions for businesses investing in research and development, equipment, and other capital; provided a tax credit for veterans who start a business franchise; allowed an increase in immigration for certain types of work visas; and strengthened copyright protections.
Rubio voted against the 2012 "fiscal cliff" resolutions. Although he received some criticism for this position, he responded: "Thousands of small businesses, not just the wealthy, will now be forced to decide how they'll pay this new tax, and, chances are, they'll do it by firing employees, cutting back their hours and benefits, or postponing the new hires they were looking to make. And to make matters worse, it does nothing to bring our dangerous debt under control."
In 2013, Rubio was part of the bipartisan "Gang of Eight" senators that crafted comprehensive immigration reform legislation. Rubio proposed a plan providing a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States involving payment of fines and back taxes, background checks, and a probationary period; that pathway was to be implemented only after strengthening border security. The bill passed the Senate 68 to 32 with his support, but Rubio then signaled that the bill should not be taken up by the House because other priorities, like repealing Obamacare, were a higher priority for him; the House never did take up the bill. Rubio has since explained that he still supports reform, but a different approach instead of a single comprehensive bill.
Rubio was chosen to deliver the Republican response to President Obama's 2013 State of the Union Address. It marked the first time the response was delivered in English and Spanish. Rubio's attempt to draw a strong line against the looming defense sequestration was undercut by fellow Republican senator Rand Paul's additional response to Obama's speech that called for the sequester to be carried out.
In April 2013, Rubio voted against an expansion of background checks for gun purchases, contending that such increased regulatory measures would do little to help capture criminals.
Rubio voted against publishing the Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture. In 2016, Rubio said the U.S. should "find out everything they know" from captured terrorists and should not telegraph "the enemy what interrogation techniques we will or won't use."
2015–2021
Republicans took control of the U.S. Senate as a result of the elections in November 2014. As this new period of Republican control began, Rubio pushed for the elimination of the "risk corridors" used by the federal government to compensate insurers for their losses as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The risk corridors were intended to be funded by profitable insurers participating in the PPACA, but since insurer losses have significantly exceeded their profits in the program, the risk corridors have been depleted. His efforts contributed to the inclusion of a provision in the 2014 federal budget that prevented other funding sources from being tapped to replenish the risk corridors.
In March 2015, Rubio and Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, proposed a tax plan that according to The Wall Street Journal, combined thinking from "old-fashioned, Reagan-era supply-siders" and a "breed of largely younger conservative reform thinkers" concerned with the tax burden on the middle class. The plan would lower the top corporate income tax rate from 38% to 25%, eliminate taxes on capital gains, dividends, and inherited estates, and create a new child tax credit worth up to $2,500 per child. The plan would set the top individual income tax rate at 35%. It also included a proposal to replace the means-tested welfare system, including food stamps and the Earned Income Tax Credit, with a new "consolidated system of benefits".
According to analysis by Vocativ as reported by Fox News, Rubio missed 8.3% of total votes from January 2011 to February 2015. From October 27, 2014, to October 26, 2015, Rubio voted in 74% of Senate votes, according to an analysis by GovTrack.us, which tracks congressional voting records. In 2015, Rubio was absent for about 35% of Senate votes. In historical context Rubio's attendance record for Senate votes is not exceptional among senators seeking a presidential nomination; John McCain missed a much higher percentage of votes in 2007. But it was the worst of the three senators who campaigned for the presidency in 2015.
During his Senate tenure, Rubio has co-sponsored bills on issues ranging from humanitarian crises in Haiti to the Russian incursion into Ukraine, and was a frequent and prominent critic of Obama's efforts in national security.
On May 17, 2016, Rubio broke from the Republican majority in his support of Obama's request for $2 billion in emergency spending on the Zika virus at a time when Florida accounted for roughly 20% of the recorded cases of Zika in the U.S., acknowledging that it was the president's request but adding, "it's really the scientists' request, the doctors' request, the public health sector's request for how to address this issue." On August 6, Rubio said he did not believe in terminating Zika-infected pregnancies.
On December 13, after President-elect Trump nominated Rex Tillerson as his Secretary of State in the incoming administration, Rubio expressed concern about the selection. On January 11, Rubio questioned Tillerson during a Senate committee hearing on his confirmation, saying afterward he would "do what's right". On January 23, Rubio said that he would vote to confirm Tillerson, saying that a delay in the appointment would be counter to national interests.
On April 5, 2017, Rubio said Bashar al-Assad felt he could act with "impunity" in knowing the United States was not prioritizing removing him from office. The next day, Rubio praised Trump's ordered strike: "By acting decisively against the very facility from which Assad launched his murderous chemical weapons attack, President Trump has made it clear to Assad and those who empower him that the days of committing war crimes with impunity are over."
In September 2017, Rubio defended Trump's decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. He called the program, which provided temporary stay for some undocumented immigrants brought into the U.S. as minors, "unconstitutional".
In the first session of the 115th United States Congress, Rubio was ranked the tenth most bipartisan senator by the Bipartisan Index, published by The Lugar Center and Georgetown's McCourt School of Public Policy.
While ballots were being counted in a close Florida Senate race between Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson and Republican challenger Rick Scott, Rubio claimed without evidence that Democrats were conspiring with election officials to illicitly install Nelson. He claimed without evidence that "Democrat lawyers" were descending on Florida and that "they have been very clear they aren't here to make sure every vote is counted." He claimed that Broward County officials were engaged in "ongoing" legal violations, without specifying what those were. Election monitors found no evidence of voter fraud in Broward County, and the Florida State Department found no evidence of criminal activity.
In 2019, Rubio defended Trump's decision to host the G7 conference at the Trump National Doral Miami, a resort Trump owns. Rubio called the decision "great" and said it would be good for local businesses.
In 2020, Rubio supported the nomination of Judy Shelton to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Shelton had received bipartisan criticism over her support for the gold standard and other unorthodox monetary policy views.
After Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 presidential election and Trump made false claims of election fraud, Rubio defended Trump's right to assert said claims and challenge the election results, saying any "irregularities" and "claims of broken election laws" could not be claimed false until the courts ruled on them. Rubio later shifted his rhetoric to saying that concerns from Republican voters over "potential irregularities" in the election demanded redress. By November 23, 2020, Rubio referred to Biden as president-elect.
Rubio described the 2021 United States Capitol attack as unpatriotic and "3rd world-style anti-American anarchy". Of the rioters, Rubio said some of them were adherents "to a conspiracy theory and others got caught up in the moment. The result was a national embarrassment." After Congress was allowed to return to session, Rubio voted to certify the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count. In February 2021, Rubio voted to acquit Trump for his role in inciting the mob to storm the Capitol.
On May 28, 2021, Rubio voted against creating the January 6 commission.
Committee assignments
Rubio's committee memberships are as follows:
Committee on Appropriations
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Select Committee on Intelligence (Ranking Member)
Committee on Foreign Relations
Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women's Issues (Ranking Member)
Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy
Subcommittee on State Department and USAID Management, International Operations, and Bilateral International Development
Special Committee on Aging
Caucuses
Senate Republican Conference
2016 presidential campaign
Rubio said in April 2014 that he would not run for both the Senate and president in 2016, as Florida law prohibits a candidate from appearing twice on a ballot, but at that time he did not rule out running for either office. He later indicated that even if he would not win the Republican nomination for president, he would not run for reelection to the Senate. Also in April 2014, the departure of Cesar Conda, Rubio's chief of staff since 2011, was seen as a sign of Rubio's plans to run for president in 2016. Conda departed to lead Rubio's Reclaim America PAC as a senior adviser. Groups supporting Rubio raised over $530,000 in the first three months of 2014, most of which was spent on consultants and data analytics, in what was seen as preparations for a presidential campaign.
A poll from the WMUR/University, tracking New Hampshire Republican primary voters' sentiment, showed Rubio at the top alongside Kentucky senator Rand Paul later in 2013, but as of April 18, 2014, he had dropped to 10th place behind other Republican contenders. The poll, however, also suggested that Rubio was not disliked by the primary voters, which was thought to be positive for him if other candidates had chosen not to run. Rubio placed second among potential 2016 Republican presidential candidates in an online poll of likely voters conducted by Zogby Analytics in January 2015.
In January 2015, it was reported that Rubio had begun contacting top donors and appointing advisors for a potential 2016 run, including George Seay, who previously worked on such campaigns as Rick Perry's in 2012 and Mitt Romney's in 2008, and Jim Rubright, who had previously worked for Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, and John McCain. Rubio also instructed his aides to "prepare for a presidential campaign" prior to a Team Marco 2016 fundraising meeting in South Beach.
On April 13, 2015, Rubio launched his campaign for president in 2016. Rubio was believed to be a viable candidate for the 2016 presidential race who could attract many parts of the GOP base, partly because of his youthfulness and oratorical skill. Rubio had pitched his candidacy as an effort to restore the American Dream for middle and working-class families, who might have found his background as a working-class Cuban-American appealing.
Republican primaries
In the first Republican primary, the February1 Iowa caucuses, Rubio finished third, behind candidates Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. During a nationally televised debate among Republican candidates in New Hampshire on February 6, 2016, Rubio was criticized by rival Chris Christie for speaking repetitiously and sounding scripted. On February 9, when he placed fifth in the New Hampshire primary results, Rubio took the blame and acknowledged a poor debate performance. In the third Republican contest, the South Carolina primary on February 20, Rubio finished second, but did not gain any delegates as Trump won all of South Carolina's congressional districts and thus delegates. Jeb Bush left the race that day, leading to a surge in campaign donations and endorsements to Rubio. On February 23, Rubio finished second in the Nevada caucuses, again losing to Trump. Trump called Rubio's remarks at the February 25 debate "robotic" due to Rubio's repeated use of the same talking points; Rubio was later followed by hecklers who were dressed as robots.
At another Republican debate on February 25, Rubio repeatedly criticized frontrunner candidate Donald Trump. It was described by CNN as a "turning point in style" as Rubio had previously largely ignored Trump during his campaign, and this deviated from Rubio's signature "optimistic campaign message". The next day Rubio continued turning Trump's attacks against him, even ridiculing Trump's physical appearance. On March 1, called 'Super Tuesday' with eleven Republican contests on that day, Rubio's sole victory was in Minnesota, the first state he had won since voting began a month prior. Rubio went on to win further contests in Puerto Rico on March6 and the District of Columbia on March 12, but lost eight other contests from March5 to 8. Around that time, Rubio revealed he was not "entirely proud" of his personal attacks on Trump.
On March 15, Rubio suspended his campaign after placing second in his own home state of Florida. Hours earlier, Rubio had expressed expectations for a Florida win, and said he would continue to campaign (in Utah) "irrespective of" that night's results. The result was that Rubio won 27.0% of the Florida vote, while Trump won 45.7% and all of Florida's delegates. The conclusion of the six March 15 contests (out of which Rubio won none) left Rubio with 169 delegates on the race to reach 1237, but Ted Cruz already had 411 and Trump 673. On March 17, Rubio ruled out runs for the vice-presidency, governorship of Florida and even re-election for his senate seat. He stated only that he would be a "private citizen" by January 2017, leading to some media speculation of the termination of his political career.
After candidacy
On April 12, during an interview with Mark Levin, Rubio expressed his wishes that Republicans would nominate a conservative candidate, name-dropping Cruz. This was interpreted as an endorsement of Cruz, though Rubio clarified the following day that he had only been answering a question. Rubio would later explain his decision to not endorse Cruz being due to his belief that the endorsement would not significantly benefit him and a desire to let the election cycle play out. On April 22, Rubio said he was not interested in being the vice presidential candidate to any of the remaining GOP contenders. On May 16, Rubio posted several tweets in which he critiqued sources reporting that he despised the Senate and a Washington Post story that claimed he was unsure of his next move after his unsuccessful presidential bid, typing, "I have only said like 10000 times I will be a private citizen in January."
On May 18, after Trump expressed a willingness to meet with Kim Jong-un, Rubio said Kim was "not a stable person" and furthered that Trump was open to the meeting only due to inexperience with the North Korea leader. On May 26, Rubio told reporters that he was backing Trump due to his view that the presumptive nominee was a better choice than Hillary Clinton for the presidency and that as president, Trump would sign a repeal of the Affordable Care Act and replace the late Antonin Scalia with another conservative Supreme Court Justice. He also confirmed that he would be attending the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, where he intended to release his pledged delegates to support Trump. On May 29, Rubio continued disavowing vice presidential speculation but indicated an interest in playing a role in Trump's campaign. On June 6, Rubio rebuked Trump's comments on Gonzalo P. Curiel, who Trump accused of being biased against him on the basis of his ethnicity, as "offensive" while speaking with reporters, advising that Trump should cease defending the remarks and defending the judge as "an American".
On July 6, Olivia Perez-Cubas, Rubio's Senate campaign spokeswoman, said he would not be attending the Republican National Convention due to planned campaigning on the days the convention was scheduled to take place.
During the Republican primary campaign in which Rubio and Donald Trump were opponents, Rubio criticized Trump, including, in February 2016, calling Trump a "con artist" and saying that Trump is "wholly unprepared to be president of the United States". In June 2016, after Trump became the presumptive GOP nominee, Rubio reaffirmed his February 2016 comments that we must not hand "the nuclear codes of the United States to an erratic individual". However, after Trump won the Republican Party's nomination, Rubio endorsed him on July 20, 2016. Following the October 7, 2016, Donald Trump Access Hollywood controversy, Rubio wrote that "Donald's comments were vulgar, egregious & impossible to justify. No one should ever talk about any woman in those terms, even in private." On October 11, 2016, Rubio reaffirmed his support of Trump. On October 25, 2016, it was reported that Rubio was booed off a stage for endorsing Trump by a crowd of mostly Latino voters, at the annual Calle Orange street festival in downtown Orlando.
Political positions
As of early 2015, Rubio had a rating of 98.67 by the American Conservative Union, based on his lifetime voting record in the Senate. According to the National Journal, in 2013 Rubio was the 17th most conservative senator. The Club for Growth gave Rubio ratings of 93 percent and 91 percent based on his voting record in 2014 and 2013 respectively, and he has a lifetime rating from the organization above 90 percent.
Rubio initially won his U.S. Senate seat with strong Tea Party backing, but his 2013 support for comprehensive immigration reform legislation led to a decline in their support for him. Rubio's stance on military, foreign policy, and national security issuessuch as his support for arming the Syrian rebels and for the NSAalienated some libertarian Tea Party activists.
Rubio supports balancing the federal budget, while prioritizing defense spending. He rejects the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change, which is that climate change is real, progressing, harmful, and primarily caused by humans, arguing that human activity does not play a major role and claiming that proposals to address climate change would be ineffective and economically harmful. He opposes the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and has voted to repeal it. He opposes net neutrality, a policy that requires Internet service providers to treat data on the Internet the same regardless of its source or content. Early in his Senate tenure, Rubio was involved in bipartisan negotiations to provide a pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants while implementing various measures to strengthen the U.S. border; the bill passed the Senate but was blocked by immigration hardliners in the House. Over time, Rubio distanced himself from his previous efforts to reach a compromise on immigration, and developed more hardline views on immigration, rejecting bipartisan immigration reform efforts in 2018.
Rubio is an outspoken opponent of abortion. He has said that he would ban it even in cases of rape and incest, but with exceptions if the mother's life is in danger.
Rubio has expressed caution about efforts to reduce penalties for drug crimes, saying that "too often" the conversation about criminal justice reform "starts and ends with drug policy". He has said that he would be open to legalizing non-psychoactive forms of cannabis for medical use, but otherwise opposes its legalization for recreational and medical purposes. Rubio has said that if elected president he would enforce federal law in states that have legalized cannabis.
Rubio supports setting corporate taxes at 25%, reforming the tax code, and capping economic regulations, and proposes to increase the social security retirement age based on longer life expectancy. He supports expanding public charter schools, opposes Common Core State Standards, and advocates closing the federal Department of Education.
Rubio supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq and military intervention in Libya. Rubio voiced support for a Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen against Houthi rebels. Regarding Iran, he supports tough sanctions, and scrapping the recent nuclear deal; on the Islamic State, he favors aiding local Sunni forces in Iraq and Syria. Rubio says that, because background checks cannot be done under present circumstances, the United States cannot accept more Syrian refugees. He supports working with allies to set up no-fly zones in Syria to protect civilians from Bashar al-Assad. He favors collection of bulk metadata for purposes of national security. He has said that gun control laws consistently fail to achieve their purpose. He is supportive of the Trans Pacific Partnership, saying that the U.S. risks being excluded from global trade unless it is more open to trade. He is wary of China regarding national security and human rights, and wants to boost the U.S. military presence in that region but hopes for greater economic growth as a result of trading with that country. He also believes the U.S. should support democracy, freedom, and true autonomy of the people of Hong Kong. On capital punishment, Rubio favors streamlining the appeals process.
Rubio condemned the genocide of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar and called for a stronger response to the crisis. Rubio is a staunch supporter of Israel. He is a co-sponsor of a Senate resolution expressing objection to the UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which condemned Israeli settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories as a violation of international law. Rubio condemned Turkey's wide-ranging crackdown on dissent following a failed July 2016 coup.
At a February 2018 CNN town hall event in the wake of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Rubio defended his record of accepting contributions from the National Rifle Association (NRA), saying, "The influence of these groups comes not from money. The influence comes from the millions of people that agree with the agenda, the millions of Americans that support the NRA."
In March 2018, Rubio defended the decision of the Trump administration to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. Experts noted that the inclusion of such a question would likely result in severe undercounting of the population and faulty data, as undocumented immigrants would be less likely to respond to the census. Fellow Republican members of Congress from Florida, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart, criticized the Trump administration's decision on the basis that it could lead to a faulty census and disadvantage Florida in terms of congressional apportionment and fund apportionment.
In July 2018, Rubio offered an amendment to a major congressional spending bill to potentially force companies that purchase real estate in cash to disclose their owners as "an attempt to root out criminals who use illicit funds and anonymous shell companies to buy homes".
On August 28, 2018, Rubio and 16 other members of Congress urged the United States to impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act against Chinese officials who are responsible for human rights abuses against the Uyghur Muslim minority in Xinjiang.
Rubio opposed the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"). On April 27, 2020, the US Supreme Court voted 8–1 to defeat his attempt to undermine the Act.
In March 2016, Rubio opposed President Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, saying, "I don't think we should be moving forward with a nominee in the last year of this president's term. I would say that even if it was a Republican president." In September 2020, Rubio applauded Trump's nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the court after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death, voting to confirm her on October 26, 86 days before the expiration of Trump's presidential term. No Democrat voted for her, nor did Maine's independent Angus King, Republican Susan Collins, or Vermont independent Bernie Sanders.
Rubio has a mixed relationship with Donald Trump. During the Republican primaries in the 2016 presidential election, they harshly criticized each other. But during Trump's presidency, Rubio "[supported] just about everything Trump said and did", according to the Sun-Sentinel.
In May 2021, Rubio argued that "Wall Street must stop enabling Communist China" in The American Prospect and on his website. "Americans from across the political spectrum should feel emboldened by the growing bipartisan awakening to the threat that the CCP poses to American workers, families, and communities", he wrote. "As we deploy legislative solutions to tackle this challenge, Democrats must not allow our corporate and financial sectors’ leftward shift on social issues to blind them to the enormity of China as a geo-economic threat."
Personal life
Rubio is a Roman Catholic and attends Catholic Mass at Church of the Little Flower in Coral Gables, Florida. He also previously attended Christ Fellowship, a Southern Baptist Church in West Kendall, Florida.
In 1998, Rubio married Jeanette Dousdebes, a former bank teller and Miami Dolphins cheerleader, in a Catholic ceremony at the Church of the Little Flower. They have four children. Rubio and his family live in West Miami, Florida.
As of 2018, according to OpenSecrets.org, Rubio's net worth was negative, owing more than $1.8 million.
Electoral history
Writings
Honors
Rubio has been awarded the following foreign honor:
Commander of the Order of the Star of Romania, Romania (June 8, 2017)
See also
Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act
Republican Party presidential candidates, 2016
Florida Republican primary, 2016
List of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States Congress
References
External links
Florida House of Representatives – Marco Rubio
Senator Marco Rubio official U.S. Senate website
Marco Rubio for U.S. Senate official campaign website
Public statement on the Impeachment trial of Donald Trump
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1971 births
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
21st-century American politicians
21st-century Roman Catholics
American male non-fiction writers
21st-century American memoirists
American political writers
American politicians of Cuban descent
American Roman Catholics
American anti-communists
Articles containing video clips
Christians from Florida
Florida city council members
Florida International University faculty
Florida lawyers
Florida Republicans
Former Latter Day Saints
Hispanic and Latino American candidates for President of the United States
Hispanic and Latino American members of the United States Congress
Hispanic and Latino American politicians
Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Florida
Living people
Members of the Florida House of Representatives
Commanders of the Order of the Star of Romania
Republican Party United States senators from Florida
Speakers of the Florida House of Representatives
Tea Party movement activists
United States senators from Florida
University of Florida College of Liberal Arts and Sciences alumni
University of Miami School of Law alumni
Writers from Miami | false | [
"A wristlock is a joint lock primarily affecting the wrist-joint and, in some cases, the radioulnar joints through rotation of the hand. A wristlock is typically applied by grabbing the opponent's hand, and bending and/or twisting it. Wristlocks are very common in martial arts such as aikido, hapkido and jujutsu where they are featured as self-defense techniques. They are also used as submission holds in martial arts such as Brazilian jiu-jitsu (where the most common name is mão de vaca, \"the cow's hand\") and catch wrestling. While being an illegal technique in modern sambo and judo competitions, it is still practiced in judo forms of self-defense kata kōdōkan goshinjutsu. Wristlocks are also widely used as pain compliance holds, often in police, military, and residential treatment centers.\n\nThe wristlock is a technique that can be applied from a stand-up position, simply by grabbing the opponent's hand and twisting and/or bending it in a non-natural direction. It is considered to be a relatively safe technique to practice with a willing opponent, but if applied suddenly and/or forcefully, a wristlock can cause ligament tears or possibly even dislocation or bone fractures.\n\nMixed martial arts (MMA) organizations usually allow wrist locks, but they are rarely performed as a result of the grappling gloves and wrist wraps typically worn by MMA fighters, which both restrict the movement of the wrist. Wrist locks are seen as being easy to defend against, and often leave the attacker vulnerable to punches and elbow strikes.\n\nTypes\n\nRotational\n\nA rotational wristlock (in budo referred to as kote hineri, and in Aikido referred to as a type of sankyō, 三教, \"third teaching\") is a very common type of wristlock, and involves forced supination or pronation of the wrist, and is typically applied by grabbing and twisting the hand. The wrist joint does not allow rotating motion, and the force is transferred to the forearm causing radioulnar rotation, eventually resulting in a joint lock on the radioulnar joint. Once the radius and ulna have been brought to their extreme positions, further twisting motion will put severe torque on the wrist. In martial arts, standing rotational wristlocks are often accompanied by the opponent instinctively throwing him or herself to escape or alleviate the lock.\n\nSupinating\n\nThe supinating wristlock (in budō referred to as kote gaeshi, 小手返, \"forearm return\") is a rotational wristlock, and arguably the most common wristlock. It involves rotating the hand so that it becomes maximally supinated, often referred to as 'externally rotating' the wrist, and hence putting a joint lock on the wrist and radioulnar joint. This can be done by grabbing the opponent's hand with one or both hands, and twisting the hand so that the opponent's thumb points away from the opponent. A supinating wristlock performed from a stand-up position can be used to force the opponent to the ground on his or her back. Straightening the arm does not alleviate the pressure, since the shoulder joint does not allow further supination of the hand.\n\nA properly executed lock of this type does not apply torque to the wrist itself. In practice, the bones of the forearm and, eventually, the shoulder are the focus of the lock. If performed correctly, this technique will break the opponents wrist, elbow and dislocate the shoulder. In practice, uke will turn over his own arm in order to prevent his wrist from breaking. The goal of almost all throws executed via joint/bone manipulation, at least from the perspective of some classical (koryu) martial arts, is to break or dislocate a limb(s).\n\nPronating\n\nThe pronating wristlock (in budō referred to as kote mawashi, 小手回し, \"forearm turn\", and in Aikido referred to as nikyō, 二教, \"second teaching\") is similar to the supinating wristlock except that it is reversed in direction, known as 'internally rotating' the wrist. The hand becomes maximally pronated, resulting in a joint lock on the wrist and radioulnar joint. The degree of possible pronation depends on the degree of flexion at the elbow, as a bent elbow inhibits rotation of the humerus. Hence, straightening the arm allows rotation of the whole arm and alleviates the pressure on the joints. The arm has to be additionally twisted until the shoulder joint reaches maximal rotation to preserve the joint lock. This typically results in the arm moving posteriorly, and allows for the complementary technique of pushing the arm at the elbow or shoulder to force the opponent to the ground.\n\nHyperflexing\n\nA hyperflexing wristlock (commonly referred to as a \"gooseneck\")(in budō referred to as tekubi gatame, 手首固め, \"wrist lock\") involves forcing the wrist into hyperflexion by pushing or pulling the hand towards the inside of the forearm. A hyperflexing wristlock is often performed in combination with rotational wristlocks, since the hyperflexed hand provides a good lever for twisting, and in addition it increases the overall effectiveness of the wristlock. Hyperflexing wristlocks are often featured as pain compliance techniques, since they allow for good control, and a gradual pain increase if more leverage is added. Hyperflexing wristlocks are also a typical wristlock used as a submission hold. Hyperflexing wrist locks, often applied after an escape from a rotational wrist lock, is a signature technique in Chen-style t'ai chi ch'uan.\n\nHyperextending\nThe \"hyperextending wristlock\" is often combined with a fingerlock as the wristlock itself is not very strong. It involves bending the wrist so that the knuckles travel back toward the forearm.\n\nAdductive\n\nAn adductive wristlock (in budō referred to as kote hono gaeshi, \"partial forearm return\", part of aikido's nikyō, or second teaching, in its ura form) involves forced ulnar deviation of the hand. It is typically applied by twisting the opponent's arm so that the opponent's palm points laterally and the elbow is slightly bent. The hand is then grabbed using one or both hands, and the wrist is forced downwards, hence reaching the limit of possible ulnar deviation, and creating a potent joint lock on the wrist joint. To avoid damage, it is possible for the opponent to drop down to the ground, and alleviate the pressure. The adductive wristlock is often taught as a self-defense technique against grabbing. It is also commonly referred to as a \"Z-Lock\" because the bend of the arm forms a Z. In some parts of America this is also called the \"Goose Neck\" because the bend of the arm forms a S.\n\nSee also\n\n Armlock\n Leglock\n Small joint manipulation\n Spinal lock\n Chin na\n\nReferences\n\nMain references\n\n United States Marine Corps (1999). MCRP 3-02B Close Combat. Department of the Navy. Commercial \n University of York Jiu Jitsu Club. Wrist Locks in Jiu Jitsu. www.yorkjitsu.org. URL last accessed February 8, 2006.\n\nOther references\n\nExternal links\n Omo Plata to wristlock. Shows the omo plata position being used to execute a wristlock.\n Joint locks: The wrist\n\nGrappling positions\nJoint locks\nWrist",
"are winning techniques in a sumo bout. For each bout in a Grand Sumo tournament (or honbasho), a sumo referee, or gyōji, will decide and announce the type of kimarite used by the winner. It is possible (although rare) for the judges to modify this decision later. Records of the kimarite are kept and statistical information on the preferred techniques of different wrestlers can be deduced easily. For example, a pie chart of the kimarite used by each sekitori in the past year can be found on the Japan Sumo Association webpage.\n\nSince 2001, the Japan Sumo Association recognizes 82 types of kimarite (and 5 winning non-techniques), but only about a dozen are used regularly. For example, yorikiri, oshidashi and hatakikomi are frequent methods used to win bouts. In addition to kimarite, a bout can end in a disqualification if either wrestler makes a , such as striking with a closed fist.\n\nThe following is a full list of kimarite. Literal translations of the Japanese are also given.\n\nKihonwaza 基本技\nBasic techniques. These, with the exception of the rarely seen Abisetaoshi, are some of the most common kimarite in sumo.\n\nAbisetaoshi 浴びせ倒し\nForcing down the opponent on their back by leaning forward while in a grappling position (backward force down).\n\nOshidashi 押し出し\nPushing the opponent out of the ring without holding their mawashi or belt, nor fully extending his arms. Hand contact must be maintained through the push (front push out).\n\nOshitaoshi 押し倒し\nPushing the opponent down out of the ring (the opponent falls out of the ring instead of backing out) without holding their mawashi. Hand contact is maintained throughout the push (front push down).\n\nTsukidashi 突き出し\nThrusting the opponent backwards out of the ring with one or a series of hand thrusts. The attacker does not have to maintain hand contact (front thrust out).\n\nTsukitaoshi 突き倒し\n\nThrusting the opponent down out of the ring (the opponent falls over the edge) onto their back with a hard thrust or shove (front thrust down).\n\nYorikiri 寄り切り\nMaintaining close contact with the opponent's body, usually by a grip on the mawashi, the wrestler forces his opponent backwards out of the ring (frontal force out).\n\nYoritaoshi 寄り倒し\nMaintaining close contact with the opponent's body, usually by a grip on the mawashi, the opponent is forced backwards out of the ring and collapses on their back from the force of the attack (front crush out).\n\nNagete 投げ手\nThrowing techniques.\n\nIpponzeoi 一本背負い\nWhile moving backwards to the side, the opponent is pulled past the attacker and out of the ring by grabbing and pulling their arm with both hands (one-armed shoulder throw).\n\nKakenage 掛け投げ\nLifting the opponent's thigh with one's leg, while grasping the opponent with both arms, and then throwing the off-balance opponent to the ground (hooking inner thigh throw).\n\nKoshinage 腰投げ\nBending over and pulling the opponent over the attacker's hip, then throwing the opponent to the ground on their back (hip throw).\n\nKotenage 小手投げ\nThe attacker wraps their arm around the opponent's extended arm (差し手 - gripping arm), then throws the opponent to the ground without touching their mawashi. A common move (armlock throw).\n\nKubinage 首投げ\nThe attacker wraps the opponent's head (or neck) in his arms, throwing him down (headlock throw).\n\nNichonage 二丁投げ\nExtending the right (left) leg around the outside of the opponent's right (left) knee thereby sweeping both of his legs off the surface and throwing him down (body drop throw).\n\nShitatedashinage 下手出し投げ\nThe attacker extends their arm under the opponent's arm to grab the opponent's mawashi while dragging the opponent forwards and/or to the side, throwing them to the ground (pulling underarm throw).\n\nShitatenage 下手投げ\nThe attacker extends their arm under the opponent's arm to grab the opponent's mawashi and turns sideways, pulling the opponent down and throwing them to the ground (underarm throw).\n\nSukuinage 掬い投げ\nThe attacker extends their arm under the opponent's armpit and across their back while turning sideways, forcing the opponent forward and throwing him to the ground without touching the mawashi (beltless arm throw).\n\nTsukaminage つかみ投げ\nThe attacker grabs the opponent's mawashi and lifts his body off the surface, pulling them into the air past the attacker and throwing them down (lifting throw).\n\nUwatedashinage 上手出し投げ\nThe attacker extends their arm over the opponent's arm/back to grab the opponent's mawashi while pulling them forwards to the ground (pulling overarm throw).\n\nUwatenage 上手投げ\nThe attacker extends their arm over the opponent's arm to grab the opponent's mawashi and throws the opponent to the ground while turning sideways (overarm throw).\n\nYaguranage 櫓投げ\nWith both wrestlers grasping each other's mawashi, pushing one's leg up under the opponent's groin, lifting them off the surface and then throwing them down on their side (inner thigh throw).\n\nKakete 掛け手\nLeg tripping techniques.\n\nAshitori 足取り\nGrabbing the opponent's leg and pulling upward with both hands, causing the opponent to fall over (leg pick).\n\nChongake ちょん掛け\nHooking a heel under the opponent's opposite heel and forcing them to fall over backwards by pushing or twisting their arm (pulling heel hook).\n\nKawazugake 河津掛け\nWrapping one's leg around the opponent's leg of the opposite side, and tripping him backwards while grasping onto his upper body (hooking backward counter throw).\n\nKekaeshi 蹴返し\nKicking the inside of the opponent's foot. This is usually accompanied by a quick pull that causes the opponent to lose balance and fall (minor inner foot sweep).\n\nKetaguri 蹴手繰り\nDirectly after tachi-ai, kicking the opponent's legs to the outside and thrusting or twisting him down to the dohyō (pulling inside ankle sweep).\n\nKirikaeshi 切り返し\nThe attacker places his leg behind the knee of the opponent, and while twisting the opponent sideways and backwards, sweeps him over the attacker's leg and throws him down (twisting backward knee trip).\n\nKomatasukui 小股掬い\nWhen an opponent responds to being thrown and puts his leg out forward to balance himself, grabbing the underside of the thigh and lifting it up, throwing the opponent down (over thigh scooping body drop).\n\nKozumatori 小褄取り\nLifting the opponent's ankle from the front, causing them to fall (ankle pick).\n\nMitokorozeme 三所攻め\n\nA triple attack. Wrapping one leg around the opponent's (inside leg trip), grabbing the other leg behind the thigh, and thrusting the head into the opponent's chest, the attacker pushes him up and off the surface, then throwing him down on his back (triple attack force out).\n\nThis is a very rare technique, first used in the modern era by Mainoumi Shūhei, who used it two or three times in the early 1990s (officially twice, on a third occasion his win was judged by most observers to be a mitokorozeme, but was officially judged an uchigake).\n\nThis technique was used in a victory by Ishiura against Nishikigi on Day 8 (Sunday, November 17, 2019) of the Fukuoka Basho (Sumo Tournament), for the first time in makuuchi since Mainoumi in 1993.\n\nNimaigeri 二枚蹴り\nKicking an off-balance opponent on the outside of their standing leg's foot, then throwing him to the surface (ankle kicking twist down).\n\nOmata 大股\nWhen the opponent escapes from a komatsukui by extending the other foot, the attacker switches to lift the opponent's other off-balance foot and throws him down (thigh scooping body drop).\n\nSotogake 外掛け\nWrapping the calf around the opponent's calf from the outside and driving him over backwards (outside leg trip). The UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, with a sumo background, has successfully used this multiple times in the course of his mixed martial arts career.\n\nSotokomata 外小股\nDirectly after a nage or hikkake is avoided by the opponent, grabbing the opponent's thigh from the outside, lifting it, and throwing them down on their back (over thigh scooping body drop).\n\nSusoharai 裾払い\nDirectly after a nage or hikkake is avoided by the opponent, driving the knee under the opponent's thigh and pulling them down to the surface (rear foot sweep).\n\nSusotori 裾取り\nDirectly after a nage is avoided by the opponent, grabbing the ankle of the opponent and pulling them down to the surface (ankle pick).\n\nTsumatori 褄取り\nAs the opponent is losing their balance to the front (or is moving forward), grabbing the leg and pulling it back, thereby ensuring the opponent falls to the surface (rear toe pick).\n\nUchigake 内掛け\nWrapping the calf around the opponent's calf from the inside and forcing him down on his back (inside leg trip).\n\nWatashikomi 渡し込み\nWhile against the ring of the surface, the attacker grabs the underside of the opponent's thigh or knee with one hand and pushes with the other arm, thereby forcing the opponent out or down (thigh grabbing push down).\n\nHinerite 捻り手\nTwist down techniques.\n\nAmiuchi 網打ち\nA throw with both arms pulling on the opponent's arm, causing the opponent to fall over forward (the fisherman's throw). It is so named because it resembles the traditional Japanese technique for casting fishing nets.\n\nGasshohineri 合掌捻り\nWith both hands clasped around the opponent's back, the opponent is twisted over sideways (clasped hand twist down). See Tokkurinage.\n\nHarimanage 波離間投げ\nReaching over the opponent's back and grabbing hold of their mawashi, the opponent is pulled over in front or beside the attacker (backward belt throw).\n\nKainahineri 腕捻り\nWrapping both arms around the opponent's extended arm and forcing him down to the dohyō by way of one's shoulder (two-handed arm twist down). (Similar to the tottari, but the body is positioned differently)\n\nKatasukashi 肩透かし\nWrapping two hands around the opponent's arm, both grasping the opponent's shoulder and forcing him down (under-shoulder swing down).\n\nKotehineri 小手捻り\nTwisting the opponent's arm down, causing a fall (arm lock twist down).\n\nKubihineri 首捻り\nTwisting the opponent's neck down, causing a fall (head twisting throw).\n\nMakiotoshi 巻き落とし\nReacting quickly to an opponent's actions, twisting the opponent's off-balance body down to the dohyō without grasping the mawashi (twist down).\n\nOsakate 大逆手\nTaking the opponent's arm extended over one's arm and twisting the arm downward, while grabbing the opponent's body and throwing it in the same direction as the arm (backward twisting overarm throw).\n\nSabaori 鯖折り\nGrabbing the opponent's mawashi while pulling out and down, forcing the opponent's knees to the dohyō (forward force down).\n\nSakatottari 逆とったり\nTo wrap one arm around the opponent's extended arm while grasping onto the opponent's wrist with the other hand, twisting and forcing the opponent down (arm bar throw counter or \"anti-tottari\").\n\nShitatehineri 下手捻り\nExtending the arm under the opponent's arm to grasp the mawashi, then pulling the mawashi down until the opponent falls or touches his knee to the dohyō (twisting underarm throw).\n\nSotomuso 外無双\nUsing the left (right) hand to grab onto the outside of the opponent's right (left) knee and twisting the opponent over one's left (right) knee (outer thigh propping twist down).\n\nTokkurinage 徳利投げ\nGrasping the opponent's neck or head with both hands and twisting him down to the dohyō (two handed head twist down).\n\nTottari とったり\nWrapping both arms around the opponent's extended arm and forcing him forward down to the dohyō (arm bar throw).\n\nTsukiotoshi 突き落とし\n\nTwisting the opponent down to the dohyō by forcing the arms on the opponent's upper torso, off of his center of gravity (thrust down).\n\nUchimuso 内無双\nUsing the left (right) hand to grab onto the outside of the opponent's left (right) knee and twisting the opponent down (inner thigh propping twist down).\n\nUwatehineri 上手捻り\nExtending the arm over the opponent's arm to grasp the mawashi, then pulling the mawashi down until the opponent falls or touches his knee to the dohyō (twisting overarm throw).\n\nZubuneri ずぶねり\nWhen the head is used to thrust an opponent down during a hineri (head pivot throw).\n\nSorite 反り手\nBackwards body drop techniques.\n\nIzori 居反り\nDiving under the charge of the opponent, the attacker grabs behind one or both of the opponent's knees, or their mawashi and pulls them up and over backwards (backwards body drop).\n\nKakezori 掛け反り\nPutting one's head under the opponent's extended arm and body, and forcing the opponent backwards over one's legs (hooking backwards body drop).\n\nShumokuzori 撞木反り\nIn the same position as a tasukizori, but the wrestler throws himself backwards, thus ensuring that his opponent lands first under him (bell hammer drop). The name is derived from the similarity to the shape of Japanese bell hammers.\n\nSototasukizori 外たすき反り\n\nWith one arm around the opponents arm and one arm around the opponents leg, lifting the opponent and throwing him sideways and backwards (outer reverse backwards body drop).\n\nTasukizori たすき反り\nWith one arm around the opponents arm and one arm around the opponents leg, lifting the opponent perpendicular across the shoulders and throwing him down (kimono-string drop). The name refers to tasuki, the cords used to tie the sleeves of the traditional Japanese kimono.\n\nTsutaezori 伝え反り\nShifting the extended opponent's arm around and twisting the opponent behind one's back and down to the dohyō (underarm forward body drop).\n\nTokushuwaza 特殊技\nSpecial techniques.\n\nHatakikomi 叩き込み\n\nSlapping down the opponent's shoulder, back, or arm and forcing them to fall forwards touching the clay (slap down).\n\nHikiotoshi 引き落とし\nPulling on the opponent's shoulder, arm, or mawashi and forcing them to fall forwards touching the clay (hand pull down).\n\nHikkake 引っ掛け\nWhile moving backwards to the side, the opponent is pulled past the attacker and out of the dohyō by grabbing and pulling their arm with both hands (arm grabbing force out).\n\nKimedashi 極め出し\nImmobilizing the opponent's arms and shoulders with one's arms and forcing him out of the dohyō (arm barring force out).\n\nKimetaoshi 極め倒し\nImmobilizing the opponent's arms and shoulders with one's arms and forcing him down (arm barring force down).\n\nOkuridashi 送り出し\nTo push an off-balance opponent out of the dohyō from behind (rear push out).\n\nOkurigake 送り掛け\nTo trip an opponent's ankle up from behind (rear leg trip).\n\nOkurihikiotoshi 送り引き落とし\nTo pull an opponent down from behind (rear pull down).\n\nOkurinage 送り投げ\nTo throw an opponent from behind (rear throw down).\n\nOkuritaoshi 送り倒し\nTo knock down an opponent from behind (rear push down).\n\nOkuritsuridashi 送り吊り出し\nTo pick up the opponent by his mawashi from behind and throw him out of the dohyō (rear lift out).\n\nOkuritsuriotoshi 送り吊り落とし\nTo pick up the opponent by his mawashi from behind and throw him down on the dohyō (rear lifting body slam).\n\nSokubiotoshi 素首落とし\nPushing the opponent's head down from the back of the neck (head chop down).\n\nTsuridashi 吊り出し\n\nWhile wrestlers face each other, to pick up the opponent by his mawashi and deliver him outside of the dohyō (lift out).\n\nTsuriotoshi 吊り落とし\nWhile wrestlers face each other, to pick up the opponent by his mawashi and slam him onto the dohyō (lifting body slam).\n\nUshiromotare 後ろもたれ\nWhile the opponent is behind the wrestler, to back up and push him out of the dohyō (backward lean out).\n\nUtchari うっちゃり\nWhen near the edge of the dohyō, to bend oneself backwards and twist the opponent's body until he steps out of the dohyō (backward pivot throw).\n\nWaridashi 割り出し\nTo push one foot of the opponent out of the ring from the side, extending the arm across the opponent's body and using the leg to force him off balance (upper-arm force out).\n\nYobimodoshi 呼び戻し\nReacting to the opponent's reaction to the attacker's inside pull, the attacker pulls them off by grabbing around them around the waist, before throwing them down (pulling body slam).\n\nHigi 非技\nNon-techniques. There are five ways in which a wrestler can win without employing a technique.\n\nFumidashi 踏み出し\nThe opponent accidentally takes a backward step outside the ring with no attack initiated against him (rear step out).\n\nIsamiashi 勇み足\nIn the performance of a kimarite, the opponent inadvertently steps too far forward and places a foot outside the ring. (forward step out).\n\nKoshikudake 腰砕け\nThe opponent falls over backwards without a technique being initiated against him. This usually happens because he has over-committed to an attack. (inadvertent collapse).\n\nTsukihiza つきひざ\nThe opponent stumbles and lands on one or both knees without any significant prior contact with the winning wrestler (knee touch down).\n\nTsukite つき手\nThe opponent stumbles and lands on one or both hands without any significant prior contact with the winning wrestler (hand touch down).\n\nOthers\nDatabases for sumo bouts, such as Sumo Reference, may list other win conditions alongside the current 87 kimarite for statistical and historical purposes.\n\nFusen 不戦\nThe opponent is absent for the scheduled bout (by default). There are also corresponding terms for and . Wins and losses by fusen are also visually recorded as black and white squares rather than the normal black and white circles.\n\nHansoku 反則\nThe opponent is disqualified (infraction). This can be as a result of a wrestler committing a or other violation, such as having their mawashi come undone.\n\nArchaic kimarite and draws\nThe Japan Sumo Association did not attempt to start standardizing kimarite decisions until 1935 and has modified its official list several times since. As a result, databases containing sumo results from earlier periods may list kimarite that are no longer recognized. \n\nAdditionally, the Japan Sumo Association has, over time, phased out the use of various draw states in favor of and forfeitures. Similar to fusen, the various draw states were recorded visually in a different manner than normal victories and loses, employing white triangles for both wrestlers instead.\n\nSee also\n Glossary of sumo terms\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Kimarite information in English\n The Techniques of Sumo (NHK world)\n\nSumo terminology"
] |
[
"Marco Rubio",
"Majority whip and majority leader",
"What is the majority whip?",
"National Journal described that position as typically requiring a lot of arm-twisting,",
"Why does it require arm twisting?",
"I don't know."
] | C_73dbaf1c87df466ba9becc5d8faf2076_0 | Is there anything else noteable about the majoriy whip? | 3 | Besides being a position typically requiring a lot of arm-twisting, is there anything else noteable about the majoriy whip? | Marco Rubio | Later in 2000, the majority leader of the House, Mike Fasano, promoted Rubio to be one of two majority whips. National Journal described that position as typically requiring a lot of arm-twisting, but said Rubio took a different approach that relied more on persuading legislators and less on coercing them. Fasano resigned in September 2001 as majority leader of the House due to disagreements with the House speaker, and the speaker passed over Rubio to appoint a more experienced replacement for Fasano. Rubio volunteered to work on redistricting, which he accomplished by dividing the state into five regions, then working individually with the lawmakers involved, and this work helped to cement his relationships with GOP leaders. In December 2002, Rubio was appointed House Majority Leader by Speaker Johnnie Byrd. He persuaded Speaker Byrd to restructure the job of Majority Leader, so that legislative wrangling would be left to the whip's office, and Rubio would become the main spokesperson for the House GOP. According to National Journal, during this period Rubio did not entirely adhere to doctrinaire conservative principles, and some colleagues described him as a centrist "who sought out Democrats and groups that don't typically align with the GOP". He co-sponsored legislation that would have let farm workers sue growers in state court if they were shortchanged on pay, and co-sponsored a bill for giving in-state tuition rates to the children of undocumented immigrants. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, he voiced suspicion about expanding police detention powers, and helped defeat a GOP bill that would have required colleges to increase reporting to the state about foreign students. As a state representative, Rubio requested legislative earmarks (called "Community Budget Issue Requests" in Florida), totaling about $145 million for 2001 and 2002, but none thereafter. Additionally, an office in the executive branch compiled a longer list of spending requests by legislators, including Rubio, as did the non-profit group Florida TaxWatch. Many of those listed items were for health and social programs that Rubio has described as "the kind of thing that legislators would get attacked on if we didn't fund them." A 2010 report by the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald said that some of Rubio's spending requests dovetailed with his personal interests. For example, Rubio requested a $20 million appropriation for Jackson Memorial Hospital to subsidize care for the poor and uninsured, and Rubio later did work for that hospital as a consultant. A spokesman for Rubio has said that the items in question helped the whole county, that Rubio did not lobby to get them approved, that the hospital money was necessary and non-controversial, and that Rubio is "a limited-government conservative ... not a no-government conservative". CANNOTANSWER | Later in 2000, the majority leader of the House, Mike Fasano, promoted Rubio to be one of two majority whips. | Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 28, 1971) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States Senator from Florida, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives from 2006 to 2008. Rubio unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 2016, winning presidential primaries in Minnesota, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Rubio is a Cuban American from Miami, Florida. After serving as a city commissioner for West Miami in the 1990s, he was elected to represent the 111th district in the Florida House of Representatives in 2000. Subsequently, he was elected speaker of the Florida House; he served for two years beginning in November 2006. Upon leaving the Florida Legislature in 2008 due to term limits, Rubio taught at Florida International University.
Rubio was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010. In April 2015, he decided to run for president instead of seeking reelection to the Senate. He suspended his campaign for the presidency on March 15, 2016, after losing the Florida Republican primary to the eventual winner of the presidential election, Donald Trump. He then decided to run for reelection to the Senate, winning a second term later that year. During the 2016 Republican presidential primary campaign in which Rubio and Trump were opponents, Rubio was critical of Trump. Rubio ultimately endorsed Trump before the 2016 general election and was largely supportive of Trump during his presidency. Due to his influence on U.S. policy on Latin America during the Trump Administration, he was described as a "virtual secretary of state for Latin America."
Early life and education
Marco Antonio Rubio was born in Miami, Florida, the second son and third child of Mario Rubio Reina and Oriales (née Garcia) Rubio. His parents were Cubans who immigrated to the United States in 1956 during the regime of Fulgencio Batista, two and a half years before Fidel Castro ascended to power after the Cuban Revolution. His mother made at least four return trips to Cuba after Castro's takeover, including a month-long trip in 1961. Neither of Rubio's parents was a U.S. citizen at the time of Rubio's birth, but his parents applied for U.S. citizenship and were naturalized in 1975. Some relatives of Rubio's were admitted to the U.S. as refugees.
Rubio's maternal grandfather, Pedro Victor Garcia, immigrated to the U.S. legally in 1956, but returned to Cuba to find work in 1959. When he fled communist Cuba and returned to the U.S. in 1962 without a visa, he was detained as an undocumented immigrant and an immigration judge ordered him to be deported. Immigration officials reversed their decision later that day, the deportation order was not enforced, and Garcia was given a legal status of "parolee" that allowed him to stay in the U.S. Garcia re-applied for permanent resident status in 1966 following passage of the Cuban Adjustment Act, at which point his residency was approved. Rubio enjoyed a close relationship with his grandfather during his childhood.
In October 2011, The Washington Post reported that Rubio's previous statements that his parents were forced to leave Cuba in 1959 (after Fidel Castro came to power) were embellishments. His parents actually left Cuba in 1956, during the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. According to the Post, "[in] Florida, being connected to the post-revolution exile community gives a politician cachet that could never be achieved by someone identified with the pre-Castro exodus, a group sometimes viewed with suspicion." Rubio denied that he had embellished his family history, stating that his public statements about his family were based on "family lore". Rubio asserted that his parents intended to return to Cuba in the 1960s. He added that his mother took his two elder siblings back to Cuba in 1961 with the intention of living there permanently (his father remained behind in Miami "wrapping up the family's matters"), but the nation's move toward communism caused the family to change its plans. Rubio stated that "[the] essence of my family story is why they came to America in the first place; and why they had to stay."
Rubio has three siblings: older brother Mario, older sister Barbara (married to Orlando Cicilia), and younger sister Veronica (formerly married to entertainer Carlos Ponce). Growing up, his family was Catholic, though from age8 to age11 he and his family attended The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while living in Las Vegas. During those years in Nevada, his father worked as a bartender at Sam's Town Hotel and his mother as a housekeeper at the Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino. He received his first communion as a Catholic in 1984 before moving back to Miami with his family a year later. He was confirmed and later married in the Catholic Church.
Rubio attended South Miami Senior High School, graduating in 1989. He attended Tarkio College in Missouri for one year on a football scholarship before enrolling at Santa Fe Community College (now Santa Fe College) in Gainesville, Florida. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Florida in 1993 and his Juris Doctor cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law in 1996. Rubio has said that he incurred $100,000 in student loans. He paid off those loans in 2012.
Early career
While studying law, Rubio interned for U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. He also worked on Republican senator Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign. In April 1998, two years after finishing law school, Rubio was elected to a seat as city commissioner for West Miami. He became a member of the Florida House of Representatives in early 2000.
Florida House of Representatives
Elections and concurrent employment
In late 1999, a special election was called to fill the seat for the 111th House District in the Florida House of Representatives, representing Miami. It was considered a safe Republican seat, so Rubio's main challenge was to win the GOP nomination. He campaigned as a moderate, advocating tax cuts and early childhood education.
Rubio placed second in the Republican primary on December 14, 1999, but won the run-off election for the Republican nomination, defeating Angel Zayon (a television and radio reporter who was popular with Cuban exiles) by just 64 votes. He then defeated Democrat Anastasia Garcia with 72% of the vote in a January 25, 2000, special election.
In November 2000, Rubio won re-election unopposed. In 2002, he won re-election to a second full term unopposed. In 2004, he won re-election to a third full term with 66% of the vote. In 2006, he won re-election to a fourth full term unopposed.
Rubio spent almost nine years in the Florida House of Representatives. Since the Florida legislative session officially lasted only sixty days, he spent about half of each year in Miami, where he practiced law, first at a law firm that specialized in land use and zoning until 2014 when he took a position with Broad and Cassel, a Miami law and lobbying firm (though state law precluded him from engaging in lobbying or introducing legislation on behalf of the firm's clients).
Tenure
When Rubio took his seat in the legislature in Tallahassee in January 2000, voters in Florida had recently approved a constitutional amendment on term limits. This created openings for new legislative leaders due to many senior incumbents having to retire. According to an article in National Journal, Rubio also gained an extra advantage in that regard, because he was sworn in early due to the special election, and he would take advantage of these opportunities to join the GOP leadership.
Majority whip and majority leader
Later in 2000, the majority leader of the House, Mike Fasano, promoted Rubio to be one of two majority whips. National Journal described that position as typically requiring a lot of arm-twisting, but said Rubio took a different approach that relied more on persuading legislators and less on coercing them.
Fasano resigned in September 2001 as majority leader of the House due to disagreements with the House speaker, and the speaker passed over Rubio to appoint a more experienced replacement for Fasano. Rubio volunteered to work on redistricting, which he accomplished by dividing the state into five regions, then working individually with the lawmakers involved, and this work helped to cement his relationships with GOP leaders.
In December 2002, Rubio was appointed House majority leader by Speaker Johnnie Byrd. He persuaded Speaker Byrd to restructure the job of majority leader, so that legislative wrangling would be left to the whip's office, and Rubio would become the main spokesperson for the House GOP.
According to National Journal, during this period Rubio did not entirely adhere to doctrinaire conservative principles, and some colleagues described him as a centrist "who sought out Democrats and groups that don’t typically align with the GOP". He co-sponsored legislation that would have let farmworkers sue growers in state court if they were shortchanged on pay, and co-sponsored a bill for giving in-state tuition rates to the children of undocumented immigrants. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, he voiced suspicion about expanding police detention powers and helped defeat a GOP bill that would have required colleges to increase reporting to the state about foreign students.
As a state representative, Rubio requested legislative earmarks (called "Community Budget Issue Requests" in Florida), totaling about $145million for 2001 and 2002, but none thereafter. Additionally, an office in the executive branch compiled a longer list of spending requests by legislators, including Rubio, as did the non-profit group Florida TaxWatch. Many of those listed items were for health and social programs that Rubio has described as "the kind of thing that legislators would get attacked on if we didn't fund them". A 2010 report by the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald said that some of Rubio's spending requests dovetailed with his personal interests. For example, Rubio requested a $20million appropriation for Jackson Memorial Hospital to subsidize care for the poor and uninsured, and Rubio later did work for that hospital as a consultant. A spokesman for Rubio has said that the items in question helped the whole county, that Rubio did not lobby to get them approved, that the hospital money was necessary and non-controversial, and that Rubio is "a limited-government conservative... not a no-government conservative".
House speaker
On September 13, 2005, at age 34, Rubio became speaker after State Representatives Dennis Baxley, Jeff Kottkamp, and Dennis A. Ross dropped out. He was sworn in a year later, in November 2006. He became the first Cuban American to be speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, and would remain speaker until November 2008.
When he was chosen as future speaker in 2005, Rubio delivered a speech to the House in which he asked members to look in their desks, where they each found a hardcover book titled 100 Innovative Ideas For Florida's Future; but the book was blank because it had not yet been written, and Rubio told his colleagues that they would fill in the pages together with the help of ordinary Floridians. In 2006, after traveling around the state and talking with citizens, and compiling their ideas, Rubio published the book. The National Journal called this book "the centerpiece of Rubio's early speakership". About 24 of the "ideas" became law, while another 10 were partially enacted. Among the items from his 2006 book that became law were multiple-year car registrations, a requirement that high schools provide more vocational courses, and an expanded voucher-like school-choice program. Rubio's defenders, and some critics, point out that nationwide economic difficulties overlapped with much of Rubio's speakership, and so funding new legislative proposals became difficult.
As Rubio took office as Speaker, Jeb Bush was completing his term as governor, and Bush left office in January 2007. Rubio hired 18 Bush aides, leading capitol insiders to say the speaker's suite was "the governor's office in exile". An article in National Journal described Rubio's style as being very different from Bush's; where Bush was a very assertive manager of affairs in Tallahassee, Rubio's style was to delegate certain powers, relinquish others, and invite political rivals into his inner circle. As the incoming speaker, he decided to open a private dining room for legislators, which he said would give members more privacy, free from being pursued by lobbyists, though the expense led to a public relations problem.
In 2006, Florida enacted into law limitations upon the authority of the state government to take private property, in response to the 2005 Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. City of New London which took a broad view of governmental power to take private property under eminent domain. This state legislation had been proposed by a special committee chaired by Rubio prior to his speakership.
Jeb Bush was succeeded by Charlie Crist, a moderate Republican who took office in January 2007. Rubio and Crist clashed frequently. Their sharpest clash involved the governor's initiative to expand casino gambling in Florida. Rubio sued Crist for bypassing the Florida Legislature in order to make a deal with the Seminole Tribe. The Florida Supreme Court sided with Rubio and blocked the deal.
Rubio also was a critic of Crist's strategy to fight climate change through an executive order creating new automobile and utility emissions standards. Rubio accused Crist of imposing "European-style big government mandates", and the legislature under Rubio's leadership weakened the impact of Crist's climate change initiative. Rubio said that Crist's approach would harm consumers by driving up utility bills without having much effect upon the environment, and that a better approach would be to promote biofuel (e.g. ethanol), solar panels, and energy efficiency.
Rubio introduced a plan to reduce state property taxes to 2001 levels (and potentially eliminate them altogether), while increasing sales taxes by 1% to 2.5% to fund schools. The proposal would have reduced property taxes in the state by $40–50billion. His proposal passed the House, but was opposed by Governor Crist and Florida Senate Republicans, who said that the increase in sales tax would disproportionately affect the poor. So, Rubio agreed to smaller changes, and Crist's proposal to double the state's property tax exemption from $25,000 to $50,000 (for a tax reduction estimated by Crist to be $33billion) ultimately passed. Legislators called it the largest tax cut in Florida's history up until then. At the time, Republican anti-tax activist Grover Norquist described Rubio as "the most pro-taxpayer legislative leader in the country".
As Speaker, Rubio "aggressively tried to push Florida to the political right", according to NBC News, and frequently clashed with the Florida Senate, which was run by more moderate Republicans, and with then-Governor Charlie Crist, a centrist Republican at the time. Although a conservative, "behind the scenes many Democrats considered Rubio someone with whom they could work," according to biographer Manuel Roig-Franzia. Dan Gelber of Miami, the House Democratic leader at the time of Rubio's speakership, considered him "a true conservative" but not "a reflexive partisan", saying: "He didn't have an objection to working with the other side simply because they were the other side. To put it bluntly, he wasn't a jerk." Gelber considered Rubio "a severe conservative, really far to the right, but probably the most talented spokesman the severe right could ever hope for."
While speaker of the Florida House, Rubio shared a residence in Tallahassee with another Florida State Representative, David Rivera, which the two co-owned. The house later went into foreclosure in 2010 after several missed mortgage payments. At that point, Rubio assumed responsibility for the payments, and the house was eventually sold.
In 2007, Florida state senator Tony Hill (D-Jacksonville), chairman of the state legislature's Black Caucus, requested that the legislature apologize for slavery, and Rubio said the idea merited discussion. The following year, a supportive Rubio said such apologies can be important albeit symbolic; he pointed out that even in 2008 young African-American males "believe that the American dream is not available to them". He helped set up a council on issues facing black men and boys, persuaded colleagues to replicate the Harlem Children's Zone in the Miami neighborhood of Liberty City, and supported efforts to promote literacy and mentoring for black children and others.
In 2010 during Rubio's Senate campaign, and again in 2015 during his presidential campaign, issues were raised by the media and his political opponents about some items charged by Rubio to his Republican Party of Florida American Express card during his time as House speaker. Rubio charged about $110,000 during those two years, of which $16,000 was personal expenses unrelated to party business, such as groceries and plane tickets. Rubio said that he personally paid American Express more than $16,000 for these personal expenses. In 2012, the Florida Commission on Ethics cleared Rubio of wrongdoing in his use of the party-issued credit card, although the commission inspector said that Rubio exhibited a "level of negligence" in not using his personal MasterCard. In November 2015, Rubio released his party credit card statements for January 2005 through October 2006, which showed eight personal charges totaling $7,243.74, all of which he had personally reimbursed, in most instances by the next billing period. When releasing the charge records, Rubio spokesman Todd Harris said, "These statements are more than 10 years old. And the only people who ask about them today are the liberal media and our political opponents. We are releasing them now because Marco has nothing to hide."
Professorship
After leaving the Florida Legislature in 2008, Rubio began teaching under a fellowship appointment at Florida International University (FIU) as an adjunct professor. In 2011, after entering the U.S. Senate, he rejoined the FIU faculty. Rubio teaches in the Department of Politics and International Relations, which is part of FIU's Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs. He has taught undergraduate courses on Florida politics, political parties, and legislative politics.
Rubio's appointment as an FIU professor was initially criticized. The university obtained considerable state funding when Rubio was speaker of the Florida House, and many other university jobs were being eliminated due to funding issues at the time FIU appointed him to the faculty. When Rubio accepted the fellowship appointment as an adjunct professor at FIU, he agreed to raise most of the funding for his position from private sources.
U.S. Senate
Elections
2010
On May 5, 2009, Rubio stated his intent to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mel Martínez, who had decided not to seek re-election and subsequently resigned before completing his term. Prior to launching his campaign, Rubio had met with fundraisers and supporters throughout the state. Initially trailing by double digits in the primary against the incumbent governor of his own party, Charlie Crist, Rubio eventually surpassed Crist in polling for the Republican nomination. In his campaign, Rubio received the support of members of the Tea Party, many of whom were dissatisfied with Crist's policies as governor. On April 28, 2010, Crist stated he would be running without a party affiliation, effectively ceding the Republican nomination to Rubio. Several of Crist's top fundraisers, as well as Republican leadership, refused to support Crist after Rubio won the Republican nomination for the Senate.
On November 2, 2010, Rubio won the general election with 49 percent of the vote to Crist's 30% and Democrat Kendrick Meek's 20%. When Rubio was sworn in to the U.S. Senate, he and Bob Menendez of New Jersey were the only two Latino Americans in the Senate.
2016
In April 2015, Rubio decided to run for president instead of seeking re-election to the Senate. After suspending his presidential campaign on March 15, 2016, Rubio "seemed to open the door to running for re-election" on June 13, 2016, citing the previous day's Orlando nightclub shooting and how "it really gives you pause, to think a little bit about your service to your country and where you can be most useful to your country." Rubio officially started his campaign nine days later, on June 22. Rubio won the Republican primary on August 30, 2016, defeating Carlos Beruff. He faced Democratic nominee Patrick Murphy in the general election, defeating him with almost 52% of the vote.
Tenure as senator
During Rubio's first four years in the U.S. Senate, Republicans were in the minority. After the 2014 midterm elections, the Republicans obtained majority control of the Senate, giving Rubio and the Republicans vast federal influence during the final two years of Barack Obama's presidency, as well as during all four years of Donald Trump's presidency. After the 2020 elections, the Democrats regained majority control of the Senate, and Rubio has reassumed minority status within the Senate.
2011–2015
Shortly after taking office in 2011, Rubio said he had no interest in running for president or vice president in the 2012 presidential election. In March 2012, when he endorsed Mitt Romney for president, Rubio said that he did not expect to be or want to be selected as a vice presidential running mate, but was vetted for vice president by the Romney campaign. Former Romney aide Beth Myers has said that the vetting process turned up nothing disqualifying about Rubio.
Upon taking office, Rubio hired Cesar Conda as his chief of staff. Conda, a former adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney, and former top aide to Sens. Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.) and Robert Kasten (R-Wis.), was succeeded in 2014 as Rubio's chief of staff by his deputy, Alberto Martinez, but Conda remained as a part-time adviser.
During his first year in office, Rubio became an influential defender of the United States embargo against Cuba and induced the State Department to withdraw an ambassadorial nomination of Jonathan D. Farrar, who was the Chief of Mission of the United States Interests Section in Havana from 2008 to 2011. Rubio believed that Farrar was not assertive enough toward the Castro regime. Also in 2011, Rubio was invited to visit the Reagan Library, during which he gave a well-publicized speech praising its namesake, and also rescued Nancy Reagan from falling.
In March 2011, Rubio supported U.S. participation in the military campaign in Libya to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. He urged that Senate leaders bring "a bi-partisan resolution to the Senate floor authorizing the president's decision to participate in allied military action in Libya". The administration decided that no congressional authorization was needed under the War Powers Resolution; Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) joined Rubio in writing an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal in June 2011 again urging passage of such authorization. In October 2011, Rubio joined several other senators in pushing for continued engagement to "help Libya lay the foundation for sustainable security". Soon after Gadhafi was ousted, Rubio warned there was a serious threat posed by the spread of militias and weapons, and called for more U.S. involvement to counter that threat.
Rubio voted against the Budget Control Act of 2011, which included mandatory automatic budget cuts from sequestration. He later said that defense spending should never have been linked to taxes and the deficit, calling the policy a "terrible idea" based on a "false choice".
The following month, Rubio and Senator Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware, co-sponsored the American Growth, Recovery, Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Act (AGREE Act), which would have extended many tax credits and exemptions for businesses investing in research and development, equipment, and other capital; provided a tax credit for veterans who start a business franchise; allowed an increase in immigration for certain types of work visas; and strengthened copyright protections.
Rubio voted against the 2012 "fiscal cliff" resolutions. Although he received some criticism for this position, he responded: "Thousands of small businesses, not just the wealthy, will now be forced to decide how they'll pay this new tax, and, chances are, they'll do it by firing employees, cutting back their hours and benefits, or postponing the new hires they were looking to make. And to make matters worse, it does nothing to bring our dangerous debt under control."
In 2013, Rubio was part of the bipartisan "Gang of Eight" senators that crafted comprehensive immigration reform legislation. Rubio proposed a plan providing a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States involving payment of fines and back taxes, background checks, and a probationary period; that pathway was to be implemented only after strengthening border security. The bill passed the Senate 68 to 32 with his support, but Rubio then signaled that the bill should not be taken up by the House because other priorities, like repealing Obamacare, were a higher priority for him; the House never did take up the bill. Rubio has since explained that he still supports reform, but a different approach instead of a single comprehensive bill.
Rubio was chosen to deliver the Republican response to President Obama's 2013 State of the Union Address. It marked the first time the response was delivered in English and Spanish. Rubio's attempt to draw a strong line against the looming defense sequestration was undercut by fellow Republican senator Rand Paul's additional response to Obama's speech that called for the sequester to be carried out.
In April 2013, Rubio voted against an expansion of background checks for gun purchases, contending that such increased regulatory measures would do little to help capture criminals.
Rubio voted against publishing the Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture. In 2016, Rubio said the U.S. should "find out everything they know" from captured terrorists and should not telegraph "the enemy what interrogation techniques we will or won't use."
2015–2021
Republicans took control of the U.S. Senate as a result of the elections in November 2014. As this new period of Republican control began, Rubio pushed for the elimination of the "risk corridors" used by the federal government to compensate insurers for their losses as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The risk corridors were intended to be funded by profitable insurers participating in the PPACA, but since insurer losses have significantly exceeded their profits in the program, the risk corridors have been depleted. His efforts contributed to the inclusion of a provision in the 2014 federal budget that prevented other funding sources from being tapped to replenish the risk corridors.
In March 2015, Rubio and Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, proposed a tax plan that according to The Wall Street Journal, combined thinking from "old-fashioned, Reagan-era supply-siders" and a "breed of largely younger conservative reform thinkers" concerned with the tax burden on the middle class. The plan would lower the top corporate income tax rate from 38% to 25%, eliminate taxes on capital gains, dividends, and inherited estates, and create a new child tax credit worth up to $2,500 per child. The plan would set the top individual income tax rate at 35%. It also included a proposal to replace the means-tested welfare system, including food stamps and the Earned Income Tax Credit, with a new "consolidated system of benefits".
According to analysis by Vocativ as reported by Fox News, Rubio missed 8.3% of total votes from January 2011 to February 2015. From October 27, 2014, to October 26, 2015, Rubio voted in 74% of Senate votes, according to an analysis by GovTrack.us, which tracks congressional voting records. In 2015, Rubio was absent for about 35% of Senate votes. In historical context Rubio's attendance record for Senate votes is not exceptional among senators seeking a presidential nomination; John McCain missed a much higher percentage of votes in 2007. But it was the worst of the three senators who campaigned for the presidency in 2015.
During his Senate tenure, Rubio has co-sponsored bills on issues ranging from humanitarian crises in Haiti to the Russian incursion into Ukraine, and was a frequent and prominent critic of Obama's efforts in national security.
On May 17, 2016, Rubio broke from the Republican majority in his support of Obama's request for $2 billion in emergency spending on the Zika virus at a time when Florida accounted for roughly 20% of the recorded cases of Zika in the U.S., acknowledging that it was the president's request but adding, "it's really the scientists' request, the doctors' request, the public health sector's request for how to address this issue." On August 6, Rubio said he did not believe in terminating Zika-infected pregnancies.
On December 13, after President-elect Trump nominated Rex Tillerson as his Secretary of State in the incoming administration, Rubio expressed concern about the selection. On January 11, Rubio questioned Tillerson during a Senate committee hearing on his confirmation, saying afterward he would "do what's right". On January 23, Rubio said that he would vote to confirm Tillerson, saying that a delay in the appointment would be counter to national interests.
On April 5, 2017, Rubio said Bashar al-Assad felt he could act with "impunity" in knowing the United States was not prioritizing removing him from office. The next day, Rubio praised Trump's ordered strike: "By acting decisively against the very facility from which Assad launched his murderous chemical weapons attack, President Trump has made it clear to Assad and those who empower him that the days of committing war crimes with impunity are over."
In September 2017, Rubio defended Trump's decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. He called the program, which provided temporary stay for some undocumented immigrants brought into the U.S. as minors, "unconstitutional".
In the first session of the 115th United States Congress, Rubio was ranked the tenth most bipartisan senator by the Bipartisan Index, published by The Lugar Center and Georgetown's McCourt School of Public Policy.
While ballots were being counted in a close Florida Senate race between Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson and Republican challenger Rick Scott, Rubio claimed without evidence that Democrats were conspiring with election officials to illicitly install Nelson. He claimed without evidence that "Democrat lawyers" were descending on Florida and that "they have been very clear they aren't here to make sure every vote is counted." He claimed that Broward County officials were engaged in "ongoing" legal violations, without specifying what those were. Election monitors found no evidence of voter fraud in Broward County, and the Florida State Department found no evidence of criminal activity.
In 2019, Rubio defended Trump's decision to host the G7 conference at the Trump National Doral Miami, a resort Trump owns. Rubio called the decision "great" and said it would be good for local businesses.
In 2020, Rubio supported the nomination of Judy Shelton to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Shelton had received bipartisan criticism over her support for the gold standard and other unorthodox monetary policy views.
After Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 presidential election and Trump made false claims of election fraud, Rubio defended Trump's right to assert said claims and challenge the election results, saying any "irregularities" and "claims of broken election laws" could not be claimed false until the courts ruled on them. Rubio later shifted his rhetoric to saying that concerns from Republican voters over "potential irregularities" in the election demanded redress. By November 23, 2020, Rubio referred to Biden as president-elect.
Rubio described the 2021 United States Capitol attack as unpatriotic and "3rd world-style anti-American anarchy". Of the rioters, Rubio said some of them were adherents "to a conspiracy theory and others got caught up in the moment. The result was a national embarrassment." After Congress was allowed to return to session, Rubio voted to certify the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count. In February 2021, Rubio voted to acquit Trump for his role in inciting the mob to storm the Capitol.
On May 28, 2021, Rubio voted against creating the January 6 commission.
Committee assignments
Rubio's committee memberships are as follows:
Committee on Appropriations
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Select Committee on Intelligence (Ranking Member)
Committee on Foreign Relations
Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women's Issues (Ranking Member)
Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy
Subcommittee on State Department and USAID Management, International Operations, and Bilateral International Development
Special Committee on Aging
Caucuses
Senate Republican Conference
2016 presidential campaign
Rubio said in April 2014 that he would not run for both the Senate and president in 2016, as Florida law prohibits a candidate from appearing twice on a ballot, but at that time he did not rule out running for either office. He later indicated that even if he would not win the Republican nomination for president, he would not run for reelection to the Senate. Also in April 2014, the departure of Cesar Conda, Rubio's chief of staff since 2011, was seen as a sign of Rubio's plans to run for president in 2016. Conda departed to lead Rubio's Reclaim America PAC as a senior adviser. Groups supporting Rubio raised over $530,000 in the first three months of 2014, most of which was spent on consultants and data analytics, in what was seen as preparations for a presidential campaign.
A poll from the WMUR/University, tracking New Hampshire Republican primary voters' sentiment, showed Rubio at the top alongside Kentucky senator Rand Paul later in 2013, but as of April 18, 2014, he had dropped to 10th place behind other Republican contenders. The poll, however, also suggested that Rubio was not disliked by the primary voters, which was thought to be positive for him if other candidates had chosen not to run. Rubio placed second among potential 2016 Republican presidential candidates in an online poll of likely voters conducted by Zogby Analytics in January 2015.
In January 2015, it was reported that Rubio had begun contacting top donors and appointing advisors for a potential 2016 run, including George Seay, who previously worked on such campaigns as Rick Perry's in 2012 and Mitt Romney's in 2008, and Jim Rubright, who had previously worked for Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, and John McCain. Rubio also instructed his aides to "prepare for a presidential campaign" prior to a Team Marco 2016 fundraising meeting in South Beach.
On April 13, 2015, Rubio launched his campaign for president in 2016. Rubio was believed to be a viable candidate for the 2016 presidential race who could attract many parts of the GOP base, partly because of his youthfulness and oratorical skill. Rubio had pitched his candidacy as an effort to restore the American Dream for middle and working-class families, who might have found his background as a working-class Cuban-American appealing.
Republican primaries
In the first Republican primary, the February1 Iowa caucuses, Rubio finished third, behind candidates Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. During a nationally televised debate among Republican candidates in New Hampshire on February 6, 2016, Rubio was criticized by rival Chris Christie for speaking repetitiously and sounding scripted. On February 9, when he placed fifth in the New Hampshire primary results, Rubio took the blame and acknowledged a poor debate performance. In the third Republican contest, the South Carolina primary on February 20, Rubio finished second, but did not gain any delegates as Trump won all of South Carolina's congressional districts and thus delegates. Jeb Bush left the race that day, leading to a surge in campaign donations and endorsements to Rubio. On February 23, Rubio finished second in the Nevada caucuses, again losing to Trump. Trump called Rubio's remarks at the February 25 debate "robotic" due to Rubio's repeated use of the same talking points; Rubio was later followed by hecklers who were dressed as robots.
At another Republican debate on February 25, Rubio repeatedly criticized frontrunner candidate Donald Trump. It was described by CNN as a "turning point in style" as Rubio had previously largely ignored Trump during his campaign, and this deviated from Rubio's signature "optimistic campaign message". The next day Rubio continued turning Trump's attacks against him, even ridiculing Trump's physical appearance. On March 1, called 'Super Tuesday' with eleven Republican contests on that day, Rubio's sole victory was in Minnesota, the first state he had won since voting began a month prior. Rubio went on to win further contests in Puerto Rico on March6 and the District of Columbia on March 12, but lost eight other contests from March5 to 8. Around that time, Rubio revealed he was not "entirely proud" of his personal attacks on Trump.
On March 15, Rubio suspended his campaign after placing second in his own home state of Florida. Hours earlier, Rubio had expressed expectations for a Florida win, and said he would continue to campaign (in Utah) "irrespective of" that night's results. The result was that Rubio won 27.0% of the Florida vote, while Trump won 45.7% and all of Florida's delegates. The conclusion of the six March 15 contests (out of which Rubio won none) left Rubio with 169 delegates on the race to reach 1237, but Ted Cruz already had 411 and Trump 673. On March 17, Rubio ruled out runs for the vice-presidency, governorship of Florida and even re-election for his senate seat. He stated only that he would be a "private citizen" by January 2017, leading to some media speculation of the termination of his political career.
After candidacy
On April 12, during an interview with Mark Levin, Rubio expressed his wishes that Republicans would nominate a conservative candidate, name-dropping Cruz. This was interpreted as an endorsement of Cruz, though Rubio clarified the following day that he had only been answering a question. Rubio would later explain his decision to not endorse Cruz being due to his belief that the endorsement would not significantly benefit him and a desire to let the election cycle play out. On April 22, Rubio said he was not interested in being the vice presidential candidate to any of the remaining GOP contenders. On May 16, Rubio posted several tweets in which he critiqued sources reporting that he despised the Senate and a Washington Post story that claimed he was unsure of his next move after his unsuccessful presidential bid, typing, "I have only said like 10000 times I will be a private citizen in January."
On May 18, after Trump expressed a willingness to meet with Kim Jong-un, Rubio said Kim was "not a stable person" and furthered that Trump was open to the meeting only due to inexperience with the North Korea leader. On May 26, Rubio told reporters that he was backing Trump due to his view that the presumptive nominee was a better choice than Hillary Clinton for the presidency and that as president, Trump would sign a repeal of the Affordable Care Act and replace the late Antonin Scalia with another conservative Supreme Court Justice. He also confirmed that he would be attending the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, where he intended to release his pledged delegates to support Trump. On May 29, Rubio continued disavowing vice presidential speculation but indicated an interest in playing a role in Trump's campaign. On June 6, Rubio rebuked Trump's comments on Gonzalo P. Curiel, who Trump accused of being biased against him on the basis of his ethnicity, as "offensive" while speaking with reporters, advising that Trump should cease defending the remarks and defending the judge as "an American".
On July 6, Olivia Perez-Cubas, Rubio's Senate campaign spokeswoman, said he would not be attending the Republican National Convention due to planned campaigning on the days the convention was scheduled to take place.
During the Republican primary campaign in which Rubio and Donald Trump were opponents, Rubio criticized Trump, including, in February 2016, calling Trump a "con artist" and saying that Trump is "wholly unprepared to be president of the United States". In June 2016, after Trump became the presumptive GOP nominee, Rubio reaffirmed his February 2016 comments that we must not hand "the nuclear codes of the United States to an erratic individual". However, after Trump won the Republican Party's nomination, Rubio endorsed him on July 20, 2016. Following the October 7, 2016, Donald Trump Access Hollywood controversy, Rubio wrote that "Donald's comments were vulgar, egregious & impossible to justify. No one should ever talk about any woman in those terms, even in private." On October 11, 2016, Rubio reaffirmed his support of Trump. On October 25, 2016, it was reported that Rubio was booed off a stage for endorsing Trump by a crowd of mostly Latino voters, at the annual Calle Orange street festival in downtown Orlando.
Political positions
As of early 2015, Rubio had a rating of 98.67 by the American Conservative Union, based on his lifetime voting record in the Senate. According to the National Journal, in 2013 Rubio was the 17th most conservative senator. The Club for Growth gave Rubio ratings of 93 percent and 91 percent based on his voting record in 2014 and 2013 respectively, and he has a lifetime rating from the organization above 90 percent.
Rubio initially won his U.S. Senate seat with strong Tea Party backing, but his 2013 support for comprehensive immigration reform legislation led to a decline in their support for him. Rubio's stance on military, foreign policy, and national security issuessuch as his support for arming the Syrian rebels and for the NSAalienated some libertarian Tea Party activists.
Rubio supports balancing the federal budget, while prioritizing defense spending. He rejects the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change, which is that climate change is real, progressing, harmful, and primarily caused by humans, arguing that human activity does not play a major role and claiming that proposals to address climate change would be ineffective and economically harmful. He opposes the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and has voted to repeal it. He opposes net neutrality, a policy that requires Internet service providers to treat data on the Internet the same regardless of its source or content. Early in his Senate tenure, Rubio was involved in bipartisan negotiations to provide a pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants while implementing various measures to strengthen the U.S. border; the bill passed the Senate but was blocked by immigration hardliners in the House. Over time, Rubio distanced himself from his previous efforts to reach a compromise on immigration, and developed more hardline views on immigration, rejecting bipartisan immigration reform efforts in 2018.
Rubio is an outspoken opponent of abortion. He has said that he would ban it even in cases of rape and incest, but with exceptions if the mother's life is in danger.
Rubio has expressed caution about efforts to reduce penalties for drug crimes, saying that "too often" the conversation about criminal justice reform "starts and ends with drug policy". He has said that he would be open to legalizing non-psychoactive forms of cannabis for medical use, but otherwise opposes its legalization for recreational and medical purposes. Rubio has said that if elected president he would enforce federal law in states that have legalized cannabis.
Rubio supports setting corporate taxes at 25%, reforming the tax code, and capping economic regulations, and proposes to increase the social security retirement age based on longer life expectancy. He supports expanding public charter schools, opposes Common Core State Standards, and advocates closing the federal Department of Education.
Rubio supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq and military intervention in Libya. Rubio voiced support for a Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen against Houthi rebels. Regarding Iran, he supports tough sanctions, and scrapping the recent nuclear deal; on the Islamic State, he favors aiding local Sunni forces in Iraq and Syria. Rubio says that, because background checks cannot be done under present circumstances, the United States cannot accept more Syrian refugees. He supports working with allies to set up no-fly zones in Syria to protect civilians from Bashar al-Assad. He favors collection of bulk metadata for purposes of national security. He has said that gun control laws consistently fail to achieve their purpose. He is supportive of the Trans Pacific Partnership, saying that the U.S. risks being excluded from global trade unless it is more open to trade. He is wary of China regarding national security and human rights, and wants to boost the U.S. military presence in that region but hopes for greater economic growth as a result of trading with that country. He also believes the U.S. should support democracy, freedom, and true autonomy of the people of Hong Kong. On capital punishment, Rubio favors streamlining the appeals process.
Rubio condemned the genocide of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar and called for a stronger response to the crisis. Rubio is a staunch supporter of Israel. He is a co-sponsor of a Senate resolution expressing objection to the UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which condemned Israeli settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories as a violation of international law. Rubio condemned Turkey's wide-ranging crackdown on dissent following a failed July 2016 coup.
At a February 2018 CNN town hall event in the wake of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Rubio defended his record of accepting contributions from the National Rifle Association (NRA), saying, "The influence of these groups comes not from money. The influence comes from the millions of people that agree with the agenda, the millions of Americans that support the NRA."
In March 2018, Rubio defended the decision of the Trump administration to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. Experts noted that the inclusion of such a question would likely result in severe undercounting of the population and faulty data, as undocumented immigrants would be less likely to respond to the census. Fellow Republican members of Congress from Florida, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart, criticized the Trump administration's decision on the basis that it could lead to a faulty census and disadvantage Florida in terms of congressional apportionment and fund apportionment.
In July 2018, Rubio offered an amendment to a major congressional spending bill to potentially force companies that purchase real estate in cash to disclose their owners as "an attempt to root out criminals who use illicit funds and anonymous shell companies to buy homes".
On August 28, 2018, Rubio and 16 other members of Congress urged the United States to impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act against Chinese officials who are responsible for human rights abuses against the Uyghur Muslim minority in Xinjiang.
Rubio opposed the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"). On April 27, 2020, the US Supreme Court voted 8–1 to defeat his attempt to undermine the Act.
In March 2016, Rubio opposed President Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, saying, "I don't think we should be moving forward with a nominee in the last year of this president's term. I would say that even if it was a Republican president." In September 2020, Rubio applauded Trump's nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the court after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death, voting to confirm her on October 26, 86 days before the expiration of Trump's presidential term. No Democrat voted for her, nor did Maine's independent Angus King, Republican Susan Collins, or Vermont independent Bernie Sanders.
Rubio has a mixed relationship with Donald Trump. During the Republican primaries in the 2016 presidential election, they harshly criticized each other. But during Trump's presidency, Rubio "[supported] just about everything Trump said and did", according to the Sun-Sentinel.
In May 2021, Rubio argued that "Wall Street must stop enabling Communist China" in The American Prospect and on his website. "Americans from across the political spectrum should feel emboldened by the growing bipartisan awakening to the threat that the CCP poses to American workers, families, and communities", he wrote. "As we deploy legislative solutions to tackle this challenge, Democrats must not allow our corporate and financial sectors’ leftward shift on social issues to blind them to the enormity of China as a geo-economic threat."
Personal life
Rubio is a Roman Catholic and attends Catholic Mass at Church of the Little Flower in Coral Gables, Florida. He also previously attended Christ Fellowship, a Southern Baptist Church in West Kendall, Florida.
In 1998, Rubio married Jeanette Dousdebes, a former bank teller and Miami Dolphins cheerleader, in a Catholic ceremony at the Church of the Little Flower. They have four children. Rubio and his family live in West Miami, Florida.
As of 2018, according to OpenSecrets.org, Rubio's net worth was negative, owing more than $1.8 million.
Electoral history
Writings
Honors
Rubio has been awarded the following foreign honor:
Commander of the Order of the Star of Romania, Romania (June 8, 2017)
See also
Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act
Republican Party presidential candidates, 2016
Florida Republican primary, 2016
List of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States Congress
References
External links
Florida House of Representatives – Marco Rubio
Senator Marco Rubio official U.S. Senate website
Marco Rubio for U.S. Senate official campaign website
Public statement on the Impeachment trial of Donald Trump
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1971 births
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
21st-century American politicians
21st-century Roman Catholics
American male non-fiction writers
21st-century American memoirists
American political writers
American politicians of Cuban descent
American Roman Catholics
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Articles containing video clips
Christians from Florida
Florida city council members
Florida International University faculty
Florida lawyers
Florida Republicans
Former Latter Day Saints
Hispanic and Latino American candidates for President of the United States
Hispanic and Latino American members of the United States Congress
Hispanic and Latino American politicians
Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Florida
Living people
Members of the Florida House of Representatives
Commanders of the Order of the Star of Romania
Republican Party United States senators from Florida
Speakers of the Florida House of Representatives
Tea Party movement activists
United States senators from Florida
University of Florida College of Liberal Arts and Sciences alumni
University of Miami School of Law alumni
Writers from Miami | true | [
"Tritonicula wellsi, the sea whip slug, is a species of nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusc in the family Tritoniidae. The type locality is Beaufort, North Carolina. A number of Caribbean and western Pacific species of Tritonia were moved to a new genus Tritonicula in 2020 as a result of an integrative taxonomic study of the family Tritoniidae.\n\nDescription\nTritonicula wellsi is white and grows to about 1.5 centimetres (0.6 in) long. The head bears a pair of rhinophores (sensory organs) each with a sheath at its base. There are also six tentacles on the head in a transverse line. The body has two longitudinal rows of arborescent (tree-like) gills which resemble the polyps of the whip corals on which it lives and feeds. It is adapted for life on the coral, Leptogorgia virgulata, and is found nowhere else. It closely resembles the related species, Tritonicula bayeri, which has much the same range.\n\nDistribution\nTritonicula wellsi is found wherever its host occurs, on the western fringes of the Atlantic Ocean, from North Carolina and Florida south to Belize, Honduras, Costa Rica, the Virgin Islands and Brazil.\n\nReferences\n\nTritoniidae\nGastropods described in 1961",
"In baseball, a fair ball is a batted ball that entitles the batter to attempt to reach first base. By contrast, a foul ball is a batted ball that does not entitle the batter to attempt to reach first base. Whether a batted ball is fair or foul is determined by the location of the ball at the appropriate reference point, as follows:\n\n if the ball leaves the playing field without touching anything, the point where the ball leaves the field;\n else, if the ball first lands past first or third base without touching anything, the point where the ball lands;\n else, if the ball rolls or bounces past first or third base without touching anything other than the ground, the point where the ball passes the base;\n else, if the ball touches anything other than the ground (such as an umpire, a player, or any equipment left on the field) before any of the above happens, the point of such touching;\n else (the ball comes to a rest before reaching first or third base), the point where the ball comes to a rest.\n\nIf any part of the ball is on or above fair territory at the appropriate reference point, it is fair; else it is foul. Fair territory or fair ground is defined as the area of the playing field between the two foul lines, and includes the foul lines themselves and the foul poles. However, certain exceptions exist:\n\n A ball that touches first, second, or third base is always fair.\n Under Rule 5.09(a)(7)-(8), if a batted ball touches the batter or his bat while the batter is in the batter's box and not intentionally interfering with the course of the ball, the ball is foul.\n A ball that hits the foul pole without first having touched anything else off the bat is fair.\n Ground rules may provide whether a ball hitting specific objects (e.g. roof, overhead speaker) is fair or foul.\n\nOn a fair ball, the batter attempts to reach first base or any subsequent base, runners attempt to advance and fielders try to record outs. A fair ball is considered a live ball until the ball becomes dead by leaving the field or any other method.\n\nReferences\n\nBaseball rules"
] |
[
"Marco Rubio",
"Majority whip and majority leader",
"What is the majority whip?",
"National Journal described that position as typically requiring a lot of arm-twisting,",
"Why does it require arm twisting?",
"I don't know.",
"Is there anything else noteable about the majoriy whip?",
"Later in 2000, the majority leader of the House, Mike Fasano, promoted Rubio to be one of two majority whips."
] | C_73dbaf1c87df466ba9becc5d8faf2076_0 | Who was the other one? | 4 | In addition to Marco Rubio being promoted to be one of two majority whips, who was the other one? | Marco Rubio | Later in 2000, the majority leader of the House, Mike Fasano, promoted Rubio to be one of two majority whips. National Journal described that position as typically requiring a lot of arm-twisting, but said Rubio took a different approach that relied more on persuading legislators and less on coercing them. Fasano resigned in September 2001 as majority leader of the House due to disagreements with the House speaker, and the speaker passed over Rubio to appoint a more experienced replacement for Fasano. Rubio volunteered to work on redistricting, which he accomplished by dividing the state into five regions, then working individually with the lawmakers involved, and this work helped to cement his relationships with GOP leaders. In December 2002, Rubio was appointed House Majority Leader by Speaker Johnnie Byrd. He persuaded Speaker Byrd to restructure the job of Majority Leader, so that legislative wrangling would be left to the whip's office, and Rubio would become the main spokesperson for the House GOP. According to National Journal, during this period Rubio did not entirely adhere to doctrinaire conservative principles, and some colleagues described him as a centrist "who sought out Democrats and groups that don't typically align with the GOP". He co-sponsored legislation that would have let farm workers sue growers in state court if they were shortchanged on pay, and co-sponsored a bill for giving in-state tuition rates to the children of undocumented immigrants. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, he voiced suspicion about expanding police detention powers, and helped defeat a GOP bill that would have required colleges to increase reporting to the state about foreign students. As a state representative, Rubio requested legislative earmarks (called "Community Budget Issue Requests" in Florida), totaling about $145 million for 2001 and 2002, but none thereafter. Additionally, an office in the executive branch compiled a longer list of spending requests by legislators, including Rubio, as did the non-profit group Florida TaxWatch. Many of those listed items were for health and social programs that Rubio has described as "the kind of thing that legislators would get attacked on if we didn't fund them." A 2010 report by the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald said that some of Rubio's spending requests dovetailed with his personal interests. For example, Rubio requested a $20 million appropriation for Jackson Memorial Hospital to subsidize care for the poor and uninsured, and Rubio later did work for that hospital as a consultant. A spokesman for Rubio has said that the items in question helped the whole county, that Rubio did not lobby to get them approved, that the hospital money was necessary and non-controversial, and that Rubio is "a limited-government conservative ... not a no-government conservative". CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 28, 1971) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States Senator from Florida, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives from 2006 to 2008. Rubio unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 2016, winning presidential primaries in Minnesota, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Rubio is a Cuban American from Miami, Florida. After serving as a city commissioner for West Miami in the 1990s, he was elected to represent the 111th district in the Florida House of Representatives in 2000. Subsequently, he was elected speaker of the Florida House; he served for two years beginning in November 2006. Upon leaving the Florida Legislature in 2008 due to term limits, Rubio taught at Florida International University.
Rubio was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010. In April 2015, he decided to run for president instead of seeking reelection to the Senate. He suspended his campaign for the presidency on March 15, 2016, after losing the Florida Republican primary to the eventual winner of the presidential election, Donald Trump. He then decided to run for reelection to the Senate, winning a second term later that year. During the 2016 Republican presidential primary campaign in which Rubio and Trump were opponents, Rubio was critical of Trump. Rubio ultimately endorsed Trump before the 2016 general election and was largely supportive of Trump during his presidency. Due to his influence on U.S. policy on Latin America during the Trump Administration, he was described as a "virtual secretary of state for Latin America."
Early life and education
Marco Antonio Rubio was born in Miami, Florida, the second son and third child of Mario Rubio Reina and Oriales (née Garcia) Rubio. His parents were Cubans who immigrated to the United States in 1956 during the regime of Fulgencio Batista, two and a half years before Fidel Castro ascended to power after the Cuban Revolution. His mother made at least four return trips to Cuba after Castro's takeover, including a month-long trip in 1961. Neither of Rubio's parents was a U.S. citizen at the time of Rubio's birth, but his parents applied for U.S. citizenship and were naturalized in 1975. Some relatives of Rubio's were admitted to the U.S. as refugees.
Rubio's maternal grandfather, Pedro Victor Garcia, immigrated to the U.S. legally in 1956, but returned to Cuba to find work in 1959. When he fled communist Cuba and returned to the U.S. in 1962 without a visa, he was detained as an undocumented immigrant and an immigration judge ordered him to be deported. Immigration officials reversed their decision later that day, the deportation order was not enforced, and Garcia was given a legal status of "parolee" that allowed him to stay in the U.S. Garcia re-applied for permanent resident status in 1966 following passage of the Cuban Adjustment Act, at which point his residency was approved. Rubio enjoyed a close relationship with his grandfather during his childhood.
In October 2011, The Washington Post reported that Rubio's previous statements that his parents were forced to leave Cuba in 1959 (after Fidel Castro came to power) were embellishments. His parents actually left Cuba in 1956, during the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. According to the Post, "[in] Florida, being connected to the post-revolution exile community gives a politician cachet that could never be achieved by someone identified with the pre-Castro exodus, a group sometimes viewed with suspicion." Rubio denied that he had embellished his family history, stating that his public statements about his family were based on "family lore". Rubio asserted that his parents intended to return to Cuba in the 1960s. He added that his mother took his two elder siblings back to Cuba in 1961 with the intention of living there permanently (his father remained behind in Miami "wrapping up the family's matters"), but the nation's move toward communism caused the family to change its plans. Rubio stated that "[the] essence of my family story is why they came to America in the first place; and why they had to stay."
Rubio has three siblings: older brother Mario, older sister Barbara (married to Orlando Cicilia), and younger sister Veronica (formerly married to entertainer Carlos Ponce). Growing up, his family was Catholic, though from age8 to age11 he and his family attended The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while living in Las Vegas. During those years in Nevada, his father worked as a bartender at Sam's Town Hotel and his mother as a housekeeper at the Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino. He received his first communion as a Catholic in 1984 before moving back to Miami with his family a year later. He was confirmed and later married in the Catholic Church.
Rubio attended South Miami Senior High School, graduating in 1989. He attended Tarkio College in Missouri for one year on a football scholarship before enrolling at Santa Fe Community College (now Santa Fe College) in Gainesville, Florida. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Florida in 1993 and his Juris Doctor cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law in 1996. Rubio has said that he incurred $100,000 in student loans. He paid off those loans in 2012.
Early career
While studying law, Rubio interned for U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. He also worked on Republican senator Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign. In April 1998, two years after finishing law school, Rubio was elected to a seat as city commissioner for West Miami. He became a member of the Florida House of Representatives in early 2000.
Florida House of Representatives
Elections and concurrent employment
In late 1999, a special election was called to fill the seat for the 111th House District in the Florida House of Representatives, representing Miami. It was considered a safe Republican seat, so Rubio's main challenge was to win the GOP nomination. He campaigned as a moderate, advocating tax cuts and early childhood education.
Rubio placed second in the Republican primary on December 14, 1999, but won the run-off election for the Republican nomination, defeating Angel Zayon (a television and radio reporter who was popular with Cuban exiles) by just 64 votes. He then defeated Democrat Anastasia Garcia with 72% of the vote in a January 25, 2000, special election.
In November 2000, Rubio won re-election unopposed. In 2002, he won re-election to a second full term unopposed. In 2004, he won re-election to a third full term with 66% of the vote. In 2006, he won re-election to a fourth full term unopposed.
Rubio spent almost nine years in the Florida House of Representatives. Since the Florida legislative session officially lasted only sixty days, he spent about half of each year in Miami, where he practiced law, first at a law firm that specialized in land use and zoning until 2014 when he took a position with Broad and Cassel, a Miami law and lobbying firm (though state law precluded him from engaging in lobbying or introducing legislation on behalf of the firm's clients).
Tenure
When Rubio took his seat in the legislature in Tallahassee in January 2000, voters in Florida had recently approved a constitutional amendment on term limits. This created openings for new legislative leaders due to many senior incumbents having to retire. According to an article in National Journal, Rubio also gained an extra advantage in that regard, because he was sworn in early due to the special election, and he would take advantage of these opportunities to join the GOP leadership.
Majority whip and majority leader
Later in 2000, the majority leader of the House, Mike Fasano, promoted Rubio to be one of two majority whips. National Journal described that position as typically requiring a lot of arm-twisting, but said Rubio took a different approach that relied more on persuading legislators and less on coercing them.
Fasano resigned in September 2001 as majority leader of the House due to disagreements with the House speaker, and the speaker passed over Rubio to appoint a more experienced replacement for Fasano. Rubio volunteered to work on redistricting, which he accomplished by dividing the state into five regions, then working individually with the lawmakers involved, and this work helped to cement his relationships with GOP leaders.
In December 2002, Rubio was appointed House majority leader by Speaker Johnnie Byrd. He persuaded Speaker Byrd to restructure the job of majority leader, so that legislative wrangling would be left to the whip's office, and Rubio would become the main spokesperson for the House GOP.
According to National Journal, during this period Rubio did not entirely adhere to doctrinaire conservative principles, and some colleagues described him as a centrist "who sought out Democrats and groups that don’t typically align with the GOP". He co-sponsored legislation that would have let farmworkers sue growers in state court if they were shortchanged on pay, and co-sponsored a bill for giving in-state tuition rates to the children of undocumented immigrants. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, he voiced suspicion about expanding police detention powers and helped defeat a GOP bill that would have required colleges to increase reporting to the state about foreign students.
As a state representative, Rubio requested legislative earmarks (called "Community Budget Issue Requests" in Florida), totaling about $145million for 2001 and 2002, but none thereafter. Additionally, an office in the executive branch compiled a longer list of spending requests by legislators, including Rubio, as did the non-profit group Florida TaxWatch. Many of those listed items were for health and social programs that Rubio has described as "the kind of thing that legislators would get attacked on if we didn't fund them". A 2010 report by the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald said that some of Rubio's spending requests dovetailed with his personal interests. For example, Rubio requested a $20million appropriation for Jackson Memorial Hospital to subsidize care for the poor and uninsured, and Rubio later did work for that hospital as a consultant. A spokesman for Rubio has said that the items in question helped the whole county, that Rubio did not lobby to get them approved, that the hospital money was necessary and non-controversial, and that Rubio is "a limited-government conservative... not a no-government conservative".
House speaker
On September 13, 2005, at age 34, Rubio became speaker after State Representatives Dennis Baxley, Jeff Kottkamp, and Dennis A. Ross dropped out. He was sworn in a year later, in November 2006. He became the first Cuban American to be speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, and would remain speaker until November 2008.
When he was chosen as future speaker in 2005, Rubio delivered a speech to the House in which he asked members to look in their desks, where they each found a hardcover book titled 100 Innovative Ideas For Florida's Future; but the book was blank because it had not yet been written, and Rubio told his colleagues that they would fill in the pages together with the help of ordinary Floridians. In 2006, after traveling around the state and talking with citizens, and compiling their ideas, Rubio published the book. The National Journal called this book "the centerpiece of Rubio's early speakership". About 24 of the "ideas" became law, while another 10 were partially enacted. Among the items from his 2006 book that became law were multiple-year car registrations, a requirement that high schools provide more vocational courses, and an expanded voucher-like school-choice program. Rubio's defenders, and some critics, point out that nationwide economic difficulties overlapped with much of Rubio's speakership, and so funding new legislative proposals became difficult.
As Rubio took office as Speaker, Jeb Bush was completing his term as governor, and Bush left office in January 2007. Rubio hired 18 Bush aides, leading capitol insiders to say the speaker's suite was "the governor's office in exile". An article in National Journal described Rubio's style as being very different from Bush's; where Bush was a very assertive manager of affairs in Tallahassee, Rubio's style was to delegate certain powers, relinquish others, and invite political rivals into his inner circle. As the incoming speaker, he decided to open a private dining room for legislators, which he said would give members more privacy, free from being pursued by lobbyists, though the expense led to a public relations problem.
In 2006, Florida enacted into law limitations upon the authority of the state government to take private property, in response to the 2005 Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. City of New London which took a broad view of governmental power to take private property under eminent domain. This state legislation had been proposed by a special committee chaired by Rubio prior to his speakership.
Jeb Bush was succeeded by Charlie Crist, a moderate Republican who took office in January 2007. Rubio and Crist clashed frequently. Their sharpest clash involved the governor's initiative to expand casino gambling in Florida. Rubio sued Crist for bypassing the Florida Legislature in order to make a deal with the Seminole Tribe. The Florida Supreme Court sided with Rubio and blocked the deal.
Rubio also was a critic of Crist's strategy to fight climate change through an executive order creating new automobile and utility emissions standards. Rubio accused Crist of imposing "European-style big government mandates", and the legislature under Rubio's leadership weakened the impact of Crist's climate change initiative. Rubio said that Crist's approach would harm consumers by driving up utility bills without having much effect upon the environment, and that a better approach would be to promote biofuel (e.g. ethanol), solar panels, and energy efficiency.
Rubio introduced a plan to reduce state property taxes to 2001 levels (and potentially eliminate them altogether), while increasing sales taxes by 1% to 2.5% to fund schools. The proposal would have reduced property taxes in the state by $40–50billion. His proposal passed the House, but was opposed by Governor Crist and Florida Senate Republicans, who said that the increase in sales tax would disproportionately affect the poor. So, Rubio agreed to smaller changes, and Crist's proposal to double the state's property tax exemption from $25,000 to $50,000 (for a tax reduction estimated by Crist to be $33billion) ultimately passed. Legislators called it the largest tax cut in Florida's history up until then. At the time, Republican anti-tax activist Grover Norquist described Rubio as "the most pro-taxpayer legislative leader in the country".
As Speaker, Rubio "aggressively tried to push Florida to the political right", according to NBC News, and frequently clashed with the Florida Senate, which was run by more moderate Republicans, and with then-Governor Charlie Crist, a centrist Republican at the time. Although a conservative, "behind the scenes many Democrats considered Rubio someone with whom they could work," according to biographer Manuel Roig-Franzia. Dan Gelber of Miami, the House Democratic leader at the time of Rubio's speakership, considered him "a true conservative" but not "a reflexive partisan", saying: "He didn't have an objection to working with the other side simply because they were the other side. To put it bluntly, he wasn't a jerk." Gelber considered Rubio "a severe conservative, really far to the right, but probably the most talented spokesman the severe right could ever hope for."
While speaker of the Florida House, Rubio shared a residence in Tallahassee with another Florida State Representative, David Rivera, which the two co-owned. The house later went into foreclosure in 2010 after several missed mortgage payments. At that point, Rubio assumed responsibility for the payments, and the house was eventually sold.
In 2007, Florida state senator Tony Hill (D-Jacksonville), chairman of the state legislature's Black Caucus, requested that the legislature apologize for slavery, and Rubio said the idea merited discussion. The following year, a supportive Rubio said such apologies can be important albeit symbolic; he pointed out that even in 2008 young African-American males "believe that the American dream is not available to them". He helped set up a council on issues facing black men and boys, persuaded colleagues to replicate the Harlem Children's Zone in the Miami neighborhood of Liberty City, and supported efforts to promote literacy and mentoring for black children and others.
In 2010 during Rubio's Senate campaign, and again in 2015 during his presidential campaign, issues were raised by the media and his political opponents about some items charged by Rubio to his Republican Party of Florida American Express card during his time as House speaker. Rubio charged about $110,000 during those two years, of which $16,000 was personal expenses unrelated to party business, such as groceries and plane tickets. Rubio said that he personally paid American Express more than $16,000 for these personal expenses. In 2012, the Florida Commission on Ethics cleared Rubio of wrongdoing in his use of the party-issued credit card, although the commission inspector said that Rubio exhibited a "level of negligence" in not using his personal MasterCard. In November 2015, Rubio released his party credit card statements for January 2005 through October 2006, which showed eight personal charges totaling $7,243.74, all of which he had personally reimbursed, in most instances by the next billing period. When releasing the charge records, Rubio spokesman Todd Harris said, "These statements are more than 10 years old. And the only people who ask about them today are the liberal media and our political opponents. We are releasing them now because Marco has nothing to hide."
Professorship
After leaving the Florida Legislature in 2008, Rubio began teaching under a fellowship appointment at Florida International University (FIU) as an adjunct professor. In 2011, after entering the U.S. Senate, he rejoined the FIU faculty. Rubio teaches in the Department of Politics and International Relations, which is part of FIU's Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs. He has taught undergraduate courses on Florida politics, political parties, and legislative politics.
Rubio's appointment as an FIU professor was initially criticized. The university obtained considerable state funding when Rubio was speaker of the Florida House, and many other university jobs were being eliminated due to funding issues at the time FIU appointed him to the faculty. When Rubio accepted the fellowship appointment as an adjunct professor at FIU, he agreed to raise most of the funding for his position from private sources.
U.S. Senate
Elections
2010
On May 5, 2009, Rubio stated his intent to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mel Martínez, who had decided not to seek re-election and subsequently resigned before completing his term. Prior to launching his campaign, Rubio had met with fundraisers and supporters throughout the state. Initially trailing by double digits in the primary against the incumbent governor of his own party, Charlie Crist, Rubio eventually surpassed Crist in polling for the Republican nomination. In his campaign, Rubio received the support of members of the Tea Party, many of whom were dissatisfied with Crist's policies as governor. On April 28, 2010, Crist stated he would be running without a party affiliation, effectively ceding the Republican nomination to Rubio. Several of Crist's top fundraisers, as well as Republican leadership, refused to support Crist after Rubio won the Republican nomination for the Senate.
On November 2, 2010, Rubio won the general election with 49 percent of the vote to Crist's 30% and Democrat Kendrick Meek's 20%. When Rubio was sworn in to the U.S. Senate, he and Bob Menendez of New Jersey were the only two Latino Americans in the Senate.
2016
In April 2015, Rubio decided to run for president instead of seeking re-election to the Senate. After suspending his presidential campaign on March 15, 2016, Rubio "seemed to open the door to running for re-election" on June 13, 2016, citing the previous day's Orlando nightclub shooting and how "it really gives you pause, to think a little bit about your service to your country and where you can be most useful to your country." Rubio officially started his campaign nine days later, on June 22. Rubio won the Republican primary on August 30, 2016, defeating Carlos Beruff. He faced Democratic nominee Patrick Murphy in the general election, defeating him with almost 52% of the vote.
Tenure as senator
During Rubio's first four years in the U.S. Senate, Republicans were in the minority. After the 2014 midterm elections, the Republicans obtained majority control of the Senate, giving Rubio and the Republicans vast federal influence during the final two years of Barack Obama's presidency, as well as during all four years of Donald Trump's presidency. After the 2020 elections, the Democrats regained majority control of the Senate, and Rubio has reassumed minority status within the Senate.
2011–2015
Shortly after taking office in 2011, Rubio said he had no interest in running for president or vice president in the 2012 presidential election. In March 2012, when he endorsed Mitt Romney for president, Rubio said that he did not expect to be or want to be selected as a vice presidential running mate, but was vetted for vice president by the Romney campaign. Former Romney aide Beth Myers has said that the vetting process turned up nothing disqualifying about Rubio.
Upon taking office, Rubio hired Cesar Conda as his chief of staff. Conda, a former adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney, and former top aide to Sens. Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.) and Robert Kasten (R-Wis.), was succeeded in 2014 as Rubio's chief of staff by his deputy, Alberto Martinez, but Conda remained as a part-time adviser.
During his first year in office, Rubio became an influential defender of the United States embargo against Cuba and induced the State Department to withdraw an ambassadorial nomination of Jonathan D. Farrar, who was the Chief of Mission of the United States Interests Section in Havana from 2008 to 2011. Rubio believed that Farrar was not assertive enough toward the Castro regime. Also in 2011, Rubio was invited to visit the Reagan Library, during which he gave a well-publicized speech praising its namesake, and also rescued Nancy Reagan from falling.
In March 2011, Rubio supported U.S. participation in the military campaign in Libya to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. He urged that Senate leaders bring "a bi-partisan resolution to the Senate floor authorizing the president's decision to participate in allied military action in Libya". The administration decided that no congressional authorization was needed under the War Powers Resolution; Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) joined Rubio in writing an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal in June 2011 again urging passage of such authorization. In October 2011, Rubio joined several other senators in pushing for continued engagement to "help Libya lay the foundation for sustainable security". Soon after Gadhafi was ousted, Rubio warned there was a serious threat posed by the spread of militias and weapons, and called for more U.S. involvement to counter that threat.
Rubio voted against the Budget Control Act of 2011, which included mandatory automatic budget cuts from sequestration. He later said that defense spending should never have been linked to taxes and the deficit, calling the policy a "terrible idea" based on a "false choice".
The following month, Rubio and Senator Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware, co-sponsored the American Growth, Recovery, Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Act (AGREE Act), which would have extended many tax credits and exemptions for businesses investing in research and development, equipment, and other capital; provided a tax credit for veterans who start a business franchise; allowed an increase in immigration for certain types of work visas; and strengthened copyright protections.
Rubio voted against the 2012 "fiscal cliff" resolutions. Although he received some criticism for this position, he responded: "Thousands of small businesses, not just the wealthy, will now be forced to decide how they'll pay this new tax, and, chances are, they'll do it by firing employees, cutting back their hours and benefits, or postponing the new hires they were looking to make. And to make matters worse, it does nothing to bring our dangerous debt under control."
In 2013, Rubio was part of the bipartisan "Gang of Eight" senators that crafted comprehensive immigration reform legislation. Rubio proposed a plan providing a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States involving payment of fines and back taxes, background checks, and a probationary period; that pathway was to be implemented only after strengthening border security. The bill passed the Senate 68 to 32 with his support, but Rubio then signaled that the bill should not be taken up by the House because other priorities, like repealing Obamacare, were a higher priority for him; the House never did take up the bill. Rubio has since explained that he still supports reform, but a different approach instead of a single comprehensive bill.
Rubio was chosen to deliver the Republican response to President Obama's 2013 State of the Union Address. It marked the first time the response was delivered in English and Spanish. Rubio's attempt to draw a strong line against the looming defense sequestration was undercut by fellow Republican senator Rand Paul's additional response to Obama's speech that called for the sequester to be carried out.
In April 2013, Rubio voted against an expansion of background checks for gun purchases, contending that such increased regulatory measures would do little to help capture criminals.
Rubio voted against publishing the Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture. In 2016, Rubio said the U.S. should "find out everything they know" from captured terrorists and should not telegraph "the enemy what interrogation techniques we will or won't use."
2015–2021
Republicans took control of the U.S. Senate as a result of the elections in November 2014. As this new period of Republican control began, Rubio pushed for the elimination of the "risk corridors" used by the federal government to compensate insurers for their losses as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The risk corridors were intended to be funded by profitable insurers participating in the PPACA, but since insurer losses have significantly exceeded their profits in the program, the risk corridors have been depleted. His efforts contributed to the inclusion of a provision in the 2014 federal budget that prevented other funding sources from being tapped to replenish the risk corridors.
In March 2015, Rubio and Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, proposed a tax plan that according to The Wall Street Journal, combined thinking from "old-fashioned, Reagan-era supply-siders" and a "breed of largely younger conservative reform thinkers" concerned with the tax burden on the middle class. The plan would lower the top corporate income tax rate from 38% to 25%, eliminate taxes on capital gains, dividends, and inherited estates, and create a new child tax credit worth up to $2,500 per child. The plan would set the top individual income tax rate at 35%. It also included a proposal to replace the means-tested welfare system, including food stamps and the Earned Income Tax Credit, with a new "consolidated system of benefits".
According to analysis by Vocativ as reported by Fox News, Rubio missed 8.3% of total votes from January 2011 to February 2015. From October 27, 2014, to October 26, 2015, Rubio voted in 74% of Senate votes, according to an analysis by GovTrack.us, which tracks congressional voting records. In 2015, Rubio was absent for about 35% of Senate votes. In historical context Rubio's attendance record for Senate votes is not exceptional among senators seeking a presidential nomination; John McCain missed a much higher percentage of votes in 2007. But it was the worst of the three senators who campaigned for the presidency in 2015.
During his Senate tenure, Rubio has co-sponsored bills on issues ranging from humanitarian crises in Haiti to the Russian incursion into Ukraine, and was a frequent and prominent critic of Obama's efforts in national security.
On May 17, 2016, Rubio broke from the Republican majority in his support of Obama's request for $2 billion in emergency spending on the Zika virus at a time when Florida accounted for roughly 20% of the recorded cases of Zika in the U.S., acknowledging that it was the president's request but adding, "it's really the scientists' request, the doctors' request, the public health sector's request for how to address this issue." On August 6, Rubio said he did not believe in terminating Zika-infected pregnancies.
On December 13, after President-elect Trump nominated Rex Tillerson as his Secretary of State in the incoming administration, Rubio expressed concern about the selection. On January 11, Rubio questioned Tillerson during a Senate committee hearing on his confirmation, saying afterward he would "do what's right". On January 23, Rubio said that he would vote to confirm Tillerson, saying that a delay in the appointment would be counter to national interests.
On April 5, 2017, Rubio said Bashar al-Assad felt he could act with "impunity" in knowing the United States was not prioritizing removing him from office. The next day, Rubio praised Trump's ordered strike: "By acting decisively against the very facility from which Assad launched his murderous chemical weapons attack, President Trump has made it clear to Assad and those who empower him that the days of committing war crimes with impunity are over."
In September 2017, Rubio defended Trump's decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. He called the program, which provided temporary stay for some undocumented immigrants brought into the U.S. as minors, "unconstitutional".
In the first session of the 115th United States Congress, Rubio was ranked the tenth most bipartisan senator by the Bipartisan Index, published by The Lugar Center and Georgetown's McCourt School of Public Policy.
While ballots were being counted in a close Florida Senate race between Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson and Republican challenger Rick Scott, Rubio claimed without evidence that Democrats were conspiring with election officials to illicitly install Nelson. He claimed without evidence that "Democrat lawyers" were descending on Florida and that "they have been very clear they aren't here to make sure every vote is counted." He claimed that Broward County officials were engaged in "ongoing" legal violations, without specifying what those were. Election monitors found no evidence of voter fraud in Broward County, and the Florida State Department found no evidence of criminal activity.
In 2019, Rubio defended Trump's decision to host the G7 conference at the Trump National Doral Miami, a resort Trump owns. Rubio called the decision "great" and said it would be good for local businesses.
In 2020, Rubio supported the nomination of Judy Shelton to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Shelton had received bipartisan criticism over her support for the gold standard and other unorthodox monetary policy views.
After Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 presidential election and Trump made false claims of election fraud, Rubio defended Trump's right to assert said claims and challenge the election results, saying any "irregularities" and "claims of broken election laws" could not be claimed false until the courts ruled on them. Rubio later shifted his rhetoric to saying that concerns from Republican voters over "potential irregularities" in the election demanded redress. By November 23, 2020, Rubio referred to Biden as president-elect.
Rubio described the 2021 United States Capitol attack as unpatriotic and "3rd world-style anti-American anarchy". Of the rioters, Rubio said some of them were adherents "to a conspiracy theory and others got caught up in the moment. The result was a national embarrassment." After Congress was allowed to return to session, Rubio voted to certify the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count. In February 2021, Rubio voted to acquit Trump for his role in inciting the mob to storm the Capitol.
On May 28, 2021, Rubio voted against creating the January 6 commission.
Committee assignments
Rubio's committee memberships are as follows:
Committee on Appropriations
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Select Committee on Intelligence (Ranking Member)
Committee on Foreign Relations
Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women's Issues (Ranking Member)
Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy
Subcommittee on State Department and USAID Management, International Operations, and Bilateral International Development
Special Committee on Aging
Caucuses
Senate Republican Conference
2016 presidential campaign
Rubio said in April 2014 that he would not run for both the Senate and president in 2016, as Florida law prohibits a candidate from appearing twice on a ballot, but at that time he did not rule out running for either office. He later indicated that even if he would not win the Republican nomination for president, he would not run for reelection to the Senate. Also in April 2014, the departure of Cesar Conda, Rubio's chief of staff since 2011, was seen as a sign of Rubio's plans to run for president in 2016. Conda departed to lead Rubio's Reclaim America PAC as a senior adviser. Groups supporting Rubio raised over $530,000 in the first three months of 2014, most of which was spent on consultants and data analytics, in what was seen as preparations for a presidential campaign.
A poll from the WMUR/University, tracking New Hampshire Republican primary voters' sentiment, showed Rubio at the top alongside Kentucky senator Rand Paul later in 2013, but as of April 18, 2014, he had dropped to 10th place behind other Republican contenders. The poll, however, also suggested that Rubio was not disliked by the primary voters, which was thought to be positive for him if other candidates had chosen not to run. Rubio placed second among potential 2016 Republican presidential candidates in an online poll of likely voters conducted by Zogby Analytics in January 2015.
In January 2015, it was reported that Rubio had begun contacting top donors and appointing advisors for a potential 2016 run, including George Seay, who previously worked on such campaigns as Rick Perry's in 2012 and Mitt Romney's in 2008, and Jim Rubright, who had previously worked for Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, and John McCain. Rubio also instructed his aides to "prepare for a presidential campaign" prior to a Team Marco 2016 fundraising meeting in South Beach.
On April 13, 2015, Rubio launched his campaign for president in 2016. Rubio was believed to be a viable candidate for the 2016 presidential race who could attract many parts of the GOP base, partly because of his youthfulness and oratorical skill. Rubio had pitched his candidacy as an effort to restore the American Dream for middle and working-class families, who might have found his background as a working-class Cuban-American appealing.
Republican primaries
In the first Republican primary, the February1 Iowa caucuses, Rubio finished third, behind candidates Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. During a nationally televised debate among Republican candidates in New Hampshire on February 6, 2016, Rubio was criticized by rival Chris Christie for speaking repetitiously and sounding scripted. On February 9, when he placed fifth in the New Hampshire primary results, Rubio took the blame and acknowledged a poor debate performance. In the third Republican contest, the South Carolina primary on February 20, Rubio finished second, but did not gain any delegates as Trump won all of South Carolina's congressional districts and thus delegates. Jeb Bush left the race that day, leading to a surge in campaign donations and endorsements to Rubio. On February 23, Rubio finished second in the Nevada caucuses, again losing to Trump. Trump called Rubio's remarks at the February 25 debate "robotic" due to Rubio's repeated use of the same talking points; Rubio was later followed by hecklers who were dressed as robots.
At another Republican debate on February 25, Rubio repeatedly criticized frontrunner candidate Donald Trump. It was described by CNN as a "turning point in style" as Rubio had previously largely ignored Trump during his campaign, and this deviated from Rubio's signature "optimistic campaign message". The next day Rubio continued turning Trump's attacks against him, even ridiculing Trump's physical appearance. On March 1, called 'Super Tuesday' with eleven Republican contests on that day, Rubio's sole victory was in Minnesota, the first state he had won since voting began a month prior. Rubio went on to win further contests in Puerto Rico on March6 and the District of Columbia on March 12, but lost eight other contests from March5 to 8. Around that time, Rubio revealed he was not "entirely proud" of his personal attacks on Trump.
On March 15, Rubio suspended his campaign after placing second in his own home state of Florida. Hours earlier, Rubio had expressed expectations for a Florida win, and said he would continue to campaign (in Utah) "irrespective of" that night's results. The result was that Rubio won 27.0% of the Florida vote, while Trump won 45.7% and all of Florida's delegates. The conclusion of the six March 15 contests (out of which Rubio won none) left Rubio with 169 delegates on the race to reach 1237, but Ted Cruz already had 411 and Trump 673. On March 17, Rubio ruled out runs for the vice-presidency, governorship of Florida and even re-election for his senate seat. He stated only that he would be a "private citizen" by January 2017, leading to some media speculation of the termination of his political career.
After candidacy
On April 12, during an interview with Mark Levin, Rubio expressed his wishes that Republicans would nominate a conservative candidate, name-dropping Cruz. This was interpreted as an endorsement of Cruz, though Rubio clarified the following day that he had only been answering a question. Rubio would later explain his decision to not endorse Cruz being due to his belief that the endorsement would not significantly benefit him and a desire to let the election cycle play out. On April 22, Rubio said he was not interested in being the vice presidential candidate to any of the remaining GOP contenders. On May 16, Rubio posted several tweets in which he critiqued sources reporting that he despised the Senate and a Washington Post story that claimed he was unsure of his next move after his unsuccessful presidential bid, typing, "I have only said like 10000 times I will be a private citizen in January."
On May 18, after Trump expressed a willingness to meet with Kim Jong-un, Rubio said Kim was "not a stable person" and furthered that Trump was open to the meeting only due to inexperience with the North Korea leader. On May 26, Rubio told reporters that he was backing Trump due to his view that the presumptive nominee was a better choice than Hillary Clinton for the presidency and that as president, Trump would sign a repeal of the Affordable Care Act and replace the late Antonin Scalia with another conservative Supreme Court Justice. He also confirmed that he would be attending the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, where he intended to release his pledged delegates to support Trump. On May 29, Rubio continued disavowing vice presidential speculation but indicated an interest in playing a role in Trump's campaign. On June 6, Rubio rebuked Trump's comments on Gonzalo P. Curiel, who Trump accused of being biased against him on the basis of his ethnicity, as "offensive" while speaking with reporters, advising that Trump should cease defending the remarks and defending the judge as "an American".
On July 6, Olivia Perez-Cubas, Rubio's Senate campaign spokeswoman, said he would not be attending the Republican National Convention due to planned campaigning on the days the convention was scheduled to take place.
During the Republican primary campaign in which Rubio and Donald Trump were opponents, Rubio criticized Trump, including, in February 2016, calling Trump a "con artist" and saying that Trump is "wholly unprepared to be president of the United States". In June 2016, after Trump became the presumptive GOP nominee, Rubio reaffirmed his February 2016 comments that we must not hand "the nuclear codes of the United States to an erratic individual". However, after Trump won the Republican Party's nomination, Rubio endorsed him on July 20, 2016. Following the October 7, 2016, Donald Trump Access Hollywood controversy, Rubio wrote that "Donald's comments were vulgar, egregious & impossible to justify. No one should ever talk about any woman in those terms, even in private." On October 11, 2016, Rubio reaffirmed his support of Trump. On October 25, 2016, it was reported that Rubio was booed off a stage for endorsing Trump by a crowd of mostly Latino voters, at the annual Calle Orange street festival in downtown Orlando.
Political positions
As of early 2015, Rubio had a rating of 98.67 by the American Conservative Union, based on his lifetime voting record in the Senate. According to the National Journal, in 2013 Rubio was the 17th most conservative senator. The Club for Growth gave Rubio ratings of 93 percent and 91 percent based on his voting record in 2014 and 2013 respectively, and he has a lifetime rating from the organization above 90 percent.
Rubio initially won his U.S. Senate seat with strong Tea Party backing, but his 2013 support for comprehensive immigration reform legislation led to a decline in their support for him. Rubio's stance on military, foreign policy, and national security issuessuch as his support for arming the Syrian rebels and for the NSAalienated some libertarian Tea Party activists.
Rubio supports balancing the federal budget, while prioritizing defense spending. He rejects the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change, which is that climate change is real, progressing, harmful, and primarily caused by humans, arguing that human activity does not play a major role and claiming that proposals to address climate change would be ineffective and economically harmful. He opposes the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and has voted to repeal it. He opposes net neutrality, a policy that requires Internet service providers to treat data on the Internet the same regardless of its source or content. Early in his Senate tenure, Rubio was involved in bipartisan negotiations to provide a pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants while implementing various measures to strengthen the U.S. border; the bill passed the Senate but was blocked by immigration hardliners in the House. Over time, Rubio distanced himself from his previous efforts to reach a compromise on immigration, and developed more hardline views on immigration, rejecting bipartisan immigration reform efforts in 2018.
Rubio is an outspoken opponent of abortion. He has said that he would ban it even in cases of rape and incest, but with exceptions if the mother's life is in danger.
Rubio has expressed caution about efforts to reduce penalties for drug crimes, saying that "too often" the conversation about criminal justice reform "starts and ends with drug policy". He has said that he would be open to legalizing non-psychoactive forms of cannabis for medical use, but otherwise opposes its legalization for recreational and medical purposes. Rubio has said that if elected president he would enforce federal law in states that have legalized cannabis.
Rubio supports setting corporate taxes at 25%, reforming the tax code, and capping economic regulations, and proposes to increase the social security retirement age based on longer life expectancy. He supports expanding public charter schools, opposes Common Core State Standards, and advocates closing the federal Department of Education.
Rubio supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq and military intervention in Libya. Rubio voiced support for a Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen against Houthi rebels. Regarding Iran, he supports tough sanctions, and scrapping the recent nuclear deal; on the Islamic State, he favors aiding local Sunni forces in Iraq and Syria. Rubio says that, because background checks cannot be done under present circumstances, the United States cannot accept more Syrian refugees. He supports working with allies to set up no-fly zones in Syria to protect civilians from Bashar al-Assad. He favors collection of bulk metadata for purposes of national security. He has said that gun control laws consistently fail to achieve their purpose. He is supportive of the Trans Pacific Partnership, saying that the U.S. risks being excluded from global trade unless it is more open to trade. He is wary of China regarding national security and human rights, and wants to boost the U.S. military presence in that region but hopes for greater economic growth as a result of trading with that country. He also believes the U.S. should support democracy, freedom, and true autonomy of the people of Hong Kong. On capital punishment, Rubio favors streamlining the appeals process.
Rubio condemned the genocide of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar and called for a stronger response to the crisis. Rubio is a staunch supporter of Israel. He is a co-sponsor of a Senate resolution expressing objection to the UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which condemned Israeli settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories as a violation of international law. Rubio condemned Turkey's wide-ranging crackdown on dissent following a failed July 2016 coup.
At a February 2018 CNN town hall event in the wake of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Rubio defended his record of accepting contributions from the National Rifle Association (NRA), saying, "The influence of these groups comes not from money. The influence comes from the millions of people that agree with the agenda, the millions of Americans that support the NRA."
In March 2018, Rubio defended the decision of the Trump administration to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. Experts noted that the inclusion of such a question would likely result in severe undercounting of the population and faulty data, as undocumented immigrants would be less likely to respond to the census. Fellow Republican members of Congress from Florida, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart, criticized the Trump administration's decision on the basis that it could lead to a faulty census and disadvantage Florida in terms of congressional apportionment and fund apportionment.
In July 2018, Rubio offered an amendment to a major congressional spending bill to potentially force companies that purchase real estate in cash to disclose their owners as "an attempt to root out criminals who use illicit funds and anonymous shell companies to buy homes".
On August 28, 2018, Rubio and 16 other members of Congress urged the United States to impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act against Chinese officials who are responsible for human rights abuses against the Uyghur Muslim minority in Xinjiang.
Rubio opposed the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"). On April 27, 2020, the US Supreme Court voted 8–1 to defeat his attempt to undermine the Act.
In March 2016, Rubio opposed President Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, saying, "I don't think we should be moving forward with a nominee in the last year of this president's term. I would say that even if it was a Republican president." In September 2020, Rubio applauded Trump's nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the court after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death, voting to confirm her on October 26, 86 days before the expiration of Trump's presidential term. No Democrat voted for her, nor did Maine's independent Angus King, Republican Susan Collins, or Vermont independent Bernie Sanders.
Rubio has a mixed relationship with Donald Trump. During the Republican primaries in the 2016 presidential election, they harshly criticized each other. But during Trump's presidency, Rubio "[supported] just about everything Trump said and did", according to the Sun-Sentinel.
In May 2021, Rubio argued that "Wall Street must stop enabling Communist China" in The American Prospect and on his website. "Americans from across the political spectrum should feel emboldened by the growing bipartisan awakening to the threat that the CCP poses to American workers, families, and communities", he wrote. "As we deploy legislative solutions to tackle this challenge, Democrats must not allow our corporate and financial sectors’ leftward shift on social issues to blind them to the enormity of China as a geo-economic threat."
Personal life
Rubio is a Roman Catholic and attends Catholic Mass at Church of the Little Flower in Coral Gables, Florida. He also previously attended Christ Fellowship, a Southern Baptist Church in West Kendall, Florida.
In 1998, Rubio married Jeanette Dousdebes, a former bank teller and Miami Dolphins cheerleader, in a Catholic ceremony at the Church of the Little Flower. They have four children. Rubio and his family live in West Miami, Florida.
As of 2018, according to OpenSecrets.org, Rubio's net worth was negative, owing more than $1.8 million.
Electoral history
Writings
Honors
Rubio has been awarded the following foreign honor:
Commander of the Order of the Star of Romania, Romania (June 8, 2017)
See also
Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act
Republican Party presidential candidates, 2016
Florida Republican primary, 2016
List of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States Congress
References
External links
Florida House of Representatives – Marco Rubio
Senator Marco Rubio official U.S. Senate website
Marco Rubio for U.S. Senate official campaign website
Public statement on the Impeachment trial of Donald Trump
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1971 births
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
21st-century American politicians
21st-century Roman Catholics
American male non-fiction writers
21st-century American memoirists
American political writers
American politicians of Cuban descent
American Roman Catholics
American anti-communists
Articles containing video clips
Christians from Florida
Florida city council members
Florida International University faculty
Florida lawyers
Florida Republicans
Former Latter Day Saints
Hispanic and Latino American candidates for President of the United States
Hispanic and Latino American members of the United States Congress
Hispanic and Latino American politicians
Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Florida
Living people
Members of the Florida House of Representatives
Commanders of the Order of the Star of Romania
Republican Party United States senators from Florida
Speakers of the Florida House of Representatives
Tea Party movement activists
United States senators from Florida
University of Florida College of Liberal Arts and Sciences alumni
University of Miami School of Law alumni
Writers from Miami | false | [
"The Camberwell North by-election, 1944 was a by-election held on 31 March 1944 for the British House of Commons constituency of Camberwell North.\n\nThe by-election was triggered by the elevation to the peerage of the town's Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Charles Ammon, who was ennobled as Baron Ammon.\n\nThe Labour candidate was Cecil Manning, who was unopposed by the other parties in the wartime coalition. The only other candidate was an independent, T. F. Disher, who had also contested the previous general election in 1935. The result was one of the lowest turnouts in a by-election on record: the number of available electors was estimated at around 8,000, and Manning was elected with just 2,655 votes against Disher's 674, a majority of just 1,981.\n\nResults\n\nReferences\n\nSee also \n List of United Kingdom by-elections\n Camberwell North constituency\n\nCamberwell North,1944\nCamberwell North by-election\nCamberwell North by-election\nCamberwell North,1944\nCamberwell",
"The 2021 Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 6 May 2021 to elect members of Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections. One-third of the seats were up for election.\n\nThe election was originally scheduled for 7 May 2020, alongside the later cancelled 2020 West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner election and other local elections across the UK, but was delayed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.\n\nCouncil results\n\nPlease note that due to by elections being run in some wards, electors in those wards had two votes. This means the change in percentage of votes is not representative of the true swing.\n\nCouncil Composition\nPrior to the election the composition of the council was:\n\nAfter the election the composition of the council was:\n\nWard results\n\nBrighouse \n\nThe incumbent Scott Benton for the Conservative Party, who stood down at this election upon his election as a Member of Parliament in 2019.\n\nColin Peel, initially elected for the Conservative Party but defected to Change UK in the summer of 2019, but sought re-election as an Independent.\n\nCalder \n\nThe incumbent was Josh Fenton-Glynn for the Labour Party. The swing is expressed between Labour and Conservative. The swing was 21.31% from Liberal Democrat who were second in 2016 to Labour.\n\nElland \n\nThe incumbent was Pat Allen for the Liberal Democrats.\n\nGreetland and Stainland \n\nThe incumbents were Marilyn Greenwood for the Liberal Democrats who died in February 2021, and Paul Bellenger for the Liberal Democrats.\n\nHipperholme and Lightcliffe \n\nThe incumbent was George Robinson for the Conservative Party.\n\nIllingworth and Mixenden \n\nThe incumbent was Lisa Lambert for the Labour Party who stood down at this election. There was a swing of 19.2% from UKIP, who did not stand this time, to the Conservatives.\n\nLuddendenfoot \n\nThe incumbent was Jane Scullion for the Labour Party.\n\nNorthowram and Shelf \n\nThe incumbent was Peter Caffrey for the Conservative Party.\nThe swing is expressed between Conservative & Labour who were second in 2016. It was 10.7% from Conservative to Green.\n\nOvenden \n\nThe incumbent was Anne Collins for the Labour Party who stood down at this election.\n\nPark \n\nThe incumbent was Jenny Lynn for the Labour Party.\n\nRastrick \n\nThe incumbent was Sophie Whittaker for the Conservative Party.\n\nRyburn \n\nThe incumbent was Geraldine Carter for the Conservative Party who stood down at this election. Robert Thornber had previously held one of the other seats in this ward but lost to an independent candidate in 2019.\n\nSkircoat \n\nThe incumbent was John Hardy for the Conservative Party who stood down at this election.\n\nSowerby Bridge \n\nThe incumbent was Adam Wilkinson for the Labour Party.\n\nTodmorden \n\nThe incumbent was Steve Sweeney for the Labour Party who stood down at this election.\n\nTown \n\nThe incumbent was Megan Swift for the Labour Party.\n\nWarley \n\nThe incumbent was Ashley Evans for the Liberal Democrats.\n\nReferences \n\n2021\nCalderdale\n2020s in West Yorkshire"
] |
[
"Marco Rubio",
"Majority whip and majority leader",
"What is the majority whip?",
"National Journal described that position as typically requiring a lot of arm-twisting,",
"Why does it require arm twisting?",
"I don't know.",
"Is there anything else noteable about the majoriy whip?",
"Later in 2000, the majority leader of the House, Mike Fasano, promoted Rubio to be one of two majority whips.",
"Who was the other one?",
"I don't know."
] | C_73dbaf1c87df466ba9becc5d8faf2076_0 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 5 | Along with the position of majority whip typically requiring a lot of arm-twisting and Marco Rubio being promoted to be one of two majority whips, are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | Marco Rubio | Later in 2000, the majority leader of the House, Mike Fasano, promoted Rubio to be one of two majority whips. National Journal described that position as typically requiring a lot of arm-twisting, but said Rubio took a different approach that relied more on persuading legislators and less on coercing them. Fasano resigned in September 2001 as majority leader of the House due to disagreements with the House speaker, and the speaker passed over Rubio to appoint a more experienced replacement for Fasano. Rubio volunteered to work on redistricting, which he accomplished by dividing the state into five regions, then working individually with the lawmakers involved, and this work helped to cement his relationships with GOP leaders. In December 2002, Rubio was appointed House Majority Leader by Speaker Johnnie Byrd. He persuaded Speaker Byrd to restructure the job of Majority Leader, so that legislative wrangling would be left to the whip's office, and Rubio would become the main spokesperson for the House GOP. According to National Journal, during this period Rubio did not entirely adhere to doctrinaire conservative principles, and some colleagues described him as a centrist "who sought out Democrats and groups that don't typically align with the GOP". He co-sponsored legislation that would have let farm workers sue growers in state court if they were shortchanged on pay, and co-sponsored a bill for giving in-state tuition rates to the children of undocumented immigrants. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, he voiced suspicion about expanding police detention powers, and helped defeat a GOP bill that would have required colleges to increase reporting to the state about foreign students. As a state representative, Rubio requested legislative earmarks (called "Community Budget Issue Requests" in Florida), totaling about $145 million for 2001 and 2002, but none thereafter. Additionally, an office in the executive branch compiled a longer list of spending requests by legislators, including Rubio, as did the non-profit group Florida TaxWatch. Many of those listed items were for health and social programs that Rubio has described as "the kind of thing that legislators would get attacked on if we didn't fund them." A 2010 report by the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald said that some of Rubio's spending requests dovetailed with his personal interests. For example, Rubio requested a $20 million appropriation for Jackson Memorial Hospital to subsidize care for the poor and uninsured, and Rubio later did work for that hospital as a consultant. A spokesman for Rubio has said that the items in question helped the whole county, that Rubio did not lobby to get them approved, that the hospital money was necessary and non-controversial, and that Rubio is "a limited-government conservative ... not a no-government conservative". CANNOTANSWER | According to National Journal, during this period Rubio did not entirely adhere to doctrinaire conservative principles, | Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 28, 1971) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States Senator from Florida, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives from 2006 to 2008. Rubio unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 2016, winning presidential primaries in Minnesota, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Rubio is a Cuban American from Miami, Florida. After serving as a city commissioner for West Miami in the 1990s, he was elected to represent the 111th district in the Florida House of Representatives in 2000. Subsequently, he was elected speaker of the Florida House; he served for two years beginning in November 2006. Upon leaving the Florida Legislature in 2008 due to term limits, Rubio taught at Florida International University.
Rubio was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010. In April 2015, he decided to run for president instead of seeking reelection to the Senate. He suspended his campaign for the presidency on March 15, 2016, after losing the Florida Republican primary to the eventual winner of the presidential election, Donald Trump. He then decided to run for reelection to the Senate, winning a second term later that year. During the 2016 Republican presidential primary campaign in which Rubio and Trump were opponents, Rubio was critical of Trump. Rubio ultimately endorsed Trump before the 2016 general election and was largely supportive of Trump during his presidency. Due to his influence on U.S. policy on Latin America during the Trump Administration, he was described as a "virtual secretary of state for Latin America."
Early life and education
Marco Antonio Rubio was born in Miami, Florida, the second son and third child of Mario Rubio Reina and Oriales (née Garcia) Rubio. His parents were Cubans who immigrated to the United States in 1956 during the regime of Fulgencio Batista, two and a half years before Fidel Castro ascended to power after the Cuban Revolution. His mother made at least four return trips to Cuba after Castro's takeover, including a month-long trip in 1961. Neither of Rubio's parents was a U.S. citizen at the time of Rubio's birth, but his parents applied for U.S. citizenship and were naturalized in 1975. Some relatives of Rubio's were admitted to the U.S. as refugees.
Rubio's maternal grandfather, Pedro Victor Garcia, immigrated to the U.S. legally in 1956, but returned to Cuba to find work in 1959. When he fled communist Cuba and returned to the U.S. in 1962 without a visa, he was detained as an undocumented immigrant and an immigration judge ordered him to be deported. Immigration officials reversed their decision later that day, the deportation order was not enforced, and Garcia was given a legal status of "parolee" that allowed him to stay in the U.S. Garcia re-applied for permanent resident status in 1966 following passage of the Cuban Adjustment Act, at which point his residency was approved. Rubio enjoyed a close relationship with his grandfather during his childhood.
In October 2011, The Washington Post reported that Rubio's previous statements that his parents were forced to leave Cuba in 1959 (after Fidel Castro came to power) were embellishments. His parents actually left Cuba in 1956, during the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. According to the Post, "[in] Florida, being connected to the post-revolution exile community gives a politician cachet that could never be achieved by someone identified with the pre-Castro exodus, a group sometimes viewed with suspicion." Rubio denied that he had embellished his family history, stating that his public statements about his family were based on "family lore". Rubio asserted that his parents intended to return to Cuba in the 1960s. He added that his mother took his two elder siblings back to Cuba in 1961 with the intention of living there permanently (his father remained behind in Miami "wrapping up the family's matters"), but the nation's move toward communism caused the family to change its plans. Rubio stated that "[the] essence of my family story is why they came to America in the first place; and why they had to stay."
Rubio has three siblings: older brother Mario, older sister Barbara (married to Orlando Cicilia), and younger sister Veronica (formerly married to entertainer Carlos Ponce). Growing up, his family was Catholic, though from age8 to age11 he and his family attended The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while living in Las Vegas. During those years in Nevada, his father worked as a bartender at Sam's Town Hotel and his mother as a housekeeper at the Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino. He received his first communion as a Catholic in 1984 before moving back to Miami with his family a year later. He was confirmed and later married in the Catholic Church.
Rubio attended South Miami Senior High School, graduating in 1989. He attended Tarkio College in Missouri for one year on a football scholarship before enrolling at Santa Fe Community College (now Santa Fe College) in Gainesville, Florida. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Florida in 1993 and his Juris Doctor cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law in 1996. Rubio has said that he incurred $100,000 in student loans. He paid off those loans in 2012.
Early career
While studying law, Rubio interned for U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. He also worked on Republican senator Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign. In April 1998, two years after finishing law school, Rubio was elected to a seat as city commissioner for West Miami. He became a member of the Florida House of Representatives in early 2000.
Florida House of Representatives
Elections and concurrent employment
In late 1999, a special election was called to fill the seat for the 111th House District in the Florida House of Representatives, representing Miami. It was considered a safe Republican seat, so Rubio's main challenge was to win the GOP nomination. He campaigned as a moderate, advocating tax cuts and early childhood education.
Rubio placed second in the Republican primary on December 14, 1999, but won the run-off election for the Republican nomination, defeating Angel Zayon (a television and radio reporter who was popular with Cuban exiles) by just 64 votes. He then defeated Democrat Anastasia Garcia with 72% of the vote in a January 25, 2000, special election.
In November 2000, Rubio won re-election unopposed. In 2002, he won re-election to a second full term unopposed. In 2004, he won re-election to a third full term with 66% of the vote. In 2006, he won re-election to a fourth full term unopposed.
Rubio spent almost nine years in the Florida House of Representatives. Since the Florida legislative session officially lasted only sixty days, he spent about half of each year in Miami, where he practiced law, first at a law firm that specialized in land use and zoning until 2014 when he took a position with Broad and Cassel, a Miami law and lobbying firm (though state law precluded him from engaging in lobbying or introducing legislation on behalf of the firm's clients).
Tenure
When Rubio took his seat in the legislature in Tallahassee in January 2000, voters in Florida had recently approved a constitutional amendment on term limits. This created openings for new legislative leaders due to many senior incumbents having to retire. According to an article in National Journal, Rubio also gained an extra advantage in that regard, because he was sworn in early due to the special election, and he would take advantage of these opportunities to join the GOP leadership.
Majority whip and majority leader
Later in 2000, the majority leader of the House, Mike Fasano, promoted Rubio to be one of two majority whips. National Journal described that position as typically requiring a lot of arm-twisting, but said Rubio took a different approach that relied more on persuading legislators and less on coercing them.
Fasano resigned in September 2001 as majority leader of the House due to disagreements with the House speaker, and the speaker passed over Rubio to appoint a more experienced replacement for Fasano. Rubio volunteered to work on redistricting, which he accomplished by dividing the state into five regions, then working individually with the lawmakers involved, and this work helped to cement his relationships with GOP leaders.
In December 2002, Rubio was appointed House majority leader by Speaker Johnnie Byrd. He persuaded Speaker Byrd to restructure the job of majority leader, so that legislative wrangling would be left to the whip's office, and Rubio would become the main spokesperson for the House GOP.
According to National Journal, during this period Rubio did not entirely adhere to doctrinaire conservative principles, and some colleagues described him as a centrist "who sought out Democrats and groups that don’t typically align with the GOP". He co-sponsored legislation that would have let farmworkers sue growers in state court if they were shortchanged on pay, and co-sponsored a bill for giving in-state tuition rates to the children of undocumented immigrants. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, he voiced suspicion about expanding police detention powers and helped defeat a GOP bill that would have required colleges to increase reporting to the state about foreign students.
As a state representative, Rubio requested legislative earmarks (called "Community Budget Issue Requests" in Florida), totaling about $145million for 2001 and 2002, but none thereafter. Additionally, an office in the executive branch compiled a longer list of spending requests by legislators, including Rubio, as did the non-profit group Florida TaxWatch. Many of those listed items were for health and social programs that Rubio has described as "the kind of thing that legislators would get attacked on if we didn't fund them". A 2010 report by the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald said that some of Rubio's spending requests dovetailed with his personal interests. For example, Rubio requested a $20million appropriation for Jackson Memorial Hospital to subsidize care for the poor and uninsured, and Rubio later did work for that hospital as a consultant. A spokesman for Rubio has said that the items in question helped the whole county, that Rubio did not lobby to get them approved, that the hospital money was necessary and non-controversial, and that Rubio is "a limited-government conservative... not a no-government conservative".
House speaker
On September 13, 2005, at age 34, Rubio became speaker after State Representatives Dennis Baxley, Jeff Kottkamp, and Dennis A. Ross dropped out. He was sworn in a year later, in November 2006. He became the first Cuban American to be speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, and would remain speaker until November 2008.
When he was chosen as future speaker in 2005, Rubio delivered a speech to the House in which he asked members to look in their desks, where they each found a hardcover book titled 100 Innovative Ideas For Florida's Future; but the book was blank because it had not yet been written, and Rubio told his colleagues that they would fill in the pages together with the help of ordinary Floridians. In 2006, after traveling around the state and talking with citizens, and compiling their ideas, Rubio published the book. The National Journal called this book "the centerpiece of Rubio's early speakership". About 24 of the "ideas" became law, while another 10 were partially enacted. Among the items from his 2006 book that became law were multiple-year car registrations, a requirement that high schools provide more vocational courses, and an expanded voucher-like school-choice program. Rubio's defenders, and some critics, point out that nationwide economic difficulties overlapped with much of Rubio's speakership, and so funding new legislative proposals became difficult.
As Rubio took office as Speaker, Jeb Bush was completing his term as governor, and Bush left office in January 2007. Rubio hired 18 Bush aides, leading capitol insiders to say the speaker's suite was "the governor's office in exile". An article in National Journal described Rubio's style as being very different from Bush's; where Bush was a very assertive manager of affairs in Tallahassee, Rubio's style was to delegate certain powers, relinquish others, and invite political rivals into his inner circle. As the incoming speaker, he decided to open a private dining room for legislators, which he said would give members more privacy, free from being pursued by lobbyists, though the expense led to a public relations problem.
In 2006, Florida enacted into law limitations upon the authority of the state government to take private property, in response to the 2005 Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. City of New London which took a broad view of governmental power to take private property under eminent domain. This state legislation had been proposed by a special committee chaired by Rubio prior to his speakership.
Jeb Bush was succeeded by Charlie Crist, a moderate Republican who took office in January 2007. Rubio and Crist clashed frequently. Their sharpest clash involved the governor's initiative to expand casino gambling in Florida. Rubio sued Crist for bypassing the Florida Legislature in order to make a deal with the Seminole Tribe. The Florida Supreme Court sided with Rubio and blocked the deal.
Rubio also was a critic of Crist's strategy to fight climate change through an executive order creating new automobile and utility emissions standards. Rubio accused Crist of imposing "European-style big government mandates", and the legislature under Rubio's leadership weakened the impact of Crist's climate change initiative. Rubio said that Crist's approach would harm consumers by driving up utility bills without having much effect upon the environment, and that a better approach would be to promote biofuel (e.g. ethanol), solar panels, and energy efficiency.
Rubio introduced a plan to reduce state property taxes to 2001 levels (and potentially eliminate them altogether), while increasing sales taxes by 1% to 2.5% to fund schools. The proposal would have reduced property taxes in the state by $40–50billion. His proposal passed the House, but was opposed by Governor Crist and Florida Senate Republicans, who said that the increase in sales tax would disproportionately affect the poor. So, Rubio agreed to smaller changes, and Crist's proposal to double the state's property tax exemption from $25,000 to $50,000 (for a tax reduction estimated by Crist to be $33billion) ultimately passed. Legislators called it the largest tax cut in Florida's history up until then. At the time, Republican anti-tax activist Grover Norquist described Rubio as "the most pro-taxpayer legislative leader in the country".
As Speaker, Rubio "aggressively tried to push Florida to the political right", according to NBC News, and frequently clashed with the Florida Senate, which was run by more moderate Republicans, and with then-Governor Charlie Crist, a centrist Republican at the time. Although a conservative, "behind the scenes many Democrats considered Rubio someone with whom they could work," according to biographer Manuel Roig-Franzia. Dan Gelber of Miami, the House Democratic leader at the time of Rubio's speakership, considered him "a true conservative" but not "a reflexive partisan", saying: "He didn't have an objection to working with the other side simply because they were the other side. To put it bluntly, he wasn't a jerk." Gelber considered Rubio "a severe conservative, really far to the right, but probably the most talented spokesman the severe right could ever hope for."
While speaker of the Florida House, Rubio shared a residence in Tallahassee with another Florida State Representative, David Rivera, which the two co-owned. The house later went into foreclosure in 2010 after several missed mortgage payments. At that point, Rubio assumed responsibility for the payments, and the house was eventually sold.
In 2007, Florida state senator Tony Hill (D-Jacksonville), chairman of the state legislature's Black Caucus, requested that the legislature apologize for slavery, and Rubio said the idea merited discussion. The following year, a supportive Rubio said such apologies can be important albeit symbolic; he pointed out that even in 2008 young African-American males "believe that the American dream is not available to them". He helped set up a council on issues facing black men and boys, persuaded colleagues to replicate the Harlem Children's Zone in the Miami neighborhood of Liberty City, and supported efforts to promote literacy and mentoring for black children and others.
In 2010 during Rubio's Senate campaign, and again in 2015 during his presidential campaign, issues were raised by the media and his political opponents about some items charged by Rubio to his Republican Party of Florida American Express card during his time as House speaker. Rubio charged about $110,000 during those two years, of which $16,000 was personal expenses unrelated to party business, such as groceries and plane tickets. Rubio said that he personally paid American Express more than $16,000 for these personal expenses. In 2012, the Florida Commission on Ethics cleared Rubio of wrongdoing in his use of the party-issued credit card, although the commission inspector said that Rubio exhibited a "level of negligence" in not using his personal MasterCard. In November 2015, Rubio released his party credit card statements for January 2005 through October 2006, which showed eight personal charges totaling $7,243.74, all of which he had personally reimbursed, in most instances by the next billing period. When releasing the charge records, Rubio spokesman Todd Harris said, "These statements are more than 10 years old. And the only people who ask about them today are the liberal media and our political opponents. We are releasing them now because Marco has nothing to hide."
Professorship
After leaving the Florida Legislature in 2008, Rubio began teaching under a fellowship appointment at Florida International University (FIU) as an adjunct professor. In 2011, after entering the U.S. Senate, he rejoined the FIU faculty. Rubio teaches in the Department of Politics and International Relations, which is part of FIU's Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs. He has taught undergraduate courses on Florida politics, political parties, and legislative politics.
Rubio's appointment as an FIU professor was initially criticized. The university obtained considerable state funding when Rubio was speaker of the Florida House, and many other university jobs were being eliminated due to funding issues at the time FIU appointed him to the faculty. When Rubio accepted the fellowship appointment as an adjunct professor at FIU, he agreed to raise most of the funding for his position from private sources.
U.S. Senate
Elections
2010
On May 5, 2009, Rubio stated his intent to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mel Martínez, who had decided not to seek re-election and subsequently resigned before completing his term. Prior to launching his campaign, Rubio had met with fundraisers and supporters throughout the state. Initially trailing by double digits in the primary against the incumbent governor of his own party, Charlie Crist, Rubio eventually surpassed Crist in polling for the Republican nomination. In his campaign, Rubio received the support of members of the Tea Party, many of whom were dissatisfied with Crist's policies as governor. On April 28, 2010, Crist stated he would be running without a party affiliation, effectively ceding the Republican nomination to Rubio. Several of Crist's top fundraisers, as well as Republican leadership, refused to support Crist after Rubio won the Republican nomination for the Senate.
On November 2, 2010, Rubio won the general election with 49 percent of the vote to Crist's 30% and Democrat Kendrick Meek's 20%. When Rubio was sworn in to the U.S. Senate, he and Bob Menendez of New Jersey were the only two Latino Americans in the Senate.
2016
In April 2015, Rubio decided to run for president instead of seeking re-election to the Senate. After suspending his presidential campaign on March 15, 2016, Rubio "seemed to open the door to running for re-election" on June 13, 2016, citing the previous day's Orlando nightclub shooting and how "it really gives you pause, to think a little bit about your service to your country and where you can be most useful to your country." Rubio officially started his campaign nine days later, on June 22. Rubio won the Republican primary on August 30, 2016, defeating Carlos Beruff. He faced Democratic nominee Patrick Murphy in the general election, defeating him with almost 52% of the vote.
Tenure as senator
During Rubio's first four years in the U.S. Senate, Republicans were in the minority. After the 2014 midterm elections, the Republicans obtained majority control of the Senate, giving Rubio and the Republicans vast federal influence during the final two years of Barack Obama's presidency, as well as during all four years of Donald Trump's presidency. After the 2020 elections, the Democrats regained majority control of the Senate, and Rubio has reassumed minority status within the Senate.
2011–2015
Shortly after taking office in 2011, Rubio said he had no interest in running for president or vice president in the 2012 presidential election. In March 2012, when he endorsed Mitt Romney for president, Rubio said that he did not expect to be or want to be selected as a vice presidential running mate, but was vetted for vice president by the Romney campaign. Former Romney aide Beth Myers has said that the vetting process turned up nothing disqualifying about Rubio.
Upon taking office, Rubio hired Cesar Conda as his chief of staff. Conda, a former adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney, and former top aide to Sens. Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.) and Robert Kasten (R-Wis.), was succeeded in 2014 as Rubio's chief of staff by his deputy, Alberto Martinez, but Conda remained as a part-time adviser.
During his first year in office, Rubio became an influential defender of the United States embargo against Cuba and induced the State Department to withdraw an ambassadorial nomination of Jonathan D. Farrar, who was the Chief of Mission of the United States Interests Section in Havana from 2008 to 2011. Rubio believed that Farrar was not assertive enough toward the Castro regime. Also in 2011, Rubio was invited to visit the Reagan Library, during which he gave a well-publicized speech praising its namesake, and also rescued Nancy Reagan from falling.
In March 2011, Rubio supported U.S. participation in the military campaign in Libya to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. He urged that Senate leaders bring "a bi-partisan resolution to the Senate floor authorizing the president's decision to participate in allied military action in Libya". The administration decided that no congressional authorization was needed under the War Powers Resolution; Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) joined Rubio in writing an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal in June 2011 again urging passage of such authorization. In October 2011, Rubio joined several other senators in pushing for continued engagement to "help Libya lay the foundation for sustainable security". Soon after Gadhafi was ousted, Rubio warned there was a serious threat posed by the spread of militias and weapons, and called for more U.S. involvement to counter that threat.
Rubio voted against the Budget Control Act of 2011, which included mandatory automatic budget cuts from sequestration. He later said that defense spending should never have been linked to taxes and the deficit, calling the policy a "terrible idea" based on a "false choice".
The following month, Rubio and Senator Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware, co-sponsored the American Growth, Recovery, Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Act (AGREE Act), which would have extended many tax credits and exemptions for businesses investing in research and development, equipment, and other capital; provided a tax credit for veterans who start a business franchise; allowed an increase in immigration for certain types of work visas; and strengthened copyright protections.
Rubio voted against the 2012 "fiscal cliff" resolutions. Although he received some criticism for this position, he responded: "Thousands of small businesses, not just the wealthy, will now be forced to decide how they'll pay this new tax, and, chances are, they'll do it by firing employees, cutting back their hours and benefits, or postponing the new hires they were looking to make. And to make matters worse, it does nothing to bring our dangerous debt under control."
In 2013, Rubio was part of the bipartisan "Gang of Eight" senators that crafted comprehensive immigration reform legislation. Rubio proposed a plan providing a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States involving payment of fines and back taxes, background checks, and a probationary period; that pathway was to be implemented only after strengthening border security. The bill passed the Senate 68 to 32 with his support, but Rubio then signaled that the bill should not be taken up by the House because other priorities, like repealing Obamacare, were a higher priority for him; the House never did take up the bill. Rubio has since explained that he still supports reform, but a different approach instead of a single comprehensive bill.
Rubio was chosen to deliver the Republican response to President Obama's 2013 State of the Union Address. It marked the first time the response was delivered in English and Spanish. Rubio's attempt to draw a strong line against the looming defense sequestration was undercut by fellow Republican senator Rand Paul's additional response to Obama's speech that called for the sequester to be carried out.
In April 2013, Rubio voted against an expansion of background checks for gun purchases, contending that such increased regulatory measures would do little to help capture criminals.
Rubio voted against publishing the Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture. In 2016, Rubio said the U.S. should "find out everything they know" from captured terrorists and should not telegraph "the enemy what interrogation techniques we will or won't use."
2015–2021
Republicans took control of the U.S. Senate as a result of the elections in November 2014. As this new period of Republican control began, Rubio pushed for the elimination of the "risk corridors" used by the federal government to compensate insurers for their losses as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The risk corridors were intended to be funded by profitable insurers participating in the PPACA, but since insurer losses have significantly exceeded their profits in the program, the risk corridors have been depleted. His efforts contributed to the inclusion of a provision in the 2014 federal budget that prevented other funding sources from being tapped to replenish the risk corridors.
In March 2015, Rubio and Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, proposed a tax plan that according to The Wall Street Journal, combined thinking from "old-fashioned, Reagan-era supply-siders" and a "breed of largely younger conservative reform thinkers" concerned with the tax burden on the middle class. The plan would lower the top corporate income tax rate from 38% to 25%, eliminate taxes on capital gains, dividends, and inherited estates, and create a new child tax credit worth up to $2,500 per child. The plan would set the top individual income tax rate at 35%. It also included a proposal to replace the means-tested welfare system, including food stamps and the Earned Income Tax Credit, with a new "consolidated system of benefits".
According to analysis by Vocativ as reported by Fox News, Rubio missed 8.3% of total votes from January 2011 to February 2015. From October 27, 2014, to October 26, 2015, Rubio voted in 74% of Senate votes, according to an analysis by GovTrack.us, which tracks congressional voting records. In 2015, Rubio was absent for about 35% of Senate votes. In historical context Rubio's attendance record for Senate votes is not exceptional among senators seeking a presidential nomination; John McCain missed a much higher percentage of votes in 2007. But it was the worst of the three senators who campaigned for the presidency in 2015.
During his Senate tenure, Rubio has co-sponsored bills on issues ranging from humanitarian crises in Haiti to the Russian incursion into Ukraine, and was a frequent and prominent critic of Obama's efforts in national security.
On May 17, 2016, Rubio broke from the Republican majority in his support of Obama's request for $2 billion in emergency spending on the Zika virus at a time when Florida accounted for roughly 20% of the recorded cases of Zika in the U.S., acknowledging that it was the president's request but adding, "it's really the scientists' request, the doctors' request, the public health sector's request for how to address this issue." On August 6, Rubio said he did not believe in terminating Zika-infected pregnancies.
On December 13, after President-elect Trump nominated Rex Tillerson as his Secretary of State in the incoming administration, Rubio expressed concern about the selection. On January 11, Rubio questioned Tillerson during a Senate committee hearing on his confirmation, saying afterward he would "do what's right". On January 23, Rubio said that he would vote to confirm Tillerson, saying that a delay in the appointment would be counter to national interests.
On April 5, 2017, Rubio said Bashar al-Assad felt he could act with "impunity" in knowing the United States was not prioritizing removing him from office. The next day, Rubio praised Trump's ordered strike: "By acting decisively against the very facility from which Assad launched his murderous chemical weapons attack, President Trump has made it clear to Assad and those who empower him that the days of committing war crimes with impunity are over."
In September 2017, Rubio defended Trump's decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. He called the program, which provided temporary stay for some undocumented immigrants brought into the U.S. as minors, "unconstitutional".
In the first session of the 115th United States Congress, Rubio was ranked the tenth most bipartisan senator by the Bipartisan Index, published by The Lugar Center and Georgetown's McCourt School of Public Policy.
While ballots were being counted in a close Florida Senate race between Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson and Republican challenger Rick Scott, Rubio claimed without evidence that Democrats were conspiring with election officials to illicitly install Nelson. He claimed without evidence that "Democrat lawyers" were descending on Florida and that "they have been very clear they aren't here to make sure every vote is counted." He claimed that Broward County officials were engaged in "ongoing" legal violations, without specifying what those were. Election monitors found no evidence of voter fraud in Broward County, and the Florida State Department found no evidence of criminal activity.
In 2019, Rubio defended Trump's decision to host the G7 conference at the Trump National Doral Miami, a resort Trump owns. Rubio called the decision "great" and said it would be good for local businesses.
In 2020, Rubio supported the nomination of Judy Shelton to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Shelton had received bipartisan criticism over her support for the gold standard and other unorthodox monetary policy views.
After Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 presidential election and Trump made false claims of election fraud, Rubio defended Trump's right to assert said claims and challenge the election results, saying any "irregularities" and "claims of broken election laws" could not be claimed false until the courts ruled on them. Rubio later shifted his rhetoric to saying that concerns from Republican voters over "potential irregularities" in the election demanded redress. By November 23, 2020, Rubio referred to Biden as president-elect.
Rubio described the 2021 United States Capitol attack as unpatriotic and "3rd world-style anti-American anarchy". Of the rioters, Rubio said some of them were adherents "to a conspiracy theory and others got caught up in the moment. The result was a national embarrassment." After Congress was allowed to return to session, Rubio voted to certify the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count. In February 2021, Rubio voted to acquit Trump for his role in inciting the mob to storm the Capitol.
On May 28, 2021, Rubio voted against creating the January 6 commission.
Committee assignments
Rubio's committee memberships are as follows:
Committee on Appropriations
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Select Committee on Intelligence (Ranking Member)
Committee on Foreign Relations
Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women's Issues (Ranking Member)
Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy
Subcommittee on State Department and USAID Management, International Operations, and Bilateral International Development
Special Committee on Aging
Caucuses
Senate Republican Conference
2016 presidential campaign
Rubio said in April 2014 that he would not run for both the Senate and president in 2016, as Florida law prohibits a candidate from appearing twice on a ballot, but at that time he did not rule out running for either office. He later indicated that even if he would not win the Republican nomination for president, he would not run for reelection to the Senate. Also in April 2014, the departure of Cesar Conda, Rubio's chief of staff since 2011, was seen as a sign of Rubio's plans to run for president in 2016. Conda departed to lead Rubio's Reclaim America PAC as a senior adviser. Groups supporting Rubio raised over $530,000 in the first three months of 2014, most of which was spent on consultants and data analytics, in what was seen as preparations for a presidential campaign.
A poll from the WMUR/University, tracking New Hampshire Republican primary voters' sentiment, showed Rubio at the top alongside Kentucky senator Rand Paul later in 2013, but as of April 18, 2014, he had dropped to 10th place behind other Republican contenders. The poll, however, also suggested that Rubio was not disliked by the primary voters, which was thought to be positive for him if other candidates had chosen not to run. Rubio placed second among potential 2016 Republican presidential candidates in an online poll of likely voters conducted by Zogby Analytics in January 2015.
In January 2015, it was reported that Rubio had begun contacting top donors and appointing advisors for a potential 2016 run, including George Seay, who previously worked on such campaigns as Rick Perry's in 2012 and Mitt Romney's in 2008, and Jim Rubright, who had previously worked for Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, and John McCain. Rubio also instructed his aides to "prepare for a presidential campaign" prior to a Team Marco 2016 fundraising meeting in South Beach.
On April 13, 2015, Rubio launched his campaign for president in 2016. Rubio was believed to be a viable candidate for the 2016 presidential race who could attract many parts of the GOP base, partly because of his youthfulness and oratorical skill. Rubio had pitched his candidacy as an effort to restore the American Dream for middle and working-class families, who might have found his background as a working-class Cuban-American appealing.
Republican primaries
In the first Republican primary, the February1 Iowa caucuses, Rubio finished third, behind candidates Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. During a nationally televised debate among Republican candidates in New Hampshire on February 6, 2016, Rubio was criticized by rival Chris Christie for speaking repetitiously and sounding scripted. On February 9, when he placed fifth in the New Hampshire primary results, Rubio took the blame and acknowledged a poor debate performance. In the third Republican contest, the South Carolina primary on February 20, Rubio finished second, but did not gain any delegates as Trump won all of South Carolina's congressional districts and thus delegates. Jeb Bush left the race that day, leading to a surge in campaign donations and endorsements to Rubio. On February 23, Rubio finished second in the Nevada caucuses, again losing to Trump. Trump called Rubio's remarks at the February 25 debate "robotic" due to Rubio's repeated use of the same talking points; Rubio was later followed by hecklers who were dressed as robots.
At another Republican debate on February 25, Rubio repeatedly criticized frontrunner candidate Donald Trump. It was described by CNN as a "turning point in style" as Rubio had previously largely ignored Trump during his campaign, and this deviated from Rubio's signature "optimistic campaign message". The next day Rubio continued turning Trump's attacks against him, even ridiculing Trump's physical appearance. On March 1, called 'Super Tuesday' with eleven Republican contests on that day, Rubio's sole victory was in Minnesota, the first state he had won since voting began a month prior. Rubio went on to win further contests in Puerto Rico on March6 and the District of Columbia on March 12, but lost eight other contests from March5 to 8. Around that time, Rubio revealed he was not "entirely proud" of his personal attacks on Trump.
On March 15, Rubio suspended his campaign after placing second in his own home state of Florida. Hours earlier, Rubio had expressed expectations for a Florida win, and said he would continue to campaign (in Utah) "irrespective of" that night's results. The result was that Rubio won 27.0% of the Florida vote, while Trump won 45.7% and all of Florida's delegates. The conclusion of the six March 15 contests (out of which Rubio won none) left Rubio with 169 delegates on the race to reach 1237, but Ted Cruz already had 411 and Trump 673. On March 17, Rubio ruled out runs for the vice-presidency, governorship of Florida and even re-election for his senate seat. He stated only that he would be a "private citizen" by January 2017, leading to some media speculation of the termination of his political career.
After candidacy
On April 12, during an interview with Mark Levin, Rubio expressed his wishes that Republicans would nominate a conservative candidate, name-dropping Cruz. This was interpreted as an endorsement of Cruz, though Rubio clarified the following day that he had only been answering a question. Rubio would later explain his decision to not endorse Cruz being due to his belief that the endorsement would not significantly benefit him and a desire to let the election cycle play out. On April 22, Rubio said he was not interested in being the vice presidential candidate to any of the remaining GOP contenders. On May 16, Rubio posted several tweets in which he critiqued sources reporting that he despised the Senate and a Washington Post story that claimed he was unsure of his next move after his unsuccessful presidential bid, typing, "I have only said like 10000 times I will be a private citizen in January."
On May 18, after Trump expressed a willingness to meet with Kim Jong-un, Rubio said Kim was "not a stable person" and furthered that Trump was open to the meeting only due to inexperience with the North Korea leader. On May 26, Rubio told reporters that he was backing Trump due to his view that the presumptive nominee was a better choice than Hillary Clinton for the presidency and that as president, Trump would sign a repeal of the Affordable Care Act and replace the late Antonin Scalia with another conservative Supreme Court Justice. He also confirmed that he would be attending the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, where he intended to release his pledged delegates to support Trump. On May 29, Rubio continued disavowing vice presidential speculation but indicated an interest in playing a role in Trump's campaign. On June 6, Rubio rebuked Trump's comments on Gonzalo P. Curiel, who Trump accused of being biased against him on the basis of his ethnicity, as "offensive" while speaking with reporters, advising that Trump should cease defending the remarks and defending the judge as "an American".
On July 6, Olivia Perez-Cubas, Rubio's Senate campaign spokeswoman, said he would not be attending the Republican National Convention due to planned campaigning on the days the convention was scheduled to take place.
During the Republican primary campaign in which Rubio and Donald Trump were opponents, Rubio criticized Trump, including, in February 2016, calling Trump a "con artist" and saying that Trump is "wholly unprepared to be president of the United States". In June 2016, after Trump became the presumptive GOP nominee, Rubio reaffirmed his February 2016 comments that we must not hand "the nuclear codes of the United States to an erratic individual". However, after Trump won the Republican Party's nomination, Rubio endorsed him on July 20, 2016. Following the October 7, 2016, Donald Trump Access Hollywood controversy, Rubio wrote that "Donald's comments were vulgar, egregious & impossible to justify. No one should ever talk about any woman in those terms, even in private." On October 11, 2016, Rubio reaffirmed his support of Trump. On October 25, 2016, it was reported that Rubio was booed off a stage for endorsing Trump by a crowd of mostly Latino voters, at the annual Calle Orange street festival in downtown Orlando.
Political positions
As of early 2015, Rubio had a rating of 98.67 by the American Conservative Union, based on his lifetime voting record in the Senate. According to the National Journal, in 2013 Rubio was the 17th most conservative senator. The Club for Growth gave Rubio ratings of 93 percent and 91 percent based on his voting record in 2014 and 2013 respectively, and he has a lifetime rating from the organization above 90 percent.
Rubio initially won his U.S. Senate seat with strong Tea Party backing, but his 2013 support for comprehensive immigration reform legislation led to a decline in their support for him. Rubio's stance on military, foreign policy, and national security issuessuch as his support for arming the Syrian rebels and for the NSAalienated some libertarian Tea Party activists.
Rubio supports balancing the federal budget, while prioritizing defense spending. He rejects the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change, which is that climate change is real, progressing, harmful, and primarily caused by humans, arguing that human activity does not play a major role and claiming that proposals to address climate change would be ineffective and economically harmful. He opposes the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and has voted to repeal it. He opposes net neutrality, a policy that requires Internet service providers to treat data on the Internet the same regardless of its source or content. Early in his Senate tenure, Rubio was involved in bipartisan negotiations to provide a pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants while implementing various measures to strengthen the U.S. border; the bill passed the Senate but was blocked by immigration hardliners in the House. Over time, Rubio distanced himself from his previous efforts to reach a compromise on immigration, and developed more hardline views on immigration, rejecting bipartisan immigration reform efforts in 2018.
Rubio is an outspoken opponent of abortion. He has said that he would ban it even in cases of rape and incest, but with exceptions if the mother's life is in danger.
Rubio has expressed caution about efforts to reduce penalties for drug crimes, saying that "too often" the conversation about criminal justice reform "starts and ends with drug policy". He has said that he would be open to legalizing non-psychoactive forms of cannabis for medical use, but otherwise opposes its legalization for recreational and medical purposes. Rubio has said that if elected president he would enforce federal law in states that have legalized cannabis.
Rubio supports setting corporate taxes at 25%, reforming the tax code, and capping economic regulations, and proposes to increase the social security retirement age based on longer life expectancy. He supports expanding public charter schools, opposes Common Core State Standards, and advocates closing the federal Department of Education.
Rubio supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq and military intervention in Libya. Rubio voiced support for a Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen against Houthi rebels. Regarding Iran, he supports tough sanctions, and scrapping the recent nuclear deal; on the Islamic State, he favors aiding local Sunni forces in Iraq and Syria. Rubio says that, because background checks cannot be done under present circumstances, the United States cannot accept more Syrian refugees. He supports working with allies to set up no-fly zones in Syria to protect civilians from Bashar al-Assad. He favors collection of bulk metadata for purposes of national security. He has said that gun control laws consistently fail to achieve their purpose. He is supportive of the Trans Pacific Partnership, saying that the U.S. risks being excluded from global trade unless it is more open to trade. He is wary of China regarding national security and human rights, and wants to boost the U.S. military presence in that region but hopes for greater economic growth as a result of trading with that country. He also believes the U.S. should support democracy, freedom, and true autonomy of the people of Hong Kong. On capital punishment, Rubio favors streamlining the appeals process.
Rubio condemned the genocide of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar and called for a stronger response to the crisis. Rubio is a staunch supporter of Israel. He is a co-sponsor of a Senate resolution expressing objection to the UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which condemned Israeli settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories as a violation of international law. Rubio condemned Turkey's wide-ranging crackdown on dissent following a failed July 2016 coup.
At a February 2018 CNN town hall event in the wake of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Rubio defended his record of accepting contributions from the National Rifle Association (NRA), saying, "The influence of these groups comes not from money. The influence comes from the millions of people that agree with the agenda, the millions of Americans that support the NRA."
In March 2018, Rubio defended the decision of the Trump administration to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. Experts noted that the inclusion of such a question would likely result in severe undercounting of the population and faulty data, as undocumented immigrants would be less likely to respond to the census. Fellow Republican members of Congress from Florida, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart, criticized the Trump administration's decision on the basis that it could lead to a faulty census and disadvantage Florida in terms of congressional apportionment and fund apportionment.
In July 2018, Rubio offered an amendment to a major congressional spending bill to potentially force companies that purchase real estate in cash to disclose their owners as "an attempt to root out criminals who use illicit funds and anonymous shell companies to buy homes".
On August 28, 2018, Rubio and 16 other members of Congress urged the United States to impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act against Chinese officials who are responsible for human rights abuses against the Uyghur Muslim minority in Xinjiang.
Rubio opposed the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"). On April 27, 2020, the US Supreme Court voted 8–1 to defeat his attempt to undermine the Act.
In March 2016, Rubio opposed President Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, saying, "I don't think we should be moving forward with a nominee in the last year of this president's term. I would say that even if it was a Republican president." In September 2020, Rubio applauded Trump's nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the court after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death, voting to confirm her on October 26, 86 days before the expiration of Trump's presidential term. No Democrat voted for her, nor did Maine's independent Angus King, Republican Susan Collins, or Vermont independent Bernie Sanders.
Rubio has a mixed relationship with Donald Trump. During the Republican primaries in the 2016 presidential election, they harshly criticized each other. But during Trump's presidency, Rubio "[supported] just about everything Trump said and did", according to the Sun-Sentinel.
In May 2021, Rubio argued that "Wall Street must stop enabling Communist China" in The American Prospect and on his website. "Americans from across the political spectrum should feel emboldened by the growing bipartisan awakening to the threat that the CCP poses to American workers, families, and communities", he wrote. "As we deploy legislative solutions to tackle this challenge, Democrats must not allow our corporate and financial sectors’ leftward shift on social issues to blind them to the enormity of China as a geo-economic threat."
Personal life
Rubio is a Roman Catholic and attends Catholic Mass at Church of the Little Flower in Coral Gables, Florida. He also previously attended Christ Fellowship, a Southern Baptist Church in West Kendall, Florida.
In 1998, Rubio married Jeanette Dousdebes, a former bank teller and Miami Dolphins cheerleader, in a Catholic ceremony at the Church of the Little Flower. They have four children. Rubio and his family live in West Miami, Florida.
As of 2018, according to OpenSecrets.org, Rubio's net worth was negative, owing more than $1.8 million.
Electoral history
Writings
Honors
Rubio has been awarded the following foreign honor:
Commander of the Order of the Star of Romania, Romania (June 8, 2017)
See also
Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act
Republican Party presidential candidates, 2016
Florida Republican primary, 2016
List of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States Congress
References
External links
Florida House of Representatives – Marco Rubio
Senator Marco Rubio official U.S. Senate website
Marco Rubio for U.S. Senate official campaign website
Public statement on the Impeachment trial of Donald Trump
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1971 births
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
21st-century American politicians
21st-century Roman Catholics
American male non-fiction writers
21st-century American memoirists
American political writers
American politicians of Cuban descent
American Roman Catholics
American anti-communists
Articles containing video clips
Christians from Florida
Florida city council members
Florida International University faculty
Florida lawyers
Florida Republicans
Former Latter Day Saints
Hispanic and Latino American candidates for President of the United States
Hispanic and Latino American members of the United States Congress
Hispanic and Latino American politicians
Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Florida
Living people
Members of the Florida House of Representatives
Commanders of the Order of the Star of Romania
Republican Party United States senators from Florida
Speakers of the Florida House of Representatives
Tea Party movement activists
United States senators from Florida
University of Florida College of Liberal Arts and Sciences alumni
University of Miami School of Law alumni
Writers from Miami | 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"
] |
[
"Marco Rubio",
"Majority whip and majority leader",
"What is the majority whip?",
"National Journal described that position as typically requiring a lot of arm-twisting,",
"Why does it require arm twisting?",
"I don't know.",
"Is there anything else noteable about the majoriy whip?",
"Later in 2000, the majority leader of the House, Mike Fasano, promoted Rubio to be one of two majority whips.",
"Who was the other one?",
"I don't know.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"According to National Journal, during this period Rubio did not entirely adhere to doctrinaire conservative principles,"
] | C_73dbaf1c87df466ba9becc5d8faf2076_0 | Why did they think that? | 6 | Why did the National Journal think that Marco Rubio did not entirely adhere to doctrinaire conservative principles? | Marco Rubio | Later in 2000, the majority leader of the House, Mike Fasano, promoted Rubio to be one of two majority whips. National Journal described that position as typically requiring a lot of arm-twisting, but said Rubio took a different approach that relied more on persuading legislators and less on coercing them. Fasano resigned in September 2001 as majority leader of the House due to disagreements with the House speaker, and the speaker passed over Rubio to appoint a more experienced replacement for Fasano. Rubio volunteered to work on redistricting, which he accomplished by dividing the state into five regions, then working individually with the lawmakers involved, and this work helped to cement his relationships with GOP leaders. In December 2002, Rubio was appointed House Majority Leader by Speaker Johnnie Byrd. He persuaded Speaker Byrd to restructure the job of Majority Leader, so that legislative wrangling would be left to the whip's office, and Rubio would become the main spokesperson for the House GOP. According to National Journal, during this period Rubio did not entirely adhere to doctrinaire conservative principles, and some colleagues described him as a centrist "who sought out Democrats and groups that don't typically align with the GOP". He co-sponsored legislation that would have let farm workers sue growers in state court if they were shortchanged on pay, and co-sponsored a bill for giving in-state tuition rates to the children of undocumented immigrants. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, he voiced suspicion about expanding police detention powers, and helped defeat a GOP bill that would have required colleges to increase reporting to the state about foreign students. As a state representative, Rubio requested legislative earmarks (called "Community Budget Issue Requests" in Florida), totaling about $145 million for 2001 and 2002, but none thereafter. Additionally, an office in the executive branch compiled a longer list of spending requests by legislators, including Rubio, as did the non-profit group Florida TaxWatch. Many of those listed items were for health and social programs that Rubio has described as "the kind of thing that legislators would get attacked on if we didn't fund them." A 2010 report by the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald said that some of Rubio's spending requests dovetailed with his personal interests. For example, Rubio requested a $20 million appropriation for Jackson Memorial Hospital to subsidize care for the poor and uninsured, and Rubio later did work for that hospital as a consultant. A spokesman for Rubio has said that the items in question helped the whole county, that Rubio did not lobby to get them approved, that the hospital money was necessary and non-controversial, and that Rubio is "a limited-government conservative ... not a no-government conservative". CANNOTANSWER | some colleagues described him as a centrist "who sought out Democrats and groups that don't typically align with the GOP | Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 28, 1971) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States Senator from Florida, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives from 2006 to 2008. Rubio unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 2016, winning presidential primaries in Minnesota, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Rubio is a Cuban American from Miami, Florida. After serving as a city commissioner for West Miami in the 1990s, he was elected to represent the 111th district in the Florida House of Representatives in 2000. Subsequently, he was elected speaker of the Florida House; he served for two years beginning in November 2006. Upon leaving the Florida Legislature in 2008 due to term limits, Rubio taught at Florida International University.
Rubio was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010. In April 2015, he decided to run for president instead of seeking reelection to the Senate. He suspended his campaign for the presidency on March 15, 2016, after losing the Florida Republican primary to the eventual winner of the presidential election, Donald Trump. He then decided to run for reelection to the Senate, winning a second term later that year. During the 2016 Republican presidential primary campaign in which Rubio and Trump were opponents, Rubio was critical of Trump. Rubio ultimately endorsed Trump before the 2016 general election and was largely supportive of Trump during his presidency. Due to his influence on U.S. policy on Latin America during the Trump Administration, he was described as a "virtual secretary of state for Latin America."
Early life and education
Marco Antonio Rubio was born in Miami, Florida, the second son and third child of Mario Rubio Reina and Oriales (née Garcia) Rubio. His parents were Cubans who immigrated to the United States in 1956 during the regime of Fulgencio Batista, two and a half years before Fidel Castro ascended to power after the Cuban Revolution. His mother made at least four return trips to Cuba after Castro's takeover, including a month-long trip in 1961. Neither of Rubio's parents was a U.S. citizen at the time of Rubio's birth, but his parents applied for U.S. citizenship and were naturalized in 1975. Some relatives of Rubio's were admitted to the U.S. as refugees.
Rubio's maternal grandfather, Pedro Victor Garcia, immigrated to the U.S. legally in 1956, but returned to Cuba to find work in 1959. When he fled communist Cuba and returned to the U.S. in 1962 without a visa, he was detained as an undocumented immigrant and an immigration judge ordered him to be deported. Immigration officials reversed their decision later that day, the deportation order was not enforced, and Garcia was given a legal status of "parolee" that allowed him to stay in the U.S. Garcia re-applied for permanent resident status in 1966 following passage of the Cuban Adjustment Act, at which point his residency was approved. Rubio enjoyed a close relationship with his grandfather during his childhood.
In October 2011, The Washington Post reported that Rubio's previous statements that his parents were forced to leave Cuba in 1959 (after Fidel Castro came to power) were embellishments. His parents actually left Cuba in 1956, during the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. According to the Post, "[in] Florida, being connected to the post-revolution exile community gives a politician cachet that could never be achieved by someone identified with the pre-Castro exodus, a group sometimes viewed with suspicion." Rubio denied that he had embellished his family history, stating that his public statements about his family were based on "family lore". Rubio asserted that his parents intended to return to Cuba in the 1960s. He added that his mother took his two elder siblings back to Cuba in 1961 with the intention of living there permanently (his father remained behind in Miami "wrapping up the family's matters"), but the nation's move toward communism caused the family to change its plans. Rubio stated that "[the] essence of my family story is why they came to America in the first place; and why they had to stay."
Rubio has three siblings: older brother Mario, older sister Barbara (married to Orlando Cicilia), and younger sister Veronica (formerly married to entertainer Carlos Ponce). Growing up, his family was Catholic, though from age8 to age11 he and his family attended The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while living in Las Vegas. During those years in Nevada, his father worked as a bartender at Sam's Town Hotel and his mother as a housekeeper at the Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino. He received his first communion as a Catholic in 1984 before moving back to Miami with his family a year later. He was confirmed and later married in the Catholic Church.
Rubio attended South Miami Senior High School, graduating in 1989. He attended Tarkio College in Missouri for one year on a football scholarship before enrolling at Santa Fe Community College (now Santa Fe College) in Gainesville, Florida. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Florida in 1993 and his Juris Doctor cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law in 1996. Rubio has said that he incurred $100,000 in student loans. He paid off those loans in 2012.
Early career
While studying law, Rubio interned for U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. He also worked on Republican senator Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign. In April 1998, two years after finishing law school, Rubio was elected to a seat as city commissioner for West Miami. He became a member of the Florida House of Representatives in early 2000.
Florida House of Representatives
Elections and concurrent employment
In late 1999, a special election was called to fill the seat for the 111th House District in the Florida House of Representatives, representing Miami. It was considered a safe Republican seat, so Rubio's main challenge was to win the GOP nomination. He campaigned as a moderate, advocating tax cuts and early childhood education.
Rubio placed second in the Republican primary on December 14, 1999, but won the run-off election for the Republican nomination, defeating Angel Zayon (a television and radio reporter who was popular with Cuban exiles) by just 64 votes. He then defeated Democrat Anastasia Garcia with 72% of the vote in a January 25, 2000, special election.
In November 2000, Rubio won re-election unopposed. In 2002, he won re-election to a second full term unopposed. In 2004, he won re-election to a third full term with 66% of the vote. In 2006, he won re-election to a fourth full term unopposed.
Rubio spent almost nine years in the Florida House of Representatives. Since the Florida legislative session officially lasted only sixty days, he spent about half of each year in Miami, where he practiced law, first at a law firm that specialized in land use and zoning until 2014 when he took a position with Broad and Cassel, a Miami law and lobbying firm (though state law precluded him from engaging in lobbying or introducing legislation on behalf of the firm's clients).
Tenure
When Rubio took his seat in the legislature in Tallahassee in January 2000, voters in Florida had recently approved a constitutional amendment on term limits. This created openings for new legislative leaders due to many senior incumbents having to retire. According to an article in National Journal, Rubio also gained an extra advantage in that regard, because he was sworn in early due to the special election, and he would take advantage of these opportunities to join the GOP leadership.
Majority whip and majority leader
Later in 2000, the majority leader of the House, Mike Fasano, promoted Rubio to be one of two majority whips. National Journal described that position as typically requiring a lot of arm-twisting, but said Rubio took a different approach that relied more on persuading legislators and less on coercing them.
Fasano resigned in September 2001 as majority leader of the House due to disagreements with the House speaker, and the speaker passed over Rubio to appoint a more experienced replacement for Fasano. Rubio volunteered to work on redistricting, which he accomplished by dividing the state into five regions, then working individually with the lawmakers involved, and this work helped to cement his relationships with GOP leaders.
In December 2002, Rubio was appointed House majority leader by Speaker Johnnie Byrd. He persuaded Speaker Byrd to restructure the job of majority leader, so that legislative wrangling would be left to the whip's office, and Rubio would become the main spokesperson for the House GOP.
According to National Journal, during this period Rubio did not entirely adhere to doctrinaire conservative principles, and some colleagues described him as a centrist "who sought out Democrats and groups that don’t typically align with the GOP". He co-sponsored legislation that would have let farmworkers sue growers in state court if they were shortchanged on pay, and co-sponsored a bill for giving in-state tuition rates to the children of undocumented immigrants. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, he voiced suspicion about expanding police detention powers and helped defeat a GOP bill that would have required colleges to increase reporting to the state about foreign students.
As a state representative, Rubio requested legislative earmarks (called "Community Budget Issue Requests" in Florida), totaling about $145million for 2001 and 2002, but none thereafter. Additionally, an office in the executive branch compiled a longer list of spending requests by legislators, including Rubio, as did the non-profit group Florida TaxWatch. Many of those listed items were for health and social programs that Rubio has described as "the kind of thing that legislators would get attacked on if we didn't fund them". A 2010 report by the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald said that some of Rubio's spending requests dovetailed with his personal interests. For example, Rubio requested a $20million appropriation for Jackson Memorial Hospital to subsidize care for the poor and uninsured, and Rubio later did work for that hospital as a consultant. A spokesman for Rubio has said that the items in question helped the whole county, that Rubio did not lobby to get them approved, that the hospital money was necessary and non-controversial, and that Rubio is "a limited-government conservative... not a no-government conservative".
House speaker
On September 13, 2005, at age 34, Rubio became speaker after State Representatives Dennis Baxley, Jeff Kottkamp, and Dennis A. Ross dropped out. He was sworn in a year later, in November 2006. He became the first Cuban American to be speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, and would remain speaker until November 2008.
When he was chosen as future speaker in 2005, Rubio delivered a speech to the House in which he asked members to look in their desks, where they each found a hardcover book titled 100 Innovative Ideas For Florida's Future; but the book was blank because it had not yet been written, and Rubio told his colleagues that they would fill in the pages together with the help of ordinary Floridians. In 2006, after traveling around the state and talking with citizens, and compiling their ideas, Rubio published the book. The National Journal called this book "the centerpiece of Rubio's early speakership". About 24 of the "ideas" became law, while another 10 were partially enacted. Among the items from his 2006 book that became law were multiple-year car registrations, a requirement that high schools provide more vocational courses, and an expanded voucher-like school-choice program. Rubio's defenders, and some critics, point out that nationwide economic difficulties overlapped with much of Rubio's speakership, and so funding new legislative proposals became difficult.
As Rubio took office as Speaker, Jeb Bush was completing his term as governor, and Bush left office in January 2007. Rubio hired 18 Bush aides, leading capitol insiders to say the speaker's suite was "the governor's office in exile". An article in National Journal described Rubio's style as being very different from Bush's; where Bush was a very assertive manager of affairs in Tallahassee, Rubio's style was to delegate certain powers, relinquish others, and invite political rivals into his inner circle. As the incoming speaker, he decided to open a private dining room for legislators, which he said would give members more privacy, free from being pursued by lobbyists, though the expense led to a public relations problem.
In 2006, Florida enacted into law limitations upon the authority of the state government to take private property, in response to the 2005 Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. City of New London which took a broad view of governmental power to take private property under eminent domain. This state legislation had been proposed by a special committee chaired by Rubio prior to his speakership.
Jeb Bush was succeeded by Charlie Crist, a moderate Republican who took office in January 2007. Rubio and Crist clashed frequently. Their sharpest clash involved the governor's initiative to expand casino gambling in Florida. Rubio sued Crist for bypassing the Florida Legislature in order to make a deal with the Seminole Tribe. The Florida Supreme Court sided with Rubio and blocked the deal.
Rubio also was a critic of Crist's strategy to fight climate change through an executive order creating new automobile and utility emissions standards. Rubio accused Crist of imposing "European-style big government mandates", and the legislature under Rubio's leadership weakened the impact of Crist's climate change initiative. Rubio said that Crist's approach would harm consumers by driving up utility bills without having much effect upon the environment, and that a better approach would be to promote biofuel (e.g. ethanol), solar panels, and energy efficiency.
Rubio introduced a plan to reduce state property taxes to 2001 levels (and potentially eliminate them altogether), while increasing sales taxes by 1% to 2.5% to fund schools. The proposal would have reduced property taxes in the state by $40–50billion. His proposal passed the House, but was opposed by Governor Crist and Florida Senate Republicans, who said that the increase in sales tax would disproportionately affect the poor. So, Rubio agreed to smaller changes, and Crist's proposal to double the state's property tax exemption from $25,000 to $50,000 (for a tax reduction estimated by Crist to be $33billion) ultimately passed. Legislators called it the largest tax cut in Florida's history up until then. At the time, Republican anti-tax activist Grover Norquist described Rubio as "the most pro-taxpayer legislative leader in the country".
As Speaker, Rubio "aggressively tried to push Florida to the political right", according to NBC News, and frequently clashed with the Florida Senate, which was run by more moderate Republicans, and with then-Governor Charlie Crist, a centrist Republican at the time. Although a conservative, "behind the scenes many Democrats considered Rubio someone with whom they could work," according to biographer Manuel Roig-Franzia. Dan Gelber of Miami, the House Democratic leader at the time of Rubio's speakership, considered him "a true conservative" but not "a reflexive partisan", saying: "He didn't have an objection to working with the other side simply because they were the other side. To put it bluntly, he wasn't a jerk." Gelber considered Rubio "a severe conservative, really far to the right, but probably the most talented spokesman the severe right could ever hope for."
While speaker of the Florida House, Rubio shared a residence in Tallahassee with another Florida State Representative, David Rivera, which the two co-owned. The house later went into foreclosure in 2010 after several missed mortgage payments. At that point, Rubio assumed responsibility for the payments, and the house was eventually sold.
In 2007, Florida state senator Tony Hill (D-Jacksonville), chairman of the state legislature's Black Caucus, requested that the legislature apologize for slavery, and Rubio said the idea merited discussion. The following year, a supportive Rubio said such apologies can be important albeit symbolic; he pointed out that even in 2008 young African-American males "believe that the American dream is not available to them". He helped set up a council on issues facing black men and boys, persuaded colleagues to replicate the Harlem Children's Zone in the Miami neighborhood of Liberty City, and supported efforts to promote literacy and mentoring for black children and others.
In 2010 during Rubio's Senate campaign, and again in 2015 during his presidential campaign, issues were raised by the media and his political opponents about some items charged by Rubio to his Republican Party of Florida American Express card during his time as House speaker. Rubio charged about $110,000 during those two years, of which $16,000 was personal expenses unrelated to party business, such as groceries and plane tickets. Rubio said that he personally paid American Express more than $16,000 for these personal expenses. In 2012, the Florida Commission on Ethics cleared Rubio of wrongdoing in his use of the party-issued credit card, although the commission inspector said that Rubio exhibited a "level of negligence" in not using his personal MasterCard. In November 2015, Rubio released his party credit card statements for January 2005 through October 2006, which showed eight personal charges totaling $7,243.74, all of which he had personally reimbursed, in most instances by the next billing period. When releasing the charge records, Rubio spokesman Todd Harris said, "These statements are more than 10 years old. And the only people who ask about them today are the liberal media and our political opponents. We are releasing them now because Marco has nothing to hide."
Professorship
After leaving the Florida Legislature in 2008, Rubio began teaching under a fellowship appointment at Florida International University (FIU) as an adjunct professor. In 2011, after entering the U.S. Senate, he rejoined the FIU faculty. Rubio teaches in the Department of Politics and International Relations, which is part of FIU's Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs. He has taught undergraduate courses on Florida politics, political parties, and legislative politics.
Rubio's appointment as an FIU professor was initially criticized. The university obtained considerable state funding when Rubio was speaker of the Florida House, and many other university jobs were being eliminated due to funding issues at the time FIU appointed him to the faculty. When Rubio accepted the fellowship appointment as an adjunct professor at FIU, he agreed to raise most of the funding for his position from private sources.
U.S. Senate
Elections
2010
On May 5, 2009, Rubio stated his intent to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mel Martínez, who had decided not to seek re-election and subsequently resigned before completing his term. Prior to launching his campaign, Rubio had met with fundraisers and supporters throughout the state. Initially trailing by double digits in the primary against the incumbent governor of his own party, Charlie Crist, Rubio eventually surpassed Crist in polling for the Republican nomination. In his campaign, Rubio received the support of members of the Tea Party, many of whom were dissatisfied with Crist's policies as governor. On April 28, 2010, Crist stated he would be running without a party affiliation, effectively ceding the Republican nomination to Rubio. Several of Crist's top fundraisers, as well as Republican leadership, refused to support Crist after Rubio won the Republican nomination for the Senate.
On November 2, 2010, Rubio won the general election with 49 percent of the vote to Crist's 30% and Democrat Kendrick Meek's 20%. When Rubio was sworn in to the U.S. Senate, he and Bob Menendez of New Jersey were the only two Latino Americans in the Senate.
2016
In April 2015, Rubio decided to run for president instead of seeking re-election to the Senate. After suspending his presidential campaign on March 15, 2016, Rubio "seemed to open the door to running for re-election" on June 13, 2016, citing the previous day's Orlando nightclub shooting and how "it really gives you pause, to think a little bit about your service to your country and where you can be most useful to your country." Rubio officially started his campaign nine days later, on June 22. Rubio won the Republican primary on August 30, 2016, defeating Carlos Beruff. He faced Democratic nominee Patrick Murphy in the general election, defeating him with almost 52% of the vote.
Tenure as senator
During Rubio's first four years in the U.S. Senate, Republicans were in the minority. After the 2014 midterm elections, the Republicans obtained majority control of the Senate, giving Rubio and the Republicans vast federal influence during the final two years of Barack Obama's presidency, as well as during all four years of Donald Trump's presidency. After the 2020 elections, the Democrats regained majority control of the Senate, and Rubio has reassumed minority status within the Senate.
2011–2015
Shortly after taking office in 2011, Rubio said he had no interest in running for president or vice president in the 2012 presidential election. In March 2012, when he endorsed Mitt Romney for president, Rubio said that he did not expect to be or want to be selected as a vice presidential running mate, but was vetted for vice president by the Romney campaign. Former Romney aide Beth Myers has said that the vetting process turned up nothing disqualifying about Rubio.
Upon taking office, Rubio hired Cesar Conda as his chief of staff. Conda, a former adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney, and former top aide to Sens. Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.) and Robert Kasten (R-Wis.), was succeeded in 2014 as Rubio's chief of staff by his deputy, Alberto Martinez, but Conda remained as a part-time adviser.
During his first year in office, Rubio became an influential defender of the United States embargo against Cuba and induced the State Department to withdraw an ambassadorial nomination of Jonathan D. Farrar, who was the Chief of Mission of the United States Interests Section in Havana from 2008 to 2011. Rubio believed that Farrar was not assertive enough toward the Castro regime. Also in 2011, Rubio was invited to visit the Reagan Library, during which he gave a well-publicized speech praising its namesake, and also rescued Nancy Reagan from falling.
In March 2011, Rubio supported U.S. participation in the military campaign in Libya to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. He urged that Senate leaders bring "a bi-partisan resolution to the Senate floor authorizing the president's decision to participate in allied military action in Libya". The administration decided that no congressional authorization was needed under the War Powers Resolution; Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) joined Rubio in writing an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal in June 2011 again urging passage of such authorization. In October 2011, Rubio joined several other senators in pushing for continued engagement to "help Libya lay the foundation for sustainable security". Soon after Gadhafi was ousted, Rubio warned there was a serious threat posed by the spread of militias and weapons, and called for more U.S. involvement to counter that threat.
Rubio voted against the Budget Control Act of 2011, which included mandatory automatic budget cuts from sequestration. He later said that defense spending should never have been linked to taxes and the deficit, calling the policy a "terrible idea" based on a "false choice".
The following month, Rubio and Senator Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware, co-sponsored the American Growth, Recovery, Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Act (AGREE Act), which would have extended many tax credits and exemptions for businesses investing in research and development, equipment, and other capital; provided a tax credit for veterans who start a business franchise; allowed an increase in immigration for certain types of work visas; and strengthened copyright protections.
Rubio voted against the 2012 "fiscal cliff" resolutions. Although he received some criticism for this position, he responded: "Thousands of small businesses, not just the wealthy, will now be forced to decide how they'll pay this new tax, and, chances are, they'll do it by firing employees, cutting back their hours and benefits, or postponing the new hires they were looking to make. And to make matters worse, it does nothing to bring our dangerous debt under control."
In 2013, Rubio was part of the bipartisan "Gang of Eight" senators that crafted comprehensive immigration reform legislation. Rubio proposed a plan providing a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States involving payment of fines and back taxes, background checks, and a probationary period; that pathway was to be implemented only after strengthening border security. The bill passed the Senate 68 to 32 with his support, but Rubio then signaled that the bill should not be taken up by the House because other priorities, like repealing Obamacare, were a higher priority for him; the House never did take up the bill. Rubio has since explained that he still supports reform, but a different approach instead of a single comprehensive bill.
Rubio was chosen to deliver the Republican response to President Obama's 2013 State of the Union Address. It marked the first time the response was delivered in English and Spanish. Rubio's attempt to draw a strong line against the looming defense sequestration was undercut by fellow Republican senator Rand Paul's additional response to Obama's speech that called for the sequester to be carried out.
In April 2013, Rubio voted against an expansion of background checks for gun purchases, contending that such increased regulatory measures would do little to help capture criminals.
Rubio voted against publishing the Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture. In 2016, Rubio said the U.S. should "find out everything they know" from captured terrorists and should not telegraph "the enemy what interrogation techniques we will or won't use."
2015–2021
Republicans took control of the U.S. Senate as a result of the elections in November 2014. As this new period of Republican control began, Rubio pushed for the elimination of the "risk corridors" used by the federal government to compensate insurers for their losses as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The risk corridors were intended to be funded by profitable insurers participating in the PPACA, but since insurer losses have significantly exceeded their profits in the program, the risk corridors have been depleted. His efforts contributed to the inclusion of a provision in the 2014 federal budget that prevented other funding sources from being tapped to replenish the risk corridors.
In March 2015, Rubio and Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, proposed a tax plan that according to The Wall Street Journal, combined thinking from "old-fashioned, Reagan-era supply-siders" and a "breed of largely younger conservative reform thinkers" concerned with the tax burden on the middle class. The plan would lower the top corporate income tax rate from 38% to 25%, eliminate taxes on capital gains, dividends, and inherited estates, and create a new child tax credit worth up to $2,500 per child. The plan would set the top individual income tax rate at 35%. It also included a proposal to replace the means-tested welfare system, including food stamps and the Earned Income Tax Credit, with a new "consolidated system of benefits".
According to analysis by Vocativ as reported by Fox News, Rubio missed 8.3% of total votes from January 2011 to February 2015. From October 27, 2014, to October 26, 2015, Rubio voted in 74% of Senate votes, according to an analysis by GovTrack.us, which tracks congressional voting records. In 2015, Rubio was absent for about 35% of Senate votes. In historical context Rubio's attendance record for Senate votes is not exceptional among senators seeking a presidential nomination; John McCain missed a much higher percentage of votes in 2007. But it was the worst of the three senators who campaigned for the presidency in 2015.
During his Senate tenure, Rubio has co-sponsored bills on issues ranging from humanitarian crises in Haiti to the Russian incursion into Ukraine, and was a frequent and prominent critic of Obama's efforts in national security.
On May 17, 2016, Rubio broke from the Republican majority in his support of Obama's request for $2 billion in emergency spending on the Zika virus at a time when Florida accounted for roughly 20% of the recorded cases of Zika in the U.S., acknowledging that it was the president's request but adding, "it's really the scientists' request, the doctors' request, the public health sector's request for how to address this issue." On August 6, Rubio said he did not believe in terminating Zika-infected pregnancies.
On December 13, after President-elect Trump nominated Rex Tillerson as his Secretary of State in the incoming administration, Rubio expressed concern about the selection. On January 11, Rubio questioned Tillerson during a Senate committee hearing on his confirmation, saying afterward he would "do what's right". On January 23, Rubio said that he would vote to confirm Tillerson, saying that a delay in the appointment would be counter to national interests.
On April 5, 2017, Rubio said Bashar al-Assad felt he could act with "impunity" in knowing the United States was not prioritizing removing him from office. The next day, Rubio praised Trump's ordered strike: "By acting decisively against the very facility from which Assad launched his murderous chemical weapons attack, President Trump has made it clear to Assad and those who empower him that the days of committing war crimes with impunity are over."
In September 2017, Rubio defended Trump's decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. He called the program, which provided temporary stay for some undocumented immigrants brought into the U.S. as minors, "unconstitutional".
In the first session of the 115th United States Congress, Rubio was ranked the tenth most bipartisan senator by the Bipartisan Index, published by The Lugar Center and Georgetown's McCourt School of Public Policy.
While ballots were being counted in a close Florida Senate race between Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson and Republican challenger Rick Scott, Rubio claimed without evidence that Democrats were conspiring with election officials to illicitly install Nelson. He claimed without evidence that "Democrat lawyers" were descending on Florida and that "they have been very clear they aren't here to make sure every vote is counted." He claimed that Broward County officials were engaged in "ongoing" legal violations, without specifying what those were. Election monitors found no evidence of voter fraud in Broward County, and the Florida State Department found no evidence of criminal activity.
In 2019, Rubio defended Trump's decision to host the G7 conference at the Trump National Doral Miami, a resort Trump owns. Rubio called the decision "great" and said it would be good for local businesses.
In 2020, Rubio supported the nomination of Judy Shelton to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Shelton had received bipartisan criticism over her support for the gold standard and other unorthodox monetary policy views.
After Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 presidential election and Trump made false claims of election fraud, Rubio defended Trump's right to assert said claims and challenge the election results, saying any "irregularities" and "claims of broken election laws" could not be claimed false until the courts ruled on them. Rubio later shifted his rhetoric to saying that concerns from Republican voters over "potential irregularities" in the election demanded redress. By November 23, 2020, Rubio referred to Biden as president-elect.
Rubio described the 2021 United States Capitol attack as unpatriotic and "3rd world-style anti-American anarchy". Of the rioters, Rubio said some of them were adherents "to a conspiracy theory and others got caught up in the moment. The result was a national embarrassment." After Congress was allowed to return to session, Rubio voted to certify the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count. In February 2021, Rubio voted to acquit Trump for his role in inciting the mob to storm the Capitol.
On May 28, 2021, Rubio voted against creating the January 6 commission.
Committee assignments
Rubio's committee memberships are as follows:
Committee on Appropriations
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Select Committee on Intelligence (Ranking Member)
Committee on Foreign Relations
Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women's Issues (Ranking Member)
Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy
Subcommittee on State Department and USAID Management, International Operations, and Bilateral International Development
Special Committee on Aging
Caucuses
Senate Republican Conference
2016 presidential campaign
Rubio said in April 2014 that he would not run for both the Senate and president in 2016, as Florida law prohibits a candidate from appearing twice on a ballot, but at that time he did not rule out running for either office. He later indicated that even if he would not win the Republican nomination for president, he would not run for reelection to the Senate. Also in April 2014, the departure of Cesar Conda, Rubio's chief of staff since 2011, was seen as a sign of Rubio's plans to run for president in 2016. Conda departed to lead Rubio's Reclaim America PAC as a senior adviser. Groups supporting Rubio raised over $530,000 in the first three months of 2014, most of which was spent on consultants and data analytics, in what was seen as preparations for a presidential campaign.
A poll from the WMUR/University, tracking New Hampshire Republican primary voters' sentiment, showed Rubio at the top alongside Kentucky senator Rand Paul later in 2013, but as of April 18, 2014, he had dropped to 10th place behind other Republican contenders. The poll, however, also suggested that Rubio was not disliked by the primary voters, which was thought to be positive for him if other candidates had chosen not to run. Rubio placed second among potential 2016 Republican presidential candidates in an online poll of likely voters conducted by Zogby Analytics in January 2015.
In January 2015, it was reported that Rubio had begun contacting top donors and appointing advisors for a potential 2016 run, including George Seay, who previously worked on such campaigns as Rick Perry's in 2012 and Mitt Romney's in 2008, and Jim Rubright, who had previously worked for Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, and John McCain. Rubio also instructed his aides to "prepare for a presidential campaign" prior to a Team Marco 2016 fundraising meeting in South Beach.
On April 13, 2015, Rubio launched his campaign for president in 2016. Rubio was believed to be a viable candidate for the 2016 presidential race who could attract many parts of the GOP base, partly because of his youthfulness and oratorical skill. Rubio had pitched his candidacy as an effort to restore the American Dream for middle and working-class families, who might have found his background as a working-class Cuban-American appealing.
Republican primaries
In the first Republican primary, the February1 Iowa caucuses, Rubio finished third, behind candidates Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. During a nationally televised debate among Republican candidates in New Hampshire on February 6, 2016, Rubio was criticized by rival Chris Christie for speaking repetitiously and sounding scripted. On February 9, when he placed fifth in the New Hampshire primary results, Rubio took the blame and acknowledged a poor debate performance. In the third Republican contest, the South Carolina primary on February 20, Rubio finished second, but did not gain any delegates as Trump won all of South Carolina's congressional districts and thus delegates. Jeb Bush left the race that day, leading to a surge in campaign donations and endorsements to Rubio. On February 23, Rubio finished second in the Nevada caucuses, again losing to Trump. Trump called Rubio's remarks at the February 25 debate "robotic" due to Rubio's repeated use of the same talking points; Rubio was later followed by hecklers who were dressed as robots.
At another Republican debate on February 25, Rubio repeatedly criticized frontrunner candidate Donald Trump. It was described by CNN as a "turning point in style" as Rubio had previously largely ignored Trump during his campaign, and this deviated from Rubio's signature "optimistic campaign message". The next day Rubio continued turning Trump's attacks against him, even ridiculing Trump's physical appearance. On March 1, called 'Super Tuesday' with eleven Republican contests on that day, Rubio's sole victory was in Minnesota, the first state he had won since voting began a month prior. Rubio went on to win further contests in Puerto Rico on March6 and the District of Columbia on March 12, but lost eight other contests from March5 to 8. Around that time, Rubio revealed he was not "entirely proud" of his personal attacks on Trump.
On March 15, Rubio suspended his campaign after placing second in his own home state of Florida. Hours earlier, Rubio had expressed expectations for a Florida win, and said he would continue to campaign (in Utah) "irrespective of" that night's results. The result was that Rubio won 27.0% of the Florida vote, while Trump won 45.7% and all of Florida's delegates. The conclusion of the six March 15 contests (out of which Rubio won none) left Rubio with 169 delegates on the race to reach 1237, but Ted Cruz already had 411 and Trump 673. On March 17, Rubio ruled out runs for the vice-presidency, governorship of Florida and even re-election for his senate seat. He stated only that he would be a "private citizen" by January 2017, leading to some media speculation of the termination of his political career.
After candidacy
On April 12, during an interview with Mark Levin, Rubio expressed his wishes that Republicans would nominate a conservative candidate, name-dropping Cruz. This was interpreted as an endorsement of Cruz, though Rubio clarified the following day that he had only been answering a question. Rubio would later explain his decision to not endorse Cruz being due to his belief that the endorsement would not significantly benefit him and a desire to let the election cycle play out. On April 22, Rubio said he was not interested in being the vice presidential candidate to any of the remaining GOP contenders. On May 16, Rubio posted several tweets in which he critiqued sources reporting that he despised the Senate and a Washington Post story that claimed he was unsure of his next move after his unsuccessful presidential bid, typing, "I have only said like 10000 times I will be a private citizen in January."
On May 18, after Trump expressed a willingness to meet with Kim Jong-un, Rubio said Kim was "not a stable person" and furthered that Trump was open to the meeting only due to inexperience with the North Korea leader. On May 26, Rubio told reporters that he was backing Trump due to his view that the presumptive nominee was a better choice than Hillary Clinton for the presidency and that as president, Trump would sign a repeal of the Affordable Care Act and replace the late Antonin Scalia with another conservative Supreme Court Justice. He also confirmed that he would be attending the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, where he intended to release his pledged delegates to support Trump. On May 29, Rubio continued disavowing vice presidential speculation but indicated an interest in playing a role in Trump's campaign. On June 6, Rubio rebuked Trump's comments on Gonzalo P. Curiel, who Trump accused of being biased against him on the basis of his ethnicity, as "offensive" while speaking with reporters, advising that Trump should cease defending the remarks and defending the judge as "an American".
On July 6, Olivia Perez-Cubas, Rubio's Senate campaign spokeswoman, said he would not be attending the Republican National Convention due to planned campaigning on the days the convention was scheduled to take place.
During the Republican primary campaign in which Rubio and Donald Trump were opponents, Rubio criticized Trump, including, in February 2016, calling Trump a "con artist" and saying that Trump is "wholly unprepared to be president of the United States". In June 2016, after Trump became the presumptive GOP nominee, Rubio reaffirmed his February 2016 comments that we must not hand "the nuclear codes of the United States to an erratic individual". However, after Trump won the Republican Party's nomination, Rubio endorsed him on July 20, 2016. Following the October 7, 2016, Donald Trump Access Hollywood controversy, Rubio wrote that "Donald's comments were vulgar, egregious & impossible to justify. No one should ever talk about any woman in those terms, even in private." On October 11, 2016, Rubio reaffirmed his support of Trump. On October 25, 2016, it was reported that Rubio was booed off a stage for endorsing Trump by a crowd of mostly Latino voters, at the annual Calle Orange street festival in downtown Orlando.
Political positions
As of early 2015, Rubio had a rating of 98.67 by the American Conservative Union, based on his lifetime voting record in the Senate. According to the National Journal, in 2013 Rubio was the 17th most conservative senator. The Club for Growth gave Rubio ratings of 93 percent and 91 percent based on his voting record in 2014 and 2013 respectively, and he has a lifetime rating from the organization above 90 percent.
Rubio initially won his U.S. Senate seat with strong Tea Party backing, but his 2013 support for comprehensive immigration reform legislation led to a decline in their support for him. Rubio's stance on military, foreign policy, and national security issuessuch as his support for arming the Syrian rebels and for the NSAalienated some libertarian Tea Party activists.
Rubio supports balancing the federal budget, while prioritizing defense spending. He rejects the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change, which is that climate change is real, progressing, harmful, and primarily caused by humans, arguing that human activity does not play a major role and claiming that proposals to address climate change would be ineffective and economically harmful. He opposes the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and has voted to repeal it. He opposes net neutrality, a policy that requires Internet service providers to treat data on the Internet the same regardless of its source or content. Early in his Senate tenure, Rubio was involved in bipartisan negotiations to provide a pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants while implementing various measures to strengthen the U.S. border; the bill passed the Senate but was blocked by immigration hardliners in the House. Over time, Rubio distanced himself from his previous efforts to reach a compromise on immigration, and developed more hardline views on immigration, rejecting bipartisan immigration reform efforts in 2018.
Rubio is an outspoken opponent of abortion. He has said that he would ban it even in cases of rape and incest, but with exceptions if the mother's life is in danger.
Rubio has expressed caution about efforts to reduce penalties for drug crimes, saying that "too often" the conversation about criminal justice reform "starts and ends with drug policy". He has said that he would be open to legalizing non-psychoactive forms of cannabis for medical use, but otherwise opposes its legalization for recreational and medical purposes. Rubio has said that if elected president he would enforce federal law in states that have legalized cannabis.
Rubio supports setting corporate taxes at 25%, reforming the tax code, and capping economic regulations, and proposes to increase the social security retirement age based on longer life expectancy. He supports expanding public charter schools, opposes Common Core State Standards, and advocates closing the federal Department of Education.
Rubio supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq and military intervention in Libya. Rubio voiced support for a Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen against Houthi rebels. Regarding Iran, he supports tough sanctions, and scrapping the recent nuclear deal; on the Islamic State, he favors aiding local Sunni forces in Iraq and Syria. Rubio says that, because background checks cannot be done under present circumstances, the United States cannot accept more Syrian refugees. He supports working with allies to set up no-fly zones in Syria to protect civilians from Bashar al-Assad. He favors collection of bulk metadata for purposes of national security. He has said that gun control laws consistently fail to achieve their purpose. He is supportive of the Trans Pacific Partnership, saying that the U.S. risks being excluded from global trade unless it is more open to trade. He is wary of China regarding national security and human rights, and wants to boost the U.S. military presence in that region but hopes for greater economic growth as a result of trading with that country. He also believes the U.S. should support democracy, freedom, and true autonomy of the people of Hong Kong. On capital punishment, Rubio favors streamlining the appeals process.
Rubio condemned the genocide of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar and called for a stronger response to the crisis. Rubio is a staunch supporter of Israel. He is a co-sponsor of a Senate resolution expressing objection to the UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which condemned Israeli settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories as a violation of international law. Rubio condemned Turkey's wide-ranging crackdown on dissent following a failed July 2016 coup.
At a February 2018 CNN town hall event in the wake of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Rubio defended his record of accepting contributions from the National Rifle Association (NRA), saying, "The influence of these groups comes not from money. The influence comes from the millions of people that agree with the agenda, the millions of Americans that support the NRA."
In March 2018, Rubio defended the decision of the Trump administration to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. Experts noted that the inclusion of such a question would likely result in severe undercounting of the population and faulty data, as undocumented immigrants would be less likely to respond to the census. Fellow Republican members of Congress from Florida, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart, criticized the Trump administration's decision on the basis that it could lead to a faulty census and disadvantage Florida in terms of congressional apportionment and fund apportionment.
In July 2018, Rubio offered an amendment to a major congressional spending bill to potentially force companies that purchase real estate in cash to disclose their owners as "an attempt to root out criminals who use illicit funds and anonymous shell companies to buy homes".
On August 28, 2018, Rubio and 16 other members of Congress urged the United States to impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act against Chinese officials who are responsible for human rights abuses against the Uyghur Muslim minority in Xinjiang.
Rubio opposed the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"). On April 27, 2020, the US Supreme Court voted 8–1 to defeat his attempt to undermine the Act.
In March 2016, Rubio opposed President Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, saying, "I don't think we should be moving forward with a nominee in the last year of this president's term. I would say that even if it was a Republican president." In September 2020, Rubio applauded Trump's nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the court after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death, voting to confirm her on October 26, 86 days before the expiration of Trump's presidential term. No Democrat voted for her, nor did Maine's independent Angus King, Republican Susan Collins, or Vermont independent Bernie Sanders.
Rubio has a mixed relationship with Donald Trump. During the Republican primaries in the 2016 presidential election, they harshly criticized each other. But during Trump's presidency, Rubio "[supported] just about everything Trump said and did", according to the Sun-Sentinel.
In May 2021, Rubio argued that "Wall Street must stop enabling Communist China" in The American Prospect and on his website. "Americans from across the political spectrum should feel emboldened by the growing bipartisan awakening to the threat that the CCP poses to American workers, families, and communities", he wrote. "As we deploy legislative solutions to tackle this challenge, Democrats must not allow our corporate and financial sectors’ leftward shift on social issues to blind them to the enormity of China as a geo-economic threat."
Personal life
Rubio is a Roman Catholic and attends Catholic Mass at Church of the Little Flower in Coral Gables, Florida. He also previously attended Christ Fellowship, a Southern Baptist Church in West Kendall, Florida.
In 1998, Rubio married Jeanette Dousdebes, a former bank teller and Miami Dolphins cheerleader, in a Catholic ceremony at the Church of the Little Flower. They have four children. Rubio and his family live in West Miami, Florida.
As of 2018, according to OpenSecrets.org, Rubio's net worth was negative, owing more than $1.8 million.
Electoral history
Writings
Honors
Rubio has been awarded the following foreign honor:
Commander of the Order of the Star of Romania, Romania (June 8, 2017)
See also
Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act
Republican Party presidential candidates, 2016
Florida Republican primary, 2016
List of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States Congress
References
External links
Florida House of Representatives – Marco Rubio
Senator Marco Rubio official U.S. Senate website
Marco Rubio for U.S. Senate official campaign website
Public statement on the Impeachment trial of Donald Trump
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1971 births
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
21st-century American politicians
21st-century Roman Catholics
American male non-fiction writers
21st-century American memoirists
American political writers
American politicians of Cuban descent
American Roman Catholics
American anti-communists
Articles containing video clips
Christians from Florida
Florida city council members
Florida International University faculty
Florida lawyers
Florida Republicans
Former Latter Day Saints
Hispanic and Latino American candidates for President of the United States
Hispanic and Latino American members of the United States Congress
Hispanic and Latino American politicians
Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Florida
Living people
Members of the Florida House of Representatives
Commanders of the Order of the Star of Romania
Republican Party United States senators from Florida
Speakers of the Florida House of Representatives
Tea Party movement activists
United States senators from Florida
University of Florida College of Liberal Arts and Sciences alumni
University of Miami School of Law alumni
Writers from Miami | false | [
"C. G. Jung, in his book \"Memories, Dreams, Reflections\", recalls a conversation he had with a Native American man, one Ochwiay Biano an elder of the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico. [Mr. Biano is also known by the English name \"Chief Mountain Lake.\"] Ochwiay Biano said,\n\n“How cruel the whites are: their lips are thin, their noses sharp, their faces furrowed and distorted by holes. Their eyes have a staring expression. They are always seeking something. What are they seeking? The whites always want something, they are always uneasy and restless. We do not know what they want, we do not understand them, we think that they are mad.” I asked him why he thought the whites were all mad. “They say they think with their heads,” he replied.\n\n“Why, of course. What do you think with?” I asked him in surprise.\n\n“We think here,” he said, indicating his heart.^ \n\nLater in the 1925 visit, he learned from the Chief that his people, like the Elongyi tribe of Kenya, rose in the morning and spit in their palms, thereby presenting their soul-stuff to the sun to welcome it in an expression of sympathetic magic. Jung marveled that the people of the pueblo knew why they were there.\n\nNotes\n\nPueblo people",
"\"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"
] |
[
"Slayer",
"South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss (1988-1993)"
] | C_07397c12d123426cacfc6b32eb6905ad_0 | Who produced South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss? | 1 | Who produced South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss (1988-1993)? | Slayer | In late 1987, Slayer returned to the studio to record their fourth studio album. To contrast the speed of Reign in Blood, the band consciously decided to slow down the tempos, and incorporate more melodic singing. According to Hanneman, "We knew we couldn't top Reign in Blood, so we had to slow down. We knew whatever we did was gonna be compared to that album, and I remember we actually discussed slowing down. It was weird--we've never done that on an album, before or since." Released in July 1988, South of Heaven received mixed responses from both fans and critics, although it was Slayer's most commercially successful release at the time, debuting at number 57 on the Billboard 200, and their second album to receive gold certification in the United States. Press response to the album was mixed, with AllMusic citing the album as "disturbing and powerful," and Kim Nelly of Rolling Stone calling it "genuinely offensive satanic drivel." King said "that album was my most lackluster performance," although Araya called it a "late bloomer" which eventually grew on people. Slayer returned to the studio in spring 1990 with co-producer Andy Wallace to record its fifth studio album. Following the backlash created by South of Heaven, Slayer returned to the "pounding speed of Reign in Blood, while retaining their newfound melodic sense." Seasons in the Abyss, released on October 25, 1990, was the first Slayer album to be released under Rubin's new Def American label, as he had parted ways with Def Jam owner Russell Simmons over creative differences. The album debuted at number 44 on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold in 1992. The album spawned Slayer's first music video for the album's title track, which was filmed in front of the Giza pyramids in Egypt. Slayer returned as a live act in September 1990 to co-headline the European Clash of the Titans tour with Megadeth, Suicidal Tendencies, and Testament. During the sold out European leg of this tour tickets fetched up to 1,000 Deutschmark ($680 USD) on the black market. With the popularity of American thrash at its peak, the tour was extended to the US beginning in May 1991, with Megadeth, Anthrax and opening act Alice in Chains. The band released a double live album, Decade of Aggression in 1991, to celebrate ten years since their formation. The compilation debuted at number 55 on the Billboard 200. In May 1992, Lombardo quit the band due to conflicts with other members, as well as his desire to be off tour for the birth of his first child. Lombardo formed his own band Grip Inc, with Voodoocult guitarist Waldemar Sorychta, and Slayer recruited former Forbidden drummer Paul Bostaph to take his place. Slayer made its debut appearance with Bostaph at the 1992 Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington. Bostaph's first studio effort was a medley of three Exploited songs, "War," "UK '82," and "Disorder," with rapper Ice-T, for the Judgment Night movie soundtrack in 1993. CANNOTANSWER | Slayer's | Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo, and bassist and vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them one of the "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax. Slayer's final lineup comprised King, Araya, drummer Paul Bostaph (who replaced Lombardo in 1992 and again in 2013) and guitarist Gary Holt (who replaced Hanneman in 2011). Drummer Jon Dette was also a member of the band.
In the original lineup, King, Hanneman and Araya contributed to the band's lyrics, and all of the band's music was written by King and Hanneman. The band's lyrics and album art, which cover topics such as murder, serial killers, torture, genocide, politics, theories, human subject research, organized crime, secret societies, mythology, occultism, Satanism, hate crimes, terrorism, religion or antireligion, Nazism, fascism, racism, xenophobia, misanthropy, war and prison, have generated album bans, delays, lawsuits and criticism from religious groups and factions of the general public. However, its music has been highly influential, often being cited by many bands as an influence musically, visually and lyrically; the band's third album, Reign in Blood (1986), has been described as one of the heaviest and most influential thrash metal albums.
Slayer released twelve studio albums, two live albums, a box set, six music videos, two extended plays and a cover album. Four of the band's studio albums have received gold certification in the United States. Slayer sold 5 million copies in the United States from 1991 to 2013, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and over 20 million worldwide. The band has received five Grammy Award nominations, winning one in 2007 for the song "Eyes of the Insane" and one in 2008 for the song "Final Six", both of which were from the album Christ Illusion (2006). After more than three decades of recording and performing, Slayer announced in January 2018 that it would embark on a farewell tour, which took place from May 2018 to November 2019, after which the band disbanded.
History
Early years (1981–1983)
Slayer was formed in 1981 by Kerry King, Jeff Hanneman, Dave Lombardo, and Tom Araya in Huntington Park, CA. The group started out playing covers of songs by bands such as Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Venom at parties and clubs in Southern California. The band's early image relied heavily on Satanic themes that featured pentagrams, make-up, spikes, and inverted crosses. Rumors that the band was originally known as Dragonslayer, after the 1981 film of the same name, were denied by King, as he later stated: "We never were; it's a myth to this day." According to Lombardo, the original band name was to be Wings of Fire before they settled in with Slayer. It was he who designed the iconic logo. For inspiration, Lombardo thought in a perspective of a murderer of how they would carve out the logo with a knife and since he's lefthanded, the logo is unintentionally slanted to the right.
In 1983, Slayer was invited to open for the band Bitch at the Woodstock Club in Anaheim, California to perform eight songs, six of which were covers. The band was spotted by Brian Slagel, a former music journalist who had recently founded Metal Blade Records. Impressed with Slayer, he met with the band backstage and asked them to record an original song for his upcoming Metal Massacre III compilation album. The band agreed and their song "Aggressive Perfector" created an underground buzz upon its release in mid 1983, which led to Slagel offering the band a recording contract with Metal Blade.
Show No Mercy, Haunting the Chapel and Hell Awaits (1983–1986)
Without any recording budget, the band had to self-finance its debut album. Combining the savings of Araya, who was employed as a respiratory therapist, and money borrowed from King's father, the band entered the studio in November 1983. The album was rushed into release, stocking shelves three weeks after tracks were completed. Show No Mercy, released in December 1983 by Metal Blade Records, generated underground popularity for the band. The group began a club tour of California to promote the album. The tour gave the band additional popularity and sales of Show No Mercy eventually reached more than 20,000 in the US and another 20,000 worldwide.
In February 1984, King briefly joined Dave Mustaine's new band Megadeth. Hanneman was worried about King's decision, stating in an interview, "I guess we're gonna get a new guitar player." While Mustaine wanted King to stay on a permanent basis, King left after five shows, stating Mustaine's band was "taking too much of my time." The split caused a rift between King and Mustaine, which evolved into a long running feud between the two bands.
In June 1984, Slayer released a three-track EP called Haunting the Chapel. The EP featured a darker, more thrash-oriented style than Show No Mercy, and laid the groundwork for the future direction of the band. The opening track, "Chemical Warfare", has become a live staple, played at nearly every show since 1984.
Later that year, Slayer began their first national club tour, traveling in Araya's Camaro towing a U-Haul trailer. The band recorded the live album Live Undead in November 1984 while in New York City.
In March 1985, Slayer began a national tour with Venom and Exodus, resulting in their first live home video dubbed Combat Tour: The Ultimate Revenge. The video featured live footage filmed at the Studio 54 club. The band then made its live European debut at the Heavy Sound Festival in Belgium opening for UFO. Also in 1985, Slayer toured or played selected shows with bands like Megadeth, Destruction, D.R.I., Possessed, Agent Steel, S.O.D., Nasty Savage and Metal Church.
Show No Mercy had sold over 40,000 copies, which led to the band returning to the studio to record their second full-length album. Metal Blade financed a recording budget, which allowed the band to hire producer Ron Fair. Released in March 1985, Slayer's second full-length album, Hell Awaits, expanded on the darkness of Haunting the Chapel, with hell and Satan as common song subjects. The album was the band's most progressive offering, featuring longer and more complex song structures. The intro of the title track is a backwards recording of a demonic-sounding voice repeating "Join us", ending with "Welcome back" before the track begins. The album was a hit, with fans choosing Slayer for best band, best live band, Hell Awaits, as 1985's best album, and Dave Lombardo as best drummer in the British magazine Metal Forces 1985 Readers Poll.
Reign in Blood, Lombardo's brief hiatus and South of Heaven (1986–1989)
Following the success of Hell Awaits, Slayer was offered a recording contract with Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin's newly founded Def Jam Records, a largely hip hop-based label. The band accepted, and with an experienced producer and major label recording budget, the band underwent a sonic makeover for their third album Reign in Blood, resulting in shorter, faster songs with clearer production. The complex arrangements and long songs featured on Hell Awaits were ditched in favor of stripped down, hardcore punk influenced song structures.
Def Jam's distributor, Columbia Records, refused to release the album due to the song "Angel of Death" which detailed Holocaust concentration camps and the human experiments conducted by Nazi physician Josef Mengele. The album was distributed by Geffen Records on October 7, 1986. However, due to the controversy, Reign in Blood did not appear on Geffen Records' release schedule. Although the album received virtually no radio airplay, it became the band's first to enter the Billboard 200, debuting at number 94, and the band's first album certified gold in the United States.
Slayer embarked on the Reign in Pain world tour, with Overkill in the US from October to December 1986, and Malice in Europe in April and May 1987. They also played with other bands such as Agnostic Front, Testament, Metal Church, D.R.I., Dark Angel and Flotsam and Jetsam. The band was added as the opening act on W.A.S.P.'s US tour, but just one month into it, drummer Lombardo left the band: "I wasn't making any money. I figured if we were gonna be doing this professionally, on a major label, I wanted my rent and utilities paid." To continue with the tour, Slayer enlisted Tony Scaglione of Whiplash. However, Lombardo was convinced by his wife to return in 1987. At the insistence of Rubin, Slayer recorded a cover version of Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" for the film Less Than Zero. Although the band was not happy with the final product, Hanneman deeming it "a poor representation of Slayer" and King labeling it "a hunk of shit", it was one of their first songs to garner radio airplay.
In late 1987, Slayer returned to the studio to record their fourth studio album. To contrast the speed of Reign in Blood, the band consciously decided to slow down the tempos, and incorporate more melodic singing. According to Hanneman, "We knew we couldn't top Reign in Blood, so we had to slow down. We knew whatever we did was gonna be compared to that album, and I remember we actually discussed slowing down. It was weird—we've never done that on an album, before or since."
Released in July 1988, South of Heaven received mixed responses from both fans and critics, although it was Slayer's most commercially successful release at the time, debuting at number 57 on the Billboard 200, and their second album to receive gold certification in the United States. Press response to the album was mixed, with AllMusic citing the album as "disturbing and powerful", and Kim Nelly of Rolling Stone calling it "genuinely offensive satanic drivel". King said "that album was my most lackluster performance", although Araya called it a "late bloomer" which eventually grew on people. Slayer toured from August 1988 to January 1989 to promote South of Heaven, supporting Judas Priest in the US on their Ram It Down tour, and touring Europe with Nuclear Assault and the US with Motörhead and Overkill.
Seasons in the Abyss and Lombardo's second departure (1990–1993)
Slayer returned to the studio in early 1990 with co-producer Andy Wallace to record its fifth studio album. Following the backlash created by South of Heaven, Slayer returned to the "pounding speed of Reign in Blood, while retaining their newfound melodic sense." Seasons in the Abyss, released on October 9, 1990, was the first Slayer album to be released under Rubin's new Def American label, as he had parted ways with Def Jam owner Russell Simmons over creative differences. The album debuted at number 44 on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold in 1992. The album spawned Slayer's first music video for the album's title track, which was filmed in front of the Giza pyramids in Egypt.
Slayer returned as a live act in September 1990 to co-headline the European Clash of the Titans tour with Megadeth, Suicidal Tendencies, and Testament. During the sold out European leg of this tour, tickets had prices skyrocket to 1,000 Deutschmark (US$680) on the black market. With the popularity of American thrash at its peak, the band toured with Testament again in early 1991 and triple-headlined the North American version of the Clash of the Titans tour that summer with Megadeth, Anthrax, and opening act Alice in Chains. The band released a double live album, Decade of Aggression in 1991, to celebrate ten years since their formation. The compilation debuted at number 55 on the Billboard 200.
In May 1992, Lombardo left the band due to conflicts with the other members, as well as his desire to be off tour for the birth of his first child. Lombardo formed his own band Grip Inc., with Voodoocult guitarist Waldemar Sorychta, and Slayer recruited former Forbidden drummer Paul Bostaph to fill in the drummer position. Slayer made its debut appearance with Bostaph at the 1992 Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington. Bostaph's first studio effort was a medley of three Exploited songs, "War", "UK '82", and "Disorder", with rapper Ice-T, for the Judgment Night movie soundtrack in 1993.
Divine Intervention, Undisputed Attitude and Diabolus in Musica (1994–2000)
In 1994, Slayer released Divine Intervention, the band's first album with Bostaph on the drums. The album featured songs about Reinhard Heydrich, an architect of the Holocaust, and Jeffrey Dahmer, an American serial killer and sex offender. Other themes included murder, the evils of church, and the lengths to which governments went to wield power, Araya's interest in serial killers inspired much of the content of the lyrics.
Slayer geared up for a world tour in 1995, with openers Biohazard and Machine Head. A video of concert footage, Live Intrusion was released, featuring a joint cover of Venom's "Witching Hour" with Machine Head. Following the tour, Slayer was billed third at the 1995 Monsters of Rock festival, headlined by Metallica. In 1996, Undisputed Attitude, an album of punk covers, was released. The band covered songs by Minor Threat, T.S.O.L., Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, D.I., Verbal Abuse, Dr. Know, and The Stooges. The album featured three original tracks, "Gemini", "Can't Stand You", "Ddamm"; the latter two were written by Hanneman in 1984–1985 for a side project entitled Pap Smear. Bostaph left Slayer shortly after the album's recording to work on his own project, Truth About Seafood. With Bostaph's departure, Slayer recruited Testament drummer Jon Dette, and headlined the 1996 Ozzfest alongside Ozzy Osbourne, Danzig, Biohazard, Sepultura, and Fear Factory. Dette was fired after a year, due to a fallout with band members. After that, Bostaph returned to continue the tour.
Diabolus in Musica (Latin for "The Devil in Music") was released in 1998, and debuted at number 31 on the Billboard 200, selling over 46,000 copies in its first week. It was complete by September 1997, and scheduled to be released the following month, but got delayed by nine months after their label was taken over by Columbia Records. The album received a mixed critical reception, and was criticized for adopting characteristics of nu metal music such as tuned down guitars, murky chord structures, and churning beats. Blabbermouth.net reviewer Borijov Krgin described the album as "a feeble attempt at incorporating updated elements into the group's sound, the presence of which elevated the band's efforts somewhat and offered hope that Slayer could refrain from endlessly rehashing their previous material for their future output", while Ben Ratliff of The New York Times had similar sentiments, writing on June 22, 1998 that: "Eight of the 11 songs on Diabolus in Musica, a few of which were played at the show, are in the same gray key, and the band's rhythmic ideas have a wearying sameness too."
The album was the band's first to primarily feature dropped tuning, as featured on the lead track, "Bitter Peace", making use of the tritone interval referred to in the Middle Ages as the Devil's interval. Slayer teamed up with digital hardcore group Atari Teenage Riot to record a song for the Spawn soundtrack titled "No Remorse (I Wanna Die)". The band paid tribute to Black Sabbath by recording a cover of "Hand of Doom" for the second of two tribute albums, titled Nativity in Black II. A world tour followed to support the new album, with Slayer making an appearance at the United Kingdom Ozzfest 1998.
God Hates Us All (2001–2005)
During mid-2001, the band joined Morbid Angel, Pantera, Skrape and Static-X on the Extreme Steel Tour of North America, which was Pantera's last major tour. After delays regarding remixing and artwork, including slip covers created to cover the original artwork as it was deemed "too graphic", Slayer's next album, God Hates Us All, was released on September 11, 2001. The band received its first Grammy nomination for the lead track "Disciple", although the Grammy was awarded to Tool, for "Schism". The September 11 attacks on America jeopardized the 2001 European tour Tattoo the Planet originally set to feature Pantera, Static-X, Cradle of Filth, Biohazard and Vision of Disorder. The dates in the United Kingdom were postponed due to flight restrictions, with a majority of bands deciding to withdraw, leaving Slayer and Cradle of Filth remaining for the European leg of the tour.
Pantera, Static-X, Vision of Disorder and Biohazard were replaced by other bands depending on location; Amorphis, In Flames, Moonspell, Children of Bodom, and Necrodeath. Biohazard eventually decided to rejoin the tour later on, and booked new gigs in the countries, where they missed a few dates. Drummer Bostaph left Slayer before Christmas in 2001, due to a chronic elbow injury, which would hinder his ability to play. Since the band's European tour was unfinished at that time, the band's manager, Rick Sales, contacted original drummer Dave Lombardo and asked if he would like to finish the remainder of the tour. Lombardo accepted the offer, and stayed as a permanent member.
Slayer toured playing Reign in Blood in its entirety throughout the fall of 2003, under the tour banner "Still Reigning". Their playing of the final song, "Raining Blood", culminated with the band drenched in a rain of stage blood. Live footage of this was recorded at the Augusta Civic Center in Augusta, Maine, on July 11, 2004 and released on the 2004 DVD Still Reigning. The band also released War at the Warfield and a box set, Soundtrack to the Apocalypse featuring rarities, live CD and DVD performances and various Slayer merchandise. From 2002 to 2004, the band performed over 250 tour dates, headlining major music festivals including H82k2, Summer tour, Ozzfest 2004 and a European tour with Slipknot. While preparing for the Download Festival in England, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich was taken to a hospital with an unknown and mysterious illness, and was unable to perform. Metallica vocalist James Hetfield searched for volunteers at the last minute to replace Ulrich; Lombardo and Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison volunteered, with Lombardo performing the songs "Battery" and "The Four Horsemen".
Christ Illusion (2006–2008)
The next studio album, Christ Illusion, was originally scheduled for release on June 6, 2006, and would be the first album with original drummer Lombardo since 1990's Seasons in the Abyss. However, the band decided to delay the release of the record, as they did not want to be among the many, according to King, "half-ass, stupid fucking loser bands" releasing records on June 6, although USA Today reported the idea was thwarted because the band failed to secure sufficient studio recording time. Slayer released Eternal Pyre on June 6 as a limited-edition EP. Eternal Pyre featured the song "Cult", a live performance of "War Ensemble" in Germany and video footage of the band recording "Cult". Five thousand copies were released and sold exclusively through Hot Topic chain stores, and sold out within hours of release. On June 30, Nuclear Blast Records released a 7" vinyl picture disc version limited to a thousand copies.
Christ Illusion was eventually released on August 8, 2006, and debuted at number 5 on the Billboard 200, selling over 62,000 copies in its first week. The album became Slayer's highest charting, improving on its previous highest charting album, Divine Intervention, which had debuted at number 8. However, despite its high positioning, the album dropped to number 44 in the following week. Three weeks after the album's release, Slayer were inducted into the Kerrang! Hall of Fame for their influence to the heavy metal scene.
A worldwide tour dubbed The Unholy Alliance Tour, was undertaken to support the new record. The tour was originally set to launch on June 6, but was postponed to June 10, as Araya had to undergo gall bladder surgery. In Flames, Mastodon, Children of Bodom, Lamb of God, and Thine Eyes Bleed (featuring Araya's brother, Johnny) and Ted Maul (London Hammersmith Apollo) were supporting Slayer. The tour made its way through America and Europe and the bands who participated, apart from Thine Eyes Bleed, reunited to perform at Japan's Loudpark Festival on October 15, 2006.
The video for the album's first single, "Eyes of the Insane", was released on October 30, 2006. The track was featured on the Saw III soundtrack, and won a Grammy-award for "Best Metal Performance" at the 49th Grammy Awards, although the band was unable to attend due to touring obligations. A week later, the band visited the 52nd Services Squadron located on the Spangdahlem U.S. Air Force Base in Germany to meet and play a show. This was the first visit ever to a military base for the band. The band made its first network TV appearance on the show Jimmy Kimmel Live! on January 19, playing the song "Eyes of the Insane", and four additional songs for fans after the show (although footage from "Jihad" was cut due to its controversial lyrical themes).
In 2007, Slayer toured Australia and New Zealand in April with Mastodon, and appeared at the Download Festival, Rock Am Ring, and a summer tour with Marilyn Manson and Bleeding Through.
World Painted Blood (2009–2011)
In 2008, Araya stated uncertainty about the future of the band, and that he could not see himself continuing the career at a later age. He said that once the band finished its upcoming album, which was the final record in their contract, the band would sit down and discuss its future. King was optimistic that the band would produce at least another two albums before considering to disband: "We're talking of going in the studio next February [2009] and getting the next record out so if we do things in a timely manner I don't see there's any reason why we can't have more than one album out." Slayer, along with Trivium, Mastodon, and Amon Amarth, teamed up for a European tour titled 'The Unholy Alliance: Chapter III', throughout October and November 2008. Slayer headlined the second Mayhem Festival in the summer of 2009. Slayer, along with Megadeth, also co-headlined Canadian Carnage, the first time they performed together in more than 15 years when they co-headlined four shows in Canada in late June 2009 with openers Machine Head and Suicide Silence.
The band's eleventh studio album, World Painted Blood, was released by American Recordings. It was available on November 3 in North America and November 2 for the rest of the world. The band stated that the album takes elements of all their previous works including Seasons in the Abyss, South of Heaven, and Reign in Blood. Slayer, along with Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax performed on the same bill for the first time on June 16, 2010 at Bemowo Airport, in Warsaw, Poland. One of the following Big 4 performances in (Sofia, Bulgaria, June 22, 2010) was sent via satellite in HD to cinemas. They also went on to play several other dates as part of the Sonisphere Festival. Megadeth and Slayer joined forces once again for the American Carnage Tour from July to October 2010 with opening acts Anthrax and Testament, and European Carnage Tour in March and April 2011. The "Big Four" played more dates at Sonisphere in England and France for the first time ever. Slayer returned to Australia in February and March 2011 as part of the Soundwave Festival and also played in California with the other members of the "Big Four".
In early 2011, Hanneman was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis. According to the band, doctors said that it likely originated from a spider bite. Araya said of Hanneman's condition: "Jeff was seriously ill. Jeff ended up contracting a bacteria that ate away his flesh on his arm, so they cut open his arm, from his wrist to his shoulder, and they did a skin graft on him, they cleaned up ... It was a flesh-eating virus, so he was really, really bad. So we'll wait for him to get better, and when he's a hundred percent, he's gonna come out and join us." The band decided to play their upcoming tour dates without Hanneman. Gary Holt of Exodus was announced as Hanneman's temporary replacement. Cannibal Corpse guitarist Pat O'Brien filled in for Holt during a tour in Europe. On April 23, 2011, at the American Big 4 show in Indio, California, Hanneman rejoined his bandmates to play the final two songs of their set, "South of Heaven" and "Angel of Death". This turned out to be Hanneman's final live performance with the band.
Hanneman's death, Lombardo's third split, and Repentless (2011–2016)
When asked if Slayer would make another album, Lombardo replied "Yes absolutely; Although there's nothing written, there are definitely plans." However, Araya said Slayer would not begin writing a new album until Hanneman's condition improved. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Reign In Blood, the band performed all of the album's tracks at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival at the Alexandra Palace in London."I'll Be Your Mirror London 2012 announced with co-curators Mogwai + Slayer". All Tomorrow's Parties. November 9, 2011.
In November 2011, Lombardo posted a tweet that the band had started to write new music. This presumably meant that Hanneman's condition improved, and it was believed he was ready to enter the studio. King had worked with Lombardo that year and they completed three songs. The band planned on entering the studio in either March or April 2012 and were hoping to have the album recorded before the group's US tour in late May and release it by the summer of that year. However, King said the upcoming album would not be finished until September and October of that year, making a 2013 release likely. In July 2012, King revealed two song titles for the upcoming album, "Chasing Death" and "Implode".
In February 2013, Lombardo was fired right before Slayer was to play at Australia's Soundwave festival due to an argument with band members over a pay dispute. Slayer and American Recordings released a statement, saying "Mr. Lombardo came to the band less than a week before their scheduled departure for Australia to present an entirely new set of terms for his engagement that were contrary to those that had been previously agreed upon", although Lombardo claimed there was a gag order in place. Dette returned to fill in for Lombardo for the Soundwave dates. It was confirmed that Lombardo was officially out of Slayer for the third time, and, in May, Bostaph rejoined the band.
On May 2, 2013, Hanneman died due to liver failure in a local hospital near his home in Southern California's Inland Empire; the cause of death was later determined to be alcohol-related cirrhosis. King confirmed that the band would continue, saying "Jeff is going to be in everybody's thoughts for a long time. It's unfortunate you can't keep unfortunate things from happening. But we're going to carry on – and he'll be there in spirit." However, Araya felt more uncertain about the band's future, expressing his belief that "After 30 years [with Hanneman active in the band], it would literally be like starting over", and doubting that Slayer's fanbase would approve such a change. Despite the uncertainty regarding the band's future, Slayer still worked on a followup to World Painted Blood. Additionally, it was reported that the new album would still feature material written by Hanneman.
At the 2014 Revolvers Golden Gods Awards ceremony, Slayer debuted "Implode", its first new song in five years. The group announced that they had signed with Nuclear Blast, and planned to release a new album in 2015. It was reported that Holt would take over Hanneman's guitar duties full-time, although Holt did not participate in the songwriting. In February, Slayer announced a seventeen date American tour to start in June featuring Suicidal Tendencies and Exodus. In 2015, Slayer headlined the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival for the second time. Repentless, the band's twelfth studio album, was released on September 11, 2015. Slayer toured for two-and-a-half years in support of Repentless. The band toured Europe with Anthrax and Kvelertak in October and November 2015, and embarked on three North American tours: one with Testament and Carcass in February and March 2016, then with Anthrax and Death Angel in September and October 2016, and with Lamb of God and Behemoth in July and August 2017. A lone date in Southeast Asia in 2017 was held in the Philippines.
Cancelled thirteenth studio album, farewell tour and split (2016–2019)
In August 2016, guitarist Kerry King was asked if Slayer would release a follow-up to Repentless. He replied, "We've got lots of leftover material from the last album, 'cause we wrote so much stuff, and we recorded a bunch of it too. If the lyrics don't change the song musically, those songs are done. So we are way ahead of the ballgame without even doing anything for the next record. And I've been working on stuff on my downtime. Like, I'll warm up and a riff will come to mind and I'll record it. I've gotten a handful of those on this run. So wheels are still turning. I haven't worked on anything lyrically yet except for what was done on the last record, so that's something I've gotta get on. But, yeah, Repentless isn't quite a year old yet." King also stated that Slayer was not expected to enter the studio until at least 2018. In an October interview on Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta's podcast, King stated that he was "completely open" to having guitarist Gary Holt (who had no songwriting contributions on Repentless) involved in the songwriting process of the next Slayer album. He explained, "I'm entirely open to having Gary work on something. I know he's gotta work on an Exodus record and I've got tons already for this one. But, you know, if he's gonna stick around... I didn't want it on the last one, and I knew that. I'm completely open to having that conversation. I haven't talked to Tom about it, I haven't talked to Gary open about it, but I'm open. That's not saying it is or isn't gonna happen. But my ears are open."
In a June 2017 interview with the Ultimate Guitar Archive, Holt said that he was ready to contribute with the songwriting for the next album. When speaking to Revolver, King was asked if there were any plans in place for the band to begin working on the album, he said, "Funny thing is, Repentless isn't even two years old yet, though it seems like it is. But from that session, there are six or eight songs that are recorded—some with vocals, some with leads, but all with keeper guitar, drums and bass. So when those songs get finished lyrically, if the lyrics don't change the songs, they'll be ready to be on the next record. So we already have more than half a record complete, if those songs make it." He also gave conceivable consideration that it could be released next year, "I'm certainly not gonna promise it, because every time I do, I make a liar of myself! [Laughs]" When asked about any plans or the timeline the band would like to release the album, King said, "It depends on touring—getting time to rehearse, getting time to make up new stuff. We haven't even done Australia on this run yet at all. We're hitting Japan finally later this year. But if things go well, I'd like to record next year. But timelines change all the time." In an October 2017 interview, Holt once again expressed his desire to contribute to the songwriting for the next Slayer album, saying, "When that time comes and we are ready for the next album, if Kerry wants me to contribute, I've got riffs. I've got stuff right now that I've written that I am not using for Exodus, because it was kind of maybe just unintentional subconscious thing, like, 'It sounds a little too Slayer.'"
On January 22, 2018, Slayer announced their farewell world tour through a video featuring a montage of press clippings, early posters and press photos spanning the band's entire career. Although the members of Slayer have never publicly explained why they were retiring from touring, it was thought that one of the reasons behind this decision was at the expense of Tom Araya's desire not to tour anymore and to spend more time with his family. This was confirmed by former drummer Dave Lombardo in a 2019 interview, who said: "Apparently, from what I hear. Tom has been wanting to retire when I was in the band — he wanted to stop. He had the neck issues. He's been wanting to retire for a long time now. So now that he's got it, I'm happy for him, and I hope he gets what he wants out of life and his future."
The farewell tour began with a North American trek in May and June 2018, supported by Lamb of God, Anthrax, Behemoth and Testament. The second leg of the North American tour took place in July and August, with Napalm Death replacing Behemoth, followed in November and December by a European tour with Lamb of God, Anthrax and Obituary. The farewell tour continued into 2019, with plans to visit places such as South America, Australia and Japan; in addition to European festivals such as Hellfest and Graspop, the band toured the United States in May 2019 with Lamb of God, Amon Amarth and Cannibal Corpse. Slayer also played one show in Mexico at Force Fest in October 2018.
On December 2, 2018, Holt announced that he would not perform the remainder of the band's European tour to be with his dying father. Vio-lence and former Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel would fill in for him as a result.
Holt had stated that Slayer would not release a new album before the end of the farewell tour. On how long the tour would last, Holt's Exodus bandmate Steve "Zetro" Souza commented, "I'm speculating it's gonna take a year and a half or two years to do the one final thing, but I believe it's finished. Everybody knows what I know; just because I'm on the outside, I have no insight on that." The final North American leg of the tour, dubbed "The Last Campaign", took place in November 2019, and also included support from Primus, Ministry and Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals. Despite being referred to as a farewell tour for Slayer, their manager Rick Sales has stated that the band is not breaking up, but has no intention of ever performing live again. Kristen Mulderig, who works with Rick Sales Entertainment Group, has also been quoted as saying that there would be Slayer-related activities following the tour's conclusion. However, within two days after the tour's completion, King's wife Ayesha stated on her Instagram page that there is "not a chance in hell" that Slayer would ever reunite to perform more shows or release new music.
Aftermath (2020–present)
In March 2020, when talking to Guitar World about his latest endorsement with Dean Guitars, King hinted that he would continue to make music outside of Slayer, simply saying, "Dean didn't sign me for nothing!" King stated in an August 2020 interview on the Dean Guitars YouTube channel that he has "more than two records' worth of music" for his yet-to-be disclosed new project. Bostaph later confirmed that he and King are working on a new project that will "sound like Slayer without it being Slayer — but not intentionally so."
When asked by the Let There Be Talk podcast in June 2020 if a Slayer reunion would ever happen, Holt stated, "If it does, if it ever happens, it has nothing to do with me. Someone else would call and say, 'We wanna [do this].' To my knowledge, it's done. And I think it should be that way. The band went out fucking on a bang, went out on Slayer's terms, and how many people get to say they did that?". In August 2020, King's wife Ayesha once again ruled out the possibility of a Slayer reunion, saying that her husband and Araya will "never be Slayer again".
When asked in a March 2021 interview if Slayer would consider reuniting for a special show or tour, Holt said, "That's a question I couldn't answer you, whether Slayer would ever get back together. Those are questions that are above my pay scale, I guess you'd say. Look, if the powers that be ever — like, in a year or something — said, 'Hey, you know what? We feel like playing some shows,' I'm there to do it," Holt added. "But those aren't decisions for me to make, or even me to really speculate on. As far as my knowledge, the band is over, and the final show was November 30, 2019. And I'm full speed ahead with Exodus now."
On October 12, 2021, King expressed regret that Slayer had retired "too early." While congratulating Machine Head on their 30th anniversary as a band, he said, "Apparently, it's 30 years, which is quite an achievement. Not a lot of bands get there. We did, and then we quit too early. Fuck us. Fuck me. I hate fucking not playing." In an interview with Metal Hammer a few days later, King reiterated that he would continue to work outside of Slayer: "I'm dragging my feet on letting the world know what I'm doing because there's no rush. I have a tour that I'm considering doing, but I'm not going to announce a band, I'm not going to announce a record, I'm not going to announce anything. But you will see me in the future — it will be fucking good." When interviewed again two months later by Metal Hammer, King did not rule out the possibility of any more "Big Four" shows with Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax, but expressed doubt that a Slayer reunion would ever happen: "The way that I'm moving forward is I don't think Slayer are ever going to play again. There's no business of me playing by myself!"
Musical style
Slayer is considered a thrash metal band. In an article from December 1986 by the Washington Post, writer Joe Brown described Slayer as speed metal, a genre he defined as "an unholy hybrid of punk rock thrash and heavy metal that attracts an almost all-male teen-age following". Describing Slayer's music, Brown wrote: "Over a jackhammer beat, Slayer's stun guitars created scraping sheets of corrosive metal noise, with occasional solos that sounded like squealing brakes, over which the singer-bassist emitted a larynx-lacerating growl-yowl." In an article from September 1988 by the New York Times, writer Jon Pareles also described Slayer as speed metal, additionally writing that the band "brings the sensational imagery of tabloids and horror movies" and has lyrics that "revel in death, gore and allusions to Satanism and Nazism." Pareles also described other "Big Four" thrash metal bands Metallica and Megadeth as speed metal bands. Slayer's early works were praised for their "breakneck speed and instrumental prowess", combining the structure of hardcore punk tempos and speed metal. The band released fast, aggressive material. The album Reign in Blood is the band's fastest, performed at an average of 220 beats per minute; the album Diabolus in Musica was the band's first to feature C tuning; God Hates Us All was the first to feature drop B tuning and seven-string guitars tuned to B. AllMusic cited the album as "abandoning the extravagances and accessibility of their late-'80s/early-'90s work and returning to perfect the raw approach", with some fans labeling it as nu metal.
King and Hanneman's dual guitar solos have been referred to as "wildly chaotic", and "twisted genius". Original drummer Lombardo would use two bass drums (instead of a double pedal, which is used on a single bass drum). Lombardo's speed and aggression earned him the title of the "godfather of double bass" by Drummerworld. Lombardo stated his reasons for using two bass drums: "When you hit the bass drum, the head is still resonating. When you hit it in the same place right after that, you kinda get a 'slapback' from the bass drum head hitting the other pedal. You're not letting them breathe." When playing the two bass drums, Lombardo would use the "heel-up" technique.
In the original lineup, King, Hanneman and Araya contributed to the band's lyrics, and King and Hanneman wrote the music with additional arrangement from Lombardo, and sometimes Araya. Araya formed a lyric writing partnership with Hanneman, which sometimes overshadowed the creative input of King. Hanneman stated that writing lyrics and music was a "free-for-all": "It's all just whoever comes up with what. Sometimes I'll be more on a roll and I'll have more stuff, same with Kerry – it's whoever's hot, really. Anybody can write anything; if it's good, we use it; if not, we don't."
When writing material, the band would write the music first before incorporating lyrics. King or Hanneman used a 24-track and drum machine to show band members the riff that they created, and to get their opinion. Either King, Hanneman or Lombardo would mention if any alterations could be made. The band played the riff to get the basic song structure, and figured out where the lyrics and solos would be placed.
Legacy
Slayer is one of the most influential bands in heavy metal history. Steve Huey of AllMusic believes the musical style of Slayer makes the band stronger than the other members of the "Big Four" thrash metal bands Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax, all of which rose to fame during the 1980s. Slayer's "downtuned rhythms, infectious guitar licks, graphically violent lyrics and grisly artwork set the standard for dozens of emerging thrash bands" and their "music was directly responsible for the rise of death metal" states MTV, ranking Slayer as the sixth "greatest metal band of all time", ranking number 50 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. Hanneman and King ranked number 10 in Guitar Worlds "100 greatest metal guitarists of all time" in 2004, and were voted "Best Guitarist/Guitar Team" in Revolver's reader's poll. Original drummer Lombardo was also voted "Best Drummer" and the band entered the top five in the categories "Best Band Ever", "Best Live Band", "Album of the Year" (for Christ Illusion) and "Band of the Year".
Music author Joel McIver considers Slayer very influential in the extreme metal scene, especially in the development of the death metal and black metal subgenres. According to John Consterdine of Terrorizer, without "Slayer's influence, extreme metal as we know it wouldn't exist." Kam Lee of Massacre and former member of Death stated: "there wouldn't be death metal or black metal or even extreme metal (the likes of what it is today) if not for Slayer." Johan Reinholdz of Andromeda said that Slayer "were crucial in the development of thrash metal which then became the foundation for a lot of different subgenres. They inspired generations of metal bands." Alex Skolnick of Testament declared: "Before Slayer, metal had never had such razor-sharp articulation, tightness, and balance between sound and stops. This all-out sonic assault was about the shock, the screams, the drums, and [...] most importantly the riffs."
Groups who cited Slayer among their major influences include Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet for My Valentine, Fear Factory, Machine Head, Children of Bodom, Slipknot, Gojira, Carnifex, Hatebreed, Cannibal Corpse, Pantera, Kreator, Sadistic Intent, Mayhem, Darkthrone, System of a Down, Lamb of God, Behemoth, Evile and Lacuna Coil. Steve Asheim, drummer for Deicide, declared that "there obviously would not have been a Deicide as we know it without the existence of Slayer." Sepultura guitarist Andreas Kisser affirmed that "without Slayer, Sepultura would never be possible." Weezer mentions them in the song "Heart Songs" from their 2008 self-titled "Red" album. The verse goes: "Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Slayer taught me how to shred..." Dave Grohl recalled, "Me and my friends, we just wanted to listen to fucking Slayer and take acid and smash stuff."
The band's 1986 release Reign in Blood has been an influence to extreme and thrash metal bands since its release and is considered the record which set the bar for death metal. It had a significant influence on the genre leaders such as Death, Obituary, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel and Napalm Death. The album was hailed the "heaviest album of all time" by Kerrang!, a "genre-definer" by Stylus, and a "stone-cold classic upon its release" by AllMusic. In 2006, Reign in Blood was named the best metal album of the last 20 years by Metal Hammer. According to Nielsen SoundScan, Slayer sold 4,900,000 copies in the United States from 1991 to 2013.
Controversy
A lawsuit was brought against the band in 1996, by the parents of Elyse Pahler, who accused the band of encouraging their daughter's murderers through their lyrics. Pahler was drugged, strangled, stabbed, trampled on, and raped as a sacrifice to the devil by three fans of the band. The case was unsealed by the court on May 19, 2000, stating Slayer and related business markets distribute harmful products to teens, encouraging violent acts through their lyrics, and "none of the vicious crimes committed against Elyse Marie Pahler would have occurred without the intentional marketing strategy of the death-metal band Slayer." The lawsuit was dismissed in 2001, for multiple reasons including "principles of free speech, lack of a duty and lack of foreseeability." A second lawsuit was filed by the parents, an amended complaint for damages against Slayer, their label, and other industry and label entities. The lawsuit was again dismissed. Judge E. Jeffrey Burke stated, "I do not consider Slayer's music obscene, indecent or harmful to minors."
Slayer has been accused of holding Nazi sympathies, due to the band's eagle logo bearing resemblance to the Eagle atop swastika and the lyrics of "Angel of Death". "Angel of Death" was inspired by the acts of Josef Mengele, the doctor who conducted human experiments on prisoners during World War II at the Auschwitz concentration camp, and was dubbed the "Angel of Death" by inmates.
Slayer's cover of Minor Threat's "Guilty of Being White" raised questions about a possible message of white supremacy in the band's music. The controversy surrounding the cover involved the changing of the refrain "guilty of being white" to "guilty of being right", at the song's ending. This incensed Minor Threat frontman Ian MacKaye, who stated "that is so offensive to me." King said it was changed for "tongue-in-cheek" humor as he thought the allegation of racism at the time was "ridiculous".
In a 2004 interview with Araya, when asked, "Did critics realize you were wallowing in parody?" Araya replied, "No. People thought we were serious!...back then you had that PMRC, who literally took everything to heart, when in actuality you're trying to create an image. You're trying to scare people on purpose." Araya also denied rumors that Slayer members are Satanists, but they find the subject of Satanism interesting and "we are all on this planet to learn and experience."
The song "Jihad" of the album Christ Illusion sparked controversy among families of the September 11 victims. The song deals with the attack from the perspective of a religious terrorist. The band stated the song is spoken through perspective without being sympathetic to the cause, and supports neither side.
Seventeen bus benches promoting the same album in Fullerton, California were deemed offensive by city officials. City officials contacted the band's record label and demanded that the ads be removed. All benches were eliminated.
In India, Christ Illusion was recalled by EMI India after protests with Christian religious groups due to the nature of the graphic artwork. The album cover was designed by Slayer's longtime collaborator Larry Carroll and features Christ in a "sea of despair", with amputated arms, missing an eye, while standing in a sea of blood with severed heads. Joseph Dias of the Mumbai Christian group Catholic Secular Forum in India took "strong exception" to the original album artwork, and issued a memorandum to Mumbai's police commissioner in protest. On October 11, 2006, EMI announced that all stocks had been destroyed, noting it had no plans to re-release the record in India in the future.
Band membersFormer members Kerry King – guitars (1981–2019)
Tom Araya – bass, vocals (1981–2019)
Jeff Hanneman – guitars (1981–2013) (died 2013)
Dave Lombardo – drums (1981–1986, 1987–1992, 2001–2013)
Paul Bostaph – drums (1992–1996, 1997–2001, 2013–2019)
Jon Dette – drums (1996–1997)
Gary Holt – guitars (2013–2019)Touring musicians Tony Scaglione – drums (1986–1987)
Pat O'Brien – guitars (2011)
Gary Holt – guitars (2011–2013)
Jon Dette – drums (2013)
Phil Demmel – guitars (2018)Timeline'''
Discography
Show No Mercy (1983)
Hell Awaits (1985)
Reign in Blood (1986)
South of Heaven (1988)
Seasons in the Abyss (1990)
Divine Intervention (1994)
Undisputed Attitude (1996)
Diabolus in Musica (1998)
God Hates Us All (2001)
Christ Illusion (2006)
World Painted Blood (2009)
Repentless (2015)
Awards and nominations
|-
!scope="row"| 2002
| "Disciple" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"|2007
| "Eyes of the Insane" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"| 2008
|| "Final Six" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"|2010
| "Hate Worldwide" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"|2011
| "World Painted Blood" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2006
| Slayer || Kerrang! Hall of Fame ||
|-
!scope="row"|2013
| Slayer || Kerrang! Legend ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2003
| War at the Warfield || DVD of the Year ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2010
| Kerry King || God of Riffs ||
|-
!scope="row"|2013
| Jeff Hanneman || God of Riffs ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2004
| Slayer || Best Live Act ||
|-
!scope="row"|2006
| Reign in Blood || Best Album of the Last 20 Years ||
|-
!scope="row"|2007
| | "Eyes of the Insane" || Best Video ||
|-
!scope="row"|2007
||Slayer || Icon Award ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2006
| Christ Illusion || Best Thrash Metal Album ||
|-
!scope="row"|2015
| "Repentless" || Best Video ||
|-
Footnotes
From late 2010 until his death in May 2013, Jeff Hanneman's participation in Slayer was minimal. In January 2011, he contracted necrotizing fasciitis, which severely restricted his ability to perform. He appeared publicly with the band on only one known occasion, playing two songs during an encore at one of Slayer's Big 4 performances in April 2011; he also attended rehearsals for Fun Fun Fun Fest in November 2011, but did not end up performing at this show. By July 2012, Hanneman had not written or recorded any new material for the band's follow up to 2009's World Painted Blood''. In February 2013, Kerry King stated he was planning on recording all of the guitar parts for the upcoming album himself, but was open to Hanneman's return if he was willing and able. King also denied that Gary Holt, member of Exodus and Hanneman's live fill-in, would write or record anything for the upcoming album. Hanneman died on May 2, 2013 at the age of 49 due to liver failure.
Citations
Further reading
External links
1981 establishments in California
Thrash metal musical groups from California
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Def Jam Recordings artists
Grammy Award winners
Kerrang! Awards winners
Metal Blade Records artists
Musical groups disestablished in 2019
Musical groups established in 1981
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical quartets
Nuclear Blast artists
Obscenity controversies in music | true | [
"The World Painted Blood Tour was a concert tour by Slayer.\n\nGary Holt of Exodus was announced as guitarist Jeff Hanneman's temporary replacement on March 13, to April 4, 2011, and joined again on April 23, 2011.\n\nCannibal Corpse guitarist Pat O'Brien filled in for Holt when Holt left the European tour to play with his own band Exodus at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago, Chile on April 10, 2011. Holt's last show with Slayer was on April 4, 2011 in Padova, Italy, O'Brien joined the band for the April 6, 2011 show in Croatia, and finished the European Carnage dates on April 14, 2011 in the Netherlands.\n\nThe European Carnage Tour was co-headlined with Megadeth. This was the first time in 21 years since the Clash of the Titans tour in Europe with Testament and Suicidal Tendencies that Slayer and Megadeth had toured the continent together.\n\nOn the end of March, 2011, Slayer announced a U.S. tour with Rob Zombie and Exodus. The tour name is Hell on Earth 2011, started on July 20 and ended on August 6, 2011.\n\nOn April 23, Slayer was part of the first Big Four show in the United States. Hanneman rejoined to play the last two songs of the concert. It would be Hanneman's last performance with Slayer before his death in 2013.\n\nTour dates\n\n Big 4 shows with Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax\n\nSetlist\n\nTypical World Painted Blood Setlist \n\n\"World Painted Blood\"\n\"Hate Worldwide\"\n\"War Ensemble\"\n\"Jihad\"\n\"Expendable Youth\"\n\"Disciple\"\n\"Beauty Through Order\"\n\"Dead Skin Mask\"\n\"Hell Awaits\"\n\"Payback\"\n\"Mandatory Suicide\"\n\"Chemical Warfare\"\n\"Seasons in the Abyss\"\n\"Ghosts of War\"\n\"Aggressive Perfector\"\n\nEncore:\n\n\"South of Heaven\"\n\"Raining Blood\"\n\"Angel of Death\"\n\nTypical Hell on Earth Setlist\n\n \"World Painted Blood\"\n\"Hate Worldwide\"\n\"War Ensemble\"\n \"Postmortem\"\n \"Dittohead\"\n \"Dead Skin Mask\"\n \"Spirit in Black\"\n \"Mandatory Suicide\"\n \"Chemical Warfare\"\n \"Silent Scream\"\n \"Seasons in the Abyss\"\n \"Snuff\"\n\nEncore:\n\n \"South of Heaven\"\n \"Raining Blood\"\n \"Black Magic\"\n \"Angel of Death\"\n\nPersonnel\nKerry King - guitars\nTom Araya - vocals, bass\nDave Lombardo - drums\n\nTouring musicians\nGary Holt - guitars (February 26 - April 4, 2011; April 23 - November 6, 2011)\nPat O'Brien - guitars (April 6–14, 2011)\n\nReferences\n\n2011 concert tours\nSlayer concert tours",
"Marguerite (Maggi) Lidchi-Grassi (born 1930 in Paris) is a writer and spiritual teacher.\n\nLife and writings\nDuring World War II, she lived in South Africa, but later returned to Paris, where she encountered a cousin who had survived Auschwitz. An attempt to understand why things went wrong led her, at the age of seventeen, to discover the works of Sri Aurobindo. In 1959, married and once again living in Africa, she decided to leave her husband and family and, after some attempts to dissuade her, went to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Puducherry, India, where she still lives. She is the editor of Domani (Tomorrow), a quarterly journal in Italian that has been published by the ashram since 1968.\n\nShe prefers to write in English, and has produced many novels, short stories, poems and plays. Her book, The Light That Shone into the Dark Abyss, includes a refutation of the purported relationship between Aurobindo's vision of higher mental/spiritual development for humanity and the Nazi concept of a \"Master Race\".\n\nHer most recent book, The Great Golden Sacrifice of the Mahabharata, is a retelling of the epic from the viewpoint of Arjuna.\n\nSelected works\nEarthman, Victor Gollancz (1967). Published as Man of Earth in the United States by William Morrow (1968). The change was made because the publisher thought the original title sounded like science fiction.\nFirst Wife, Littlehampton (1981) \nGreat Sir & the Heaven Lady : a True Story of the Experiences of an American Infantry Man Spiritually Guided Through World War II, Writer's Workshop (1993) \nThe Light That Shone into the Dark Abyss, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publications (1994) \nThe Great Golden Sacrifice of the Mahabharata (Complete in one volume), Random House India (2012)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nRandom House India: Maggi Lidchi-Grassi – ''The Purpose\n\n1930 births\nSpiritual writers\nFrench expatriates in South Africa\nSri Aurobindo\nWriters from Paris\nLiving people\n20th-century French women writers"
] |
[
"Slayer",
"South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss (1988-1993)",
"Who produced South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss?",
"Slayer's"
] | C_07397c12d123426cacfc6b32eb6905ad_0 | Can you tell me something interesting about the article? | 2 | Can you tell me something interesting about the article Slayer, South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss ? | Slayer | In late 1987, Slayer returned to the studio to record their fourth studio album. To contrast the speed of Reign in Blood, the band consciously decided to slow down the tempos, and incorporate more melodic singing. According to Hanneman, "We knew we couldn't top Reign in Blood, so we had to slow down. We knew whatever we did was gonna be compared to that album, and I remember we actually discussed slowing down. It was weird--we've never done that on an album, before or since." Released in July 1988, South of Heaven received mixed responses from both fans and critics, although it was Slayer's most commercially successful release at the time, debuting at number 57 on the Billboard 200, and their second album to receive gold certification in the United States. Press response to the album was mixed, with AllMusic citing the album as "disturbing and powerful," and Kim Nelly of Rolling Stone calling it "genuinely offensive satanic drivel." King said "that album was my most lackluster performance," although Araya called it a "late bloomer" which eventually grew on people. Slayer returned to the studio in spring 1990 with co-producer Andy Wallace to record its fifth studio album. Following the backlash created by South of Heaven, Slayer returned to the "pounding speed of Reign in Blood, while retaining their newfound melodic sense." Seasons in the Abyss, released on October 25, 1990, was the first Slayer album to be released under Rubin's new Def American label, as he had parted ways with Def Jam owner Russell Simmons over creative differences. The album debuted at number 44 on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold in 1992. The album spawned Slayer's first music video for the album's title track, which was filmed in front of the Giza pyramids in Egypt. Slayer returned as a live act in September 1990 to co-headline the European Clash of the Titans tour with Megadeth, Suicidal Tendencies, and Testament. During the sold out European leg of this tour tickets fetched up to 1,000 Deutschmark ($680 USD) on the black market. With the popularity of American thrash at its peak, the tour was extended to the US beginning in May 1991, with Megadeth, Anthrax and opening act Alice in Chains. The band released a double live album, Decade of Aggression in 1991, to celebrate ten years since their formation. The compilation debuted at number 55 on the Billboard 200. In May 1992, Lombardo quit the band due to conflicts with other members, as well as his desire to be off tour for the birth of his first child. Lombardo formed his own band Grip Inc, with Voodoocult guitarist Waldemar Sorychta, and Slayer recruited former Forbidden drummer Paul Bostaph to take his place. Slayer made its debut appearance with Bostaph at the 1992 Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington. Bostaph's first studio effort was a medley of three Exploited songs, "War," "UK '82," and "Disorder," with rapper Ice-T, for the Judgment Night movie soundtrack in 1993. CANNOTANSWER | Press response to the album was mixed, | Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo, and bassist and vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them one of the "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax. Slayer's final lineup comprised King, Araya, drummer Paul Bostaph (who replaced Lombardo in 1992 and again in 2013) and guitarist Gary Holt (who replaced Hanneman in 2011). Drummer Jon Dette was also a member of the band.
In the original lineup, King, Hanneman and Araya contributed to the band's lyrics, and all of the band's music was written by King and Hanneman. The band's lyrics and album art, which cover topics such as murder, serial killers, torture, genocide, politics, theories, human subject research, organized crime, secret societies, mythology, occultism, Satanism, hate crimes, terrorism, religion or antireligion, Nazism, fascism, racism, xenophobia, misanthropy, war and prison, have generated album bans, delays, lawsuits and criticism from religious groups and factions of the general public. However, its music has been highly influential, often being cited by many bands as an influence musically, visually and lyrically; the band's third album, Reign in Blood (1986), has been described as one of the heaviest and most influential thrash metal albums.
Slayer released twelve studio albums, two live albums, a box set, six music videos, two extended plays and a cover album. Four of the band's studio albums have received gold certification in the United States. Slayer sold 5 million copies in the United States from 1991 to 2013, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and over 20 million worldwide. The band has received five Grammy Award nominations, winning one in 2007 for the song "Eyes of the Insane" and one in 2008 for the song "Final Six", both of which were from the album Christ Illusion (2006). After more than three decades of recording and performing, Slayer announced in January 2018 that it would embark on a farewell tour, which took place from May 2018 to November 2019, after which the band disbanded.
History
Early years (1981–1983)
Slayer was formed in 1981 by Kerry King, Jeff Hanneman, Dave Lombardo, and Tom Araya in Huntington Park, CA. The group started out playing covers of songs by bands such as Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Venom at parties and clubs in Southern California. The band's early image relied heavily on Satanic themes that featured pentagrams, make-up, spikes, and inverted crosses. Rumors that the band was originally known as Dragonslayer, after the 1981 film of the same name, were denied by King, as he later stated: "We never were; it's a myth to this day." According to Lombardo, the original band name was to be Wings of Fire before they settled in with Slayer. It was he who designed the iconic logo. For inspiration, Lombardo thought in a perspective of a murderer of how they would carve out the logo with a knife and since he's lefthanded, the logo is unintentionally slanted to the right.
In 1983, Slayer was invited to open for the band Bitch at the Woodstock Club in Anaheim, California to perform eight songs, six of which were covers. The band was spotted by Brian Slagel, a former music journalist who had recently founded Metal Blade Records. Impressed with Slayer, he met with the band backstage and asked them to record an original song for his upcoming Metal Massacre III compilation album. The band agreed and their song "Aggressive Perfector" created an underground buzz upon its release in mid 1983, which led to Slagel offering the band a recording contract with Metal Blade.
Show No Mercy, Haunting the Chapel and Hell Awaits (1983–1986)
Without any recording budget, the band had to self-finance its debut album. Combining the savings of Araya, who was employed as a respiratory therapist, and money borrowed from King's father, the band entered the studio in November 1983. The album was rushed into release, stocking shelves three weeks after tracks were completed. Show No Mercy, released in December 1983 by Metal Blade Records, generated underground popularity for the band. The group began a club tour of California to promote the album. The tour gave the band additional popularity and sales of Show No Mercy eventually reached more than 20,000 in the US and another 20,000 worldwide.
In February 1984, King briefly joined Dave Mustaine's new band Megadeth. Hanneman was worried about King's decision, stating in an interview, "I guess we're gonna get a new guitar player." While Mustaine wanted King to stay on a permanent basis, King left after five shows, stating Mustaine's band was "taking too much of my time." The split caused a rift between King and Mustaine, which evolved into a long running feud between the two bands.
In June 1984, Slayer released a three-track EP called Haunting the Chapel. The EP featured a darker, more thrash-oriented style than Show No Mercy, and laid the groundwork for the future direction of the band. The opening track, "Chemical Warfare", has become a live staple, played at nearly every show since 1984.
Later that year, Slayer began their first national club tour, traveling in Araya's Camaro towing a U-Haul trailer. The band recorded the live album Live Undead in November 1984 while in New York City.
In March 1985, Slayer began a national tour with Venom and Exodus, resulting in their first live home video dubbed Combat Tour: The Ultimate Revenge. The video featured live footage filmed at the Studio 54 club. The band then made its live European debut at the Heavy Sound Festival in Belgium opening for UFO. Also in 1985, Slayer toured or played selected shows with bands like Megadeth, Destruction, D.R.I., Possessed, Agent Steel, S.O.D., Nasty Savage and Metal Church.
Show No Mercy had sold over 40,000 copies, which led to the band returning to the studio to record their second full-length album. Metal Blade financed a recording budget, which allowed the band to hire producer Ron Fair. Released in March 1985, Slayer's second full-length album, Hell Awaits, expanded on the darkness of Haunting the Chapel, with hell and Satan as common song subjects. The album was the band's most progressive offering, featuring longer and more complex song structures. The intro of the title track is a backwards recording of a demonic-sounding voice repeating "Join us", ending with "Welcome back" before the track begins. The album was a hit, with fans choosing Slayer for best band, best live band, Hell Awaits, as 1985's best album, and Dave Lombardo as best drummer in the British magazine Metal Forces 1985 Readers Poll.
Reign in Blood, Lombardo's brief hiatus and South of Heaven (1986–1989)
Following the success of Hell Awaits, Slayer was offered a recording contract with Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin's newly founded Def Jam Records, a largely hip hop-based label. The band accepted, and with an experienced producer and major label recording budget, the band underwent a sonic makeover for their third album Reign in Blood, resulting in shorter, faster songs with clearer production. The complex arrangements and long songs featured on Hell Awaits were ditched in favor of stripped down, hardcore punk influenced song structures.
Def Jam's distributor, Columbia Records, refused to release the album due to the song "Angel of Death" which detailed Holocaust concentration camps and the human experiments conducted by Nazi physician Josef Mengele. The album was distributed by Geffen Records on October 7, 1986. However, due to the controversy, Reign in Blood did not appear on Geffen Records' release schedule. Although the album received virtually no radio airplay, it became the band's first to enter the Billboard 200, debuting at number 94, and the band's first album certified gold in the United States.
Slayer embarked on the Reign in Pain world tour, with Overkill in the US from October to December 1986, and Malice in Europe in April and May 1987. They also played with other bands such as Agnostic Front, Testament, Metal Church, D.R.I., Dark Angel and Flotsam and Jetsam. The band was added as the opening act on W.A.S.P.'s US tour, but just one month into it, drummer Lombardo left the band: "I wasn't making any money. I figured if we were gonna be doing this professionally, on a major label, I wanted my rent and utilities paid." To continue with the tour, Slayer enlisted Tony Scaglione of Whiplash. However, Lombardo was convinced by his wife to return in 1987. At the insistence of Rubin, Slayer recorded a cover version of Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" for the film Less Than Zero. Although the band was not happy with the final product, Hanneman deeming it "a poor representation of Slayer" and King labeling it "a hunk of shit", it was one of their first songs to garner radio airplay.
In late 1987, Slayer returned to the studio to record their fourth studio album. To contrast the speed of Reign in Blood, the band consciously decided to slow down the tempos, and incorporate more melodic singing. According to Hanneman, "We knew we couldn't top Reign in Blood, so we had to slow down. We knew whatever we did was gonna be compared to that album, and I remember we actually discussed slowing down. It was weird—we've never done that on an album, before or since."
Released in July 1988, South of Heaven received mixed responses from both fans and critics, although it was Slayer's most commercially successful release at the time, debuting at number 57 on the Billboard 200, and their second album to receive gold certification in the United States. Press response to the album was mixed, with AllMusic citing the album as "disturbing and powerful", and Kim Nelly of Rolling Stone calling it "genuinely offensive satanic drivel". King said "that album was my most lackluster performance", although Araya called it a "late bloomer" which eventually grew on people. Slayer toured from August 1988 to January 1989 to promote South of Heaven, supporting Judas Priest in the US on their Ram It Down tour, and touring Europe with Nuclear Assault and the US with Motörhead and Overkill.
Seasons in the Abyss and Lombardo's second departure (1990–1993)
Slayer returned to the studio in early 1990 with co-producer Andy Wallace to record its fifth studio album. Following the backlash created by South of Heaven, Slayer returned to the "pounding speed of Reign in Blood, while retaining their newfound melodic sense." Seasons in the Abyss, released on October 9, 1990, was the first Slayer album to be released under Rubin's new Def American label, as he had parted ways with Def Jam owner Russell Simmons over creative differences. The album debuted at number 44 on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold in 1992. The album spawned Slayer's first music video for the album's title track, which was filmed in front of the Giza pyramids in Egypt.
Slayer returned as a live act in September 1990 to co-headline the European Clash of the Titans tour with Megadeth, Suicidal Tendencies, and Testament. During the sold out European leg of this tour, tickets had prices skyrocket to 1,000 Deutschmark (US$680) on the black market. With the popularity of American thrash at its peak, the band toured with Testament again in early 1991 and triple-headlined the North American version of the Clash of the Titans tour that summer with Megadeth, Anthrax, and opening act Alice in Chains. The band released a double live album, Decade of Aggression in 1991, to celebrate ten years since their formation. The compilation debuted at number 55 on the Billboard 200.
In May 1992, Lombardo left the band due to conflicts with the other members, as well as his desire to be off tour for the birth of his first child. Lombardo formed his own band Grip Inc., with Voodoocult guitarist Waldemar Sorychta, and Slayer recruited former Forbidden drummer Paul Bostaph to fill in the drummer position. Slayer made its debut appearance with Bostaph at the 1992 Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington. Bostaph's first studio effort was a medley of three Exploited songs, "War", "UK '82", and "Disorder", with rapper Ice-T, for the Judgment Night movie soundtrack in 1993.
Divine Intervention, Undisputed Attitude and Diabolus in Musica (1994–2000)
In 1994, Slayer released Divine Intervention, the band's first album with Bostaph on the drums. The album featured songs about Reinhard Heydrich, an architect of the Holocaust, and Jeffrey Dahmer, an American serial killer and sex offender. Other themes included murder, the evils of church, and the lengths to which governments went to wield power, Araya's interest in serial killers inspired much of the content of the lyrics.
Slayer geared up for a world tour in 1995, with openers Biohazard and Machine Head. A video of concert footage, Live Intrusion was released, featuring a joint cover of Venom's "Witching Hour" with Machine Head. Following the tour, Slayer was billed third at the 1995 Monsters of Rock festival, headlined by Metallica. In 1996, Undisputed Attitude, an album of punk covers, was released. The band covered songs by Minor Threat, T.S.O.L., Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, D.I., Verbal Abuse, Dr. Know, and The Stooges. The album featured three original tracks, "Gemini", "Can't Stand You", "Ddamm"; the latter two were written by Hanneman in 1984–1985 for a side project entitled Pap Smear. Bostaph left Slayer shortly after the album's recording to work on his own project, Truth About Seafood. With Bostaph's departure, Slayer recruited Testament drummer Jon Dette, and headlined the 1996 Ozzfest alongside Ozzy Osbourne, Danzig, Biohazard, Sepultura, and Fear Factory. Dette was fired after a year, due to a fallout with band members. After that, Bostaph returned to continue the tour.
Diabolus in Musica (Latin for "The Devil in Music") was released in 1998, and debuted at number 31 on the Billboard 200, selling over 46,000 copies in its first week. It was complete by September 1997, and scheduled to be released the following month, but got delayed by nine months after their label was taken over by Columbia Records. The album received a mixed critical reception, and was criticized for adopting characteristics of nu metal music such as tuned down guitars, murky chord structures, and churning beats. Blabbermouth.net reviewer Borijov Krgin described the album as "a feeble attempt at incorporating updated elements into the group's sound, the presence of which elevated the band's efforts somewhat and offered hope that Slayer could refrain from endlessly rehashing their previous material for their future output", while Ben Ratliff of The New York Times had similar sentiments, writing on June 22, 1998 that: "Eight of the 11 songs on Diabolus in Musica, a few of which were played at the show, are in the same gray key, and the band's rhythmic ideas have a wearying sameness too."
The album was the band's first to primarily feature dropped tuning, as featured on the lead track, "Bitter Peace", making use of the tritone interval referred to in the Middle Ages as the Devil's interval. Slayer teamed up with digital hardcore group Atari Teenage Riot to record a song for the Spawn soundtrack titled "No Remorse (I Wanna Die)". The band paid tribute to Black Sabbath by recording a cover of "Hand of Doom" for the second of two tribute albums, titled Nativity in Black II. A world tour followed to support the new album, with Slayer making an appearance at the United Kingdom Ozzfest 1998.
God Hates Us All (2001–2005)
During mid-2001, the band joined Morbid Angel, Pantera, Skrape and Static-X on the Extreme Steel Tour of North America, which was Pantera's last major tour. After delays regarding remixing and artwork, including slip covers created to cover the original artwork as it was deemed "too graphic", Slayer's next album, God Hates Us All, was released on September 11, 2001. The band received its first Grammy nomination for the lead track "Disciple", although the Grammy was awarded to Tool, for "Schism". The September 11 attacks on America jeopardized the 2001 European tour Tattoo the Planet originally set to feature Pantera, Static-X, Cradle of Filth, Biohazard and Vision of Disorder. The dates in the United Kingdom were postponed due to flight restrictions, with a majority of bands deciding to withdraw, leaving Slayer and Cradle of Filth remaining for the European leg of the tour.
Pantera, Static-X, Vision of Disorder and Biohazard were replaced by other bands depending on location; Amorphis, In Flames, Moonspell, Children of Bodom, and Necrodeath. Biohazard eventually decided to rejoin the tour later on, and booked new gigs in the countries, where they missed a few dates. Drummer Bostaph left Slayer before Christmas in 2001, due to a chronic elbow injury, which would hinder his ability to play. Since the band's European tour was unfinished at that time, the band's manager, Rick Sales, contacted original drummer Dave Lombardo and asked if he would like to finish the remainder of the tour. Lombardo accepted the offer, and stayed as a permanent member.
Slayer toured playing Reign in Blood in its entirety throughout the fall of 2003, under the tour banner "Still Reigning". Their playing of the final song, "Raining Blood", culminated with the band drenched in a rain of stage blood. Live footage of this was recorded at the Augusta Civic Center in Augusta, Maine, on July 11, 2004 and released on the 2004 DVD Still Reigning. The band also released War at the Warfield and a box set, Soundtrack to the Apocalypse featuring rarities, live CD and DVD performances and various Slayer merchandise. From 2002 to 2004, the band performed over 250 tour dates, headlining major music festivals including H82k2, Summer tour, Ozzfest 2004 and a European tour with Slipknot. While preparing for the Download Festival in England, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich was taken to a hospital with an unknown and mysterious illness, and was unable to perform. Metallica vocalist James Hetfield searched for volunteers at the last minute to replace Ulrich; Lombardo and Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison volunteered, with Lombardo performing the songs "Battery" and "The Four Horsemen".
Christ Illusion (2006–2008)
The next studio album, Christ Illusion, was originally scheduled for release on June 6, 2006, and would be the first album with original drummer Lombardo since 1990's Seasons in the Abyss. However, the band decided to delay the release of the record, as they did not want to be among the many, according to King, "half-ass, stupid fucking loser bands" releasing records on June 6, although USA Today reported the idea was thwarted because the band failed to secure sufficient studio recording time. Slayer released Eternal Pyre on June 6 as a limited-edition EP. Eternal Pyre featured the song "Cult", a live performance of "War Ensemble" in Germany and video footage of the band recording "Cult". Five thousand copies were released and sold exclusively through Hot Topic chain stores, and sold out within hours of release. On June 30, Nuclear Blast Records released a 7" vinyl picture disc version limited to a thousand copies.
Christ Illusion was eventually released on August 8, 2006, and debuted at number 5 on the Billboard 200, selling over 62,000 copies in its first week. The album became Slayer's highest charting, improving on its previous highest charting album, Divine Intervention, which had debuted at number 8. However, despite its high positioning, the album dropped to number 44 in the following week. Three weeks after the album's release, Slayer were inducted into the Kerrang! Hall of Fame for their influence to the heavy metal scene.
A worldwide tour dubbed The Unholy Alliance Tour, was undertaken to support the new record. The tour was originally set to launch on June 6, but was postponed to June 10, as Araya had to undergo gall bladder surgery. In Flames, Mastodon, Children of Bodom, Lamb of God, and Thine Eyes Bleed (featuring Araya's brother, Johnny) and Ted Maul (London Hammersmith Apollo) were supporting Slayer. The tour made its way through America and Europe and the bands who participated, apart from Thine Eyes Bleed, reunited to perform at Japan's Loudpark Festival on October 15, 2006.
The video for the album's first single, "Eyes of the Insane", was released on October 30, 2006. The track was featured on the Saw III soundtrack, and won a Grammy-award for "Best Metal Performance" at the 49th Grammy Awards, although the band was unable to attend due to touring obligations. A week later, the band visited the 52nd Services Squadron located on the Spangdahlem U.S. Air Force Base in Germany to meet and play a show. This was the first visit ever to a military base for the band. The band made its first network TV appearance on the show Jimmy Kimmel Live! on January 19, playing the song "Eyes of the Insane", and four additional songs for fans after the show (although footage from "Jihad" was cut due to its controversial lyrical themes).
In 2007, Slayer toured Australia and New Zealand in April with Mastodon, and appeared at the Download Festival, Rock Am Ring, and a summer tour with Marilyn Manson and Bleeding Through.
World Painted Blood (2009–2011)
In 2008, Araya stated uncertainty about the future of the band, and that he could not see himself continuing the career at a later age. He said that once the band finished its upcoming album, which was the final record in their contract, the band would sit down and discuss its future. King was optimistic that the band would produce at least another two albums before considering to disband: "We're talking of going in the studio next February [2009] and getting the next record out so if we do things in a timely manner I don't see there's any reason why we can't have more than one album out." Slayer, along with Trivium, Mastodon, and Amon Amarth, teamed up for a European tour titled 'The Unholy Alliance: Chapter III', throughout October and November 2008. Slayer headlined the second Mayhem Festival in the summer of 2009. Slayer, along with Megadeth, also co-headlined Canadian Carnage, the first time they performed together in more than 15 years when they co-headlined four shows in Canada in late June 2009 with openers Machine Head and Suicide Silence.
The band's eleventh studio album, World Painted Blood, was released by American Recordings. It was available on November 3 in North America and November 2 for the rest of the world. The band stated that the album takes elements of all their previous works including Seasons in the Abyss, South of Heaven, and Reign in Blood. Slayer, along with Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax performed on the same bill for the first time on June 16, 2010 at Bemowo Airport, in Warsaw, Poland. One of the following Big 4 performances in (Sofia, Bulgaria, June 22, 2010) was sent via satellite in HD to cinemas. They also went on to play several other dates as part of the Sonisphere Festival. Megadeth and Slayer joined forces once again for the American Carnage Tour from July to October 2010 with opening acts Anthrax and Testament, and European Carnage Tour in March and April 2011. The "Big Four" played more dates at Sonisphere in England and France for the first time ever. Slayer returned to Australia in February and March 2011 as part of the Soundwave Festival and also played in California with the other members of the "Big Four".
In early 2011, Hanneman was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis. According to the band, doctors said that it likely originated from a spider bite. Araya said of Hanneman's condition: "Jeff was seriously ill. Jeff ended up contracting a bacteria that ate away his flesh on his arm, so they cut open his arm, from his wrist to his shoulder, and they did a skin graft on him, they cleaned up ... It was a flesh-eating virus, so he was really, really bad. So we'll wait for him to get better, and when he's a hundred percent, he's gonna come out and join us." The band decided to play their upcoming tour dates without Hanneman. Gary Holt of Exodus was announced as Hanneman's temporary replacement. Cannibal Corpse guitarist Pat O'Brien filled in for Holt during a tour in Europe. On April 23, 2011, at the American Big 4 show in Indio, California, Hanneman rejoined his bandmates to play the final two songs of their set, "South of Heaven" and "Angel of Death". This turned out to be Hanneman's final live performance with the band.
Hanneman's death, Lombardo's third split, and Repentless (2011–2016)
When asked if Slayer would make another album, Lombardo replied "Yes absolutely; Although there's nothing written, there are definitely plans." However, Araya said Slayer would not begin writing a new album until Hanneman's condition improved. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Reign In Blood, the band performed all of the album's tracks at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival at the Alexandra Palace in London."I'll Be Your Mirror London 2012 announced with co-curators Mogwai + Slayer". All Tomorrow's Parties. November 9, 2011.
In November 2011, Lombardo posted a tweet that the band had started to write new music. This presumably meant that Hanneman's condition improved, and it was believed he was ready to enter the studio. King had worked with Lombardo that year and they completed three songs. The band planned on entering the studio in either March or April 2012 and were hoping to have the album recorded before the group's US tour in late May and release it by the summer of that year. However, King said the upcoming album would not be finished until September and October of that year, making a 2013 release likely. In July 2012, King revealed two song titles for the upcoming album, "Chasing Death" and "Implode".
In February 2013, Lombardo was fired right before Slayer was to play at Australia's Soundwave festival due to an argument with band members over a pay dispute. Slayer and American Recordings released a statement, saying "Mr. Lombardo came to the band less than a week before their scheduled departure for Australia to present an entirely new set of terms for his engagement that were contrary to those that had been previously agreed upon", although Lombardo claimed there was a gag order in place. Dette returned to fill in for Lombardo for the Soundwave dates. It was confirmed that Lombardo was officially out of Slayer for the third time, and, in May, Bostaph rejoined the band.
On May 2, 2013, Hanneman died due to liver failure in a local hospital near his home in Southern California's Inland Empire; the cause of death was later determined to be alcohol-related cirrhosis. King confirmed that the band would continue, saying "Jeff is going to be in everybody's thoughts for a long time. It's unfortunate you can't keep unfortunate things from happening. But we're going to carry on – and he'll be there in spirit." However, Araya felt more uncertain about the band's future, expressing his belief that "After 30 years [with Hanneman active in the band], it would literally be like starting over", and doubting that Slayer's fanbase would approve such a change. Despite the uncertainty regarding the band's future, Slayer still worked on a followup to World Painted Blood. Additionally, it was reported that the new album would still feature material written by Hanneman.
At the 2014 Revolvers Golden Gods Awards ceremony, Slayer debuted "Implode", its first new song in five years. The group announced that they had signed with Nuclear Blast, and planned to release a new album in 2015. It was reported that Holt would take over Hanneman's guitar duties full-time, although Holt did not participate in the songwriting. In February, Slayer announced a seventeen date American tour to start in June featuring Suicidal Tendencies and Exodus. In 2015, Slayer headlined the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival for the second time. Repentless, the band's twelfth studio album, was released on September 11, 2015. Slayer toured for two-and-a-half years in support of Repentless. The band toured Europe with Anthrax and Kvelertak in October and November 2015, and embarked on three North American tours: one with Testament and Carcass in February and March 2016, then with Anthrax and Death Angel in September and October 2016, and with Lamb of God and Behemoth in July and August 2017. A lone date in Southeast Asia in 2017 was held in the Philippines.
Cancelled thirteenth studio album, farewell tour and split (2016–2019)
In August 2016, guitarist Kerry King was asked if Slayer would release a follow-up to Repentless. He replied, "We've got lots of leftover material from the last album, 'cause we wrote so much stuff, and we recorded a bunch of it too. If the lyrics don't change the song musically, those songs are done. So we are way ahead of the ballgame without even doing anything for the next record. And I've been working on stuff on my downtime. Like, I'll warm up and a riff will come to mind and I'll record it. I've gotten a handful of those on this run. So wheels are still turning. I haven't worked on anything lyrically yet except for what was done on the last record, so that's something I've gotta get on. But, yeah, Repentless isn't quite a year old yet." King also stated that Slayer was not expected to enter the studio until at least 2018. In an October interview on Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta's podcast, King stated that he was "completely open" to having guitarist Gary Holt (who had no songwriting contributions on Repentless) involved in the songwriting process of the next Slayer album. He explained, "I'm entirely open to having Gary work on something. I know he's gotta work on an Exodus record and I've got tons already for this one. But, you know, if he's gonna stick around... I didn't want it on the last one, and I knew that. I'm completely open to having that conversation. I haven't talked to Tom about it, I haven't talked to Gary open about it, but I'm open. That's not saying it is or isn't gonna happen. But my ears are open."
In a June 2017 interview with the Ultimate Guitar Archive, Holt said that he was ready to contribute with the songwriting for the next album. When speaking to Revolver, King was asked if there were any plans in place for the band to begin working on the album, he said, "Funny thing is, Repentless isn't even two years old yet, though it seems like it is. But from that session, there are six or eight songs that are recorded—some with vocals, some with leads, but all with keeper guitar, drums and bass. So when those songs get finished lyrically, if the lyrics don't change the songs, they'll be ready to be on the next record. So we already have more than half a record complete, if those songs make it." He also gave conceivable consideration that it could be released next year, "I'm certainly not gonna promise it, because every time I do, I make a liar of myself! [Laughs]" When asked about any plans or the timeline the band would like to release the album, King said, "It depends on touring—getting time to rehearse, getting time to make up new stuff. We haven't even done Australia on this run yet at all. We're hitting Japan finally later this year. But if things go well, I'd like to record next year. But timelines change all the time." In an October 2017 interview, Holt once again expressed his desire to contribute to the songwriting for the next Slayer album, saying, "When that time comes and we are ready for the next album, if Kerry wants me to contribute, I've got riffs. I've got stuff right now that I've written that I am not using for Exodus, because it was kind of maybe just unintentional subconscious thing, like, 'It sounds a little too Slayer.'"
On January 22, 2018, Slayer announced their farewell world tour through a video featuring a montage of press clippings, early posters and press photos spanning the band's entire career. Although the members of Slayer have never publicly explained why they were retiring from touring, it was thought that one of the reasons behind this decision was at the expense of Tom Araya's desire not to tour anymore and to spend more time with his family. This was confirmed by former drummer Dave Lombardo in a 2019 interview, who said: "Apparently, from what I hear. Tom has been wanting to retire when I was in the band — he wanted to stop. He had the neck issues. He's been wanting to retire for a long time now. So now that he's got it, I'm happy for him, and I hope he gets what he wants out of life and his future."
The farewell tour began with a North American trek in May and June 2018, supported by Lamb of God, Anthrax, Behemoth and Testament. The second leg of the North American tour took place in July and August, with Napalm Death replacing Behemoth, followed in November and December by a European tour with Lamb of God, Anthrax and Obituary. The farewell tour continued into 2019, with plans to visit places such as South America, Australia and Japan; in addition to European festivals such as Hellfest and Graspop, the band toured the United States in May 2019 with Lamb of God, Amon Amarth and Cannibal Corpse. Slayer also played one show in Mexico at Force Fest in October 2018.
On December 2, 2018, Holt announced that he would not perform the remainder of the band's European tour to be with his dying father. Vio-lence and former Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel would fill in for him as a result.
Holt had stated that Slayer would not release a new album before the end of the farewell tour. On how long the tour would last, Holt's Exodus bandmate Steve "Zetro" Souza commented, "I'm speculating it's gonna take a year and a half or two years to do the one final thing, but I believe it's finished. Everybody knows what I know; just because I'm on the outside, I have no insight on that." The final North American leg of the tour, dubbed "The Last Campaign", took place in November 2019, and also included support from Primus, Ministry and Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals. Despite being referred to as a farewell tour for Slayer, their manager Rick Sales has stated that the band is not breaking up, but has no intention of ever performing live again. Kristen Mulderig, who works with Rick Sales Entertainment Group, has also been quoted as saying that there would be Slayer-related activities following the tour's conclusion. However, within two days after the tour's completion, King's wife Ayesha stated on her Instagram page that there is "not a chance in hell" that Slayer would ever reunite to perform more shows or release new music.
Aftermath (2020–present)
In March 2020, when talking to Guitar World about his latest endorsement with Dean Guitars, King hinted that he would continue to make music outside of Slayer, simply saying, "Dean didn't sign me for nothing!" King stated in an August 2020 interview on the Dean Guitars YouTube channel that he has "more than two records' worth of music" for his yet-to-be disclosed new project. Bostaph later confirmed that he and King are working on a new project that will "sound like Slayer without it being Slayer — but not intentionally so."
When asked by the Let There Be Talk podcast in June 2020 if a Slayer reunion would ever happen, Holt stated, "If it does, if it ever happens, it has nothing to do with me. Someone else would call and say, 'We wanna [do this].' To my knowledge, it's done. And I think it should be that way. The band went out fucking on a bang, went out on Slayer's terms, and how many people get to say they did that?". In August 2020, King's wife Ayesha once again ruled out the possibility of a Slayer reunion, saying that her husband and Araya will "never be Slayer again".
When asked in a March 2021 interview if Slayer would consider reuniting for a special show or tour, Holt said, "That's a question I couldn't answer you, whether Slayer would ever get back together. Those are questions that are above my pay scale, I guess you'd say. Look, if the powers that be ever — like, in a year or something — said, 'Hey, you know what? We feel like playing some shows,' I'm there to do it," Holt added. "But those aren't decisions for me to make, or even me to really speculate on. As far as my knowledge, the band is over, and the final show was November 30, 2019. And I'm full speed ahead with Exodus now."
On October 12, 2021, King expressed regret that Slayer had retired "too early." While congratulating Machine Head on their 30th anniversary as a band, he said, "Apparently, it's 30 years, which is quite an achievement. Not a lot of bands get there. We did, and then we quit too early. Fuck us. Fuck me. I hate fucking not playing." In an interview with Metal Hammer a few days later, King reiterated that he would continue to work outside of Slayer: "I'm dragging my feet on letting the world know what I'm doing because there's no rush. I have a tour that I'm considering doing, but I'm not going to announce a band, I'm not going to announce a record, I'm not going to announce anything. But you will see me in the future — it will be fucking good." When interviewed again two months later by Metal Hammer, King did not rule out the possibility of any more "Big Four" shows with Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax, but expressed doubt that a Slayer reunion would ever happen: "The way that I'm moving forward is I don't think Slayer are ever going to play again. There's no business of me playing by myself!"
Musical style
Slayer is considered a thrash metal band. In an article from December 1986 by the Washington Post, writer Joe Brown described Slayer as speed metal, a genre he defined as "an unholy hybrid of punk rock thrash and heavy metal that attracts an almost all-male teen-age following". Describing Slayer's music, Brown wrote: "Over a jackhammer beat, Slayer's stun guitars created scraping sheets of corrosive metal noise, with occasional solos that sounded like squealing brakes, over which the singer-bassist emitted a larynx-lacerating growl-yowl." In an article from September 1988 by the New York Times, writer Jon Pareles also described Slayer as speed metal, additionally writing that the band "brings the sensational imagery of tabloids and horror movies" and has lyrics that "revel in death, gore and allusions to Satanism and Nazism." Pareles also described other "Big Four" thrash metal bands Metallica and Megadeth as speed metal bands. Slayer's early works were praised for their "breakneck speed and instrumental prowess", combining the structure of hardcore punk tempos and speed metal. The band released fast, aggressive material. The album Reign in Blood is the band's fastest, performed at an average of 220 beats per minute; the album Diabolus in Musica was the band's first to feature C tuning; God Hates Us All was the first to feature drop B tuning and seven-string guitars tuned to B. AllMusic cited the album as "abandoning the extravagances and accessibility of their late-'80s/early-'90s work and returning to perfect the raw approach", with some fans labeling it as nu metal.
King and Hanneman's dual guitar solos have been referred to as "wildly chaotic", and "twisted genius". Original drummer Lombardo would use two bass drums (instead of a double pedal, which is used on a single bass drum). Lombardo's speed and aggression earned him the title of the "godfather of double bass" by Drummerworld. Lombardo stated his reasons for using two bass drums: "When you hit the bass drum, the head is still resonating. When you hit it in the same place right after that, you kinda get a 'slapback' from the bass drum head hitting the other pedal. You're not letting them breathe." When playing the two bass drums, Lombardo would use the "heel-up" technique.
In the original lineup, King, Hanneman and Araya contributed to the band's lyrics, and King and Hanneman wrote the music with additional arrangement from Lombardo, and sometimes Araya. Araya formed a lyric writing partnership with Hanneman, which sometimes overshadowed the creative input of King. Hanneman stated that writing lyrics and music was a "free-for-all": "It's all just whoever comes up with what. Sometimes I'll be more on a roll and I'll have more stuff, same with Kerry – it's whoever's hot, really. Anybody can write anything; if it's good, we use it; if not, we don't."
When writing material, the band would write the music first before incorporating lyrics. King or Hanneman used a 24-track and drum machine to show band members the riff that they created, and to get their opinion. Either King, Hanneman or Lombardo would mention if any alterations could be made. The band played the riff to get the basic song structure, and figured out where the lyrics and solos would be placed.
Legacy
Slayer is one of the most influential bands in heavy metal history. Steve Huey of AllMusic believes the musical style of Slayer makes the band stronger than the other members of the "Big Four" thrash metal bands Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax, all of which rose to fame during the 1980s. Slayer's "downtuned rhythms, infectious guitar licks, graphically violent lyrics and grisly artwork set the standard for dozens of emerging thrash bands" and their "music was directly responsible for the rise of death metal" states MTV, ranking Slayer as the sixth "greatest metal band of all time", ranking number 50 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. Hanneman and King ranked number 10 in Guitar Worlds "100 greatest metal guitarists of all time" in 2004, and were voted "Best Guitarist/Guitar Team" in Revolver's reader's poll. Original drummer Lombardo was also voted "Best Drummer" and the band entered the top five in the categories "Best Band Ever", "Best Live Band", "Album of the Year" (for Christ Illusion) and "Band of the Year".
Music author Joel McIver considers Slayer very influential in the extreme metal scene, especially in the development of the death metal and black metal subgenres. According to John Consterdine of Terrorizer, without "Slayer's influence, extreme metal as we know it wouldn't exist." Kam Lee of Massacre and former member of Death stated: "there wouldn't be death metal or black metal or even extreme metal (the likes of what it is today) if not for Slayer." Johan Reinholdz of Andromeda said that Slayer "were crucial in the development of thrash metal which then became the foundation for a lot of different subgenres. They inspired generations of metal bands." Alex Skolnick of Testament declared: "Before Slayer, metal had never had such razor-sharp articulation, tightness, and balance between sound and stops. This all-out sonic assault was about the shock, the screams, the drums, and [...] most importantly the riffs."
Groups who cited Slayer among their major influences include Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet for My Valentine, Fear Factory, Machine Head, Children of Bodom, Slipknot, Gojira, Carnifex, Hatebreed, Cannibal Corpse, Pantera, Kreator, Sadistic Intent, Mayhem, Darkthrone, System of a Down, Lamb of God, Behemoth, Evile and Lacuna Coil. Steve Asheim, drummer for Deicide, declared that "there obviously would not have been a Deicide as we know it without the existence of Slayer." Sepultura guitarist Andreas Kisser affirmed that "without Slayer, Sepultura would never be possible." Weezer mentions them in the song "Heart Songs" from their 2008 self-titled "Red" album. The verse goes: "Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Slayer taught me how to shred..." Dave Grohl recalled, "Me and my friends, we just wanted to listen to fucking Slayer and take acid and smash stuff."
The band's 1986 release Reign in Blood has been an influence to extreme and thrash metal bands since its release and is considered the record which set the bar for death metal. It had a significant influence on the genre leaders such as Death, Obituary, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel and Napalm Death. The album was hailed the "heaviest album of all time" by Kerrang!, a "genre-definer" by Stylus, and a "stone-cold classic upon its release" by AllMusic. In 2006, Reign in Blood was named the best metal album of the last 20 years by Metal Hammer. According to Nielsen SoundScan, Slayer sold 4,900,000 copies in the United States from 1991 to 2013.
Controversy
A lawsuit was brought against the band in 1996, by the parents of Elyse Pahler, who accused the band of encouraging their daughter's murderers through their lyrics. Pahler was drugged, strangled, stabbed, trampled on, and raped as a sacrifice to the devil by three fans of the band. The case was unsealed by the court on May 19, 2000, stating Slayer and related business markets distribute harmful products to teens, encouraging violent acts through their lyrics, and "none of the vicious crimes committed against Elyse Marie Pahler would have occurred without the intentional marketing strategy of the death-metal band Slayer." The lawsuit was dismissed in 2001, for multiple reasons including "principles of free speech, lack of a duty and lack of foreseeability." A second lawsuit was filed by the parents, an amended complaint for damages against Slayer, their label, and other industry and label entities. The lawsuit was again dismissed. Judge E. Jeffrey Burke stated, "I do not consider Slayer's music obscene, indecent or harmful to minors."
Slayer has been accused of holding Nazi sympathies, due to the band's eagle logo bearing resemblance to the Eagle atop swastika and the lyrics of "Angel of Death". "Angel of Death" was inspired by the acts of Josef Mengele, the doctor who conducted human experiments on prisoners during World War II at the Auschwitz concentration camp, and was dubbed the "Angel of Death" by inmates.
Slayer's cover of Minor Threat's "Guilty of Being White" raised questions about a possible message of white supremacy in the band's music. The controversy surrounding the cover involved the changing of the refrain "guilty of being white" to "guilty of being right", at the song's ending. This incensed Minor Threat frontman Ian MacKaye, who stated "that is so offensive to me." King said it was changed for "tongue-in-cheek" humor as he thought the allegation of racism at the time was "ridiculous".
In a 2004 interview with Araya, when asked, "Did critics realize you were wallowing in parody?" Araya replied, "No. People thought we were serious!...back then you had that PMRC, who literally took everything to heart, when in actuality you're trying to create an image. You're trying to scare people on purpose." Araya also denied rumors that Slayer members are Satanists, but they find the subject of Satanism interesting and "we are all on this planet to learn and experience."
The song "Jihad" of the album Christ Illusion sparked controversy among families of the September 11 victims. The song deals with the attack from the perspective of a religious terrorist. The band stated the song is spoken through perspective without being sympathetic to the cause, and supports neither side.
Seventeen bus benches promoting the same album in Fullerton, California were deemed offensive by city officials. City officials contacted the band's record label and demanded that the ads be removed. All benches were eliminated.
In India, Christ Illusion was recalled by EMI India after protests with Christian religious groups due to the nature of the graphic artwork. The album cover was designed by Slayer's longtime collaborator Larry Carroll and features Christ in a "sea of despair", with amputated arms, missing an eye, while standing in a sea of blood with severed heads. Joseph Dias of the Mumbai Christian group Catholic Secular Forum in India took "strong exception" to the original album artwork, and issued a memorandum to Mumbai's police commissioner in protest. On October 11, 2006, EMI announced that all stocks had been destroyed, noting it had no plans to re-release the record in India in the future.
Band membersFormer members Kerry King – guitars (1981–2019)
Tom Araya – bass, vocals (1981–2019)
Jeff Hanneman – guitars (1981–2013) (died 2013)
Dave Lombardo – drums (1981–1986, 1987–1992, 2001–2013)
Paul Bostaph – drums (1992–1996, 1997–2001, 2013–2019)
Jon Dette – drums (1996–1997)
Gary Holt – guitars (2013–2019)Touring musicians Tony Scaglione – drums (1986–1987)
Pat O'Brien – guitars (2011)
Gary Holt – guitars (2011–2013)
Jon Dette – drums (2013)
Phil Demmel – guitars (2018)Timeline'''
Discography
Show No Mercy (1983)
Hell Awaits (1985)
Reign in Blood (1986)
South of Heaven (1988)
Seasons in the Abyss (1990)
Divine Intervention (1994)
Undisputed Attitude (1996)
Diabolus in Musica (1998)
God Hates Us All (2001)
Christ Illusion (2006)
World Painted Blood (2009)
Repentless (2015)
Awards and nominations
|-
!scope="row"| 2002
| "Disciple" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"|2007
| "Eyes of the Insane" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"| 2008
|| "Final Six" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"|2010
| "Hate Worldwide" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"|2011
| "World Painted Blood" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2006
| Slayer || Kerrang! Hall of Fame ||
|-
!scope="row"|2013
| Slayer || Kerrang! Legend ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2003
| War at the Warfield || DVD of the Year ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2010
| Kerry King || God of Riffs ||
|-
!scope="row"|2013
| Jeff Hanneman || God of Riffs ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2004
| Slayer || Best Live Act ||
|-
!scope="row"|2006
| Reign in Blood || Best Album of the Last 20 Years ||
|-
!scope="row"|2007
| | "Eyes of the Insane" || Best Video ||
|-
!scope="row"|2007
||Slayer || Icon Award ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2006
| Christ Illusion || Best Thrash Metal Album ||
|-
!scope="row"|2015
| "Repentless" || Best Video ||
|-
Footnotes
From late 2010 until his death in May 2013, Jeff Hanneman's participation in Slayer was minimal. In January 2011, he contracted necrotizing fasciitis, which severely restricted his ability to perform. He appeared publicly with the band on only one known occasion, playing two songs during an encore at one of Slayer's Big 4 performances in April 2011; he also attended rehearsals for Fun Fun Fun Fest in November 2011, but did not end up performing at this show. By July 2012, Hanneman had not written or recorded any new material for the band's follow up to 2009's World Painted Blood''. In February 2013, Kerry King stated he was planning on recording all of the guitar parts for the upcoming album himself, but was open to Hanneman's return if he was willing and able. King also denied that Gary Holt, member of Exodus and Hanneman's live fill-in, would write or record anything for the upcoming album. Hanneman died on May 2, 2013 at the age of 49 due to liver failure.
Citations
Further reading
External links
1981 establishments in California
Thrash metal musical groups from California
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Def Jam Recordings artists
Grammy Award winners
Kerrang! Awards winners
Metal Blade Records artists
Musical groups disestablished in 2019
Musical groups established in 1981
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical quartets
Nuclear Blast artists
Obscenity controversies in music | true | [
"\"Tell Me Something\" is a song by Australian band Indecent Obsession. The song was released as the second single from their debut album Spoken Words (1989). The song peaked at number 17 on the Australian ARIA Chart.\n\nEarly in 1990, \"Tell Me Something\" peaked at No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 91 in the United Kingdom.\n\nTrack listing\n 7\" single (102091-7)\n \"Tell Me Something\"\t\n \"Why Do People Fall in Love\"\n\n 12\" single\n \"Tell Me Something\" (Dance Mix)\t\n \"Tell Me Something\" (Extended Mix)\n\n Minidisc (Japan)\n \"Tell Me Something\"\t\n \"Never Really Loved You\" (Live)\n\n UK single\n \"Tell Me Something\" (7\" Version) - 3:54\n \"Never Really Loved You\" (Live) - 3:19\n \"Tell Me Something\" (The Decent Mix) - 4:16\n\nChart performance\n\nSee also\n List of 1990s one-hit wonders in the United States\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \"Tell Me Something\" by Indecent Obsession\n\n1989 singles\n1989 songs\nIndecent Obsession songs\nMCA Records singles",
"William John Tell is a rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist for the piano-rock band Something Corporate. After leaving the band in 2004 for a solo career, William Tell was signed as a New Door Records solo artist. His first solo record, You Can Hold Me Down, was released on March 13, 2007. Tell earned a J.D. degree from USC Gould School of Law in 2014.\n\nBiography\nWilliam John Tell learned to play guitar from his father (also named William Tell) at a young age and began writing his own songs as well. He met some of the members Something Corporate through mutual friends and one night when they were all playing at the same nightclub, he was asked to temporarily fill in, as their rhythm guitarist Reuben Hernandez had left to study abroad. On March 27, 2001, Tell permanently joined the Drive-Thru Records piano rock band Something Corporate.\n\nTell witnessed the success of Something Corporate over the three years he played with them — through their EP Audioboxer, released on October 2, 2001, to their full-length albums Leaving Through the Window (2002) and North (2003), as well as tours with bands like New Found Glory.\n\nDuring a break between touring for the band, Tell decided that he wanted to pursue his own solo career. On February 4, 2004 it was announced by the band that Tell had left. He returned home to California and began writing songs. His first song, titled \"Radio Sound\" (which later appeared on his debut album as \"Sounds\"), was about his mixed emotions dealing with leaving his friends and former band. Through the course of the next two years, Tell would continue writing and rewriting material, as well as recording. Brian Ireland, drummer for Something Corporate, would come in to help him during the recording process and also play shows as part of Tell's band. One of Tell's many performances was the Bamboozle Left festival in Pomona, California on October 14, 2006.\n\nIn 2006, Tell was signed to Universal Records' subsidiary New Door Records as a solo artist and began putting the final touches to his debut album. He collaborated with another Something Corporate member, Andrew McMahon, for the track \"Fairfax\" on the record. During January 2007, Tell recorded a practice session for the website Rehearsals.com and on March 13, 2007, Tell released his 10-track solo debut album titled You Can Hold Me Down (named after one of the songs).\n\nPersonal life\nIn February 2012, Tell began dating former The Hills star and fashion designer Lauren Conrad. They became engaged in October 2013, and married on September 13, 2014 in California. Their son, Liam James Tell, was born on July 5, 2017. Their second child named Charlie Wolf was born October 8, 2019.\n\nDiscography\n\nAlbums\n You Can Hold Me Down (2007) #11 Top Heatseekers\n\nEPs\n Lovers & Haters (2009)\n\nNon-album tracks\n \"After All\", \"Katie (Where'd You Go?)\", \"This Mess\", \"Yesterday is Calling\" & \"Young At Heart\" (Acoustic)- released as bonus tracks to certain releases of You Can Hold Me Down (2007)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nWilliam Tell fansite\nWilliam Tell official site\nBurning Stars interview with William\n\n1980 births\nLiving people\nAmerican rock guitarists\nAmerican male guitarists\nCalifornia lawyers\n21st-century American guitarists\n21st-century American male musicians\nPeople from Westwood, Los Angeles"
] |
[
"Slayer",
"South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss (1988-1993)",
"Who produced South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss?",
"Slayer's",
"Can you tell me something interesting about the article?",
"Press response to the album was mixed,"
] | C_07397c12d123426cacfc6b32eb6905ad_0 | What record label released the album? | 3 | What record label released the album of Slayer, South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss? | Slayer | In late 1987, Slayer returned to the studio to record their fourth studio album. To contrast the speed of Reign in Blood, the band consciously decided to slow down the tempos, and incorporate more melodic singing. According to Hanneman, "We knew we couldn't top Reign in Blood, so we had to slow down. We knew whatever we did was gonna be compared to that album, and I remember we actually discussed slowing down. It was weird--we've never done that on an album, before or since." Released in July 1988, South of Heaven received mixed responses from both fans and critics, although it was Slayer's most commercially successful release at the time, debuting at number 57 on the Billboard 200, and their second album to receive gold certification in the United States. Press response to the album was mixed, with AllMusic citing the album as "disturbing and powerful," and Kim Nelly of Rolling Stone calling it "genuinely offensive satanic drivel." King said "that album was my most lackluster performance," although Araya called it a "late bloomer" which eventually grew on people. Slayer returned to the studio in spring 1990 with co-producer Andy Wallace to record its fifth studio album. Following the backlash created by South of Heaven, Slayer returned to the "pounding speed of Reign in Blood, while retaining their newfound melodic sense." Seasons in the Abyss, released on October 25, 1990, was the first Slayer album to be released under Rubin's new Def American label, as he had parted ways with Def Jam owner Russell Simmons over creative differences. The album debuted at number 44 on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold in 1992. The album spawned Slayer's first music video for the album's title track, which was filmed in front of the Giza pyramids in Egypt. Slayer returned as a live act in September 1990 to co-headline the European Clash of the Titans tour with Megadeth, Suicidal Tendencies, and Testament. During the sold out European leg of this tour tickets fetched up to 1,000 Deutschmark ($680 USD) on the black market. With the popularity of American thrash at its peak, the tour was extended to the US beginning in May 1991, with Megadeth, Anthrax and opening act Alice in Chains. The band released a double live album, Decade of Aggression in 1991, to celebrate ten years since their formation. The compilation debuted at number 55 on the Billboard 200. In May 1992, Lombardo quit the band due to conflicts with other members, as well as his desire to be off tour for the birth of his first child. Lombardo formed his own band Grip Inc, with Voodoocult guitarist Waldemar Sorychta, and Slayer recruited former Forbidden drummer Paul Bostaph to take his place. Slayer made its debut appearance with Bostaph at the 1992 Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington. Bostaph's first studio effort was a medley of three Exploited songs, "War," "UK '82," and "Disorder," with rapper Ice-T, for the Judgment Night movie soundtrack in 1993. CANNOTANSWER | Slayer's | Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo, and bassist and vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them one of the "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax. Slayer's final lineup comprised King, Araya, drummer Paul Bostaph (who replaced Lombardo in 1992 and again in 2013) and guitarist Gary Holt (who replaced Hanneman in 2011). Drummer Jon Dette was also a member of the band.
In the original lineup, King, Hanneman and Araya contributed to the band's lyrics, and all of the band's music was written by King and Hanneman. The band's lyrics and album art, which cover topics such as murder, serial killers, torture, genocide, politics, theories, human subject research, organized crime, secret societies, mythology, occultism, Satanism, hate crimes, terrorism, religion or antireligion, Nazism, fascism, racism, xenophobia, misanthropy, war and prison, have generated album bans, delays, lawsuits and criticism from religious groups and factions of the general public. However, its music has been highly influential, often being cited by many bands as an influence musically, visually and lyrically; the band's third album, Reign in Blood (1986), has been described as one of the heaviest and most influential thrash metal albums.
Slayer released twelve studio albums, two live albums, a box set, six music videos, two extended plays and a cover album. Four of the band's studio albums have received gold certification in the United States. Slayer sold 5 million copies in the United States from 1991 to 2013, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and over 20 million worldwide. The band has received five Grammy Award nominations, winning one in 2007 for the song "Eyes of the Insane" and one in 2008 for the song "Final Six", both of which were from the album Christ Illusion (2006). After more than three decades of recording and performing, Slayer announced in January 2018 that it would embark on a farewell tour, which took place from May 2018 to November 2019, after which the band disbanded.
History
Early years (1981–1983)
Slayer was formed in 1981 by Kerry King, Jeff Hanneman, Dave Lombardo, and Tom Araya in Huntington Park, CA. The group started out playing covers of songs by bands such as Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Venom at parties and clubs in Southern California. The band's early image relied heavily on Satanic themes that featured pentagrams, make-up, spikes, and inverted crosses. Rumors that the band was originally known as Dragonslayer, after the 1981 film of the same name, were denied by King, as he later stated: "We never were; it's a myth to this day." According to Lombardo, the original band name was to be Wings of Fire before they settled in with Slayer. It was he who designed the iconic logo. For inspiration, Lombardo thought in a perspective of a murderer of how they would carve out the logo with a knife and since he's lefthanded, the logo is unintentionally slanted to the right.
In 1983, Slayer was invited to open for the band Bitch at the Woodstock Club in Anaheim, California to perform eight songs, six of which were covers. The band was spotted by Brian Slagel, a former music journalist who had recently founded Metal Blade Records. Impressed with Slayer, he met with the band backstage and asked them to record an original song for his upcoming Metal Massacre III compilation album. The band agreed and their song "Aggressive Perfector" created an underground buzz upon its release in mid 1983, which led to Slagel offering the band a recording contract with Metal Blade.
Show No Mercy, Haunting the Chapel and Hell Awaits (1983–1986)
Without any recording budget, the band had to self-finance its debut album. Combining the savings of Araya, who was employed as a respiratory therapist, and money borrowed from King's father, the band entered the studio in November 1983. The album was rushed into release, stocking shelves three weeks after tracks were completed. Show No Mercy, released in December 1983 by Metal Blade Records, generated underground popularity for the band. The group began a club tour of California to promote the album. The tour gave the band additional popularity and sales of Show No Mercy eventually reached more than 20,000 in the US and another 20,000 worldwide.
In February 1984, King briefly joined Dave Mustaine's new band Megadeth. Hanneman was worried about King's decision, stating in an interview, "I guess we're gonna get a new guitar player." While Mustaine wanted King to stay on a permanent basis, King left after five shows, stating Mustaine's band was "taking too much of my time." The split caused a rift between King and Mustaine, which evolved into a long running feud between the two bands.
In June 1984, Slayer released a three-track EP called Haunting the Chapel. The EP featured a darker, more thrash-oriented style than Show No Mercy, and laid the groundwork for the future direction of the band. The opening track, "Chemical Warfare", has become a live staple, played at nearly every show since 1984.
Later that year, Slayer began their first national club tour, traveling in Araya's Camaro towing a U-Haul trailer. The band recorded the live album Live Undead in November 1984 while in New York City.
In March 1985, Slayer began a national tour with Venom and Exodus, resulting in their first live home video dubbed Combat Tour: The Ultimate Revenge. The video featured live footage filmed at the Studio 54 club. The band then made its live European debut at the Heavy Sound Festival in Belgium opening for UFO. Also in 1985, Slayer toured or played selected shows with bands like Megadeth, Destruction, D.R.I., Possessed, Agent Steel, S.O.D., Nasty Savage and Metal Church.
Show No Mercy had sold over 40,000 copies, which led to the band returning to the studio to record their second full-length album. Metal Blade financed a recording budget, which allowed the band to hire producer Ron Fair. Released in March 1985, Slayer's second full-length album, Hell Awaits, expanded on the darkness of Haunting the Chapel, with hell and Satan as common song subjects. The album was the band's most progressive offering, featuring longer and more complex song structures. The intro of the title track is a backwards recording of a demonic-sounding voice repeating "Join us", ending with "Welcome back" before the track begins. The album was a hit, with fans choosing Slayer for best band, best live band, Hell Awaits, as 1985's best album, and Dave Lombardo as best drummer in the British magazine Metal Forces 1985 Readers Poll.
Reign in Blood, Lombardo's brief hiatus and South of Heaven (1986–1989)
Following the success of Hell Awaits, Slayer was offered a recording contract with Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin's newly founded Def Jam Records, a largely hip hop-based label. The band accepted, and with an experienced producer and major label recording budget, the band underwent a sonic makeover for their third album Reign in Blood, resulting in shorter, faster songs with clearer production. The complex arrangements and long songs featured on Hell Awaits were ditched in favor of stripped down, hardcore punk influenced song structures.
Def Jam's distributor, Columbia Records, refused to release the album due to the song "Angel of Death" which detailed Holocaust concentration camps and the human experiments conducted by Nazi physician Josef Mengele. The album was distributed by Geffen Records on October 7, 1986. However, due to the controversy, Reign in Blood did not appear on Geffen Records' release schedule. Although the album received virtually no radio airplay, it became the band's first to enter the Billboard 200, debuting at number 94, and the band's first album certified gold in the United States.
Slayer embarked on the Reign in Pain world tour, with Overkill in the US from October to December 1986, and Malice in Europe in April and May 1987. They also played with other bands such as Agnostic Front, Testament, Metal Church, D.R.I., Dark Angel and Flotsam and Jetsam. The band was added as the opening act on W.A.S.P.'s US tour, but just one month into it, drummer Lombardo left the band: "I wasn't making any money. I figured if we were gonna be doing this professionally, on a major label, I wanted my rent and utilities paid." To continue with the tour, Slayer enlisted Tony Scaglione of Whiplash. However, Lombardo was convinced by his wife to return in 1987. At the insistence of Rubin, Slayer recorded a cover version of Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" for the film Less Than Zero. Although the band was not happy with the final product, Hanneman deeming it "a poor representation of Slayer" and King labeling it "a hunk of shit", it was one of their first songs to garner radio airplay.
In late 1987, Slayer returned to the studio to record their fourth studio album. To contrast the speed of Reign in Blood, the band consciously decided to slow down the tempos, and incorporate more melodic singing. According to Hanneman, "We knew we couldn't top Reign in Blood, so we had to slow down. We knew whatever we did was gonna be compared to that album, and I remember we actually discussed slowing down. It was weird—we've never done that on an album, before or since."
Released in July 1988, South of Heaven received mixed responses from both fans and critics, although it was Slayer's most commercially successful release at the time, debuting at number 57 on the Billboard 200, and their second album to receive gold certification in the United States. Press response to the album was mixed, with AllMusic citing the album as "disturbing and powerful", and Kim Nelly of Rolling Stone calling it "genuinely offensive satanic drivel". King said "that album was my most lackluster performance", although Araya called it a "late bloomer" which eventually grew on people. Slayer toured from August 1988 to January 1989 to promote South of Heaven, supporting Judas Priest in the US on their Ram It Down tour, and touring Europe with Nuclear Assault and the US with Motörhead and Overkill.
Seasons in the Abyss and Lombardo's second departure (1990–1993)
Slayer returned to the studio in early 1990 with co-producer Andy Wallace to record its fifth studio album. Following the backlash created by South of Heaven, Slayer returned to the "pounding speed of Reign in Blood, while retaining their newfound melodic sense." Seasons in the Abyss, released on October 9, 1990, was the first Slayer album to be released under Rubin's new Def American label, as he had parted ways with Def Jam owner Russell Simmons over creative differences. The album debuted at number 44 on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold in 1992. The album spawned Slayer's first music video for the album's title track, which was filmed in front of the Giza pyramids in Egypt.
Slayer returned as a live act in September 1990 to co-headline the European Clash of the Titans tour with Megadeth, Suicidal Tendencies, and Testament. During the sold out European leg of this tour, tickets had prices skyrocket to 1,000 Deutschmark (US$680) on the black market. With the popularity of American thrash at its peak, the band toured with Testament again in early 1991 and triple-headlined the North American version of the Clash of the Titans tour that summer with Megadeth, Anthrax, and opening act Alice in Chains. The band released a double live album, Decade of Aggression in 1991, to celebrate ten years since their formation. The compilation debuted at number 55 on the Billboard 200.
In May 1992, Lombardo left the band due to conflicts with the other members, as well as his desire to be off tour for the birth of his first child. Lombardo formed his own band Grip Inc., with Voodoocult guitarist Waldemar Sorychta, and Slayer recruited former Forbidden drummer Paul Bostaph to fill in the drummer position. Slayer made its debut appearance with Bostaph at the 1992 Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington. Bostaph's first studio effort was a medley of three Exploited songs, "War", "UK '82", and "Disorder", with rapper Ice-T, for the Judgment Night movie soundtrack in 1993.
Divine Intervention, Undisputed Attitude and Diabolus in Musica (1994–2000)
In 1994, Slayer released Divine Intervention, the band's first album with Bostaph on the drums. The album featured songs about Reinhard Heydrich, an architect of the Holocaust, and Jeffrey Dahmer, an American serial killer and sex offender. Other themes included murder, the evils of church, and the lengths to which governments went to wield power, Araya's interest in serial killers inspired much of the content of the lyrics.
Slayer geared up for a world tour in 1995, with openers Biohazard and Machine Head. A video of concert footage, Live Intrusion was released, featuring a joint cover of Venom's "Witching Hour" with Machine Head. Following the tour, Slayer was billed third at the 1995 Monsters of Rock festival, headlined by Metallica. In 1996, Undisputed Attitude, an album of punk covers, was released. The band covered songs by Minor Threat, T.S.O.L., Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, D.I., Verbal Abuse, Dr. Know, and The Stooges. The album featured three original tracks, "Gemini", "Can't Stand You", "Ddamm"; the latter two were written by Hanneman in 1984–1985 for a side project entitled Pap Smear. Bostaph left Slayer shortly after the album's recording to work on his own project, Truth About Seafood. With Bostaph's departure, Slayer recruited Testament drummer Jon Dette, and headlined the 1996 Ozzfest alongside Ozzy Osbourne, Danzig, Biohazard, Sepultura, and Fear Factory. Dette was fired after a year, due to a fallout with band members. After that, Bostaph returned to continue the tour.
Diabolus in Musica (Latin for "The Devil in Music") was released in 1998, and debuted at number 31 on the Billboard 200, selling over 46,000 copies in its first week. It was complete by September 1997, and scheduled to be released the following month, but got delayed by nine months after their label was taken over by Columbia Records. The album received a mixed critical reception, and was criticized for adopting characteristics of nu metal music such as tuned down guitars, murky chord structures, and churning beats. Blabbermouth.net reviewer Borijov Krgin described the album as "a feeble attempt at incorporating updated elements into the group's sound, the presence of which elevated the band's efforts somewhat and offered hope that Slayer could refrain from endlessly rehashing their previous material for their future output", while Ben Ratliff of The New York Times had similar sentiments, writing on June 22, 1998 that: "Eight of the 11 songs on Diabolus in Musica, a few of which were played at the show, are in the same gray key, and the band's rhythmic ideas have a wearying sameness too."
The album was the band's first to primarily feature dropped tuning, as featured on the lead track, "Bitter Peace", making use of the tritone interval referred to in the Middle Ages as the Devil's interval. Slayer teamed up with digital hardcore group Atari Teenage Riot to record a song for the Spawn soundtrack titled "No Remorse (I Wanna Die)". The band paid tribute to Black Sabbath by recording a cover of "Hand of Doom" for the second of two tribute albums, titled Nativity in Black II. A world tour followed to support the new album, with Slayer making an appearance at the United Kingdom Ozzfest 1998.
God Hates Us All (2001–2005)
During mid-2001, the band joined Morbid Angel, Pantera, Skrape and Static-X on the Extreme Steel Tour of North America, which was Pantera's last major tour. After delays regarding remixing and artwork, including slip covers created to cover the original artwork as it was deemed "too graphic", Slayer's next album, God Hates Us All, was released on September 11, 2001. The band received its first Grammy nomination for the lead track "Disciple", although the Grammy was awarded to Tool, for "Schism". The September 11 attacks on America jeopardized the 2001 European tour Tattoo the Planet originally set to feature Pantera, Static-X, Cradle of Filth, Biohazard and Vision of Disorder. The dates in the United Kingdom were postponed due to flight restrictions, with a majority of bands deciding to withdraw, leaving Slayer and Cradle of Filth remaining for the European leg of the tour.
Pantera, Static-X, Vision of Disorder and Biohazard were replaced by other bands depending on location; Amorphis, In Flames, Moonspell, Children of Bodom, and Necrodeath. Biohazard eventually decided to rejoin the tour later on, and booked new gigs in the countries, where they missed a few dates. Drummer Bostaph left Slayer before Christmas in 2001, due to a chronic elbow injury, which would hinder his ability to play. Since the band's European tour was unfinished at that time, the band's manager, Rick Sales, contacted original drummer Dave Lombardo and asked if he would like to finish the remainder of the tour. Lombardo accepted the offer, and stayed as a permanent member.
Slayer toured playing Reign in Blood in its entirety throughout the fall of 2003, under the tour banner "Still Reigning". Their playing of the final song, "Raining Blood", culminated with the band drenched in a rain of stage blood. Live footage of this was recorded at the Augusta Civic Center in Augusta, Maine, on July 11, 2004 and released on the 2004 DVD Still Reigning. The band also released War at the Warfield and a box set, Soundtrack to the Apocalypse featuring rarities, live CD and DVD performances and various Slayer merchandise. From 2002 to 2004, the band performed over 250 tour dates, headlining major music festivals including H82k2, Summer tour, Ozzfest 2004 and a European tour with Slipknot. While preparing for the Download Festival in England, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich was taken to a hospital with an unknown and mysterious illness, and was unable to perform. Metallica vocalist James Hetfield searched for volunteers at the last minute to replace Ulrich; Lombardo and Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison volunteered, with Lombardo performing the songs "Battery" and "The Four Horsemen".
Christ Illusion (2006–2008)
The next studio album, Christ Illusion, was originally scheduled for release on June 6, 2006, and would be the first album with original drummer Lombardo since 1990's Seasons in the Abyss. However, the band decided to delay the release of the record, as they did not want to be among the many, according to King, "half-ass, stupid fucking loser bands" releasing records on June 6, although USA Today reported the idea was thwarted because the band failed to secure sufficient studio recording time. Slayer released Eternal Pyre on June 6 as a limited-edition EP. Eternal Pyre featured the song "Cult", a live performance of "War Ensemble" in Germany and video footage of the band recording "Cult". Five thousand copies were released and sold exclusively through Hot Topic chain stores, and sold out within hours of release. On June 30, Nuclear Blast Records released a 7" vinyl picture disc version limited to a thousand copies.
Christ Illusion was eventually released on August 8, 2006, and debuted at number 5 on the Billboard 200, selling over 62,000 copies in its first week. The album became Slayer's highest charting, improving on its previous highest charting album, Divine Intervention, which had debuted at number 8. However, despite its high positioning, the album dropped to number 44 in the following week. Three weeks after the album's release, Slayer were inducted into the Kerrang! Hall of Fame for their influence to the heavy metal scene.
A worldwide tour dubbed The Unholy Alliance Tour, was undertaken to support the new record. The tour was originally set to launch on June 6, but was postponed to June 10, as Araya had to undergo gall bladder surgery. In Flames, Mastodon, Children of Bodom, Lamb of God, and Thine Eyes Bleed (featuring Araya's brother, Johnny) and Ted Maul (London Hammersmith Apollo) were supporting Slayer. The tour made its way through America and Europe and the bands who participated, apart from Thine Eyes Bleed, reunited to perform at Japan's Loudpark Festival on October 15, 2006.
The video for the album's first single, "Eyes of the Insane", was released on October 30, 2006. The track was featured on the Saw III soundtrack, and won a Grammy-award for "Best Metal Performance" at the 49th Grammy Awards, although the band was unable to attend due to touring obligations. A week later, the band visited the 52nd Services Squadron located on the Spangdahlem U.S. Air Force Base in Germany to meet and play a show. This was the first visit ever to a military base for the band. The band made its first network TV appearance on the show Jimmy Kimmel Live! on January 19, playing the song "Eyes of the Insane", and four additional songs for fans after the show (although footage from "Jihad" was cut due to its controversial lyrical themes).
In 2007, Slayer toured Australia and New Zealand in April with Mastodon, and appeared at the Download Festival, Rock Am Ring, and a summer tour with Marilyn Manson and Bleeding Through.
World Painted Blood (2009–2011)
In 2008, Araya stated uncertainty about the future of the band, and that he could not see himself continuing the career at a later age. He said that once the band finished its upcoming album, which was the final record in their contract, the band would sit down and discuss its future. King was optimistic that the band would produce at least another two albums before considering to disband: "We're talking of going in the studio next February [2009] and getting the next record out so if we do things in a timely manner I don't see there's any reason why we can't have more than one album out." Slayer, along with Trivium, Mastodon, and Amon Amarth, teamed up for a European tour titled 'The Unholy Alliance: Chapter III', throughout October and November 2008. Slayer headlined the second Mayhem Festival in the summer of 2009. Slayer, along with Megadeth, also co-headlined Canadian Carnage, the first time they performed together in more than 15 years when they co-headlined four shows in Canada in late June 2009 with openers Machine Head and Suicide Silence.
The band's eleventh studio album, World Painted Blood, was released by American Recordings. It was available on November 3 in North America and November 2 for the rest of the world. The band stated that the album takes elements of all their previous works including Seasons in the Abyss, South of Heaven, and Reign in Blood. Slayer, along with Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax performed on the same bill for the first time on June 16, 2010 at Bemowo Airport, in Warsaw, Poland. One of the following Big 4 performances in (Sofia, Bulgaria, June 22, 2010) was sent via satellite in HD to cinemas. They also went on to play several other dates as part of the Sonisphere Festival. Megadeth and Slayer joined forces once again for the American Carnage Tour from July to October 2010 with opening acts Anthrax and Testament, and European Carnage Tour in March and April 2011. The "Big Four" played more dates at Sonisphere in England and France for the first time ever. Slayer returned to Australia in February and March 2011 as part of the Soundwave Festival and also played in California with the other members of the "Big Four".
In early 2011, Hanneman was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis. According to the band, doctors said that it likely originated from a spider bite. Araya said of Hanneman's condition: "Jeff was seriously ill. Jeff ended up contracting a bacteria that ate away his flesh on his arm, so they cut open his arm, from his wrist to his shoulder, and they did a skin graft on him, they cleaned up ... It was a flesh-eating virus, so he was really, really bad. So we'll wait for him to get better, and when he's a hundred percent, he's gonna come out and join us." The band decided to play their upcoming tour dates without Hanneman. Gary Holt of Exodus was announced as Hanneman's temporary replacement. Cannibal Corpse guitarist Pat O'Brien filled in for Holt during a tour in Europe. On April 23, 2011, at the American Big 4 show in Indio, California, Hanneman rejoined his bandmates to play the final two songs of their set, "South of Heaven" and "Angel of Death". This turned out to be Hanneman's final live performance with the band.
Hanneman's death, Lombardo's third split, and Repentless (2011–2016)
When asked if Slayer would make another album, Lombardo replied "Yes absolutely; Although there's nothing written, there are definitely plans." However, Araya said Slayer would not begin writing a new album until Hanneman's condition improved. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Reign In Blood, the band performed all of the album's tracks at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival at the Alexandra Palace in London."I'll Be Your Mirror London 2012 announced with co-curators Mogwai + Slayer". All Tomorrow's Parties. November 9, 2011.
In November 2011, Lombardo posted a tweet that the band had started to write new music. This presumably meant that Hanneman's condition improved, and it was believed he was ready to enter the studio. King had worked with Lombardo that year and they completed three songs. The band planned on entering the studio in either March or April 2012 and were hoping to have the album recorded before the group's US tour in late May and release it by the summer of that year. However, King said the upcoming album would not be finished until September and October of that year, making a 2013 release likely. In July 2012, King revealed two song titles for the upcoming album, "Chasing Death" and "Implode".
In February 2013, Lombardo was fired right before Slayer was to play at Australia's Soundwave festival due to an argument with band members over a pay dispute. Slayer and American Recordings released a statement, saying "Mr. Lombardo came to the band less than a week before their scheduled departure for Australia to present an entirely new set of terms for his engagement that were contrary to those that had been previously agreed upon", although Lombardo claimed there was a gag order in place. Dette returned to fill in for Lombardo for the Soundwave dates. It was confirmed that Lombardo was officially out of Slayer for the third time, and, in May, Bostaph rejoined the band.
On May 2, 2013, Hanneman died due to liver failure in a local hospital near his home in Southern California's Inland Empire; the cause of death was later determined to be alcohol-related cirrhosis. King confirmed that the band would continue, saying "Jeff is going to be in everybody's thoughts for a long time. It's unfortunate you can't keep unfortunate things from happening. But we're going to carry on – and he'll be there in spirit." However, Araya felt more uncertain about the band's future, expressing his belief that "After 30 years [with Hanneman active in the band], it would literally be like starting over", and doubting that Slayer's fanbase would approve such a change. Despite the uncertainty regarding the band's future, Slayer still worked on a followup to World Painted Blood. Additionally, it was reported that the new album would still feature material written by Hanneman.
At the 2014 Revolvers Golden Gods Awards ceremony, Slayer debuted "Implode", its first new song in five years. The group announced that they had signed with Nuclear Blast, and planned to release a new album in 2015. It was reported that Holt would take over Hanneman's guitar duties full-time, although Holt did not participate in the songwriting. In February, Slayer announced a seventeen date American tour to start in June featuring Suicidal Tendencies and Exodus. In 2015, Slayer headlined the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival for the second time. Repentless, the band's twelfth studio album, was released on September 11, 2015. Slayer toured for two-and-a-half years in support of Repentless. The band toured Europe with Anthrax and Kvelertak in October and November 2015, and embarked on three North American tours: one with Testament and Carcass in February and March 2016, then with Anthrax and Death Angel in September and October 2016, and with Lamb of God and Behemoth in July and August 2017. A lone date in Southeast Asia in 2017 was held in the Philippines.
Cancelled thirteenth studio album, farewell tour and split (2016–2019)
In August 2016, guitarist Kerry King was asked if Slayer would release a follow-up to Repentless. He replied, "We've got lots of leftover material from the last album, 'cause we wrote so much stuff, and we recorded a bunch of it too. If the lyrics don't change the song musically, those songs are done. So we are way ahead of the ballgame without even doing anything for the next record. And I've been working on stuff on my downtime. Like, I'll warm up and a riff will come to mind and I'll record it. I've gotten a handful of those on this run. So wheels are still turning. I haven't worked on anything lyrically yet except for what was done on the last record, so that's something I've gotta get on. But, yeah, Repentless isn't quite a year old yet." King also stated that Slayer was not expected to enter the studio until at least 2018. In an October interview on Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta's podcast, King stated that he was "completely open" to having guitarist Gary Holt (who had no songwriting contributions on Repentless) involved in the songwriting process of the next Slayer album. He explained, "I'm entirely open to having Gary work on something. I know he's gotta work on an Exodus record and I've got tons already for this one. But, you know, if he's gonna stick around... I didn't want it on the last one, and I knew that. I'm completely open to having that conversation. I haven't talked to Tom about it, I haven't talked to Gary open about it, but I'm open. That's not saying it is or isn't gonna happen. But my ears are open."
In a June 2017 interview with the Ultimate Guitar Archive, Holt said that he was ready to contribute with the songwriting for the next album. When speaking to Revolver, King was asked if there were any plans in place for the band to begin working on the album, he said, "Funny thing is, Repentless isn't even two years old yet, though it seems like it is. But from that session, there are six or eight songs that are recorded—some with vocals, some with leads, but all with keeper guitar, drums and bass. So when those songs get finished lyrically, if the lyrics don't change the songs, they'll be ready to be on the next record. So we already have more than half a record complete, if those songs make it." He also gave conceivable consideration that it could be released next year, "I'm certainly not gonna promise it, because every time I do, I make a liar of myself! [Laughs]" When asked about any plans or the timeline the band would like to release the album, King said, "It depends on touring—getting time to rehearse, getting time to make up new stuff. We haven't even done Australia on this run yet at all. We're hitting Japan finally later this year. But if things go well, I'd like to record next year. But timelines change all the time." In an October 2017 interview, Holt once again expressed his desire to contribute to the songwriting for the next Slayer album, saying, "When that time comes and we are ready for the next album, if Kerry wants me to contribute, I've got riffs. I've got stuff right now that I've written that I am not using for Exodus, because it was kind of maybe just unintentional subconscious thing, like, 'It sounds a little too Slayer.'"
On January 22, 2018, Slayer announced their farewell world tour through a video featuring a montage of press clippings, early posters and press photos spanning the band's entire career. Although the members of Slayer have never publicly explained why they were retiring from touring, it was thought that one of the reasons behind this decision was at the expense of Tom Araya's desire not to tour anymore and to spend more time with his family. This was confirmed by former drummer Dave Lombardo in a 2019 interview, who said: "Apparently, from what I hear. Tom has been wanting to retire when I was in the band — he wanted to stop. He had the neck issues. He's been wanting to retire for a long time now. So now that he's got it, I'm happy for him, and I hope he gets what he wants out of life and his future."
The farewell tour began with a North American trek in May and June 2018, supported by Lamb of God, Anthrax, Behemoth and Testament. The second leg of the North American tour took place in July and August, with Napalm Death replacing Behemoth, followed in November and December by a European tour with Lamb of God, Anthrax and Obituary. The farewell tour continued into 2019, with plans to visit places such as South America, Australia and Japan; in addition to European festivals such as Hellfest and Graspop, the band toured the United States in May 2019 with Lamb of God, Amon Amarth and Cannibal Corpse. Slayer also played one show in Mexico at Force Fest in October 2018.
On December 2, 2018, Holt announced that he would not perform the remainder of the band's European tour to be with his dying father. Vio-lence and former Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel would fill in for him as a result.
Holt had stated that Slayer would not release a new album before the end of the farewell tour. On how long the tour would last, Holt's Exodus bandmate Steve "Zetro" Souza commented, "I'm speculating it's gonna take a year and a half or two years to do the one final thing, but I believe it's finished. Everybody knows what I know; just because I'm on the outside, I have no insight on that." The final North American leg of the tour, dubbed "The Last Campaign", took place in November 2019, and also included support from Primus, Ministry and Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals. Despite being referred to as a farewell tour for Slayer, their manager Rick Sales has stated that the band is not breaking up, but has no intention of ever performing live again. Kristen Mulderig, who works with Rick Sales Entertainment Group, has also been quoted as saying that there would be Slayer-related activities following the tour's conclusion. However, within two days after the tour's completion, King's wife Ayesha stated on her Instagram page that there is "not a chance in hell" that Slayer would ever reunite to perform more shows or release new music.
Aftermath (2020–present)
In March 2020, when talking to Guitar World about his latest endorsement with Dean Guitars, King hinted that he would continue to make music outside of Slayer, simply saying, "Dean didn't sign me for nothing!" King stated in an August 2020 interview on the Dean Guitars YouTube channel that he has "more than two records' worth of music" for his yet-to-be disclosed new project. Bostaph later confirmed that he and King are working on a new project that will "sound like Slayer without it being Slayer — but not intentionally so."
When asked by the Let There Be Talk podcast in June 2020 if a Slayer reunion would ever happen, Holt stated, "If it does, if it ever happens, it has nothing to do with me. Someone else would call and say, 'We wanna [do this].' To my knowledge, it's done. And I think it should be that way. The band went out fucking on a bang, went out on Slayer's terms, and how many people get to say they did that?". In August 2020, King's wife Ayesha once again ruled out the possibility of a Slayer reunion, saying that her husband and Araya will "never be Slayer again".
When asked in a March 2021 interview if Slayer would consider reuniting for a special show or tour, Holt said, "That's a question I couldn't answer you, whether Slayer would ever get back together. Those are questions that are above my pay scale, I guess you'd say. Look, if the powers that be ever — like, in a year or something — said, 'Hey, you know what? We feel like playing some shows,' I'm there to do it," Holt added. "But those aren't decisions for me to make, or even me to really speculate on. As far as my knowledge, the band is over, and the final show was November 30, 2019. And I'm full speed ahead with Exodus now."
On October 12, 2021, King expressed regret that Slayer had retired "too early." While congratulating Machine Head on their 30th anniversary as a band, he said, "Apparently, it's 30 years, which is quite an achievement. Not a lot of bands get there. We did, and then we quit too early. Fuck us. Fuck me. I hate fucking not playing." In an interview with Metal Hammer a few days later, King reiterated that he would continue to work outside of Slayer: "I'm dragging my feet on letting the world know what I'm doing because there's no rush. I have a tour that I'm considering doing, but I'm not going to announce a band, I'm not going to announce a record, I'm not going to announce anything. But you will see me in the future — it will be fucking good." When interviewed again two months later by Metal Hammer, King did not rule out the possibility of any more "Big Four" shows with Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax, but expressed doubt that a Slayer reunion would ever happen: "The way that I'm moving forward is I don't think Slayer are ever going to play again. There's no business of me playing by myself!"
Musical style
Slayer is considered a thrash metal band. In an article from December 1986 by the Washington Post, writer Joe Brown described Slayer as speed metal, a genre he defined as "an unholy hybrid of punk rock thrash and heavy metal that attracts an almost all-male teen-age following". Describing Slayer's music, Brown wrote: "Over a jackhammer beat, Slayer's stun guitars created scraping sheets of corrosive metal noise, with occasional solos that sounded like squealing brakes, over which the singer-bassist emitted a larynx-lacerating growl-yowl." In an article from September 1988 by the New York Times, writer Jon Pareles also described Slayer as speed metal, additionally writing that the band "brings the sensational imagery of tabloids and horror movies" and has lyrics that "revel in death, gore and allusions to Satanism and Nazism." Pareles also described other "Big Four" thrash metal bands Metallica and Megadeth as speed metal bands. Slayer's early works were praised for their "breakneck speed and instrumental prowess", combining the structure of hardcore punk tempos and speed metal. The band released fast, aggressive material. The album Reign in Blood is the band's fastest, performed at an average of 220 beats per minute; the album Diabolus in Musica was the band's first to feature C tuning; God Hates Us All was the first to feature drop B tuning and seven-string guitars tuned to B. AllMusic cited the album as "abandoning the extravagances and accessibility of their late-'80s/early-'90s work and returning to perfect the raw approach", with some fans labeling it as nu metal.
King and Hanneman's dual guitar solos have been referred to as "wildly chaotic", and "twisted genius". Original drummer Lombardo would use two bass drums (instead of a double pedal, which is used on a single bass drum). Lombardo's speed and aggression earned him the title of the "godfather of double bass" by Drummerworld. Lombardo stated his reasons for using two bass drums: "When you hit the bass drum, the head is still resonating. When you hit it in the same place right after that, you kinda get a 'slapback' from the bass drum head hitting the other pedal. You're not letting them breathe." When playing the two bass drums, Lombardo would use the "heel-up" technique.
In the original lineup, King, Hanneman and Araya contributed to the band's lyrics, and King and Hanneman wrote the music with additional arrangement from Lombardo, and sometimes Araya. Araya formed a lyric writing partnership with Hanneman, which sometimes overshadowed the creative input of King. Hanneman stated that writing lyrics and music was a "free-for-all": "It's all just whoever comes up with what. Sometimes I'll be more on a roll and I'll have more stuff, same with Kerry – it's whoever's hot, really. Anybody can write anything; if it's good, we use it; if not, we don't."
When writing material, the band would write the music first before incorporating lyrics. King or Hanneman used a 24-track and drum machine to show band members the riff that they created, and to get their opinion. Either King, Hanneman or Lombardo would mention if any alterations could be made. The band played the riff to get the basic song structure, and figured out where the lyrics and solos would be placed.
Legacy
Slayer is one of the most influential bands in heavy metal history. Steve Huey of AllMusic believes the musical style of Slayer makes the band stronger than the other members of the "Big Four" thrash metal bands Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax, all of which rose to fame during the 1980s. Slayer's "downtuned rhythms, infectious guitar licks, graphically violent lyrics and grisly artwork set the standard for dozens of emerging thrash bands" and their "music was directly responsible for the rise of death metal" states MTV, ranking Slayer as the sixth "greatest metal band of all time", ranking number 50 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. Hanneman and King ranked number 10 in Guitar Worlds "100 greatest metal guitarists of all time" in 2004, and were voted "Best Guitarist/Guitar Team" in Revolver's reader's poll. Original drummer Lombardo was also voted "Best Drummer" and the band entered the top five in the categories "Best Band Ever", "Best Live Band", "Album of the Year" (for Christ Illusion) and "Band of the Year".
Music author Joel McIver considers Slayer very influential in the extreme metal scene, especially in the development of the death metal and black metal subgenres. According to John Consterdine of Terrorizer, without "Slayer's influence, extreme metal as we know it wouldn't exist." Kam Lee of Massacre and former member of Death stated: "there wouldn't be death metal or black metal or even extreme metal (the likes of what it is today) if not for Slayer." Johan Reinholdz of Andromeda said that Slayer "were crucial in the development of thrash metal which then became the foundation for a lot of different subgenres. They inspired generations of metal bands." Alex Skolnick of Testament declared: "Before Slayer, metal had never had such razor-sharp articulation, tightness, and balance between sound and stops. This all-out sonic assault was about the shock, the screams, the drums, and [...] most importantly the riffs."
Groups who cited Slayer among their major influences include Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet for My Valentine, Fear Factory, Machine Head, Children of Bodom, Slipknot, Gojira, Carnifex, Hatebreed, Cannibal Corpse, Pantera, Kreator, Sadistic Intent, Mayhem, Darkthrone, System of a Down, Lamb of God, Behemoth, Evile and Lacuna Coil. Steve Asheim, drummer for Deicide, declared that "there obviously would not have been a Deicide as we know it without the existence of Slayer." Sepultura guitarist Andreas Kisser affirmed that "without Slayer, Sepultura would never be possible." Weezer mentions them in the song "Heart Songs" from their 2008 self-titled "Red" album. The verse goes: "Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Slayer taught me how to shred..." Dave Grohl recalled, "Me and my friends, we just wanted to listen to fucking Slayer and take acid and smash stuff."
The band's 1986 release Reign in Blood has been an influence to extreme and thrash metal bands since its release and is considered the record which set the bar for death metal. It had a significant influence on the genre leaders such as Death, Obituary, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel and Napalm Death. The album was hailed the "heaviest album of all time" by Kerrang!, a "genre-definer" by Stylus, and a "stone-cold classic upon its release" by AllMusic. In 2006, Reign in Blood was named the best metal album of the last 20 years by Metal Hammer. According to Nielsen SoundScan, Slayer sold 4,900,000 copies in the United States from 1991 to 2013.
Controversy
A lawsuit was brought against the band in 1996, by the parents of Elyse Pahler, who accused the band of encouraging their daughter's murderers through their lyrics. Pahler was drugged, strangled, stabbed, trampled on, and raped as a sacrifice to the devil by three fans of the band. The case was unsealed by the court on May 19, 2000, stating Slayer and related business markets distribute harmful products to teens, encouraging violent acts through their lyrics, and "none of the vicious crimes committed against Elyse Marie Pahler would have occurred without the intentional marketing strategy of the death-metal band Slayer." The lawsuit was dismissed in 2001, for multiple reasons including "principles of free speech, lack of a duty and lack of foreseeability." A second lawsuit was filed by the parents, an amended complaint for damages against Slayer, their label, and other industry and label entities. The lawsuit was again dismissed. Judge E. Jeffrey Burke stated, "I do not consider Slayer's music obscene, indecent or harmful to minors."
Slayer has been accused of holding Nazi sympathies, due to the band's eagle logo bearing resemblance to the Eagle atop swastika and the lyrics of "Angel of Death". "Angel of Death" was inspired by the acts of Josef Mengele, the doctor who conducted human experiments on prisoners during World War II at the Auschwitz concentration camp, and was dubbed the "Angel of Death" by inmates.
Slayer's cover of Minor Threat's "Guilty of Being White" raised questions about a possible message of white supremacy in the band's music. The controversy surrounding the cover involved the changing of the refrain "guilty of being white" to "guilty of being right", at the song's ending. This incensed Minor Threat frontman Ian MacKaye, who stated "that is so offensive to me." King said it was changed for "tongue-in-cheek" humor as he thought the allegation of racism at the time was "ridiculous".
In a 2004 interview with Araya, when asked, "Did critics realize you were wallowing in parody?" Araya replied, "No. People thought we were serious!...back then you had that PMRC, who literally took everything to heart, when in actuality you're trying to create an image. You're trying to scare people on purpose." Araya also denied rumors that Slayer members are Satanists, but they find the subject of Satanism interesting and "we are all on this planet to learn and experience."
The song "Jihad" of the album Christ Illusion sparked controversy among families of the September 11 victims. The song deals with the attack from the perspective of a religious terrorist. The band stated the song is spoken through perspective without being sympathetic to the cause, and supports neither side.
Seventeen bus benches promoting the same album in Fullerton, California were deemed offensive by city officials. City officials contacted the band's record label and demanded that the ads be removed. All benches were eliminated.
In India, Christ Illusion was recalled by EMI India after protests with Christian religious groups due to the nature of the graphic artwork. The album cover was designed by Slayer's longtime collaborator Larry Carroll and features Christ in a "sea of despair", with amputated arms, missing an eye, while standing in a sea of blood with severed heads. Joseph Dias of the Mumbai Christian group Catholic Secular Forum in India took "strong exception" to the original album artwork, and issued a memorandum to Mumbai's police commissioner in protest. On October 11, 2006, EMI announced that all stocks had been destroyed, noting it had no plans to re-release the record in India in the future.
Band membersFormer members Kerry King – guitars (1981–2019)
Tom Araya – bass, vocals (1981–2019)
Jeff Hanneman – guitars (1981–2013) (died 2013)
Dave Lombardo – drums (1981–1986, 1987–1992, 2001–2013)
Paul Bostaph – drums (1992–1996, 1997–2001, 2013–2019)
Jon Dette – drums (1996–1997)
Gary Holt – guitars (2013–2019)Touring musicians Tony Scaglione – drums (1986–1987)
Pat O'Brien – guitars (2011)
Gary Holt – guitars (2011–2013)
Jon Dette – drums (2013)
Phil Demmel – guitars (2018)Timeline'''
Discography
Show No Mercy (1983)
Hell Awaits (1985)
Reign in Blood (1986)
South of Heaven (1988)
Seasons in the Abyss (1990)
Divine Intervention (1994)
Undisputed Attitude (1996)
Diabolus in Musica (1998)
God Hates Us All (2001)
Christ Illusion (2006)
World Painted Blood (2009)
Repentless (2015)
Awards and nominations
|-
!scope="row"| 2002
| "Disciple" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"|2007
| "Eyes of the Insane" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"| 2008
|| "Final Six" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"|2010
| "Hate Worldwide" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"|2011
| "World Painted Blood" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2006
| Slayer || Kerrang! Hall of Fame ||
|-
!scope="row"|2013
| Slayer || Kerrang! Legend ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2003
| War at the Warfield || DVD of the Year ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2010
| Kerry King || God of Riffs ||
|-
!scope="row"|2013
| Jeff Hanneman || God of Riffs ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2004
| Slayer || Best Live Act ||
|-
!scope="row"|2006
| Reign in Blood || Best Album of the Last 20 Years ||
|-
!scope="row"|2007
| | "Eyes of the Insane" || Best Video ||
|-
!scope="row"|2007
||Slayer || Icon Award ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2006
| Christ Illusion || Best Thrash Metal Album ||
|-
!scope="row"|2015
| "Repentless" || Best Video ||
|-
Footnotes
From late 2010 until his death in May 2013, Jeff Hanneman's participation in Slayer was minimal. In January 2011, he contracted necrotizing fasciitis, which severely restricted his ability to perform. He appeared publicly with the band on only one known occasion, playing two songs during an encore at one of Slayer's Big 4 performances in April 2011; he also attended rehearsals for Fun Fun Fun Fest in November 2011, but did not end up performing at this show. By July 2012, Hanneman had not written or recorded any new material for the band's follow up to 2009's World Painted Blood''. In February 2013, Kerry King stated he was planning on recording all of the guitar parts for the upcoming album himself, but was open to Hanneman's return if he was willing and able. King also denied that Gary Holt, member of Exodus and Hanneman's live fill-in, would write or record anything for the upcoming album. Hanneman died on May 2, 2013 at the age of 49 due to liver failure.
Citations
Further reading
External links
1981 establishments in California
Thrash metal musical groups from California
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Def Jam Recordings artists
Grammy Award winners
Kerrang! Awards winners
Metal Blade Records artists
Musical groups disestablished in 2019
Musical groups established in 1981
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical quartets
Nuclear Blast artists
Obscenity controversies in music | true | [
"À La Bien Mix Party (; meaning \"quietly\") is a compilation series by DJ Hamida mixing various acts but mainly from North Africa and other African acts in various genres of music, promoting what he calls \"Meknessi Style\".\n\nThe 2014 edition of the series, so far the most successful of the series, reached number 10 on SNEP, the official French Albums Chart, also charting in Belgium's Ultratop chart, with \"Déconnectés\" becoming the official debut release from the album. Five tracks from the album À la bien mix party have made it to the French SNEP Top 200 Singles Chart. DJ Hamida also engaged in a tour in support of the album release.\n\nÀ la bien mix party 2011\nFull title: DJ Hamida presente À la bien mix party 2011\nTracks: 43\nDate released: June 2011\nRecord label: DJ Hamida\n\nÀ la bien mix party 2012\nTracks: 37\nDate released: 24 June 2012\nRecord label: Dj Hamida\n\nÀ la bien mix party 2013\nFull title: DJ Hamida presente À la bien mix party 2013\nTracks: 32\nDate released: 12 July 2013\nRecord label: Meknessityle\n\nÀ la bien mix party 2014\nTracks: 30\nDate released: 2 June 2014\nRecord label: SIX-O-NINE / MUSICAST\nCharts\n\nCharting singles from the album\n\nMix party 2015\n\nAlso known as DJ Hamida Mix party 2015\nTracks: 34\nDate released: 25 May 2014\nRecord label: Definite Pop \nCharts\n\nCharting singles from the album\n\nMix party 2016\nAlso known as DJ Hamida Mix party 2016\nTracks: 34\nDate released: 25 May 2014\nRecord label: Definite Pop \nCharts\n\nÀ la bien Mix Party 2017\nTracks: 22\nDate released: 19 May 2017\nRecord label: Meknessi Style Records / Musicast\nCharts\n\nÀ la bien Mix Party 2018\nTracks: 21\nDate released: 22 June 2018\nRecord label: Meknessi Style Records\nCharts\n\nÀ la bien Mix Party 2019\nTracks: 20\nDate released: 5 July 2019\nRecord label: Meknessi Style Records\nCharts\n\nÀ la bien Mix Party 2020\nTracks: 24\nDate released: 31 July 2020\nRecord label: Believe / Meknessi Style Records\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nDJ Hamida Facebook\nDJ Hamida YouTube\n\nCompilation album series",
"Tuff Gong Worldwide is a record label formed by Ziggy Marley. He used the same name as his father's label, but changed the word international to worldwide.\n\nHistory\nZiggy Marley started the label under his father's name, changing the international to worldwide. He started the label to do what his father, Bob Marley, couldn't do and make a label that does more than just his own work.\n\nIn 2006, Ziggy Marley released his second solo album as the first album on the label. The same year, he released a live version of the album on both CD and DVD. Also that year, a compilation album titled \"Ziggy Marley in Jamaica\" got released where Ziggy Marley released rare reggae classics.\n\nIn 2009, Ziggy Marley released a live album as part of iTunes's \"Live from SoHo\" series. He released his first children's album titled \"Family Time\" on the label.\n\nIn 2010, he released another compilation album titled \"Dancehall Originators\" that featured Original Dancehall mixes.\n\nDiscography\n 2003: Dragonfly\n 2006: Love Is My Religion\n 2008: Love Is My Religion Live\n 2008: Ziggy Marley in Jamaica\n 2009: Ziggy Live From Soho\n 2009: Family Time\n 2009: Tuff Gong Worldwide Music Sampler\n 2010: Dancehall Originators\n 2011: Wild and Free\n 2013: In Concert\n 2014: Fly Rasta\n 2016 Ziggy Marley\n\nReggae record labels"
] |
[
"Slayer",
"South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss (1988-1993)",
"Who produced South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss?",
"Slayer's",
"Can you tell me something interesting about the article?",
"Press response to the album was mixed,",
"What record label released the album?",
"Slayer's"
] | C_07397c12d123426cacfc6b32eb6905ad_0 | Did any singles make the Billboard Top 200? | 4 | Did any singles of the Slayer South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss make the Billboard Top 200? | Slayer | In late 1987, Slayer returned to the studio to record their fourth studio album. To contrast the speed of Reign in Blood, the band consciously decided to slow down the tempos, and incorporate more melodic singing. According to Hanneman, "We knew we couldn't top Reign in Blood, so we had to slow down. We knew whatever we did was gonna be compared to that album, and I remember we actually discussed slowing down. It was weird--we've never done that on an album, before or since." Released in July 1988, South of Heaven received mixed responses from both fans and critics, although it was Slayer's most commercially successful release at the time, debuting at number 57 on the Billboard 200, and their second album to receive gold certification in the United States. Press response to the album was mixed, with AllMusic citing the album as "disturbing and powerful," and Kim Nelly of Rolling Stone calling it "genuinely offensive satanic drivel." King said "that album was my most lackluster performance," although Araya called it a "late bloomer" which eventually grew on people. Slayer returned to the studio in spring 1990 with co-producer Andy Wallace to record its fifth studio album. Following the backlash created by South of Heaven, Slayer returned to the "pounding speed of Reign in Blood, while retaining their newfound melodic sense." Seasons in the Abyss, released on October 25, 1990, was the first Slayer album to be released under Rubin's new Def American label, as he had parted ways with Def Jam owner Russell Simmons over creative differences. The album debuted at number 44 on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold in 1992. The album spawned Slayer's first music video for the album's title track, which was filmed in front of the Giza pyramids in Egypt. Slayer returned as a live act in September 1990 to co-headline the European Clash of the Titans tour with Megadeth, Suicidal Tendencies, and Testament. During the sold out European leg of this tour tickets fetched up to 1,000 Deutschmark ($680 USD) on the black market. With the popularity of American thrash at its peak, the tour was extended to the US beginning in May 1991, with Megadeth, Anthrax and opening act Alice in Chains. The band released a double live album, Decade of Aggression in 1991, to celebrate ten years since their formation. The compilation debuted at number 55 on the Billboard 200. In May 1992, Lombardo quit the band due to conflicts with other members, as well as his desire to be off tour for the birth of his first child. Lombardo formed his own band Grip Inc, with Voodoocult guitarist Waldemar Sorychta, and Slayer recruited former Forbidden drummer Paul Bostaph to take his place. Slayer made its debut appearance with Bostaph at the 1992 Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington. Bostaph's first studio effort was a medley of three Exploited songs, "War," "UK '82," and "Disorder," with rapper Ice-T, for the Judgment Night movie soundtrack in 1993. CANNOTANSWER | South of Heaven | Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo, and bassist and vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them one of the "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax. Slayer's final lineup comprised King, Araya, drummer Paul Bostaph (who replaced Lombardo in 1992 and again in 2013) and guitarist Gary Holt (who replaced Hanneman in 2011). Drummer Jon Dette was also a member of the band.
In the original lineup, King, Hanneman and Araya contributed to the band's lyrics, and all of the band's music was written by King and Hanneman. The band's lyrics and album art, which cover topics such as murder, serial killers, torture, genocide, politics, theories, human subject research, organized crime, secret societies, mythology, occultism, Satanism, hate crimes, terrorism, religion or antireligion, Nazism, fascism, racism, xenophobia, misanthropy, war and prison, have generated album bans, delays, lawsuits and criticism from religious groups and factions of the general public. However, its music has been highly influential, often being cited by many bands as an influence musically, visually and lyrically; the band's third album, Reign in Blood (1986), has been described as one of the heaviest and most influential thrash metal albums.
Slayer released twelve studio albums, two live albums, a box set, six music videos, two extended plays and a cover album. Four of the band's studio albums have received gold certification in the United States. Slayer sold 5 million copies in the United States from 1991 to 2013, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and over 20 million worldwide. The band has received five Grammy Award nominations, winning one in 2007 for the song "Eyes of the Insane" and one in 2008 for the song "Final Six", both of which were from the album Christ Illusion (2006). After more than three decades of recording and performing, Slayer announced in January 2018 that it would embark on a farewell tour, which took place from May 2018 to November 2019, after which the band disbanded.
History
Early years (1981–1983)
Slayer was formed in 1981 by Kerry King, Jeff Hanneman, Dave Lombardo, and Tom Araya in Huntington Park, CA. The group started out playing covers of songs by bands such as Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Venom at parties and clubs in Southern California. The band's early image relied heavily on Satanic themes that featured pentagrams, make-up, spikes, and inverted crosses. Rumors that the band was originally known as Dragonslayer, after the 1981 film of the same name, were denied by King, as he later stated: "We never were; it's a myth to this day." According to Lombardo, the original band name was to be Wings of Fire before they settled in with Slayer. It was he who designed the iconic logo. For inspiration, Lombardo thought in a perspective of a murderer of how they would carve out the logo with a knife and since he's lefthanded, the logo is unintentionally slanted to the right.
In 1983, Slayer was invited to open for the band Bitch at the Woodstock Club in Anaheim, California to perform eight songs, six of which were covers. The band was spotted by Brian Slagel, a former music journalist who had recently founded Metal Blade Records. Impressed with Slayer, he met with the band backstage and asked them to record an original song for his upcoming Metal Massacre III compilation album. The band agreed and their song "Aggressive Perfector" created an underground buzz upon its release in mid 1983, which led to Slagel offering the band a recording contract with Metal Blade.
Show No Mercy, Haunting the Chapel and Hell Awaits (1983–1986)
Without any recording budget, the band had to self-finance its debut album. Combining the savings of Araya, who was employed as a respiratory therapist, and money borrowed from King's father, the band entered the studio in November 1983. The album was rushed into release, stocking shelves three weeks after tracks were completed. Show No Mercy, released in December 1983 by Metal Blade Records, generated underground popularity for the band. The group began a club tour of California to promote the album. The tour gave the band additional popularity and sales of Show No Mercy eventually reached more than 20,000 in the US and another 20,000 worldwide.
In February 1984, King briefly joined Dave Mustaine's new band Megadeth. Hanneman was worried about King's decision, stating in an interview, "I guess we're gonna get a new guitar player." While Mustaine wanted King to stay on a permanent basis, King left after five shows, stating Mustaine's band was "taking too much of my time." The split caused a rift between King and Mustaine, which evolved into a long running feud between the two bands.
In June 1984, Slayer released a three-track EP called Haunting the Chapel. The EP featured a darker, more thrash-oriented style than Show No Mercy, and laid the groundwork for the future direction of the band. The opening track, "Chemical Warfare", has become a live staple, played at nearly every show since 1984.
Later that year, Slayer began their first national club tour, traveling in Araya's Camaro towing a U-Haul trailer. The band recorded the live album Live Undead in November 1984 while in New York City.
In March 1985, Slayer began a national tour with Venom and Exodus, resulting in their first live home video dubbed Combat Tour: The Ultimate Revenge. The video featured live footage filmed at the Studio 54 club. The band then made its live European debut at the Heavy Sound Festival in Belgium opening for UFO. Also in 1985, Slayer toured or played selected shows with bands like Megadeth, Destruction, D.R.I., Possessed, Agent Steel, S.O.D., Nasty Savage and Metal Church.
Show No Mercy had sold over 40,000 copies, which led to the band returning to the studio to record their second full-length album. Metal Blade financed a recording budget, which allowed the band to hire producer Ron Fair. Released in March 1985, Slayer's second full-length album, Hell Awaits, expanded on the darkness of Haunting the Chapel, with hell and Satan as common song subjects. The album was the band's most progressive offering, featuring longer and more complex song structures. The intro of the title track is a backwards recording of a demonic-sounding voice repeating "Join us", ending with "Welcome back" before the track begins. The album was a hit, with fans choosing Slayer for best band, best live band, Hell Awaits, as 1985's best album, and Dave Lombardo as best drummer in the British magazine Metal Forces 1985 Readers Poll.
Reign in Blood, Lombardo's brief hiatus and South of Heaven (1986–1989)
Following the success of Hell Awaits, Slayer was offered a recording contract with Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin's newly founded Def Jam Records, a largely hip hop-based label. The band accepted, and with an experienced producer and major label recording budget, the band underwent a sonic makeover for their third album Reign in Blood, resulting in shorter, faster songs with clearer production. The complex arrangements and long songs featured on Hell Awaits were ditched in favor of stripped down, hardcore punk influenced song structures.
Def Jam's distributor, Columbia Records, refused to release the album due to the song "Angel of Death" which detailed Holocaust concentration camps and the human experiments conducted by Nazi physician Josef Mengele. The album was distributed by Geffen Records on October 7, 1986. However, due to the controversy, Reign in Blood did not appear on Geffen Records' release schedule. Although the album received virtually no radio airplay, it became the band's first to enter the Billboard 200, debuting at number 94, and the band's first album certified gold in the United States.
Slayer embarked on the Reign in Pain world tour, with Overkill in the US from October to December 1986, and Malice in Europe in April and May 1987. They also played with other bands such as Agnostic Front, Testament, Metal Church, D.R.I., Dark Angel and Flotsam and Jetsam. The band was added as the opening act on W.A.S.P.'s US tour, but just one month into it, drummer Lombardo left the band: "I wasn't making any money. I figured if we were gonna be doing this professionally, on a major label, I wanted my rent and utilities paid." To continue with the tour, Slayer enlisted Tony Scaglione of Whiplash. However, Lombardo was convinced by his wife to return in 1987. At the insistence of Rubin, Slayer recorded a cover version of Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" for the film Less Than Zero. Although the band was not happy with the final product, Hanneman deeming it "a poor representation of Slayer" and King labeling it "a hunk of shit", it was one of their first songs to garner radio airplay.
In late 1987, Slayer returned to the studio to record their fourth studio album. To contrast the speed of Reign in Blood, the band consciously decided to slow down the tempos, and incorporate more melodic singing. According to Hanneman, "We knew we couldn't top Reign in Blood, so we had to slow down. We knew whatever we did was gonna be compared to that album, and I remember we actually discussed slowing down. It was weird—we've never done that on an album, before or since."
Released in July 1988, South of Heaven received mixed responses from both fans and critics, although it was Slayer's most commercially successful release at the time, debuting at number 57 on the Billboard 200, and their second album to receive gold certification in the United States. Press response to the album was mixed, with AllMusic citing the album as "disturbing and powerful", and Kim Nelly of Rolling Stone calling it "genuinely offensive satanic drivel". King said "that album was my most lackluster performance", although Araya called it a "late bloomer" which eventually grew on people. Slayer toured from August 1988 to January 1989 to promote South of Heaven, supporting Judas Priest in the US on their Ram It Down tour, and touring Europe with Nuclear Assault and the US with Motörhead and Overkill.
Seasons in the Abyss and Lombardo's second departure (1990–1993)
Slayer returned to the studio in early 1990 with co-producer Andy Wallace to record its fifth studio album. Following the backlash created by South of Heaven, Slayer returned to the "pounding speed of Reign in Blood, while retaining their newfound melodic sense." Seasons in the Abyss, released on October 9, 1990, was the first Slayer album to be released under Rubin's new Def American label, as he had parted ways with Def Jam owner Russell Simmons over creative differences. The album debuted at number 44 on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold in 1992. The album spawned Slayer's first music video for the album's title track, which was filmed in front of the Giza pyramids in Egypt.
Slayer returned as a live act in September 1990 to co-headline the European Clash of the Titans tour with Megadeth, Suicidal Tendencies, and Testament. During the sold out European leg of this tour, tickets had prices skyrocket to 1,000 Deutschmark (US$680) on the black market. With the popularity of American thrash at its peak, the band toured with Testament again in early 1991 and triple-headlined the North American version of the Clash of the Titans tour that summer with Megadeth, Anthrax, and opening act Alice in Chains. The band released a double live album, Decade of Aggression in 1991, to celebrate ten years since their formation. The compilation debuted at number 55 on the Billboard 200.
In May 1992, Lombardo left the band due to conflicts with the other members, as well as his desire to be off tour for the birth of his first child. Lombardo formed his own band Grip Inc., with Voodoocult guitarist Waldemar Sorychta, and Slayer recruited former Forbidden drummer Paul Bostaph to fill in the drummer position. Slayer made its debut appearance with Bostaph at the 1992 Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington. Bostaph's first studio effort was a medley of three Exploited songs, "War", "UK '82", and "Disorder", with rapper Ice-T, for the Judgment Night movie soundtrack in 1993.
Divine Intervention, Undisputed Attitude and Diabolus in Musica (1994–2000)
In 1994, Slayer released Divine Intervention, the band's first album with Bostaph on the drums. The album featured songs about Reinhard Heydrich, an architect of the Holocaust, and Jeffrey Dahmer, an American serial killer and sex offender. Other themes included murder, the evils of church, and the lengths to which governments went to wield power, Araya's interest in serial killers inspired much of the content of the lyrics.
Slayer geared up for a world tour in 1995, with openers Biohazard and Machine Head. A video of concert footage, Live Intrusion was released, featuring a joint cover of Venom's "Witching Hour" with Machine Head. Following the tour, Slayer was billed third at the 1995 Monsters of Rock festival, headlined by Metallica. In 1996, Undisputed Attitude, an album of punk covers, was released. The band covered songs by Minor Threat, T.S.O.L., Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, D.I., Verbal Abuse, Dr. Know, and The Stooges. The album featured three original tracks, "Gemini", "Can't Stand You", "Ddamm"; the latter two were written by Hanneman in 1984–1985 for a side project entitled Pap Smear. Bostaph left Slayer shortly after the album's recording to work on his own project, Truth About Seafood. With Bostaph's departure, Slayer recruited Testament drummer Jon Dette, and headlined the 1996 Ozzfest alongside Ozzy Osbourne, Danzig, Biohazard, Sepultura, and Fear Factory. Dette was fired after a year, due to a fallout with band members. After that, Bostaph returned to continue the tour.
Diabolus in Musica (Latin for "The Devil in Music") was released in 1998, and debuted at number 31 on the Billboard 200, selling over 46,000 copies in its first week. It was complete by September 1997, and scheduled to be released the following month, but got delayed by nine months after their label was taken over by Columbia Records. The album received a mixed critical reception, and was criticized for adopting characteristics of nu metal music such as tuned down guitars, murky chord structures, and churning beats. Blabbermouth.net reviewer Borijov Krgin described the album as "a feeble attempt at incorporating updated elements into the group's sound, the presence of which elevated the band's efforts somewhat and offered hope that Slayer could refrain from endlessly rehashing their previous material for their future output", while Ben Ratliff of The New York Times had similar sentiments, writing on June 22, 1998 that: "Eight of the 11 songs on Diabolus in Musica, a few of which were played at the show, are in the same gray key, and the band's rhythmic ideas have a wearying sameness too."
The album was the band's first to primarily feature dropped tuning, as featured on the lead track, "Bitter Peace", making use of the tritone interval referred to in the Middle Ages as the Devil's interval. Slayer teamed up with digital hardcore group Atari Teenage Riot to record a song for the Spawn soundtrack titled "No Remorse (I Wanna Die)". The band paid tribute to Black Sabbath by recording a cover of "Hand of Doom" for the second of two tribute albums, titled Nativity in Black II. A world tour followed to support the new album, with Slayer making an appearance at the United Kingdom Ozzfest 1998.
God Hates Us All (2001–2005)
During mid-2001, the band joined Morbid Angel, Pantera, Skrape and Static-X on the Extreme Steel Tour of North America, which was Pantera's last major tour. After delays regarding remixing and artwork, including slip covers created to cover the original artwork as it was deemed "too graphic", Slayer's next album, God Hates Us All, was released on September 11, 2001. The band received its first Grammy nomination for the lead track "Disciple", although the Grammy was awarded to Tool, for "Schism". The September 11 attacks on America jeopardized the 2001 European tour Tattoo the Planet originally set to feature Pantera, Static-X, Cradle of Filth, Biohazard and Vision of Disorder. The dates in the United Kingdom were postponed due to flight restrictions, with a majority of bands deciding to withdraw, leaving Slayer and Cradle of Filth remaining for the European leg of the tour.
Pantera, Static-X, Vision of Disorder and Biohazard were replaced by other bands depending on location; Amorphis, In Flames, Moonspell, Children of Bodom, and Necrodeath. Biohazard eventually decided to rejoin the tour later on, and booked new gigs in the countries, where they missed a few dates. Drummer Bostaph left Slayer before Christmas in 2001, due to a chronic elbow injury, which would hinder his ability to play. Since the band's European tour was unfinished at that time, the band's manager, Rick Sales, contacted original drummer Dave Lombardo and asked if he would like to finish the remainder of the tour. Lombardo accepted the offer, and stayed as a permanent member.
Slayer toured playing Reign in Blood in its entirety throughout the fall of 2003, under the tour banner "Still Reigning". Their playing of the final song, "Raining Blood", culminated with the band drenched in a rain of stage blood. Live footage of this was recorded at the Augusta Civic Center in Augusta, Maine, on July 11, 2004 and released on the 2004 DVD Still Reigning. The band also released War at the Warfield and a box set, Soundtrack to the Apocalypse featuring rarities, live CD and DVD performances and various Slayer merchandise. From 2002 to 2004, the band performed over 250 tour dates, headlining major music festivals including H82k2, Summer tour, Ozzfest 2004 and a European tour with Slipknot. While preparing for the Download Festival in England, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich was taken to a hospital with an unknown and mysterious illness, and was unable to perform. Metallica vocalist James Hetfield searched for volunteers at the last minute to replace Ulrich; Lombardo and Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison volunteered, with Lombardo performing the songs "Battery" and "The Four Horsemen".
Christ Illusion (2006–2008)
The next studio album, Christ Illusion, was originally scheduled for release on June 6, 2006, and would be the first album with original drummer Lombardo since 1990's Seasons in the Abyss. However, the band decided to delay the release of the record, as they did not want to be among the many, according to King, "half-ass, stupid fucking loser bands" releasing records on June 6, although USA Today reported the idea was thwarted because the band failed to secure sufficient studio recording time. Slayer released Eternal Pyre on June 6 as a limited-edition EP. Eternal Pyre featured the song "Cult", a live performance of "War Ensemble" in Germany and video footage of the band recording "Cult". Five thousand copies were released and sold exclusively through Hot Topic chain stores, and sold out within hours of release. On June 30, Nuclear Blast Records released a 7" vinyl picture disc version limited to a thousand copies.
Christ Illusion was eventually released on August 8, 2006, and debuted at number 5 on the Billboard 200, selling over 62,000 copies in its first week. The album became Slayer's highest charting, improving on its previous highest charting album, Divine Intervention, which had debuted at number 8. However, despite its high positioning, the album dropped to number 44 in the following week. Three weeks after the album's release, Slayer were inducted into the Kerrang! Hall of Fame for their influence to the heavy metal scene.
A worldwide tour dubbed The Unholy Alliance Tour, was undertaken to support the new record. The tour was originally set to launch on June 6, but was postponed to June 10, as Araya had to undergo gall bladder surgery. In Flames, Mastodon, Children of Bodom, Lamb of God, and Thine Eyes Bleed (featuring Araya's brother, Johnny) and Ted Maul (London Hammersmith Apollo) were supporting Slayer. The tour made its way through America and Europe and the bands who participated, apart from Thine Eyes Bleed, reunited to perform at Japan's Loudpark Festival on October 15, 2006.
The video for the album's first single, "Eyes of the Insane", was released on October 30, 2006. The track was featured on the Saw III soundtrack, and won a Grammy-award for "Best Metal Performance" at the 49th Grammy Awards, although the band was unable to attend due to touring obligations. A week later, the band visited the 52nd Services Squadron located on the Spangdahlem U.S. Air Force Base in Germany to meet and play a show. This was the first visit ever to a military base for the band. The band made its first network TV appearance on the show Jimmy Kimmel Live! on January 19, playing the song "Eyes of the Insane", and four additional songs for fans after the show (although footage from "Jihad" was cut due to its controversial lyrical themes).
In 2007, Slayer toured Australia and New Zealand in April with Mastodon, and appeared at the Download Festival, Rock Am Ring, and a summer tour with Marilyn Manson and Bleeding Through.
World Painted Blood (2009–2011)
In 2008, Araya stated uncertainty about the future of the band, and that he could not see himself continuing the career at a later age. He said that once the band finished its upcoming album, which was the final record in their contract, the band would sit down and discuss its future. King was optimistic that the band would produce at least another two albums before considering to disband: "We're talking of going in the studio next February [2009] and getting the next record out so if we do things in a timely manner I don't see there's any reason why we can't have more than one album out." Slayer, along with Trivium, Mastodon, and Amon Amarth, teamed up for a European tour titled 'The Unholy Alliance: Chapter III', throughout October and November 2008. Slayer headlined the second Mayhem Festival in the summer of 2009. Slayer, along with Megadeth, also co-headlined Canadian Carnage, the first time they performed together in more than 15 years when they co-headlined four shows in Canada in late June 2009 with openers Machine Head and Suicide Silence.
The band's eleventh studio album, World Painted Blood, was released by American Recordings. It was available on November 3 in North America and November 2 for the rest of the world. The band stated that the album takes elements of all their previous works including Seasons in the Abyss, South of Heaven, and Reign in Blood. Slayer, along with Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax performed on the same bill for the first time on June 16, 2010 at Bemowo Airport, in Warsaw, Poland. One of the following Big 4 performances in (Sofia, Bulgaria, June 22, 2010) was sent via satellite in HD to cinemas. They also went on to play several other dates as part of the Sonisphere Festival. Megadeth and Slayer joined forces once again for the American Carnage Tour from July to October 2010 with opening acts Anthrax and Testament, and European Carnage Tour in March and April 2011. The "Big Four" played more dates at Sonisphere in England and France for the first time ever. Slayer returned to Australia in February and March 2011 as part of the Soundwave Festival and also played in California with the other members of the "Big Four".
In early 2011, Hanneman was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis. According to the band, doctors said that it likely originated from a spider bite. Araya said of Hanneman's condition: "Jeff was seriously ill. Jeff ended up contracting a bacteria that ate away his flesh on his arm, so they cut open his arm, from his wrist to his shoulder, and they did a skin graft on him, they cleaned up ... It was a flesh-eating virus, so he was really, really bad. So we'll wait for him to get better, and when he's a hundred percent, he's gonna come out and join us." The band decided to play their upcoming tour dates without Hanneman. Gary Holt of Exodus was announced as Hanneman's temporary replacement. Cannibal Corpse guitarist Pat O'Brien filled in for Holt during a tour in Europe. On April 23, 2011, at the American Big 4 show in Indio, California, Hanneman rejoined his bandmates to play the final two songs of their set, "South of Heaven" and "Angel of Death". This turned out to be Hanneman's final live performance with the band.
Hanneman's death, Lombardo's third split, and Repentless (2011–2016)
When asked if Slayer would make another album, Lombardo replied "Yes absolutely; Although there's nothing written, there are definitely plans." However, Araya said Slayer would not begin writing a new album until Hanneman's condition improved. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Reign In Blood, the band performed all of the album's tracks at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival at the Alexandra Palace in London."I'll Be Your Mirror London 2012 announced with co-curators Mogwai + Slayer". All Tomorrow's Parties. November 9, 2011.
In November 2011, Lombardo posted a tweet that the band had started to write new music. This presumably meant that Hanneman's condition improved, and it was believed he was ready to enter the studio. King had worked with Lombardo that year and they completed three songs. The band planned on entering the studio in either March or April 2012 and were hoping to have the album recorded before the group's US tour in late May and release it by the summer of that year. However, King said the upcoming album would not be finished until September and October of that year, making a 2013 release likely. In July 2012, King revealed two song titles for the upcoming album, "Chasing Death" and "Implode".
In February 2013, Lombardo was fired right before Slayer was to play at Australia's Soundwave festival due to an argument with band members over a pay dispute. Slayer and American Recordings released a statement, saying "Mr. Lombardo came to the band less than a week before their scheduled departure for Australia to present an entirely new set of terms for his engagement that were contrary to those that had been previously agreed upon", although Lombardo claimed there was a gag order in place. Dette returned to fill in for Lombardo for the Soundwave dates. It was confirmed that Lombardo was officially out of Slayer for the third time, and, in May, Bostaph rejoined the band.
On May 2, 2013, Hanneman died due to liver failure in a local hospital near his home in Southern California's Inland Empire; the cause of death was later determined to be alcohol-related cirrhosis. King confirmed that the band would continue, saying "Jeff is going to be in everybody's thoughts for a long time. It's unfortunate you can't keep unfortunate things from happening. But we're going to carry on – and he'll be there in spirit." However, Araya felt more uncertain about the band's future, expressing his belief that "After 30 years [with Hanneman active in the band], it would literally be like starting over", and doubting that Slayer's fanbase would approve such a change. Despite the uncertainty regarding the band's future, Slayer still worked on a followup to World Painted Blood. Additionally, it was reported that the new album would still feature material written by Hanneman.
At the 2014 Revolvers Golden Gods Awards ceremony, Slayer debuted "Implode", its first new song in five years. The group announced that they had signed with Nuclear Blast, and planned to release a new album in 2015. It was reported that Holt would take over Hanneman's guitar duties full-time, although Holt did not participate in the songwriting. In February, Slayer announced a seventeen date American tour to start in June featuring Suicidal Tendencies and Exodus. In 2015, Slayer headlined the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival for the second time. Repentless, the band's twelfth studio album, was released on September 11, 2015. Slayer toured for two-and-a-half years in support of Repentless. The band toured Europe with Anthrax and Kvelertak in October and November 2015, and embarked on three North American tours: one with Testament and Carcass in February and March 2016, then with Anthrax and Death Angel in September and October 2016, and with Lamb of God and Behemoth in July and August 2017. A lone date in Southeast Asia in 2017 was held in the Philippines.
Cancelled thirteenth studio album, farewell tour and split (2016–2019)
In August 2016, guitarist Kerry King was asked if Slayer would release a follow-up to Repentless. He replied, "We've got lots of leftover material from the last album, 'cause we wrote so much stuff, and we recorded a bunch of it too. If the lyrics don't change the song musically, those songs are done. So we are way ahead of the ballgame without even doing anything for the next record. And I've been working on stuff on my downtime. Like, I'll warm up and a riff will come to mind and I'll record it. I've gotten a handful of those on this run. So wheels are still turning. I haven't worked on anything lyrically yet except for what was done on the last record, so that's something I've gotta get on. But, yeah, Repentless isn't quite a year old yet." King also stated that Slayer was not expected to enter the studio until at least 2018. In an October interview on Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta's podcast, King stated that he was "completely open" to having guitarist Gary Holt (who had no songwriting contributions on Repentless) involved in the songwriting process of the next Slayer album. He explained, "I'm entirely open to having Gary work on something. I know he's gotta work on an Exodus record and I've got tons already for this one. But, you know, if he's gonna stick around... I didn't want it on the last one, and I knew that. I'm completely open to having that conversation. I haven't talked to Tom about it, I haven't talked to Gary open about it, but I'm open. That's not saying it is or isn't gonna happen. But my ears are open."
In a June 2017 interview with the Ultimate Guitar Archive, Holt said that he was ready to contribute with the songwriting for the next album. When speaking to Revolver, King was asked if there were any plans in place for the band to begin working on the album, he said, "Funny thing is, Repentless isn't even two years old yet, though it seems like it is. But from that session, there are six or eight songs that are recorded—some with vocals, some with leads, but all with keeper guitar, drums and bass. So when those songs get finished lyrically, if the lyrics don't change the songs, they'll be ready to be on the next record. So we already have more than half a record complete, if those songs make it." He also gave conceivable consideration that it could be released next year, "I'm certainly not gonna promise it, because every time I do, I make a liar of myself! [Laughs]" When asked about any plans or the timeline the band would like to release the album, King said, "It depends on touring—getting time to rehearse, getting time to make up new stuff. We haven't even done Australia on this run yet at all. We're hitting Japan finally later this year. But if things go well, I'd like to record next year. But timelines change all the time." In an October 2017 interview, Holt once again expressed his desire to contribute to the songwriting for the next Slayer album, saying, "When that time comes and we are ready for the next album, if Kerry wants me to contribute, I've got riffs. I've got stuff right now that I've written that I am not using for Exodus, because it was kind of maybe just unintentional subconscious thing, like, 'It sounds a little too Slayer.'"
On January 22, 2018, Slayer announced their farewell world tour through a video featuring a montage of press clippings, early posters and press photos spanning the band's entire career. Although the members of Slayer have never publicly explained why they were retiring from touring, it was thought that one of the reasons behind this decision was at the expense of Tom Araya's desire not to tour anymore and to spend more time with his family. This was confirmed by former drummer Dave Lombardo in a 2019 interview, who said: "Apparently, from what I hear. Tom has been wanting to retire when I was in the band — he wanted to stop. He had the neck issues. He's been wanting to retire for a long time now. So now that he's got it, I'm happy for him, and I hope he gets what he wants out of life and his future."
The farewell tour began with a North American trek in May and June 2018, supported by Lamb of God, Anthrax, Behemoth and Testament. The second leg of the North American tour took place in July and August, with Napalm Death replacing Behemoth, followed in November and December by a European tour with Lamb of God, Anthrax and Obituary. The farewell tour continued into 2019, with plans to visit places such as South America, Australia and Japan; in addition to European festivals such as Hellfest and Graspop, the band toured the United States in May 2019 with Lamb of God, Amon Amarth and Cannibal Corpse. Slayer also played one show in Mexico at Force Fest in October 2018.
On December 2, 2018, Holt announced that he would not perform the remainder of the band's European tour to be with his dying father. Vio-lence and former Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel would fill in for him as a result.
Holt had stated that Slayer would not release a new album before the end of the farewell tour. On how long the tour would last, Holt's Exodus bandmate Steve "Zetro" Souza commented, "I'm speculating it's gonna take a year and a half or two years to do the one final thing, but I believe it's finished. Everybody knows what I know; just because I'm on the outside, I have no insight on that." The final North American leg of the tour, dubbed "The Last Campaign", took place in November 2019, and also included support from Primus, Ministry and Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals. Despite being referred to as a farewell tour for Slayer, their manager Rick Sales has stated that the band is not breaking up, but has no intention of ever performing live again. Kristen Mulderig, who works with Rick Sales Entertainment Group, has also been quoted as saying that there would be Slayer-related activities following the tour's conclusion. However, within two days after the tour's completion, King's wife Ayesha stated on her Instagram page that there is "not a chance in hell" that Slayer would ever reunite to perform more shows or release new music.
Aftermath (2020–present)
In March 2020, when talking to Guitar World about his latest endorsement with Dean Guitars, King hinted that he would continue to make music outside of Slayer, simply saying, "Dean didn't sign me for nothing!" King stated in an August 2020 interview on the Dean Guitars YouTube channel that he has "more than two records' worth of music" for his yet-to-be disclosed new project. Bostaph later confirmed that he and King are working on a new project that will "sound like Slayer without it being Slayer — but not intentionally so."
When asked by the Let There Be Talk podcast in June 2020 if a Slayer reunion would ever happen, Holt stated, "If it does, if it ever happens, it has nothing to do with me. Someone else would call and say, 'We wanna [do this].' To my knowledge, it's done. And I think it should be that way. The band went out fucking on a bang, went out on Slayer's terms, and how many people get to say they did that?". In August 2020, King's wife Ayesha once again ruled out the possibility of a Slayer reunion, saying that her husband and Araya will "never be Slayer again".
When asked in a March 2021 interview if Slayer would consider reuniting for a special show or tour, Holt said, "That's a question I couldn't answer you, whether Slayer would ever get back together. Those are questions that are above my pay scale, I guess you'd say. Look, if the powers that be ever — like, in a year or something — said, 'Hey, you know what? We feel like playing some shows,' I'm there to do it," Holt added. "But those aren't decisions for me to make, or even me to really speculate on. As far as my knowledge, the band is over, and the final show was November 30, 2019. And I'm full speed ahead with Exodus now."
On October 12, 2021, King expressed regret that Slayer had retired "too early." While congratulating Machine Head on their 30th anniversary as a band, he said, "Apparently, it's 30 years, which is quite an achievement. Not a lot of bands get there. We did, and then we quit too early. Fuck us. Fuck me. I hate fucking not playing." In an interview with Metal Hammer a few days later, King reiterated that he would continue to work outside of Slayer: "I'm dragging my feet on letting the world know what I'm doing because there's no rush. I have a tour that I'm considering doing, but I'm not going to announce a band, I'm not going to announce a record, I'm not going to announce anything. But you will see me in the future — it will be fucking good." When interviewed again two months later by Metal Hammer, King did not rule out the possibility of any more "Big Four" shows with Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax, but expressed doubt that a Slayer reunion would ever happen: "The way that I'm moving forward is I don't think Slayer are ever going to play again. There's no business of me playing by myself!"
Musical style
Slayer is considered a thrash metal band. In an article from December 1986 by the Washington Post, writer Joe Brown described Slayer as speed metal, a genre he defined as "an unholy hybrid of punk rock thrash and heavy metal that attracts an almost all-male teen-age following". Describing Slayer's music, Brown wrote: "Over a jackhammer beat, Slayer's stun guitars created scraping sheets of corrosive metal noise, with occasional solos that sounded like squealing brakes, over which the singer-bassist emitted a larynx-lacerating growl-yowl." In an article from September 1988 by the New York Times, writer Jon Pareles also described Slayer as speed metal, additionally writing that the band "brings the sensational imagery of tabloids and horror movies" and has lyrics that "revel in death, gore and allusions to Satanism and Nazism." Pareles also described other "Big Four" thrash metal bands Metallica and Megadeth as speed metal bands. Slayer's early works were praised for their "breakneck speed and instrumental prowess", combining the structure of hardcore punk tempos and speed metal. The band released fast, aggressive material. The album Reign in Blood is the band's fastest, performed at an average of 220 beats per minute; the album Diabolus in Musica was the band's first to feature C tuning; God Hates Us All was the first to feature drop B tuning and seven-string guitars tuned to B. AllMusic cited the album as "abandoning the extravagances and accessibility of their late-'80s/early-'90s work and returning to perfect the raw approach", with some fans labeling it as nu metal.
King and Hanneman's dual guitar solos have been referred to as "wildly chaotic", and "twisted genius". Original drummer Lombardo would use two bass drums (instead of a double pedal, which is used on a single bass drum). Lombardo's speed and aggression earned him the title of the "godfather of double bass" by Drummerworld. Lombardo stated his reasons for using two bass drums: "When you hit the bass drum, the head is still resonating. When you hit it in the same place right after that, you kinda get a 'slapback' from the bass drum head hitting the other pedal. You're not letting them breathe." When playing the two bass drums, Lombardo would use the "heel-up" technique.
In the original lineup, King, Hanneman and Araya contributed to the band's lyrics, and King and Hanneman wrote the music with additional arrangement from Lombardo, and sometimes Araya. Araya formed a lyric writing partnership with Hanneman, which sometimes overshadowed the creative input of King. Hanneman stated that writing lyrics and music was a "free-for-all": "It's all just whoever comes up with what. Sometimes I'll be more on a roll and I'll have more stuff, same with Kerry – it's whoever's hot, really. Anybody can write anything; if it's good, we use it; if not, we don't."
When writing material, the band would write the music first before incorporating lyrics. King or Hanneman used a 24-track and drum machine to show band members the riff that they created, and to get their opinion. Either King, Hanneman or Lombardo would mention if any alterations could be made. The band played the riff to get the basic song structure, and figured out where the lyrics and solos would be placed.
Legacy
Slayer is one of the most influential bands in heavy metal history. Steve Huey of AllMusic believes the musical style of Slayer makes the band stronger than the other members of the "Big Four" thrash metal bands Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax, all of which rose to fame during the 1980s. Slayer's "downtuned rhythms, infectious guitar licks, graphically violent lyrics and grisly artwork set the standard for dozens of emerging thrash bands" and their "music was directly responsible for the rise of death metal" states MTV, ranking Slayer as the sixth "greatest metal band of all time", ranking number 50 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. Hanneman and King ranked number 10 in Guitar Worlds "100 greatest metal guitarists of all time" in 2004, and were voted "Best Guitarist/Guitar Team" in Revolver's reader's poll. Original drummer Lombardo was also voted "Best Drummer" and the band entered the top five in the categories "Best Band Ever", "Best Live Band", "Album of the Year" (for Christ Illusion) and "Band of the Year".
Music author Joel McIver considers Slayer very influential in the extreme metal scene, especially in the development of the death metal and black metal subgenres. According to John Consterdine of Terrorizer, without "Slayer's influence, extreme metal as we know it wouldn't exist." Kam Lee of Massacre and former member of Death stated: "there wouldn't be death metal or black metal or even extreme metal (the likes of what it is today) if not for Slayer." Johan Reinholdz of Andromeda said that Slayer "were crucial in the development of thrash metal which then became the foundation for a lot of different subgenres. They inspired generations of metal bands." Alex Skolnick of Testament declared: "Before Slayer, metal had never had such razor-sharp articulation, tightness, and balance between sound and stops. This all-out sonic assault was about the shock, the screams, the drums, and [...] most importantly the riffs."
Groups who cited Slayer among their major influences include Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet for My Valentine, Fear Factory, Machine Head, Children of Bodom, Slipknot, Gojira, Carnifex, Hatebreed, Cannibal Corpse, Pantera, Kreator, Sadistic Intent, Mayhem, Darkthrone, System of a Down, Lamb of God, Behemoth, Evile and Lacuna Coil. Steve Asheim, drummer for Deicide, declared that "there obviously would not have been a Deicide as we know it without the existence of Slayer." Sepultura guitarist Andreas Kisser affirmed that "without Slayer, Sepultura would never be possible." Weezer mentions them in the song "Heart Songs" from their 2008 self-titled "Red" album. The verse goes: "Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Slayer taught me how to shred..." Dave Grohl recalled, "Me and my friends, we just wanted to listen to fucking Slayer and take acid and smash stuff."
The band's 1986 release Reign in Blood has been an influence to extreme and thrash metal bands since its release and is considered the record which set the bar for death metal. It had a significant influence on the genre leaders such as Death, Obituary, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel and Napalm Death. The album was hailed the "heaviest album of all time" by Kerrang!, a "genre-definer" by Stylus, and a "stone-cold classic upon its release" by AllMusic. In 2006, Reign in Blood was named the best metal album of the last 20 years by Metal Hammer. According to Nielsen SoundScan, Slayer sold 4,900,000 copies in the United States from 1991 to 2013.
Controversy
A lawsuit was brought against the band in 1996, by the parents of Elyse Pahler, who accused the band of encouraging their daughter's murderers through their lyrics. Pahler was drugged, strangled, stabbed, trampled on, and raped as a sacrifice to the devil by three fans of the band. The case was unsealed by the court on May 19, 2000, stating Slayer and related business markets distribute harmful products to teens, encouraging violent acts through their lyrics, and "none of the vicious crimes committed against Elyse Marie Pahler would have occurred without the intentional marketing strategy of the death-metal band Slayer." The lawsuit was dismissed in 2001, for multiple reasons including "principles of free speech, lack of a duty and lack of foreseeability." A second lawsuit was filed by the parents, an amended complaint for damages against Slayer, their label, and other industry and label entities. The lawsuit was again dismissed. Judge E. Jeffrey Burke stated, "I do not consider Slayer's music obscene, indecent or harmful to minors."
Slayer has been accused of holding Nazi sympathies, due to the band's eagle logo bearing resemblance to the Eagle atop swastika and the lyrics of "Angel of Death". "Angel of Death" was inspired by the acts of Josef Mengele, the doctor who conducted human experiments on prisoners during World War II at the Auschwitz concentration camp, and was dubbed the "Angel of Death" by inmates.
Slayer's cover of Minor Threat's "Guilty of Being White" raised questions about a possible message of white supremacy in the band's music. The controversy surrounding the cover involved the changing of the refrain "guilty of being white" to "guilty of being right", at the song's ending. This incensed Minor Threat frontman Ian MacKaye, who stated "that is so offensive to me." King said it was changed for "tongue-in-cheek" humor as he thought the allegation of racism at the time was "ridiculous".
In a 2004 interview with Araya, when asked, "Did critics realize you were wallowing in parody?" Araya replied, "No. People thought we were serious!...back then you had that PMRC, who literally took everything to heart, when in actuality you're trying to create an image. You're trying to scare people on purpose." Araya also denied rumors that Slayer members are Satanists, but they find the subject of Satanism interesting and "we are all on this planet to learn and experience."
The song "Jihad" of the album Christ Illusion sparked controversy among families of the September 11 victims. The song deals with the attack from the perspective of a religious terrorist. The band stated the song is spoken through perspective without being sympathetic to the cause, and supports neither side.
Seventeen bus benches promoting the same album in Fullerton, California were deemed offensive by city officials. City officials contacted the band's record label and demanded that the ads be removed. All benches were eliminated.
In India, Christ Illusion was recalled by EMI India after protests with Christian religious groups due to the nature of the graphic artwork. The album cover was designed by Slayer's longtime collaborator Larry Carroll and features Christ in a "sea of despair", with amputated arms, missing an eye, while standing in a sea of blood with severed heads. Joseph Dias of the Mumbai Christian group Catholic Secular Forum in India took "strong exception" to the original album artwork, and issued a memorandum to Mumbai's police commissioner in protest. On October 11, 2006, EMI announced that all stocks had been destroyed, noting it had no plans to re-release the record in India in the future.
Band membersFormer members Kerry King – guitars (1981–2019)
Tom Araya – bass, vocals (1981–2019)
Jeff Hanneman – guitars (1981–2013) (died 2013)
Dave Lombardo – drums (1981–1986, 1987–1992, 2001–2013)
Paul Bostaph – drums (1992–1996, 1997–2001, 2013–2019)
Jon Dette – drums (1996–1997)
Gary Holt – guitars (2013–2019)Touring musicians Tony Scaglione – drums (1986–1987)
Pat O'Brien – guitars (2011)
Gary Holt – guitars (2011–2013)
Jon Dette – drums (2013)
Phil Demmel – guitars (2018)Timeline'''
Discography
Show No Mercy (1983)
Hell Awaits (1985)
Reign in Blood (1986)
South of Heaven (1988)
Seasons in the Abyss (1990)
Divine Intervention (1994)
Undisputed Attitude (1996)
Diabolus in Musica (1998)
God Hates Us All (2001)
Christ Illusion (2006)
World Painted Blood (2009)
Repentless (2015)
Awards and nominations
|-
!scope="row"| 2002
| "Disciple" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"|2007
| "Eyes of the Insane" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"| 2008
|| "Final Six" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"|2010
| "Hate Worldwide" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"|2011
| "World Painted Blood" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2006
| Slayer || Kerrang! Hall of Fame ||
|-
!scope="row"|2013
| Slayer || Kerrang! Legend ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2003
| War at the Warfield || DVD of the Year ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2010
| Kerry King || God of Riffs ||
|-
!scope="row"|2013
| Jeff Hanneman || God of Riffs ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2004
| Slayer || Best Live Act ||
|-
!scope="row"|2006
| Reign in Blood || Best Album of the Last 20 Years ||
|-
!scope="row"|2007
| | "Eyes of the Insane" || Best Video ||
|-
!scope="row"|2007
||Slayer || Icon Award ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2006
| Christ Illusion || Best Thrash Metal Album ||
|-
!scope="row"|2015
| "Repentless" || Best Video ||
|-
Footnotes
From late 2010 until his death in May 2013, Jeff Hanneman's participation in Slayer was minimal. In January 2011, he contracted necrotizing fasciitis, which severely restricted his ability to perform. He appeared publicly with the band on only one known occasion, playing two songs during an encore at one of Slayer's Big 4 performances in April 2011; he also attended rehearsals for Fun Fun Fun Fest in November 2011, but did not end up performing at this show. By July 2012, Hanneman had not written or recorded any new material for the band's follow up to 2009's World Painted Blood''. In February 2013, Kerry King stated he was planning on recording all of the guitar parts for the upcoming album himself, but was open to Hanneman's return if he was willing and able. King also denied that Gary Holt, member of Exodus and Hanneman's live fill-in, would write or record anything for the upcoming album. Hanneman died on May 2, 2013 at the age of 49 due to liver failure.
Citations
Further reading
External links
1981 establishments in California
Thrash metal musical groups from California
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Def Jam Recordings artists
Grammy Award winners
Kerrang! Awards winners
Metal Blade Records artists
Musical groups disestablished in 2019
Musical groups established in 1981
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical quartets
Nuclear Blast artists
Obscenity controversies in music | true | [
"The following is a comprehensive discography of John Mellencamp, an American singer-songwriter. During Mellencamp's more than four decades in the recording industry, he has released 23 studio albums, two live albums, four compilation albums, 67 singles and has appeared on one tribute album and one guest single respectively.\n\nHis 1976 debut album Chestnut Street Incident (credited to the stage name Johnny Cougar) failed to make any significant impact and was therefore considered a major disappointment for his then-record label Mainman. Consequently, Johnny Cougar (the artist) was dropped by Mainman. Mellencamp was eventually re-signed, this time to Riva Records, and would continue to record under the John Cougar moniker for several more years. Mellencamp's first album to chart on the Billboard 200 was the self-titled John Cougar album in 1979, which was certified Gold by the RIAA. Mellencamp's major commercial breakthrough came in 1982 with American Fool, which reached number one on the Billboard 200 and yielded two singles, \"Hurts So Good\" and \"Jack & Diane\", which reached number two and number one respectively on the Billboard Hot 100. American Fool would eventually sell ten million copies worldwide (5 million in the US alone). From 1983 to 1987, Mellencamp released three consecutive albums—Uh-Huh (1983), Scarecrow (1985), and The Lonesome Jubilee (1987)—which were all certified Triple Platinum by the RIAA. Combined, the three albums spawned sixteen singles, six of which—\"Crumblin' Down\", \"Pink Houses\", \"Lonely Ol' Night\", \"Small Town\", \"Paper in Fire\" and \"Cherry Bomb\"—became top ten hits in the US. In 1997, Mellencamp released his first ever greatest hits collection entitled The Best That I Could Do 1978–1988. To date, this compilation has sold six million copies worldwide.\n\nMellencamp has charted twenty eight singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including twenty two hits in the Top 40, seventeen of which made the Top 20 and ten of those would crack the top 10. He has scored twenty two albums on the Billboard 200, including seventeen in the Top 20 and eleven in the Top 10. Mellencamp has sold about thirty million albums in the US and over sixty million worldwide.\n\nStudio albums\n\n1970s\n\n1980s\n\n1990s\n\n2000s\n\n2010s\n\n2020s\n\nCompilation albums\n\nLive albums\n\nSingles\n\n1970s singles\n\n1980s singles\n\n1990s singles\n\n2000s singles\n\n2010s singles\n\nFeatured singles\n\nOther appearances\n\nMusic videos\n\nSee also\n Falling from Grace\n Ghost Brothers of Darkland County\n\nNotes\n\n A^ The Lonesome Jubilee also reached number 63 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.\n B^ \"Peaceful World\" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 4 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100; an extension of the Hot 100 chart.\n C^ \"What Say You\" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 17 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100; an extension of the Hot 100 chart.\n\nReferences\n\nDiscographies of American artists\nDiscography\nRock music discographies",
"The comprehensive discography of 311, a rock band, originally from Omaha, Nebraska, consists of thirteen studio albums, one live album, twenty-four live concerts released via Live311 four compilation albums, five extended plays, thirty-three singles, and seven video albums. \n\nTheir first two studio albums, 1990's Dammit! and 1991's Unity, did not chart. Their next two studio albums, 1993's Music and 1994's Grassroots, both appeared on the Top Heatseekers chart.\n\nThe band's 1995 studio album 311 went three times platinum in the United States to become their best-selling album. It peaked at number 12 on the Billboard 200. The single \"Down\" reached number one on the Alternative Songs chart, and the single \"All Mixed Up\" reached number four. After that, 311 released the studio album Transistor in 1997. It peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 and went platinum.\n\nSoundsystem was released in 1999, From Chaos was released in 2001, and Evolver was released in 2003; all three studio albums peaked in the top 10 of the Billboard 200. The band's 2004 compilation album Greatest Hits '93-'03 also peaked in the top 10. A single from Greatest Hits '93-'03, \"Love Song\", became 311's second single to top the Alternative Songs chart.\n\nThe band's next four studio albums, Don't Tread on Me (2005), Uplifter (2009), Universal Pulse (2011), and Stereolithic (2014), all peaked in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 as well. Uplifter went to number three, the highest chart position of any 311 album. The title track from Don't Tread on Me was released as a single and peaked at number two on the Alternative Songs chart.\n\nAlbums\n\nStudio albums\n\nIndependent albums\n\nLive albums\n\nCompilation albums\n\nVideo albums\n\nExtended plays\n\nSingles\n\nMusic videos\n\nNotes\n\nA \"Down\" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 37 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart.\nB \"All Mixed Up\" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 36 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart.\nC \"Come Original\" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 19 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, which acts as a 25-song extension to the Hot 100.\nD \"You Wouldn't Believe\" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 20 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, which acts as a 25-song extension to the Hot 100.\nE \"Amber\" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 3 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, which acts as a 25-song extension to the Hot 100.\nF \"Creatures (For a While)\" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 18 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, which acts as a 25-song extension to the Hot 100.\nG \"Don't Tread on Me\" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 7 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, which acts as a 25-song extension to the Hot 100.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nDiscographies of American artists\nRock music group discographies\nDiscography"
] |
[
"Slayer",
"South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss (1988-1993)",
"Who produced South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss?",
"Slayer's",
"Can you tell me something interesting about the article?",
"Press response to the album was mixed,",
"What record label released the album?",
"Slayer's",
"Did any singles make the Billboard Top 200?",
"South of Heaven"
] | C_07397c12d123426cacfc6b32eb6905ad_0 | Did Slayer tour for the album? | 5 | Did Slayer tour for the album South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss? | Slayer | In late 1987, Slayer returned to the studio to record their fourth studio album. To contrast the speed of Reign in Blood, the band consciously decided to slow down the tempos, and incorporate more melodic singing. According to Hanneman, "We knew we couldn't top Reign in Blood, so we had to slow down. We knew whatever we did was gonna be compared to that album, and I remember we actually discussed slowing down. It was weird--we've never done that on an album, before or since." Released in July 1988, South of Heaven received mixed responses from both fans and critics, although it was Slayer's most commercially successful release at the time, debuting at number 57 on the Billboard 200, and their second album to receive gold certification in the United States. Press response to the album was mixed, with AllMusic citing the album as "disturbing and powerful," and Kim Nelly of Rolling Stone calling it "genuinely offensive satanic drivel." King said "that album was my most lackluster performance," although Araya called it a "late bloomer" which eventually grew on people. Slayer returned to the studio in spring 1990 with co-producer Andy Wallace to record its fifth studio album. Following the backlash created by South of Heaven, Slayer returned to the "pounding speed of Reign in Blood, while retaining their newfound melodic sense." Seasons in the Abyss, released on October 25, 1990, was the first Slayer album to be released under Rubin's new Def American label, as he had parted ways with Def Jam owner Russell Simmons over creative differences. The album debuted at number 44 on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold in 1992. The album spawned Slayer's first music video for the album's title track, which was filmed in front of the Giza pyramids in Egypt. Slayer returned as a live act in September 1990 to co-headline the European Clash of the Titans tour with Megadeth, Suicidal Tendencies, and Testament. During the sold out European leg of this tour tickets fetched up to 1,000 Deutschmark ($680 USD) on the black market. With the popularity of American thrash at its peak, the tour was extended to the US beginning in May 1991, with Megadeth, Anthrax and opening act Alice in Chains. The band released a double live album, Decade of Aggression in 1991, to celebrate ten years since their formation. The compilation debuted at number 55 on the Billboard 200. In May 1992, Lombardo quit the band due to conflicts with other members, as well as his desire to be off tour for the birth of his first child. Lombardo formed his own band Grip Inc, with Voodoocult guitarist Waldemar Sorychta, and Slayer recruited former Forbidden drummer Paul Bostaph to take his place. Slayer made its debut appearance with Bostaph at the 1992 Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington. Bostaph's first studio effort was a medley of three Exploited songs, "War," "UK '82," and "Disorder," with rapper Ice-T, for the Judgment Night movie soundtrack in 1993. CANNOTANSWER | Slayer returned as a live act in September 1990 to co-headline | Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo, and bassist and vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them one of the "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax. Slayer's final lineup comprised King, Araya, drummer Paul Bostaph (who replaced Lombardo in 1992 and again in 2013) and guitarist Gary Holt (who replaced Hanneman in 2011). Drummer Jon Dette was also a member of the band.
In the original lineup, King, Hanneman and Araya contributed to the band's lyrics, and all of the band's music was written by King and Hanneman. The band's lyrics and album art, which cover topics such as murder, serial killers, torture, genocide, politics, theories, human subject research, organized crime, secret societies, mythology, occultism, Satanism, hate crimes, terrorism, religion or antireligion, Nazism, fascism, racism, xenophobia, misanthropy, war and prison, have generated album bans, delays, lawsuits and criticism from religious groups and factions of the general public. However, its music has been highly influential, often being cited by many bands as an influence musically, visually and lyrically; the band's third album, Reign in Blood (1986), has been described as one of the heaviest and most influential thrash metal albums.
Slayer released twelve studio albums, two live albums, a box set, six music videos, two extended plays and a cover album. Four of the band's studio albums have received gold certification in the United States. Slayer sold 5 million copies in the United States from 1991 to 2013, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and over 20 million worldwide. The band has received five Grammy Award nominations, winning one in 2007 for the song "Eyes of the Insane" and one in 2008 for the song "Final Six", both of which were from the album Christ Illusion (2006). After more than three decades of recording and performing, Slayer announced in January 2018 that it would embark on a farewell tour, which took place from May 2018 to November 2019, after which the band disbanded.
History
Early years (1981–1983)
Slayer was formed in 1981 by Kerry King, Jeff Hanneman, Dave Lombardo, and Tom Araya in Huntington Park, CA. The group started out playing covers of songs by bands such as Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Venom at parties and clubs in Southern California. The band's early image relied heavily on Satanic themes that featured pentagrams, make-up, spikes, and inverted crosses. Rumors that the band was originally known as Dragonslayer, after the 1981 film of the same name, were denied by King, as he later stated: "We never were; it's a myth to this day." According to Lombardo, the original band name was to be Wings of Fire before they settled in with Slayer. It was he who designed the iconic logo. For inspiration, Lombardo thought in a perspective of a murderer of how they would carve out the logo with a knife and since he's lefthanded, the logo is unintentionally slanted to the right.
In 1983, Slayer was invited to open for the band Bitch at the Woodstock Club in Anaheim, California to perform eight songs, six of which were covers. The band was spotted by Brian Slagel, a former music journalist who had recently founded Metal Blade Records. Impressed with Slayer, he met with the band backstage and asked them to record an original song for his upcoming Metal Massacre III compilation album. The band agreed and their song "Aggressive Perfector" created an underground buzz upon its release in mid 1983, which led to Slagel offering the band a recording contract with Metal Blade.
Show No Mercy, Haunting the Chapel and Hell Awaits (1983–1986)
Without any recording budget, the band had to self-finance its debut album. Combining the savings of Araya, who was employed as a respiratory therapist, and money borrowed from King's father, the band entered the studio in November 1983. The album was rushed into release, stocking shelves three weeks after tracks were completed. Show No Mercy, released in December 1983 by Metal Blade Records, generated underground popularity for the band. The group began a club tour of California to promote the album. The tour gave the band additional popularity and sales of Show No Mercy eventually reached more than 20,000 in the US and another 20,000 worldwide.
In February 1984, King briefly joined Dave Mustaine's new band Megadeth. Hanneman was worried about King's decision, stating in an interview, "I guess we're gonna get a new guitar player." While Mustaine wanted King to stay on a permanent basis, King left after five shows, stating Mustaine's band was "taking too much of my time." The split caused a rift between King and Mustaine, which evolved into a long running feud between the two bands.
In June 1984, Slayer released a three-track EP called Haunting the Chapel. The EP featured a darker, more thrash-oriented style than Show No Mercy, and laid the groundwork for the future direction of the band. The opening track, "Chemical Warfare", has become a live staple, played at nearly every show since 1984.
Later that year, Slayer began their first national club tour, traveling in Araya's Camaro towing a U-Haul trailer. The band recorded the live album Live Undead in November 1984 while in New York City.
In March 1985, Slayer began a national tour with Venom and Exodus, resulting in their first live home video dubbed Combat Tour: The Ultimate Revenge. The video featured live footage filmed at the Studio 54 club. The band then made its live European debut at the Heavy Sound Festival in Belgium opening for UFO. Also in 1985, Slayer toured or played selected shows with bands like Megadeth, Destruction, D.R.I., Possessed, Agent Steel, S.O.D., Nasty Savage and Metal Church.
Show No Mercy had sold over 40,000 copies, which led to the band returning to the studio to record their second full-length album. Metal Blade financed a recording budget, which allowed the band to hire producer Ron Fair. Released in March 1985, Slayer's second full-length album, Hell Awaits, expanded on the darkness of Haunting the Chapel, with hell and Satan as common song subjects. The album was the band's most progressive offering, featuring longer and more complex song structures. The intro of the title track is a backwards recording of a demonic-sounding voice repeating "Join us", ending with "Welcome back" before the track begins. The album was a hit, with fans choosing Slayer for best band, best live band, Hell Awaits, as 1985's best album, and Dave Lombardo as best drummer in the British magazine Metal Forces 1985 Readers Poll.
Reign in Blood, Lombardo's brief hiatus and South of Heaven (1986–1989)
Following the success of Hell Awaits, Slayer was offered a recording contract with Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin's newly founded Def Jam Records, a largely hip hop-based label. The band accepted, and with an experienced producer and major label recording budget, the band underwent a sonic makeover for their third album Reign in Blood, resulting in shorter, faster songs with clearer production. The complex arrangements and long songs featured on Hell Awaits were ditched in favor of stripped down, hardcore punk influenced song structures.
Def Jam's distributor, Columbia Records, refused to release the album due to the song "Angel of Death" which detailed Holocaust concentration camps and the human experiments conducted by Nazi physician Josef Mengele. The album was distributed by Geffen Records on October 7, 1986. However, due to the controversy, Reign in Blood did not appear on Geffen Records' release schedule. Although the album received virtually no radio airplay, it became the band's first to enter the Billboard 200, debuting at number 94, and the band's first album certified gold in the United States.
Slayer embarked on the Reign in Pain world tour, with Overkill in the US from October to December 1986, and Malice in Europe in April and May 1987. They also played with other bands such as Agnostic Front, Testament, Metal Church, D.R.I., Dark Angel and Flotsam and Jetsam. The band was added as the opening act on W.A.S.P.'s US tour, but just one month into it, drummer Lombardo left the band: "I wasn't making any money. I figured if we were gonna be doing this professionally, on a major label, I wanted my rent and utilities paid." To continue with the tour, Slayer enlisted Tony Scaglione of Whiplash. However, Lombardo was convinced by his wife to return in 1987. At the insistence of Rubin, Slayer recorded a cover version of Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" for the film Less Than Zero. Although the band was not happy with the final product, Hanneman deeming it "a poor representation of Slayer" and King labeling it "a hunk of shit", it was one of their first songs to garner radio airplay.
In late 1987, Slayer returned to the studio to record their fourth studio album. To contrast the speed of Reign in Blood, the band consciously decided to slow down the tempos, and incorporate more melodic singing. According to Hanneman, "We knew we couldn't top Reign in Blood, so we had to slow down. We knew whatever we did was gonna be compared to that album, and I remember we actually discussed slowing down. It was weird—we've never done that on an album, before or since."
Released in July 1988, South of Heaven received mixed responses from both fans and critics, although it was Slayer's most commercially successful release at the time, debuting at number 57 on the Billboard 200, and their second album to receive gold certification in the United States. Press response to the album was mixed, with AllMusic citing the album as "disturbing and powerful", and Kim Nelly of Rolling Stone calling it "genuinely offensive satanic drivel". King said "that album was my most lackluster performance", although Araya called it a "late bloomer" which eventually grew on people. Slayer toured from August 1988 to January 1989 to promote South of Heaven, supporting Judas Priest in the US on their Ram It Down tour, and touring Europe with Nuclear Assault and the US with Motörhead and Overkill.
Seasons in the Abyss and Lombardo's second departure (1990–1993)
Slayer returned to the studio in early 1990 with co-producer Andy Wallace to record its fifth studio album. Following the backlash created by South of Heaven, Slayer returned to the "pounding speed of Reign in Blood, while retaining their newfound melodic sense." Seasons in the Abyss, released on October 9, 1990, was the first Slayer album to be released under Rubin's new Def American label, as he had parted ways with Def Jam owner Russell Simmons over creative differences. The album debuted at number 44 on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold in 1992. The album spawned Slayer's first music video for the album's title track, which was filmed in front of the Giza pyramids in Egypt.
Slayer returned as a live act in September 1990 to co-headline the European Clash of the Titans tour with Megadeth, Suicidal Tendencies, and Testament. During the sold out European leg of this tour, tickets had prices skyrocket to 1,000 Deutschmark (US$680) on the black market. With the popularity of American thrash at its peak, the band toured with Testament again in early 1991 and triple-headlined the North American version of the Clash of the Titans tour that summer with Megadeth, Anthrax, and opening act Alice in Chains. The band released a double live album, Decade of Aggression in 1991, to celebrate ten years since their formation. The compilation debuted at number 55 on the Billboard 200.
In May 1992, Lombardo left the band due to conflicts with the other members, as well as his desire to be off tour for the birth of his first child. Lombardo formed his own band Grip Inc., with Voodoocult guitarist Waldemar Sorychta, and Slayer recruited former Forbidden drummer Paul Bostaph to fill in the drummer position. Slayer made its debut appearance with Bostaph at the 1992 Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington. Bostaph's first studio effort was a medley of three Exploited songs, "War", "UK '82", and "Disorder", with rapper Ice-T, for the Judgment Night movie soundtrack in 1993.
Divine Intervention, Undisputed Attitude and Diabolus in Musica (1994–2000)
In 1994, Slayer released Divine Intervention, the band's first album with Bostaph on the drums. The album featured songs about Reinhard Heydrich, an architect of the Holocaust, and Jeffrey Dahmer, an American serial killer and sex offender. Other themes included murder, the evils of church, and the lengths to which governments went to wield power, Araya's interest in serial killers inspired much of the content of the lyrics.
Slayer geared up for a world tour in 1995, with openers Biohazard and Machine Head. A video of concert footage, Live Intrusion was released, featuring a joint cover of Venom's "Witching Hour" with Machine Head. Following the tour, Slayer was billed third at the 1995 Monsters of Rock festival, headlined by Metallica. In 1996, Undisputed Attitude, an album of punk covers, was released. The band covered songs by Minor Threat, T.S.O.L., Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, D.I., Verbal Abuse, Dr. Know, and The Stooges. The album featured three original tracks, "Gemini", "Can't Stand You", "Ddamm"; the latter two were written by Hanneman in 1984–1985 for a side project entitled Pap Smear. Bostaph left Slayer shortly after the album's recording to work on his own project, Truth About Seafood. With Bostaph's departure, Slayer recruited Testament drummer Jon Dette, and headlined the 1996 Ozzfest alongside Ozzy Osbourne, Danzig, Biohazard, Sepultura, and Fear Factory. Dette was fired after a year, due to a fallout with band members. After that, Bostaph returned to continue the tour.
Diabolus in Musica (Latin for "The Devil in Music") was released in 1998, and debuted at number 31 on the Billboard 200, selling over 46,000 copies in its first week. It was complete by September 1997, and scheduled to be released the following month, but got delayed by nine months after their label was taken over by Columbia Records. The album received a mixed critical reception, and was criticized for adopting characteristics of nu metal music such as tuned down guitars, murky chord structures, and churning beats. Blabbermouth.net reviewer Borijov Krgin described the album as "a feeble attempt at incorporating updated elements into the group's sound, the presence of which elevated the band's efforts somewhat and offered hope that Slayer could refrain from endlessly rehashing their previous material for their future output", while Ben Ratliff of The New York Times had similar sentiments, writing on June 22, 1998 that: "Eight of the 11 songs on Diabolus in Musica, a few of which were played at the show, are in the same gray key, and the band's rhythmic ideas have a wearying sameness too."
The album was the band's first to primarily feature dropped tuning, as featured on the lead track, "Bitter Peace", making use of the tritone interval referred to in the Middle Ages as the Devil's interval. Slayer teamed up with digital hardcore group Atari Teenage Riot to record a song for the Spawn soundtrack titled "No Remorse (I Wanna Die)". The band paid tribute to Black Sabbath by recording a cover of "Hand of Doom" for the second of two tribute albums, titled Nativity in Black II. A world tour followed to support the new album, with Slayer making an appearance at the United Kingdom Ozzfest 1998.
God Hates Us All (2001–2005)
During mid-2001, the band joined Morbid Angel, Pantera, Skrape and Static-X on the Extreme Steel Tour of North America, which was Pantera's last major tour. After delays regarding remixing and artwork, including slip covers created to cover the original artwork as it was deemed "too graphic", Slayer's next album, God Hates Us All, was released on September 11, 2001. The band received its first Grammy nomination for the lead track "Disciple", although the Grammy was awarded to Tool, for "Schism". The September 11 attacks on America jeopardized the 2001 European tour Tattoo the Planet originally set to feature Pantera, Static-X, Cradle of Filth, Biohazard and Vision of Disorder. The dates in the United Kingdom were postponed due to flight restrictions, with a majority of bands deciding to withdraw, leaving Slayer and Cradle of Filth remaining for the European leg of the tour.
Pantera, Static-X, Vision of Disorder and Biohazard were replaced by other bands depending on location; Amorphis, In Flames, Moonspell, Children of Bodom, and Necrodeath. Biohazard eventually decided to rejoin the tour later on, and booked new gigs in the countries, where they missed a few dates. Drummer Bostaph left Slayer before Christmas in 2001, due to a chronic elbow injury, which would hinder his ability to play. Since the band's European tour was unfinished at that time, the band's manager, Rick Sales, contacted original drummer Dave Lombardo and asked if he would like to finish the remainder of the tour. Lombardo accepted the offer, and stayed as a permanent member.
Slayer toured playing Reign in Blood in its entirety throughout the fall of 2003, under the tour banner "Still Reigning". Their playing of the final song, "Raining Blood", culminated with the band drenched in a rain of stage blood. Live footage of this was recorded at the Augusta Civic Center in Augusta, Maine, on July 11, 2004 and released on the 2004 DVD Still Reigning. The band also released War at the Warfield and a box set, Soundtrack to the Apocalypse featuring rarities, live CD and DVD performances and various Slayer merchandise. From 2002 to 2004, the band performed over 250 tour dates, headlining major music festivals including H82k2, Summer tour, Ozzfest 2004 and a European tour with Slipknot. While preparing for the Download Festival in England, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich was taken to a hospital with an unknown and mysterious illness, and was unable to perform. Metallica vocalist James Hetfield searched for volunteers at the last minute to replace Ulrich; Lombardo and Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison volunteered, with Lombardo performing the songs "Battery" and "The Four Horsemen".
Christ Illusion (2006–2008)
The next studio album, Christ Illusion, was originally scheduled for release on June 6, 2006, and would be the first album with original drummer Lombardo since 1990's Seasons in the Abyss. However, the band decided to delay the release of the record, as they did not want to be among the many, according to King, "half-ass, stupid fucking loser bands" releasing records on June 6, although USA Today reported the idea was thwarted because the band failed to secure sufficient studio recording time. Slayer released Eternal Pyre on June 6 as a limited-edition EP. Eternal Pyre featured the song "Cult", a live performance of "War Ensemble" in Germany and video footage of the band recording "Cult". Five thousand copies were released and sold exclusively through Hot Topic chain stores, and sold out within hours of release. On June 30, Nuclear Blast Records released a 7" vinyl picture disc version limited to a thousand copies.
Christ Illusion was eventually released on August 8, 2006, and debuted at number 5 on the Billboard 200, selling over 62,000 copies in its first week. The album became Slayer's highest charting, improving on its previous highest charting album, Divine Intervention, which had debuted at number 8. However, despite its high positioning, the album dropped to number 44 in the following week. Three weeks after the album's release, Slayer were inducted into the Kerrang! Hall of Fame for their influence to the heavy metal scene.
A worldwide tour dubbed The Unholy Alliance Tour, was undertaken to support the new record. The tour was originally set to launch on June 6, but was postponed to June 10, as Araya had to undergo gall bladder surgery. In Flames, Mastodon, Children of Bodom, Lamb of God, and Thine Eyes Bleed (featuring Araya's brother, Johnny) and Ted Maul (London Hammersmith Apollo) were supporting Slayer. The tour made its way through America and Europe and the bands who participated, apart from Thine Eyes Bleed, reunited to perform at Japan's Loudpark Festival on October 15, 2006.
The video for the album's first single, "Eyes of the Insane", was released on October 30, 2006. The track was featured on the Saw III soundtrack, and won a Grammy-award for "Best Metal Performance" at the 49th Grammy Awards, although the band was unable to attend due to touring obligations. A week later, the band visited the 52nd Services Squadron located on the Spangdahlem U.S. Air Force Base in Germany to meet and play a show. This was the first visit ever to a military base for the band. The band made its first network TV appearance on the show Jimmy Kimmel Live! on January 19, playing the song "Eyes of the Insane", and four additional songs for fans after the show (although footage from "Jihad" was cut due to its controversial lyrical themes).
In 2007, Slayer toured Australia and New Zealand in April with Mastodon, and appeared at the Download Festival, Rock Am Ring, and a summer tour with Marilyn Manson and Bleeding Through.
World Painted Blood (2009–2011)
In 2008, Araya stated uncertainty about the future of the band, and that he could not see himself continuing the career at a later age. He said that once the band finished its upcoming album, which was the final record in their contract, the band would sit down and discuss its future. King was optimistic that the band would produce at least another two albums before considering to disband: "We're talking of going in the studio next February [2009] and getting the next record out so if we do things in a timely manner I don't see there's any reason why we can't have more than one album out." Slayer, along with Trivium, Mastodon, and Amon Amarth, teamed up for a European tour titled 'The Unholy Alliance: Chapter III', throughout October and November 2008. Slayer headlined the second Mayhem Festival in the summer of 2009. Slayer, along with Megadeth, also co-headlined Canadian Carnage, the first time they performed together in more than 15 years when they co-headlined four shows in Canada in late June 2009 with openers Machine Head and Suicide Silence.
The band's eleventh studio album, World Painted Blood, was released by American Recordings. It was available on November 3 in North America and November 2 for the rest of the world. The band stated that the album takes elements of all their previous works including Seasons in the Abyss, South of Heaven, and Reign in Blood. Slayer, along with Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax performed on the same bill for the first time on June 16, 2010 at Bemowo Airport, in Warsaw, Poland. One of the following Big 4 performances in (Sofia, Bulgaria, June 22, 2010) was sent via satellite in HD to cinemas. They also went on to play several other dates as part of the Sonisphere Festival. Megadeth and Slayer joined forces once again for the American Carnage Tour from July to October 2010 with opening acts Anthrax and Testament, and European Carnage Tour in March and April 2011. The "Big Four" played more dates at Sonisphere in England and France for the first time ever. Slayer returned to Australia in February and March 2011 as part of the Soundwave Festival and also played in California with the other members of the "Big Four".
In early 2011, Hanneman was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis. According to the band, doctors said that it likely originated from a spider bite. Araya said of Hanneman's condition: "Jeff was seriously ill. Jeff ended up contracting a bacteria that ate away his flesh on his arm, so they cut open his arm, from his wrist to his shoulder, and they did a skin graft on him, they cleaned up ... It was a flesh-eating virus, so he was really, really bad. So we'll wait for him to get better, and when he's a hundred percent, he's gonna come out and join us." The band decided to play their upcoming tour dates without Hanneman. Gary Holt of Exodus was announced as Hanneman's temporary replacement. Cannibal Corpse guitarist Pat O'Brien filled in for Holt during a tour in Europe. On April 23, 2011, at the American Big 4 show in Indio, California, Hanneman rejoined his bandmates to play the final two songs of their set, "South of Heaven" and "Angel of Death". This turned out to be Hanneman's final live performance with the band.
Hanneman's death, Lombardo's third split, and Repentless (2011–2016)
When asked if Slayer would make another album, Lombardo replied "Yes absolutely; Although there's nothing written, there are definitely plans." However, Araya said Slayer would not begin writing a new album until Hanneman's condition improved. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Reign In Blood, the band performed all of the album's tracks at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival at the Alexandra Palace in London."I'll Be Your Mirror London 2012 announced with co-curators Mogwai + Slayer". All Tomorrow's Parties. November 9, 2011.
In November 2011, Lombardo posted a tweet that the band had started to write new music. This presumably meant that Hanneman's condition improved, and it was believed he was ready to enter the studio. King had worked with Lombardo that year and they completed three songs. The band planned on entering the studio in either March or April 2012 and were hoping to have the album recorded before the group's US tour in late May and release it by the summer of that year. However, King said the upcoming album would not be finished until September and October of that year, making a 2013 release likely. In July 2012, King revealed two song titles for the upcoming album, "Chasing Death" and "Implode".
In February 2013, Lombardo was fired right before Slayer was to play at Australia's Soundwave festival due to an argument with band members over a pay dispute. Slayer and American Recordings released a statement, saying "Mr. Lombardo came to the band less than a week before their scheduled departure for Australia to present an entirely new set of terms for his engagement that were contrary to those that had been previously agreed upon", although Lombardo claimed there was a gag order in place. Dette returned to fill in for Lombardo for the Soundwave dates. It was confirmed that Lombardo was officially out of Slayer for the third time, and, in May, Bostaph rejoined the band.
On May 2, 2013, Hanneman died due to liver failure in a local hospital near his home in Southern California's Inland Empire; the cause of death was later determined to be alcohol-related cirrhosis. King confirmed that the band would continue, saying "Jeff is going to be in everybody's thoughts for a long time. It's unfortunate you can't keep unfortunate things from happening. But we're going to carry on – and he'll be there in spirit." However, Araya felt more uncertain about the band's future, expressing his belief that "After 30 years [with Hanneman active in the band], it would literally be like starting over", and doubting that Slayer's fanbase would approve such a change. Despite the uncertainty regarding the band's future, Slayer still worked on a followup to World Painted Blood. Additionally, it was reported that the new album would still feature material written by Hanneman.
At the 2014 Revolvers Golden Gods Awards ceremony, Slayer debuted "Implode", its first new song in five years. The group announced that they had signed with Nuclear Blast, and planned to release a new album in 2015. It was reported that Holt would take over Hanneman's guitar duties full-time, although Holt did not participate in the songwriting. In February, Slayer announced a seventeen date American tour to start in June featuring Suicidal Tendencies and Exodus. In 2015, Slayer headlined the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival for the second time. Repentless, the band's twelfth studio album, was released on September 11, 2015. Slayer toured for two-and-a-half years in support of Repentless. The band toured Europe with Anthrax and Kvelertak in October and November 2015, and embarked on three North American tours: one with Testament and Carcass in February and March 2016, then with Anthrax and Death Angel in September and October 2016, and with Lamb of God and Behemoth in July and August 2017. A lone date in Southeast Asia in 2017 was held in the Philippines.
Cancelled thirteenth studio album, farewell tour and split (2016–2019)
In August 2016, guitarist Kerry King was asked if Slayer would release a follow-up to Repentless. He replied, "We've got lots of leftover material from the last album, 'cause we wrote so much stuff, and we recorded a bunch of it too. If the lyrics don't change the song musically, those songs are done. So we are way ahead of the ballgame without even doing anything for the next record. And I've been working on stuff on my downtime. Like, I'll warm up and a riff will come to mind and I'll record it. I've gotten a handful of those on this run. So wheels are still turning. I haven't worked on anything lyrically yet except for what was done on the last record, so that's something I've gotta get on. But, yeah, Repentless isn't quite a year old yet." King also stated that Slayer was not expected to enter the studio until at least 2018. In an October interview on Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta's podcast, King stated that he was "completely open" to having guitarist Gary Holt (who had no songwriting contributions on Repentless) involved in the songwriting process of the next Slayer album. He explained, "I'm entirely open to having Gary work on something. I know he's gotta work on an Exodus record and I've got tons already for this one. But, you know, if he's gonna stick around... I didn't want it on the last one, and I knew that. I'm completely open to having that conversation. I haven't talked to Tom about it, I haven't talked to Gary open about it, but I'm open. That's not saying it is or isn't gonna happen. But my ears are open."
In a June 2017 interview with the Ultimate Guitar Archive, Holt said that he was ready to contribute with the songwriting for the next album. When speaking to Revolver, King was asked if there were any plans in place for the band to begin working on the album, he said, "Funny thing is, Repentless isn't even two years old yet, though it seems like it is. But from that session, there are six or eight songs that are recorded—some with vocals, some with leads, but all with keeper guitar, drums and bass. So when those songs get finished lyrically, if the lyrics don't change the songs, they'll be ready to be on the next record. So we already have more than half a record complete, if those songs make it." He also gave conceivable consideration that it could be released next year, "I'm certainly not gonna promise it, because every time I do, I make a liar of myself! [Laughs]" When asked about any plans or the timeline the band would like to release the album, King said, "It depends on touring—getting time to rehearse, getting time to make up new stuff. We haven't even done Australia on this run yet at all. We're hitting Japan finally later this year. But if things go well, I'd like to record next year. But timelines change all the time." In an October 2017 interview, Holt once again expressed his desire to contribute to the songwriting for the next Slayer album, saying, "When that time comes and we are ready for the next album, if Kerry wants me to contribute, I've got riffs. I've got stuff right now that I've written that I am not using for Exodus, because it was kind of maybe just unintentional subconscious thing, like, 'It sounds a little too Slayer.'"
On January 22, 2018, Slayer announced their farewell world tour through a video featuring a montage of press clippings, early posters and press photos spanning the band's entire career. Although the members of Slayer have never publicly explained why they were retiring from touring, it was thought that one of the reasons behind this decision was at the expense of Tom Araya's desire not to tour anymore and to spend more time with his family. This was confirmed by former drummer Dave Lombardo in a 2019 interview, who said: "Apparently, from what I hear. Tom has been wanting to retire when I was in the band — he wanted to stop. He had the neck issues. He's been wanting to retire for a long time now. So now that he's got it, I'm happy for him, and I hope he gets what he wants out of life and his future."
The farewell tour began with a North American trek in May and June 2018, supported by Lamb of God, Anthrax, Behemoth and Testament. The second leg of the North American tour took place in July and August, with Napalm Death replacing Behemoth, followed in November and December by a European tour with Lamb of God, Anthrax and Obituary. The farewell tour continued into 2019, with plans to visit places such as South America, Australia and Japan; in addition to European festivals such as Hellfest and Graspop, the band toured the United States in May 2019 with Lamb of God, Amon Amarth and Cannibal Corpse. Slayer also played one show in Mexico at Force Fest in October 2018.
On December 2, 2018, Holt announced that he would not perform the remainder of the band's European tour to be with his dying father. Vio-lence and former Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel would fill in for him as a result.
Holt had stated that Slayer would not release a new album before the end of the farewell tour. On how long the tour would last, Holt's Exodus bandmate Steve "Zetro" Souza commented, "I'm speculating it's gonna take a year and a half or two years to do the one final thing, but I believe it's finished. Everybody knows what I know; just because I'm on the outside, I have no insight on that." The final North American leg of the tour, dubbed "The Last Campaign", took place in November 2019, and also included support from Primus, Ministry and Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals. Despite being referred to as a farewell tour for Slayer, their manager Rick Sales has stated that the band is not breaking up, but has no intention of ever performing live again. Kristen Mulderig, who works with Rick Sales Entertainment Group, has also been quoted as saying that there would be Slayer-related activities following the tour's conclusion. However, within two days after the tour's completion, King's wife Ayesha stated on her Instagram page that there is "not a chance in hell" that Slayer would ever reunite to perform more shows or release new music.
Aftermath (2020–present)
In March 2020, when talking to Guitar World about his latest endorsement with Dean Guitars, King hinted that he would continue to make music outside of Slayer, simply saying, "Dean didn't sign me for nothing!" King stated in an August 2020 interview on the Dean Guitars YouTube channel that he has "more than two records' worth of music" for his yet-to-be disclosed new project. Bostaph later confirmed that he and King are working on a new project that will "sound like Slayer without it being Slayer — but not intentionally so."
When asked by the Let There Be Talk podcast in June 2020 if a Slayer reunion would ever happen, Holt stated, "If it does, if it ever happens, it has nothing to do with me. Someone else would call and say, 'We wanna [do this].' To my knowledge, it's done. And I think it should be that way. The band went out fucking on a bang, went out on Slayer's terms, and how many people get to say they did that?". In August 2020, King's wife Ayesha once again ruled out the possibility of a Slayer reunion, saying that her husband and Araya will "never be Slayer again".
When asked in a March 2021 interview if Slayer would consider reuniting for a special show or tour, Holt said, "That's a question I couldn't answer you, whether Slayer would ever get back together. Those are questions that are above my pay scale, I guess you'd say. Look, if the powers that be ever — like, in a year or something — said, 'Hey, you know what? We feel like playing some shows,' I'm there to do it," Holt added. "But those aren't decisions for me to make, or even me to really speculate on. As far as my knowledge, the band is over, and the final show was November 30, 2019. And I'm full speed ahead with Exodus now."
On October 12, 2021, King expressed regret that Slayer had retired "too early." While congratulating Machine Head on their 30th anniversary as a band, he said, "Apparently, it's 30 years, which is quite an achievement. Not a lot of bands get there. We did, and then we quit too early. Fuck us. Fuck me. I hate fucking not playing." In an interview with Metal Hammer a few days later, King reiterated that he would continue to work outside of Slayer: "I'm dragging my feet on letting the world know what I'm doing because there's no rush. I have a tour that I'm considering doing, but I'm not going to announce a band, I'm not going to announce a record, I'm not going to announce anything. But you will see me in the future — it will be fucking good." When interviewed again two months later by Metal Hammer, King did not rule out the possibility of any more "Big Four" shows with Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax, but expressed doubt that a Slayer reunion would ever happen: "The way that I'm moving forward is I don't think Slayer are ever going to play again. There's no business of me playing by myself!"
Musical style
Slayer is considered a thrash metal band. In an article from December 1986 by the Washington Post, writer Joe Brown described Slayer as speed metal, a genre he defined as "an unholy hybrid of punk rock thrash and heavy metal that attracts an almost all-male teen-age following". Describing Slayer's music, Brown wrote: "Over a jackhammer beat, Slayer's stun guitars created scraping sheets of corrosive metal noise, with occasional solos that sounded like squealing brakes, over which the singer-bassist emitted a larynx-lacerating growl-yowl." In an article from September 1988 by the New York Times, writer Jon Pareles also described Slayer as speed metal, additionally writing that the band "brings the sensational imagery of tabloids and horror movies" and has lyrics that "revel in death, gore and allusions to Satanism and Nazism." Pareles also described other "Big Four" thrash metal bands Metallica and Megadeth as speed metal bands. Slayer's early works were praised for their "breakneck speed and instrumental prowess", combining the structure of hardcore punk tempos and speed metal. The band released fast, aggressive material. The album Reign in Blood is the band's fastest, performed at an average of 220 beats per minute; the album Diabolus in Musica was the band's first to feature C tuning; God Hates Us All was the first to feature drop B tuning and seven-string guitars tuned to B. AllMusic cited the album as "abandoning the extravagances and accessibility of their late-'80s/early-'90s work and returning to perfect the raw approach", with some fans labeling it as nu metal.
King and Hanneman's dual guitar solos have been referred to as "wildly chaotic", and "twisted genius". Original drummer Lombardo would use two bass drums (instead of a double pedal, which is used on a single bass drum). Lombardo's speed and aggression earned him the title of the "godfather of double bass" by Drummerworld. Lombardo stated his reasons for using two bass drums: "When you hit the bass drum, the head is still resonating. When you hit it in the same place right after that, you kinda get a 'slapback' from the bass drum head hitting the other pedal. You're not letting them breathe." When playing the two bass drums, Lombardo would use the "heel-up" technique.
In the original lineup, King, Hanneman and Araya contributed to the band's lyrics, and King and Hanneman wrote the music with additional arrangement from Lombardo, and sometimes Araya. Araya formed a lyric writing partnership with Hanneman, which sometimes overshadowed the creative input of King. Hanneman stated that writing lyrics and music was a "free-for-all": "It's all just whoever comes up with what. Sometimes I'll be more on a roll and I'll have more stuff, same with Kerry – it's whoever's hot, really. Anybody can write anything; if it's good, we use it; if not, we don't."
When writing material, the band would write the music first before incorporating lyrics. King or Hanneman used a 24-track and drum machine to show band members the riff that they created, and to get their opinion. Either King, Hanneman or Lombardo would mention if any alterations could be made. The band played the riff to get the basic song structure, and figured out where the lyrics and solos would be placed.
Legacy
Slayer is one of the most influential bands in heavy metal history. Steve Huey of AllMusic believes the musical style of Slayer makes the band stronger than the other members of the "Big Four" thrash metal bands Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax, all of which rose to fame during the 1980s. Slayer's "downtuned rhythms, infectious guitar licks, graphically violent lyrics and grisly artwork set the standard for dozens of emerging thrash bands" and their "music was directly responsible for the rise of death metal" states MTV, ranking Slayer as the sixth "greatest metal band of all time", ranking number 50 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. Hanneman and King ranked number 10 in Guitar Worlds "100 greatest metal guitarists of all time" in 2004, and were voted "Best Guitarist/Guitar Team" in Revolver's reader's poll. Original drummer Lombardo was also voted "Best Drummer" and the band entered the top five in the categories "Best Band Ever", "Best Live Band", "Album of the Year" (for Christ Illusion) and "Band of the Year".
Music author Joel McIver considers Slayer very influential in the extreme metal scene, especially in the development of the death metal and black metal subgenres. According to John Consterdine of Terrorizer, without "Slayer's influence, extreme metal as we know it wouldn't exist." Kam Lee of Massacre and former member of Death stated: "there wouldn't be death metal or black metal or even extreme metal (the likes of what it is today) if not for Slayer." Johan Reinholdz of Andromeda said that Slayer "were crucial in the development of thrash metal which then became the foundation for a lot of different subgenres. They inspired generations of metal bands." Alex Skolnick of Testament declared: "Before Slayer, metal had never had such razor-sharp articulation, tightness, and balance between sound and stops. This all-out sonic assault was about the shock, the screams, the drums, and [...] most importantly the riffs."
Groups who cited Slayer among their major influences include Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet for My Valentine, Fear Factory, Machine Head, Children of Bodom, Slipknot, Gojira, Carnifex, Hatebreed, Cannibal Corpse, Pantera, Kreator, Sadistic Intent, Mayhem, Darkthrone, System of a Down, Lamb of God, Behemoth, Evile and Lacuna Coil. Steve Asheim, drummer for Deicide, declared that "there obviously would not have been a Deicide as we know it without the existence of Slayer." Sepultura guitarist Andreas Kisser affirmed that "without Slayer, Sepultura would never be possible." Weezer mentions them in the song "Heart Songs" from their 2008 self-titled "Red" album. The verse goes: "Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Slayer taught me how to shred..." Dave Grohl recalled, "Me and my friends, we just wanted to listen to fucking Slayer and take acid and smash stuff."
The band's 1986 release Reign in Blood has been an influence to extreme and thrash metal bands since its release and is considered the record which set the bar for death metal. It had a significant influence on the genre leaders such as Death, Obituary, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel and Napalm Death. The album was hailed the "heaviest album of all time" by Kerrang!, a "genre-definer" by Stylus, and a "stone-cold classic upon its release" by AllMusic. In 2006, Reign in Blood was named the best metal album of the last 20 years by Metal Hammer. According to Nielsen SoundScan, Slayer sold 4,900,000 copies in the United States from 1991 to 2013.
Controversy
A lawsuit was brought against the band in 1996, by the parents of Elyse Pahler, who accused the band of encouraging their daughter's murderers through their lyrics. Pahler was drugged, strangled, stabbed, trampled on, and raped as a sacrifice to the devil by three fans of the band. The case was unsealed by the court on May 19, 2000, stating Slayer and related business markets distribute harmful products to teens, encouraging violent acts through their lyrics, and "none of the vicious crimes committed against Elyse Marie Pahler would have occurred without the intentional marketing strategy of the death-metal band Slayer." The lawsuit was dismissed in 2001, for multiple reasons including "principles of free speech, lack of a duty and lack of foreseeability." A second lawsuit was filed by the parents, an amended complaint for damages against Slayer, their label, and other industry and label entities. The lawsuit was again dismissed. Judge E. Jeffrey Burke stated, "I do not consider Slayer's music obscene, indecent or harmful to minors."
Slayer has been accused of holding Nazi sympathies, due to the band's eagle logo bearing resemblance to the Eagle atop swastika and the lyrics of "Angel of Death". "Angel of Death" was inspired by the acts of Josef Mengele, the doctor who conducted human experiments on prisoners during World War II at the Auschwitz concentration camp, and was dubbed the "Angel of Death" by inmates.
Slayer's cover of Minor Threat's "Guilty of Being White" raised questions about a possible message of white supremacy in the band's music. The controversy surrounding the cover involved the changing of the refrain "guilty of being white" to "guilty of being right", at the song's ending. This incensed Minor Threat frontman Ian MacKaye, who stated "that is so offensive to me." King said it was changed for "tongue-in-cheek" humor as he thought the allegation of racism at the time was "ridiculous".
In a 2004 interview with Araya, when asked, "Did critics realize you were wallowing in parody?" Araya replied, "No. People thought we were serious!...back then you had that PMRC, who literally took everything to heart, when in actuality you're trying to create an image. You're trying to scare people on purpose." Araya also denied rumors that Slayer members are Satanists, but they find the subject of Satanism interesting and "we are all on this planet to learn and experience."
The song "Jihad" of the album Christ Illusion sparked controversy among families of the September 11 victims. The song deals with the attack from the perspective of a religious terrorist. The band stated the song is spoken through perspective without being sympathetic to the cause, and supports neither side.
Seventeen bus benches promoting the same album in Fullerton, California were deemed offensive by city officials. City officials contacted the band's record label and demanded that the ads be removed. All benches were eliminated.
In India, Christ Illusion was recalled by EMI India after protests with Christian religious groups due to the nature of the graphic artwork. The album cover was designed by Slayer's longtime collaborator Larry Carroll and features Christ in a "sea of despair", with amputated arms, missing an eye, while standing in a sea of blood with severed heads. Joseph Dias of the Mumbai Christian group Catholic Secular Forum in India took "strong exception" to the original album artwork, and issued a memorandum to Mumbai's police commissioner in protest. On October 11, 2006, EMI announced that all stocks had been destroyed, noting it had no plans to re-release the record in India in the future.
Band membersFormer members Kerry King – guitars (1981–2019)
Tom Araya – bass, vocals (1981–2019)
Jeff Hanneman – guitars (1981–2013) (died 2013)
Dave Lombardo – drums (1981–1986, 1987–1992, 2001–2013)
Paul Bostaph – drums (1992–1996, 1997–2001, 2013–2019)
Jon Dette – drums (1996–1997)
Gary Holt – guitars (2013–2019)Touring musicians Tony Scaglione – drums (1986–1987)
Pat O'Brien – guitars (2011)
Gary Holt – guitars (2011–2013)
Jon Dette – drums (2013)
Phil Demmel – guitars (2018)Timeline'''
Discography
Show No Mercy (1983)
Hell Awaits (1985)
Reign in Blood (1986)
South of Heaven (1988)
Seasons in the Abyss (1990)
Divine Intervention (1994)
Undisputed Attitude (1996)
Diabolus in Musica (1998)
God Hates Us All (2001)
Christ Illusion (2006)
World Painted Blood (2009)
Repentless (2015)
Awards and nominations
|-
!scope="row"| 2002
| "Disciple" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"|2007
| "Eyes of the Insane" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"| 2008
|| "Final Six" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"|2010
| "Hate Worldwide" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"|2011
| "World Painted Blood" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2006
| Slayer || Kerrang! Hall of Fame ||
|-
!scope="row"|2013
| Slayer || Kerrang! Legend ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2003
| War at the Warfield || DVD of the Year ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2010
| Kerry King || God of Riffs ||
|-
!scope="row"|2013
| Jeff Hanneman || God of Riffs ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2004
| Slayer || Best Live Act ||
|-
!scope="row"|2006
| Reign in Blood || Best Album of the Last 20 Years ||
|-
!scope="row"|2007
| | "Eyes of the Insane" || Best Video ||
|-
!scope="row"|2007
||Slayer || Icon Award ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2006
| Christ Illusion || Best Thrash Metal Album ||
|-
!scope="row"|2015
| "Repentless" || Best Video ||
|-
Footnotes
From late 2010 until his death in May 2013, Jeff Hanneman's participation in Slayer was minimal. In January 2011, he contracted necrotizing fasciitis, which severely restricted his ability to perform. He appeared publicly with the band on only one known occasion, playing two songs during an encore at one of Slayer's Big 4 performances in April 2011; he also attended rehearsals for Fun Fun Fun Fest in November 2011, but did not end up performing at this show. By July 2012, Hanneman had not written or recorded any new material for the band's follow up to 2009's World Painted Blood''. In February 2013, Kerry King stated he was planning on recording all of the guitar parts for the upcoming album himself, but was open to Hanneman's return if he was willing and able. King also denied that Gary Holt, member of Exodus and Hanneman's live fill-in, would write or record anything for the upcoming album. Hanneman died on May 2, 2013 at the age of 49 due to liver failure.
Citations
Further reading
External links
1981 establishments in California
Thrash metal musical groups from California
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Def Jam Recordings artists
Grammy Award winners
Kerrang! Awards winners
Metal Blade Records artists
Musical groups disestablished in 2019
Musical groups established in 1981
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical quartets
Nuclear Blast artists
Obscenity controversies in music | true | [
"Jon Dette (born April 19, 1970) is an American thrash metal musician best known for his time in Slayer and Testament. Over the years, Dette has also been chosen to fill-in with Anthrax, Heathen, and Iced Earth. Dette also played with Evildead and Impellitteri for several years.\n\nHistory\n\nEarly life\nJon Dette was born in San Diego, California on April 19, 1970. Dette started playing drums at age 14. In 1984, his parents got divorced, he asked both of them for a drum set, which led to him receiving two drum kits for his birthday, which he converted into a double bass kit. The same birthday, his younger brother got him a copy of Anthrax's Fistful of Metal, which led him to discovering bands similar to Anthrax, such as Metallica and Slayer. By 1990, Dette joined the band Apocalypse, which ended up being a short-lived band. Dette joined the thrash metal act Evildead in 1993. With the band, he recorded a single demo, titled Terror, until his departure in 1994.\n\nJoining Testament and Slayer\nIn 1994, Dette received the opportunity to audition for thrash metal band Testament, following the departure of John Tempesta, who had left to join White Zombie. With the band, he performed the touring lineup for Low, going from September 1994 till 1995, recording Live at the Fillmore. In 1996, Dette auditioned for Slayer, following Paul Bostaph's departure from the band, a goal he had set since he was 17, and eventually got the opportunity to join the band. The initial offer had gone to Gene Hoglan who had just finished touring with Death, as he was a long time friend of the band, however, due to Dette's persistence and energy, they gave the gig to him. With the band, he performed consistently until 1997, when he was fired from the band due to a fallout with the members at the time, which led to Bostaph returning to the band. Following his departure from Slayer, he returned to Testament for the time being until he departed again. In 2000, he joined Testament once more, as a fill-in. In 2004, he joined the band HavocHate for the year.\n\nLater career\nIn 2011, Dette received the call to fill-in for Heathen, a thrash metal band from California. Dette filled-in for Darren Minter, who was unable to make the tour with Destruction and Warbeast. In 2012, he released an album with the band Animetal USA with the album titled, Animetal USA W. Dette was then hired to play for Anthrax while Charlie Benante was forced to remain in the United States due to personal issues. He performed with the band on a European fall tour supporting Motorhead. Due to Benate's inability to leave the states, Dette was again asked to fill in for him on an Australian tour. While on the Australia tour with Anthrax, Dette received a call from Kerry King, inquiring if he could once again fill-in for Slayer, this time replacing Dave Lombardo, outright. Once the time with Slayer was up again, Heathen hired Dette to fill in once more for them for another European tour. Later that year, Iced Earth hired Dette to play with them, covering for Raphael Saini, who had previously filled in during a tour with Volbeat. The same year, Dette also formed Meshiaak with a friend named Danny Camilleri. Dette toured with Iced Earth until 2015 when Brent Smedley returned to the position. Dette was once again asked to fill in for Benante on an Anthrax tour the same year. Around this time, he was officially announced to have joined Impellitteri. With Impellitteri, he recorded Venom and The Nature of the Beast, before departing the band in 2018. In 2022, Dette was hired to fill-in for Jon Larsen of Volbeat after he tested positive for COVID-19.\n\nPersonal life\nDette claims he is not a religious person, but a spiritual one. Dette is an avid exerciser, to remain in shape for performing, as well as bringing supplements on tour, which earned him teasing from Anthrax and Slayer members. Dette is left-handed.\n\nEquipment\nDette uses Tama Drums and uses a Starclassic Bubinga in a Dark Cherry Fade.\n\nSet-up\nDrums:\n22\"x20\" Bass Drum\n22\"x20\" Bass Drum\n14\"x6.5\" Snare Drum\n12\"x9\" Tom Tom\n13\"x9\" Tom Tom\n16\"x14\" Floor Tom\n18\"x15\" Floor Tom\nHardware:\nIron Cobra Power Glide Single Pedal (HP900P)\nIron Cobra Lever Glide Hi-Hat Stand (HH905)\n1st Chair Wide-Rider Drum Throne (HT530)\n\nBands\nCurrent\nAnimetal USA (2011–present)\n\nFormer\nApocalypse\nChaotic Realm\nEvildead (1993-1994)\nHavocHate (2004)\nImpellitteri (2012-2018)\nKilling Machine\nMeshiaak (2013-2017)\nPushed\nSlayer (1996-1997, 2013)\nTemple of Brutality\nTerror\nTestament (1994-1995, 1997, 2000)\n\nLive\nAnthrax (2012-2013, 2015, 2017)\nHeathen (2011, 2013)\nIced Earth (2013-2015)\nMetal Machine\n Volbeat (2022-present)\n\nDiscography\nAniMetal USA\nAnimetal USA W (2012)\n\nTestament\nLive at the Fillmore (1995)\nLive at Dynamo Open Air 1997 (2019)\n\nEvildead\nTerror (1994)\n\nSlayer\nSoundtrack to the Apocalypse (2003)\n\nMeshiaak\nAlliance of Thieves (2016)\n\nImpellitteri\nVenom (2015)\nVenom in Osaka (2015)\nThe Nature of the Beast (2018)\n\nHeathen\nControl By Chaos (Live At The Dynamo) (2020)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nYouTube\nJon Dette's thoughts on joining Slayer\nGet to Know Slayer's New Drummer Jon Dette\nJon Dette Is Slayer's New Touring Drummer\nWhat Means Expendable: The Strange Case of Jon Dette\n\nLiving people\n1970 births\nAmerican drummers\nAmerican heavy metal drummers\nAnthrax (American band) members\nIced Earth members\nImpellitteri members\nSlayer members\nTestament (band) members",
"Diabolus in Musica (Latin for \"The Devil in Music\") is the eighth studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer, released on June 9, 1998, by American Recordings. Guitarist Jeff Hanneman wrote most of the album's content, which has been described as Slayer's most experimental. It was the band's first album to be played mostly in C tuning, and named after a musical interval known for its dissonance. Lyrical themes explored on the album include religion, sex, cultural deviance, death, insanity, war, and homicide.\n\nDespite receiving mixed reviews from critics, Diabolus in Musica peaked at number 31 on the Billboard 200, selling over 46,000 copies in its first week of sales. By 2009, it had sold over 306,000 copies in the United States.\n\nWriting, music, and recording\nPaul Bostaph returned to Slayer in early 1997 after his short-lived side project The Truth About Seafood, and the band entered the recording studio a few months later. Diabolus in Musica was recorded at Ocean Way Recording, and complete by September 1997. It was scheduled to be released the following month, but got delayed until the middle of 1998, after American Recordings was taken over by Columbia Records.\n\nSlayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman described the writing process as, \"When we were writing this album I was looking for something to beat; I wanted something to beat, but nothing impresses me right now. Nothing sounded really aggressive or heavy enough to inspire me to beat it, so I just had to come up with my own shit.\"\n\nAdrien Begrand of PopMatters felt Slayer introduced characteristics to its music including tuned down guitars, murky chord structures, and churning beats. He believed these characteristics were adopted in response to the then-burgeoning nu metal scene. Drummer Paul Bostaph claims the album is his favorite as he thought the album was \"as experimental as Slayer got\". As a result, Diabolus in Musica was described as nu metal, and has also been described as groove metal.\n\nAlbum title and lyrical themes\n\nDiabolus in Musica is a Latin term for \"The Devil in Music\" or tritone. Medieval musical rules did not allow this particular dissonance. According to one mythology, the interval was considered sexual and would bring out the devil; Slayer vocalist and bassist Tom Araya jokingly said that people were executed for writing and using the interval.\n\nAraya held concern about the lyrics that King penned to \"In the Name of God\", voicing his opinion to guitarist Hanneman. King's viewpoint was; \"It's like, 'C'mon, man, you're in Slayer. You're the antichrist — you said it yourself on the first album!' You can't draw the line like that. Whether he agrees with it or not, he didn't write it — I wrote it. So you have to say, 'Well, it's just a part of being in this band.' Now Jeff and I, we don't give a fuck. If Jeff wrote something I had a problem with, I would never even raise a fucking finger. I'd be like, 'Fuck yeah, let's do it! Gonna piss someone off? Alright!'\"\n\nTouring and promotion\nFollowing the release of the album, the band commenced the Diabolus in Musica tour. From 1998 to 1999, Slayer toured with Sepultura, System of a Down, Fear Factory, Kilgore, Clutch, Meshuggah, and Sick of It All. Slayer released a promotional 3-track album called Diabolus in Musica Tour Sampler. The album features 3 tracks, one from Diabolus in Musica (\"Stain of Mind\"), \"Ship of Gold\" off tourmate Clutch's The Elephant Riders and \"Suite-Pee\" (Clean Version) from the debut album by System of a Down.\n\nReception\n\nDiabolus in Musica was released on June 9, 1998, by American Recordings. In its first week of release, the album sold 46,000 copies in the United States, and debuted at number 31 on the Billboard 200.\nBy November 2009, it had sold over 306,000 copies in the US.\n\nReviewing the 2003 Slayer box set Soundtrack to the Apocalypse, Adrien Begrand of PopMatters called Diabolus in Musica \"a unique record [...] It's as if they're stepping in to show the young bands how to do it right, as songs like 'Bitter Peace', 'Death's Head', and the terrific 'Stain of Mind' blow away anything that young pretenders have put out.\" Writing in The Guardian, journalist Joel McIver said although the album was as musically heavy and lyrically dark as any of Slayer's previous releases, it exhibited the groove-based style of the then-popular nu metal sound.\n\nHowever, not all reviews were positive. Reviewing a Slayer concert at Irving Plaza during the Diabolus in Musica tour, Ben Ratliff of The New York Times''' panned the album for its murky production, saying: \"Eight of the 11 songs on Diabolus in Musica, a few of which were played at the show, are in the same gray key, and the band's rhythmic ideas have a wearying sameness too.\" Reviewing Slayer's 2001 album God Hates Us All, Blabbermouth.net reviewer Borivoj Krgin described Diabolus in Musica as \"a feeble attempt at incorporating updated elements into the group's sound, the presence of which elevated the band's efforts somewhat and offered hope that Slayer could refrain from endlessly rehashing their previous material for their future output.\" Sarah Vowell of Spin gave the album a four out of ten rating, stating that \"Fifteen years into Slayer's career, they're still deploying the same fast beats and sluggish riffs and batty banter.\" concluding that \"This is loudness without fun, blasphemy without subversion, darkness with no shades of gray. The drums are miked really well, though.\"\n\nSongs from the album were rarely played live following the return of drummer Dave Lombardo in 2002, with \"Stain of Mind\" being the only constant.\n\nBand members' views\nIn the \"Nu Metal\" episode of the 2011 VH1 documentary series Metal Evolution'', Kerry King said the following in retrospect about the album:\n\nTrack listing\n\nPersonnel\n\nSlayer\n Tom Araya – bass, vocals\n Kerry King – guitars\n Jeff Hanneman – guitars\n Paul Bostaph – drums\n\nTechnical personnel\n Rick Rubin – producer\n Howie Weinberg – mastering\n Greg Gordon – engineer\n Brian Davis – assistant engineer\n John Tyree – assistant engineer\n Sebastian Haimerl – assistant engineer\n Allen Sanderson – assistant engineer\n Exum – photography\n Frank – art direction\n Wade Goeke – assistant engineer\n\nChart positions\n\nReferences\n\nSlayer albums\n1998 albums\nAlbums produced by Rick Rubin\nAmerican Recordings (record label) albums\nNu metal albums by American artists\nGroove metal albums"
] |
[
"Slayer",
"South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss (1988-1993)",
"Who produced South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss?",
"Slayer's",
"Can you tell me something interesting about the article?",
"Press response to the album was mixed,",
"What record label released the album?",
"Slayer's",
"Did any singles make the Billboard Top 200?",
"South of Heaven",
"Did Slayer tour for the album?",
"Slayer returned as a live act in September 1990 to co-headline"
] | C_07397c12d123426cacfc6b32eb6905ad_0 | Did anyone leave the band from 1988-1993? | 6 | Did anyone leave the Slayer band from 1988-1993? | Slayer | In late 1987, Slayer returned to the studio to record their fourth studio album. To contrast the speed of Reign in Blood, the band consciously decided to slow down the tempos, and incorporate more melodic singing. According to Hanneman, "We knew we couldn't top Reign in Blood, so we had to slow down. We knew whatever we did was gonna be compared to that album, and I remember we actually discussed slowing down. It was weird--we've never done that on an album, before or since." Released in July 1988, South of Heaven received mixed responses from both fans and critics, although it was Slayer's most commercially successful release at the time, debuting at number 57 on the Billboard 200, and their second album to receive gold certification in the United States. Press response to the album was mixed, with AllMusic citing the album as "disturbing and powerful," and Kim Nelly of Rolling Stone calling it "genuinely offensive satanic drivel." King said "that album was my most lackluster performance," although Araya called it a "late bloomer" which eventually grew on people. Slayer returned to the studio in spring 1990 with co-producer Andy Wallace to record its fifth studio album. Following the backlash created by South of Heaven, Slayer returned to the "pounding speed of Reign in Blood, while retaining their newfound melodic sense." Seasons in the Abyss, released on October 25, 1990, was the first Slayer album to be released under Rubin's new Def American label, as he had parted ways with Def Jam owner Russell Simmons over creative differences. The album debuted at number 44 on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold in 1992. The album spawned Slayer's first music video for the album's title track, which was filmed in front of the Giza pyramids in Egypt. Slayer returned as a live act in September 1990 to co-headline the European Clash of the Titans tour with Megadeth, Suicidal Tendencies, and Testament. During the sold out European leg of this tour tickets fetched up to 1,000 Deutschmark ($680 USD) on the black market. With the popularity of American thrash at its peak, the tour was extended to the US beginning in May 1991, with Megadeth, Anthrax and opening act Alice in Chains. The band released a double live album, Decade of Aggression in 1991, to celebrate ten years since their formation. The compilation debuted at number 55 on the Billboard 200. In May 1992, Lombardo quit the band due to conflicts with other members, as well as his desire to be off tour for the birth of his first child. Lombardo formed his own band Grip Inc, with Voodoocult guitarist Waldemar Sorychta, and Slayer recruited former Forbidden drummer Paul Bostaph to take his place. Slayer made its debut appearance with Bostaph at the 1992 Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington. Bostaph's first studio effort was a medley of three Exploited songs, "War," "UK '82," and "Disorder," with rapper Ice-T, for the Judgment Night movie soundtrack in 1993. CANNOTANSWER | In May 1992, Lombardo quit the band due to conflicts | Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo, and bassist and vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them one of the "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax. Slayer's final lineup comprised King, Araya, drummer Paul Bostaph (who replaced Lombardo in 1992 and again in 2013) and guitarist Gary Holt (who replaced Hanneman in 2011). Drummer Jon Dette was also a member of the band.
In the original lineup, King, Hanneman and Araya contributed to the band's lyrics, and all of the band's music was written by King and Hanneman. The band's lyrics and album art, which cover topics such as murder, serial killers, torture, genocide, politics, theories, human subject research, organized crime, secret societies, mythology, occultism, Satanism, hate crimes, terrorism, religion or antireligion, Nazism, fascism, racism, xenophobia, misanthropy, war and prison, have generated album bans, delays, lawsuits and criticism from religious groups and factions of the general public. However, its music has been highly influential, often being cited by many bands as an influence musically, visually and lyrically; the band's third album, Reign in Blood (1986), has been described as one of the heaviest and most influential thrash metal albums.
Slayer released twelve studio albums, two live albums, a box set, six music videos, two extended plays and a cover album. Four of the band's studio albums have received gold certification in the United States. Slayer sold 5 million copies in the United States from 1991 to 2013, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and over 20 million worldwide. The band has received five Grammy Award nominations, winning one in 2007 for the song "Eyes of the Insane" and one in 2008 for the song "Final Six", both of which were from the album Christ Illusion (2006). After more than three decades of recording and performing, Slayer announced in January 2018 that it would embark on a farewell tour, which took place from May 2018 to November 2019, after which the band disbanded.
History
Early years (1981–1983)
Slayer was formed in 1981 by Kerry King, Jeff Hanneman, Dave Lombardo, and Tom Araya in Huntington Park, CA. The group started out playing covers of songs by bands such as Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Venom at parties and clubs in Southern California. The band's early image relied heavily on Satanic themes that featured pentagrams, make-up, spikes, and inverted crosses. Rumors that the band was originally known as Dragonslayer, after the 1981 film of the same name, were denied by King, as he later stated: "We never were; it's a myth to this day." According to Lombardo, the original band name was to be Wings of Fire before they settled in with Slayer. It was he who designed the iconic logo. For inspiration, Lombardo thought in a perspective of a murderer of how they would carve out the logo with a knife and since he's lefthanded, the logo is unintentionally slanted to the right.
In 1983, Slayer was invited to open for the band Bitch at the Woodstock Club in Anaheim, California to perform eight songs, six of which were covers. The band was spotted by Brian Slagel, a former music journalist who had recently founded Metal Blade Records. Impressed with Slayer, he met with the band backstage and asked them to record an original song for his upcoming Metal Massacre III compilation album. The band agreed and their song "Aggressive Perfector" created an underground buzz upon its release in mid 1983, which led to Slagel offering the band a recording contract with Metal Blade.
Show No Mercy, Haunting the Chapel and Hell Awaits (1983–1986)
Without any recording budget, the band had to self-finance its debut album. Combining the savings of Araya, who was employed as a respiratory therapist, and money borrowed from King's father, the band entered the studio in November 1983. The album was rushed into release, stocking shelves three weeks after tracks were completed. Show No Mercy, released in December 1983 by Metal Blade Records, generated underground popularity for the band. The group began a club tour of California to promote the album. The tour gave the band additional popularity and sales of Show No Mercy eventually reached more than 20,000 in the US and another 20,000 worldwide.
In February 1984, King briefly joined Dave Mustaine's new band Megadeth. Hanneman was worried about King's decision, stating in an interview, "I guess we're gonna get a new guitar player." While Mustaine wanted King to stay on a permanent basis, King left after five shows, stating Mustaine's band was "taking too much of my time." The split caused a rift between King and Mustaine, which evolved into a long running feud between the two bands.
In June 1984, Slayer released a three-track EP called Haunting the Chapel. The EP featured a darker, more thrash-oriented style than Show No Mercy, and laid the groundwork for the future direction of the band. The opening track, "Chemical Warfare", has become a live staple, played at nearly every show since 1984.
Later that year, Slayer began their first national club tour, traveling in Araya's Camaro towing a U-Haul trailer. The band recorded the live album Live Undead in November 1984 while in New York City.
In March 1985, Slayer began a national tour with Venom and Exodus, resulting in their first live home video dubbed Combat Tour: The Ultimate Revenge. The video featured live footage filmed at the Studio 54 club. The band then made its live European debut at the Heavy Sound Festival in Belgium opening for UFO. Also in 1985, Slayer toured or played selected shows with bands like Megadeth, Destruction, D.R.I., Possessed, Agent Steel, S.O.D., Nasty Savage and Metal Church.
Show No Mercy had sold over 40,000 copies, which led to the band returning to the studio to record their second full-length album. Metal Blade financed a recording budget, which allowed the band to hire producer Ron Fair. Released in March 1985, Slayer's second full-length album, Hell Awaits, expanded on the darkness of Haunting the Chapel, with hell and Satan as common song subjects. The album was the band's most progressive offering, featuring longer and more complex song structures. The intro of the title track is a backwards recording of a demonic-sounding voice repeating "Join us", ending with "Welcome back" before the track begins. The album was a hit, with fans choosing Slayer for best band, best live band, Hell Awaits, as 1985's best album, and Dave Lombardo as best drummer in the British magazine Metal Forces 1985 Readers Poll.
Reign in Blood, Lombardo's brief hiatus and South of Heaven (1986–1989)
Following the success of Hell Awaits, Slayer was offered a recording contract with Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin's newly founded Def Jam Records, a largely hip hop-based label. The band accepted, and with an experienced producer and major label recording budget, the band underwent a sonic makeover for their third album Reign in Blood, resulting in shorter, faster songs with clearer production. The complex arrangements and long songs featured on Hell Awaits were ditched in favor of stripped down, hardcore punk influenced song structures.
Def Jam's distributor, Columbia Records, refused to release the album due to the song "Angel of Death" which detailed Holocaust concentration camps and the human experiments conducted by Nazi physician Josef Mengele. The album was distributed by Geffen Records on October 7, 1986. However, due to the controversy, Reign in Blood did not appear on Geffen Records' release schedule. Although the album received virtually no radio airplay, it became the band's first to enter the Billboard 200, debuting at number 94, and the band's first album certified gold in the United States.
Slayer embarked on the Reign in Pain world tour, with Overkill in the US from October to December 1986, and Malice in Europe in April and May 1987. They also played with other bands such as Agnostic Front, Testament, Metal Church, D.R.I., Dark Angel and Flotsam and Jetsam. The band was added as the opening act on W.A.S.P.'s US tour, but just one month into it, drummer Lombardo left the band: "I wasn't making any money. I figured if we were gonna be doing this professionally, on a major label, I wanted my rent and utilities paid." To continue with the tour, Slayer enlisted Tony Scaglione of Whiplash. However, Lombardo was convinced by his wife to return in 1987. At the insistence of Rubin, Slayer recorded a cover version of Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" for the film Less Than Zero. Although the band was not happy with the final product, Hanneman deeming it "a poor representation of Slayer" and King labeling it "a hunk of shit", it was one of their first songs to garner radio airplay.
In late 1987, Slayer returned to the studio to record their fourth studio album. To contrast the speed of Reign in Blood, the band consciously decided to slow down the tempos, and incorporate more melodic singing. According to Hanneman, "We knew we couldn't top Reign in Blood, so we had to slow down. We knew whatever we did was gonna be compared to that album, and I remember we actually discussed slowing down. It was weird—we've never done that on an album, before or since."
Released in July 1988, South of Heaven received mixed responses from both fans and critics, although it was Slayer's most commercially successful release at the time, debuting at number 57 on the Billboard 200, and their second album to receive gold certification in the United States. Press response to the album was mixed, with AllMusic citing the album as "disturbing and powerful", and Kim Nelly of Rolling Stone calling it "genuinely offensive satanic drivel". King said "that album was my most lackluster performance", although Araya called it a "late bloomer" which eventually grew on people. Slayer toured from August 1988 to January 1989 to promote South of Heaven, supporting Judas Priest in the US on their Ram It Down tour, and touring Europe with Nuclear Assault and the US with Motörhead and Overkill.
Seasons in the Abyss and Lombardo's second departure (1990–1993)
Slayer returned to the studio in early 1990 with co-producer Andy Wallace to record its fifth studio album. Following the backlash created by South of Heaven, Slayer returned to the "pounding speed of Reign in Blood, while retaining their newfound melodic sense." Seasons in the Abyss, released on October 9, 1990, was the first Slayer album to be released under Rubin's new Def American label, as he had parted ways with Def Jam owner Russell Simmons over creative differences. The album debuted at number 44 on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold in 1992. The album spawned Slayer's first music video for the album's title track, which was filmed in front of the Giza pyramids in Egypt.
Slayer returned as a live act in September 1990 to co-headline the European Clash of the Titans tour with Megadeth, Suicidal Tendencies, and Testament. During the sold out European leg of this tour, tickets had prices skyrocket to 1,000 Deutschmark (US$680) on the black market. With the popularity of American thrash at its peak, the band toured with Testament again in early 1991 and triple-headlined the North American version of the Clash of the Titans tour that summer with Megadeth, Anthrax, and opening act Alice in Chains. The band released a double live album, Decade of Aggression in 1991, to celebrate ten years since their formation. The compilation debuted at number 55 on the Billboard 200.
In May 1992, Lombardo left the band due to conflicts with the other members, as well as his desire to be off tour for the birth of his first child. Lombardo formed his own band Grip Inc., with Voodoocult guitarist Waldemar Sorychta, and Slayer recruited former Forbidden drummer Paul Bostaph to fill in the drummer position. Slayer made its debut appearance with Bostaph at the 1992 Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington. Bostaph's first studio effort was a medley of three Exploited songs, "War", "UK '82", and "Disorder", with rapper Ice-T, for the Judgment Night movie soundtrack in 1993.
Divine Intervention, Undisputed Attitude and Diabolus in Musica (1994–2000)
In 1994, Slayer released Divine Intervention, the band's first album with Bostaph on the drums. The album featured songs about Reinhard Heydrich, an architect of the Holocaust, and Jeffrey Dahmer, an American serial killer and sex offender. Other themes included murder, the evils of church, and the lengths to which governments went to wield power, Araya's interest in serial killers inspired much of the content of the lyrics.
Slayer geared up for a world tour in 1995, with openers Biohazard and Machine Head. A video of concert footage, Live Intrusion was released, featuring a joint cover of Venom's "Witching Hour" with Machine Head. Following the tour, Slayer was billed third at the 1995 Monsters of Rock festival, headlined by Metallica. In 1996, Undisputed Attitude, an album of punk covers, was released. The band covered songs by Minor Threat, T.S.O.L., Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, D.I., Verbal Abuse, Dr. Know, and The Stooges. The album featured three original tracks, "Gemini", "Can't Stand You", "Ddamm"; the latter two were written by Hanneman in 1984–1985 for a side project entitled Pap Smear. Bostaph left Slayer shortly after the album's recording to work on his own project, Truth About Seafood. With Bostaph's departure, Slayer recruited Testament drummer Jon Dette, and headlined the 1996 Ozzfest alongside Ozzy Osbourne, Danzig, Biohazard, Sepultura, and Fear Factory. Dette was fired after a year, due to a fallout with band members. After that, Bostaph returned to continue the tour.
Diabolus in Musica (Latin for "The Devil in Music") was released in 1998, and debuted at number 31 on the Billboard 200, selling over 46,000 copies in its first week. It was complete by September 1997, and scheduled to be released the following month, but got delayed by nine months after their label was taken over by Columbia Records. The album received a mixed critical reception, and was criticized for adopting characteristics of nu metal music such as tuned down guitars, murky chord structures, and churning beats. Blabbermouth.net reviewer Borijov Krgin described the album as "a feeble attempt at incorporating updated elements into the group's sound, the presence of which elevated the band's efforts somewhat and offered hope that Slayer could refrain from endlessly rehashing their previous material for their future output", while Ben Ratliff of The New York Times had similar sentiments, writing on June 22, 1998 that: "Eight of the 11 songs on Diabolus in Musica, a few of which were played at the show, are in the same gray key, and the band's rhythmic ideas have a wearying sameness too."
The album was the band's first to primarily feature dropped tuning, as featured on the lead track, "Bitter Peace", making use of the tritone interval referred to in the Middle Ages as the Devil's interval. Slayer teamed up with digital hardcore group Atari Teenage Riot to record a song for the Spawn soundtrack titled "No Remorse (I Wanna Die)". The band paid tribute to Black Sabbath by recording a cover of "Hand of Doom" for the second of two tribute albums, titled Nativity in Black II. A world tour followed to support the new album, with Slayer making an appearance at the United Kingdom Ozzfest 1998.
God Hates Us All (2001–2005)
During mid-2001, the band joined Morbid Angel, Pantera, Skrape and Static-X on the Extreme Steel Tour of North America, which was Pantera's last major tour. After delays regarding remixing and artwork, including slip covers created to cover the original artwork as it was deemed "too graphic", Slayer's next album, God Hates Us All, was released on September 11, 2001. The band received its first Grammy nomination for the lead track "Disciple", although the Grammy was awarded to Tool, for "Schism". The September 11 attacks on America jeopardized the 2001 European tour Tattoo the Planet originally set to feature Pantera, Static-X, Cradle of Filth, Biohazard and Vision of Disorder. The dates in the United Kingdom were postponed due to flight restrictions, with a majority of bands deciding to withdraw, leaving Slayer and Cradle of Filth remaining for the European leg of the tour.
Pantera, Static-X, Vision of Disorder and Biohazard were replaced by other bands depending on location; Amorphis, In Flames, Moonspell, Children of Bodom, and Necrodeath. Biohazard eventually decided to rejoin the tour later on, and booked new gigs in the countries, where they missed a few dates. Drummer Bostaph left Slayer before Christmas in 2001, due to a chronic elbow injury, which would hinder his ability to play. Since the band's European tour was unfinished at that time, the band's manager, Rick Sales, contacted original drummer Dave Lombardo and asked if he would like to finish the remainder of the tour. Lombardo accepted the offer, and stayed as a permanent member.
Slayer toured playing Reign in Blood in its entirety throughout the fall of 2003, under the tour banner "Still Reigning". Their playing of the final song, "Raining Blood", culminated with the band drenched in a rain of stage blood. Live footage of this was recorded at the Augusta Civic Center in Augusta, Maine, on July 11, 2004 and released on the 2004 DVD Still Reigning. The band also released War at the Warfield and a box set, Soundtrack to the Apocalypse featuring rarities, live CD and DVD performances and various Slayer merchandise. From 2002 to 2004, the band performed over 250 tour dates, headlining major music festivals including H82k2, Summer tour, Ozzfest 2004 and a European tour with Slipknot. While preparing for the Download Festival in England, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich was taken to a hospital with an unknown and mysterious illness, and was unable to perform. Metallica vocalist James Hetfield searched for volunteers at the last minute to replace Ulrich; Lombardo and Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison volunteered, with Lombardo performing the songs "Battery" and "The Four Horsemen".
Christ Illusion (2006–2008)
The next studio album, Christ Illusion, was originally scheduled for release on June 6, 2006, and would be the first album with original drummer Lombardo since 1990's Seasons in the Abyss. However, the band decided to delay the release of the record, as they did not want to be among the many, according to King, "half-ass, stupid fucking loser bands" releasing records on June 6, although USA Today reported the idea was thwarted because the band failed to secure sufficient studio recording time. Slayer released Eternal Pyre on June 6 as a limited-edition EP. Eternal Pyre featured the song "Cult", a live performance of "War Ensemble" in Germany and video footage of the band recording "Cult". Five thousand copies were released and sold exclusively through Hot Topic chain stores, and sold out within hours of release. On June 30, Nuclear Blast Records released a 7" vinyl picture disc version limited to a thousand copies.
Christ Illusion was eventually released on August 8, 2006, and debuted at number 5 on the Billboard 200, selling over 62,000 copies in its first week. The album became Slayer's highest charting, improving on its previous highest charting album, Divine Intervention, which had debuted at number 8. However, despite its high positioning, the album dropped to number 44 in the following week. Three weeks after the album's release, Slayer were inducted into the Kerrang! Hall of Fame for their influence to the heavy metal scene.
A worldwide tour dubbed The Unholy Alliance Tour, was undertaken to support the new record. The tour was originally set to launch on June 6, but was postponed to June 10, as Araya had to undergo gall bladder surgery. In Flames, Mastodon, Children of Bodom, Lamb of God, and Thine Eyes Bleed (featuring Araya's brother, Johnny) and Ted Maul (London Hammersmith Apollo) were supporting Slayer. The tour made its way through America and Europe and the bands who participated, apart from Thine Eyes Bleed, reunited to perform at Japan's Loudpark Festival on October 15, 2006.
The video for the album's first single, "Eyes of the Insane", was released on October 30, 2006. The track was featured on the Saw III soundtrack, and won a Grammy-award for "Best Metal Performance" at the 49th Grammy Awards, although the band was unable to attend due to touring obligations. A week later, the band visited the 52nd Services Squadron located on the Spangdahlem U.S. Air Force Base in Germany to meet and play a show. This was the first visit ever to a military base for the band. The band made its first network TV appearance on the show Jimmy Kimmel Live! on January 19, playing the song "Eyes of the Insane", and four additional songs for fans after the show (although footage from "Jihad" was cut due to its controversial lyrical themes).
In 2007, Slayer toured Australia and New Zealand in April with Mastodon, and appeared at the Download Festival, Rock Am Ring, and a summer tour with Marilyn Manson and Bleeding Through.
World Painted Blood (2009–2011)
In 2008, Araya stated uncertainty about the future of the band, and that he could not see himself continuing the career at a later age. He said that once the band finished its upcoming album, which was the final record in their contract, the band would sit down and discuss its future. King was optimistic that the band would produce at least another two albums before considering to disband: "We're talking of going in the studio next February [2009] and getting the next record out so if we do things in a timely manner I don't see there's any reason why we can't have more than one album out." Slayer, along with Trivium, Mastodon, and Amon Amarth, teamed up for a European tour titled 'The Unholy Alliance: Chapter III', throughout October and November 2008. Slayer headlined the second Mayhem Festival in the summer of 2009. Slayer, along with Megadeth, also co-headlined Canadian Carnage, the first time they performed together in more than 15 years when they co-headlined four shows in Canada in late June 2009 with openers Machine Head and Suicide Silence.
The band's eleventh studio album, World Painted Blood, was released by American Recordings. It was available on November 3 in North America and November 2 for the rest of the world. The band stated that the album takes elements of all their previous works including Seasons in the Abyss, South of Heaven, and Reign in Blood. Slayer, along with Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax performed on the same bill for the first time on June 16, 2010 at Bemowo Airport, in Warsaw, Poland. One of the following Big 4 performances in (Sofia, Bulgaria, June 22, 2010) was sent via satellite in HD to cinemas. They also went on to play several other dates as part of the Sonisphere Festival. Megadeth and Slayer joined forces once again for the American Carnage Tour from July to October 2010 with opening acts Anthrax and Testament, and European Carnage Tour in March and April 2011. The "Big Four" played more dates at Sonisphere in England and France for the first time ever. Slayer returned to Australia in February and March 2011 as part of the Soundwave Festival and also played in California with the other members of the "Big Four".
In early 2011, Hanneman was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis. According to the band, doctors said that it likely originated from a spider bite. Araya said of Hanneman's condition: "Jeff was seriously ill. Jeff ended up contracting a bacteria that ate away his flesh on his arm, so they cut open his arm, from his wrist to his shoulder, and they did a skin graft on him, they cleaned up ... It was a flesh-eating virus, so he was really, really bad. So we'll wait for him to get better, and when he's a hundred percent, he's gonna come out and join us." The band decided to play their upcoming tour dates without Hanneman. Gary Holt of Exodus was announced as Hanneman's temporary replacement. Cannibal Corpse guitarist Pat O'Brien filled in for Holt during a tour in Europe. On April 23, 2011, at the American Big 4 show in Indio, California, Hanneman rejoined his bandmates to play the final two songs of their set, "South of Heaven" and "Angel of Death". This turned out to be Hanneman's final live performance with the band.
Hanneman's death, Lombardo's third split, and Repentless (2011–2016)
When asked if Slayer would make another album, Lombardo replied "Yes absolutely; Although there's nothing written, there are definitely plans." However, Araya said Slayer would not begin writing a new album until Hanneman's condition improved. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Reign In Blood, the band performed all of the album's tracks at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival at the Alexandra Palace in London."I'll Be Your Mirror London 2012 announced with co-curators Mogwai + Slayer". All Tomorrow's Parties. November 9, 2011.
In November 2011, Lombardo posted a tweet that the band had started to write new music. This presumably meant that Hanneman's condition improved, and it was believed he was ready to enter the studio. King had worked with Lombardo that year and they completed three songs. The band planned on entering the studio in either March or April 2012 and were hoping to have the album recorded before the group's US tour in late May and release it by the summer of that year. However, King said the upcoming album would not be finished until September and October of that year, making a 2013 release likely. In July 2012, King revealed two song titles for the upcoming album, "Chasing Death" and "Implode".
In February 2013, Lombardo was fired right before Slayer was to play at Australia's Soundwave festival due to an argument with band members over a pay dispute. Slayer and American Recordings released a statement, saying "Mr. Lombardo came to the band less than a week before their scheduled departure for Australia to present an entirely new set of terms for his engagement that were contrary to those that had been previously agreed upon", although Lombardo claimed there was a gag order in place. Dette returned to fill in for Lombardo for the Soundwave dates. It was confirmed that Lombardo was officially out of Slayer for the third time, and, in May, Bostaph rejoined the band.
On May 2, 2013, Hanneman died due to liver failure in a local hospital near his home in Southern California's Inland Empire; the cause of death was later determined to be alcohol-related cirrhosis. King confirmed that the band would continue, saying "Jeff is going to be in everybody's thoughts for a long time. It's unfortunate you can't keep unfortunate things from happening. But we're going to carry on – and he'll be there in spirit." However, Araya felt more uncertain about the band's future, expressing his belief that "After 30 years [with Hanneman active in the band], it would literally be like starting over", and doubting that Slayer's fanbase would approve such a change. Despite the uncertainty regarding the band's future, Slayer still worked on a followup to World Painted Blood. Additionally, it was reported that the new album would still feature material written by Hanneman.
At the 2014 Revolvers Golden Gods Awards ceremony, Slayer debuted "Implode", its first new song in five years. The group announced that they had signed with Nuclear Blast, and planned to release a new album in 2015. It was reported that Holt would take over Hanneman's guitar duties full-time, although Holt did not participate in the songwriting. In February, Slayer announced a seventeen date American tour to start in June featuring Suicidal Tendencies and Exodus. In 2015, Slayer headlined the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival for the second time. Repentless, the band's twelfth studio album, was released on September 11, 2015. Slayer toured for two-and-a-half years in support of Repentless. The band toured Europe with Anthrax and Kvelertak in October and November 2015, and embarked on three North American tours: one with Testament and Carcass in February and March 2016, then with Anthrax and Death Angel in September and October 2016, and with Lamb of God and Behemoth in July and August 2017. A lone date in Southeast Asia in 2017 was held in the Philippines.
Cancelled thirteenth studio album, farewell tour and split (2016–2019)
In August 2016, guitarist Kerry King was asked if Slayer would release a follow-up to Repentless. He replied, "We've got lots of leftover material from the last album, 'cause we wrote so much stuff, and we recorded a bunch of it too. If the lyrics don't change the song musically, those songs are done. So we are way ahead of the ballgame without even doing anything for the next record. And I've been working on stuff on my downtime. Like, I'll warm up and a riff will come to mind and I'll record it. I've gotten a handful of those on this run. So wheels are still turning. I haven't worked on anything lyrically yet except for what was done on the last record, so that's something I've gotta get on. But, yeah, Repentless isn't quite a year old yet." King also stated that Slayer was not expected to enter the studio until at least 2018. In an October interview on Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta's podcast, King stated that he was "completely open" to having guitarist Gary Holt (who had no songwriting contributions on Repentless) involved in the songwriting process of the next Slayer album. He explained, "I'm entirely open to having Gary work on something. I know he's gotta work on an Exodus record and I've got tons already for this one. But, you know, if he's gonna stick around... I didn't want it on the last one, and I knew that. I'm completely open to having that conversation. I haven't talked to Tom about it, I haven't talked to Gary open about it, but I'm open. That's not saying it is or isn't gonna happen. But my ears are open."
In a June 2017 interview with the Ultimate Guitar Archive, Holt said that he was ready to contribute with the songwriting for the next album. When speaking to Revolver, King was asked if there were any plans in place for the band to begin working on the album, he said, "Funny thing is, Repentless isn't even two years old yet, though it seems like it is. But from that session, there are six or eight songs that are recorded—some with vocals, some with leads, but all with keeper guitar, drums and bass. So when those songs get finished lyrically, if the lyrics don't change the songs, they'll be ready to be on the next record. So we already have more than half a record complete, if those songs make it." He also gave conceivable consideration that it could be released next year, "I'm certainly not gonna promise it, because every time I do, I make a liar of myself! [Laughs]" When asked about any plans or the timeline the band would like to release the album, King said, "It depends on touring—getting time to rehearse, getting time to make up new stuff. We haven't even done Australia on this run yet at all. We're hitting Japan finally later this year. But if things go well, I'd like to record next year. But timelines change all the time." In an October 2017 interview, Holt once again expressed his desire to contribute to the songwriting for the next Slayer album, saying, "When that time comes and we are ready for the next album, if Kerry wants me to contribute, I've got riffs. I've got stuff right now that I've written that I am not using for Exodus, because it was kind of maybe just unintentional subconscious thing, like, 'It sounds a little too Slayer.'"
On January 22, 2018, Slayer announced their farewell world tour through a video featuring a montage of press clippings, early posters and press photos spanning the band's entire career. Although the members of Slayer have never publicly explained why they were retiring from touring, it was thought that one of the reasons behind this decision was at the expense of Tom Araya's desire not to tour anymore and to spend more time with his family. This was confirmed by former drummer Dave Lombardo in a 2019 interview, who said: "Apparently, from what I hear. Tom has been wanting to retire when I was in the band — he wanted to stop. He had the neck issues. He's been wanting to retire for a long time now. So now that he's got it, I'm happy for him, and I hope he gets what he wants out of life and his future."
The farewell tour began with a North American trek in May and June 2018, supported by Lamb of God, Anthrax, Behemoth and Testament. The second leg of the North American tour took place in July and August, with Napalm Death replacing Behemoth, followed in November and December by a European tour with Lamb of God, Anthrax and Obituary. The farewell tour continued into 2019, with plans to visit places such as South America, Australia and Japan; in addition to European festivals such as Hellfest and Graspop, the band toured the United States in May 2019 with Lamb of God, Amon Amarth and Cannibal Corpse. Slayer also played one show in Mexico at Force Fest in October 2018.
On December 2, 2018, Holt announced that he would not perform the remainder of the band's European tour to be with his dying father. Vio-lence and former Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel would fill in for him as a result.
Holt had stated that Slayer would not release a new album before the end of the farewell tour. On how long the tour would last, Holt's Exodus bandmate Steve "Zetro" Souza commented, "I'm speculating it's gonna take a year and a half or two years to do the one final thing, but I believe it's finished. Everybody knows what I know; just because I'm on the outside, I have no insight on that." The final North American leg of the tour, dubbed "The Last Campaign", took place in November 2019, and also included support from Primus, Ministry and Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals. Despite being referred to as a farewell tour for Slayer, their manager Rick Sales has stated that the band is not breaking up, but has no intention of ever performing live again. Kristen Mulderig, who works with Rick Sales Entertainment Group, has also been quoted as saying that there would be Slayer-related activities following the tour's conclusion. However, within two days after the tour's completion, King's wife Ayesha stated on her Instagram page that there is "not a chance in hell" that Slayer would ever reunite to perform more shows or release new music.
Aftermath (2020–present)
In March 2020, when talking to Guitar World about his latest endorsement with Dean Guitars, King hinted that he would continue to make music outside of Slayer, simply saying, "Dean didn't sign me for nothing!" King stated in an August 2020 interview on the Dean Guitars YouTube channel that he has "more than two records' worth of music" for his yet-to-be disclosed new project. Bostaph later confirmed that he and King are working on a new project that will "sound like Slayer without it being Slayer — but not intentionally so."
When asked by the Let There Be Talk podcast in June 2020 if a Slayer reunion would ever happen, Holt stated, "If it does, if it ever happens, it has nothing to do with me. Someone else would call and say, 'We wanna [do this].' To my knowledge, it's done. And I think it should be that way. The band went out fucking on a bang, went out on Slayer's terms, and how many people get to say they did that?". In August 2020, King's wife Ayesha once again ruled out the possibility of a Slayer reunion, saying that her husband and Araya will "never be Slayer again".
When asked in a March 2021 interview if Slayer would consider reuniting for a special show or tour, Holt said, "That's a question I couldn't answer you, whether Slayer would ever get back together. Those are questions that are above my pay scale, I guess you'd say. Look, if the powers that be ever — like, in a year or something — said, 'Hey, you know what? We feel like playing some shows,' I'm there to do it," Holt added. "But those aren't decisions for me to make, or even me to really speculate on. As far as my knowledge, the band is over, and the final show was November 30, 2019. And I'm full speed ahead with Exodus now."
On October 12, 2021, King expressed regret that Slayer had retired "too early." While congratulating Machine Head on their 30th anniversary as a band, he said, "Apparently, it's 30 years, which is quite an achievement. Not a lot of bands get there. We did, and then we quit too early. Fuck us. Fuck me. I hate fucking not playing." In an interview with Metal Hammer a few days later, King reiterated that he would continue to work outside of Slayer: "I'm dragging my feet on letting the world know what I'm doing because there's no rush. I have a tour that I'm considering doing, but I'm not going to announce a band, I'm not going to announce a record, I'm not going to announce anything. But you will see me in the future — it will be fucking good." When interviewed again two months later by Metal Hammer, King did not rule out the possibility of any more "Big Four" shows with Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax, but expressed doubt that a Slayer reunion would ever happen: "The way that I'm moving forward is I don't think Slayer are ever going to play again. There's no business of me playing by myself!"
Musical style
Slayer is considered a thrash metal band. In an article from December 1986 by the Washington Post, writer Joe Brown described Slayer as speed metal, a genre he defined as "an unholy hybrid of punk rock thrash and heavy metal that attracts an almost all-male teen-age following". Describing Slayer's music, Brown wrote: "Over a jackhammer beat, Slayer's stun guitars created scraping sheets of corrosive metal noise, with occasional solos that sounded like squealing brakes, over which the singer-bassist emitted a larynx-lacerating growl-yowl." In an article from September 1988 by the New York Times, writer Jon Pareles also described Slayer as speed metal, additionally writing that the band "brings the sensational imagery of tabloids and horror movies" and has lyrics that "revel in death, gore and allusions to Satanism and Nazism." Pareles also described other "Big Four" thrash metal bands Metallica and Megadeth as speed metal bands. Slayer's early works were praised for their "breakneck speed and instrumental prowess", combining the structure of hardcore punk tempos and speed metal. The band released fast, aggressive material. The album Reign in Blood is the band's fastest, performed at an average of 220 beats per minute; the album Diabolus in Musica was the band's first to feature C tuning; God Hates Us All was the first to feature drop B tuning and seven-string guitars tuned to B. AllMusic cited the album as "abandoning the extravagances and accessibility of their late-'80s/early-'90s work and returning to perfect the raw approach", with some fans labeling it as nu metal.
King and Hanneman's dual guitar solos have been referred to as "wildly chaotic", and "twisted genius". Original drummer Lombardo would use two bass drums (instead of a double pedal, which is used on a single bass drum). Lombardo's speed and aggression earned him the title of the "godfather of double bass" by Drummerworld. Lombardo stated his reasons for using two bass drums: "When you hit the bass drum, the head is still resonating. When you hit it in the same place right after that, you kinda get a 'slapback' from the bass drum head hitting the other pedal. You're not letting them breathe." When playing the two bass drums, Lombardo would use the "heel-up" technique.
In the original lineup, King, Hanneman and Araya contributed to the band's lyrics, and King and Hanneman wrote the music with additional arrangement from Lombardo, and sometimes Araya. Araya formed a lyric writing partnership with Hanneman, which sometimes overshadowed the creative input of King. Hanneman stated that writing lyrics and music was a "free-for-all": "It's all just whoever comes up with what. Sometimes I'll be more on a roll and I'll have more stuff, same with Kerry – it's whoever's hot, really. Anybody can write anything; if it's good, we use it; if not, we don't."
When writing material, the band would write the music first before incorporating lyrics. King or Hanneman used a 24-track and drum machine to show band members the riff that they created, and to get their opinion. Either King, Hanneman or Lombardo would mention if any alterations could be made. The band played the riff to get the basic song structure, and figured out where the lyrics and solos would be placed.
Legacy
Slayer is one of the most influential bands in heavy metal history. Steve Huey of AllMusic believes the musical style of Slayer makes the band stronger than the other members of the "Big Four" thrash metal bands Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax, all of which rose to fame during the 1980s. Slayer's "downtuned rhythms, infectious guitar licks, graphically violent lyrics and grisly artwork set the standard for dozens of emerging thrash bands" and their "music was directly responsible for the rise of death metal" states MTV, ranking Slayer as the sixth "greatest metal band of all time", ranking number 50 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. Hanneman and King ranked number 10 in Guitar Worlds "100 greatest metal guitarists of all time" in 2004, and were voted "Best Guitarist/Guitar Team" in Revolver's reader's poll. Original drummer Lombardo was also voted "Best Drummer" and the band entered the top five in the categories "Best Band Ever", "Best Live Band", "Album of the Year" (for Christ Illusion) and "Band of the Year".
Music author Joel McIver considers Slayer very influential in the extreme metal scene, especially in the development of the death metal and black metal subgenres. According to John Consterdine of Terrorizer, without "Slayer's influence, extreme metal as we know it wouldn't exist." Kam Lee of Massacre and former member of Death stated: "there wouldn't be death metal or black metal or even extreme metal (the likes of what it is today) if not for Slayer." Johan Reinholdz of Andromeda said that Slayer "were crucial in the development of thrash metal which then became the foundation for a lot of different subgenres. They inspired generations of metal bands." Alex Skolnick of Testament declared: "Before Slayer, metal had never had such razor-sharp articulation, tightness, and balance between sound and stops. This all-out sonic assault was about the shock, the screams, the drums, and [...] most importantly the riffs."
Groups who cited Slayer among their major influences include Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet for My Valentine, Fear Factory, Machine Head, Children of Bodom, Slipknot, Gojira, Carnifex, Hatebreed, Cannibal Corpse, Pantera, Kreator, Sadistic Intent, Mayhem, Darkthrone, System of a Down, Lamb of God, Behemoth, Evile and Lacuna Coil. Steve Asheim, drummer for Deicide, declared that "there obviously would not have been a Deicide as we know it without the existence of Slayer." Sepultura guitarist Andreas Kisser affirmed that "without Slayer, Sepultura would never be possible." Weezer mentions them in the song "Heart Songs" from their 2008 self-titled "Red" album. The verse goes: "Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Slayer taught me how to shred..." Dave Grohl recalled, "Me and my friends, we just wanted to listen to fucking Slayer and take acid and smash stuff."
The band's 1986 release Reign in Blood has been an influence to extreme and thrash metal bands since its release and is considered the record which set the bar for death metal. It had a significant influence on the genre leaders such as Death, Obituary, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel and Napalm Death. The album was hailed the "heaviest album of all time" by Kerrang!, a "genre-definer" by Stylus, and a "stone-cold classic upon its release" by AllMusic. In 2006, Reign in Blood was named the best metal album of the last 20 years by Metal Hammer. According to Nielsen SoundScan, Slayer sold 4,900,000 copies in the United States from 1991 to 2013.
Controversy
A lawsuit was brought against the band in 1996, by the parents of Elyse Pahler, who accused the band of encouraging their daughter's murderers through their lyrics. Pahler was drugged, strangled, stabbed, trampled on, and raped as a sacrifice to the devil by three fans of the band. The case was unsealed by the court on May 19, 2000, stating Slayer and related business markets distribute harmful products to teens, encouraging violent acts through their lyrics, and "none of the vicious crimes committed against Elyse Marie Pahler would have occurred without the intentional marketing strategy of the death-metal band Slayer." The lawsuit was dismissed in 2001, for multiple reasons including "principles of free speech, lack of a duty and lack of foreseeability." A second lawsuit was filed by the parents, an amended complaint for damages against Slayer, their label, and other industry and label entities. The lawsuit was again dismissed. Judge E. Jeffrey Burke stated, "I do not consider Slayer's music obscene, indecent or harmful to minors."
Slayer has been accused of holding Nazi sympathies, due to the band's eagle logo bearing resemblance to the Eagle atop swastika and the lyrics of "Angel of Death". "Angel of Death" was inspired by the acts of Josef Mengele, the doctor who conducted human experiments on prisoners during World War II at the Auschwitz concentration camp, and was dubbed the "Angel of Death" by inmates.
Slayer's cover of Minor Threat's "Guilty of Being White" raised questions about a possible message of white supremacy in the band's music. The controversy surrounding the cover involved the changing of the refrain "guilty of being white" to "guilty of being right", at the song's ending. This incensed Minor Threat frontman Ian MacKaye, who stated "that is so offensive to me." King said it was changed for "tongue-in-cheek" humor as he thought the allegation of racism at the time was "ridiculous".
In a 2004 interview with Araya, when asked, "Did critics realize you were wallowing in parody?" Araya replied, "No. People thought we were serious!...back then you had that PMRC, who literally took everything to heart, when in actuality you're trying to create an image. You're trying to scare people on purpose." Araya also denied rumors that Slayer members are Satanists, but they find the subject of Satanism interesting and "we are all on this planet to learn and experience."
The song "Jihad" of the album Christ Illusion sparked controversy among families of the September 11 victims. The song deals with the attack from the perspective of a religious terrorist. The band stated the song is spoken through perspective without being sympathetic to the cause, and supports neither side.
Seventeen bus benches promoting the same album in Fullerton, California were deemed offensive by city officials. City officials contacted the band's record label and demanded that the ads be removed. All benches were eliminated.
In India, Christ Illusion was recalled by EMI India after protests with Christian religious groups due to the nature of the graphic artwork. The album cover was designed by Slayer's longtime collaborator Larry Carroll and features Christ in a "sea of despair", with amputated arms, missing an eye, while standing in a sea of blood with severed heads. Joseph Dias of the Mumbai Christian group Catholic Secular Forum in India took "strong exception" to the original album artwork, and issued a memorandum to Mumbai's police commissioner in protest. On October 11, 2006, EMI announced that all stocks had been destroyed, noting it had no plans to re-release the record in India in the future.
Band membersFormer members Kerry King – guitars (1981–2019)
Tom Araya – bass, vocals (1981–2019)
Jeff Hanneman – guitars (1981–2013) (died 2013)
Dave Lombardo – drums (1981–1986, 1987–1992, 2001–2013)
Paul Bostaph – drums (1992–1996, 1997–2001, 2013–2019)
Jon Dette – drums (1996–1997)
Gary Holt – guitars (2013–2019)Touring musicians Tony Scaglione – drums (1986–1987)
Pat O'Brien – guitars (2011)
Gary Holt – guitars (2011–2013)
Jon Dette – drums (2013)
Phil Demmel – guitars (2018)Timeline'''
Discography
Show No Mercy (1983)
Hell Awaits (1985)
Reign in Blood (1986)
South of Heaven (1988)
Seasons in the Abyss (1990)
Divine Intervention (1994)
Undisputed Attitude (1996)
Diabolus in Musica (1998)
God Hates Us All (2001)
Christ Illusion (2006)
World Painted Blood (2009)
Repentless (2015)
Awards and nominations
|-
!scope="row"| 2002
| "Disciple" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"|2007
| "Eyes of the Insane" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"| 2008
|| "Final Six" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"|2010
| "Hate Worldwide" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"|2011
| "World Painted Blood" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2006
| Slayer || Kerrang! Hall of Fame ||
|-
!scope="row"|2013
| Slayer || Kerrang! Legend ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2003
| War at the Warfield || DVD of the Year ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2010
| Kerry King || God of Riffs ||
|-
!scope="row"|2013
| Jeff Hanneman || God of Riffs ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2004
| Slayer || Best Live Act ||
|-
!scope="row"|2006
| Reign in Blood || Best Album of the Last 20 Years ||
|-
!scope="row"|2007
| | "Eyes of the Insane" || Best Video ||
|-
!scope="row"|2007
||Slayer || Icon Award ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2006
| Christ Illusion || Best Thrash Metal Album ||
|-
!scope="row"|2015
| "Repentless" || Best Video ||
|-
Footnotes
From late 2010 until his death in May 2013, Jeff Hanneman's participation in Slayer was minimal. In January 2011, he contracted necrotizing fasciitis, which severely restricted his ability to perform. He appeared publicly with the band on only one known occasion, playing two songs during an encore at one of Slayer's Big 4 performances in April 2011; he also attended rehearsals for Fun Fun Fun Fest in November 2011, but did not end up performing at this show. By July 2012, Hanneman had not written or recorded any new material for the band's follow up to 2009's World Painted Blood''. In February 2013, Kerry King stated he was planning on recording all of the guitar parts for the upcoming album himself, but was open to Hanneman's return if he was willing and able. King also denied that Gary Holt, member of Exodus and Hanneman's live fill-in, would write or record anything for the upcoming album. Hanneman died on May 2, 2013 at the age of 49 due to liver failure.
Citations
Further reading
External links
1981 establishments in California
Thrash metal musical groups from California
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Def Jam Recordings artists
Grammy Award winners
Kerrang! Awards winners
Metal Blade Records artists
Musical groups disestablished in 2019
Musical groups established in 1981
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical quartets
Nuclear Blast artists
Obscenity controversies in music | false | [
"\"Did Anyone Approach You?\" is a song by the Norwegian band A-ha. It was the third single to be taken from their 2002 album Lifelines. It was recorded at The Alabaster Room in New York City sometime between June 2001 and January 2002.\n\nTrack listing\n \"Did Anyone Approach You? (Original Album Version)\" (4:11)\n \"Did Anyone Approach You? (Turner Remix)\" (3:43)\n \"Did Anyone Approach You? (Reamped)\" (4:51)\n \"Did Anyone Approach You? (Tore Johansson Remix)\" (5:55)\n \"Afternoon High (Demo Version)\" (4:40)\n \"Did Anyone Approach You? (Video Clip)\" (4:11)\n\nVideo\nThe video was filmed by Lauren Savoy, the wife of A-ha guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy. It was shot at Ullevaal Stadion on 6 June 2002, the first concert on the band's Lifelines tour.\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n2002 singles\nA-ha songs\nSongs written by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy\nWarner Music Group singles\n2002 songs",
"Anyone may refer to:\n\n Anyone (band), a band from Southern California formed in 1995\n \"Anyone\" (Roxette song), a 1999 song by Roxette\n \"Anyone\" (Demi Lovato song), a 2020 song by Demi Lovato\n \"Anyone\" (Justin Bieber song), a 2021 song by Justin Bieber\n \"Anyone\", a 1971 song by Sophia Loren from the film The Priest's Wife"
] |
[
"Slayer",
"South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss (1988-1993)",
"Who produced South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss?",
"Slayer's",
"Can you tell me something interesting about the article?",
"Press response to the album was mixed,",
"What record label released the album?",
"Slayer's",
"Did any singles make the Billboard Top 200?",
"South of Heaven",
"Did Slayer tour for the album?",
"Slayer returned as a live act in September 1990 to co-headline",
"Did anyone leave the band from 1988-1993?",
"In May 1992, Lombardo quit the band due to conflicts"
] | C_07397c12d123426cacfc6b32eb6905ad_0 | Did they record any songs for films? | 7 | Did Slayer record any songs for films? | Slayer | In late 1987, Slayer returned to the studio to record their fourth studio album. To contrast the speed of Reign in Blood, the band consciously decided to slow down the tempos, and incorporate more melodic singing. According to Hanneman, "We knew we couldn't top Reign in Blood, so we had to slow down. We knew whatever we did was gonna be compared to that album, and I remember we actually discussed slowing down. It was weird--we've never done that on an album, before or since." Released in July 1988, South of Heaven received mixed responses from both fans and critics, although it was Slayer's most commercially successful release at the time, debuting at number 57 on the Billboard 200, and their second album to receive gold certification in the United States. Press response to the album was mixed, with AllMusic citing the album as "disturbing and powerful," and Kim Nelly of Rolling Stone calling it "genuinely offensive satanic drivel." King said "that album was my most lackluster performance," although Araya called it a "late bloomer" which eventually grew on people. Slayer returned to the studio in spring 1990 with co-producer Andy Wallace to record its fifth studio album. Following the backlash created by South of Heaven, Slayer returned to the "pounding speed of Reign in Blood, while retaining their newfound melodic sense." Seasons in the Abyss, released on October 25, 1990, was the first Slayer album to be released under Rubin's new Def American label, as he had parted ways with Def Jam owner Russell Simmons over creative differences. The album debuted at number 44 on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold in 1992. The album spawned Slayer's first music video for the album's title track, which was filmed in front of the Giza pyramids in Egypt. Slayer returned as a live act in September 1990 to co-headline the European Clash of the Titans tour with Megadeth, Suicidal Tendencies, and Testament. During the sold out European leg of this tour tickets fetched up to 1,000 Deutschmark ($680 USD) on the black market. With the popularity of American thrash at its peak, the tour was extended to the US beginning in May 1991, with Megadeth, Anthrax and opening act Alice in Chains. The band released a double live album, Decade of Aggression in 1991, to celebrate ten years since their formation. The compilation debuted at number 55 on the Billboard 200. In May 1992, Lombardo quit the band due to conflicts with other members, as well as his desire to be off tour for the birth of his first child. Lombardo formed his own band Grip Inc, with Voodoocult guitarist Waldemar Sorychta, and Slayer recruited former Forbidden drummer Paul Bostaph to take his place. Slayer made its debut appearance with Bostaph at the 1992 Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington. Bostaph's first studio effort was a medley of three Exploited songs, "War," "UK '82," and "Disorder," with rapper Ice-T, for the Judgment Night movie soundtrack in 1993. CANNOTANSWER | Bostaph's first studio effort was a medley of three Exploited songs, | Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo, and bassist and vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them one of the "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax. Slayer's final lineup comprised King, Araya, drummer Paul Bostaph (who replaced Lombardo in 1992 and again in 2013) and guitarist Gary Holt (who replaced Hanneman in 2011). Drummer Jon Dette was also a member of the band.
In the original lineup, King, Hanneman and Araya contributed to the band's lyrics, and all of the band's music was written by King and Hanneman. The band's lyrics and album art, which cover topics such as murder, serial killers, torture, genocide, politics, theories, human subject research, organized crime, secret societies, mythology, occultism, Satanism, hate crimes, terrorism, religion or antireligion, Nazism, fascism, racism, xenophobia, misanthropy, war and prison, have generated album bans, delays, lawsuits and criticism from religious groups and factions of the general public. However, its music has been highly influential, often being cited by many bands as an influence musically, visually and lyrically; the band's third album, Reign in Blood (1986), has been described as one of the heaviest and most influential thrash metal albums.
Slayer released twelve studio albums, two live albums, a box set, six music videos, two extended plays and a cover album. Four of the band's studio albums have received gold certification in the United States. Slayer sold 5 million copies in the United States from 1991 to 2013, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and over 20 million worldwide. The band has received five Grammy Award nominations, winning one in 2007 for the song "Eyes of the Insane" and one in 2008 for the song "Final Six", both of which were from the album Christ Illusion (2006). After more than three decades of recording and performing, Slayer announced in January 2018 that it would embark on a farewell tour, which took place from May 2018 to November 2019, after which the band disbanded.
History
Early years (1981–1983)
Slayer was formed in 1981 by Kerry King, Jeff Hanneman, Dave Lombardo, and Tom Araya in Huntington Park, CA. The group started out playing covers of songs by bands such as Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Venom at parties and clubs in Southern California. The band's early image relied heavily on Satanic themes that featured pentagrams, make-up, spikes, and inverted crosses. Rumors that the band was originally known as Dragonslayer, after the 1981 film of the same name, were denied by King, as he later stated: "We never were; it's a myth to this day." According to Lombardo, the original band name was to be Wings of Fire before they settled in with Slayer. It was he who designed the iconic logo. For inspiration, Lombardo thought in a perspective of a murderer of how they would carve out the logo with a knife and since he's lefthanded, the logo is unintentionally slanted to the right.
In 1983, Slayer was invited to open for the band Bitch at the Woodstock Club in Anaheim, California to perform eight songs, six of which were covers. The band was spotted by Brian Slagel, a former music journalist who had recently founded Metal Blade Records. Impressed with Slayer, he met with the band backstage and asked them to record an original song for his upcoming Metal Massacre III compilation album. The band agreed and their song "Aggressive Perfector" created an underground buzz upon its release in mid 1983, which led to Slagel offering the band a recording contract with Metal Blade.
Show No Mercy, Haunting the Chapel and Hell Awaits (1983–1986)
Without any recording budget, the band had to self-finance its debut album. Combining the savings of Araya, who was employed as a respiratory therapist, and money borrowed from King's father, the band entered the studio in November 1983. The album was rushed into release, stocking shelves three weeks after tracks were completed. Show No Mercy, released in December 1983 by Metal Blade Records, generated underground popularity for the band. The group began a club tour of California to promote the album. The tour gave the band additional popularity and sales of Show No Mercy eventually reached more than 20,000 in the US and another 20,000 worldwide.
In February 1984, King briefly joined Dave Mustaine's new band Megadeth. Hanneman was worried about King's decision, stating in an interview, "I guess we're gonna get a new guitar player." While Mustaine wanted King to stay on a permanent basis, King left after five shows, stating Mustaine's band was "taking too much of my time." The split caused a rift between King and Mustaine, which evolved into a long running feud between the two bands.
In June 1984, Slayer released a three-track EP called Haunting the Chapel. The EP featured a darker, more thrash-oriented style than Show No Mercy, and laid the groundwork for the future direction of the band. The opening track, "Chemical Warfare", has become a live staple, played at nearly every show since 1984.
Later that year, Slayer began their first national club tour, traveling in Araya's Camaro towing a U-Haul trailer. The band recorded the live album Live Undead in November 1984 while in New York City.
In March 1985, Slayer began a national tour with Venom and Exodus, resulting in their first live home video dubbed Combat Tour: The Ultimate Revenge. The video featured live footage filmed at the Studio 54 club. The band then made its live European debut at the Heavy Sound Festival in Belgium opening for UFO. Also in 1985, Slayer toured or played selected shows with bands like Megadeth, Destruction, D.R.I., Possessed, Agent Steel, S.O.D., Nasty Savage and Metal Church.
Show No Mercy had sold over 40,000 copies, which led to the band returning to the studio to record their second full-length album. Metal Blade financed a recording budget, which allowed the band to hire producer Ron Fair. Released in March 1985, Slayer's second full-length album, Hell Awaits, expanded on the darkness of Haunting the Chapel, with hell and Satan as common song subjects. The album was the band's most progressive offering, featuring longer and more complex song structures. The intro of the title track is a backwards recording of a demonic-sounding voice repeating "Join us", ending with "Welcome back" before the track begins. The album was a hit, with fans choosing Slayer for best band, best live band, Hell Awaits, as 1985's best album, and Dave Lombardo as best drummer in the British magazine Metal Forces 1985 Readers Poll.
Reign in Blood, Lombardo's brief hiatus and South of Heaven (1986–1989)
Following the success of Hell Awaits, Slayer was offered a recording contract with Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin's newly founded Def Jam Records, a largely hip hop-based label. The band accepted, and with an experienced producer and major label recording budget, the band underwent a sonic makeover for their third album Reign in Blood, resulting in shorter, faster songs with clearer production. The complex arrangements and long songs featured on Hell Awaits were ditched in favor of stripped down, hardcore punk influenced song structures.
Def Jam's distributor, Columbia Records, refused to release the album due to the song "Angel of Death" which detailed Holocaust concentration camps and the human experiments conducted by Nazi physician Josef Mengele. The album was distributed by Geffen Records on October 7, 1986. However, due to the controversy, Reign in Blood did not appear on Geffen Records' release schedule. Although the album received virtually no radio airplay, it became the band's first to enter the Billboard 200, debuting at number 94, and the band's first album certified gold in the United States.
Slayer embarked on the Reign in Pain world tour, with Overkill in the US from October to December 1986, and Malice in Europe in April and May 1987. They also played with other bands such as Agnostic Front, Testament, Metal Church, D.R.I., Dark Angel and Flotsam and Jetsam. The band was added as the opening act on W.A.S.P.'s US tour, but just one month into it, drummer Lombardo left the band: "I wasn't making any money. I figured if we were gonna be doing this professionally, on a major label, I wanted my rent and utilities paid." To continue with the tour, Slayer enlisted Tony Scaglione of Whiplash. However, Lombardo was convinced by his wife to return in 1987. At the insistence of Rubin, Slayer recorded a cover version of Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" for the film Less Than Zero. Although the band was not happy with the final product, Hanneman deeming it "a poor representation of Slayer" and King labeling it "a hunk of shit", it was one of their first songs to garner radio airplay.
In late 1987, Slayer returned to the studio to record their fourth studio album. To contrast the speed of Reign in Blood, the band consciously decided to slow down the tempos, and incorporate more melodic singing. According to Hanneman, "We knew we couldn't top Reign in Blood, so we had to slow down. We knew whatever we did was gonna be compared to that album, and I remember we actually discussed slowing down. It was weird—we've never done that on an album, before or since."
Released in July 1988, South of Heaven received mixed responses from both fans and critics, although it was Slayer's most commercially successful release at the time, debuting at number 57 on the Billboard 200, and their second album to receive gold certification in the United States. Press response to the album was mixed, with AllMusic citing the album as "disturbing and powerful", and Kim Nelly of Rolling Stone calling it "genuinely offensive satanic drivel". King said "that album was my most lackluster performance", although Araya called it a "late bloomer" which eventually grew on people. Slayer toured from August 1988 to January 1989 to promote South of Heaven, supporting Judas Priest in the US on their Ram It Down tour, and touring Europe with Nuclear Assault and the US with Motörhead and Overkill.
Seasons in the Abyss and Lombardo's second departure (1990–1993)
Slayer returned to the studio in early 1990 with co-producer Andy Wallace to record its fifth studio album. Following the backlash created by South of Heaven, Slayer returned to the "pounding speed of Reign in Blood, while retaining their newfound melodic sense." Seasons in the Abyss, released on October 9, 1990, was the first Slayer album to be released under Rubin's new Def American label, as he had parted ways with Def Jam owner Russell Simmons over creative differences. The album debuted at number 44 on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold in 1992. The album spawned Slayer's first music video for the album's title track, which was filmed in front of the Giza pyramids in Egypt.
Slayer returned as a live act in September 1990 to co-headline the European Clash of the Titans tour with Megadeth, Suicidal Tendencies, and Testament. During the sold out European leg of this tour, tickets had prices skyrocket to 1,000 Deutschmark (US$680) on the black market. With the popularity of American thrash at its peak, the band toured with Testament again in early 1991 and triple-headlined the North American version of the Clash of the Titans tour that summer with Megadeth, Anthrax, and opening act Alice in Chains. The band released a double live album, Decade of Aggression in 1991, to celebrate ten years since their formation. The compilation debuted at number 55 on the Billboard 200.
In May 1992, Lombardo left the band due to conflicts with the other members, as well as his desire to be off tour for the birth of his first child. Lombardo formed his own band Grip Inc., with Voodoocult guitarist Waldemar Sorychta, and Slayer recruited former Forbidden drummer Paul Bostaph to fill in the drummer position. Slayer made its debut appearance with Bostaph at the 1992 Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington. Bostaph's first studio effort was a medley of three Exploited songs, "War", "UK '82", and "Disorder", with rapper Ice-T, for the Judgment Night movie soundtrack in 1993.
Divine Intervention, Undisputed Attitude and Diabolus in Musica (1994–2000)
In 1994, Slayer released Divine Intervention, the band's first album with Bostaph on the drums. The album featured songs about Reinhard Heydrich, an architect of the Holocaust, and Jeffrey Dahmer, an American serial killer and sex offender. Other themes included murder, the evils of church, and the lengths to which governments went to wield power, Araya's interest in serial killers inspired much of the content of the lyrics.
Slayer geared up for a world tour in 1995, with openers Biohazard and Machine Head. A video of concert footage, Live Intrusion was released, featuring a joint cover of Venom's "Witching Hour" with Machine Head. Following the tour, Slayer was billed third at the 1995 Monsters of Rock festival, headlined by Metallica. In 1996, Undisputed Attitude, an album of punk covers, was released. The band covered songs by Minor Threat, T.S.O.L., Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, D.I., Verbal Abuse, Dr. Know, and The Stooges. The album featured three original tracks, "Gemini", "Can't Stand You", "Ddamm"; the latter two were written by Hanneman in 1984–1985 for a side project entitled Pap Smear. Bostaph left Slayer shortly after the album's recording to work on his own project, Truth About Seafood. With Bostaph's departure, Slayer recruited Testament drummer Jon Dette, and headlined the 1996 Ozzfest alongside Ozzy Osbourne, Danzig, Biohazard, Sepultura, and Fear Factory. Dette was fired after a year, due to a fallout with band members. After that, Bostaph returned to continue the tour.
Diabolus in Musica (Latin for "The Devil in Music") was released in 1998, and debuted at number 31 on the Billboard 200, selling over 46,000 copies in its first week. It was complete by September 1997, and scheduled to be released the following month, but got delayed by nine months after their label was taken over by Columbia Records. The album received a mixed critical reception, and was criticized for adopting characteristics of nu metal music such as tuned down guitars, murky chord structures, and churning beats. Blabbermouth.net reviewer Borijov Krgin described the album as "a feeble attempt at incorporating updated elements into the group's sound, the presence of which elevated the band's efforts somewhat and offered hope that Slayer could refrain from endlessly rehashing their previous material for their future output", while Ben Ratliff of The New York Times had similar sentiments, writing on June 22, 1998 that: "Eight of the 11 songs on Diabolus in Musica, a few of which were played at the show, are in the same gray key, and the band's rhythmic ideas have a wearying sameness too."
The album was the band's first to primarily feature dropped tuning, as featured on the lead track, "Bitter Peace", making use of the tritone interval referred to in the Middle Ages as the Devil's interval. Slayer teamed up with digital hardcore group Atari Teenage Riot to record a song for the Spawn soundtrack titled "No Remorse (I Wanna Die)". The band paid tribute to Black Sabbath by recording a cover of "Hand of Doom" for the second of two tribute albums, titled Nativity in Black II. A world tour followed to support the new album, with Slayer making an appearance at the United Kingdom Ozzfest 1998.
God Hates Us All (2001–2005)
During mid-2001, the band joined Morbid Angel, Pantera, Skrape and Static-X on the Extreme Steel Tour of North America, which was Pantera's last major tour. After delays regarding remixing and artwork, including slip covers created to cover the original artwork as it was deemed "too graphic", Slayer's next album, God Hates Us All, was released on September 11, 2001. The band received its first Grammy nomination for the lead track "Disciple", although the Grammy was awarded to Tool, for "Schism". The September 11 attacks on America jeopardized the 2001 European tour Tattoo the Planet originally set to feature Pantera, Static-X, Cradle of Filth, Biohazard and Vision of Disorder. The dates in the United Kingdom were postponed due to flight restrictions, with a majority of bands deciding to withdraw, leaving Slayer and Cradle of Filth remaining for the European leg of the tour.
Pantera, Static-X, Vision of Disorder and Biohazard were replaced by other bands depending on location; Amorphis, In Flames, Moonspell, Children of Bodom, and Necrodeath. Biohazard eventually decided to rejoin the tour later on, and booked new gigs in the countries, where they missed a few dates. Drummer Bostaph left Slayer before Christmas in 2001, due to a chronic elbow injury, which would hinder his ability to play. Since the band's European tour was unfinished at that time, the band's manager, Rick Sales, contacted original drummer Dave Lombardo and asked if he would like to finish the remainder of the tour. Lombardo accepted the offer, and stayed as a permanent member.
Slayer toured playing Reign in Blood in its entirety throughout the fall of 2003, under the tour banner "Still Reigning". Their playing of the final song, "Raining Blood", culminated with the band drenched in a rain of stage blood. Live footage of this was recorded at the Augusta Civic Center in Augusta, Maine, on July 11, 2004 and released on the 2004 DVD Still Reigning. The band also released War at the Warfield and a box set, Soundtrack to the Apocalypse featuring rarities, live CD and DVD performances and various Slayer merchandise. From 2002 to 2004, the band performed over 250 tour dates, headlining major music festivals including H82k2, Summer tour, Ozzfest 2004 and a European tour with Slipknot. While preparing for the Download Festival in England, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich was taken to a hospital with an unknown and mysterious illness, and was unable to perform. Metallica vocalist James Hetfield searched for volunteers at the last minute to replace Ulrich; Lombardo and Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison volunteered, with Lombardo performing the songs "Battery" and "The Four Horsemen".
Christ Illusion (2006–2008)
The next studio album, Christ Illusion, was originally scheduled for release on June 6, 2006, and would be the first album with original drummer Lombardo since 1990's Seasons in the Abyss. However, the band decided to delay the release of the record, as they did not want to be among the many, according to King, "half-ass, stupid fucking loser bands" releasing records on June 6, although USA Today reported the idea was thwarted because the band failed to secure sufficient studio recording time. Slayer released Eternal Pyre on June 6 as a limited-edition EP. Eternal Pyre featured the song "Cult", a live performance of "War Ensemble" in Germany and video footage of the band recording "Cult". Five thousand copies were released and sold exclusively through Hot Topic chain stores, and sold out within hours of release. On June 30, Nuclear Blast Records released a 7" vinyl picture disc version limited to a thousand copies.
Christ Illusion was eventually released on August 8, 2006, and debuted at number 5 on the Billboard 200, selling over 62,000 copies in its first week. The album became Slayer's highest charting, improving on its previous highest charting album, Divine Intervention, which had debuted at number 8. However, despite its high positioning, the album dropped to number 44 in the following week. Three weeks after the album's release, Slayer were inducted into the Kerrang! Hall of Fame for their influence to the heavy metal scene.
A worldwide tour dubbed The Unholy Alliance Tour, was undertaken to support the new record. The tour was originally set to launch on June 6, but was postponed to June 10, as Araya had to undergo gall bladder surgery. In Flames, Mastodon, Children of Bodom, Lamb of God, and Thine Eyes Bleed (featuring Araya's brother, Johnny) and Ted Maul (London Hammersmith Apollo) were supporting Slayer. The tour made its way through America and Europe and the bands who participated, apart from Thine Eyes Bleed, reunited to perform at Japan's Loudpark Festival on October 15, 2006.
The video for the album's first single, "Eyes of the Insane", was released on October 30, 2006. The track was featured on the Saw III soundtrack, and won a Grammy-award for "Best Metal Performance" at the 49th Grammy Awards, although the band was unable to attend due to touring obligations. A week later, the band visited the 52nd Services Squadron located on the Spangdahlem U.S. Air Force Base in Germany to meet and play a show. This was the first visit ever to a military base for the band. The band made its first network TV appearance on the show Jimmy Kimmel Live! on January 19, playing the song "Eyes of the Insane", and four additional songs for fans after the show (although footage from "Jihad" was cut due to its controversial lyrical themes).
In 2007, Slayer toured Australia and New Zealand in April with Mastodon, and appeared at the Download Festival, Rock Am Ring, and a summer tour with Marilyn Manson and Bleeding Through.
World Painted Blood (2009–2011)
In 2008, Araya stated uncertainty about the future of the band, and that he could not see himself continuing the career at a later age. He said that once the band finished its upcoming album, which was the final record in their contract, the band would sit down and discuss its future. King was optimistic that the band would produce at least another two albums before considering to disband: "We're talking of going in the studio next February [2009] and getting the next record out so if we do things in a timely manner I don't see there's any reason why we can't have more than one album out." Slayer, along with Trivium, Mastodon, and Amon Amarth, teamed up for a European tour titled 'The Unholy Alliance: Chapter III', throughout October and November 2008. Slayer headlined the second Mayhem Festival in the summer of 2009. Slayer, along with Megadeth, also co-headlined Canadian Carnage, the first time they performed together in more than 15 years when they co-headlined four shows in Canada in late June 2009 with openers Machine Head and Suicide Silence.
The band's eleventh studio album, World Painted Blood, was released by American Recordings. It was available on November 3 in North America and November 2 for the rest of the world. The band stated that the album takes elements of all their previous works including Seasons in the Abyss, South of Heaven, and Reign in Blood. Slayer, along with Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax performed on the same bill for the first time on June 16, 2010 at Bemowo Airport, in Warsaw, Poland. One of the following Big 4 performances in (Sofia, Bulgaria, June 22, 2010) was sent via satellite in HD to cinemas. They also went on to play several other dates as part of the Sonisphere Festival. Megadeth and Slayer joined forces once again for the American Carnage Tour from July to October 2010 with opening acts Anthrax and Testament, and European Carnage Tour in March and April 2011. The "Big Four" played more dates at Sonisphere in England and France for the first time ever. Slayer returned to Australia in February and March 2011 as part of the Soundwave Festival and also played in California with the other members of the "Big Four".
In early 2011, Hanneman was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis. According to the band, doctors said that it likely originated from a spider bite. Araya said of Hanneman's condition: "Jeff was seriously ill. Jeff ended up contracting a bacteria that ate away his flesh on his arm, so they cut open his arm, from his wrist to his shoulder, and they did a skin graft on him, they cleaned up ... It was a flesh-eating virus, so he was really, really bad. So we'll wait for him to get better, and when he's a hundred percent, he's gonna come out and join us." The band decided to play their upcoming tour dates without Hanneman. Gary Holt of Exodus was announced as Hanneman's temporary replacement. Cannibal Corpse guitarist Pat O'Brien filled in for Holt during a tour in Europe. On April 23, 2011, at the American Big 4 show in Indio, California, Hanneman rejoined his bandmates to play the final two songs of their set, "South of Heaven" and "Angel of Death". This turned out to be Hanneman's final live performance with the band.
Hanneman's death, Lombardo's third split, and Repentless (2011–2016)
When asked if Slayer would make another album, Lombardo replied "Yes absolutely; Although there's nothing written, there are definitely plans." However, Araya said Slayer would not begin writing a new album until Hanneman's condition improved. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Reign In Blood, the band performed all of the album's tracks at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival at the Alexandra Palace in London."I'll Be Your Mirror London 2012 announced with co-curators Mogwai + Slayer". All Tomorrow's Parties. November 9, 2011.
In November 2011, Lombardo posted a tweet that the band had started to write new music. This presumably meant that Hanneman's condition improved, and it was believed he was ready to enter the studio. King had worked with Lombardo that year and they completed three songs. The band planned on entering the studio in either March or April 2012 and were hoping to have the album recorded before the group's US tour in late May and release it by the summer of that year. However, King said the upcoming album would not be finished until September and October of that year, making a 2013 release likely. In July 2012, King revealed two song titles for the upcoming album, "Chasing Death" and "Implode".
In February 2013, Lombardo was fired right before Slayer was to play at Australia's Soundwave festival due to an argument with band members over a pay dispute. Slayer and American Recordings released a statement, saying "Mr. Lombardo came to the band less than a week before their scheduled departure for Australia to present an entirely new set of terms for his engagement that were contrary to those that had been previously agreed upon", although Lombardo claimed there was a gag order in place. Dette returned to fill in for Lombardo for the Soundwave dates. It was confirmed that Lombardo was officially out of Slayer for the third time, and, in May, Bostaph rejoined the band.
On May 2, 2013, Hanneman died due to liver failure in a local hospital near his home in Southern California's Inland Empire; the cause of death was later determined to be alcohol-related cirrhosis. King confirmed that the band would continue, saying "Jeff is going to be in everybody's thoughts for a long time. It's unfortunate you can't keep unfortunate things from happening. But we're going to carry on – and he'll be there in spirit." However, Araya felt more uncertain about the band's future, expressing his belief that "After 30 years [with Hanneman active in the band], it would literally be like starting over", and doubting that Slayer's fanbase would approve such a change. Despite the uncertainty regarding the band's future, Slayer still worked on a followup to World Painted Blood. Additionally, it was reported that the new album would still feature material written by Hanneman.
At the 2014 Revolvers Golden Gods Awards ceremony, Slayer debuted "Implode", its first new song in five years. The group announced that they had signed with Nuclear Blast, and planned to release a new album in 2015. It was reported that Holt would take over Hanneman's guitar duties full-time, although Holt did not participate in the songwriting. In February, Slayer announced a seventeen date American tour to start in June featuring Suicidal Tendencies and Exodus. In 2015, Slayer headlined the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival for the second time. Repentless, the band's twelfth studio album, was released on September 11, 2015. Slayer toured for two-and-a-half years in support of Repentless. The band toured Europe with Anthrax and Kvelertak in October and November 2015, and embarked on three North American tours: one with Testament and Carcass in February and March 2016, then with Anthrax and Death Angel in September and October 2016, and with Lamb of God and Behemoth in July and August 2017. A lone date in Southeast Asia in 2017 was held in the Philippines.
Cancelled thirteenth studio album, farewell tour and split (2016–2019)
In August 2016, guitarist Kerry King was asked if Slayer would release a follow-up to Repentless. He replied, "We've got lots of leftover material from the last album, 'cause we wrote so much stuff, and we recorded a bunch of it too. If the lyrics don't change the song musically, those songs are done. So we are way ahead of the ballgame without even doing anything for the next record. And I've been working on stuff on my downtime. Like, I'll warm up and a riff will come to mind and I'll record it. I've gotten a handful of those on this run. So wheels are still turning. I haven't worked on anything lyrically yet except for what was done on the last record, so that's something I've gotta get on. But, yeah, Repentless isn't quite a year old yet." King also stated that Slayer was not expected to enter the studio until at least 2018. In an October interview on Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta's podcast, King stated that he was "completely open" to having guitarist Gary Holt (who had no songwriting contributions on Repentless) involved in the songwriting process of the next Slayer album. He explained, "I'm entirely open to having Gary work on something. I know he's gotta work on an Exodus record and I've got tons already for this one. But, you know, if he's gonna stick around... I didn't want it on the last one, and I knew that. I'm completely open to having that conversation. I haven't talked to Tom about it, I haven't talked to Gary open about it, but I'm open. That's not saying it is or isn't gonna happen. But my ears are open."
In a June 2017 interview with the Ultimate Guitar Archive, Holt said that he was ready to contribute with the songwriting for the next album. When speaking to Revolver, King was asked if there were any plans in place for the band to begin working on the album, he said, "Funny thing is, Repentless isn't even two years old yet, though it seems like it is. But from that session, there are six or eight songs that are recorded—some with vocals, some with leads, but all with keeper guitar, drums and bass. So when those songs get finished lyrically, if the lyrics don't change the songs, they'll be ready to be on the next record. So we already have more than half a record complete, if those songs make it." He also gave conceivable consideration that it could be released next year, "I'm certainly not gonna promise it, because every time I do, I make a liar of myself! [Laughs]" When asked about any plans or the timeline the band would like to release the album, King said, "It depends on touring—getting time to rehearse, getting time to make up new stuff. We haven't even done Australia on this run yet at all. We're hitting Japan finally later this year. But if things go well, I'd like to record next year. But timelines change all the time." In an October 2017 interview, Holt once again expressed his desire to contribute to the songwriting for the next Slayer album, saying, "When that time comes and we are ready for the next album, if Kerry wants me to contribute, I've got riffs. I've got stuff right now that I've written that I am not using for Exodus, because it was kind of maybe just unintentional subconscious thing, like, 'It sounds a little too Slayer.'"
On January 22, 2018, Slayer announced their farewell world tour through a video featuring a montage of press clippings, early posters and press photos spanning the band's entire career. Although the members of Slayer have never publicly explained why they were retiring from touring, it was thought that one of the reasons behind this decision was at the expense of Tom Araya's desire not to tour anymore and to spend more time with his family. This was confirmed by former drummer Dave Lombardo in a 2019 interview, who said: "Apparently, from what I hear. Tom has been wanting to retire when I was in the band — he wanted to stop. He had the neck issues. He's been wanting to retire for a long time now. So now that he's got it, I'm happy for him, and I hope he gets what he wants out of life and his future."
The farewell tour began with a North American trek in May and June 2018, supported by Lamb of God, Anthrax, Behemoth and Testament. The second leg of the North American tour took place in July and August, with Napalm Death replacing Behemoth, followed in November and December by a European tour with Lamb of God, Anthrax and Obituary. The farewell tour continued into 2019, with plans to visit places such as South America, Australia and Japan; in addition to European festivals such as Hellfest and Graspop, the band toured the United States in May 2019 with Lamb of God, Amon Amarth and Cannibal Corpse. Slayer also played one show in Mexico at Force Fest in October 2018.
On December 2, 2018, Holt announced that he would not perform the remainder of the band's European tour to be with his dying father. Vio-lence and former Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel would fill in for him as a result.
Holt had stated that Slayer would not release a new album before the end of the farewell tour. On how long the tour would last, Holt's Exodus bandmate Steve "Zetro" Souza commented, "I'm speculating it's gonna take a year and a half or two years to do the one final thing, but I believe it's finished. Everybody knows what I know; just because I'm on the outside, I have no insight on that." The final North American leg of the tour, dubbed "The Last Campaign", took place in November 2019, and also included support from Primus, Ministry and Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals. Despite being referred to as a farewell tour for Slayer, their manager Rick Sales has stated that the band is not breaking up, but has no intention of ever performing live again. Kristen Mulderig, who works with Rick Sales Entertainment Group, has also been quoted as saying that there would be Slayer-related activities following the tour's conclusion. However, within two days after the tour's completion, King's wife Ayesha stated on her Instagram page that there is "not a chance in hell" that Slayer would ever reunite to perform more shows or release new music.
Aftermath (2020–present)
In March 2020, when talking to Guitar World about his latest endorsement with Dean Guitars, King hinted that he would continue to make music outside of Slayer, simply saying, "Dean didn't sign me for nothing!" King stated in an August 2020 interview on the Dean Guitars YouTube channel that he has "more than two records' worth of music" for his yet-to-be disclosed new project. Bostaph later confirmed that he and King are working on a new project that will "sound like Slayer without it being Slayer — but not intentionally so."
When asked by the Let There Be Talk podcast in June 2020 if a Slayer reunion would ever happen, Holt stated, "If it does, if it ever happens, it has nothing to do with me. Someone else would call and say, 'We wanna [do this].' To my knowledge, it's done. And I think it should be that way. The band went out fucking on a bang, went out on Slayer's terms, and how many people get to say they did that?". In August 2020, King's wife Ayesha once again ruled out the possibility of a Slayer reunion, saying that her husband and Araya will "never be Slayer again".
When asked in a March 2021 interview if Slayer would consider reuniting for a special show or tour, Holt said, "That's a question I couldn't answer you, whether Slayer would ever get back together. Those are questions that are above my pay scale, I guess you'd say. Look, if the powers that be ever — like, in a year or something — said, 'Hey, you know what? We feel like playing some shows,' I'm there to do it," Holt added. "But those aren't decisions for me to make, or even me to really speculate on. As far as my knowledge, the band is over, and the final show was November 30, 2019. And I'm full speed ahead with Exodus now."
On October 12, 2021, King expressed regret that Slayer had retired "too early." While congratulating Machine Head on their 30th anniversary as a band, he said, "Apparently, it's 30 years, which is quite an achievement. Not a lot of bands get there. We did, and then we quit too early. Fuck us. Fuck me. I hate fucking not playing." In an interview with Metal Hammer a few days later, King reiterated that he would continue to work outside of Slayer: "I'm dragging my feet on letting the world know what I'm doing because there's no rush. I have a tour that I'm considering doing, but I'm not going to announce a band, I'm not going to announce a record, I'm not going to announce anything. But you will see me in the future — it will be fucking good." When interviewed again two months later by Metal Hammer, King did not rule out the possibility of any more "Big Four" shows with Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax, but expressed doubt that a Slayer reunion would ever happen: "The way that I'm moving forward is I don't think Slayer are ever going to play again. There's no business of me playing by myself!"
Musical style
Slayer is considered a thrash metal band. In an article from December 1986 by the Washington Post, writer Joe Brown described Slayer as speed metal, a genre he defined as "an unholy hybrid of punk rock thrash and heavy metal that attracts an almost all-male teen-age following". Describing Slayer's music, Brown wrote: "Over a jackhammer beat, Slayer's stun guitars created scraping sheets of corrosive metal noise, with occasional solos that sounded like squealing brakes, over which the singer-bassist emitted a larynx-lacerating growl-yowl." In an article from September 1988 by the New York Times, writer Jon Pareles also described Slayer as speed metal, additionally writing that the band "brings the sensational imagery of tabloids and horror movies" and has lyrics that "revel in death, gore and allusions to Satanism and Nazism." Pareles also described other "Big Four" thrash metal bands Metallica and Megadeth as speed metal bands. Slayer's early works were praised for their "breakneck speed and instrumental prowess", combining the structure of hardcore punk tempos and speed metal. The band released fast, aggressive material. The album Reign in Blood is the band's fastest, performed at an average of 220 beats per minute; the album Diabolus in Musica was the band's first to feature C tuning; God Hates Us All was the first to feature drop B tuning and seven-string guitars tuned to B. AllMusic cited the album as "abandoning the extravagances and accessibility of their late-'80s/early-'90s work and returning to perfect the raw approach", with some fans labeling it as nu metal.
King and Hanneman's dual guitar solos have been referred to as "wildly chaotic", and "twisted genius". Original drummer Lombardo would use two bass drums (instead of a double pedal, which is used on a single bass drum). Lombardo's speed and aggression earned him the title of the "godfather of double bass" by Drummerworld. Lombardo stated his reasons for using two bass drums: "When you hit the bass drum, the head is still resonating. When you hit it in the same place right after that, you kinda get a 'slapback' from the bass drum head hitting the other pedal. You're not letting them breathe." When playing the two bass drums, Lombardo would use the "heel-up" technique.
In the original lineup, King, Hanneman and Araya contributed to the band's lyrics, and King and Hanneman wrote the music with additional arrangement from Lombardo, and sometimes Araya. Araya formed a lyric writing partnership with Hanneman, which sometimes overshadowed the creative input of King. Hanneman stated that writing lyrics and music was a "free-for-all": "It's all just whoever comes up with what. Sometimes I'll be more on a roll and I'll have more stuff, same with Kerry – it's whoever's hot, really. Anybody can write anything; if it's good, we use it; if not, we don't."
When writing material, the band would write the music first before incorporating lyrics. King or Hanneman used a 24-track and drum machine to show band members the riff that they created, and to get their opinion. Either King, Hanneman or Lombardo would mention if any alterations could be made. The band played the riff to get the basic song structure, and figured out where the lyrics and solos would be placed.
Legacy
Slayer is one of the most influential bands in heavy metal history. Steve Huey of AllMusic believes the musical style of Slayer makes the band stronger than the other members of the "Big Four" thrash metal bands Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax, all of which rose to fame during the 1980s. Slayer's "downtuned rhythms, infectious guitar licks, graphically violent lyrics and grisly artwork set the standard for dozens of emerging thrash bands" and their "music was directly responsible for the rise of death metal" states MTV, ranking Slayer as the sixth "greatest metal band of all time", ranking number 50 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. Hanneman and King ranked number 10 in Guitar Worlds "100 greatest metal guitarists of all time" in 2004, and were voted "Best Guitarist/Guitar Team" in Revolver's reader's poll. Original drummer Lombardo was also voted "Best Drummer" and the band entered the top five in the categories "Best Band Ever", "Best Live Band", "Album of the Year" (for Christ Illusion) and "Band of the Year".
Music author Joel McIver considers Slayer very influential in the extreme metal scene, especially in the development of the death metal and black metal subgenres. According to John Consterdine of Terrorizer, without "Slayer's influence, extreme metal as we know it wouldn't exist." Kam Lee of Massacre and former member of Death stated: "there wouldn't be death metal or black metal or even extreme metal (the likes of what it is today) if not for Slayer." Johan Reinholdz of Andromeda said that Slayer "were crucial in the development of thrash metal which then became the foundation for a lot of different subgenres. They inspired generations of metal bands." Alex Skolnick of Testament declared: "Before Slayer, metal had never had such razor-sharp articulation, tightness, and balance between sound and stops. This all-out sonic assault was about the shock, the screams, the drums, and [...] most importantly the riffs."
Groups who cited Slayer among their major influences include Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet for My Valentine, Fear Factory, Machine Head, Children of Bodom, Slipknot, Gojira, Carnifex, Hatebreed, Cannibal Corpse, Pantera, Kreator, Sadistic Intent, Mayhem, Darkthrone, System of a Down, Lamb of God, Behemoth, Evile and Lacuna Coil. Steve Asheim, drummer for Deicide, declared that "there obviously would not have been a Deicide as we know it without the existence of Slayer." Sepultura guitarist Andreas Kisser affirmed that "without Slayer, Sepultura would never be possible." Weezer mentions them in the song "Heart Songs" from their 2008 self-titled "Red" album. The verse goes: "Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Slayer taught me how to shred..." Dave Grohl recalled, "Me and my friends, we just wanted to listen to fucking Slayer and take acid and smash stuff."
The band's 1986 release Reign in Blood has been an influence to extreme and thrash metal bands since its release and is considered the record which set the bar for death metal. It had a significant influence on the genre leaders such as Death, Obituary, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel and Napalm Death. The album was hailed the "heaviest album of all time" by Kerrang!, a "genre-definer" by Stylus, and a "stone-cold classic upon its release" by AllMusic. In 2006, Reign in Blood was named the best metal album of the last 20 years by Metal Hammer. According to Nielsen SoundScan, Slayer sold 4,900,000 copies in the United States from 1991 to 2013.
Controversy
A lawsuit was brought against the band in 1996, by the parents of Elyse Pahler, who accused the band of encouraging their daughter's murderers through their lyrics. Pahler was drugged, strangled, stabbed, trampled on, and raped as a sacrifice to the devil by three fans of the band. The case was unsealed by the court on May 19, 2000, stating Slayer and related business markets distribute harmful products to teens, encouraging violent acts through their lyrics, and "none of the vicious crimes committed against Elyse Marie Pahler would have occurred without the intentional marketing strategy of the death-metal band Slayer." The lawsuit was dismissed in 2001, for multiple reasons including "principles of free speech, lack of a duty and lack of foreseeability." A second lawsuit was filed by the parents, an amended complaint for damages against Slayer, their label, and other industry and label entities. The lawsuit was again dismissed. Judge E. Jeffrey Burke stated, "I do not consider Slayer's music obscene, indecent or harmful to minors."
Slayer has been accused of holding Nazi sympathies, due to the band's eagle logo bearing resemblance to the Eagle atop swastika and the lyrics of "Angel of Death". "Angel of Death" was inspired by the acts of Josef Mengele, the doctor who conducted human experiments on prisoners during World War II at the Auschwitz concentration camp, and was dubbed the "Angel of Death" by inmates.
Slayer's cover of Minor Threat's "Guilty of Being White" raised questions about a possible message of white supremacy in the band's music. The controversy surrounding the cover involved the changing of the refrain "guilty of being white" to "guilty of being right", at the song's ending. This incensed Minor Threat frontman Ian MacKaye, who stated "that is so offensive to me." King said it was changed for "tongue-in-cheek" humor as he thought the allegation of racism at the time was "ridiculous".
In a 2004 interview with Araya, when asked, "Did critics realize you were wallowing in parody?" Araya replied, "No. People thought we were serious!...back then you had that PMRC, who literally took everything to heart, when in actuality you're trying to create an image. You're trying to scare people on purpose." Araya also denied rumors that Slayer members are Satanists, but they find the subject of Satanism interesting and "we are all on this planet to learn and experience."
The song "Jihad" of the album Christ Illusion sparked controversy among families of the September 11 victims. The song deals with the attack from the perspective of a religious terrorist. The band stated the song is spoken through perspective without being sympathetic to the cause, and supports neither side.
Seventeen bus benches promoting the same album in Fullerton, California were deemed offensive by city officials. City officials contacted the band's record label and demanded that the ads be removed. All benches were eliminated.
In India, Christ Illusion was recalled by EMI India after protests with Christian religious groups due to the nature of the graphic artwork. The album cover was designed by Slayer's longtime collaborator Larry Carroll and features Christ in a "sea of despair", with amputated arms, missing an eye, while standing in a sea of blood with severed heads. Joseph Dias of the Mumbai Christian group Catholic Secular Forum in India took "strong exception" to the original album artwork, and issued a memorandum to Mumbai's police commissioner in protest. On October 11, 2006, EMI announced that all stocks had been destroyed, noting it had no plans to re-release the record in India in the future.
Band membersFormer members Kerry King – guitars (1981–2019)
Tom Araya – bass, vocals (1981–2019)
Jeff Hanneman – guitars (1981–2013) (died 2013)
Dave Lombardo – drums (1981–1986, 1987–1992, 2001–2013)
Paul Bostaph – drums (1992–1996, 1997–2001, 2013–2019)
Jon Dette – drums (1996–1997)
Gary Holt – guitars (2013–2019)Touring musicians Tony Scaglione – drums (1986–1987)
Pat O'Brien – guitars (2011)
Gary Holt – guitars (2011–2013)
Jon Dette – drums (2013)
Phil Demmel – guitars (2018)Timeline'''
Discography
Show No Mercy (1983)
Hell Awaits (1985)
Reign in Blood (1986)
South of Heaven (1988)
Seasons in the Abyss (1990)
Divine Intervention (1994)
Undisputed Attitude (1996)
Diabolus in Musica (1998)
God Hates Us All (2001)
Christ Illusion (2006)
World Painted Blood (2009)
Repentless (2015)
Awards and nominations
|-
!scope="row"| 2002
| "Disciple" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"|2007
| "Eyes of the Insane" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"| 2008
|| "Final Six" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"|2010
| "Hate Worldwide" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"|2011
| "World Painted Blood" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2006
| Slayer || Kerrang! Hall of Fame ||
|-
!scope="row"|2013
| Slayer || Kerrang! Legend ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2003
| War at the Warfield || DVD of the Year ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2010
| Kerry King || God of Riffs ||
|-
!scope="row"|2013
| Jeff Hanneman || God of Riffs ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2004
| Slayer || Best Live Act ||
|-
!scope="row"|2006
| Reign in Blood || Best Album of the Last 20 Years ||
|-
!scope="row"|2007
| | "Eyes of the Insane" || Best Video ||
|-
!scope="row"|2007
||Slayer || Icon Award ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2006
| Christ Illusion || Best Thrash Metal Album ||
|-
!scope="row"|2015
| "Repentless" || Best Video ||
|-
Footnotes
From late 2010 until his death in May 2013, Jeff Hanneman's participation in Slayer was minimal. In January 2011, he contracted necrotizing fasciitis, which severely restricted his ability to perform. He appeared publicly with the band on only one known occasion, playing two songs during an encore at one of Slayer's Big 4 performances in April 2011; he also attended rehearsals for Fun Fun Fun Fest in November 2011, but did not end up performing at this show. By July 2012, Hanneman had not written or recorded any new material for the band's follow up to 2009's World Painted Blood''. In February 2013, Kerry King stated he was planning on recording all of the guitar parts for the upcoming album himself, but was open to Hanneman's return if he was willing and able. King also denied that Gary Holt, member of Exodus and Hanneman's live fill-in, would write or record anything for the upcoming album. Hanneman died on May 2, 2013 at the age of 49 due to liver failure.
Citations
Further reading
External links
1981 establishments in California
Thrash metal musical groups from California
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Def Jam Recordings artists
Grammy Award winners
Kerrang! Awards winners
Metal Blade Records artists
Musical groups disestablished in 2019
Musical groups established in 1981
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical quartets
Nuclear Blast artists
Obscenity controversies in music | true | [
"\"Najane Kyun\" (, literal English translation: \"Don't Know Why?\") is a song by Strings released on the 2004 soundtrack for the film Spider-Man 2. This track is on the Pakistani version of the soundtrack. The song is also featured on their fourth studio album, Dhaani, released in 2003.\n\nBackground\nIn June 2004, before they could record their next song, \"Najane Kyun\", Strings were approached by the heads at Columbia TriStar Films of India, a sister company to their record label company to include the song in the soundtrack of the Urdu version of the epic Hollywood blockbuster Spider-Man 2. \n\nSoon afterwards, they were approached by an Indian director shooting Zinda, a remake of the classic South Korean film Oldboy to do a soundtrack. Maqsood composed a song titled \"Zinda\" for the movie. For the video, the duo had to act alongside two A-list actors from Bollywood. It was here that the duo became good friends with John Abraham and Sanjay Dutt and would later appear in more ventures together.\n\nTrack listing\nNajane Kyun\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nStrings Online - official website\n\nUrdu-language songs\n2004 singles\nStrings (band) songs\nSongs written for films\nSpider-Man (2002 film series)\nSongs from Spider-Man films",
"\"Swing it, magistern!\" is a song recorded by Alice Babs, released on record in 1940 and also appearing in the Swedish 1940 film Swing it, magistern!\n\nLars Vegas trio recorded the song on the 1992 album På korståg för schlagerns bevarande., which also Simons did the same year on the album Melodier vi minns and in 1994 the song was recorded by Thorleifs on the album Och du tände stjärnorna.\n\nThe song is composed by Kai Gullmar with lyrics by Hasse Ekman.\n\nReferences\n\n1940 songs\nSwedish songs\nSwedish-language songs\nSongs written for films\nThorleifs songs\nSongs about school\nAlice Babs songs"
] |
[
"Slayer",
"South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss (1988-1993)",
"Who produced South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss?",
"Slayer's",
"Can you tell me something interesting about the article?",
"Press response to the album was mixed,",
"What record label released the album?",
"Slayer's",
"Did any singles make the Billboard Top 200?",
"South of Heaven",
"Did Slayer tour for the album?",
"Slayer returned as a live act in September 1990 to co-headline",
"Did anyone leave the band from 1988-1993?",
"In May 1992, Lombardo quit the band due to conflicts",
"Did they record any songs for films?",
"Bostaph's first studio effort was a medley of three Exploited songs,"
] | C_07397c12d123426cacfc6b32eb6905ad_0 | Is there anything else I should know? | 8 | Aside from the facts about the Slayer's album, is there anything else I should know? | Slayer | In late 1987, Slayer returned to the studio to record their fourth studio album. To contrast the speed of Reign in Blood, the band consciously decided to slow down the tempos, and incorporate more melodic singing. According to Hanneman, "We knew we couldn't top Reign in Blood, so we had to slow down. We knew whatever we did was gonna be compared to that album, and I remember we actually discussed slowing down. It was weird--we've never done that on an album, before or since." Released in July 1988, South of Heaven received mixed responses from both fans and critics, although it was Slayer's most commercially successful release at the time, debuting at number 57 on the Billboard 200, and their second album to receive gold certification in the United States. Press response to the album was mixed, with AllMusic citing the album as "disturbing and powerful," and Kim Nelly of Rolling Stone calling it "genuinely offensive satanic drivel." King said "that album was my most lackluster performance," although Araya called it a "late bloomer" which eventually grew on people. Slayer returned to the studio in spring 1990 with co-producer Andy Wallace to record its fifth studio album. Following the backlash created by South of Heaven, Slayer returned to the "pounding speed of Reign in Blood, while retaining their newfound melodic sense." Seasons in the Abyss, released on October 25, 1990, was the first Slayer album to be released under Rubin's new Def American label, as he had parted ways with Def Jam owner Russell Simmons over creative differences. The album debuted at number 44 on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold in 1992. The album spawned Slayer's first music video for the album's title track, which was filmed in front of the Giza pyramids in Egypt. Slayer returned as a live act in September 1990 to co-headline the European Clash of the Titans tour with Megadeth, Suicidal Tendencies, and Testament. During the sold out European leg of this tour tickets fetched up to 1,000 Deutschmark ($680 USD) on the black market. With the popularity of American thrash at its peak, the tour was extended to the US beginning in May 1991, with Megadeth, Anthrax and opening act Alice in Chains. The band released a double live album, Decade of Aggression in 1991, to celebrate ten years since their formation. The compilation debuted at number 55 on the Billboard 200. In May 1992, Lombardo quit the band due to conflicts with other members, as well as his desire to be off tour for the birth of his first child. Lombardo formed his own band Grip Inc, with Voodoocult guitarist Waldemar Sorychta, and Slayer recruited former Forbidden drummer Paul Bostaph to take his place. Slayer made its debut appearance with Bostaph at the 1992 Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington. Bostaph's first studio effort was a medley of three Exploited songs, "War," "UK '82," and "Disorder," with rapper Ice-T, for the Judgment Night movie soundtrack in 1993. CANNOTANSWER | Slayer returned as a live act in September 1990 to co-headline the European Clash of the Titans tour | Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo, and bassist and vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them one of the "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax. Slayer's final lineup comprised King, Araya, drummer Paul Bostaph (who replaced Lombardo in 1992 and again in 2013) and guitarist Gary Holt (who replaced Hanneman in 2011). Drummer Jon Dette was also a member of the band.
In the original lineup, King, Hanneman and Araya contributed to the band's lyrics, and all of the band's music was written by King and Hanneman. The band's lyrics and album art, which cover topics such as murder, serial killers, torture, genocide, politics, theories, human subject research, organized crime, secret societies, mythology, occultism, Satanism, hate crimes, terrorism, religion or antireligion, Nazism, fascism, racism, xenophobia, misanthropy, war and prison, have generated album bans, delays, lawsuits and criticism from religious groups and factions of the general public. However, its music has been highly influential, often being cited by many bands as an influence musically, visually and lyrically; the band's third album, Reign in Blood (1986), has been described as one of the heaviest and most influential thrash metal albums.
Slayer released twelve studio albums, two live albums, a box set, six music videos, two extended plays and a cover album. Four of the band's studio albums have received gold certification in the United States. Slayer sold 5 million copies in the United States from 1991 to 2013, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and over 20 million worldwide. The band has received five Grammy Award nominations, winning one in 2007 for the song "Eyes of the Insane" and one in 2008 for the song "Final Six", both of which were from the album Christ Illusion (2006). After more than three decades of recording and performing, Slayer announced in January 2018 that it would embark on a farewell tour, which took place from May 2018 to November 2019, after which the band disbanded.
History
Early years (1981–1983)
Slayer was formed in 1981 by Kerry King, Jeff Hanneman, Dave Lombardo, and Tom Araya in Huntington Park, CA. The group started out playing covers of songs by bands such as Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Venom at parties and clubs in Southern California. The band's early image relied heavily on Satanic themes that featured pentagrams, make-up, spikes, and inverted crosses. Rumors that the band was originally known as Dragonslayer, after the 1981 film of the same name, were denied by King, as he later stated: "We never were; it's a myth to this day." According to Lombardo, the original band name was to be Wings of Fire before they settled in with Slayer. It was he who designed the iconic logo. For inspiration, Lombardo thought in a perspective of a murderer of how they would carve out the logo with a knife and since he's lefthanded, the logo is unintentionally slanted to the right.
In 1983, Slayer was invited to open for the band Bitch at the Woodstock Club in Anaheim, California to perform eight songs, six of which were covers. The band was spotted by Brian Slagel, a former music journalist who had recently founded Metal Blade Records. Impressed with Slayer, he met with the band backstage and asked them to record an original song for his upcoming Metal Massacre III compilation album. The band agreed and their song "Aggressive Perfector" created an underground buzz upon its release in mid 1983, which led to Slagel offering the band a recording contract with Metal Blade.
Show No Mercy, Haunting the Chapel and Hell Awaits (1983–1986)
Without any recording budget, the band had to self-finance its debut album. Combining the savings of Araya, who was employed as a respiratory therapist, and money borrowed from King's father, the band entered the studio in November 1983. The album was rushed into release, stocking shelves three weeks after tracks were completed. Show No Mercy, released in December 1983 by Metal Blade Records, generated underground popularity for the band. The group began a club tour of California to promote the album. The tour gave the band additional popularity and sales of Show No Mercy eventually reached more than 20,000 in the US and another 20,000 worldwide.
In February 1984, King briefly joined Dave Mustaine's new band Megadeth. Hanneman was worried about King's decision, stating in an interview, "I guess we're gonna get a new guitar player." While Mustaine wanted King to stay on a permanent basis, King left after five shows, stating Mustaine's band was "taking too much of my time." The split caused a rift between King and Mustaine, which evolved into a long running feud between the two bands.
In June 1984, Slayer released a three-track EP called Haunting the Chapel. The EP featured a darker, more thrash-oriented style than Show No Mercy, and laid the groundwork for the future direction of the band. The opening track, "Chemical Warfare", has become a live staple, played at nearly every show since 1984.
Later that year, Slayer began their first national club tour, traveling in Araya's Camaro towing a U-Haul trailer. The band recorded the live album Live Undead in November 1984 while in New York City.
In March 1985, Slayer began a national tour with Venom and Exodus, resulting in their first live home video dubbed Combat Tour: The Ultimate Revenge. The video featured live footage filmed at the Studio 54 club. The band then made its live European debut at the Heavy Sound Festival in Belgium opening for UFO. Also in 1985, Slayer toured or played selected shows with bands like Megadeth, Destruction, D.R.I., Possessed, Agent Steel, S.O.D., Nasty Savage and Metal Church.
Show No Mercy had sold over 40,000 copies, which led to the band returning to the studio to record their second full-length album. Metal Blade financed a recording budget, which allowed the band to hire producer Ron Fair. Released in March 1985, Slayer's second full-length album, Hell Awaits, expanded on the darkness of Haunting the Chapel, with hell and Satan as common song subjects. The album was the band's most progressive offering, featuring longer and more complex song structures. The intro of the title track is a backwards recording of a demonic-sounding voice repeating "Join us", ending with "Welcome back" before the track begins. The album was a hit, with fans choosing Slayer for best band, best live band, Hell Awaits, as 1985's best album, and Dave Lombardo as best drummer in the British magazine Metal Forces 1985 Readers Poll.
Reign in Blood, Lombardo's brief hiatus and South of Heaven (1986–1989)
Following the success of Hell Awaits, Slayer was offered a recording contract with Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin's newly founded Def Jam Records, a largely hip hop-based label. The band accepted, and with an experienced producer and major label recording budget, the band underwent a sonic makeover for their third album Reign in Blood, resulting in shorter, faster songs with clearer production. The complex arrangements and long songs featured on Hell Awaits were ditched in favor of stripped down, hardcore punk influenced song structures.
Def Jam's distributor, Columbia Records, refused to release the album due to the song "Angel of Death" which detailed Holocaust concentration camps and the human experiments conducted by Nazi physician Josef Mengele. The album was distributed by Geffen Records on October 7, 1986. However, due to the controversy, Reign in Blood did not appear on Geffen Records' release schedule. Although the album received virtually no radio airplay, it became the band's first to enter the Billboard 200, debuting at number 94, and the band's first album certified gold in the United States.
Slayer embarked on the Reign in Pain world tour, with Overkill in the US from October to December 1986, and Malice in Europe in April and May 1987. They also played with other bands such as Agnostic Front, Testament, Metal Church, D.R.I., Dark Angel and Flotsam and Jetsam. The band was added as the opening act on W.A.S.P.'s US tour, but just one month into it, drummer Lombardo left the band: "I wasn't making any money. I figured if we were gonna be doing this professionally, on a major label, I wanted my rent and utilities paid." To continue with the tour, Slayer enlisted Tony Scaglione of Whiplash. However, Lombardo was convinced by his wife to return in 1987. At the insistence of Rubin, Slayer recorded a cover version of Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" for the film Less Than Zero. Although the band was not happy with the final product, Hanneman deeming it "a poor representation of Slayer" and King labeling it "a hunk of shit", it was one of their first songs to garner radio airplay.
In late 1987, Slayer returned to the studio to record their fourth studio album. To contrast the speed of Reign in Blood, the band consciously decided to slow down the tempos, and incorporate more melodic singing. According to Hanneman, "We knew we couldn't top Reign in Blood, so we had to slow down. We knew whatever we did was gonna be compared to that album, and I remember we actually discussed slowing down. It was weird—we've never done that on an album, before or since."
Released in July 1988, South of Heaven received mixed responses from both fans and critics, although it was Slayer's most commercially successful release at the time, debuting at number 57 on the Billboard 200, and their second album to receive gold certification in the United States. Press response to the album was mixed, with AllMusic citing the album as "disturbing and powerful", and Kim Nelly of Rolling Stone calling it "genuinely offensive satanic drivel". King said "that album was my most lackluster performance", although Araya called it a "late bloomer" which eventually grew on people. Slayer toured from August 1988 to January 1989 to promote South of Heaven, supporting Judas Priest in the US on their Ram It Down tour, and touring Europe with Nuclear Assault and the US with Motörhead and Overkill.
Seasons in the Abyss and Lombardo's second departure (1990–1993)
Slayer returned to the studio in early 1990 with co-producer Andy Wallace to record its fifth studio album. Following the backlash created by South of Heaven, Slayer returned to the "pounding speed of Reign in Blood, while retaining their newfound melodic sense." Seasons in the Abyss, released on October 9, 1990, was the first Slayer album to be released under Rubin's new Def American label, as he had parted ways with Def Jam owner Russell Simmons over creative differences. The album debuted at number 44 on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold in 1992. The album spawned Slayer's first music video for the album's title track, which was filmed in front of the Giza pyramids in Egypt.
Slayer returned as a live act in September 1990 to co-headline the European Clash of the Titans tour with Megadeth, Suicidal Tendencies, and Testament. During the sold out European leg of this tour, tickets had prices skyrocket to 1,000 Deutschmark (US$680) on the black market. With the popularity of American thrash at its peak, the band toured with Testament again in early 1991 and triple-headlined the North American version of the Clash of the Titans tour that summer with Megadeth, Anthrax, and opening act Alice in Chains. The band released a double live album, Decade of Aggression in 1991, to celebrate ten years since their formation. The compilation debuted at number 55 on the Billboard 200.
In May 1992, Lombardo left the band due to conflicts with the other members, as well as his desire to be off tour for the birth of his first child. Lombardo formed his own band Grip Inc., with Voodoocult guitarist Waldemar Sorychta, and Slayer recruited former Forbidden drummer Paul Bostaph to fill in the drummer position. Slayer made its debut appearance with Bostaph at the 1992 Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington. Bostaph's first studio effort was a medley of three Exploited songs, "War", "UK '82", and "Disorder", with rapper Ice-T, for the Judgment Night movie soundtrack in 1993.
Divine Intervention, Undisputed Attitude and Diabolus in Musica (1994–2000)
In 1994, Slayer released Divine Intervention, the band's first album with Bostaph on the drums. The album featured songs about Reinhard Heydrich, an architect of the Holocaust, and Jeffrey Dahmer, an American serial killer and sex offender. Other themes included murder, the evils of church, and the lengths to which governments went to wield power, Araya's interest in serial killers inspired much of the content of the lyrics.
Slayer geared up for a world tour in 1995, with openers Biohazard and Machine Head. A video of concert footage, Live Intrusion was released, featuring a joint cover of Venom's "Witching Hour" with Machine Head. Following the tour, Slayer was billed third at the 1995 Monsters of Rock festival, headlined by Metallica. In 1996, Undisputed Attitude, an album of punk covers, was released. The band covered songs by Minor Threat, T.S.O.L., Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, D.I., Verbal Abuse, Dr. Know, and The Stooges. The album featured three original tracks, "Gemini", "Can't Stand You", "Ddamm"; the latter two were written by Hanneman in 1984–1985 for a side project entitled Pap Smear. Bostaph left Slayer shortly after the album's recording to work on his own project, Truth About Seafood. With Bostaph's departure, Slayer recruited Testament drummer Jon Dette, and headlined the 1996 Ozzfest alongside Ozzy Osbourne, Danzig, Biohazard, Sepultura, and Fear Factory. Dette was fired after a year, due to a fallout with band members. After that, Bostaph returned to continue the tour.
Diabolus in Musica (Latin for "The Devil in Music") was released in 1998, and debuted at number 31 on the Billboard 200, selling over 46,000 copies in its first week. It was complete by September 1997, and scheduled to be released the following month, but got delayed by nine months after their label was taken over by Columbia Records. The album received a mixed critical reception, and was criticized for adopting characteristics of nu metal music such as tuned down guitars, murky chord structures, and churning beats. Blabbermouth.net reviewer Borijov Krgin described the album as "a feeble attempt at incorporating updated elements into the group's sound, the presence of which elevated the band's efforts somewhat and offered hope that Slayer could refrain from endlessly rehashing their previous material for their future output", while Ben Ratliff of The New York Times had similar sentiments, writing on June 22, 1998 that: "Eight of the 11 songs on Diabolus in Musica, a few of which were played at the show, are in the same gray key, and the band's rhythmic ideas have a wearying sameness too."
The album was the band's first to primarily feature dropped tuning, as featured on the lead track, "Bitter Peace", making use of the tritone interval referred to in the Middle Ages as the Devil's interval. Slayer teamed up with digital hardcore group Atari Teenage Riot to record a song for the Spawn soundtrack titled "No Remorse (I Wanna Die)". The band paid tribute to Black Sabbath by recording a cover of "Hand of Doom" for the second of two tribute albums, titled Nativity in Black II. A world tour followed to support the new album, with Slayer making an appearance at the United Kingdom Ozzfest 1998.
God Hates Us All (2001–2005)
During mid-2001, the band joined Morbid Angel, Pantera, Skrape and Static-X on the Extreme Steel Tour of North America, which was Pantera's last major tour. After delays regarding remixing and artwork, including slip covers created to cover the original artwork as it was deemed "too graphic", Slayer's next album, God Hates Us All, was released on September 11, 2001. The band received its first Grammy nomination for the lead track "Disciple", although the Grammy was awarded to Tool, for "Schism". The September 11 attacks on America jeopardized the 2001 European tour Tattoo the Planet originally set to feature Pantera, Static-X, Cradle of Filth, Biohazard and Vision of Disorder. The dates in the United Kingdom were postponed due to flight restrictions, with a majority of bands deciding to withdraw, leaving Slayer and Cradle of Filth remaining for the European leg of the tour.
Pantera, Static-X, Vision of Disorder and Biohazard were replaced by other bands depending on location; Amorphis, In Flames, Moonspell, Children of Bodom, and Necrodeath. Biohazard eventually decided to rejoin the tour later on, and booked new gigs in the countries, where they missed a few dates. Drummer Bostaph left Slayer before Christmas in 2001, due to a chronic elbow injury, which would hinder his ability to play. Since the band's European tour was unfinished at that time, the band's manager, Rick Sales, contacted original drummer Dave Lombardo and asked if he would like to finish the remainder of the tour. Lombardo accepted the offer, and stayed as a permanent member.
Slayer toured playing Reign in Blood in its entirety throughout the fall of 2003, under the tour banner "Still Reigning". Their playing of the final song, "Raining Blood", culminated with the band drenched in a rain of stage blood. Live footage of this was recorded at the Augusta Civic Center in Augusta, Maine, on July 11, 2004 and released on the 2004 DVD Still Reigning. The band also released War at the Warfield and a box set, Soundtrack to the Apocalypse featuring rarities, live CD and DVD performances and various Slayer merchandise. From 2002 to 2004, the band performed over 250 tour dates, headlining major music festivals including H82k2, Summer tour, Ozzfest 2004 and a European tour with Slipknot. While preparing for the Download Festival in England, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich was taken to a hospital with an unknown and mysterious illness, and was unable to perform. Metallica vocalist James Hetfield searched for volunteers at the last minute to replace Ulrich; Lombardo and Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison volunteered, with Lombardo performing the songs "Battery" and "The Four Horsemen".
Christ Illusion (2006–2008)
The next studio album, Christ Illusion, was originally scheduled for release on June 6, 2006, and would be the first album with original drummer Lombardo since 1990's Seasons in the Abyss. However, the band decided to delay the release of the record, as they did not want to be among the many, according to King, "half-ass, stupid fucking loser bands" releasing records on June 6, although USA Today reported the idea was thwarted because the band failed to secure sufficient studio recording time. Slayer released Eternal Pyre on June 6 as a limited-edition EP. Eternal Pyre featured the song "Cult", a live performance of "War Ensemble" in Germany and video footage of the band recording "Cult". Five thousand copies were released and sold exclusively through Hot Topic chain stores, and sold out within hours of release. On June 30, Nuclear Blast Records released a 7" vinyl picture disc version limited to a thousand copies.
Christ Illusion was eventually released on August 8, 2006, and debuted at number 5 on the Billboard 200, selling over 62,000 copies in its first week. The album became Slayer's highest charting, improving on its previous highest charting album, Divine Intervention, which had debuted at number 8. However, despite its high positioning, the album dropped to number 44 in the following week. Three weeks after the album's release, Slayer were inducted into the Kerrang! Hall of Fame for their influence to the heavy metal scene.
A worldwide tour dubbed The Unholy Alliance Tour, was undertaken to support the new record. The tour was originally set to launch on June 6, but was postponed to June 10, as Araya had to undergo gall bladder surgery. In Flames, Mastodon, Children of Bodom, Lamb of God, and Thine Eyes Bleed (featuring Araya's brother, Johnny) and Ted Maul (London Hammersmith Apollo) were supporting Slayer. The tour made its way through America and Europe and the bands who participated, apart from Thine Eyes Bleed, reunited to perform at Japan's Loudpark Festival on October 15, 2006.
The video for the album's first single, "Eyes of the Insane", was released on October 30, 2006. The track was featured on the Saw III soundtrack, and won a Grammy-award for "Best Metal Performance" at the 49th Grammy Awards, although the band was unable to attend due to touring obligations. A week later, the band visited the 52nd Services Squadron located on the Spangdahlem U.S. Air Force Base in Germany to meet and play a show. This was the first visit ever to a military base for the band. The band made its first network TV appearance on the show Jimmy Kimmel Live! on January 19, playing the song "Eyes of the Insane", and four additional songs for fans after the show (although footage from "Jihad" was cut due to its controversial lyrical themes).
In 2007, Slayer toured Australia and New Zealand in April with Mastodon, and appeared at the Download Festival, Rock Am Ring, and a summer tour with Marilyn Manson and Bleeding Through.
World Painted Blood (2009–2011)
In 2008, Araya stated uncertainty about the future of the band, and that he could not see himself continuing the career at a later age. He said that once the band finished its upcoming album, which was the final record in their contract, the band would sit down and discuss its future. King was optimistic that the band would produce at least another two albums before considering to disband: "We're talking of going in the studio next February [2009] and getting the next record out so if we do things in a timely manner I don't see there's any reason why we can't have more than one album out." Slayer, along with Trivium, Mastodon, and Amon Amarth, teamed up for a European tour titled 'The Unholy Alliance: Chapter III', throughout October and November 2008. Slayer headlined the second Mayhem Festival in the summer of 2009. Slayer, along with Megadeth, also co-headlined Canadian Carnage, the first time they performed together in more than 15 years when they co-headlined four shows in Canada in late June 2009 with openers Machine Head and Suicide Silence.
The band's eleventh studio album, World Painted Blood, was released by American Recordings. It was available on November 3 in North America and November 2 for the rest of the world. The band stated that the album takes elements of all their previous works including Seasons in the Abyss, South of Heaven, and Reign in Blood. Slayer, along with Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax performed on the same bill for the first time on June 16, 2010 at Bemowo Airport, in Warsaw, Poland. One of the following Big 4 performances in (Sofia, Bulgaria, June 22, 2010) was sent via satellite in HD to cinemas. They also went on to play several other dates as part of the Sonisphere Festival. Megadeth and Slayer joined forces once again for the American Carnage Tour from July to October 2010 with opening acts Anthrax and Testament, and European Carnage Tour in March and April 2011. The "Big Four" played more dates at Sonisphere in England and France for the first time ever. Slayer returned to Australia in February and March 2011 as part of the Soundwave Festival and also played in California with the other members of the "Big Four".
In early 2011, Hanneman was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis. According to the band, doctors said that it likely originated from a spider bite. Araya said of Hanneman's condition: "Jeff was seriously ill. Jeff ended up contracting a bacteria that ate away his flesh on his arm, so they cut open his arm, from his wrist to his shoulder, and they did a skin graft on him, they cleaned up ... It was a flesh-eating virus, so he was really, really bad. So we'll wait for him to get better, and when he's a hundred percent, he's gonna come out and join us." The band decided to play their upcoming tour dates without Hanneman. Gary Holt of Exodus was announced as Hanneman's temporary replacement. Cannibal Corpse guitarist Pat O'Brien filled in for Holt during a tour in Europe. On April 23, 2011, at the American Big 4 show in Indio, California, Hanneman rejoined his bandmates to play the final two songs of their set, "South of Heaven" and "Angel of Death". This turned out to be Hanneman's final live performance with the band.
Hanneman's death, Lombardo's third split, and Repentless (2011–2016)
When asked if Slayer would make another album, Lombardo replied "Yes absolutely; Although there's nothing written, there are definitely plans." However, Araya said Slayer would not begin writing a new album until Hanneman's condition improved. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Reign In Blood, the band performed all of the album's tracks at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival at the Alexandra Palace in London."I'll Be Your Mirror London 2012 announced with co-curators Mogwai + Slayer". All Tomorrow's Parties. November 9, 2011.
In November 2011, Lombardo posted a tweet that the band had started to write new music. This presumably meant that Hanneman's condition improved, and it was believed he was ready to enter the studio. King had worked with Lombardo that year and they completed three songs. The band planned on entering the studio in either March or April 2012 and were hoping to have the album recorded before the group's US tour in late May and release it by the summer of that year. However, King said the upcoming album would not be finished until September and October of that year, making a 2013 release likely. In July 2012, King revealed two song titles for the upcoming album, "Chasing Death" and "Implode".
In February 2013, Lombardo was fired right before Slayer was to play at Australia's Soundwave festival due to an argument with band members over a pay dispute. Slayer and American Recordings released a statement, saying "Mr. Lombardo came to the band less than a week before their scheduled departure for Australia to present an entirely new set of terms for his engagement that were contrary to those that had been previously agreed upon", although Lombardo claimed there was a gag order in place. Dette returned to fill in for Lombardo for the Soundwave dates. It was confirmed that Lombardo was officially out of Slayer for the third time, and, in May, Bostaph rejoined the band.
On May 2, 2013, Hanneman died due to liver failure in a local hospital near his home in Southern California's Inland Empire; the cause of death was later determined to be alcohol-related cirrhosis. King confirmed that the band would continue, saying "Jeff is going to be in everybody's thoughts for a long time. It's unfortunate you can't keep unfortunate things from happening. But we're going to carry on – and he'll be there in spirit." However, Araya felt more uncertain about the band's future, expressing his belief that "After 30 years [with Hanneman active in the band], it would literally be like starting over", and doubting that Slayer's fanbase would approve such a change. Despite the uncertainty regarding the band's future, Slayer still worked on a followup to World Painted Blood. Additionally, it was reported that the new album would still feature material written by Hanneman.
At the 2014 Revolvers Golden Gods Awards ceremony, Slayer debuted "Implode", its first new song in five years. The group announced that they had signed with Nuclear Blast, and planned to release a new album in 2015. It was reported that Holt would take over Hanneman's guitar duties full-time, although Holt did not participate in the songwriting. In February, Slayer announced a seventeen date American tour to start in June featuring Suicidal Tendencies and Exodus. In 2015, Slayer headlined the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival for the second time. Repentless, the band's twelfth studio album, was released on September 11, 2015. Slayer toured for two-and-a-half years in support of Repentless. The band toured Europe with Anthrax and Kvelertak in October and November 2015, and embarked on three North American tours: one with Testament and Carcass in February and March 2016, then with Anthrax and Death Angel in September and October 2016, and with Lamb of God and Behemoth in July and August 2017. A lone date in Southeast Asia in 2017 was held in the Philippines.
Cancelled thirteenth studio album, farewell tour and split (2016–2019)
In August 2016, guitarist Kerry King was asked if Slayer would release a follow-up to Repentless. He replied, "We've got lots of leftover material from the last album, 'cause we wrote so much stuff, and we recorded a bunch of it too. If the lyrics don't change the song musically, those songs are done. So we are way ahead of the ballgame without even doing anything for the next record. And I've been working on stuff on my downtime. Like, I'll warm up and a riff will come to mind and I'll record it. I've gotten a handful of those on this run. So wheels are still turning. I haven't worked on anything lyrically yet except for what was done on the last record, so that's something I've gotta get on. But, yeah, Repentless isn't quite a year old yet." King also stated that Slayer was not expected to enter the studio until at least 2018. In an October interview on Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta's podcast, King stated that he was "completely open" to having guitarist Gary Holt (who had no songwriting contributions on Repentless) involved in the songwriting process of the next Slayer album. He explained, "I'm entirely open to having Gary work on something. I know he's gotta work on an Exodus record and I've got tons already for this one. But, you know, if he's gonna stick around... I didn't want it on the last one, and I knew that. I'm completely open to having that conversation. I haven't talked to Tom about it, I haven't talked to Gary open about it, but I'm open. That's not saying it is or isn't gonna happen. But my ears are open."
In a June 2017 interview with the Ultimate Guitar Archive, Holt said that he was ready to contribute with the songwriting for the next album. When speaking to Revolver, King was asked if there were any plans in place for the band to begin working on the album, he said, "Funny thing is, Repentless isn't even two years old yet, though it seems like it is. But from that session, there are six or eight songs that are recorded—some with vocals, some with leads, but all with keeper guitar, drums and bass. So when those songs get finished lyrically, if the lyrics don't change the songs, they'll be ready to be on the next record. So we already have more than half a record complete, if those songs make it." He also gave conceivable consideration that it could be released next year, "I'm certainly not gonna promise it, because every time I do, I make a liar of myself! [Laughs]" When asked about any plans or the timeline the band would like to release the album, King said, "It depends on touring—getting time to rehearse, getting time to make up new stuff. We haven't even done Australia on this run yet at all. We're hitting Japan finally later this year. But if things go well, I'd like to record next year. But timelines change all the time." In an October 2017 interview, Holt once again expressed his desire to contribute to the songwriting for the next Slayer album, saying, "When that time comes and we are ready for the next album, if Kerry wants me to contribute, I've got riffs. I've got stuff right now that I've written that I am not using for Exodus, because it was kind of maybe just unintentional subconscious thing, like, 'It sounds a little too Slayer.'"
On January 22, 2018, Slayer announced their farewell world tour through a video featuring a montage of press clippings, early posters and press photos spanning the band's entire career. Although the members of Slayer have never publicly explained why they were retiring from touring, it was thought that one of the reasons behind this decision was at the expense of Tom Araya's desire not to tour anymore and to spend more time with his family. This was confirmed by former drummer Dave Lombardo in a 2019 interview, who said: "Apparently, from what I hear. Tom has been wanting to retire when I was in the band — he wanted to stop. He had the neck issues. He's been wanting to retire for a long time now. So now that he's got it, I'm happy for him, and I hope he gets what he wants out of life and his future."
The farewell tour began with a North American trek in May and June 2018, supported by Lamb of God, Anthrax, Behemoth and Testament. The second leg of the North American tour took place in July and August, with Napalm Death replacing Behemoth, followed in November and December by a European tour with Lamb of God, Anthrax and Obituary. The farewell tour continued into 2019, with plans to visit places such as South America, Australia and Japan; in addition to European festivals such as Hellfest and Graspop, the band toured the United States in May 2019 with Lamb of God, Amon Amarth and Cannibal Corpse. Slayer also played one show in Mexico at Force Fest in October 2018.
On December 2, 2018, Holt announced that he would not perform the remainder of the band's European tour to be with his dying father. Vio-lence and former Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel would fill in for him as a result.
Holt had stated that Slayer would not release a new album before the end of the farewell tour. On how long the tour would last, Holt's Exodus bandmate Steve "Zetro" Souza commented, "I'm speculating it's gonna take a year and a half or two years to do the one final thing, but I believe it's finished. Everybody knows what I know; just because I'm on the outside, I have no insight on that." The final North American leg of the tour, dubbed "The Last Campaign", took place in November 2019, and also included support from Primus, Ministry and Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals. Despite being referred to as a farewell tour for Slayer, their manager Rick Sales has stated that the band is not breaking up, but has no intention of ever performing live again. Kristen Mulderig, who works with Rick Sales Entertainment Group, has also been quoted as saying that there would be Slayer-related activities following the tour's conclusion. However, within two days after the tour's completion, King's wife Ayesha stated on her Instagram page that there is "not a chance in hell" that Slayer would ever reunite to perform more shows or release new music.
Aftermath (2020–present)
In March 2020, when talking to Guitar World about his latest endorsement with Dean Guitars, King hinted that he would continue to make music outside of Slayer, simply saying, "Dean didn't sign me for nothing!" King stated in an August 2020 interview on the Dean Guitars YouTube channel that he has "more than two records' worth of music" for his yet-to-be disclosed new project. Bostaph later confirmed that he and King are working on a new project that will "sound like Slayer without it being Slayer — but not intentionally so."
When asked by the Let There Be Talk podcast in June 2020 if a Slayer reunion would ever happen, Holt stated, "If it does, if it ever happens, it has nothing to do with me. Someone else would call and say, 'We wanna [do this].' To my knowledge, it's done. And I think it should be that way. The band went out fucking on a bang, went out on Slayer's terms, and how many people get to say they did that?". In August 2020, King's wife Ayesha once again ruled out the possibility of a Slayer reunion, saying that her husband and Araya will "never be Slayer again".
When asked in a March 2021 interview if Slayer would consider reuniting for a special show or tour, Holt said, "That's a question I couldn't answer you, whether Slayer would ever get back together. Those are questions that are above my pay scale, I guess you'd say. Look, if the powers that be ever — like, in a year or something — said, 'Hey, you know what? We feel like playing some shows,' I'm there to do it," Holt added. "But those aren't decisions for me to make, or even me to really speculate on. As far as my knowledge, the band is over, and the final show was November 30, 2019. And I'm full speed ahead with Exodus now."
On October 12, 2021, King expressed regret that Slayer had retired "too early." While congratulating Machine Head on their 30th anniversary as a band, he said, "Apparently, it's 30 years, which is quite an achievement. Not a lot of bands get there. We did, and then we quit too early. Fuck us. Fuck me. I hate fucking not playing." In an interview with Metal Hammer a few days later, King reiterated that he would continue to work outside of Slayer: "I'm dragging my feet on letting the world know what I'm doing because there's no rush. I have a tour that I'm considering doing, but I'm not going to announce a band, I'm not going to announce a record, I'm not going to announce anything. But you will see me in the future — it will be fucking good." When interviewed again two months later by Metal Hammer, King did not rule out the possibility of any more "Big Four" shows with Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax, but expressed doubt that a Slayer reunion would ever happen: "The way that I'm moving forward is I don't think Slayer are ever going to play again. There's no business of me playing by myself!"
Musical style
Slayer is considered a thrash metal band. In an article from December 1986 by the Washington Post, writer Joe Brown described Slayer as speed metal, a genre he defined as "an unholy hybrid of punk rock thrash and heavy metal that attracts an almost all-male teen-age following". Describing Slayer's music, Brown wrote: "Over a jackhammer beat, Slayer's stun guitars created scraping sheets of corrosive metal noise, with occasional solos that sounded like squealing brakes, over which the singer-bassist emitted a larynx-lacerating growl-yowl." In an article from September 1988 by the New York Times, writer Jon Pareles also described Slayer as speed metal, additionally writing that the band "brings the sensational imagery of tabloids and horror movies" and has lyrics that "revel in death, gore and allusions to Satanism and Nazism." Pareles also described other "Big Four" thrash metal bands Metallica and Megadeth as speed metal bands. Slayer's early works were praised for their "breakneck speed and instrumental prowess", combining the structure of hardcore punk tempos and speed metal. The band released fast, aggressive material. The album Reign in Blood is the band's fastest, performed at an average of 220 beats per minute; the album Diabolus in Musica was the band's first to feature C tuning; God Hates Us All was the first to feature drop B tuning and seven-string guitars tuned to B. AllMusic cited the album as "abandoning the extravagances and accessibility of their late-'80s/early-'90s work and returning to perfect the raw approach", with some fans labeling it as nu metal.
King and Hanneman's dual guitar solos have been referred to as "wildly chaotic", and "twisted genius". Original drummer Lombardo would use two bass drums (instead of a double pedal, which is used on a single bass drum). Lombardo's speed and aggression earned him the title of the "godfather of double bass" by Drummerworld. Lombardo stated his reasons for using two bass drums: "When you hit the bass drum, the head is still resonating. When you hit it in the same place right after that, you kinda get a 'slapback' from the bass drum head hitting the other pedal. You're not letting them breathe." When playing the two bass drums, Lombardo would use the "heel-up" technique.
In the original lineup, King, Hanneman and Araya contributed to the band's lyrics, and King and Hanneman wrote the music with additional arrangement from Lombardo, and sometimes Araya. Araya formed a lyric writing partnership with Hanneman, which sometimes overshadowed the creative input of King. Hanneman stated that writing lyrics and music was a "free-for-all": "It's all just whoever comes up with what. Sometimes I'll be more on a roll and I'll have more stuff, same with Kerry – it's whoever's hot, really. Anybody can write anything; if it's good, we use it; if not, we don't."
When writing material, the band would write the music first before incorporating lyrics. King or Hanneman used a 24-track and drum machine to show band members the riff that they created, and to get their opinion. Either King, Hanneman or Lombardo would mention if any alterations could be made. The band played the riff to get the basic song structure, and figured out where the lyrics and solos would be placed.
Legacy
Slayer is one of the most influential bands in heavy metal history. Steve Huey of AllMusic believes the musical style of Slayer makes the band stronger than the other members of the "Big Four" thrash metal bands Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax, all of which rose to fame during the 1980s. Slayer's "downtuned rhythms, infectious guitar licks, graphically violent lyrics and grisly artwork set the standard for dozens of emerging thrash bands" and their "music was directly responsible for the rise of death metal" states MTV, ranking Slayer as the sixth "greatest metal band of all time", ranking number 50 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. Hanneman and King ranked number 10 in Guitar Worlds "100 greatest metal guitarists of all time" in 2004, and were voted "Best Guitarist/Guitar Team" in Revolver's reader's poll. Original drummer Lombardo was also voted "Best Drummer" and the band entered the top five in the categories "Best Band Ever", "Best Live Band", "Album of the Year" (for Christ Illusion) and "Band of the Year".
Music author Joel McIver considers Slayer very influential in the extreme metal scene, especially in the development of the death metal and black metal subgenres. According to John Consterdine of Terrorizer, without "Slayer's influence, extreme metal as we know it wouldn't exist." Kam Lee of Massacre and former member of Death stated: "there wouldn't be death metal or black metal or even extreme metal (the likes of what it is today) if not for Slayer." Johan Reinholdz of Andromeda said that Slayer "were crucial in the development of thrash metal which then became the foundation for a lot of different subgenres. They inspired generations of metal bands." Alex Skolnick of Testament declared: "Before Slayer, metal had never had such razor-sharp articulation, tightness, and balance between sound and stops. This all-out sonic assault was about the shock, the screams, the drums, and [...] most importantly the riffs."
Groups who cited Slayer among their major influences include Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet for My Valentine, Fear Factory, Machine Head, Children of Bodom, Slipknot, Gojira, Carnifex, Hatebreed, Cannibal Corpse, Pantera, Kreator, Sadistic Intent, Mayhem, Darkthrone, System of a Down, Lamb of God, Behemoth, Evile and Lacuna Coil. Steve Asheim, drummer for Deicide, declared that "there obviously would not have been a Deicide as we know it without the existence of Slayer." Sepultura guitarist Andreas Kisser affirmed that "without Slayer, Sepultura would never be possible." Weezer mentions them in the song "Heart Songs" from their 2008 self-titled "Red" album. The verse goes: "Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Slayer taught me how to shred..." Dave Grohl recalled, "Me and my friends, we just wanted to listen to fucking Slayer and take acid and smash stuff."
The band's 1986 release Reign in Blood has been an influence to extreme and thrash metal bands since its release and is considered the record which set the bar for death metal. It had a significant influence on the genre leaders such as Death, Obituary, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel and Napalm Death. The album was hailed the "heaviest album of all time" by Kerrang!, a "genre-definer" by Stylus, and a "stone-cold classic upon its release" by AllMusic. In 2006, Reign in Blood was named the best metal album of the last 20 years by Metal Hammer. According to Nielsen SoundScan, Slayer sold 4,900,000 copies in the United States from 1991 to 2013.
Controversy
A lawsuit was brought against the band in 1996, by the parents of Elyse Pahler, who accused the band of encouraging their daughter's murderers through their lyrics. Pahler was drugged, strangled, stabbed, trampled on, and raped as a sacrifice to the devil by three fans of the band. The case was unsealed by the court on May 19, 2000, stating Slayer and related business markets distribute harmful products to teens, encouraging violent acts through their lyrics, and "none of the vicious crimes committed against Elyse Marie Pahler would have occurred without the intentional marketing strategy of the death-metal band Slayer." The lawsuit was dismissed in 2001, for multiple reasons including "principles of free speech, lack of a duty and lack of foreseeability." A second lawsuit was filed by the parents, an amended complaint for damages against Slayer, their label, and other industry and label entities. The lawsuit was again dismissed. Judge E. Jeffrey Burke stated, "I do not consider Slayer's music obscene, indecent or harmful to minors."
Slayer has been accused of holding Nazi sympathies, due to the band's eagle logo bearing resemblance to the Eagle atop swastika and the lyrics of "Angel of Death". "Angel of Death" was inspired by the acts of Josef Mengele, the doctor who conducted human experiments on prisoners during World War II at the Auschwitz concentration camp, and was dubbed the "Angel of Death" by inmates.
Slayer's cover of Minor Threat's "Guilty of Being White" raised questions about a possible message of white supremacy in the band's music. The controversy surrounding the cover involved the changing of the refrain "guilty of being white" to "guilty of being right", at the song's ending. This incensed Minor Threat frontman Ian MacKaye, who stated "that is so offensive to me." King said it was changed for "tongue-in-cheek" humor as he thought the allegation of racism at the time was "ridiculous".
In a 2004 interview with Araya, when asked, "Did critics realize you were wallowing in parody?" Araya replied, "No. People thought we were serious!...back then you had that PMRC, who literally took everything to heart, when in actuality you're trying to create an image. You're trying to scare people on purpose." Araya also denied rumors that Slayer members are Satanists, but they find the subject of Satanism interesting and "we are all on this planet to learn and experience."
The song "Jihad" of the album Christ Illusion sparked controversy among families of the September 11 victims. The song deals with the attack from the perspective of a religious terrorist. The band stated the song is spoken through perspective without being sympathetic to the cause, and supports neither side.
Seventeen bus benches promoting the same album in Fullerton, California were deemed offensive by city officials. City officials contacted the band's record label and demanded that the ads be removed. All benches were eliminated.
In India, Christ Illusion was recalled by EMI India after protests with Christian religious groups due to the nature of the graphic artwork. The album cover was designed by Slayer's longtime collaborator Larry Carroll and features Christ in a "sea of despair", with amputated arms, missing an eye, while standing in a sea of blood with severed heads. Joseph Dias of the Mumbai Christian group Catholic Secular Forum in India took "strong exception" to the original album artwork, and issued a memorandum to Mumbai's police commissioner in protest. On October 11, 2006, EMI announced that all stocks had been destroyed, noting it had no plans to re-release the record in India in the future.
Band membersFormer members Kerry King – guitars (1981–2019)
Tom Araya – bass, vocals (1981–2019)
Jeff Hanneman – guitars (1981–2013) (died 2013)
Dave Lombardo – drums (1981–1986, 1987–1992, 2001–2013)
Paul Bostaph – drums (1992–1996, 1997–2001, 2013–2019)
Jon Dette – drums (1996–1997)
Gary Holt – guitars (2013–2019)Touring musicians Tony Scaglione – drums (1986–1987)
Pat O'Brien – guitars (2011)
Gary Holt – guitars (2011–2013)
Jon Dette – drums (2013)
Phil Demmel – guitars (2018)Timeline'''
Discography
Show No Mercy (1983)
Hell Awaits (1985)
Reign in Blood (1986)
South of Heaven (1988)
Seasons in the Abyss (1990)
Divine Intervention (1994)
Undisputed Attitude (1996)
Diabolus in Musica (1998)
God Hates Us All (2001)
Christ Illusion (2006)
World Painted Blood (2009)
Repentless (2015)
Awards and nominations
|-
!scope="row"| 2002
| "Disciple" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"|2007
| "Eyes of the Insane" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"| 2008
|| "Final Six" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"|2010
| "Hate Worldwide" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
!scope="row"|2011
| "World Painted Blood" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2006
| Slayer || Kerrang! Hall of Fame ||
|-
!scope="row"|2013
| Slayer || Kerrang! Legend ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2003
| War at the Warfield || DVD of the Year ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2010
| Kerry King || God of Riffs ||
|-
!scope="row"|2013
| Jeff Hanneman || God of Riffs ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2004
| Slayer || Best Live Act ||
|-
!scope="row"|2006
| Reign in Blood || Best Album of the Last 20 Years ||
|-
!scope="row"|2007
| | "Eyes of the Insane" || Best Video ||
|-
!scope="row"|2007
||Slayer || Icon Award ||
|-
|-
!scope="row"|2006
| Christ Illusion || Best Thrash Metal Album ||
|-
!scope="row"|2015
| "Repentless" || Best Video ||
|-
Footnotes
From late 2010 until his death in May 2013, Jeff Hanneman's participation in Slayer was minimal. In January 2011, he contracted necrotizing fasciitis, which severely restricted his ability to perform. He appeared publicly with the band on only one known occasion, playing two songs during an encore at one of Slayer's Big 4 performances in April 2011; he also attended rehearsals for Fun Fun Fun Fest in November 2011, but did not end up performing at this show. By July 2012, Hanneman had not written or recorded any new material for the band's follow up to 2009's World Painted Blood''. In February 2013, Kerry King stated he was planning on recording all of the guitar parts for the upcoming album himself, but was open to Hanneman's return if he was willing and able. King also denied that Gary Holt, member of Exodus and Hanneman's live fill-in, would write or record anything for the upcoming album. Hanneman died on May 2, 2013 at the age of 49 due to liver failure.
Citations
Further reading
External links
1981 establishments in California
Thrash metal musical groups from California
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Def Jam Recordings artists
Grammy Award winners
Kerrang! Awards winners
Metal Blade Records artists
Musical groups disestablished in 2019
Musical groups established in 1981
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical quartets
Nuclear Blast artists
Obscenity controversies in music | true | [
"\"I know that I know nothing\" is a saying derived from Plato's account of the Greek philosopher Socrates. Socrates himself was never recorded as having said this phrase, and scholars generally agree that Socrates only ever asserted that he believed that he knew nothing, having never claimed that he knew that he knew nothing. It is also sometimes called the Socratic paradox, although this name is often instead used to refer to other seemingly paradoxical claims made by Socrates in Plato's dialogues (most notably, Socratic intellectualism and the Socratic fallacy).\n\nThis saying is also connected or conflated with the answer to a question Socrates (according to Xenophon) or Chaerephon (according to Plato) is said to have posed to the Pythia, the Oracle of Delphi, in which the oracle stated something to the effect of \"Socrates is the wisest person in Athens.\" Socrates, believing the oracle but also completely convinced that he knew nothing, was said to have concluded that nobody knew anything, and that he was only wiser than others because he was the only person who recognized his own ignorance.\n\nEtymology \nThe phrase, originally from Latin (\"\"), is a possible paraphrase from a Greek text (see below). It is also quoted as \"\" or \"\". It was later back-translated to Katharevousa Greek as \"\", [hèn oîda hóti] oudèn oîda).\n\nIn Plato \nThis is technically a shorter paraphrasing of Socrates' statement, \"I neither know nor think I know\" (in Plato, Apology 21d). The paraphrased saying, though widely attributed to Plato's Socrates in both ancient and modern times, actually occurs nowhere in Plato's works in precisely the form \"I know I know nothing.\" Two prominent Plato scholars have recently argued that the claim should not be attributed to Plato's Socrates.\n\nEvidence that Socrates does not actually claim to know nothing can be found at Apology 29b-c, where he claims twice to know something. See also Apology 29d, where Socrates indicates that he is so confident in his claim to knowledge at 29b-c that he is willing to die for it.\n\nThat said, in the Apology, Plato relates that Socrates accounts for his seeming wiser than any other person because he does not imagine that he knows what he does not know.\n\n... I seem, then, in just this little thing to be wiser than this man at any rate, that what I do not know I do not think I know either. [from the Henry Cary literal translation of 1897]\n\nA more commonly used translation puts it, \"although I do not suppose that either of us knows anything really beautiful and good, I am better off than he is – for he knows nothing, and thinks he knows. I neither know nor think I know\" [from the Benjamin Jowett translation]. Whichever translation we use, the context in which this passage occurs should be considered; Socrates having gone to a \"wise\" man, and having discussed with him, withdraws and thinks the above to himself. Socrates, since he denied any kind of knowledge, then tried to find someone wiser than himself among politicians, poets, and craftsmen. It appeared that politicians claimed wisdom without knowledge; poets could touch people with their words, but did not know their meaning; and craftsmen could claim knowledge only in specific and narrow fields. The interpretation of the Oracle's answer might be Socrates' awareness of his own ignorance.\n\nSocrates also deals with this phrase in Plato's dialogue Meno when he says:\n\n[So now I do not know what virtue is; perhaps you knew before you contacted me, but now you are certainly like one who does not know.] (trans. G. M. A. Grube)\n\nHere, Socrates aims at the change of Meno's opinion, who was a firm believer in his own opinion and whose claim to knowledge Socrates had disproved.\n\nIt is essentially the question that begins \"post-Socratic\" Western philosophy. Socrates begins all wisdom with wondering, thus one must begin with admitting one's ignorance. After all, Socrates' dialectic method of teaching was based on that he as a teacher knew nothing, so he would derive knowledge from his students by dialogue.\n\nThere is also a passage by Diogenes Laërtius in his work Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers where he lists, among the things that Socrates used to say: \"\", or \"that he knew nothing except that he knew that very fact (i.e. that he knew nothing)\".\n\nAgain, closer to the quote, there is a passage in Plato's Apology, where Socrates says that after discussing with someone he started thinking that:\n\nI am wiser than this man, for neither of us appears to know anything great and good; but he fancies he knows something, although he knows nothing; whereas I, as I do not know anything, so I do not fancy I do. In this trifling particular, then, I appear to be wiser than he, because I do not fancy I know what I do not know.\n\nIt is also a curiosity that there is more than one passage in the narratives in which Socrates claims to have knowledge on some topic, for instance on love:\n\nHow could I vote 'No,' when the only thing I say I understand is the art of love (τὰ ἐρωτικά)\n\nI know virtually nothing, except a certain small subject – love (τῶν ἐρωτικῶν), although on this subject, I'm thought to be amazing (δεινός), better than anyone else, past or present\n\nAlternative usage \n\"Socratic paradox\" may also refer to statements of Socrates that seem contrary to common sense, such as that \"no one desires evil\".\n\nSee also \n\n Acatalepsy\n Academic skepticism\n Metamemory\n Apodicticity\n Cogito\n Dunning–Kruger effect\n Doxastic logic, Doxastic attitudes\n Epistemology\n Gnothi seauton\n Ignoramus et ignorabimus\n Maieutics\n Münchhausen trilemma\n Pyrrhonism\n Sapere aude\n Skepticism\n There are known knowns\n Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\nTheories in ancient Greek philosophy\nQuotations from philosophy\nGreek words and phrases\nSocrates\nConcepts in epistemology\nSelf-referential paradoxes\nIgnorance\nAcademic skepticism",
"\"Is There Something I Should Know?\" is the eighth single by British pop band Duran Duran, released on 19 March 1983.\n\nThe song was released as a stand-alone single and became the band's first UK number one record. It debuted in the number one position on the UK Singles Chart on 26 March 1983. The single also had great success in America, where it was released in late May: The song debuted on the charts on 4 June at #57, and it reached number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 on 6 August 1983 and sold more than a million copies.\n\nBackground\n\"Is There Something I Should Know?\" was recorded at Tony Visconti’s Good Earth Studios in Soho, London with producer Ian Little, who was recommended to the group by Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera. Eventually, the song would undergo several rounds of mixing due to a lack of compression on the drums as Little asserted: one mix was done at Good Earth, one at Eel Pie Studios, one at The Gallery and one at The Power Station in New York with Bob Clearmountain. Keyboardist Nick Rhodes remembered being present most of the night during the mix with Clearmountain and leaving the next day thinking the band had something special on their hands. But upon reflection some days later, it was decided that despite being what they considered a \"beautiful mix\", it was a little too soft for the sound they were trying to achieve for the record. So the final mix would be done with producer Alex Sadkin (who’d be brought in to produce the band’s next album alongside Little, Seven and the Ragged Tiger) and Phil Thornalley at RAK Studios, London, who replaced the drums with samples triggered via AMS delay units.\n\nAlthough generally regarded as a stand-alone single, it was added to the 1983 US re-issue of the band's 1981 debut album, Duran Duran. The first album on which the song featured in the UK was the inaugural Now That's What I Call Music compilation at the end of the year.\n\nThe singles from the Duran Duran album did not receive much airplay in the United States on the album's first release; both the band and the New Romantic fashion style were unknown, and very few British bands were able to break into American radio at that time. However, by the end of 1982, the band's Rio album was rapidly climbing the American charts, fueled by saturation airplay of various Duran Duran videos on MTV. The band and their label, Capitol/EMI, decided to re-release the debut album in the United States with the inclusion of this newly recorded single.\n\nBecause of the time limitations of vinyl records, the inclusion of \"Is There Something I Should Know?\" required the omission of the album track \"To The Shore\" on the reissue. \"To The Shore\" was reinstated on later compact disc pressings.\n\n\"Is There Something I Should Know?\" was the opening song on Duran Duran’s set list for the 1983/84 Seven and the Ragged Tiger tour - as well as Duran Duran's charity concert at Aston Villa football ground in 1983.\n\nIn a retrospective review of the song, Allmusic journalist Donald A. Guarisco wrote that the lyrics \"deal with a difficult romantic relationship in rather obtuse terms.\" Guarisco highlighted what he described as \"odd turns of phrase\" in the lyrics, such as: \"and fiery demons all dance when you walk through that door/Don't say you're easy on me 'cause you're about as easy as a nuclear war.\"\n\nAlthough Guarisco questioned the lyrics, he praised the melody in the song. He wrote: \"The melody of 'Is There Something I Should Know?' is one of Duran Duran's catchiest, matching twisty verse melodies full of ear-catching hooks with a harmonized chorus.\"\n\nAccording to Rhodes, the pulsing keyboard sound is from a Roland Jupiter-8 synth, while the Prophet-5 was used for a small melodic part.\n\nMusic video\nThe memorable and much-played video for \"Is There Something I Should Know?\" featured colour clips of the band members, in blue shirts with tucked-in white ties, interspersed with surreal images in black-and-white. The video made a point of marking the transition between albums one and two - and the third, featuring clips from several earlier Duran Duran videos. This included \"My Own Way\" - presented on the Duran Duran Video Album but never released to MTV.\n\nThe video was directed by Russell Mulcahy, and was one of the most popular videos of 1983 on MTV. The video is longer as there are verses that were edited out of the original 45 release, that subsequently made it to album, tape and CD. The DVD Greatest Hits has the long version video\n\nWhen asked if there was anything about their videos they'd like to change, drummer Roger Taylor commented, \"The only part of a video I would change is the end of 'Is There Something I Should Know?' where I am singing to the camera. I look very uncomfortable doing this and cringe every time I see it to this day.\"\n\nB-sides, bonus tracks and remixes\nThe B-side to \"Is There Something I Should Know?\" in the UK is the instrumental \"Faith in This Colour\". An \"Alternate Slow Mix\" of \"Faith in this Colour\" was used on the 7\" single, some pressings of which included brief unauthorized sound samples from the movie Star Wars—these were promptly withdrawn when copyright concerns were raised, although on the \"Alternate Slow Mix\" from the singles box set, the scene, in which Obi-Wan leaves to disable the tractor beam, can clearly be heard in the last minute. Duran Duran has not confirmed this, though.\n\nThe mainly instrumental \"Monster Mix\" of \"Is There Something I Should Know?\" was completed by producers Ian Little and Alex Sadkin and Phil Thornalley at RAK studio One.\n\nIn the US, the song \"Careless Memories\" is the B-side of \"Is There Something I Should Know?\".\n\nFormats and track listing\n\n7\": EMI. / EMI 5371 United Kingdom\n \"Is There Something I Should Know?\" – 4:11\n \"Faith in This Colour (Alternate Slow Mix)\" – 4:06\n\n12\": EMI. / 12 EMI 5371 United Kingdom\n \"Is There Something I Should Know?\" (Monster Mix) – 6:43\n \"Faith in This Colour\" – 4:06\n\n7\": Capitol Records. / B-5233 United States \n \"Is There Something I Should Know?\" – 4:07\n \"Careless Memories\" – 3:53\n Track 2 is the \"Album Version\".\n\n12\": Capitol Records. / 8551 United States \n \"Is There Something I Should Know?\" (Monster Mix) – 6:40\n \"Faith in This Colour\" – 4:05\n\n12\": EMI. / EMI Electrola 1C K062-65-106Z Germany \n \"Is There Something I Should Know?\" (Monster Mix) – 6:43\n \"Is There Something I Should Know?\" (Short Mix) – 4:06\n \"Faith in This Colour\" – 4:04\n Track 2 \"Short Mix\" is the \"Single Version\".\n\nCD: Part of \"Singles Box Set 1981–1985\" boxset\n \"Is There Something I Should Know?\" – 4:11\n \"Faith in This Colour\" – 4:05\n \"Is There Something I Should Know?\" (Monster Mix) – 6:40\n \"Faith in This Colour (Alternate Slow Mix)\" – 4:05\n\"Monster Mix\" remixed by Alex Sadkin, Ian Little and Phil Thornalley.\n\nCovers, samples and media references\n\nThe band Sugar Ray took elements from the video and featured them in a segment of the music video for their single \"When It's Over\".\n\nCover versions of the song have been recorded by The Mr. T Experience, Harvey Danger and allSTARS*, the last of which took the song back into the UK charts at #12 in September 2001 as a double-A-side with their own track \"Things That Go Bump In The Night\".\n\nThe line \"you're about as easy as a nuclear war\" was the inspiration for the Duran Duran song \"Yo Bad Azizi\", included as a B-side to the \"Serious\" single released seven years later.\n\nallSTARS* version \n\nTrack Listing\n\nCD\n \"Things That Go Bump In The Night\"\n \"Is There Something I Should Know\"\n \"Is There Something I Should Know\" (Almighty Mix)\n \"Things That Go Bump In The Night\" (Video)\n\nCassette\n \"Things That Go Bump In The Night\"\n \"Is There Something I Should Know\"\n \"That Crazy Thing That We Call Love\"\n\n12\" Vinyl\n \"Is There Something I Should Know\" (Mothership Mix)\n \"Is There Something I Should Know\" (Almighty Mix)\n \"Is There Something I Should Know\" (K Boys Club Mix)\n \"Is There Something I Should Know\" (Radio Edit)\n \"Things That Go Bump In The Night\" (Xenomania Mix)\n \"Things That Go Bump In The Night\" (Radio Edit)\n\nPromo CD\n \"Things That Go Bump In The Night\" (Radio Edit)\n \"Is There Something I Should Know\" (Radio Edit)\n\nChart performance\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nOther appearances\nApart from the single, \"Is There Something I Should Know?\" has also appeared on:\n\nAlbums:\nDuran Duran (1983 US Re-release)\nArena (1984 live album)\nTiger! Tiger! EP (Japan only, 1984)\nDecade (1989)\nNight Versions: The Essential Duran Duran (US only, 1998)\nGreatest (1998)\nStrange Behaviour (1999)\nSingles Box Set 1981–1985 (2003)\nSingles Box Set 1986–1995 (2004)\nSeven and the Ragged Tiger (2010 remastered version)\n\nSingles:\nCapitol Gold Cuts (1990)\nCome Undone (1993)\n\nPersonnel\nDuran Duran are:\nSimon Le Bon – vocals, harmonica \nNick Rhodes – keyboards\nJohn Taylor – bass guitar\nRoger Taylor – drums\nAndy Taylor – guitar, vocals\n\nAlso credited:\nIan Little – producer\nAlex Sadkin – mixer\nPhil Thornalley – mix engineer \nMike Nocito – mix assistant engineer\nRAK studios – mix studio\n\nReferences\n\n1983 singles\nDuran Duran songs\nUK Singles Chart number-one singles\nMusic videos directed by Russell Mulcahy\nAllstars (band) songs\nSongs written by Simon Le Bon\nSongs written by John Taylor (bass guitarist)\nSongs written by Roger Taylor (Duran Duran drummer)\nSongs written by Andy Taylor (guitarist)\nSongs written by Nick Rhodes\nCapitol Records singles\nEMI Records singles"
] |
[
"Murray Rothbard",
"Education"
] | C_2f838a5bd1e748ca8c657827da681914_1 | where did he go to school? | 1 | Where did Murray Rothbard go to school? | Murray Rothbard | Murray Rothbard's parents were David and Rae Rothbard, Jewish immigrants to the U.S. from Poland and Russia, respectively. David Rothbard was a chemist. Murray attended Birch Wathen, a private school in New York City. Rothbard later stated that he much preferred Birch Wathen to the "debasing and egalitarian public school system" he had previously attended in the Bronx. Rothbard wrote of having grown up as a "right-winger" (adherent of the "Old Right") among friends and neighbors who were "communists or fellow-travelers." Rothbard characterized his immigrant father as an individualist who embraced the American values of minimal government, free enterprise, private property, and "a determination to rise by one's own merits". "[A]ll socialism seemed to me monstrously coercive and abhorrent." He attended Columbia University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics in 1945 and, eleven years later, his PhD in economics in 1956. The delay in receiving his PhD was due in part to conflict with his advisor, Joseph Dorfman, and in part to Arthur Burns rejecting his doctoral dissertation. Burns was a longtime friend of the Rothbard family and their neighbor at their Manhattan apartment building. It was only after Burns went on leave from the Columbia faculty to head President Eisenhower's Council of Economic Advisors that Rothbard's thesis was accepted and he received his doctorate. Rothbard later stated that all of his fellow students there were extreme leftists and that he was one of only two Republicans on the Columbia campus at the time. During the 1940s Rothbard became acquainted with Frank Chodorov and read widely in libertarian-oriented works by Albert Jay Nock, Garet Garrett, Isabel Paterson, H. L. Mencken and others, as well as Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises. In the early 1950s, when Mises was teaching at the Wall Street division of New York University Business School, Rothbard attended Mises' unofficial seminar. Rothbard was greatly influenced by Mises' book, Human Action. Rothbard attracted the attention of the William Volker Fund, a group that provided financial backing to promote various "right-wing" ideologies in the 1950s and early 1960s. The Volker Fund paid Rothbard to write a textbook to explain Human Action in a form which could be used to introduce college undergraduates to Mises' views; a sample chapter he wrote on money and credit won Mises's approval. For ten years, Rothbard was paid a retainer by the Volker Fund, which designated him a "senior analyst." As Rothbard continued his work, he enlarged the project. The result was Rothbard's book Man, Economy, and State, published in 1962. Upon its publication, Mises praised Rothbard's work effusively. CANNOTANSWER | Murray attended Birch Wathen, a private school in New York City. | Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American heterodox economist of the Austrian School, economic historian and political theorist. Rothbard was a founder and leading theoretician of anarcho-capitalism and a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian movement. He wrote over twenty books on political theory, history, economics, and other subjects.
Rothbard argued that all services provided by the "monopoly system of the corporate state" could be provided more efficiently by the private sector and wrote that the state is "the organization of robbery systematized and writ large". He called fractional-reserve banking a form of fraud and opposed central banking. He categorically opposed all military, political, and economic interventionism in the affairs of other nations. According to his protégé Hans-Hermann Hoppe, "[t]here would be no anarcho-capitalist movement to speak of without Rothbard".
Libertarian economist Jeffrey Herbener, who calls Rothbard his friend and "intellectual mentor", wrote that Rothbard received "only ostracism" from mainstream academia. Rothbard rejected mainstream economic methodologies and instead embraced the praxeology of his most important intellectual precursor, Ludwig von Mises. To promote his economic and political ideas, Rothbard joined Lew Rockwell and Burton Blumert in 1982 to establish the Mises Institute in Alabama.
Life and work
Education
Rothbard's parents were David and Rae Rothbard, Jewish immigrants to the United States from Poland and Russia, respectively. David was a chemist. Murray attended Birch Wathen Lenox School, a private school in New York City. He later said he much preferred Birch Wathen to the "debasing and egalitarian public school system" he had attended in the Bronx.
Rothbard wrote of having grown up as a "right-winger" (adherent of the "Old Right") among friends and neighbors who were "communists or fellow-travelers". He was a member of The New York Young Republican Club in his youth. Rothbard characterized his immigrant father as an individualist who embraced the American values of minimal government, free enterprise, private property and "a determination to rise by one's own merits ... "[A]ll socialism seemed to me monstrously coercive and abhorrent".
Rothbard attended Columbia University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics in 1945 and a PhD in economics in 1956. The delay in receiving his PhD was due in part to conflict with his advisor, Joseph Dorfman, and in part to Arthur Burns’s rejecting his dissertation. Burns was a longtime friend of the Rothbards and their neighbor at their Manhattan apartment building. It was only after Burns went on leave from the Columbia faculty to head President Eisenhower's Council of Economic Advisors that Rothbard's thesis was accepted and he received his doctorate. Rothbard later said that all his fellow students were extreme leftists and that he was one of only two Republicans at Columbia at the time.
During the 1940s, Rothbard became acquainted with Frank Chodorov and read widely in libertarian-oriented works by Albert Jay Nock, Garet Garrett, Isabel Paterson, H. L. Mencken, and Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises. In the early 1950s, when Mises was teaching in the Wall Street division of the New York University Stern School of Business, Rothbard attended his unofficial seminar. Rothbard was greatly influenced by Mises's book Human Action. He attracted the attention of the William Volker Fund, a group that provided financial backing to promote right-wing ideologies in the 1950s and early 1960s. The Volker Fund paid Rothbard to write a textbook to explain Human Action in a form that could be used to introduce college undergraduates to Mises's views; a sample chapter he wrote on money and credit won Mises's approval. For ten years, the Volker Fund paid him a retainer as a "senior analyst". As Rothbard continued his work, he enlarged the project. The result was his book Man, Economy, and State, published in 1962. Upon its publication, Mises praised Rothbard's work effusively.
Marriage, employment, and activism
In 1953, Rothbard married JoAnn Beatrice Schumacher (September 17, 1928 – October 29, 1999), whom he called Joey, in New York City. JoAnn was a historian and was Rothbard's personal editor and a close adviser as well as hostess of his Rothbard Salon. They enjoyed a loving marriage and Rothbard often called her "the indispensable framework" of his life and achievements. According to Joey, the Volker Fund's patronage allowed Rothbard to work from home as a freelance theorist and pundit for the first 15 years of their marriage. The Volker Fund collapsed in 1962, leading Rothbard to seek employment from various New York academic institutions. He was offered a part-time position teaching economics to engineering students at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute in 1966 at age 40. The institution had no economics department or economics majors and Rothbard derided its social science department as "Marxist", but Justin Raimondo writes that Rothbard liked teaching at Brooklyn Polytechnic because working only two days a week gave him freedom to contribute to developments in libertarian politics.
Rothbard continued in this role until 1986. Then 60 years old, Rothbard left Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute for the Lee Business School at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), where he held the title of S.J. Hall Distinguished Professor of Economics, a chair endowed by a libertarian businessman. According to Rothbard's friend, colleague and fellow Misesian economist Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Rothbard led a "fringe existence" in academia, but he was able to attract a large number of "students and disciples" through his writings, thereby becoming "the creator and one of the principal agents of the contemporary libertarian movement". He kept his position at UNLV from 1986 until his death. Rothbard founded the Center for Libertarian Studies in 1976 and the Journal of Libertarian Studies in 1977. In 1982, he co-founded the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, and was vice president of academic affairs until 1995. Rothbard also founded the institute's Review of Austrian Economics, a heterodox economics journal later renamed the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, in 1987.
After Rothbard's death, Joey reflected on his happiness and bright spirit, saying, "he managed to make a living for 40 years without having to get up before noon. This was important to him." Rothbard was known to be a "night owl". She recalled how Rothbard would begin every day with a phone conversation with his colleague Lew Rockwell: "Gales of laughter would shake the house or apartment, as they checked in with each other. Murray thought it was the best possible way to start a day". Rothbard was irreligious and agnostic about God, describing himself as a "mixture of an agnostic and a Reform Jew". Despite identifying as an agnostic and an atheist, he was critical of the "left-libertarian hostility to religion". In Rothbard's later years, many of his friends anticipated that he would convert to Catholicism, but he never did. The New York Times obituary called Rothbard "an economist and social philosopher who fiercely defended individual freedom against government intervention".
Creation of the Mises Institute
As a result of the economic works of Murray Rothbard, Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Ludwig Von Mises, and other Austrian economists, the Mises Institute was founded in 1982 by Lew Rockwell, Burton Blumert, and Murray Rothbard, following a split between the Cato Institute and Rothbard, who had been one of the founders of the Cato Institute.
Conflict with Ayn Rand
In 1954, Rothbard, along with several other attendees of Mises's seminar, joined the circle of novelist Ayn Rand, the founder of Objectivism. He soon parted from her, writing among other things that her ideas were not as original as she proclaimed, but similar to those of Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and Herbert Spencer. In 1958, after the publication of Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged, Rothbard wrote her a "fan letter", calling the book "an infinite treasure house" and "not merely the greatest novel ever written, [but] one of the very greatest books ever written, fiction or nonfiction". He also wrote: "[Y]ou introduced me to the whole field of natural rights and natural law philosophy", prompting him to learn "the glorious natural rights tradition". Rothbard rejoined Rand's circle for a few months, but soon broke with Rand again over various differences, including his defense of his interpretation of anarchism.
Rothbard later satirized Rand's acolytes in his unpublished one-act farce Mozart Was a Red and his essay "The Sociology of the Ayn Rand Cult". He characterized Rand's circle as a "dogmatic, personality cult". His play parodies Rand (through the character Carson Sand) and her friends and is set during a visit from Keith Hackley, a fan of Sand's novel The Brow of Zeus (a play on Atlas Shrugged).
Death
Rothbard died of a heart attack on January 7, 1995, at the age of 68. He was buried in his wife's plot in Oakwood Cemetery, Unionville, Virginia.
Ethical and philosophical views
Austrian economics
Rothbard was an advocate and practitioner of the Austrian School tradition of his teacher Ludwig von Mises. Like Mises, Rothbard rejected the application of the scientific method to economics and dismissed econometrics, empirical and statistical analysis and other tools of mainstream social science as outside the field (economic history might use those tools, but not Economics proper). He instead embraced praxeology, the strictly a priori methodology of Mises. Praxeology conceives of economic laws as akin to geometric or mathematical axioms: fixed, unchanging, objective and discernible through logical reasoning without the use of any empirical evidence.
According to Misesian economist Hans-Hermann Hoppe, eschewing the scientific method and empiricism distinguishes the Misesian approach "from all other current economic schools", which dismiss the Misesian approach as "dogmatic and unscientific." Mark Skousen of Chapman University and the Foundation for Economic Education, a critic of mainstream economics, praises Rothbard as brilliant, his writing style persuasive, his economic arguments nuanced and logically rigorous and his Misesian methodology sound. But Skousen concedes that Rothbard was effectively "outside the discipline" of mainstream economics and that his work "fell on deaf ears" outside his ideological circles.
Rothbard wrote extensively on Austrian business cycle theory and as part of this approach strongly opposed central banking, fiat money and fractional-reserve banking, advocating a gold standard and a 100% reserve requirement for banks.
Polemics against mainstream economics
Rothbard wrote a series of polemics in which he deprecated a number of leading modern economists. He vilified Adam Smith, calling him a "shameless plagiarist" who set economics off track, ultimately leading to the rise of Marxism. Rothbard praised Smith's contemporaries, including Richard Cantillon, Anne Robert Jacques Turgot and Étienne Bonnot de Condillac, for developing the subjective theory of value. In response to Rothbard's charge that Smith's The Wealth of Nations was largely plagiarized, David D. Friedman castigated Rothbard's scholarship and character, saying that he "was [either] deliberately dishonest or never really read the book he was criticizing". Tony Endres called Rothbard's treatment of Smith a "travesty".
Rothbard was equally scathing in his criticism of John Maynard Keynes, calling him weak on economic theory and a shallow political opportunist. Rothbard also wrote more generally that Keynesian-style governmental regulation of money and credit created a "dismal monetary and banking situation". He called John Stuart Mill a "wooly man of mush" and speculated that Mill's "soft" personality led his economic thought astray.
Rothbard was critical of monetarist economist Milton Friedman. In his polemic "Milton Friedman Unraveled", he called Friedman a "statist", a "favorite of the establishment", a friend of and "apologist" for Richard Nixon and a "pernicious influence" on public policy. Rothbard said that libertarians should scorn rather than celebrate Friedman's academic prestige and political influence. Noting that Rothbard has "been nasty to me and my work", Friedman responded to Rothbard's criticism by calling him a "cult builder and a dogmatist".
In a memorial volume published by the Mises Institute, Rothbard's protégé and libertarian theorist Hans-Hermann Hoppe wrote that Man, Economy, and State "presented a blistering refutation of all variants of mathematical economics" and included it among Rothbard's "almost mind-boggling achievements". Hoppe lamented that, like Mises, Rothbard died without winning the Nobel Prize that Hoppe says Rothbard deserved "twice over". Although Hoppe acknowledged that Rothbard and his work were largely ignored by academia, he called Rothbard an "intellectual giant" comparable to Aristotle, John Locke, and Immanuel Kant.
Disputes with other Austrian economists
Although he self-identified as an Austrian economist, Rothbard's methodology was at odds with that of many other Austrians. In 1956, Rothbard deprecated the views of Austrian economist Fritz Machlup, stating that Machlup was no praxeologist and calling him instead a "positivist" who failed to represent the views of Ludwig von Mises. Rothbard stated that in fact Machlup shared the opposing positivist view associated with economist Milton Friedman. Mises and Machlup had been colleagues in 1920s Vienna before each relocated to the United States and Mises later urged his American protege Israel Kirzner to pursue his PhD studies with Machlup at Johns Hopkins University.
According to libertarian economists Tyler Cowen and Richard Fink, Rothbard wrote that the term evenly rotating economy (ERE) can be used to analyze complexity in a world of change. The words ERE had been introduced by Mises as an alternative nomenclature for the mainstream economic method of static equilibrium and general equilibrium analysis. Cowen and Fink found "serious inconsistencies in both the nature of the ERE and its suggested uses". With the sole exception of Rothbard, no other economist adopted Mises' term and the concept continued to be called "equilibrium analysis".
In a 2011 article critical of Rothbard's "reflexive opposition" to inflation, The Economist noted that his views are increasingly gaining influence among politicians and laypeople on the right. The article contrasted Rothbard's categorical rejection of inflationary policies with the monetary views of "sophisticated Austrian-school monetary economists such as George Selgin and Larry White", [who] follow Hayek in treating stability of nominal spending as a monetary ideal—a position "not all that different from Mr [Scott] Sumner's".
According to economist Peter Boettke, Rothbard is better described as a property rights economist than as an Austrian economist. In 1988, Boettke noted that Rothbard "vehemently attacked all of the books of the younger Austrians".
Ethics
Although Rothbard adopted Ludwig von Mises' deductive methodology for his social theory and economics, he parted with Mises on the question of ethics. Specifically, he rejected Mises' conviction that ethical values remain subjective and opposed utilitarianism in favor of principle-based, natural law reasoning. In defense of his free market views, Mises employed utilitarian economic arguments aimed at demonstrating that interventionist policies made all of society worse off. On the other hand, Rothbard concluded that interventionist policies do in fact benefit some people, including certain government employees and beneficiaries of social programs. Therefore, unlike Mises, Rothbard argued for an objective, natural-law basis for the free market. He called this principle "self-ownership", loosely basing the idea on the writings of John Locke and also borrowing concepts from classical liberalism and the anti-imperialism of the Old Right.
Rothbard accepted the labor theory of property, but rejected the Lockean proviso, arguing that if an individual mixes his labor with unowned land then he becomes the proper owner eternally and that after that time it is private property which may change hands only by trade or gift.
Rothbard was a strong critic of egalitarianism. The title essay of Rothbard's 1974 book Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature and Other Essays held: "Equality is not in the natural order of things, and the crusade to make everyone equal in every respect (except before the law) is certain to have disastrous consequences". In it, Rothbard wrote: "At the heart of the egalitarian left is the pathological belief that there is no structure of reality; that all the world is a tabula rasa that can be changed at any moment in any desired direction by the mere exercise of human will".
Anarcho-capitalism
According to anarcho-capitalists, various theorists have espoused legal philosophies similar to anarcho-capitalism. However, Rothbard was the first person to use the term as in the mid-20th century he synthesized elements from the Austrian School of economics, classical liberalism and 19th-century American individualist anarchists. According to Lew Rockwell, Rothbard was the "conscience" of all the various strains of what he described as "libertarian anarchism", because their advocates (described as Rothbard's former "colleagues"), had often been personally inspired by his example.
During his years at graduate school in the late 1940s, Rothbard considered whether a strict adherence to libertarian and laissez-faire principles required the abolition of the state altogether. He visited Baldy Harper, a founder of the Foundation for Economic Education, who doubted the need for any government whatsoever. Rothbard said that during this period, he was influenced by 19th-century American individualist anarchists like Lysander Spooner and Benjamin Tucker and the Belgian economist Gustave de Molinari who wrote about how such a system could work. Thus, he "combined the laissez-faire economics of Mises with the absolutist views of human rights and rejection of the state" from individualist anarchists.
Rothbard began to consider himself a "private property anarchist" in 1950 and later began to use "anarcho-capitalist" to describe his political ideology. In his anarcho-capitalist model, the system of private property is upheld by private firms, such as hypothesized protection agencies, which compete in a free market and are voluntarily supported by consumers who choose to use their protective and judicial services. Anarcho-capitalists describe this as "the end of the state monopoly on force". He later came to terms that anarchism identified with socialism, and in an unpublished article wrote that individualist anarchism is different from anarcho-capitalism and other capitalist theories due to the individualist anarchists retaining the labor theory of value and socialist doctrines, suggesting a new term to identify himself: nonarchist.
In Man, Economy, and State, Rothbard divides the various kinds of state intervention in three categories: "autistic intervention", which is interference with private non-economic activities; "binary intervention", which is forced exchange between individuals and the state; and "triangular intervention", which is state-mandated exchange between individuals. According to Sanford Ikeda, Rothbard's typology "eliminates the gaps and inconsistencies that appear in Mises's original formulation". Rothbard writes in Power and Market that the role of the economist in a free market is limited, but it is much larger in a government that solicits economic policy recommendations. Rothbard argues that self-interest therefore prejudices the views of many economists in favor of increased government intervention.
Race, gender, and civil rights
Michael O'Malley, associate professor of history at George Mason University, characterizes Rothbard's "overall tone regard[ing]" the civil rights movement and the women's suffrage movement to be "contemptuous and hostile". Rothbard criticized women's rights activists, attributing the growth of the welfare state to politically active spinsters "whose busybody inclinations were not fettered by the responsibilities of health and heart". Rothbard argued that the progressive movement, which he regarded as a noxious influence on the United States, was spearheaded by a coalition of Yankee Protestants (people from the six New England states and upstate New York who were Protestants of English descent), Jewish women and "lesbian spinsters".
Rothbard called for the elimination of "the entire 'civil rights' structure" stating that it "tramples on the property rights of every American". He consistently favored repeal of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, including Title VII regarding employment discrimination, and called for overturning the Brown v. Board of Education decision on the grounds that state-mandated integration of schools violated libertarian principles. In an essay called "Right-wing Populism", Rothbard proposed a set of measures to "reach out" to the "middle and working classes", which included urging the police to crack down on "street criminals", writing that "cops must be unleashed" and "allowed to administer instant punishment, subject of course to liability when they are in error". He also advocated that the police "clear the streets of bums and vagrants."
Rothbard held strong opinions about many leaders of the civil rights movement. He considered black separatist Malcolm X to be a "great black leader" and integrationist Martin Luther King Jr. to be favored by whites because he "was the major restraining force on the developing Negro revolution". In 1993 he rejected the vision of a "separate black nation", asking "does anyone really believe that ... New Africa would be content to strike out on its own, with no massive "foreign aid" from the U.S.A.?". Rothbard also suggested that opposition to Martin Luther King Jr., whom he demeaned as a "coercive integrationist", should be a litmus test for members of his "paleolibertarian" political movement.
Opposition to war
Like Randolph Bourne, Rothbard believed that "war is the health of the state". According to David Gordon, this was the reason for Rothbard's opposition to aggressive foreign policy. Rothbard believed that stopping new wars was necessary and that knowledge of how government had led citizens into earlier wars was important. Two essays expanded on these views "War, Peace, and the State" and "Anatomy of the State". Rothbard used insights of Vilfredo Pareto, Gaetano Mosca and Robert Michels to build a model of state personnel, goals and ideology. In an obituary for his friend, the historical revisionist Harry Elmer Barnes, Rothbard wrote:
Rothbard's colleague Joseph Stromberg notes that Rothbard made two exceptions to his general condemnation of war: "the American Revolution and the War for Southern Independence, as viewed from the Confederate side". Rothbard condemned the "Northern war against slavery", saying it was inspired by "fanatical" religious faith and characterized by "a cheerful willingness to uproot institutions, to commit mayhem and mass murder, to plunder and loot and destroy, all in the name of high moral principle". He celebrated Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and other prominent Confederates as heroes while denouncing Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant and other Union leaders for "open[ing] the Pandora's Box of genocide and the extermination of civilians" in their war against the South.
Middle East conflict
Rothbard's The Libertarian Forum blamed the Middle East conflict on Israeli aggression "fueled by American arms and money". Rothbard warned that the Middle East conflict would draw the United States into a world war. He was anti-Zionist and opposed United States involvement in the Middle East. Rothbard criticized the Camp David Accords for having betrayed Palestinian aspirations and opposed Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon. In his essay, "War Guilt in the Middle East", Rothbard states that Israel refused "to let these refugees return and reclaim the property taken from them". He took negative views of the two state solution for the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, saying: On the one hand there are the Palestinian Arabs, who have tilled the soil or otherwise used the land of Palestine for centuries; and on the other, there are a group of external fanatics, who come from all over the world, and who claim the entire land area as "given" to them as a collective religion or tribe at some remote or legendary time in the past. There is no way the two claims can be resolved to the satisfaction of both parties. There can be no genuine settlement, no "peace" in the face of this irrepressible conflict; there can only be either a war to the death, or an uneasy practical compromise which can satisfy no one. That is the harsh reality of the Middle East.
Historical revisionism
Rothbard embraced "historical revisionism" as an antidote to what he perceived to be the dominant influence exerted by corrupt "court intellectuals" over mainstream historical narratives. Rothbard wrote that these mainstream intellectuals distorted the historical record in favor of "the state" in exchange for "wealth, power, and prestige" from the state. Rothbard characterized the revisionist task as "penetrating the fog of lies and deception of the State and its Court Intellectuals, and to present to the public the true history". He was influenced by and called a champion of the historian Harry Elmer Barnes. Rothbard endorsed Barnes's revisionism on World War II, favorably citing his view that "the murder of Germans and Japanese was the overriding aim of World War II". In addition to broadly supporting his historical views, Rothbard promoted Barnes as an influence for future revisionists.
Rothbard's endorsing of World War II revisionism and his association with Barnes and other Holocaust deniers have drawn criticism. Kevin D. Williamson wrote an opinion piece published by National Review which condemned Rothbard for "making common cause with the 'revisionist' historians of the Third Reich", a term he used to describe American Holocaust deniers associated with Rothbard, such as James J. Martin of the Institute for Historical Review. The piece also characterized "Rothbard and his faction" as being "culpably indulgent" of Holocaust denial, the view which "specifically denies that the Holocaust actually happened or holds that it was in some way exaggerated".
In an article for Rothbard's 50th birthday, Rothbard's friend and Buffalo State College historian Ralph Raico stated that Rothbard "is the main reason that revisionism has become a crucial part of the whole libertarian position".
Children's rights and parental obligations
In the Ethics of Liberty, Rothbard explores issues regarding children's rights in terms of self-ownership and contract. These include support for a woman's right to abortion, condemnation of parents showing aggression towards children and opposition to the state forcing parents to care for children. He also holds children have the right to run away from parents and seek new guardians as soon as they are able to choose to do so. He argued that parents have the right to put a child out for adoption or sell the rights to the child in a voluntary contract in what Rothbard suggests will be a "flourishing free market in children". He believes that selling children as consumer goods in accord with market forces—while "superficially monstrous"—will benefit "everyone" involved in the market: "the natural parents, the children, and the foster parents purchasing".
In Rothbard's view of parenthood, "the parent should not have a legal obligation to feed, clothe, or educate his children, since such obligations would entail positive acts coerced upon the parent and depriving the parent of his rights". Thus, Rothbard stated that parents should have the legal right to let any infant die by starvation and should be free to engage in other forms of child neglect. However, according to Rothbard, "the purely free society will have a flourishing free market in children". In a fully libertarian society, he wrote, "the existence of a free baby market will bring such 'neglect' down to a minimum".
Economist Gene Callahan of Cardiff University, formerly a scholar at the Rothbard-affiliated Mises Institute, observes that Rothbard allows "the logical elegance of his legal theory" to "trump any arguments based on the moral reprehensibility of a parent idly watching her six-month-old child slowly starve to death in its crib".
Retributive theory of criminal justice
In The Ethics of Liberty, Rothbard advocates for a "frankly retributive theory of punishment" or a system of "a tooth (or two teeth) for a tooth". Rothbard emphasizes that all punishment must be proportional, stating that "the criminal, or invader, loses his rights to the extent that he deprived another man of his". Applying his retributive theory, Rothbard states that a thief "must pay double the extent of theft". Rothbard gives the example of a thief who stole $15,000 and says he not only would have to return the stolen money, but also provide the victim an additional $15,000, money to which the thief has forfeited his right. The thief would be "put in a [temporary] state of enslavement to his victim" if he is unable to pay him immediately. Rothbard also applies his theory to justify beating and torturing violent criminals, although the beatings are required to be proportional to the crimes for which they are being punished.
Torture of criminal suspects
In chapter twelve of Ethics, Rothbard turns his attention to suspects arrested by the police. He argues that police should be able to torture certain types of criminal suspects, including accused murderers, for information related to their alleged crime. Writes Rothbard: "Suppose ... police beat and torture a suspected murderer to find information (not to wring a confession, since obviously a coerced confession could never be considered valid). If the suspect turns out to be guilty, then the police should be exonerated, for then they have only ladled out to the murderer a parcel of what he deserves in return; his rights had already been forfeited by more than that extent. But if the suspect is not convicted, then that means that the police have beaten and tortured an innocent man, and that they in turn must be put into the dock for criminal assault". Gene Callahan examines this position and concludes that Rothbard rejects the widely held belief that torture is inherently wrong, no matter who the victim. Callahan goes on to state that Rothbard's scheme gives the police a strong motive to frame the suspect after having tortured him or her.
Science and scientism
In an essay condemning "scientism in the study of man", Rothbard rejected the application of causal determinism to human beings, arguing that the actions of human beings—as opposed to those of everything else in nature—are not determined by prior causes, but by "free will". He argued that "determinism as applied to man, is a self-contradictory thesis, since the man who employs it relies implicitly on the existence of free will". Rothbard opposed what he considered the overspecialization of the academy and sought to fuse the disciplines of economics, history, ethics and political science to create a "science of liberty". Rothbard described the moral basis for his anarcho-capitalist position in two of his books: For a New Liberty, published in 1973; and The Ethics of Liberty, published in 1982. In his Power and Market (1970), Rothbard describes how a stateless economy might function.
Political activism
Throughout his life, Rothbard engaged in a number of different political movements in an effort to promote his Old Right and libertarian political principles. His first political activism came in 1948, on behalf of the segregationist South Carolinian Strom Thurmond's presidential campaign. In the 1948 presidential election, Rothbard, "as a Jewish student at Columbia, horrified his peers by organizing a Students for Strom Thurmond chapter, so staunchly did he believe in states' rights".
By the late 1960s, Rothbard's "long and winding yet somehow consistent road had taken him from anti-New Deal and anti-interventionist Robert A. Taft supporter into friendship with the quasi-pacifist Nebraska Republican Congressman Howard Buffett (father of Warren Buffett) then over to the League of (Adlai) Stevensonian Democrats and, by 1968, into tentative comradeship with the anarchist factions of the New Left". Rothbard advocated an alliance with the New Left anti-war movement on the grounds that the conservative movement had been completely subsumed by the statist establishment. However, Rothbard later criticized the New Left for supporting a "People's Republic" style draft. It was during this phase that he associated with Karl Hess and founded Left and Right: A Journal of Libertarian Thought with Leonard Liggio and George Resch, which existed from 1965 to 1968.
From 1969 to 1984, he edited The Libertarian Forum, also initially with Hess (although Hess's involvement ended in 1971). The Libertarian Forum provided a platform for Rothbard's writing. Despite its small readership, it engaged conservatives associated with the National Review in nationwide debate. Rothbard rejected the view that Ronald Reagan's 1980 election as president was a victory for libertarian principles and he attacked Reagan's economic program in a series of Libertarian Forum articles. In 1982, Rothbard called Reagan's claims of spending cuts a "fraud" and a "hoax" and accused Reaganites of doctoring the economic statistics to give the false impression that their policies were successfully reducing inflation and unemployment. He further criticized the "myths of Reaganomics" in 1987.
Rothbard criticized the "frenzied nihilism" of left-wing libertarians, but also criticized right-wing libertarians who were content to rely only on education to bring down the state; he believed that libertarians should adopt any moral tactic available to them to bring about liberty.
Imbibing Randolph Bourne's idea that "war is the health of the state", Rothbard opposed all wars in his lifetime and engaged in anti-war activism. During the 1970s and 1980s, Rothbard was active in the Libertarian Party. He was frequently involved in the party's internal politics. He was one of the founders of the Cato Institute and "came up with the idea of naming this libertarian think tank after Cato's Letters, a powerful series of British newspaper essays by John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon which played a decisive influence upon America's Founding Fathers in fomenting the Revolution". From 1978 to 1983, he was associated with the Libertarian Party Radical Caucus, allying himself with Justin Raimondo, Eric Garris and Williamson Evers. He opposed the "low-tax liberalism" espoused by 1980 Libertarian Party presidential candidate Ed Clark and Cato Institute president Edward H Crane III. According to Charles Burris, "Rothbard and Crane became bitter rivals after disputes emerging from the 1980 LP presidential campaign of Ed Clark carried over to strategic direction and management of Cato".
Rothbard split with the Radical Caucus at the 1983 national convention over cultural issues and aligned himself with what he called the "right-wing populist" wing of the party, notably Lew Rockwell and Ron Paul, who ran for president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 1988. Rothbard "worked closely with Lew Rockwell (joined later by his long-time friend Burton Blumert) in nurturing the Ludwig von Mises Institute, and the publication, The Rothbard-Rockwell Report; which after Rothbard's 1995 death evolved into the website, LewRockwell.com".
Paleolibertarianism
In 1989, Rothbard left the Libertarian Party and began building bridges to the post-Cold War anti-interventionist right, calling himself a paleolibertarian, a conservative reaction against the cultural liberalism of mainstream libertarianism. Paleolibertarianism sought to appeal to disaffected working class whites through a synthesis of cultural conservatism and libertarian economics. According to Reason, Rothbard advocated right-wing populism in part because he was frustrated that mainstream thinkers were not adopting the libertarian view and suggested that former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke and Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy were models for an "Outreach to the Rednecks" effort that could be used by a broad libertarian/paleoconservative coalition. Working together, the coalition would expose the "unholy alliance of 'corporate liberal' Big Business and media elites, who, through big government, have privileged and caused to rise up a parasitic Underclass". Rothbard blamed this "Underclass" for "looting and oppressing the bulk of the middle and working classes in America". Regarding the political program of the former Grand Wizard David Duke, Rothbard asserted that "nothing" in it that "could not also be embraced by paleoconservatives or paleolibertarians; lower taxes, dismantling the bureaucracy, slashing the welfare system, attacking affirmative action and racial set-asides, calling for equal rights for all Americans, including whites".
Rothbard supported the presidential campaign of Pat Buchanan in 1992 and wrote that "with Pat Buchanan as our leader, we shall break the clock of social democracy". When Buchanan dropped out of the Republican primary race, Rothbard then shifted his interest and support to Ross Perot, who Rothbard wrote had "brought an excitement, a verve, a sense of dynamics and of open possibilities to what had threatened to be a dreary race". However, Rothbard eventually withdrew his support from Perot, and endorsed George H. W. Bush in the 1992 election.
Like Buchanan, Rothbard opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). However, he had become disillusioned with Buchanan by 1995, believing that the latter's "commitment to protectionism was mutating into an all-round faith in economic planning and the nation state".
After Rothbard's death in 1995, Lew Rockwell, president of the Mises Institute, told The New York Times that Rothbard was "the founder of right-wing anarchism". William F. Buckley Jr. wrote a critical obituary in the National Review, criticizing Rothbard's "defective judgment" and views on the Cold War. Hoppe, Rockwell, and Rothbard's other colleagues at the Mises Institute took a different view, arguing that he was one of the most important philosophers in history.
Works
Articles
The Individualist (April and July–August 1971).
Revised and published by the Center for Independent Education in 1979 (). The Mises Institute, with editorial assistance from summer fellow Candice Jackson, published a 1999 edition with the restored original text and included an index provided by Institute Member Richard Perry. (. .)
"His only crime Was against the Old Guard: Milken: In the best tradition of free enterprise, he made money by serving the public." Los Angeles Times (March 3, 1992).
"Anti-Buchanania: A Mini-Encyclopedia." Rothbard-Rockwell Report (May 1992), pp. 1–13.
"Saint Hillary and the Religious Left." (December 1994).
"The Other Side of the Coin: Free Banking in Chile." Austrian Economics Newsletter, vol. 10, no. 2.
Books
Man, Economy, and State. D. Van Nostrand (1962). full text.
Second edition (Scholar's Edition) published in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2004). . Full text.
The Panic of 1819: Reactions and Policies. New York: Columbia University Press (1962). Full text.
Republished, Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2004). .
America's Great Depression. D. Van Nostrand (1973). Full text.
Fifth edition published in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2005). .
Power and Market: Government and the Economy. Sheed Andrews and McMeel (1970). full text.
Republished, Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2004). .
For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto. Collier Books (1973). Full text; audiobook. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute. .
Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature and Other Essays. Libertarian Review Press (1974). Full text.
Second edition, Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2000). .
Conceived in Liberty (4 vol.). New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House (1975–1979). Full text.
Republished, Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2012). .
The Logic of Action (2 vol.). Edward Elgar Publications (1997). . Full text.
Reprinted as Economic Controversies. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2011).
The Ethics of Liberty. Humanities Press (1982). New York University Press (1998). Full text; audiobook. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute. .
The Mystery of Banking. Richardson and Snyder, Dutton (1983). Full text.
Republished in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007). .
The Case Against the Fed. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (1994). Full text.
Republished in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007). .
America's Great Depression [5th ed.]. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (June 15, 2000).
An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought (2 vol.). Edward Elgar Publishers (1995). .
Vol. 1: Economic Thought Before Adam Smith. Republished in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2009).
Vol. 2: Classical Economics. Republished in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2009).
Making Economic Sense. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007). . Full text.
The Betrayal of the American Right. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007). . Full text and audiobook, narrated by Ian Temple.
Despite posthumous publication in 2007, it appears in print virtually unchanged from the manuscript untouched since the 1970s.
Book contributions
Introduction to Capital, Interest, and Rent: Essays in the Theory of Distribution, by Frank A. Fetter. Kansas City: Sheed Andrews and McMeel (1977).
Foreword to The Theory of Money and Credit, by Ludwig von Mises. Liberty Fund (1981). Full text .
"Bramble Minibook" (1973). In: The Essential von Mises. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (1988). Full text.
Monographs
Wall Street, Banks, and American Foreign Policy. World Market Perspective (1984). Full text. Spanish translation.
Republished by the Center for Libertarian Studies (1995), and the Ludwig von Mises Institute (2005).
Interviews
"Interview with Murray Rothbard on Man, Economy, and State, Mises, and the Future of the Austrian School" (Summer 1990). Austrian Economics Newsletter.
See also
American philosophy
Anarcho-capitalism
Criticism of the Federal Reserve
Hans-Hermann Hoppe
Libertarianism in the United States
List of American philosophers
List of peace activists
Milton Friedman
Notes
Further reading
Doherty, Brian (2007). Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement. PublicAffairs.
External links
Audiobooks by Rothbard at Mises Institute
Murray Rothbard full bibliography at Mises.org
Rothbard videos at YouTube channel of the Ludwig von Mises Institute
Murray N. Rothbard Library and Resources from LewRockwell.com
Rothbardiana (Italy)
Murray Rothbard Institute (Belgium)
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Historians from New York (state) | false | [
"Where Did We Go Wrong may refer to:\n \"Where Did We Go Wrong\" (Dondria song), 2010\n \"Where Did We Go Wrong\" (Toni Braxton and Babyface song), 2013\n \"Where Did We Go Wrong\", a song by Petula Clark from the album My Love\n \"Where Did We Go Wrong\", a song by Diana Ross from the album Ross\n \"Where Did We Go Wrong\", a 1980 song by Frankie Valli",
"California Concordia College existed in Oakland, California, United States from 1906 until 1973.\n\nAmong the presidents of California Concordia College was Johann Theodore Gotthold Brohm Jr.\n\nCalifornia Concordia College and the Academy of California College were located at 2365 Camden Street, Oakland, California. Some of the school buildings still exist at this location, but older buildings that housed the earlier classrooms and later the dormitories are gone. The site is now the location of the Spectrum Center Camden Campus, a provider of special education services.\n\nThe \"Academy\" was the official name for the high school. California Concordia was a six-year institution patterned after the German gymnasium. This provided four years of high school, plus two years of junior college. Years in the school took their names from Latin numbers and referred to the years to go before graduation. The classes were named:\n\n Sexta - 6 years to go; high school freshman\n Qunita - 5 years to go; high school sophomore\n Quarta - 4 years to go; high school junior\n Tertia - 3 years to go; high school senior\n Secunda - 2 years to go; college freshman\n Prima - 1 year to go; college sophomore\n\nThose in Sexta were usually hazed in a mild way by upperclassmen. In addition, those in Sexta were required to do a certain amount of clean-up work around the school, such as picking up trash.\n\nMost students, even high school freshmen, lived in dormitories. High school students were supervised by \"proctors\" (selected high school seniors in Tertia). High school students were required to study for two hours each night in their study rooms from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. Students could not leave their rooms for any reason without permission. This requirement came as quite a shock to those in Sexta (freshmen) on their first night, when they were caught and scolded by a proctor when they left their study room to go to the bathroom without permission. Seniors (those in Tertia) were allowed one night off where they did not need to be in their study hall.\n\nFrom 9:00 to 9:30 pm all students gathered for a chapel service. From 9:30 to 10 pm, high school students were free to roam, and sometimes went to the local Lucky Supermarket to purchase snacks. All high school students were required to be in bed with lights out by 10:00 pm. There were generally five students in each dormitory room. The room had two sections: a bedroom area and (across the hallway) another room for studying. Four beds, including at least one bunk bed, were in the bedroom, and four or five desks were in the study room\n\nA few interesting words used by Concordia students were \"fink\" and \"rack.\" To \"fink\" meant to \"sing like a canary\" or \"squeal.\" A student who finked told everything he knew about a misbehavior committed by another student. \"Rack\" was actually an official term used by proctors and administrators who lived on campus in the dormitories with students. When students misbehaved they were racked (punished). Proctors held a meeting once a week and decided which students, if any, deserved to be racked. If a student were racked, he might be forbidden from leaving the campus grounds, even during normal free time School hours were from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm. After 3:30 pm and until 7:00 pm, students could normally explore the local area surrounding the school, for example, to go to a local store to buy a snack. However, if a student were racked for the week, he could not do so.\n\nProctors made their rounds in the morning to make sure beds were made and inspected rooms in the evening to ensure that students were in bed by 10:00 pm. Often after the proctors left a room at night, the room lights would go back on and students enjoyed studying their National Geographic magazines. Student might be racked if they failed to make their beds or did not make them neatly enough.\n\nAlthough California Concordia College no longer exists, it does receive some recognition by Concordia University Irvine. This is also the location of its old academic records.\n\nSources\n\nExternal links \n Photos of old campus\n\nEducational institutions disestablished in 1973\nDefunct private universities and colleges in California\nEducational institutions established in 1906\n1906 establishments in California\n1973 disestablishments in California\nUniversities and colleges affiliated with the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod"
] |
[
"Murray Rothbard",
"Education",
"where did he go to school?",
"Murray attended Birch Wathen, a private school in New York City."
] | C_2f838a5bd1e748ca8c657827da681914_1 | did he study anywhere else? | 2 | Did Murray Rothbard study anywhere else besides Birch Wathen? | Murray Rothbard | Murray Rothbard's parents were David and Rae Rothbard, Jewish immigrants to the U.S. from Poland and Russia, respectively. David Rothbard was a chemist. Murray attended Birch Wathen, a private school in New York City. Rothbard later stated that he much preferred Birch Wathen to the "debasing and egalitarian public school system" he had previously attended in the Bronx. Rothbard wrote of having grown up as a "right-winger" (adherent of the "Old Right") among friends and neighbors who were "communists or fellow-travelers." Rothbard characterized his immigrant father as an individualist who embraced the American values of minimal government, free enterprise, private property, and "a determination to rise by one's own merits". "[A]ll socialism seemed to me monstrously coercive and abhorrent." He attended Columbia University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics in 1945 and, eleven years later, his PhD in economics in 1956. The delay in receiving his PhD was due in part to conflict with his advisor, Joseph Dorfman, and in part to Arthur Burns rejecting his doctoral dissertation. Burns was a longtime friend of the Rothbard family and their neighbor at their Manhattan apartment building. It was only after Burns went on leave from the Columbia faculty to head President Eisenhower's Council of Economic Advisors that Rothbard's thesis was accepted and he received his doctorate. Rothbard later stated that all of his fellow students there were extreme leftists and that he was one of only two Republicans on the Columbia campus at the time. During the 1940s Rothbard became acquainted with Frank Chodorov and read widely in libertarian-oriented works by Albert Jay Nock, Garet Garrett, Isabel Paterson, H. L. Mencken and others, as well as Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises. In the early 1950s, when Mises was teaching at the Wall Street division of New York University Business School, Rothbard attended Mises' unofficial seminar. Rothbard was greatly influenced by Mises' book, Human Action. Rothbard attracted the attention of the William Volker Fund, a group that provided financial backing to promote various "right-wing" ideologies in the 1950s and early 1960s. The Volker Fund paid Rothbard to write a textbook to explain Human Action in a form which could be used to introduce college undergraduates to Mises' views; a sample chapter he wrote on money and credit won Mises's approval. For ten years, Rothbard was paid a retainer by the Volker Fund, which designated him a "senior analyst." As Rothbard continued his work, he enlarged the project. The result was Rothbard's book Man, Economy, and State, published in 1962. Upon its publication, Mises praised Rothbard's work effusively. CANNOTANSWER | He attended Columbia University, | Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American heterodox economist of the Austrian School, economic historian and political theorist. Rothbard was a founder and leading theoretician of anarcho-capitalism and a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian movement. He wrote over twenty books on political theory, history, economics, and other subjects.
Rothbard argued that all services provided by the "monopoly system of the corporate state" could be provided more efficiently by the private sector and wrote that the state is "the organization of robbery systematized and writ large". He called fractional-reserve banking a form of fraud and opposed central banking. He categorically opposed all military, political, and economic interventionism in the affairs of other nations. According to his protégé Hans-Hermann Hoppe, "[t]here would be no anarcho-capitalist movement to speak of without Rothbard".
Libertarian economist Jeffrey Herbener, who calls Rothbard his friend and "intellectual mentor", wrote that Rothbard received "only ostracism" from mainstream academia. Rothbard rejected mainstream economic methodologies and instead embraced the praxeology of his most important intellectual precursor, Ludwig von Mises. To promote his economic and political ideas, Rothbard joined Lew Rockwell and Burton Blumert in 1982 to establish the Mises Institute in Alabama.
Life and work
Education
Rothbard's parents were David and Rae Rothbard, Jewish immigrants to the United States from Poland and Russia, respectively. David was a chemist. Murray attended Birch Wathen Lenox School, a private school in New York City. He later said he much preferred Birch Wathen to the "debasing and egalitarian public school system" he had attended in the Bronx.
Rothbard wrote of having grown up as a "right-winger" (adherent of the "Old Right") among friends and neighbors who were "communists or fellow-travelers". He was a member of The New York Young Republican Club in his youth. Rothbard characterized his immigrant father as an individualist who embraced the American values of minimal government, free enterprise, private property and "a determination to rise by one's own merits ... "[A]ll socialism seemed to me monstrously coercive and abhorrent".
Rothbard attended Columbia University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics in 1945 and a PhD in economics in 1956. The delay in receiving his PhD was due in part to conflict with his advisor, Joseph Dorfman, and in part to Arthur Burns’s rejecting his dissertation. Burns was a longtime friend of the Rothbards and their neighbor at their Manhattan apartment building. It was only after Burns went on leave from the Columbia faculty to head President Eisenhower's Council of Economic Advisors that Rothbard's thesis was accepted and he received his doctorate. Rothbard later said that all his fellow students were extreme leftists and that he was one of only two Republicans at Columbia at the time.
During the 1940s, Rothbard became acquainted with Frank Chodorov and read widely in libertarian-oriented works by Albert Jay Nock, Garet Garrett, Isabel Paterson, H. L. Mencken, and Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises. In the early 1950s, when Mises was teaching in the Wall Street division of the New York University Stern School of Business, Rothbard attended his unofficial seminar. Rothbard was greatly influenced by Mises's book Human Action. He attracted the attention of the William Volker Fund, a group that provided financial backing to promote right-wing ideologies in the 1950s and early 1960s. The Volker Fund paid Rothbard to write a textbook to explain Human Action in a form that could be used to introduce college undergraduates to Mises's views; a sample chapter he wrote on money and credit won Mises's approval. For ten years, the Volker Fund paid him a retainer as a "senior analyst". As Rothbard continued his work, he enlarged the project. The result was his book Man, Economy, and State, published in 1962. Upon its publication, Mises praised Rothbard's work effusively.
Marriage, employment, and activism
In 1953, Rothbard married JoAnn Beatrice Schumacher (September 17, 1928 – October 29, 1999), whom he called Joey, in New York City. JoAnn was a historian and was Rothbard's personal editor and a close adviser as well as hostess of his Rothbard Salon. They enjoyed a loving marriage and Rothbard often called her "the indispensable framework" of his life and achievements. According to Joey, the Volker Fund's patronage allowed Rothbard to work from home as a freelance theorist and pundit for the first 15 years of their marriage. The Volker Fund collapsed in 1962, leading Rothbard to seek employment from various New York academic institutions. He was offered a part-time position teaching economics to engineering students at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute in 1966 at age 40. The institution had no economics department or economics majors and Rothbard derided its social science department as "Marxist", but Justin Raimondo writes that Rothbard liked teaching at Brooklyn Polytechnic because working only two days a week gave him freedom to contribute to developments in libertarian politics.
Rothbard continued in this role until 1986. Then 60 years old, Rothbard left Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute for the Lee Business School at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), where he held the title of S.J. Hall Distinguished Professor of Economics, a chair endowed by a libertarian businessman. According to Rothbard's friend, colleague and fellow Misesian economist Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Rothbard led a "fringe existence" in academia, but he was able to attract a large number of "students and disciples" through his writings, thereby becoming "the creator and one of the principal agents of the contemporary libertarian movement". He kept his position at UNLV from 1986 until his death. Rothbard founded the Center for Libertarian Studies in 1976 and the Journal of Libertarian Studies in 1977. In 1982, he co-founded the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, and was vice president of academic affairs until 1995. Rothbard also founded the institute's Review of Austrian Economics, a heterodox economics journal later renamed the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, in 1987.
After Rothbard's death, Joey reflected on his happiness and bright spirit, saying, "he managed to make a living for 40 years without having to get up before noon. This was important to him." Rothbard was known to be a "night owl". She recalled how Rothbard would begin every day with a phone conversation with his colleague Lew Rockwell: "Gales of laughter would shake the house or apartment, as they checked in with each other. Murray thought it was the best possible way to start a day". Rothbard was irreligious and agnostic about God, describing himself as a "mixture of an agnostic and a Reform Jew". Despite identifying as an agnostic and an atheist, he was critical of the "left-libertarian hostility to religion". In Rothbard's later years, many of his friends anticipated that he would convert to Catholicism, but he never did. The New York Times obituary called Rothbard "an economist and social philosopher who fiercely defended individual freedom against government intervention".
Creation of the Mises Institute
As a result of the economic works of Murray Rothbard, Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Ludwig Von Mises, and other Austrian economists, the Mises Institute was founded in 1982 by Lew Rockwell, Burton Blumert, and Murray Rothbard, following a split between the Cato Institute and Rothbard, who had been one of the founders of the Cato Institute.
Conflict with Ayn Rand
In 1954, Rothbard, along with several other attendees of Mises's seminar, joined the circle of novelist Ayn Rand, the founder of Objectivism. He soon parted from her, writing among other things that her ideas were not as original as she proclaimed, but similar to those of Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and Herbert Spencer. In 1958, after the publication of Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged, Rothbard wrote her a "fan letter", calling the book "an infinite treasure house" and "not merely the greatest novel ever written, [but] one of the very greatest books ever written, fiction or nonfiction". He also wrote: "[Y]ou introduced me to the whole field of natural rights and natural law philosophy", prompting him to learn "the glorious natural rights tradition". Rothbard rejoined Rand's circle for a few months, but soon broke with Rand again over various differences, including his defense of his interpretation of anarchism.
Rothbard later satirized Rand's acolytes in his unpublished one-act farce Mozart Was a Red and his essay "The Sociology of the Ayn Rand Cult". He characterized Rand's circle as a "dogmatic, personality cult". His play parodies Rand (through the character Carson Sand) and her friends and is set during a visit from Keith Hackley, a fan of Sand's novel The Brow of Zeus (a play on Atlas Shrugged).
Death
Rothbard died of a heart attack on January 7, 1995, at the age of 68. He was buried in his wife's plot in Oakwood Cemetery, Unionville, Virginia.
Ethical and philosophical views
Austrian economics
Rothbard was an advocate and practitioner of the Austrian School tradition of his teacher Ludwig von Mises. Like Mises, Rothbard rejected the application of the scientific method to economics and dismissed econometrics, empirical and statistical analysis and other tools of mainstream social science as outside the field (economic history might use those tools, but not Economics proper). He instead embraced praxeology, the strictly a priori methodology of Mises. Praxeology conceives of economic laws as akin to geometric or mathematical axioms: fixed, unchanging, objective and discernible through logical reasoning without the use of any empirical evidence.
According to Misesian economist Hans-Hermann Hoppe, eschewing the scientific method and empiricism distinguishes the Misesian approach "from all other current economic schools", which dismiss the Misesian approach as "dogmatic and unscientific." Mark Skousen of Chapman University and the Foundation for Economic Education, a critic of mainstream economics, praises Rothbard as brilliant, his writing style persuasive, his economic arguments nuanced and logically rigorous and his Misesian methodology sound. But Skousen concedes that Rothbard was effectively "outside the discipline" of mainstream economics and that his work "fell on deaf ears" outside his ideological circles.
Rothbard wrote extensively on Austrian business cycle theory and as part of this approach strongly opposed central banking, fiat money and fractional-reserve banking, advocating a gold standard and a 100% reserve requirement for banks.
Polemics against mainstream economics
Rothbard wrote a series of polemics in which he deprecated a number of leading modern economists. He vilified Adam Smith, calling him a "shameless plagiarist" who set economics off track, ultimately leading to the rise of Marxism. Rothbard praised Smith's contemporaries, including Richard Cantillon, Anne Robert Jacques Turgot and Étienne Bonnot de Condillac, for developing the subjective theory of value. In response to Rothbard's charge that Smith's The Wealth of Nations was largely plagiarized, David D. Friedman castigated Rothbard's scholarship and character, saying that he "was [either] deliberately dishonest or never really read the book he was criticizing". Tony Endres called Rothbard's treatment of Smith a "travesty".
Rothbard was equally scathing in his criticism of John Maynard Keynes, calling him weak on economic theory and a shallow political opportunist. Rothbard also wrote more generally that Keynesian-style governmental regulation of money and credit created a "dismal monetary and banking situation". He called John Stuart Mill a "wooly man of mush" and speculated that Mill's "soft" personality led his economic thought astray.
Rothbard was critical of monetarist economist Milton Friedman. In his polemic "Milton Friedman Unraveled", he called Friedman a "statist", a "favorite of the establishment", a friend of and "apologist" for Richard Nixon and a "pernicious influence" on public policy. Rothbard said that libertarians should scorn rather than celebrate Friedman's academic prestige and political influence. Noting that Rothbard has "been nasty to me and my work", Friedman responded to Rothbard's criticism by calling him a "cult builder and a dogmatist".
In a memorial volume published by the Mises Institute, Rothbard's protégé and libertarian theorist Hans-Hermann Hoppe wrote that Man, Economy, and State "presented a blistering refutation of all variants of mathematical economics" and included it among Rothbard's "almost mind-boggling achievements". Hoppe lamented that, like Mises, Rothbard died without winning the Nobel Prize that Hoppe says Rothbard deserved "twice over". Although Hoppe acknowledged that Rothbard and his work were largely ignored by academia, he called Rothbard an "intellectual giant" comparable to Aristotle, John Locke, and Immanuel Kant.
Disputes with other Austrian economists
Although he self-identified as an Austrian economist, Rothbard's methodology was at odds with that of many other Austrians. In 1956, Rothbard deprecated the views of Austrian economist Fritz Machlup, stating that Machlup was no praxeologist and calling him instead a "positivist" who failed to represent the views of Ludwig von Mises. Rothbard stated that in fact Machlup shared the opposing positivist view associated with economist Milton Friedman. Mises and Machlup had been colleagues in 1920s Vienna before each relocated to the United States and Mises later urged his American protege Israel Kirzner to pursue his PhD studies with Machlup at Johns Hopkins University.
According to libertarian economists Tyler Cowen and Richard Fink, Rothbard wrote that the term evenly rotating economy (ERE) can be used to analyze complexity in a world of change. The words ERE had been introduced by Mises as an alternative nomenclature for the mainstream economic method of static equilibrium and general equilibrium analysis. Cowen and Fink found "serious inconsistencies in both the nature of the ERE and its suggested uses". With the sole exception of Rothbard, no other economist adopted Mises' term and the concept continued to be called "equilibrium analysis".
In a 2011 article critical of Rothbard's "reflexive opposition" to inflation, The Economist noted that his views are increasingly gaining influence among politicians and laypeople on the right. The article contrasted Rothbard's categorical rejection of inflationary policies with the monetary views of "sophisticated Austrian-school monetary economists such as George Selgin and Larry White", [who] follow Hayek in treating stability of nominal spending as a monetary ideal—a position "not all that different from Mr [Scott] Sumner's".
According to economist Peter Boettke, Rothbard is better described as a property rights economist than as an Austrian economist. In 1988, Boettke noted that Rothbard "vehemently attacked all of the books of the younger Austrians".
Ethics
Although Rothbard adopted Ludwig von Mises' deductive methodology for his social theory and economics, he parted with Mises on the question of ethics. Specifically, he rejected Mises' conviction that ethical values remain subjective and opposed utilitarianism in favor of principle-based, natural law reasoning. In defense of his free market views, Mises employed utilitarian economic arguments aimed at demonstrating that interventionist policies made all of society worse off. On the other hand, Rothbard concluded that interventionist policies do in fact benefit some people, including certain government employees and beneficiaries of social programs. Therefore, unlike Mises, Rothbard argued for an objective, natural-law basis for the free market. He called this principle "self-ownership", loosely basing the idea on the writings of John Locke and also borrowing concepts from classical liberalism and the anti-imperialism of the Old Right.
Rothbard accepted the labor theory of property, but rejected the Lockean proviso, arguing that if an individual mixes his labor with unowned land then he becomes the proper owner eternally and that after that time it is private property which may change hands only by trade or gift.
Rothbard was a strong critic of egalitarianism. The title essay of Rothbard's 1974 book Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature and Other Essays held: "Equality is not in the natural order of things, and the crusade to make everyone equal in every respect (except before the law) is certain to have disastrous consequences". In it, Rothbard wrote: "At the heart of the egalitarian left is the pathological belief that there is no structure of reality; that all the world is a tabula rasa that can be changed at any moment in any desired direction by the mere exercise of human will".
Anarcho-capitalism
According to anarcho-capitalists, various theorists have espoused legal philosophies similar to anarcho-capitalism. However, Rothbard was the first person to use the term as in the mid-20th century he synthesized elements from the Austrian School of economics, classical liberalism and 19th-century American individualist anarchists. According to Lew Rockwell, Rothbard was the "conscience" of all the various strains of what he described as "libertarian anarchism", because their advocates (described as Rothbard's former "colleagues"), had often been personally inspired by his example.
During his years at graduate school in the late 1940s, Rothbard considered whether a strict adherence to libertarian and laissez-faire principles required the abolition of the state altogether. He visited Baldy Harper, a founder of the Foundation for Economic Education, who doubted the need for any government whatsoever. Rothbard said that during this period, he was influenced by 19th-century American individualist anarchists like Lysander Spooner and Benjamin Tucker and the Belgian economist Gustave de Molinari who wrote about how such a system could work. Thus, he "combined the laissez-faire economics of Mises with the absolutist views of human rights and rejection of the state" from individualist anarchists.
Rothbard began to consider himself a "private property anarchist" in 1950 and later began to use "anarcho-capitalist" to describe his political ideology. In his anarcho-capitalist model, the system of private property is upheld by private firms, such as hypothesized protection agencies, which compete in a free market and are voluntarily supported by consumers who choose to use their protective and judicial services. Anarcho-capitalists describe this as "the end of the state monopoly on force". He later came to terms that anarchism identified with socialism, and in an unpublished article wrote that individualist anarchism is different from anarcho-capitalism and other capitalist theories due to the individualist anarchists retaining the labor theory of value and socialist doctrines, suggesting a new term to identify himself: nonarchist.
In Man, Economy, and State, Rothbard divides the various kinds of state intervention in three categories: "autistic intervention", which is interference with private non-economic activities; "binary intervention", which is forced exchange between individuals and the state; and "triangular intervention", which is state-mandated exchange between individuals. According to Sanford Ikeda, Rothbard's typology "eliminates the gaps and inconsistencies that appear in Mises's original formulation". Rothbard writes in Power and Market that the role of the economist in a free market is limited, but it is much larger in a government that solicits economic policy recommendations. Rothbard argues that self-interest therefore prejudices the views of many economists in favor of increased government intervention.
Race, gender, and civil rights
Michael O'Malley, associate professor of history at George Mason University, characterizes Rothbard's "overall tone regard[ing]" the civil rights movement and the women's suffrage movement to be "contemptuous and hostile". Rothbard criticized women's rights activists, attributing the growth of the welfare state to politically active spinsters "whose busybody inclinations were not fettered by the responsibilities of health and heart". Rothbard argued that the progressive movement, which he regarded as a noxious influence on the United States, was spearheaded by a coalition of Yankee Protestants (people from the six New England states and upstate New York who were Protestants of English descent), Jewish women and "lesbian spinsters".
Rothbard called for the elimination of "the entire 'civil rights' structure" stating that it "tramples on the property rights of every American". He consistently favored repeal of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, including Title VII regarding employment discrimination, and called for overturning the Brown v. Board of Education decision on the grounds that state-mandated integration of schools violated libertarian principles. In an essay called "Right-wing Populism", Rothbard proposed a set of measures to "reach out" to the "middle and working classes", which included urging the police to crack down on "street criminals", writing that "cops must be unleashed" and "allowed to administer instant punishment, subject of course to liability when they are in error". He also advocated that the police "clear the streets of bums and vagrants."
Rothbard held strong opinions about many leaders of the civil rights movement. He considered black separatist Malcolm X to be a "great black leader" and integrationist Martin Luther King Jr. to be favored by whites because he "was the major restraining force on the developing Negro revolution". In 1993 he rejected the vision of a "separate black nation", asking "does anyone really believe that ... New Africa would be content to strike out on its own, with no massive "foreign aid" from the U.S.A.?". Rothbard also suggested that opposition to Martin Luther King Jr., whom he demeaned as a "coercive integrationist", should be a litmus test for members of his "paleolibertarian" political movement.
Opposition to war
Like Randolph Bourne, Rothbard believed that "war is the health of the state". According to David Gordon, this was the reason for Rothbard's opposition to aggressive foreign policy. Rothbard believed that stopping new wars was necessary and that knowledge of how government had led citizens into earlier wars was important. Two essays expanded on these views "War, Peace, and the State" and "Anatomy of the State". Rothbard used insights of Vilfredo Pareto, Gaetano Mosca and Robert Michels to build a model of state personnel, goals and ideology. In an obituary for his friend, the historical revisionist Harry Elmer Barnes, Rothbard wrote:
Rothbard's colleague Joseph Stromberg notes that Rothbard made two exceptions to his general condemnation of war: "the American Revolution and the War for Southern Independence, as viewed from the Confederate side". Rothbard condemned the "Northern war against slavery", saying it was inspired by "fanatical" religious faith and characterized by "a cheerful willingness to uproot institutions, to commit mayhem and mass murder, to plunder and loot and destroy, all in the name of high moral principle". He celebrated Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and other prominent Confederates as heroes while denouncing Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant and other Union leaders for "open[ing] the Pandora's Box of genocide and the extermination of civilians" in their war against the South.
Middle East conflict
Rothbard's The Libertarian Forum blamed the Middle East conflict on Israeli aggression "fueled by American arms and money". Rothbard warned that the Middle East conflict would draw the United States into a world war. He was anti-Zionist and opposed United States involvement in the Middle East. Rothbard criticized the Camp David Accords for having betrayed Palestinian aspirations and opposed Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon. In his essay, "War Guilt in the Middle East", Rothbard states that Israel refused "to let these refugees return and reclaim the property taken from them". He took negative views of the two state solution for the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, saying: On the one hand there are the Palestinian Arabs, who have tilled the soil or otherwise used the land of Palestine for centuries; and on the other, there are a group of external fanatics, who come from all over the world, and who claim the entire land area as "given" to them as a collective religion or tribe at some remote or legendary time in the past. There is no way the two claims can be resolved to the satisfaction of both parties. There can be no genuine settlement, no "peace" in the face of this irrepressible conflict; there can only be either a war to the death, or an uneasy practical compromise which can satisfy no one. That is the harsh reality of the Middle East.
Historical revisionism
Rothbard embraced "historical revisionism" as an antidote to what he perceived to be the dominant influence exerted by corrupt "court intellectuals" over mainstream historical narratives. Rothbard wrote that these mainstream intellectuals distorted the historical record in favor of "the state" in exchange for "wealth, power, and prestige" from the state. Rothbard characterized the revisionist task as "penetrating the fog of lies and deception of the State and its Court Intellectuals, and to present to the public the true history". He was influenced by and called a champion of the historian Harry Elmer Barnes. Rothbard endorsed Barnes's revisionism on World War II, favorably citing his view that "the murder of Germans and Japanese was the overriding aim of World War II". In addition to broadly supporting his historical views, Rothbard promoted Barnes as an influence for future revisionists.
Rothbard's endorsing of World War II revisionism and his association with Barnes and other Holocaust deniers have drawn criticism. Kevin D. Williamson wrote an opinion piece published by National Review which condemned Rothbard for "making common cause with the 'revisionist' historians of the Third Reich", a term he used to describe American Holocaust deniers associated with Rothbard, such as James J. Martin of the Institute for Historical Review. The piece also characterized "Rothbard and his faction" as being "culpably indulgent" of Holocaust denial, the view which "specifically denies that the Holocaust actually happened or holds that it was in some way exaggerated".
In an article for Rothbard's 50th birthday, Rothbard's friend and Buffalo State College historian Ralph Raico stated that Rothbard "is the main reason that revisionism has become a crucial part of the whole libertarian position".
Children's rights and parental obligations
In the Ethics of Liberty, Rothbard explores issues regarding children's rights in terms of self-ownership and contract. These include support for a woman's right to abortion, condemnation of parents showing aggression towards children and opposition to the state forcing parents to care for children. He also holds children have the right to run away from parents and seek new guardians as soon as they are able to choose to do so. He argued that parents have the right to put a child out for adoption or sell the rights to the child in a voluntary contract in what Rothbard suggests will be a "flourishing free market in children". He believes that selling children as consumer goods in accord with market forces—while "superficially monstrous"—will benefit "everyone" involved in the market: "the natural parents, the children, and the foster parents purchasing".
In Rothbard's view of parenthood, "the parent should not have a legal obligation to feed, clothe, or educate his children, since such obligations would entail positive acts coerced upon the parent and depriving the parent of his rights". Thus, Rothbard stated that parents should have the legal right to let any infant die by starvation and should be free to engage in other forms of child neglect. However, according to Rothbard, "the purely free society will have a flourishing free market in children". In a fully libertarian society, he wrote, "the existence of a free baby market will bring such 'neglect' down to a minimum".
Economist Gene Callahan of Cardiff University, formerly a scholar at the Rothbard-affiliated Mises Institute, observes that Rothbard allows "the logical elegance of his legal theory" to "trump any arguments based on the moral reprehensibility of a parent idly watching her six-month-old child slowly starve to death in its crib".
Retributive theory of criminal justice
In The Ethics of Liberty, Rothbard advocates for a "frankly retributive theory of punishment" or a system of "a tooth (or two teeth) for a tooth". Rothbard emphasizes that all punishment must be proportional, stating that "the criminal, or invader, loses his rights to the extent that he deprived another man of his". Applying his retributive theory, Rothbard states that a thief "must pay double the extent of theft". Rothbard gives the example of a thief who stole $15,000 and says he not only would have to return the stolen money, but also provide the victim an additional $15,000, money to which the thief has forfeited his right. The thief would be "put in a [temporary] state of enslavement to his victim" if he is unable to pay him immediately. Rothbard also applies his theory to justify beating and torturing violent criminals, although the beatings are required to be proportional to the crimes for which they are being punished.
Torture of criminal suspects
In chapter twelve of Ethics, Rothbard turns his attention to suspects arrested by the police. He argues that police should be able to torture certain types of criminal suspects, including accused murderers, for information related to their alleged crime. Writes Rothbard: "Suppose ... police beat and torture a suspected murderer to find information (not to wring a confession, since obviously a coerced confession could never be considered valid). If the suspect turns out to be guilty, then the police should be exonerated, for then they have only ladled out to the murderer a parcel of what he deserves in return; his rights had already been forfeited by more than that extent. But if the suspect is not convicted, then that means that the police have beaten and tortured an innocent man, and that they in turn must be put into the dock for criminal assault". Gene Callahan examines this position and concludes that Rothbard rejects the widely held belief that torture is inherently wrong, no matter who the victim. Callahan goes on to state that Rothbard's scheme gives the police a strong motive to frame the suspect after having tortured him or her.
Science and scientism
In an essay condemning "scientism in the study of man", Rothbard rejected the application of causal determinism to human beings, arguing that the actions of human beings—as opposed to those of everything else in nature—are not determined by prior causes, but by "free will". He argued that "determinism as applied to man, is a self-contradictory thesis, since the man who employs it relies implicitly on the existence of free will". Rothbard opposed what he considered the overspecialization of the academy and sought to fuse the disciplines of economics, history, ethics and political science to create a "science of liberty". Rothbard described the moral basis for his anarcho-capitalist position in two of his books: For a New Liberty, published in 1973; and The Ethics of Liberty, published in 1982. In his Power and Market (1970), Rothbard describes how a stateless economy might function.
Political activism
Throughout his life, Rothbard engaged in a number of different political movements in an effort to promote his Old Right and libertarian political principles. His first political activism came in 1948, on behalf of the segregationist South Carolinian Strom Thurmond's presidential campaign. In the 1948 presidential election, Rothbard, "as a Jewish student at Columbia, horrified his peers by organizing a Students for Strom Thurmond chapter, so staunchly did he believe in states' rights".
By the late 1960s, Rothbard's "long and winding yet somehow consistent road had taken him from anti-New Deal and anti-interventionist Robert A. Taft supporter into friendship with the quasi-pacifist Nebraska Republican Congressman Howard Buffett (father of Warren Buffett) then over to the League of (Adlai) Stevensonian Democrats and, by 1968, into tentative comradeship with the anarchist factions of the New Left". Rothbard advocated an alliance with the New Left anti-war movement on the grounds that the conservative movement had been completely subsumed by the statist establishment. However, Rothbard later criticized the New Left for supporting a "People's Republic" style draft. It was during this phase that he associated with Karl Hess and founded Left and Right: A Journal of Libertarian Thought with Leonard Liggio and George Resch, which existed from 1965 to 1968.
From 1969 to 1984, he edited The Libertarian Forum, also initially with Hess (although Hess's involvement ended in 1971). The Libertarian Forum provided a platform for Rothbard's writing. Despite its small readership, it engaged conservatives associated with the National Review in nationwide debate. Rothbard rejected the view that Ronald Reagan's 1980 election as president was a victory for libertarian principles and he attacked Reagan's economic program in a series of Libertarian Forum articles. In 1982, Rothbard called Reagan's claims of spending cuts a "fraud" and a "hoax" and accused Reaganites of doctoring the economic statistics to give the false impression that their policies were successfully reducing inflation and unemployment. He further criticized the "myths of Reaganomics" in 1987.
Rothbard criticized the "frenzied nihilism" of left-wing libertarians, but also criticized right-wing libertarians who were content to rely only on education to bring down the state; he believed that libertarians should adopt any moral tactic available to them to bring about liberty.
Imbibing Randolph Bourne's idea that "war is the health of the state", Rothbard opposed all wars in his lifetime and engaged in anti-war activism. During the 1970s and 1980s, Rothbard was active in the Libertarian Party. He was frequently involved in the party's internal politics. He was one of the founders of the Cato Institute and "came up with the idea of naming this libertarian think tank after Cato's Letters, a powerful series of British newspaper essays by John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon which played a decisive influence upon America's Founding Fathers in fomenting the Revolution". From 1978 to 1983, he was associated with the Libertarian Party Radical Caucus, allying himself with Justin Raimondo, Eric Garris and Williamson Evers. He opposed the "low-tax liberalism" espoused by 1980 Libertarian Party presidential candidate Ed Clark and Cato Institute president Edward H Crane III. According to Charles Burris, "Rothbard and Crane became bitter rivals after disputes emerging from the 1980 LP presidential campaign of Ed Clark carried over to strategic direction and management of Cato".
Rothbard split with the Radical Caucus at the 1983 national convention over cultural issues and aligned himself with what he called the "right-wing populist" wing of the party, notably Lew Rockwell and Ron Paul, who ran for president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 1988. Rothbard "worked closely with Lew Rockwell (joined later by his long-time friend Burton Blumert) in nurturing the Ludwig von Mises Institute, and the publication, The Rothbard-Rockwell Report; which after Rothbard's 1995 death evolved into the website, LewRockwell.com".
Paleolibertarianism
In 1989, Rothbard left the Libertarian Party and began building bridges to the post-Cold War anti-interventionist right, calling himself a paleolibertarian, a conservative reaction against the cultural liberalism of mainstream libertarianism. Paleolibertarianism sought to appeal to disaffected working class whites through a synthesis of cultural conservatism and libertarian economics. According to Reason, Rothbard advocated right-wing populism in part because he was frustrated that mainstream thinkers were not adopting the libertarian view and suggested that former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke and Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy were models for an "Outreach to the Rednecks" effort that could be used by a broad libertarian/paleoconservative coalition. Working together, the coalition would expose the "unholy alliance of 'corporate liberal' Big Business and media elites, who, through big government, have privileged and caused to rise up a parasitic Underclass". Rothbard blamed this "Underclass" for "looting and oppressing the bulk of the middle and working classes in America". Regarding the political program of the former Grand Wizard David Duke, Rothbard asserted that "nothing" in it that "could not also be embraced by paleoconservatives or paleolibertarians; lower taxes, dismantling the bureaucracy, slashing the welfare system, attacking affirmative action and racial set-asides, calling for equal rights for all Americans, including whites".
Rothbard supported the presidential campaign of Pat Buchanan in 1992 and wrote that "with Pat Buchanan as our leader, we shall break the clock of social democracy". When Buchanan dropped out of the Republican primary race, Rothbard then shifted his interest and support to Ross Perot, who Rothbard wrote had "brought an excitement, a verve, a sense of dynamics and of open possibilities to what had threatened to be a dreary race". However, Rothbard eventually withdrew his support from Perot, and endorsed George H. W. Bush in the 1992 election.
Like Buchanan, Rothbard opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). However, he had become disillusioned with Buchanan by 1995, believing that the latter's "commitment to protectionism was mutating into an all-round faith in economic planning and the nation state".
After Rothbard's death in 1995, Lew Rockwell, president of the Mises Institute, told The New York Times that Rothbard was "the founder of right-wing anarchism". William F. Buckley Jr. wrote a critical obituary in the National Review, criticizing Rothbard's "defective judgment" and views on the Cold War. Hoppe, Rockwell, and Rothbard's other colleagues at the Mises Institute took a different view, arguing that he was one of the most important philosophers in history.
Works
Articles
The Individualist (April and July–August 1971).
Revised and published by the Center for Independent Education in 1979 (). The Mises Institute, with editorial assistance from summer fellow Candice Jackson, published a 1999 edition with the restored original text and included an index provided by Institute Member Richard Perry. (. .)
"His only crime Was against the Old Guard: Milken: In the best tradition of free enterprise, he made money by serving the public." Los Angeles Times (March 3, 1992).
"Anti-Buchanania: A Mini-Encyclopedia." Rothbard-Rockwell Report (May 1992), pp. 1–13.
"Saint Hillary and the Religious Left." (December 1994).
"The Other Side of the Coin: Free Banking in Chile." Austrian Economics Newsletter, vol. 10, no. 2.
Books
Man, Economy, and State. D. Van Nostrand (1962). full text.
Second edition (Scholar's Edition) published in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2004). . Full text.
The Panic of 1819: Reactions and Policies. New York: Columbia University Press (1962). Full text.
Republished, Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2004). .
America's Great Depression. D. Van Nostrand (1973). Full text.
Fifth edition published in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2005). .
Power and Market: Government and the Economy. Sheed Andrews and McMeel (1970). full text.
Republished, Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2004). .
For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto. Collier Books (1973). Full text; audiobook. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute. .
Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature and Other Essays. Libertarian Review Press (1974). Full text.
Second edition, Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2000). .
Conceived in Liberty (4 vol.). New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House (1975–1979). Full text.
Republished, Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2012). .
The Logic of Action (2 vol.). Edward Elgar Publications (1997). . Full text.
Reprinted as Economic Controversies. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2011).
The Ethics of Liberty. Humanities Press (1982). New York University Press (1998). Full text; audiobook. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute. .
The Mystery of Banking. Richardson and Snyder, Dutton (1983). Full text.
Republished in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007). .
The Case Against the Fed. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (1994). Full text.
Republished in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007). .
America's Great Depression [5th ed.]. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (June 15, 2000).
An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought (2 vol.). Edward Elgar Publishers (1995). .
Vol. 1: Economic Thought Before Adam Smith. Republished in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2009).
Vol. 2: Classical Economics. Republished in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2009).
Making Economic Sense. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007). . Full text.
The Betrayal of the American Right. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007). . Full text and audiobook, narrated by Ian Temple.
Despite posthumous publication in 2007, it appears in print virtually unchanged from the manuscript untouched since the 1970s.
Book contributions
Introduction to Capital, Interest, and Rent: Essays in the Theory of Distribution, by Frank A. Fetter. Kansas City: Sheed Andrews and McMeel (1977).
Foreword to The Theory of Money and Credit, by Ludwig von Mises. Liberty Fund (1981). Full text .
"Bramble Minibook" (1973). In: The Essential von Mises. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (1988). Full text.
Monographs
Wall Street, Banks, and American Foreign Policy. World Market Perspective (1984). Full text. Spanish translation.
Republished by the Center for Libertarian Studies (1995), and the Ludwig von Mises Institute (2005).
Interviews
"Interview with Murray Rothbard on Man, Economy, and State, Mises, and the Future of the Austrian School" (Summer 1990). Austrian Economics Newsletter.
See also
American philosophy
Anarcho-capitalism
Criticism of the Federal Reserve
Hans-Hermann Hoppe
Libertarianism in the United States
List of American philosophers
List of peace activists
Milton Friedman
Notes
Further reading
Doherty, Brian (2007). Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement. PublicAffairs.
External links
Audiobooks by Rothbard at Mises Institute
Murray Rothbard full bibliography at Mises.org
Rothbard videos at YouTube channel of the Ludwig von Mises Institute
Murray N. Rothbard Library and Resources from LewRockwell.com
Rothbardiana (Italy)
Murray Rothbard Institute (Belgium)
1926 births
1995 deaths
20th-century American economists
20th-century American essayists
20th-century American historians
20th-century American journalists
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American philosophers
American agnostics
American anarcho-capitalists
American anti–Vietnam War activists
Jewish American atheists
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American male non-fiction writers
American opinion journalists
American people of Polish-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American political journalists
American political philosophers
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Anti-Zionism in the United States
Anti-Zionist Jews
Austrian School economists
Birch Wathen Lenox School alumni
Burials in Virginia
Cato Institute people
Columbia College (New York) alumni
Critics of neoconservatism
Critics of Objectivism (Ayn Rand)
Economists from New York (state)
Historians of economic thought
Historians of the United States
Historical revisionism
Jewish agnostics
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Jewish anti-communists
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Paleolibertarianism
Philosophers from Nevada
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Philosophy writers
Polytechnic Institute of New York University faculty
Right-wing populism in the United States
University of Nevada, Las Vegas faculty
Writers from New York City
Historians from New York (state) | false | [
"\"Be Someone Else\" is a song by Slimmy, released in 2010 as the lead single from his second studio album Be Someone Else. The single wasn't particularly successful, charting anywhere.\nA music video was also made for \"Be Someone Else\", produced by Riot Films. It premiered on 27 June 2010 on YouTube.\n\nBackground\n\"Be Someone Else\" was unveiled as the album's lead single. The song was written by Fernandes and produced by Quico Serrano and Mark J Turner. It was released to MySpace on 1 January 2010.\n\nMusic video\nA music video was also made for \"Be Someone Else\", produced by Riot Films. It premiered on 27 June 2010 on YouTube. The music video features two different scenes which alternate with each other many times during the video. The first scene features Slimmy performing the song with an electric guitar and the second scene features Slimmy performing with the band in the background.\n\nChart performance\nThe single wasn't particularly successful, charting anywhere.\n\nLive performances\n A Very Slimmy Tour\n Be Someone Else Tour\n\nTrack listing\n\nDigital single\n\"Be Someone Else\" (album version) - 3:22\n\nPersonnel\nTaken from the album's booklet.\n\nPaulo Fernandes – main vocals, guitar\nPaulo Garim – bass\nTó-Zé – drums\n\nRelease history\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOfficial music video at YouTube.\n\n2010 singles\nEnglish-language Portuguese songs\n2009 songs",
"Grouvellina radama is a species of ground beetle in the subfamily Rhysodinae. It was described by R.T. & J.R. Bell in 1979.\nIt is native to Madagascar and it is unknown whether it lives anywhere else.\n\nReferences\n\nGrouvellina\nBeetles described in 1979"
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"Murray attended Birch Wathen, a private school in New York City.",
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"He attended Columbia University,"
] | C_2f838a5bd1e748ca8c657827da681914_1 | what did he study? | 3 | What did Murray Rothbard study? | Murray Rothbard | Murray Rothbard's parents were David and Rae Rothbard, Jewish immigrants to the U.S. from Poland and Russia, respectively. David Rothbard was a chemist. Murray attended Birch Wathen, a private school in New York City. Rothbard later stated that he much preferred Birch Wathen to the "debasing and egalitarian public school system" he had previously attended in the Bronx. Rothbard wrote of having grown up as a "right-winger" (adherent of the "Old Right") among friends and neighbors who were "communists or fellow-travelers." Rothbard characterized his immigrant father as an individualist who embraced the American values of minimal government, free enterprise, private property, and "a determination to rise by one's own merits". "[A]ll socialism seemed to me monstrously coercive and abhorrent." He attended Columbia University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics in 1945 and, eleven years later, his PhD in economics in 1956. The delay in receiving his PhD was due in part to conflict with his advisor, Joseph Dorfman, and in part to Arthur Burns rejecting his doctoral dissertation. Burns was a longtime friend of the Rothbard family and their neighbor at their Manhattan apartment building. It was only after Burns went on leave from the Columbia faculty to head President Eisenhower's Council of Economic Advisors that Rothbard's thesis was accepted and he received his doctorate. Rothbard later stated that all of his fellow students there were extreme leftists and that he was one of only two Republicans on the Columbia campus at the time. During the 1940s Rothbard became acquainted with Frank Chodorov and read widely in libertarian-oriented works by Albert Jay Nock, Garet Garrett, Isabel Paterson, H. L. Mencken and others, as well as Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises. In the early 1950s, when Mises was teaching at the Wall Street division of New York University Business School, Rothbard attended Mises' unofficial seminar. Rothbard was greatly influenced by Mises' book, Human Action. Rothbard attracted the attention of the William Volker Fund, a group that provided financial backing to promote various "right-wing" ideologies in the 1950s and early 1960s. The Volker Fund paid Rothbard to write a textbook to explain Human Action in a form which could be used to introduce college undergraduates to Mises' views; a sample chapter he wrote on money and credit won Mises's approval. For ten years, Rothbard was paid a retainer by the Volker Fund, which designated him a "senior analyst." As Rothbard continued his work, he enlarged the project. The result was Rothbard's book Man, Economy, and State, published in 1962. Upon its publication, Mises praised Rothbard's work effusively. CANNOTANSWER | he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics in 1945 and, eleven years later, his PhD in economics in 1956. | Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American heterodox economist of the Austrian School, economic historian and political theorist. Rothbard was a founder and leading theoretician of anarcho-capitalism and a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian movement. He wrote over twenty books on political theory, history, economics, and other subjects.
Rothbard argued that all services provided by the "monopoly system of the corporate state" could be provided more efficiently by the private sector and wrote that the state is "the organization of robbery systematized and writ large". He called fractional-reserve banking a form of fraud and opposed central banking. He categorically opposed all military, political, and economic interventionism in the affairs of other nations. According to his protégé Hans-Hermann Hoppe, "[t]here would be no anarcho-capitalist movement to speak of without Rothbard".
Libertarian economist Jeffrey Herbener, who calls Rothbard his friend and "intellectual mentor", wrote that Rothbard received "only ostracism" from mainstream academia. Rothbard rejected mainstream economic methodologies and instead embraced the praxeology of his most important intellectual precursor, Ludwig von Mises. To promote his economic and political ideas, Rothbard joined Lew Rockwell and Burton Blumert in 1982 to establish the Mises Institute in Alabama.
Life and work
Education
Rothbard's parents were David and Rae Rothbard, Jewish immigrants to the United States from Poland and Russia, respectively. David was a chemist. Murray attended Birch Wathen Lenox School, a private school in New York City. He later said he much preferred Birch Wathen to the "debasing and egalitarian public school system" he had attended in the Bronx.
Rothbard wrote of having grown up as a "right-winger" (adherent of the "Old Right") among friends and neighbors who were "communists or fellow-travelers". He was a member of The New York Young Republican Club in his youth. Rothbard characterized his immigrant father as an individualist who embraced the American values of minimal government, free enterprise, private property and "a determination to rise by one's own merits ... "[A]ll socialism seemed to me monstrously coercive and abhorrent".
Rothbard attended Columbia University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics in 1945 and a PhD in economics in 1956. The delay in receiving his PhD was due in part to conflict with his advisor, Joseph Dorfman, and in part to Arthur Burns’s rejecting his dissertation. Burns was a longtime friend of the Rothbards and their neighbor at their Manhattan apartment building. It was only after Burns went on leave from the Columbia faculty to head President Eisenhower's Council of Economic Advisors that Rothbard's thesis was accepted and he received his doctorate. Rothbard later said that all his fellow students were extreme leftists and that he was one of only two Republicans at Columbia at the time.
During the 1940s, Rothbard became acquainted with Frank Chodorov and read widely in libertarian-oriented works by Albert Jay Nock, Garet Garrett, Isabel Paterson, H. L. Mencken, and Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises. In the early 1950s, when Mises was teaching in the Wall Street division of the New York University Stern School of Business, Rothbard attended his unofficial seminar. Rothbard was greatly influenced by Mises's book Human Action. He attracted the attention of the William Volker Fund, a group that provided financial backing to promote right-wing ideologies in the 1950s and early 1960s. The Volker Fund paid Rothbard to write a textbook to explain Human Action in a form that could be used to introduce college undergraduates to Mises's views; a sample chapter he wrote on money and credit won Mises's approval. For ten years, the Volker Fund paid him a retainer as a "senior analyst". As Rothbard continued his work, he enlarged the project. The result was his book Man, Economy, and State, published in 1962. Upon its publication, Mises praised Rothbard's work effusively.
Marriage, employment, and activism
In 1953, Rothbard married JoAnn Beatrice Schumacher (September 17, 1928 – October 29, 1999), whom he called Joey, in New York City. JoAnn was a historian and was Rothbard's personal editor and a close adviser as well as hostess of his Rothbard Salon. They enjoyed a loving marriage and Rothbard often called her "the indispensable framework" of his life and achievements. According to Joey, the Volker Fund's patronage allowed Rothbard to work from home as a freelance theorist and pundit for the first 15 years of their marriage. The Volker Fund collapsed in 1962, leading Rothbard to seek employment from various New York academic institutions. He was offered a part-time position teaching economics to engineering students at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute in 1966 at age 40. The institution had no economics department or economics majors and Rothbard derided its social science department as "Marxist", but Justin Raimondo writes that Rothbard liked teaching at Brooklyn Polytechnic because working only two days a week gave him freedom to contribute to developments in libertarian politics.
Rothbard continued in this role until 1986. Then 60 years old, Rothbard left Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute for the Lee Business School at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), where he held the title of S.J. Hall Distinguished Professor of Economics, a chair endowed by a libertarian businessman. According to Rothbard's friend, colleague and fellow Misesian economist Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Rothbard led a "fringe existence" in academia, but he was able to attract a large number of "students and disciples" through his writings, thereby becoming "the creator and one of the principal agents of the contemporary libertarian movement". He kept his position at UNLV from 1986 until his death. Rothbard founded the Center for Libertarian Studies in 1976 and the Journal of Libertarian Studies in 1977. In 1982, he co-founded the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, and was vice president of academic affairs until 1995. Rothbard also founded the institute's Review of Austrian Economics, a heterodox economics journal later renamed the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, in 1987.
After Rothbard's death, Joey reflected on his happiness and bright spirit, saying, "he managed to make a living for 40 years without having to get up before noon. This was important to him." Rothbard was known to be a "night owl". She recalled how Rothbard would begin every day with a phone conversation with his colleague Lew Rockwell: "Gales of laughter would shake the house or apartment, as they checked in with each other. Murray thought it was the best possible way to start a day". Rothbard was irreligious and agnostic about God, describing himself as a "mixture of an agnostic and a Reform Jew". Despite identifying as an agnostic and an atheist, he was critical of the "left-libertarian hostility to religion". In Rothbard's later years, many of his friends anticipated that he would convert to Catholicism, but he never did. The New York Times obituary called Rothbard "an economist and social philosopher who fiercely defended individual freedom against government intervention".
Creation of the Mises Institute
As a result of the economic works of Murray Rothbard, Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Ludwig Von Mises, and other Austrian economists, the Mises Institute was founded in 1982 by Lew Rockwell, Burton Blumert, and Murray Rothbard, following a split between the Cato Institute and Rothbard, who had been one of the founders of the Cato Institute.
Conflict with Ayn Rand
In 1954, Rothbard, along with several other attendees of Mises's seminar, joined the circle of novelist Ayn Rand, the founder of Objectivism. He soon parted from her, writing among other things that her ideas were not as original as she proclaimed, but similar to those of Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and Herbert Spencer. In 1958, after the publication of Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged, Rothbard wrote her a "fan letter", calling the book "an infinite treasure house" and "not merely the greatest novel ever written, [but] one of the very greatest books ever written, fiction or nonfiction". He also wrote: "[Y]ou introduced me to the whole field of natural rights and natural law philosophy", prompting him to learn "the glorious natural rights tradition". Rothbard rejoined Rand's circle for a few months, but soon broke with Rand again over various differences, including his defense of his interpretation of anarchism.
Rothbard later satirized Rand's acolytes in his unpublished one-act farce Mozart Was a Red and his essay "The Sociology of the Ayn Rand Cult". He characterized Rand's circle as a "dogmatic, personality cult". His play parodies Rand (through the character Carson Sand) and her friends and is set during a visit from Keith Hackley, a fan of Sand's novel The Brow of Zeus (a play on Atlas Shrugged).
Death
Rothbard died of a heart attack on January 7, 1995, at the age of 68. He was buried in his wife's plot in Oakwood Cemetery, Unionville, Virginia.
Ethical and philosophical views
Austrian economics
Rothbard was an advocate and practitioner of the Austrian School tradition of his teacher Ludwig von Mises. Like Mises, Rothbard rejected the application of the scientific method to economics and dismissed econometrics, empirical and statistical analysis and other tools of mainstream social science as outside the field (economic history might use those tools, but not Economics proper). He instead embraced praxeology, the strictly a priori methodology of Mises. Praxeology conceives of economic laws as akin to geometric or mathematical axioms: fixed, unchanging, objective and discernible through logical reasoning without the use of any empirical evidence.
According to Misesian economist Hans-Hermann Hoppe, eschewing the scientific method and empiricism distinguishes the Misesian approach "from all other current economic schools", which dismiss the Misesian approach as "dogmatic and unscientific." Mark Skousen of Chapman University and the Foundation for Economic Education, a critic of mainstream economics, praises Rothbard as brilliant, his writing style persuasive, his economic arguments nuanced and logically rigorous and his Misesian methodology sound. But Skousen concedes that Rothbard was effectively "outside the discipline" of mainstream economics and that his work "fell on deaf ears" outside his ideological circles.
Rothbard wrote extensively on Austrian business cycle theory and as part of this approach strongly opposed central banking, fiat money and fractional-reserve banking, advocating a gold standard and a 100% reserve requirement for banks.
Polemics against mainstream economics
Rothbard wrote a series of polemics in which he deprecated a number of leading modern economists. He vilified Adam Smith, calling him a "shameless plagiarist" who set economics off track, ultimately leading to the rise of Marxism. Rothbard praised Smith's contemporaries, including Richard Cantillon, Anne Robert Jacques Turgot and Étienne Bonnot de Condillac, for developing the subjective theory of value. In response to Rothbard's charge that Smith's The Wealth of Nations was largely plagiarized, David D. Friedman castigated Rothbard's scholarship and character, saying that he "was [either] deliberately dishonest or never really read the book he was criticizing". Tony Endres called Rothbard's treatment of Smith a "travesty".
Rothbard was equally scathing in his criticism of John Maynard Keynes, calling him weak on economic theory and a shallow political opportunist. Rothbard also wrote more generally that Keynesian-style governmental regulation of money and credit created a "dismal monetary and banking situation". He called John Stuart Mill a "wooly man of mush" and speculated that Mill's "soft" personality led his economic thought astray.
Rothbard was critical of monetarist economist Milton Friedman. In his polemic "Milton Friedman Unraveled", he called Friedman a "statist", a "favorite of the establishment", a friend of and "apologist" for Richard Nixon and a "pernicious influence" on public policy. Rothbard said that libertarians should scorn rather than celebrate Friedman's academic prestige and political influence. Noting that Rothbard has "been nasty to me and my work", Friedman responded to Rothbard's criticism by calling him a "cult builder and a dogmatist".
In a memorial volume published by the Mises Institute, Rothbard's protégé and libertarian theorist Hans-Hermann Hoppe wrote that Man, Economy, and State "presented a blistering refutation of all variants of mathematical economics" and included it among Rothbard's "almost mind-boggling achievements". Hoppe lamented that, like Mises, Rothbard died without winning the Nobel Prize that Hoppe says Rothbard deserved "twice over". Although Hoppe acknowledged that Rothbard and his work were largely ignored by academia, he called Rothbard an "intellectual giant" comparable to Aristotle, John Locke, and Immanuel Kant.
Disputes with other Austrian economists
Although he self-identified as an Austrian economist, Rothbard's methodology was at odds with that of many other Austrians. In 1956, Rothbard deprecated the views of Austrian economist Fritz Machlup, stating that Machlup was no praxeologist and calling him instead a "positivist" who failed to represent the views of Ludwig von Mises. Rothbard stated that in fact Machlup shared the opposing positivist view associated with economist Milton Friedman. Mises and Machlup had been colleagues in 1920s Vienna before each relocated to the United States and Mises later urged his American protege Israel Kirzner to pursue his PhD studies with Machlup at Johns Hopkins University.
According to libertarian economists Tyler Cowen and Richard Fink, Rothbard wrote that the term evenly rotating economy (ERE) can be used to analyze complexity in a world of change. The words ERE had been introduced by Mises as an alternative nomenclature for the mainstream economic method of static equilibrium and general equilibrium analysis. Cowen and Fink found "serious inconsistencies in both the nature of the ERE and its suggested uses". With the sole exception of Rothbard, no other economist adopted Mises' term and the concept continued to be called "equilibrium analysis".
In a 2011 article critical of Rothbard's "reflexive opposition" to inflation, The Economist noted that his views are increasingly gaining influence among politicians and laypeople on the right. The article contrasted Rothbard's categorical rejection of inflationary policies with the monetary views of "sophisticated Austrian-school monetary economists such as George Selgin and Larry White", [who] follow Hayek in treating stability of nominal spending as a monetary ideal—a position "not all that different from Mr [Scott] Sumner's".
According to economist Peter Boettke, Rothbard is better described as a property rights economist than as an Austrian economist. In 1988, Boettke noted that Rothbard "vehemently attacked all of the books of the younger Austrians".
Ethics
Although Rothbard adopted Ludwig von Mises' deductive methodology for his social theory and economics, he parted with Mises on the question of ethics. Specifically, he rejected Mises' conviction that ethical values remain subjective and opposed utilitarianism in favor of principle-based, natural law reasoning. In defense of his free market views, Mises employed utilitarian economic arguments aimed at demonstrating that interventionist policies made all of society worse off. On the other hand, Rothbard concluded that interventionist policies do in fact benefit some people, including certain government employees and beneficiaries of social programs. Therefore, unlike Mises, Rothbard argued for an objective, natural-law basis for the free market. He called this principle "self-ownership", loosely basing the idea on the writings of John Locke and also borrowing concepts from classical liberalism and the anti-imperialism of the Old Right.
Rothbard accepted the labor theory of property, but rejected the Lockean proviso, arguing that if an individual mixes his labor with unowned land then he becomes the proper owner eternally and that after that time it is private property which may change hands only by trade or gift.
Rothbard was a strong critic of egalitarianism. The title essay of Rothbard's 1974 book Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature and Other Essays held: "Equality is not in the natural order of things, and the crusade to make everyone equal in every respect (except before the law) is certain to have disastrous consequences". In it, Rothbard wrote: "At the heart of the egalitarian left is the pathological belief that there is no structure of reality; that all the world is a tabula rasa that can be changed at any moment in any desired direction by the mere exercise of human will".
Anarcho-capitalism
According to anarcho-capitalists, various theorists have espoused legal philosophies similar to anarcho-capitalism. However, Rothbard was the first person to use the term as in the mid-20th century he synthesized elements from the Austrian School of economics, classical liberalism and 19th-century American individualist anarchists. According to Lew Rockwell, Rothbard was the "conscience" of all the various strains of what he described as "libertarian anarchism", because their advocates (described as Rothbard's former "colleagues"), had often been personally inspired by his example.
During his years at graduate school in the late 1940s, Rothbard considered whether a strict adherence to libertarian and laissez-faire principles required the abolition of the state altogether. He visited Baldy Harper, a founder of the Foundation for Economic Education, who doubted the need for any government whatsoever. Rothbard said that during this period, he was influenced by 19th-century American individualist anarchists like Lysander Spooner and Benjamin Tucker and the Belgian economist Gustave de Molinari who wrote about how such a system could work. Thus, he "combined the laissez-faire economics of Mises with the absolutist views of human rights and rejection of the state" from individualist anarchists.
Rothbard began to consider himself a "private property anarchist" in 1950 and later began to use "anarcho-capitalist" to describe his political ideology. In his anarcho-capitalist model, the system of private property is upheld by private firms, such as hypothesized protection agencies, which compete in a free market and are voluntarily supported by consumers who choose to use their protective and judicial services. Anarcho-capitalists describe this as "the end of the state monopoly on force". He later came to terms that anarchism identified with socialism, and in an unpublished article wrote that individualist anarchism is different from anarcho-capitalism and other capitalist theories due to the individualist anarchists retaining the labor theory of value and socialist doctrines, suggesting a new term to identify himself: nonarchist.
In Man, Economy, and State, Rothbard divides the various kinds of state intervention in three categories: "autistic intervention", which is interference with private non-economic activities; "binary intervention", which is forced exchange between individuals and the state; and "triangular intervention", which is state-mandated exchange between individuals. According to Sanford Ikeda, Rothbard's typology "eliminates the gaps and inconsistencies that appear in Mises's original formulation". Rothbard writes in Power and Market that the role of the economist in a free market is limited, but it is much larger in a government that solicits economic policy recommendations. Rothbard argues that self-interest therefore prejudices the views of many economists in favor of increased government intervention.
Race, gender, and civil rights
Michael O'Malley, associate professor of history at George Mason University, characterizes Rothbard's "overall tone regard[ing]" the civil rights movement and the women's suffrage movement to be "contemptuous and hostile". Rothbard criticized women's rights activists, attributing the growth of the welfare state to politically active spinsters "whose busybody inclinations were not fettered by the responsibilities of health and heart". Rothbard argued that the progressive movement, which he regarded as a noxious influence on the United States, was spearheaded by a coalition of Yankee Protestants (people from the six New England states and upstate New York who were Protestants of English descent), Jewish women and "lesbian spinsters".
Rothbard called for the elimination of "the entire 'civil rights' structure" stating that it "tramples on the property rights of every American". He consistently favored repeal of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, including Title VII regarding employment discrimination, and called for overturning the Brown v. Board of Education decision on the grounds that state-mandated integration of schools violated libertarian principles. In an essay called "Right-wing Populism", Rothbard proposed a set of measures to "reach out" to the "middle and working classes", which included urging the police to crack down on "street criminals", writing that "cops must be unleashed" and "allowed to administer instant punishment, subject of course to liability when they are in error". He also advocated that the police "clear the streets of bums and vagrants."
Rothbard held strong opinions about many leaders of the civil rights movement. He considered black separatist Malcolm X to be a "great black leader" and integrationist Martin Luther King Jr. to be favored by whites because he "was the major restraining force on the developing Negro revolution". In 1993 he rejected the vision of a "separate black nation", asking "does anyone really believe that ... New Africa would be content to strike out on its own, with no massive "foreign aid" from the U.S.A.?". Rothbard also suggested that opposition to Martin Luther King Jr., whom he demeaned as a "coercive integrationist", should be a litmus test for members of his "paleolibertarian" political movement.
Opposition to war
Like Randolph Bourne, Rothbard believed that "war is the health of the state". According to David Gordon, this was the reason for Rothbard's opposition to aggressive foreign policy. Rothbard believed that stopping new wars was necessary and that knowledge of how government had led citizens into earlier wars was important. Two essays expanded on these views "War, Peace, and the State" and "Anatomy of the State". Rothbard used insights of Vilfredo Pareto, Gaetano Mosca and Robert Michels to build a model of state personnel, goals and ideology. In an obituary for his friend, the historical revisionist Harry Elmer Barnes, Rothbard wrote:
Rothbard's colleague Joseph Stromberg notes that Rothbard made two exceptions to his general condemnation of war: "the American Revolution and the War for Southern Independence, as viewed from the Confederate side". Rothbard condemned the "Northern war against slavery", saying it was inspired by "fanatical" religious faith and characterized by "a cheerful willingness to uproot institutions, to commit mayhem and mass murder, to plunder and loot and destroy, all in the name of high moral principle". He celebrated Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and other prominent Confederates as heroes while denouncing Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant and other Union leaders for "open[ing] the Pandora's Box of genocide and the extermination of civilians" in their war against the South.
Middle East conflict
Rothbard's The Libertarian Forum blamed the Middle East conflict on Israeli aggression "fueled by American arms and money". Rothbard warned that the Middle East conflict would draw the United States into a world war. He was anti-Zionist and opposed United States involvement in the Middle East. Rothbard criticized the Camp David Accords for having betrayed Palestinian aspirations and opposed Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon. In his essay, "War Guilt in the Middle East", Rothbard states that Israel refused "to let these refugees return and reclaim the property taken from them". He took negative views of the two state solution for the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, saying: On the one hand there are the Palestinian Arabs, who have tilled the soil or otherwise used the land of Palestine for centuries; and on the other, there are a group of external fanatics, who come from all over the world, and who claim the entire land area as "given" to them as a collective religion or tribe at some remote or legendary time in the past. There is no way the two claims can be resolved to the satisfaction of both parties. There can be no genuine settlement, no "peace" in the face of this irrepressible conflict; there can only be either a war to the death, or an uneasy practical compromise which can satisfy no one. That is the harsh reality of the Middle East.
Historical revisionism
Rothbard embraced "historical revisionism" as an antidote to what he perceived to be the dominant influence exerted by corrupt "court intellectuals" over mainstream historical narratives. Rothbard wrote that these mainstream intellectuals distorted the historical record in favor of "the state" in exchange for "wealth, power, and prestige" from the state. Rothbard characterized the revisionist task as "penetrating the fog of lies and deception of the State and its Court Intellectuals, and to present to the public the true history". He was influenced by and called a champion of the historian Harry Elmer Barnes. Rothbard endorsed Barnes's revisionism on World War II, favorably citing his view that "the murder of Germans and Japanese was the overriding aim of World War II". In addition to broadly supporting his historical views, Rothbard promoted Barnes as an influence for future revisionists.
Rothbard's endorsing of World War II revisionism and his association with Barnes and other Holocaust deniers have drawn criticism. Kevin D. Williamson wrote an opinion piece published by National Review which condemned Rothbard for "making common cause with the 'revisionist' historians of the Third Reich", a term he used to describe American Holocaust deniers associated with Rothbard, such as James J. Martin of the Institute for Historical Review. The piece also characterized "Rothbard and his faction" as being "culpably indulgent" of Holocaust denial, the view which "specifically denies that the Holocaust actually happened or holds that it was in some way exaggerated".
In an article for Rothbard's 50th birthday, Rothbard's friend and Buffalo State College historian Ralph Raico stated that Rothbard "is the main reason that revisionism has become a crucial part of the whole libertarian position".
Children's rights and parental obligations
In the Ethics of Liberty, Rothbard explores issues regarding children's rights in terms of self-ownership and contract. These include support for a woman's right to abortion, condemnation of parents showing aggression towards children and opposition to the state forcing parents to care for children. He also holds children have the right to run away from parents and seek new guardians as soon as they are able to choose to do so. He argued that parents have the right to put a child out for adoption or sell the rights to the child in a voluntary contract in what Rothbard suggests will be a "flourishing free market in children". He believes that selling children as consumer goods in accord with market forces—while "superficially monstrous"—will benefit "everyone" involved in the market: "the natural parents, the children, and the foster parents purchasing".
In Rothbard's view of parenthood, "the parent should not have a legal obligation to feed, clothe, or educate his children, since such obligations would entail positive acts coerced upon the parent and depriving the parent of his rights". Thus, Rothbard stated that parents should have the legal right to let any infant die by starvation and should be free to engage in other forms of child neglect. However, according to Rothbard, "the purely free society will have a flourishing free market in children". In a fully libertarian society, he wrote, "the existence of a free baby market will bring such 'neglect' down to a minimum".
Economist Gene Callahan of Cardiff University, formerly a scholar at the Rothbard-affiliated Mises Institute, observes that Rothbard allows "the logical elegance of his legal theory" to "trump any arguments based on the moral reprehensibility of a parent idly watching her six-month-old child slowly starve to death in its crib".
Retributive theory of criminal justice
In The Ethics of Liberty, Rothbard advocates for a "frankly retributive theory of punishment" or a system of "a tooth (or two teeth) for a tooth". Rothbard emphasizes that all punishment must be proportional, stating that "the criminal, or invader, loses his rights to the extent that he deprived another man of his". Applying his retributive theory, Rothbard states that a thief "must pay double the extent of theft". Rothbard gives the example of a thief who stole $15,000 and says he not only would have to return the stolen money, but also provide the victim an additional $15,000, money to which the thief has forfeited his right. The thief would be "put in a [temporary] state of enslavement to his victim" if he is unable to pay him immediately. Rothbard also applies his theory to justify beating and torturing violent criminals, although the beatings are required to be proportional to the crimes for which they are being punished.
Torture of criminal suspects
In chapter twelve of Ethics, Rothbard turns his attention to suspects arrested by the police. He argues that police should be able to torture certain types of criminal suspects, including accused murderers, for information related to their alleged crime. Writes Rothbard: "Suppose ... police beat and torture a suspected murderer to find information (not to wring a confession, since obviously a coerced confession could never be considered valid). If the suspect turns out to be guilty, then the police should be exonerated, for then they have only ladled out to the murderer a parcel of what he deserves in return; his rights had already been forfeited by more than that extent. But if the suspect is not convicted, then that means that the police have beaten and tortured an innocent man, and that they in turn must be put into the dock for criminal assault". Gene Callahan examines this position and concludes that Rothbard rejects the widely held belief that torture is inherently wrong, no matter who the victim. Callahan goes on to state that Rothbard's scheme gives the police a strong motive to frame the suspect after having tortured him or her.
Science and scientism
In an essay condemning "scientism in the study of man", Rothbard rejected the application of causal determinism to human beings, arguing that the actions of human beings—as opposed to those of everything else in nature—are not determined by prior causes, but by "free will". He argued that "determinism as applied to man, is a self-contradictory thesis, since the man who employs it relies implicitly on the existence of free will". Rothbard opposed what he considered the overspecialization of the academy and sought to fuse the disciplines of economics, history, ethics and political science to create a "science of liberty". Rothbard described the moral basis for his anarcho-capitalist position in two of his books: For a New Liberty, published in 1973; and The Ethics of Liberty, published in 1982. In his Power and Market (1970), Rothbard describes how a stateless economy might function.
Political activism
Throughout his life, Rothbard engaged in a number of different political movements in an effort to promote his Old Right and libertarian political principles. His first political activism came in 1948, on behalf of the segregationist South Carolinian Strom Thurmond's presidential campaign. In the 1948 presidential election, Rothbard, "as a Jewish student at Columbia, horrified his peers by organizing a Students for Strom Thurmond chapter, so staunchly did he believe in states' rights".
By the late 1960s, Rothbard's "long and winding yet somehow consistent road had taken him from anti-New Deal and anti-interventionist Robert A. Taft supporter into friendship with the quasi-pacifist Nebraska Republican Congressman Howard Buffett (father of Warren Buffett) then over to the League of (Adlai) Stevensonian Democrats and, by 1968, into tentative comradeship with the anarchist factions of the New Left". Rothbard advocated an alliance with the New Left anti-war movement on the grounds that the conservative movement had been completely subsumed by the statist establishment. However, Rothbard later criticized the New Left for supporting a "People's Republic" style draft. It was during this phase that he associated with Karl Hess and founded Left and Right: A Journal of Libertarian Thought with Leonard Liggio and George Resch, which existed from 1965 to 1968.
From 1969 to 1984, he edited The Libertarian Forum, also initially with Hess (although Hess's involvement ended in 1971). The Libertarian Forum provided a platform for Rothbard's writing. Despite its small readership, it engaged conservatives associated with the National Review in nationwide debate. Rothbard rejected the view that Ronald Reagan's 1980 election as president was a victory for libertarian principles and he attacked Reagan's economic program in a series of Libertarian Forum articles. In 1982, Rothbard called Reagan's claims of spending cuts a "fraud" and a "hoax" and accused Reaganites of doctoring the economic statistics to give the false impression that their policies were successfully reducing inflation and unemployment. He further criticized the "myths of Reaganomics" in 1987.
Rothbard criticized the "frenzied nihilism" of left-wing libertarians, but also criticized right-wing libertarians who were content to rely only on education to bring down the state; he believed that libertarians should adopt any moral tactic available to them to bring about liberty.
Imbibing Randolph Bourne's idea that "war is the health of the state", Rothbard opposed all wars in his lifetime and engaged in anti-war activism. During the 1970s and 1980s, Rothbard was active in the Libertarian Party. He was frequently involved in the party's internal politics. He was one of the founders of the Cato Institute and "came up with the idea of naming this libertarian think tank after Cato's Letters, a powerful series of British newspaper essays by John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon which played a decisive influence upon America's Founding Fathers in fomenting the Revolution". From 1978 to 1983, he was associated with the Libertarian Party Radical Caucus, allying himself with Justin Raimondo, Eric Garris and Williamson Evers. He opposed the "low-tax liberalism" espoused by 1980 Libertarian Party presidential candidate Ed Clark and Cato Institute president Edward H Crane III. According to Charles Burris, "Rothbard and Crane became bitter rivals after disputes emerging from the 1980 LP presidential campaign of Ed Clark carried over to strategic direction and management of Cato".
Rothbard split with the Radical Caucus at the 1983 national convention over cultural issues and aligned himself with what he called the "right-wing populist" wing of the party, notably Lew Rockwell and Ron Paul, who ran for president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 1988. Rothbard "worked closely with Lew Rockwell (joined later by his long-time friend Burton Blumert) in nurturing the Ludwig von Mises Institute, and the publication, The Rothbard-Rockwell Report; which after Rothbard's 1995 death evolved into the website, LewRockwell.com".
Paleolibertarianism
In 1989, Rothbard left the Libertarian Party and began building bridges to the post-Cold War anti-interventionist right, calling himself a paleolibertarian, a conservative reaction against the cultural liberalism of mainstream libertarianism. Paleolibertarianism sought to appeal to disaffected working class whites through a synthesis of cultural conservatism and libertarian economics. According to Reason, Rothbard advocated right-wing populism in part because he was frustrated that mainstream thinkers were not adopting the libertarian view and suggested that former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke and Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy were models for an "Outreach to the Rednecks" effort that could be used by a broad libertarian/paleoconservative coalition. Working together, the coalition would expose the "unholy alliance of 'corporate liberal' Big Business and media elites, who, through big government, have privileged and caused to rise up a parasitic Underclass". Rothbard blamed this "Underclass" for "looting and oppressing the bulk of the middle and working classes in America". Regarding the political program of the former Grand Wizard David Duke, Rothbard asserted that "nothing" in it that "could not also be embraced by paleoconservatives or paleolibertarians; lower taxes, dismantling the bureaucracy, slashing the welfare system, attacking affirmative action and racial set-asides, calling for equal rights for all Americans, including whites".
Rothbard supported the presidential campaign of Pat Buchanan in 1992 and wrote that "with Pat Buchanan as our leader, we shall break the clock of social democracy". When Buchanan dropped out of the Republican primary race, Rothbard then shifted his interest and support to Ross Perot, who Rothbard wrote had "brought an excitement, a verve, a sense of dynamics and of open possibilities to what had threatened to be a dreary race". However, Rothbard eventually withdrew his support from Perot, and endorsed George H. W. Bush in the 1992 election.
Like Buchanan, Rothbard opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). However, he had become disillusioned with Buchanan by 1995, believing that the latter's "commitment to protectionism was mutating into an all-round faith in economic planning and the nation state".
After Rothbard's death in 1995, Lew Rockwell, president of the Mises Institute, told The New York Times that Rothbard was "the founder of right-wing anarchism". William F. Buckley Jr. wrote a critical obituary in the National Review, criticizing Rothbard's "defective judgment" and views on the Cold War. Hoppe, Rockwell, and Rothbard's other colleagues at the Mises Institute took a different view, arguing that he was one of the most important philosophers in history.
Works
Articles
The Individualist (April and July–August 1971).
Revised and published by the Center for Independent Education in 1979 (). The Mises Institute, with editorial assistance from summer fellow Candice Jackson, published a 1999 edition with the restored original text and included an index provided by Institute Member Richard Perry. (. .)
"His only crime Was against the Old Guard: Milken: In the best tradition of free enterprise, he made money by serving the public." Los Angeles Times (March 3, 1992).
"Anti-Buchanania: A Mini-Encyclopedia." Rothbard-Rockwell Report (May 1992), pp. 1–13.
"Saint Hillary and the Religious Left." (December 1994).
"The Other Side of the Coin: Free Banking in Chile." Austrian Economics Newsletter, vol. 10, no. 2.
Books
Man, Economy, and State. D. Van Nostrand (1962). full text.
Second edition (Scholar's Edition) published in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2004). . Full text.
The Panic of 1819: Reactions and Policies. New York: Columbia University Press (1962). Full text.
Republished, Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2004). .
America's Great Depression. D. Van Nostrand (1973). Full text.
Fifth edition published in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2005). .
Power and Market: Government and the Economy. Sheed Andrews and McMeel (1970). full text.
Republished, Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2004). .
For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto. Collier Books (1973). Full text; audiobook. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute. .
Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature and Other Essays. Libertarian Review Press (1974). Full text.
Second edition, Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2000). .
Conceived in Liberty (4 vol.). New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House (1975–1979). Full text.
Republished, Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2012). .
The Logic of Action (2 vol.). Edward Elgar Publications (1997). . Full text.
Reprinted as Economic Controversies. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2011).
The Ethics of Liberty. Humanities Press (1982). New York University Press (1998). Full text; audiobook. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute. .
The Mystery of Banking. Richardson and Snyder, Dutton (1983). Full text.
Republished in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007). .
The Case Against the Fed. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (1994). Full text.
Republished in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007). .
America's Great Depression [5th ed.]. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (June 15, 2000).
An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought (2 vol.). Edward Elgar Publishers (1995). .
Vol. 1: Economic Thought Before Adam Smith. Republished in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2009).
Vol. 2: Classical Economics. Republished in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2009).
Making Economic Sense. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007). . Full text.
The Betrayal of the American Right. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007). . Full text and audiobook, narrated by Ian Temple.
Despite posthumous publication in 2007, it appears in print virtually unchanged from the manuscript untouched since the 1970s.
Book contributions
Introduction to Capital, Interest, and Rent: Essays in the Theory of Distribution, by Frank A. Fetter. Kansas City: Sheed Andrews and McMeel (1977).
Foreword to The Theory of Money and Credit, by Ludwig von Mises. Liberty Fund (1981). Full text .
"Bramble Minibook" (1973). In: The Essential von Mises. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (1988). Full text.
Monographs
Wall Street, Banks, and American Foreign Policy. World Market Perspective (1984). Full text. Spanish translation.
Republished by the Center for Libertarian Studies (1995), and the Ludwig von Mises Institute (2005).
Interviews
"Interview with Murray Rothbard on Man, Economy, and State, Mises, and the Future of the Austrian School" (Summer 1990). Austrian Economics Newsletter.
See also
American philosophy
Anarcho-capitalism
Criticism of the Federal Reserve
Hans-Hermann Hoppe
Libertarianism in the United States
List of American philosophers
List of peace activists
Milton Friedman
Notes
Further reading
Doherty, Brian (2007). Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement. PublicAffairs.
External links
Audiobooks by Rothbard at Mises Institute
Murray Rothbard full bibliography at Mises.org
Rothbard videos at YouTube channel of the Ludwig von Mises Institute
Murray N. Rothbard Library and Resources from LewRockwell.com
Rothbardiana (Italy)
Murray Rothbard Institute (Belgium)
1926 births
1995 deaths
20th-century American economists
20th-century American essayists
20th-century American historians
20th-century American journalists
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American philosophers
American agnostics
American anarcho-capitalists
American anti–Vietnam War activists
Jewish American atheists
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American people of Polish-Jewish descent
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Anti-Zionism in the United States
Anti-Zionist Jews
Austrian School economists
Birch Wathen Lenox School alumni
Burials in Virginia
Cato Institute people
Columbia College (New York) alumni
Critics of neoconservatism
Critics of Objectivism (Ayn Rand)
Economists from New York (state)
Historians of economic thought
Historians of the United States
Historical revisionism
Jewish agnostics
Jewish American historians
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Jewish anti-communists
Jewish philosophers
Journalists from New York (state)
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Paleolibertarianism
Philosophers from Nevada
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Polytechnic Institute of New York University faculty
Right-wing populism in the United States
University of Nevada, Las Vegas faculty
Writers from New York City
Historians from New York (state) | false | [
"The Predator is the third EP by American metalcore band Ice Nine Kills and was self-released by the band on January 15, 2013. The EP debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart.\n\nIt is the only album to feature Steve Koch as bassist and backup singer after his departure in 2013, and the last album to feature Justin Morrow as rhythm guitarist; he would switch to bass guitar and backing vocals (on live performance only) while still playing rhythm guitar in studio in 2013.\n\nThe tracks \"The Coffin Is Moving\" and \"What I Never Learned in Study Hall\" later would be featured on the band's 2014 album The Predator Becomes the Prey.\n\nThe track \"What I Never Learned in Study Hall\" was later re-recorded acoustically for Take Action. Vol. 11 making it similar to the song's predecessors \"What I Really Learned in Study Hall\" and \"What I Should Have Learned in Study Hall\". Unlike the original version, the acoustic version did not feature Tyler Carter as guest vocalist, but instead featured former Kid's Jackson Summer vocalist Kate Ellen Dean.\n\nTrack listing\n\nPersonnel \n Spencer Charnas - lead vocals, piano on \"A Reptile's Dysfunction\"\n Justin \"JD\" DeBlieck - lead guitar, lead vocals\n Justin Morrow - rhythm guitar\n Steve Koch - bass guitar, backing vocals\n Connor Sullivan - drums\n Steve Sopchak - producer, engineer, mixing\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n2013 EPs\nIce Nine Kills EPs\nSelf-released EPs",
"Homeric psychology is a field of study with regards to the psychology of ancient Greek culture no later than Mycenaean Greece, around 1700–1200 BCE, during the Homeric epic poems (specifically the Illiad and the Odyssey).\n\nHistory of Homeric psychology\nThe first scholar to present a theory was Bruno Snell in his 1953 book, originally in German. His argument was that the ancient Greek individual did not have a sense of self, and that later the Greek culture \"self-realized\" or \"discovered\" what we consider to be the modern \"intellect\".\n\nLater, Eric Robertson Dodds in 1951, wrote how ancient Greek thought may have been irrational, as compared to modern \"rational\" culture. In this Dodds' theory, the Greeks may have known that an individual did things, but the reason an individual did things were attributed to divine externalities, such as gods or daemons.\n\nJulian Jaynes proposed a theory in 1976. He stipulated that Greek consciousness emerged from the use of special words related to cognition. Some of Jaynes' findings were empirically supported in a 2021 study by Boban Dedović, a psychohistorian. The study compared the word counts of mental language between thirty-four versions of the Iliad and Odyssey.\n\nReferences \n\nConsciousness studies\nPhilosophy of mind\nPhilology\nCognitive psychology\nHistorical linguistics\nArguments in philosophy of mind"
] |
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"Murray Rothbard",
"Education",
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"Murray attended Birch Wathen, a private school in New York City.",
"did he study anywhere else?",
"He attended Columbia University,",
"what did he study?",
"he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics in 1945 and, eleven years later, his PhD in economics in 1956."
] | C_2f838a5bd1e748ca8c657827da681914_1 | did he do any research? | 4 | Did Murray Rothbard do any research? | Murray Rothbard | Murray Rothbard's parents were David and Rae Rothbard, Jewish immigrants to the U.S. from Poland and Russia, respectively. David Rothbard was a chemist. Murray attended Birch Wathen, a private school in New York City. Rothbard later stated that he much preferred Birch Wathen to the "debasing and egalitarian public school system" he had previously attended in the Bronx. Rothbard wrote of having grown up as a "right-winger" (adherent of the "Old Right") among friends and neighbors who were "communists or fellow-travelers." Rothbard characterized his immigrant father as an individualist who embraced the American values of minimal government, free enterprise, private property, and "a determination to rise by one's own merits". "[A]ll socialism seemed to me monstrously coercive and abhorrent." He attended Columbia University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics in 1945 and, eleven years later, his PhD in economics in 1956. The delay in receiving his PhD was due in part to conflict with his advisor, Joseph Dorfman, and in part to Arthur Burns rejecting his doctoral dissertation. Burns was a longtime friend of the Rothbard family and their neighbor at their Manhattan apartment building. It was only after Burns went on leave from the Columbia faculty to head President Eisenhower's Council of Economic Advisors that Rothbard's thesis was accepted and he received his doctorate. Rothbard later stated that all of his fellow students there were extreme leftists and that he was one of only two Republicans on the Columbia campus at the time. During the 1940s Rothbard became acquainted with Frank Chodorov and read widely in libertarian-oriented works by Albert Jay Nock, Garet Garrett, Isabel Paterson, H. L. Mencken and others, as well as Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises. In the early 1950s, when Mises was teaching at the Wall Street division of New York University Business School, Rothbard attended Mises' unofficial seminar. Rothbard was greatly influenced by Mises' book, Human Action. Rothbard attracted the attention of the William Volker Fund, a group that provided financial backing to promote various "right-wing" ideologies in the 1950s and early 1960s. The Volker Fund paid Rothbard to write a textbook to explain Human Action in a form which could be used to introduce college undergraduates to Mises' views; a sample chapter he wrote on money and credit won Mises's approval. For ten years, Rothbard was paid a retainer by the Volker Fund, which designated him a "senior analyst." As Rothbard continued his work, he enlarged the project. The result was Rothbard's book Man, Economy, and State, published in 1962. Upon its publication, Mises praised Rothbard's work effusively. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American heterodox economist of the Austrian School, economic historian and political theorist. Rothbard was a founder and leading theoretician of anarcho-capitalism and a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian movement. He wrote over twenty books on political theory, history, economics, and other subjects.
Rothbard argued that all services provided by the "monopoly system of the corporate state" could be provided more efficiently by the private sector and wrote that the state is "the organization of robbery systematized and writ large". He called fractional-reserve banking a form of fraud and opposed central banking. He categorically opposed all military, political, and economic interventionism in the affairs of other nations. According to his protégé Hans-Hermann Hoppe, "[t]here would be no anarcho-capitalist movement to speak of without Rothbard".
Libertarian economist Jeffrey Herbener, who calls Rothbard his friend and "intellectual mentor", wrote that Rothbard received "only ostracism" from mainstream academia. Rothbard rejected mainstream economic methodologies and instead embraced the praxeology of his most important intellectual precursor, Ludwig von Mises. To promote his economic and political ideas, Rothbard joined Lew Rockwell and Burton Blumert in 1982 to establish the Mises Institute in Alabama.
Life and work
Education
Rothbard's parents were David and Rae Rothbard, Jewish immigrants to the United States from Poland and Russia, respectively. David was a chemist. Murray attended Birch Wathen Lenox School, a private school in New York City. He later said he much preferred Birch Wathen to the "debasing and egalitarian public school system" he had attended in the Bronx.
Rothbard wrote of having grown up as a "right-winger" (adherent of the "Old Right") among friends and neighbors who were "communists or fellow-travelers". He was a member of The New York Young Republican Club in his youth. Rothbard characterized his immigrant father as an individualist who embraced the American values of minimal government, free enterprise, private property and "a determination to rise by one's own merits ... "[A]ll socialism seemed to me monstrously coercive and abhorrent".
Rothbard attended Columbia University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics in 1945 and a PhD in economics in 1956. The delay in receiving his PhD was due in part to conflict with his advisor, Joseph Dorfman, and in part to Arthur Burns’s rejecting his dissertation. Burns was a longtime friend of the Rothbards and their neighbor at their Manhattan apartment building. It was only after Burns went on leave from the Columbia faculty to head President Eisenhower's Council of Economic Advisors that Rothbard's thesis was accepted and he received his doctorate. Rothbard later said that all his fellow students were extreme leftists and that he was one of only two Republicans at Columbia at the time.
During the 1940s, Rothbard became acquainted with Frank Chodorov and read widely in libertarian-oriented works by Albert Jay Nock, Garet Garrett, Isabel Paterson, H. L. Mencken, and Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises. In the early 1950s, when Mises was teaching in the Wall Street division of the New York University Stern School of Business, Rothbard attended his unofficial seminar. Rothbard was greatly influenced by Mises's book Human Action. He attracted the attention of the William Volker Fund, a group that provided financial backing to promote right-wing ideologies in the 1950s and early 1960s. The Volker Fund paid Rothbard to write a textbook to explain Human Action in a form that could be used to introduce college undergraduates to Mises's views; a sample chapter he wrote on money and credit won Mises's approval. For ten years, the Volker Fund paid him a retainer as a "senior analyst". As Rothbard continued his work, he enlarged the project. The result was his book Man, Economy, and State, published in 1962. Upon its publication, Mises praised Rothbard's work effusively.
Marriage, employment, and activism
In 1953, Rothbard married JoAnn Beatrice Schumacher (September 17, 1928 – October 29, 1999), whom he called Joey, in New York City. JoAnn was a historian and was Rothbard's personal editor and a close adviser as well as hostess of his Rothbard Salon. They enjoyed a loving marriage and Rothbard often called her "the indispensable framework" of his life and achievements. According to Joey, the Volker Fund's patronage allowed Rothbard to work from home as a freelance theorist and pundit for the first 15 years of their marriage. The Volker Fund collapsed in 1962, leading Rothbard to seek employment from various New York academic institutions. He was offered a part-time position teaching economics to engineering students at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute in 1966 at age 40. The institution had no economics department or economics majors and Rothbard derided its social science department as "Marxist", but Justin Raimondo writes that Rothbard liked teaching at Brooklyn Polytechnic because working only two days a week gave him freedom to contribute to developments in libertarian politics.
Rothbard continued in this role until 1986. Then 60 years old, Rothbard left Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute for the Lee Business School at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), where he held the title of S.J. Hall Distinguished Professor of Economics, a chair endowed by a libertarian businessman. According to Rothbard's friend, colleague and fellow Misesian economist Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Rothbard led a "fringe existence" in academia, but he was able to attract a large number of "students and disciples" through his writings, thereby becoming "the creator and one of the principal agents of the contemporary libertarian movement". He kept his position at UNLV from 1986 until his death. Rothbard founded the Center for Libertarian Studies in 1976 and the Journal of Libertarian Studies in 1977. In 1982, he co-founded the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, and was vice president of academic affairs until 1995. Rothbard also founded the institute's Review of Austrian Economics, a heterodox economics journal later renamed the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, in 1987.
After Rothbard's death, Joey reflected on his happiness and bright spirit, saying, "he managed to make a living for 40 years without having to get up before noon. This was important to him." Rothbard was known to be a "night owl". She recalled how Rothbard would begin every day with a phone conversation with his colleague Lew Rockwell: "Gales of laughter would shake the house or apartment, as they checked in with each other. Murray thought it was the best possible way to start a day". Rothbard was irreligious and agnostic about God, describing himself as a "mixture of an agnostic and a Reform Jew". Despite identifying as an agnostic and an atheist, he was critical of the "left-libertarian hostility to religion". In Rothbard's later years, many of his friends anticipated that he would convert to Catholicism, but he never did. The New York Times obituary called Rothbard "an economist and social philosopher who fiercely defended individual freedom against government intervention".
Creation of the Mises Institute
As a result of the economic works of Murray Rothbard, Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Ludwig Von Mises, and other Austrian economists, the Mises Institute was founded in 1982 by Lew Rockwell, Burton Blumert, and Murray Rothbard, following a split between the Cato Institute and Rothbard, who had been one of the founders of the Cato Institute.
Conflict with Ayn Rand
In 1954, Rothbard, along with several other attendees of Mises's seminar, joined the circle of novelist Ayn Rand, the founder of Objectivism. He soon parted from her, writing among other things that her ideas were not as original as she proclaimed, but similar to those of Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and Herbert Spencer. In 1958, after the publication of Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged, Rothbard wrote her a "fan letter", calling the book "an infinite treasure house" and "not merely the greatest novel ever written, [but] one of the very greatest books ever written, fiction or nonfiction". He also wrote: "[Y]ou introduced me to the whole field of natural rights and natural law philosophy", prompting him to learn "the glorious natural rights tradition". Rothbard rejoined Rand's circle for a few months, but soon broke with Rand again over various differences, including his defense of his interpretation of anarchism.
Rothbard later satirized Rand's acolytes in his unpublished one-act farce Mozart Was a Red and his essay "The Sociology of the Ayn Rand Cult". He characterized Rand's circle as a "dogmatic, personality cult". His play parodies Rand (through the character Carson Sand) and her friends and is set during a visit from Keith Hackley, a fan of Sand's novel The Brow of Zeus (a play on Atlas Shrugged).
Death
Rothbard died of a heart attack on January 7, 1995, at the age of 68. He was buried in his wife's plot in Oakwood Cemetery, Unionville, Virginia.
Ethical and philosophical views
Austrian economics
Rothbard was an advocate and practitioner of the Austrian School tradition of his teacher Ludwig von Mises. Like Mises, Rothbard rejected the application of the scientific method to economics and dismissed econometrics, empirical and statistical analysis and other tools of mainstream social science as outside the field (economic history might use those tools, but not Economics proper). He instead embraced praxeology, the strictly a priori methodology of Mises. Praxeology conceives of economic laws as akin to geometric or mathematical axioms: fixed, unchanging, objective and discernible through logical reasoning without the use of any empirical evidence.
According to Misesian economist Hans-Hermann Hoppe, eschewing the scientific method and empiricism distinguishes the Misesian approach "from all other current economic schools", which dismiss the Misesian approach as "dogmatic and unscientific." Mark Skousen of Chapman University and the Foundation for Economic Education, a critic of mainstream economics, praises Rothbard as brilliant, his writing style persuasive, his economic arguments nuanced and logically rigorous and his Misesian methodology sound. But Skousen concedes that Rothbard was effectively "outside the discipline" of mainstream economics and that his work "fell on deaf ears" outside his ideological circles.
Rothbard wrote extensively on Austrian business cycle theory and as part of this approach strongly opposed central banking, fiat money and fractional-reserve banking, advocating a gold standard and a 100% reserve requirement for banks.
Polemics against mainstream economics
Rothbard wrote a series of polemics in which he deprecated a number of leading modern economists. He vilified Adam Smith, calling him a "shameless plagiarist" who set economics off track, ultimately leading to the rise of Marxism. Rothbard praised Smith's contemporaries, including Richard Cantillon, Anne Robert Jacques Turgot and Étienne Bonnot de Condillac, for developing the subjective theory of value. In response to Rothbard's charge that Smith's The Wealth of Nations was largely plagiarized, David D. Friedman castigated Rothbard's scholarship and character, saying that he "was [either] deliberately dishonest or never really read the book he was criticizing". Tony Endres called Rothbard's treatment of Smith a "travesty".
Rothbard was equally scathing in his criticism of John Maynard Keynes, calling him weak on economic theory and a shallow political opportunist. Rothbard also wrote more generally that Keynesian-style governmental regulation of money and credit created a "dismal monetary and banking situation". He called John Stuart Mill a "wooly man of mush" and speculated that Mill's "soft" personality led his economic thought astray.
Rothbard was critical of monetarist economist Milton Friedman. In his polemic "Milton Friedman Unraveled", he called Friedman a "statist", a "favorite of the establishment", a friend of and "apologist" for Richard Nixon and a "pernicious influence" on public policy. Rothbard said that libertarians should scorn rather than celebrate Friedman's academic prestige and political influence. Noting that Rothbard has "been nasty to me and my work", Friedman responded to Rothbard's criticism by calling him a "cult builder and a dogmatist".
In a memorial volume published by the Mises Institute, Rothbard's protégé and libertarian theorist Hans-Hermann Hoppe wrote that Man, Economy, and State "presented a blistering refutation of all variants of mathematical economics" and included it among Rothbard's "almost mind-boggling achievements". Hoppe lamented that, like Mises, Rothbard died without winning the Nobel Prize that Hoppe says Rothbard deserved "twice over". Although Hoppe acknowledged that Rothbard and his work were largely ignored by academia, he called Rothbard an "intellectual giant" comparable to Aristotle, John Locke, and Immanuel Kant.
Disputes with other Austrian economists
Although he self-identified as an Austrian economist, Rothbard's methodology was at odds with that of many other Austrians. In 1956, Rothbard deprecated the views of Austrian economist Fritz Machlup, stating that Machlup was no praxeologist and calling him instead a "positivist" who failed to represent the views of Ludwig von Mises. Rothbard stated that in fact Machlup shared the opposing positivist view associated with economist Milton Friedman. Mises and Machlup had been colleagues in 1920s Vienna before each relocated to the United States and Mises later urged his American protege Israel Kirzner to pursue his PhD studies with Machlup at Johns Hopkins University.
According to libertarian economists Tyler Cowen and Richard Fink, Rothbard wrote that the term evenly rotating economy (ERE) can be used to analyze complexity in a world of change. The words ERE had been introduced by Mises as an alternative nomenclature for the mainstream economic method of static equilibrium and general equilibrium analysis. Cowen and Fink found "serious inconsistencies in both the nature of the ERE and its suggested uses". With the sole exception of Rothbard, no other economist adopted Mises' term and the concept continued to be called "equilibrium analysis".
In a 2011 article critical of Rothbard's "reflexive opposition" to inflation, The Economist noted that his views are increasingly gaining influence among politicians and laypeople on the right. The article contrasted Rothbard's categorical rejection of inflationary policies with the monetary views of "sophisticated Austrian-school monetary economists such as George Selgin and Larry White", [who] follow Hayek in treating stability of nominal spending as a monetary ideal—a position "not all that different from Mr [Scott] Sumner's".
According to economist Peter Boettke, Rothbard is better described as a property rights economist than as an Austrian economist. In 1988, Boettke noted that Rothbard "vehemently attacked all of the books of the younger Austrians".
Ethics
Although Rothbard adopted Ludwig von Mises' deductive methodology for his social theory and economics, he parted with Mises on the question of ethics. Specifically, he rejected Mises' conviction that ethical values remain subjective and opposed utilitarianism in favor of principle-based, natural law reasoning. In defense of his free market views, Mises employed utilitarian economic arguments aimed at demonstrating that interventionist policies made all of society worse off. On the other hand, Rothbard concluded that interventionist policies do in fact benefit some people, including certain government employees and beneficiaries of social programs. Therefore, unlike Mises, Rothbard argued for an objective, natural-law basis for the free market. He called this principle "self-ownership", loosely basing the idea on the writings of John Locke and also borrowing concepts from classical liberalism and the anti-imperialism of the Old Right.
Rothbard accepted the labor theory of property, but rejected the Lockean proviso, arguing that if an individual mixes his labor with unowned land then he becomes the proper owner eternally and that after that time it is private property which may change hands only by trade or gift.
Rothbard was a strong critic of egalitarianism. The title essay of Rothbard's 1974 book Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature and Other Essays held: "Equality is not in the natural order of things, and the crusade to make everyone equal in every respect (except before the law) is certain to have disastrous consequences". In it, Rothbard wrote: "At the heart of the egalitarian left is the pathological belief that there is no structure of reality; that all the world is a tabula rasa that can be changed at any moment in any desired direction by the mere exercise of human will".
Anarcho-capitalism
According to anarcho-capitalists, various theorists have espoused legal philosophies similar to anarcho-capitalism. However, Rothbard was the first person to use the term as in the mid-20th century he synthesized elements from the Austrian School of economics, classical liberalism and 19th-century American individualist anarchists. According to Lew Rockwell, Rothbard was the "conscience" of all the various strains of what he described as "libertarian anarchism", because their advocates (described as Rothbard's former "colleagues"), had often been personally inspired by his example.
During his years at graduate school in the late 1940s, Rothbard considered whether a strict adherence to libertarian and laissez-faire principles required the abolition of the state altogether. He visited Baldy Harper, a founder of the Foundation for Economic Education, who doubted the need for any government whatsoever. Rothbard said that during this period, he was influenced by 19th-century American individualist anarchists like Lysander Spooner and Benjamin Tucker and the Belgian economist Gustave de Molinari who wrote about how such a system could work. Thus, he "combined the laissez-faire economics of Mises with the absolutist views of human rights and rejection of the state" from individualist anarchists.
Rothbard began to consider himself a "private property anarchist" in 1950 and later began to use "anarcho-capitalist" to describe his political ideology. In his anarcho-capitalist model, the system of private property is upheld by private firms, such as hypothesized protection agencies, which compete in a free market and are voluntarily supported by consumers who choose to use their protective and judicial services. Anarcho-capitalists describe this as "the end of the state monopoly on force". He later came to terms that anarchism identified with socialism, and in an unpublished article wrote that individualist anarchism is different from anarcho-capitalism and other capitalist theories due to the individualist anarchists retaining the labor theory of value and socialist doctrines, suggesting a new term to identify himself: nonarchist.
In Man, Economy, and State, Rothbard divides the various kinds of state intervention in three categories: "autistic intervention", which is interference with private non-economic activities; "binary intervention", which is forced exchange between individuals and the state; and "triangular intervention", which is state-mandated exchange between individuals. According to Sanford Ikeda, Rothbard's typology "eliminates the gaps and inconsistencies that appear in Mises's original formulation". Rothbard writes in Power and Market that the role of the economist in a free market is limited, but it is much larger in a government that solicits economic policy recommendations. Rothbard argues that self-interest therefore prejudices the views of many economists in favor of increased government intervention.
Race, gender, and civil rights
Michael O'Malley, associate professor of history at George Mason University, characterizes Rothbard's "overall tone regard[ing]" the civil rights movement and the women's suffrage movement to be "contemptuous and hostile". Rothbard criticized women's rights activists, attributing the growth of the welfare state to politically active spinsters "whose busybody inclinations were not fettered by the responsibilities of health and heart". Rothbard argued that the progressive movement, which he regarded as a noxious influence on the United States, was spearheaded by a coalition of Yankee Protestants (people from the six New England states and upstate New York who were Protestants of English descent), Jewish women and "lesbian spinsters".
Rothbard called for the elimination of "the entire 'civil rights' structure" stating that it "tramples on the property rights of every American". He consistently favored repeal of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, including Title VII regarding employment discrimination, and called for overturning the Brown v. Board of Education decision on the grounds that state-mandated integration of schools violated libertarian principles. In an essay called "Right-wing Populism", Rothbard proposed a set of measures to "reach out" to the "middle and working classes", which included urging the police to crack down on "street criminals", writing that "cops must be unleashed" and "allowed to administer instant punishment, subject of course to liability when they are in error". He also advocated that the police "clear the streets of bums and vagrants."
Rothbard held strong opinions about many leaders of the civil rights movement. He considered black separatist Malcolm X to be a "great black leader" and integrationist Martin Luther King Jr. to be favored by whites because he "was the major restraining force on the developing Negro revolution". In 1993 he rejected the vision of a "separate black nation", asking "does anyone really believe that ... New Africa would be content to strike out on its own, with no massive "foreign aid" from the U.S.A.?". Rothbard also suggested that opposition to Martin Luther King Jr., whom he demeaned as a "coercive integrationist", should be a litmus test for members of his "paleolibertarian" political movement.
Opposition to war
Like Randolph Bourne, Rothbard believed that "war is the health of the state". According to David Gordon, this was the reason for Rothbard's opposition to aggressive foreign policy. Rothbard believed that stopping new wars was necessary and that knowledge of how government had led citizens into earlier wars was important. Two essays expanded on these views "War, Peace, and the State" and "Anatomy of the State". Rothbard used insights of Vilfredo Pareto, Gaetano Mosca and Robert Michels to build a model of state personnel, goals and ideology. In an obituary for his friend, the historical revisionist Harry Elmer Barnes, Rothbard wrote:
Rothbard's colleague Joseph Stromberg notes that Rothbard made two exceptions to his general condemnation of war: "the American Revolution and the War for Southern Independence, as viewed from the Confederate side". Rothbard condemned the "Northern war against slavery", saying it was inspired by "fanatical" religious faith and characterized by "a cheerful willingness to uproot institutions, to commit mayhem and mass murder, to plunder and loot and destroy, all in the name of high moral principle". He celebrated Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and other prominent Confederates as heroes while denouncing Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant and other Union leaders for "open[ing] the Pandora's Box of genocide and the extermination of civilians" in their war against the South.
Middle East conflict
Rothbard's The Libertarian Forum blamed the Middle East conflict on Israeli aggression "fueled by American arms and money". Rothbard warned that the Middle East conflict would draw the United States into a world war. He was anti-Zionist and opposed United States involvement in the Middle East. Rothbard criticized the Camp David Accords for having betrayed Palestinian aspirations and opposed Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon. In his essay, "War Guilt in the Middle East", Rothbard states that Israel refused "to let these refugees return and reclaim the property taken from them". He took negative views of the two state solution for the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, saying: On the one hand there are the Palestinian Arabs, who have tilled the soil or otherwise used the land of Palestine for centuries; and on the other, there are a group of external fanatics, who come from all over the world, and who claim the entire land area as "given" to them as a collective religion or tribe at some remote or legendary time in the past. There is no way the two claims can be resolved to the satisfaction of both parties. There can be no genuine settlement, no "peace" in the face of this irrepressible conflict; there can only be either a war to the death, or an uneasy practical compromise which can satisfy no one. That is the harsh reality of the Middle East.
Historical revisionism
Rothbard embraced "historical revisionism" as an antidote to what he perceived to be the dominant influence exerted by corrupt "court intellectuals" over mainstream historical narratives. Rothbard wrote that these mainstream intellectuals distorted the historical record in favor of "the state" in exchange for "wealth, power, and prestige" from the state. Rothbard characterized the revisionist task as "penetrating the fog of lies and deception of the State and its Court Intellectuals, and to present to the public the true history". He was influenced by and called a champion of the historian Harry Elmer Barnes. Rothbard endorsed Barnes's revisionism on World War II, favorably citing his view that "the murder of Germans and Japanese was the overriding aim of World War II". In addition to broadly supporting his historical views, Rothbard promoted Barnes as an influence for future revisionists.
Rothbard's endorsing of World War II revisionism and his association with Barnes and other Holocaust deniers have drawn criticism. Kevin D. Williamson wrote an opinion piece published by National Review which condemned Rothbard for "making common cause with the 'revisionist' historians of the Third Reich", a term he used to describe American Holocaust deniers associated with Rothbard, such as James J. Martin of the Institute for Historical Review. The piece also characterized "Rothbard and his faction" as being "culpably indulgent" of Holocaust denial, the view which "specifically denies that the Holocaust actually happened or holds that it was in some way exaggerated".
In an article for Rothbard's 50th birthday, Rothbard's friend and Buffalo State College historian Ralph Raico stated that Rothbard "is the main reason that revisionism has become a crucial part of the whole libertarian position".
Children's rights and parental obligations
In the Ethics of Liberty, Rothbard explores issues regarding children's rights in terms of self-ownership and contract. These include support for a woman's right to abortion, condemnation of parents showing aggression towards children and opposition to the state forcing parents to care for children. He also holds children have the right to run away from parents and seek new guardians as soon as they are able to choose to do so. He argued that parents have the right to put a child out for adoption or sell the rights to the child in a voluntary contract in what Rothbard suggests will be a "flourishing free market in children". He believes that selling children as consumer goods in accord with market forces—while "superficially monstrous"—will benefit "everyone" involved in the market: "the natural parents, the children, and the foster parents purchasing".
In Rothbard's view of parenthood, "the parent should not have a legal obligation to feed, clothe, or educate his children, since such obligations would entail positive acts coerced upon the parent and depriving the parent of his rights". Thus, Rothbard stated that parents should have the legal right to let any infant die by starvation and should be free to engage in other forms of child neglect. However, according to Rothbard, "the purely free society will have a flourishing free market in children". In a fully libertarian society, he wrote, "the existence of a free baby market will bring such 'neglect' down to a minimum".
Economist Gene Callahan of Cardiff University, formerly a scholar at the Rothbard-affiliated Mises Institute, observes that Rothbard allows "the logical elegance of his legal theory" to "trump any arguments based on the moral reprehensibility of a parent idly watching her six-month-old child slowly starve to death in its crib".
Retributive theory of criminal justice
In The Ethics of Liberty, Rothbard advocates for a "frankly retributive theory of punishment" or a system of "a tooth (or two teeth) for a tooth". Rothbard emphasizes that all punishment must be proportional, stating that "the criminal, or invader, loses his rights to the extent that he deprived another man of his". Applying his retributive theory, Rothbard states that a thief "must pay double the extent of theft". Rothbard gives the example of a thief who stole $15,000 and says he not only would have to return the stolen money, but also provide the victim an additional $15,000, money to which the thief has forfeited his right. The thief would be "put in a [temporary] state of enslavement to his victim" if he is unable to pay him immediately. Rothbard also applies his theory to justify beating and torturing violent criminals, although the beatings are required to be proportional to the crimes for which they are being punished.
Torture of criminal suspects
In chapter twelve of Ethics, Rothbard turns his attention to suspects arrested by the police. He argues that police should be able to torture certain types of criminal suspects, including accused murderers, for information related to their alleged crime. Writes Rothbard: "Suppose ... police beat and torture a suspected murderer to find information (not to wring a confession, since obviously a coerced confession could never be considered valid). If the suspect turns out to be guilty, then the police should be exonerated, for then they have only ladled out to the murderer a parcel of what he deserves in return; his rights had already been forfeited by more than that extent. But if the suspect is not convicted, then that means that the police have beaten and tortured an innocent man, and that they in turn must be put into the dock for criminal assault". Gene Callahan examines this position and concludes that Rothbard rejects the widely held belief that torture is inherently wrong, no matter who the victim. Callahan goes on to state that Rothbard's scheme gives the police a strong motive to frame the suspect after having tortured him or her.
Science and scientism
In an essay condemning "scientism in the study of man", Rothbard rejected the application of causal determinism to human beings, arguing that the actions of human beings—as opposed to those of everything else in nature—are not determined by prior causes, but by "free will". He argued that "determinism as applied to man, is a self-contradictory thesis, since the man who employs it relies implicitly on the existence of free will". Rothbard opposed what he considered the overspecialization of the academy and sought to fuse the disciplines of economics, history, ethics and political science to create a "science of liberty". Rothbard described the moral basis for his anarcho-capitalist position in two of his books: For a New Liberty, published in 1973; and The Ethics of Liberty, published in 1982. In his Power and Market (1970), Rothbard describes how a stateless economy might function.
Political activism
Throughout his life, Rothbard engaged in a number of different political movements in an effort to promote his Old Right and libertarian political principles. His first political activism came in 1948, on behalf of the segregationist South Carolinian Strom Thurmond's presidential campaign. In the 1948 presidential election, Rothbard, "as a Jewish student at Columbia, horrified his peers by organizing a Students for Strom Thurmond chapter, so staunchly did he believe in states' rights".
By the late 1960s, Rothbard's "long and winding yet somehow consistent road had taken him from anti-New Deal and anti-interventionist Robert A. Taft supporter into friendship with the quasi-pacifist Nebraska Republican Congressman Howard Buffett (father of Warren Buffett) then over to the League of (Adlai) Stevensonian Democrats and, by 1968, into tentative comradeship with the anarchist factions of the New Left". Rothbard advocated an alliance with the New Left anti-war movement on the grounds that the conservative movement had been completely subsumed by the statist establishment. However, Rothbard later criticized the New Left for supporting a "People's Republic" style draft. It was during this phase that he associated with Karl Hess and founded Left and Right: A Journal of Libertarian Thought with Leonard Liggio and George Resch, which existed from 1965 to 1968.
From 1969 to 1984, he edited The Libertarian Forum, also initially with Hess (although Hess's involvement ended in 1971). The Libertarian Forum provided a platform for Rothbard's writing. Despite its small readership, it engaged conservatives associated with the National Review in nationwide debate. Rothbard rejected the view that Ronald Reagan's 1980 election as president was a victory for libertarian principles and he attacked Reagan's economic program in a series of Libertarian Forum articles. In 1982, Rothbard called Reagan's claims of spending cuts a "fraud" and a "hoax" and accused Reaganites of doctoring the economic statistics to give the false impression that their policies were successfully reducing inflation and unemployment. He further criticized the "myths of Reaganomics" in 1987.
Rothbard criticized the "frenzied nihilism" of left-wing libertarians, but also criticized right-wing libertarians who were content to rely only on education to bring down the state; he believed that libertarians should adopt any moral tactic available to them to bring about liberty.
Imbibing Randolph Bourne's idea that "war is the health of the state", Rothbard opposed all wars in his lifetime and engaged in anti-war activism. During the 1970s and 1980s, Rothbard was active in the Libertarian Party. He was frequently involved in the party's internal politics. He was one of the founders of the Cato Institute and "came up with the idea of naming this libertarian think tank after Cato's Letters, a powerful series of British newspaper essays by John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon which played a decisive influence upon America's Founding Fathers in fomenting the Revolution". From 1978 to 1983, he was associated with the Libertarian Party Radical Caucus, allying himself with Justin Raimondo, Eric Garris and Williamson Evers. He opposed the "low-tax liberalism" espoused by 1980 Libertarian Party presidential candidate Ed Clark and Cato Institute president Edward H Crane III. According to Charles Burris, "Rothbard and Crane became bitter rivals after disputes emerging from the 1980 LP presidential campaign of Ed Clark carried over to strategic direction and management of Cato".
Rothbard split with the Radical Caucus at the 1983 national convention over cultural issues and aligned himself with what he called the "right-wing populist" wing of the party, notably Lew Rockwell and Ron Paul, who ran for president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 1988. Rothbard "worked closely with Lew Rockwell (joined later by his long-time friend Burton Blumert) in nurturing the Ludwig von Mises Institute, and the publication, The Rothbard-Rockwell Report; which after Rothbard's 1995 death evolved into the website, LewRockwell.com".
Paleolibertarianism
In 1989, Rothbard left the Libertarian Party and began building bridges to the post-Cold War anti-interventionist right, calling himself a paleolibertarian, a conservative reaction against the cultural liberalism of mainstream libertarianism. Paleolibertarianism sought to appeal to disaffected working class whites through a synthesis of cultural conservatism and libertarian economics. According to Reason, Rothbard advocated right-wing populism in part because he was frustrated that mainstream thinkers were not adopting the libertarian view and suggested that former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke and Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy were models for an "Outreach to the Rednecks" effort that could be used by a broad libertarian/paleoconservative coalition. Working together, the coalition would expose the "unholy alliance of 'corporate liberal' Big Business and media elites, who, through big government, have privileged and caused to rise up a parasitic Underclass". Rothbard blamed this "Underclass" for "looting and oppressing the bulk of the middle and working classes in America". Regarding the political program of the former Grand Wizard David Duke, Rothbard asserted that "nothing" in it that "could not also be embraced by paleoconservatives or paleolibertarians; lower taxes, dismantling the bureaucracy, slashing the welfare system, attacking affirmative action and racial set-asides, calling for equal rights for all Americans, including whites".
Rothbard supported the presidential campaign of Pat Buchanan in 1992 and wrote that "with Pat Buchanan as our leader, we shall break the clock of social democracy". When Buchanan dropped out of the Republican primary race, Rothbard then shifted his interest and support to Ross Perot, who Rothbard wrote had "brought an excitement, a verve, a sense of dynamics and of open possibilities to what had threatened to be a dreary race". However, Rothbard eventually withdrew his support from Perot, and endorsed George H. W. Bush in the 1992 election.
Like Buchanan, Rothbard opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). However, he had become disillusioned with Buchanan by 1995, believing that the latter's "commitment to protectionism was mutating into an all-round faith in economic planning and the nation state".
After Rothbard's death in 1995, Lew Rockwell, president of the Mises Institute, told The New York Times that Rothbard was "the founder of right-wing anarchism". William F. Buckley Jr. wrote a critical obituary in the National Review, criticizing Rothbard's "defective judgment" and views on the Cold War. Hoppe, Rockwell, and Rothbard's other colleagues at the Mises Institute took a different view, arguing that he was one of the most important philosophers in history.
Works
Articles
The Individualist (April and July–August 1971).
Revised and published by the Center for Independent Education in 1979 (). The Mises Institute, with editorial assistance from summer fellow Candice Jackson, published a 1999 edition with the restored original text and included an index provided by Institute Member Richard Perry. (. .)
"His only crime Was against the Old Guard: Milken: In the best tradition of free enterprise, he made money by serving the public." Los Angeles Times (March 3, 1992).
"Anti-Buchanania: A Mini-Encyclopedia." Rothbard-Rockwell Report (May 1992), pp. 1–13.
"Saint Hillary and the Religious Left." (December 1994).
"The Other Side of the Coin: Free Banking in Chile." Austrian Economics Newsletter, vol. 10, no. 2.
Books
Man, Economy, and State. D. Van Nostrand (1962). full text.
Second edition (Scholar's Edition) published in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2004). . Full text.
The Panic of 1819: Reactions and Policies. New York: Columbia University Press (1962). Full text.
Republished, Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2004). .
America's Great Depression. D. Van Nostrand (1973). Full text.
Fifth edition published in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2005). .
Power and Market: Government and the Economy. Sheed Andrews and McMeel (1970). full text.
Republished, Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2004). .
For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto. Collier Books (1973). Full text; audiobook. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute. .
Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature and Other Essays. Libertarian Review Press (1974). Full text.
Second edition, Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2000). .
Conceived in Liberty (4 vol.). New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House (1975–1979). Full text.
Republished, Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2012). .
The Logic of Action (2 vol.). Edward Elgar Publications (1997). . Full text.
Reprinted as Economic Controversies. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2011).
The Ethics of Liberty. Humanities Press (1982). New York University Press (1998). Full text; audiobook. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute. .
The Mystery of Banking. Richardson and Snyder, Dutton (1983). Full text.
Republished in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007). .
The Case Against the Fed. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (1994). Full text.
Republished in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007). .
America's Great Depression [5th ed.]. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (June 15, 2000).
An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought (2 vol.). Edward Elgar Publishers (1995). .
Vol. 1: Economic Thought Before Adam Smith. Republished in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2009).
Vol. 2: Classical Economics. Republished in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2009).
Making Economic Sense. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007). . Full text.
The Betrayal of the American Right. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007). . Full text and audiobook, narrated by Ian Temple.
Despite posthumous publication in 2007, it appears in print virtually unchanged from the manuscript untouched since the 1970s.
Book contributions
Introduction to Capital, Interest, and Rent: Essays in the Theory of Distribution, by Frank A. Fetter. Kansas City: Sheed Andrews and McMeel (1977).
Foreword to The Theory of Money and Credit, by Ludwig von Mises. Liberty Fund (1981). Full text .
"Bramble Minibook" (1973). In: The Essential von Mises. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (1988). Full text.
Monographs
Wall Street, Banks, and American Foreign Policy. World Market Perspective (1984). Full text. Spanish translation.
Republished by the Center for Libertarian Studies (1995), and the Ludwig von Mises Institute (2005).
Interviews
"Interview with Murray Rothbard on Man, Economy, and State, Mises, and the Future of the Austrian School" (Summer 1990). Austrian Economics Newsletter.
See also
American philosophy
Anarcho-capitalism
Criticism of the Federal Reserve
Hans-Hermann Hoppe
Libertarianism in the United States
List of American philosophers
List of peace activists
Milton Friedman
Notes
Further reading
Doherty, Brian (2007). Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement. PublicAffairs.
External links
Audiobooks by Rothbard at Mises Institute
Murray Rothbard full bibliography at Mises.org
Rothbard videos at YouTube channel of the Ludwig von Mises Institute
Murray N. Rothbard Library and Resources from LewRockwell.com
Rothbardiana (Italy)
Murray Rothbard Institute (Belgium)
1926 births
1995 deaths
20th-century American economists
20th-century American essayists
20th-century American historians
20th-century American journalists
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American philosophers
American agnostics
American anarcho-capitalists
American anti–Vietnam War activists
Jewish American atheists
American book editors
American economics writers
American foreign policy writers
American libertarians
American male essayists
American male journalists
American male non-fiction writers
American opinion journalists
American people of Polish-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American political journalists
American political philosophers
American political writers
Anti-Zionism in the United States
Anti-Zionist Jews
Austrian School economists
Birch Wathen Lenox School alumni
Burials in Virginia
Cato Institute people
Columbia College (New York) alumni
Critics of neoconservatism
Critics of Objectivism (Ayn Rand)
Economists from New York (state)
Historians of economic thought
Historians of the United States
Historical revisionism
Jewish agnostics
Jewish American historians
Jewish American social scientists
Jewish anti-communists
Jewish philosophers
Journalists from New York (state)
Libertarian economists
Libertarian historians
Libertarian theorists
Mises Institute people
New York (state) Libertarians
New York (state) Republicans
Non-interventionism
Old Right (United States)
Paleolibertarianism
Philosophers from Nevada
Philosophers from New York (state)
Philosophy writers
Polytechnic Institute of New York University faculty
Right-wing populism in the United States
University of Nevada, Las Vegas faculty
Writers from New York City
Historians from New York (state) | false | [
"\"Research\" is a song recorded by American rapper Big Sean featuring American singer Ariana Grande. It was written by Sean, Grande, Dacoury Natchel, Michael Carlson, and Leland Wayne, and was produced by DJ Dahi and Metro Boomin. The track was initially set to be sent to radio as the fourth official single from Dark Sky Paradise, however, it was later revealed that \"One Man Can Change the World\" would serve in its place instead.\n\n\"Research\" received mixed reviews from music critics, who appreciated the production and beat but were ambivalent towards the lyrical content, especially the use of derogatory words for women.\n\nComposition\nLyrically, the song is about Big Sean \"rapping about a suspicious lover, as Ariana plays detective.\"\n\nSean's verses discuss his girlfriend being distrustful, as he raps, \"'These hoes be doing research/I swear she like, 'This piece of hair off in the sink...'” He also adds, “Okay I know you did some research, well shit I did too/I saw you wearin’ Drake’s chain like you were part of his crew/I saw you chillin’ with Meek Mill up at the summer jam oooh/I hope my eyes the one that’s lying to me girl and not you.”\n\nIn the chorus, meanwhile, Grande sings, “I still have to hide/Now you're next to me at night/You test me all the time/Say I know what you like, like I did the last time/Do you remember? Do you remember?/Do you remember?/When you had nothing to hide...”\n\nCritical reception\n\"Research\" received mixed reviews from music critics upon the release of Dark Sky Paradise. In a positive response, Shannon Weprin from Hypetrak called the song a \"pop-esque duet\" and \"infectiously catchy.\" Justin Charity from Complex called \"Research\" one of the album's pop high-points. Eric Diep from HipHopDX described the track as \"pop-rap perfected\".\n\nThe song also received reviews which were negative towards the lyrical content. John Mychal Feraren of FDRMX gave the song 2.7 stars out of 5 and criticized the use of \"derogatory words as metaphor to women\", but also added that \"he [Sean] makes up for it by not completely objectifying them.\" He went on to say that \"women should not be denoted as bitches,\" and that \"artists should also be careful in addressing the need for feminism in music.\" Also noting the use of derogatory feminine terms, DJ Pizzo from Medium commented, \"he more or less calls her [Grande] a 'hoe' in the hook. 'These hoes being doing research,' he sings while Ariana validates his use of the term by simply appearing on the track.\" However, he did compliment the production by stating that \"the beat is dope.\"\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n2015 songs\nBig Sean songs\nAriana Grande songs\nSongs written by Metro Boomin\nSongs written by Ariana Grande\nSongs written by Big Sean\nSongs written by DJ Dahi",
"Beneficence is a concept in research ethics that states that researchers should have the welfare of the research participant as a goal of any clinical trial or other research study. The antonym of this term, maleficence, describes a practice that opposes the welfare of any research participant. According to the Belmont Report, researchers are required to follow two moral requirements in line with the principle of beneficence: do not harm and maximize possible benefits for research while minimizing any potential harm on others.\n\nThe concept that medical professionals and researchers would always practice beneficence seems natural to most patients and research participants, but in fact, every health intervention or research intervention has potential to harm the recipient. There are many different precedents in medicine and research for conducting a cost–benefit analysis and judging whether a certain action would be a sufficient practice of beneficence, and the extent to which treatments are acceptable or unacceptable is under debate.\n\nDespite differences in opinion, there are many concepts on which there is wide agreement. One is that there should be community consensus when determining best practices for dealing with ethical problems.\n\nElements\nThese four concepts often arise in discussions about beneficence:\none should not practice evil or do harm, often stated in Latin as Primum non nocere\none should prevent evil or harm\none should remove evil or harm\none should practice good\n\nOrdinary moral discourse and most philosophical systems state that a prohibition on doing harm to others as in #1 is more compelling than any duty to benefit others as in #2–4. This makes the concept of \"first do no harm\" different from the other aspects of beneficence. One example illustrating this concept is the trolley problem.\n\nMorality and ethical theory allows for judging relative costs, so in the case when a harm to be inflicted in violating #1 is negligible and the harm prevented or benefit gained in #2–4 is substantial, then it may be acceptable to cause one harm to gain another benefit. Academic literature discusses different variations of such scenarios. There is no objective evidence which dictates the best course of action when health professionals and researchers disagree about the best course of action for participants except that most people agree that the discussions about ethics should happen.\n\nProblem\nSome outstanding problems in discussing beneficence occur repeatedly. Researchers often describe these problems in the following categories:\n\nTo what extent should the benefactor suffer harm for the beneficiary?\nMany people share the view that when it is trivial to do so, people should help each other. The situation becomes more complicated when one person can help another by making various degrees of personal sacrifice.\n\nTo whom are duties of beneficence owed?\nResearchers should apply the concept of beneficence to individuals within the patient/physician relationship or the research-participant/researcher relationship. However, there is debate about the extent to which the interests of other parties, such as future patients and endangered persons, ought to be considered. When a researcher risks harm to a willing volunteer to do research with the intent to develop knowledge which will better humanity, this may be a practice of beneficence.\n\nSee also\nValues in Medical Ethics\nPrimum non nocere\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n an introduction to beneficence\n\nMedical ethics\nEthical principles"
] |
[
"Murray Rothbard",
"Education",
"where did he go to school?",
"Murray attended Birch Wathen, a private school in New York City.",
"did he study anywhere else?",
"He attended Columbia University,",
"what did he study?",
"he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics in 1945 and, eleven years later, his PhD in economics in 1956.",
"did he do any research?",
"I don't know."
] | C_2f838a5bd1e748ca8c657827da681914_1 | what did he do after his time in college? | 5 | What did Murray Rothbard do after his time in college? | Murray Rothbard | Murray Rothbard's parents were David and Rae Rothbard, Jewish immigrants to the U.S. from Poland and Russia, respectively. David Rothbard was a chemist. Murray attended Birch Wathen, a private school in New York City. Rothbard later stated that he much preferred Birch Wathen to the "debasing and egalitarian public school system" he had previously attended in the Bronx. Rothbard wrote of having grown up as a "right-winger" (adherent of the "Old Right") among friends and neighbors who were "communists or fellow-travelers." Rothbard characterized his immigrant father as an individualist who embraced the American values of minimal government, free enterprise, private property, and "a determination to rise by one's own merits". "[A]ll socialism seemed to me monstrously coercive and abhorrent." He attended Columbia University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics in 1945 and, eleven years later, his PhD in economics in 1956. The delay in receiving his PhD was due in part to conflict with his advisor, Joseph Dorfman, and in part to Arthur Burns rejecting his doctoral dissertation. Burns was a longtime friend of the Rothbard family and their neighbor at their Manhattan apartment building. It was only after Burns went on leave from the Columbia faculty to head President Eisenhower's Council of Economic Advisors that Rothbard's thesis was accepted and he received his doctorate. Rothbard later stated that all of his fellow students there were extreme leftists and that he was one of only two Republicans on the Columbia campus at the time. During the 1940s Rothbard became acquainted with Frank Chodorov and read widely in libertarian-oriented works by Albert Jay Nock, Garet Garrett, Isabel Paterson, H. L. Mencken and others, as well as Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises. In the early 1950s, when Mises was teaching at the Wall Street division of New York University Business School, Rothbard attended Mises' unofficial seminar. Rothbard was greatly influenced by Mises' book, Human Action. Rothbard attracted the attention of the William Volker Fund, a group that provided financial backing to promote various "right-wing" ideologies in the 1950s and early 1960s. The Volker Fund paid Rothbard to write a textbook to explain Human Action in a form which could be used to introduce college undergraduates to Mises' views; a sample chapter he wrote on money and credit won Mises's approval. For ten years, Rothbard was paid a retainer by the Volker Fund, which designated him a "senior analyst." As Rothbard continued his work, he enlarged the project. The result was Rothbard's book Man, Economy, and State, published in 1962. Upon its publication, Mises praised Rothbard's work effusively. CANNOTANSWER | Burns went on leave from the Columbia faculty to head President Eisenhower's Council of Economic Advisors | Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American heterodox economist of the Austrian School, economic historian and political theorist. Rothbard was a founder and leading theoretician of anarcho-capitalism and a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian movement. He wrote over twenty books on political theory, history, economics, and other subjects.
Rothbard argued that all services provided by the "monopoly system of the corporate state" could be provided more efficiently by the private sector and wrote that the state is "the organization of robbery systematized and writ large". He called fractional-reserve banking a form of fraud and opposed central banking. He categorically opposed all military, political, and economic interventionism in the affairs of other nations. According to his protégé Hans-Hermann Hoppe, "[t]here would be no anarcho-capitalist movement to speak of without Rothbard".
Libertarian economist Jeffrey Herbener, who calls Rothbard his friend and "intellectual mentor", wrote that Rothbard received "only ostracism" from mainstream academia. Rothbard rejected mainstream economic methodologies and instead embraced the praxeology of his most important intellectual precursor, Ludwig von Mises. To promote his economic and political ideas, Rothbard joined Lew Rockwell and Burton Blumert in 1982 to establish the Mises Institute in Alabama.
Life and work
Education
Rothbard's parents were David and Rae Rothbard, Jewish immigrants to the United States from Poland and Russia, respectively. David was a chemist. Murray attended Birch Wathen Lenox School, a private school in New York City. He later said he much preferred Birch Wathen to the "debasing and egalitarian public school system" he had attended in the Bronx.
Rothbard wrote of having grown up as a "right-winger" (adherent of the "Old Right") among friends and neighbors who were "communists or fellow-travelers". He was a member of The New York Young Republican Club in his youth. Rothbard characterized his immigrant father as an individualist who embraced the American values of minimal government, free enterprise, private property and "a determination to rise by one's own merits ... "[A]ll socialism seemed to me monstrously coercive and abhorrent".
Rothbard attended Columbia University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics in 1945 and a PhD in economics in 1956. The delay in receiving his PhD was due in part to conflict with his advisor, Joseph Dorfman, and in part to Arthur Burns’s rejecting his dissertation. Burns was a longtime friend of the Rothbards and their neighbor at their Manhattan apartment building. It was only after Burns went on leave from the Columbia faculty to head President Eisenhower's Council of Economic Advisors that Rothbard's thesis was accepted and he received his doctorate. Rothbard later said that all his fellow students were extreme leftists and that he was one of only two Republicans at Columbia at the time.
During the 1940s, Rothbard became acquainted with Frank Chodorov and read widely in libertarian-oriented works by Albert Jay Nock, Garet Garrett, Isabel Paterson, H. L. Mencken, and Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises. In the early 1950s, when Mises was teaching in the Wall Street division of the New York University Stern School of Business, Rothbard attended his unofficial seminar. Rothbard was greatly influenced by Mises's book Human Action. He attracted the attention of the William Volker Fund, a group that provided financial backing to promote right-wing ideologies in the 1950s and early 1960s. The Volker Fund paid Rothbard to write a textbook to explain Human Action in a form that could be used to introduce college undergraduates to Mises's views; a sample chapter he wrote on money and credit won Mises's approval. For ten years, the Volker Fund paid him a retainer as a "senior analyst". As Rothbard continued his work, he enlarged the project. The result was his book Man, Economy, and State, published in 1962. Upon its publication, Mises praised Rothbard's work effusively.
Marriage, employment, and activism
In 1953, Rothbard married JoAnn Beatrice Schumacher (September 17, 1928 – October 29, 1999), whom he called Joey, in New York City. JoAnn was a historian and was Rothbard's personal editor and a close adviser as well as hostess of his Rothbard Salon. They enjoyed a loving marriage and Rothbard often called her "the indispensable framework" of his life and achievements. According to Joey, the Volker Fund's patronage allowed Rothbard to work from home as a freelance theorist and pundit for the first 15 years of their marriage. The Volker Fund collapsed in 1962, leading Rothbard to seek employment from various New York academic institutions. He was offered a part-time position teaching economics to engineering students at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute in 1966 at age 40. The institution had no economics department or economics majors and Rothbard derided its social science department as "Marxist", but Justin Raimondo writes that Rothbard liked teaching at Brooklyn Polytechnic because working only two days a week gave him freedom to contribute to developments in libertarian politics.
Rothbard continued in this role until 1986. Then 60 years old, Rothbard left Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute for the Lee Business School at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), where he held the title of S.J. Hall Distinguished Professor of Economics, a chair endowed by a libertarian businessman. According to Rothbard's friend, colleague and fellow Misesian economist Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Rothbard led a "fringe existence" in academia, but he was able to attract a large number of "students and disciples" through his writings, thereby becoming "the creator and one of the principal agents of the contemporary libertarian movement". He kept his position at UNLV from 1986 until his death. Rothbard founded the Center for Libertarian Studies in 1976 and the Journal of Libertarian Studies in 1977. In 1982, he co-founded the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, and was vice president of academic affairs until 1995. Rothbard also founded the institute's Review of Austrian Economics, a heterodox economics journal later renamed the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, in 1987.
After Rothbard's death, Joey reflected on his happiness and bright spirit, saying, "he managed to make a living for 40 years without having to get up before noon. This was important to him." Rothbard was known to be a "night owl". She recalled how Rothbard would begin every day with a phone conversation with his colleague Lew Rockwell: "Gales of laughter would shake the house or apartment, as they checked in with each other. Murray thought it was the best possible way to start a day". Rothbard was irreligious and agnostic about God, describing himself as a "mixture of an agnostic and a Reform Jew". Despite identifying as an agnostic and an atheist, he was critical of the "left-libertarian hostility to religion". In Rothbard's later years, many of his friends anticipated that he would convert to Catholicism, but he never did. The New York Times obituary called Rothbard "an economist and social philosopher who fiercely defended individual freedom against government intervention".
Creation of the Mises Institute
As a result of the economic works of Murray Rothbard, Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Ludwig Von Mises, and other Austrian economists, the Mises Institute was founded in 1982 by Lew Rockwell, Burton Blumert, and Murray Rothbard, following a split between the Cato Institute and Rothbard, who had been one of the founders of the Cato Institute.
Conflict with Ayn Rand
In 1954, Rothbard, along with several other attendees of Mises's seminar, joined the circle of novelist Ayn Rand, the founder of Objectivism. He soon parted from her, writing among other things that her ideas were not as original as she proclaimed, but similar to those of Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and Herbert Spencer. In 1958, after the publication of Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged, Rothbard wrote her a "fan letter", calling the book "an infinite treasure house" and "not merely the greatest novel ever written, [but] one of the very greatest books ever written, fiction or nonfiction". He also wrote: "[Y]ou introduced me to the whole field of natural rights and natural law philosophy", prompting him to learn "the glorious natural rights tradition". Rothbard rejoined Rand's circle for a few months, but soon broke with Rand again over various differences, including his defense of his interpretation of anarchism.
Rothbard later satirized Rand's acolytes in his unpublished one-act farce Mozart Was a Red and his essay "The Sociology of the Ayn Rand Cult". He characterized Rand's circle as a "dogmatic, personality cult". His play parodies Rand (through the character Carson Sand) and her friends and is set during a visit from Keith Hackley, a fan of Sand's novel The Brow of Zeus (a play on Atlas Shrugged).
Death
Rothbard died of a heart attack on January 7, 1995, at the age of 68. He was buried in his wife's plot in Oakwood Cemetery, Unionville, Virginia.
Ethical and philosophical views
Austrian economics
Rothbard was an advocate and practitioner of the Austrian School tradition of his teacher Ludwig von Mises. Like Mises, Rothbard rejected the application of the scientific method to economics and dismissed econometrics, empirical and statistical analysis and other tools of mainstream social science as outside the field (economic history might use those tools, but not Economics proper). He instead embraced praxeology, the strictly a priori methodology of Mises. Praxeology conceives of economic laws as akin to geometric or mathematical axioms: fixed, unchanging, objective and discernible through logical reasoning without the use of any empirical evidence.
According to Misesian economist Hans-Hermann Hoppe, eschewing the scientific method and empiricism distinguishes the Misesian approach "from all other current economic schools", which dismiss the Misesian approach as "dogmatic and unscientific." Mark Skousen of Chapman University and the Foundation for Economic Education, a critic of mainstream economics, praises Rothbard as brilliant, his writing style persuasive, his economic arguments nuanced and logically rigorous and his Misesian methodology sound. But Skousen concedes that Rothbard was effectively "outside the discipline" of mainstream economics and that his work "fell on deaf ears" outside his ideological circles.
Rothbard wrote extensively on Austrian business cycle theory and as part of this approach strongly opposed central banking, fiat money and fractional-reserve banking, advocating a gold standard and a 100% reserve requirement for banks.
Polemics against mainstream economics
Rothbard wrote a series of polemics in which he deprecated a number of leading modern economists. He vilified Adam Smith, calling him a "shameless plagiarist" who set economics off track, ultimately leading to the rise of Marxism. Rothbard praised Smith's contemporaries, including Richard Cantillon, Anne Robert Jacques Turgot and Étienne Bonnot de Condillac, for developing the subjective theory of value. In response to Rothbard's charge that Smith's The Wealth of Nations was largely plagiarized, David D. Friedman castigated Rothbard's scholarship and character, saying that he "was [either] deliberately dishonest or never really read the book he was criticizing". Tony Endres called Rothbard's treatment of Smith a "travesty".
Rothbard was equally scathing in his criticism of John Maynard Keynes, calling him weak on economic theory and a shallow political opportunist. Rothbard also wrote more generally that Keynesian-style governmental regulation of money and credit created a "dismal monetary and banking situation". He called John Stuart Mill a "wooly man of mush" and speculated that Mill's "soft" personality led his economic thought astray.
Rothbard was critical of monetarist economist Milton Friedman. In his polemic "Milton Friedman Unraveled", he called Friedman a "statist", a "favorite of the establishment", a friend of and "apologist" for Richard Nixon and a "pernicious influence" on public policy. Rothbard said that libertarians should scorn rather than celebrate Friedman's academic prestige and political influence. Noting that Rothbard has "been nasty to me and my work", Friedman responded to Rothbard's criticism by calling him a "cult builder and a dogmatist".
In a memorial volume published by the Mises Institute, Rothbard's protégé and libertarian theorist Hans-Hermann Hoppe wrote that Man, Economy, and State "presented a blistering refutation of all variants of mathematical economics" and included it among Rothbard's "almost mind-boggling achievements". Hoppe lamented that, like Mises, Rothbard died without winning the Nobel Prize that Hoppe says Rothbard deserved "twice over". Although Hoppe acknowledged that Rothbard and his work were largely ignored by academia, he called Rothbard an "intellectual giant" comparable to Aristotle, John Locke, and Immanuel Kant.
Disputes with other Austrian economists
Although he self-identified as an Austrian economist, Rothbard's methodology was at odds with that of many other Austrians. In 1956, Rothbard deprecated the views of Austrian economist Fritz Machlup, stating that Machlup was no praxeologist and calling him instead a "positivist" who failed to represent the views of Ludwig von Mises. Rothbard stated that in fact Machlup shared the opposing positivist view associated with economist Milton Friedman. Mises and Machlup had been colleagues in 1920s Vienna before each relocated to the United States and Mises later urged his American protege Israel Kirzner to pursue his PhD studies with Machlup at Johns Hopkins University.
According to libertarian economists Tyler Cowen and Richard Fink, Rothbard wrote that the term evenly rotating economy (ERE) can be used to analyze complexity in a world of change. The words ERE had been introduced by Mises as an alternative nomenclature for the mainstream economic method of static equilibrium and general equilibrium analysis. Cowen and Fink found "serious inconsistencies in both the nature of the ERE and its suggested uses". With the sole exception of Rothbard, no other economist adopted Mises' term and the concept continued to be called "equilibrium analysis".
In a 2011 article critical of Rothbard's "reflexive opposition" to inflation, The Economist noted that his views are increasingly gaining influence among politicians and laypeople on the right. The article contrasted Rothbard's categorical rejection of inflationary policies with the monetary views of "sophisticated Austrian-school monetary economists such as George Selgin and Larry White", [who] follow Hayek in treating stability of nominal spending as a monetary ideal—a position "not all that different from Mr [Scott] Sumner's".
According to economist Peter Boettke, Rothbard is better described as a property rights economist than as an Austrian economist. In 1988, Boettke noted that Rothbard "vehemently attacked all of the books of the younger Austrians".
Ethics
Although Rothbard adopted Ludwig von Mises' deductive methodology for his social theory and economics, he parted with Mises on the question of ethics. Specifically, he rejected Mises' conviction that ethical values remain subjective and opposed utilitarianism in favor of principle-based, natural law reasoning. In defense of his free market views, Mises employed utilitarian economic arguments aimed at demonstrating that interventionist policies made all of society worse off. On the other hand, Rothbard concluded that interventionist policies do in fact benefit some people, including certain government employees and beneficiaries of social programs. Therefore, unlike Mises, Rothbard argued for an objective, natural-law basis for the free market. He called this principle "self-ownership", loosely basing the idea on the writings of John Locke and also borrowing concepts from classical liberalism and the anti-imperialism of the Old Right.
Rothbard accepted the labor theory of property, but rejected the Lockean proviso, arguing that if an individual mixes his labor with unowned land then he becomes the proper owner eternally and that after that time it is private property which may change hands only by trade or gift.
Rothbard was a strong critic of egalitarianism. The title essay of Rothbard's 1974 book Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature and Other Essays held: "Equality is not in the natural order of things, and the crusade to make everyone equal in every respect (except before the law) is certain to have disastrous consequences". In it, Rothbard wrote: "At the heart of the egalitarian left is the pathological belief that there is no structure of reality; that all the world is a tabula rasa that can be changed at any moment in any desired direction by the mere exercise of human will".
Anarcho-capitalism
According to anarcho-capitalists, various theorists have espoused legal philosophies similar to anarcho-capitalism. However, Rothbard was the first person to use the term as in the mid-20th century he synthesized elements from the Austrian School of economics, classical liberalism and 19th-century American individualist anarchists. According to Lew Rockwell, Rothbard was the "conscience" of all the various strains of what he described as "libertarian anarchism", because their advocates (described as Rothbard's former "colleagues"), had often been personally inspired by his example.
During his years at graduate school in the late 1940s, Rothbard considered whether a strict adherence to libertarian and laissez-faire principles required the abolition of the state altogether. He visited Baldy Harper, a founder of the Foundation for Economic Education, who doubted the need for any government whatsoever. Rothbard said that during this period, he was influenced by 19th-century American individualist anarchists like Lysander Spooner and Benjamin Tucker and the Belgian economist Gustave de Molinari who wrote about how such a system could work. Thus, he "combined the laissez-faire economics of Mises with the absolutist views of human rights and rejection of the state" from individualist anarchists.
Rothbard began to consider himself a "private property anarchist" in 1950 and later began to use "anarcho-capitalist" to describe his political ideology. In his anarcho-capitalist model, the system of private property is upheld by private firms, such as hypothesized protection agencies, which compete in a free market and are voluntarily supported by consumers who choose to use their protective and judicial services. Anarcho-capitalists describe this as "the end of the state monopoly on force". He later came to terms that anarchism identified with socialism, and in an unpublished article wrote that individualist anarchism is different from anarcho-capitalism and other capitalist theories due to the individualist anarchists retaining the labor theory of value and socialist doctrines, suggesting a new term to identify himself: nonarchist.
In Man, Economy, and State, Rothbard divides the various kinds of state intervention in three categories: "autistic intervention", which is interference with private non-economic activities; "binary intervention", which is forced exchange between individuals and the state; and "triangular intervention", which is state-mandated exchange between individuals. According to Sanford Ikeda, Rothbard's typology "eliminates the gaps and inconsistencies that appear in Mises's original formulation". Rothbard writes in Power and Market that the role of the economist in a free market is limited, but it is much larger in a government that solicits economic policy recommendations. Rothbard argues that self-interest therefore prejudices the views of many economists in favor of increased government intervention.
Race, gender, and civil rights
Michael O'Malley, associate professor of history at George Mason University, characterizes Rothbard's "overall tone regard[ing]" the civil rights movement and the women's suffrage movement to be "contemptuous and hostile". Rothbard criticized women's rights activists, attributing the growth of the welfare state to politically active spinsters "whose busybody inclinations were not fettered by the responsibilities of health and heart". Rothbard argued that the progressive movement, which he regarded as a noxious influence on the United States, was spearheaded by a coalition of Yankee Protestants (people from the six New England states and upstate New York who were Protestants of English descent), Jewish women and "lesbian spinsters".
Rothbard called for the elimination of "the entire 'civil rights' structure" stating that it "tramples on the property rights of every American". He consistently favored repeal of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, including Title VII regarding employment discrimination, and called for overturning the Brown v. Board of Education decision on the grounds that state-mandated integration of schools violated libertarian principles. In an essay called "Right-wing Populism", Rothbard proposed a set of measures to "reach out" to the "middle and working classes", which included urging the police to crack down on "street criminals", writing that "cops must be unleashed" and "allowed to administer instant punishment, subject of course to liability when they are in error". He also advocated that the police "clear the streets of bums and vagrants."
Rothbard held strong opinions about many leaders of the civil rights movement. He considered black separatist Malcolm X to be a "great black leader" and integrationist Martin Luther King Jr. to be favored by whites because he "was the major restraining force on the developing Negro revolution". In 1993 he rejected the vision of a "separate black nation", asking "does anyone really believe that ... New Africa would be content to strike out on its own, with no massive "foreign aid" from the U.S.A.?". Rothbard also suggested that opposition to Martin Luther King Jr., whom he demeaned as a "coercive integrationist", should be a litmus test for members of his "paleolibertarian" political movement.
Opposition to war
Like Randolph Bourne, Rothbard believed that "war is the health of the state". According to David Gordon, this was the reason for Rothbard's opposition to aggressive foreign policy. Rothbard believed that stopping new wars was necessary and that knowledge of how government had led citizens into earlier wars was important. Two essays expanded on these views "War, Peace, and the State" and "Anatomy of the State". Rothbard used insights of Vilfredo Pareto, Gaetano Mosca and Robert Michels to build a model of state personnel, goals and ideology. In an obituary for his friend, the historical revisionist Harry Elmer Barnes, Rothbard wrote:
Rothbard's colleague Joseph Stromberg notes that Rothbard made two exceptions to his general condemnation of war: "the American Revolution and the War for Southern Independence, as viewed from the Confederate side". Rothbard condemned the "Northern war against slavery", saying it was inspired by "fanatical" religious faith and characterized by "a cheerful willingness to uproot institutions, to commit mayhem and mass murder, to plunder and loot and destroy, all in the name of high moral principle". He celebrated Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and other prominent Confederates as heroes while denouncing Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant and other Union leaders for "open[ing] the Pandora's Box of genocide and the extermination of civilians" in their war against the South.
Middle East conflict
Rothbard's The Libertarian Forum blamed the Middle East conflict on Israeli aggression "fueled by American arms and money". Rothbard warned that the Middle East conflict would draw the United States into a world war. He was anti-Zionist and opposed United States involvement in the Middle East. Rothbard criticized the Camp David Accords for having betrayed Palestinian aspirations and opposed Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon. In his essay, "War Guilt in the Middle East", Rothbard states that Israel refused "to let these refugees return and reclaim the property taken from them". He took negative views of the two state solution for the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, saying: On the one hand there are the Palestinian Arabs, who have tilled the soil or otherwise used the land of Palestine for centuries; and on the other, there are a group of external fanatics, who come from all over the world, and who claim the entire land area as "given" to them as a collective religion or tribe at some remote or legendary time in the past. There is no way the two claims can be resolved to the satisfaction of both parties. There can be no genuine settlement, no "peace" in the face of this irrepressible conflict; there can only be either a war to the death, or an uneasy practical compromise which can satisfy no one. That is the harsh reality of the Middle East.
Historical revisionism
Rothbard embraced "historical revisionism" as an antidote to what he perceived to be the dominant influence exerted by corrupt "court intellectuals" over mainstream historical narratives. Rothbard wrote that these mainstream intellectuals distorted the historical record in favor of "the state" in exchange for "wealth, power, and prestige" from the state. Rothbard characterized the revisionist task as "penetrating the fog of lies and deception of the State and its Court Intellectuals, and to present to the public the true history". He was influenced by and called a champion of the historian Harry Elmer Barnes. Rothbard endorsed Barnes's revisionism on World War II, favorably citing his view that "the murder of Germans and Japanese was the overriding aim of World War II". In addition to broadly supporting his historical views, Rothbard promoted Barnes as an influence for future revisionists.
Rothbard's endorsing of World War II revisionism and his association with Barnes and other Holocaust deniers have drawn criticism. Kevin D. Williamson wrote an opinion piece published by National Review which condemned Rothbard for "making common cause with the 'revisionist' historians of the Third Reich", a term he used to describe American Holocaust deniers associated with Rothbard, such as James J. Martin of the Institute for Historical Review. The piece also characterized "Rothbard and his faction" as being "culpably indulgent" of Holocaust denial, the view which "specifically denies that the Holocaust actually happened or holds that it was in some way exaggerated".
In an article for Rothbard's 50th birthday, Rothbard's friend and Buffalo State College historian Ralph Raico stated that Rothbard "is the main reason that revisionism has become a crucial part of the whole libertarian position".
Children's rights and parental obligations
In the Ethics of Liberty, Rothbard explores issues regarding children's rights in terms of self-ownership and contract. These include support for a woman's right to abortion, condemnation of parents showing aggression towards children and opposition to the state forcing parents to care for children. He also holds children have the right to run away from parents and seek new guardians as soon as they are able to choose to do so. He argued that parents have the right to put a child out for adoption or sell the rights to the child in a voluntary contract in what Rothbard suggests will be a "flourishing free market in children". He believes that selling children as consumer goods in accord with market forces—while "superficially monstrous"—will benefit "everyone" involved in the market: "the natural parents, the children, and the foster parents purchasing".
In Rothbard's view of parenthood, "the parent should not have a legal obligation to feed, clothe, or educate his children, since such obligations would entail positive acts coerced upon the parent and depriving the parent of his rights". Thus, Rothbard stated that parents should have the legal right to let any infant die by starvation and should be free to engage in other forms of child neglect. However, according to Rothbard, "the purely free society will have a flourishing free market in children". In a fully libertarian society, he wrote, "the existence of a free baby market will bring such 'neglect' down to a minimum".
Economist Gene Callahan of Cardiff University, formerly a scholar at the Rothbard-affiliated Mises Institute, observes that Rothbard allows "the logical elegance of his legal theory" to "trump any arguments based on the moral reprehensibility of a parent idly watching her six-month-old child slowly starve to death in its crib".
Retributive theory of criminal justice
In The Ethics of Liberty, Rothbard advocates for a "frankly retributive theory of punishment" or a system of "a tooth (or two teeth) for a tooth". Rothbard emphasizes that all punishment must be proportional, stating that "the criminal, or invader, loses his rights to the extent that he deprived another man of his". Applying his retributive theory, Rothbard states that a thief "must pay double the extent of theft". Rothbard gives the example of a thief who stole $15,000 and says he not only would have to return the stolen money, but also provide the victim an additional $15,000, money to which the thief has forfeited his right. The thief would be "put in a [temporary] state of enslavement to his victim" if he is unable to pay him immediately. Rothbard also applies his theory to justify beating and torturing violent criminals, although the beatings are required to be proportional to the crimes for which they are being punished.
Torture of criminal suspects
In chapter twelve of Ethics, Rothbard turns his attention to suspects arrested by the police. He argues that police should be able to torture certain types of criminal suspects, including accused murderers, for information related to their alleged crime. Writes Rothbard: "Suppose ... police beat and torture a suspected murderer to find information (not to wring a confession, since obviously a coerced confession could never be considered valid). If the suspect turns out to be guilty, then the police should be exonerated, for then they have only ladled out to the murderer a parcel of what he deserves in return; his rights had already been forfeited by more than that extent. But if the suspect is not convicted, then that means that the police have beaten and tortured an innocent man, and that they in turn must be put into the dock for criminal assault". Gene Callahan examines this position and concludes that Rothbard rejects the widely held belief that torture is inherently wrong, no matter who the victim. Callahan goes on to state that Rothbard's scheme gives the police a strong motive to frame the suspect after having tortured him or her.
Science and scientism
In an essay condemning "scientism in the study of man", Rothbard rejected the application of causal determinism to human beings, arguing that the actions of human beings—as opposed to those of everything else in nature—are not determined by prior causes, but by "free will". He argued that "determinism as applied to man, is a self-contradictory thesis, since the man who employs it relies implicitly on the existence of free will". Rothbard opposed what he considered the overspecialization of the academy and sought to fuse the disciplines of economics, history, ethics and political science to create a "science of liberty". Rothbard described the moral basis for his anarcho-capitalist position in two of his books: For a New Liberty, published in 1973; and The Ethics of Liberty, published in 1982. In his Power and Market (1970), Rothbard describes how a stateless economy might function.
Political activism
Throughout his life, Rothbard engaged in a number of different political movements in an effort to promote his Old Right and libertarian political principles. His first political activism came in 1948, on behalf of the segregationist South Carolinian Strom Thurmond's presidential campaign. In the 1948 presidential election, Rothbard, "as a Jewish student at Columbia, horrified his peers by organizing a Students for Strom Thurmond chapter, so staunchly did he believe in states' rights".
By the late 1960s, Rothbard's "long and winding yet somehow consistent road had taken him from anti-New Deal and anti-interventionist Robert A. Taft supporter into friendship with the quasi-pacifist Nebraska Republican Congressman Howard Buffett (father of Warren Buffett) then over to the League of (Adlai) Stevensonian Democrats and, by 1968, into tentative comradeship with the anarchist factions of the New Left". Rothbard advocated an alliance with the New Left anti-war movement on the grounds that the conservative movement had been completely subsumed by the statist establishment. However, Rothbard later criticized the New Left for supporting a "People's Republic" style draft. It was during this phase that he associated with Karl Hess and founded Left and Right: A Journal of Libertarian Thought with Leonard Liggio and George Resch, which existed from 1965 to 1968.
From 1969 to 1984, he edited The Libertarian Forum, also initially with Hess (although Hess's involvement ended in 1971). The Libertarian Forum provided a platform for Rothbard's writing. Despite its small readership, it engaged conservatives associated with the National Review in nationwide debate. Rothbard rejected the view that Ronald Reagan's 1980 election as president was a victory for libertarian principles and he attacked Reagan's economic program in a series of Libertarian Forum articles. In 1982, Rothbard called Reagan's claims of spending cuts a "fraud" and a "hoax" and accused Reaganites of doctoring the economic statistics to give the false impression that their policies were successfully reducing inflation and unemployment. He further criticized the "myths of Reaganomics" in 1987.
Rothbard criticized the "frenzied nihilism" of left-wing libertarians, but also criticized right-wing libertarians who were content to rely only on education to bring down the state; he believed that libertarians should adopt any moral tactic available to them to bring about liberty.
Imbibing Randolph Bourne's idea that "war is the health of the state", Rothbard opposed all wars in his lifetime and engaged in anti-war activism. During the 1970s and 1980s, Rothbard was active in the Libertarian Party. He was frequently involved in the party's internal politics. He was one of the founders of the Cato Institute and "came up with the idea of naming this libertarian think tank after Cato's Letters, a powerful series of British newspaper essays by John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon which played a decisive influence upon America's Founding Fathers in fomenting the Revolution". From 1978 to 1983, he was associated with the Libertarian Party Radical Caucus, allying himself with Justin Raimondo, Eric Garris and Williamson Evers. He opposed the "low-tax liberalism" espoused by 1980 Libertarian Party presidential candidate Ed Clark and Cato Institute president Edward H Crane III. According to Charles Burris, "Rothbard and Crane became bitter rivals after disputes emerging from the 1980 LP presidential campaign of Ed Clark carried over to strategic direction and management of Cato".
Rothbard split with the Radical Caucus at the 1983 national convention over cultural issues and aligned himself with what he called the "right-wing populist" wing of the party, notably Lew Rockwell and Ron Paul, who ran for president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 1988. Rothbard "worked closely with Lew Rockwell (joined later by his long-time friend Burton Blumert) in nurturing the Ludwig von Mises Institute, and the publication, The Rothbard-Rockwell Report; which after Rothbard's 1995 death evolved into the website, LewRockwell.com".
Paleolibertarianism
In 1989, Rothbard left the Libertarian Party and began building bridges to the post-Cold War anti-interventionist right, calling himself a paleolibertarian, a conservative reaction against the cultural liberalism of mainstream libertarianism. Paleolibertarianism sought to appeal to disaffected working class whites through a synthesis of cultural conservatism and libertarian economics. According to Reason, Rothbard advocated right-wing populism in part because he was frustrated that mainstream thinkers were not adopting the libertarian view and suggested that former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke and Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy were models for an "Outreach to the Rednecks" effort that could be used by a broad libertarian/paleoconservative coalition. Working together, the coalition would expose the "unholy alliance of 'corporate liberal' Big Business and media elites, who, through big government, have privileged and caused to rise up a parasitic Underclass". Rothbard blamed this "Underclass" for "looting and oppressing the bulk of the middle and working classes in America". Regarding the political program of the former Grand Wizard David Duke, Rothbard asserted that "nothing" in it that "could not also be embraced by paleoconservatives or paleolibertarians; lower taxes, dismantling the bureaucracy, slashing the welfare system, attacking affirmative action and racial set-asides, calling for equal rights for all Americans, including whites".
Rothbard supported the presidential campaign of Pat Buchanan in 1992 and wrote that "with Pat Buchanan as our leader, we shall break the clock of social democracy". When Buchanan dropped out of the Republican primary race, Rothbard then shifted his interest and support to Ross Perot, who Rothbard wrote had "brought an excitement, a verve, a sense of dynamics and of open possibilities to what had threatened to be a dreary race". However, Rothbard eventually withdrew his support from Perot, and endorsed George H. W. Bush in the 1992 election.
Like Buchanan, Rothbard opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). However, he had become disillusioned with Buchanan by 1995, believing that the latter's "commitment to protectionism was mutating into an all-round faith in economic planning and the nation state".
After Rothbard's death in 1995, Lew Rockwell, president of the Mises Institute, told The New York Times that Rothbard was "the founder of right-wing anarchism". William F. Buckley Jr. wrote a critical obituary in the National Review, criticizing Rothbard's "defective judgment" and views on the Cold War. Hoppe, Rockwell, and Rothbard's other colleagues at the Mises Institute took a different view, arguing that he was one of the most important philosophers in history.
Works
Articles
The Individualist (April and July–August 1971).
Revised and published by the Center for Independent Education in 1979 (). The Mises Institute, with editorial assistance from summer fellow Candice Jackson, published a 1999 edition with the restored original text and included an index provided by Institute Member Richard Perry. (. .)
"His only crime Was against the Old Guard: Milken: In the best tradition of free enterprise, he made money by serving the public." Los Angeles Times (March 3, 1992).
"Anti-Buchanania: A Mini-Encyclopedia." Rothbard-Rockwell Report (May 1992), pp. 1–13.
"Saint Hillary and the Religious Left." (December 1994).
"The Other Side of the Coin: Free Banking in Chile." Austrian Economics Newsletter, vol. 10, no. 2.
Books
Man, Economy, and State. D. Van Nostrand (1962). full text.
Second edition (Scholar's Edition) published in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2004). . Full text.
The Panic of 1819: Reactions and Policies. New York: Columbia University Press (1962). Full text.
Republished, Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2004). .
America's Great Depression. D. Van Nostrand (1973). Full text.
Fifth edition published in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2005). .
Power and Market: Government and the Economy. Sheed Andrews and McMeel (1970). full text.
Republished, Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2004). .
For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto. Collier Books (1973). Full text; audiobook. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute. .
Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature and Other Essays. Libertarian Review Press (1974). Full text.
Second edition, Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2000). .
Conceived in Liberty (4 vol.). New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House (1975–1979). Full text.
Republished, Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2012). .
The Logic of Action (2 vol.). Edward Elgar Publications (1997). . Full text.
Reprinted as Economic Controversies. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2011).
The Ethics of Liberty. Humanities Press (1982). New York University Press (1998). Full text; audiobook. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute. .
The Mystery of Banking. Richardson and Snyder, Dutton (1983). Full text.
Republished in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007). .
The Case Against the Fed. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (1994). Full text.
Republished in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007). .
America's Great Depression [5th ed.]. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (June 15, 2000).
An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought (2 vol.). Edward Elgar Publishers (1995). .
Vol. 1: Economic Thought Before Adam Smith. Republished in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2009).
Vol. 2: Classical Economics. Republished in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2009).
Making Economic Sense. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007). . Full text.
The Betrayal of the American Right. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007). . Full text and audiobook, narrated by Ian Temple.
Despite posthumous publication in 2007, it appears in print virtually unchanged from the manuscript untouched since the 1970s.
Book contributions
Introduction to Capital, Interest, and Rent: Essays in the Theory of Distribution, by Frank A. Fetter. Kansas City: Sheed Andrews and McMeel (1977).
Foreword to The Theory of Money and Credit, by Ludwig von Mises. Liberty Fund (1981). Full text .
"Bramble Minibook" (1973). In: The Essential von Mises. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (1988). Full text.
Monographs
Wall Street, Banks, and American Foreign Policy. World Market Perspective (1984). Full text. Spanish translation.
Republished by the Center for Libertarian Studies (1995), and the Ludwig von Mises Institute (2005).
Interviews
"Interview with Murray Rothbard on Man, Economy, and State, Mises, and the Future of the Austrian School" (Summer 1990). Austrian Economics Newsletter.
See also
American philosophy
Anarcho-capitalism
Criticism of the Federal Reserve
Hans-Hermann Hoppe
Libertarianism in the United States
List of American philosophers
List of peace activists
Milton Friedman
Notes
Further reading
Doherty, Brian (2007). Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement. PublicAffairs.
External links
Audiobooks by Rothbard at Mises Institute
Murray Rothbard full bibliography at Mises.org
Rothbard videos at YouTube channel of the Ludwig von Mises Institute
Murray N. Rothbard Library and Resources from LewRockwell.com
Rothbardiana (Italy)
Murray Rothbard Institute (Belgium)
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Historians from New York (state) | true | [
"Edward Ernest Hughes (7 February 1877 – 23 December 1953) was the first professor of history at University College, Swansea.\n\nLife\nHughes was born on 7 February 1877 in Tywyn, Merionethshire, Wales. As a result of a childhood accident, he was blind in one eye and his other eye was damaged; he compensated by developing his memory and hearing. After studying at Bala Grammar School, he obtained a first-class degree in history from the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth in 1898. He then obtained a second-class honours degree in modern history from Jesus College, Oxford in 1902. He taught history in the boys' school in Llanelli, south Wales before his appointment as lecturer in history at University College, Cardiff, acting as professor during the illness of the incumbent. He lectured on Welsh history for the Workers' Educational Association in Glamorgan at a time when there was no extramural department at the university. He was regarded as a \"gifted story-teller\" and did much to popularise the study of Welsh history.\n\nHe moved to the University College, Swansea when it was founded in 1920 after being persuaded to do so by the principal, Franklin Sibly, who wanted a Welshman who understood what the new college would need to do in an industrial area. Hughes, who was the only Arts lecturer for a time, did much to bring the college to the public's attention. He raised funds by lecturing on Welsh history in the area and donating the proceeds to set up the library of the college. He was appointed the first professor of history in 1926, but continued to lecture (in both Welsh and English) outside the university to classes and societies. He required every student in his department to study some Welsh history, but he had Glyn Roberts (later to be Professor of Welsh History at University College, Bangor) to teach these classes, since Roberts had research qualifications that Hughes could not obtain with his worsening eyesight. Hughes taught the constitutional history of England in the Middle Ages and also Europe after the fall of Rome. He retired in 1944, and died on 23 December 1953.\n\nOutside the university, he was chairman of the Swansea Drama Company (acting and producing as well), and of the Swansea Orpheus Musical Society. He was a council member and drama adjudicator of the National Eisteddfod, served on committees of the University of Wales and was a governor of the National Library of Wales. He also broadcast on the BBC in Wales.\n\nReferences\n\n1877 births\n1953 deaths\nAlumni of Aberystwyth University\nAlumni of Jesus College, Oxford\nAcademics of Cardiff University\nAcademics of Swansea University\nWelsh historians\nPeople from Tywyn",
"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"
] |
[
"Murray Rothbard",
"Education",
"where did he go to school?",
"Murray attended Birch Wathen, a private school in New York City.",
"did he study anywhere else?",
"He attended Columbia University,",
"what did he study?",
"he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics in 1945 and, eleven years later, his PhD in economics in 1956.",
"did he do any research?",
"I don't know.",
"what did he do after his time in college?",
"Burns went on leave from the Columbia faculty to head President Eisenhower's Council of Economic Advisors"
] | C_2f838a5bd1e748ca8c657827da681914_1 | how long did he stay there? | 6 | How long did Murray Rothbard stay with Eisenhower's council of economic advisors? | Murray Rothbard | Murray Rothbard's parents were David and Rae Rothbard, Jewish immigrants to the U.S. from Poland and Russia, respectively. David Rothbard was a chemist. Murray attended Birch Wathen, a private school in New York City. Rothbard later stated that he much preferred Birch Wathen to the "debasing and egalitarian public school system" he had previously attended in the Bronx. Rothbard wrote of having grown up as a "right-winger" (adherent of the "Old Right") among friends and neighbors who were "communists or fellow-travelers." Rothbard characterized his immigrant father as an individualist who embraced the American values of minimal government, free enterprise, private property, and "a determination to rise by one's own merits". "[A]ll socialism seemed to me monstrously coercive and abhorrent." He attended Columbia University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics in 1945 and, eleven years later, his PhD in economics in 1956. The delay in receiving his PhD was due in part to conflict with his advisor, Joseph Dorfman, and in part to Arthur Burns rejecting his doctoral dissertation. Burns was a longtime friend of the Rothbard family and their neighbor at their Manhattan apartment building. It was only after Burns went on leave from the Columbia faculty to head President Eisenhower's Council of Economic Advisors that Rothbard's thesis was accepted and he received his doctorate. Rothbard later stated that all of his fellow students there were extreme leftists and that he was one of only two Republicans on the Columbia campus at the time. During the 1940s Rothbard became acquainted with Frank Chodorov and read widely in libertarian-oriented works by Albert Jay Nock, Garet Garrett, Isabel Paterson, H. L. Mencken and others, as well as Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises. In the early 1950s, when Mises was teaching at the Wall Street division of New York University Business School, Rothbard attended Mises' unofficial seminar. Rothbard was greatly influenced by Mises' book, Human Action. Rothbard attracted the attention of the William Volker Fund, a group that provided financial backing to promote various "right-wing" ideologies in the 1950s and early 1960s. The Volker Fund paid Rothbard to write a textbook to explain Human Action in a form which could be used to introduce college undergraduates to Mises' views; a sample chapter he wrote on money and credit won Mises's approval. For ten years, Rothbard was paid a retainer by the Volker Fund, which designated him a "senior analyst." As Rothbard continued his work, he enlarged the project. The result was Rothbard's book Man, Economy, and State, published in 1962. Upon its publication, Mises praised Rothbard's work effusively. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American heterodox economist of the Austrian School, economic historian and political theorist. Rothbard was a founder and leading theoretician of anarcho-capitalism and a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian movement. He wrote over twenty books on political theory, history, economics, and other subjects.
Rothbard argued that all services provided by the "monopoly system of the corporate state" could be provided more efficiently by the private sector and wrote that the state is "the organization of robbery systematized and writ large". He called fractional-reserve banking a form of fraud and opposed central banking. He categorically opposed all military, political, and economic interventionism in the affairs of other nations. According to his protégé Hans-Hermann Hoppe, "[t]here would be no anarcho-capitalist movement to speak of without Rothbard".
Libertarian economist Jeffrey Herbener, who calls Rothbard his friend and "intellectual mentor", wrote that Rothbard received "only ostracism" from mainstream academia. Rothbard rejected mainstream economic methodologies and instead embraced the praxeology of his most important intellectual precursor, Ludwig von Mises. To promote his economic and political ideas, Rothbard joined Lew Rockwell and Burton Blumert in 1982 to establish the Mises Institute in Alabama.
Life and work
Education
Rothbard's parents were David and Rae Rothbard, Jewish immigrants to the United States from Poland and Russia, respectively. David was a chemist. Murray attended Birch Wathen Lenox School, a private school in New York City. He later said he much preferred Birch Wathen to the "debasing and egalitarian public school system" he had attended in the Bronx.
Rothbard wrote of having grown up as a "right-winger" (adherent of the "Old Right") among friends and neighbors who were "communists or fellow-travelers". He was a member of The New York Young Republican Club in his youth. Rothbard characterized his immigrant father as an individualist who embraced the American values of minimal government, free enterprise, private property and "a determination to rise by one's own merits ... "[A]ll socialism seemed to me monstrously coercive and abhorrent".
Rothbard attended Columbia University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics in 1945 and a PhD in economics in 1956. The delay in receiving his PhD was due in part to conflict with his advisor, Joseph Dorfman, and in part to Arthur Burns’s rejecting his dissertation. Burns was a longtime friend of the Rothbards and their neighbor at their Manhattan apartment building. It was only after Burns went on leave from the Columbia faculty to head President Eisenhower's Council of Economic Advisors that Rothbard's thesis was accepted and he received his doctorate. Rothbard later said that all his fellow students were extreme leftists and that he was one of only two Republicans at Columbia at the time.
During the 1940s, Rothbard became acquainted with Frank Chodorov and read widely in libertarian-oriented works by Albert Jay Nock, Garet Garrett, Isabel Paterson, H. L. Mencken, and Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises. In the early 1950s, when Mises was teaching in the Wall Street division of the New York University Stern School of Business, Rothbard attended his unofficial seminar. Rothbard was greatly influenced by Mises's book Human Action. He attracted the attention of the William Volker Fund, a group that provided financial backing to promote right-wing ideologies in the 1950s and early 1960s. The Volker Fund paid Rothbard to write a textbook to explain Human Action in a form that could be used to introduce college undergraduates to Mises's views; a sample chapter he wrote on money and credit won Mises's approval. For ten years, the Volker Fund paid him a retainer as a "senior analyst". As Rothbard continued his work, he enlarged the project. The result was his book Man, Economy, and State, published in 1962. Upon its publication, Mises praised Rothbard's work effusively.
Marriage, employment, and activism
In 1953, Rothbard married JoAnn Beatrice Schumacher (September 17, 1928 – October 29, 1999), whom he called Joey, in New York City. JoAnn was a historian and was Rothbard's personal editor and a close adviser as well as hostess of his Rothbard Salon. They enjoyed a loving marriage and Rothbard often called her "the indispensable framework" of his life and achievements. According to Joey, the Volker Fund's patronage allowed Rothbard to work from home as a freelance theorist and pundit for the first 15 years of their marriage. The Volker Fund collapsed in 1962, leading Rothbard to seek employment from various New York academic institutions. He was offered a part-time position teaching economics to engineering students at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute in 1966 at age 40. The institution had no economics department or economics majors and Rothbard derided its social science department as "Marxist", but Justin Raimondo writes that Rothbard liked teaching at Brooklyn Polytechnic because working only two days a week gave him freedom to contribute to developments in libertarian politics.
Rothbard continued in this role until 1986. Then 60 years old, Rothbard left Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute for the Lee Business School at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), where he held the title of S.J. Hall Distinguished Professor of Economics, a chair endowed by a libertarian businessman. According to Rothbard's friend, colleague and fellow Misesian economist Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Rothbard led a "fringe existence" in academia, but he was able to attract a large number of "students and disciples" through his writings, thereby becoming "the creator and one of the principal agents of the contemporary libertarian movement". He kept his position at UNLV from 1986 until his death. Rothbard founded the Center for Libertarian Studies in 1976 and the Journal of Libertarian Studies in 1977. In 1982, he co-founded the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, and was vice president of academic affairs until 1995. Rothbard also founded the institute's Review of Austrian Economics, a heterodox economics journal later renamed the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, in 1987.
After Rothbard's death, Joey reflected on his happiness and bright spirit, saying, "he managed to make a living for 40 years without having to get up before noon. This was important to him." Rothbard was known to be a "night owl". She recalled how Rothbard would begin every day with a phone conversation with his colleague Lew Rockwell: "Gales of laughter would shake the house or apartment, as they checked in with each other. Murray thought it was the best possible way to start a day". Rothbard was irreligious and agnostic about God, describing himself as a "mixture of an agnostic and a Reform Jew". Despite identifying as an agnostic and an atheist, he was critical of the "left-libertarian hostility to religion". In Rothbard's later years, many of his friends anticipated that he would convert to Catholicism, but he never did. The New York Times obituary called Rothbard "an economist and social philosopher who fiercely defended individual freedom against government intervention".
Creation of the Mises Institute
As a result of the economic works of Murray Rothbard, Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Ludwig Von Mises, and other Austrian economists, the Mises Institute was founded in 1982 by Lew Rockwell, Burton Blumert, and Murray Rothbard, following a split between the Cato Institute and Rothbard, who had been one of the founders of the Cato Institute.
Conflict with Ayn Rand
In 1954, Rothbard, along with several other attendees of Mises's seminar, joined the circle of novelist Ayn Rand, the founder of Objectivism. He soon parted from her, writing among other things that her ideas were not as original as she proclaimed, but similar to those of Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and Herbert Spencer. In 1958, after the publication of Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged, Rothbard wrote her a "fan letter", calling the book "an infinite treasure house" and "not merely the greatest novel ever written, [but] one of the very greatest books ever written, fiction or nonfiction". He also wrote: "[Y]ou introduced me to the whole field of natural rights and natural law philosophy", prompting him to learn "the glorious natural rights tradition". Rothbard rejoined Rand's circle for a few months, but soon broke with Rand again over various differences, including his defense of his interpretation of anarchism.
Rothbard later satirized Rand's acolytes in his unpublished one-act farce Mozart Was a Red and his essay "The Sociology of the Ayn Rand Cult". He characterized Rand's circle as a "dogmatic, personality cult". His play parodies Rand (through the character Carson Sand) and her friends and is set during a visit from Keith Hackley, a fan of Sand's novel The Brow of Zeus (a play on Atlas Shrugged).
Death
Rothbard died of a heart attack on January 7, 1995, at the age of 68. He was buried in his wife's plot in Oakwood Cemetery, Unionville, Virginia.
Ethical and philosophical views
Austrian economics
Rothbard was an advocate and practitioner of the Austrian School tradition of his teacher Ludwig von Mises. Like Mises, Rothbard rejected the application of the scientific method to economics and dismissed econometrics, empirical and statistical analysis and other tools of mainstream social science as outside the field (economic history might use those tools, but not Economics proper). He instead embraced praxeology, the strictly a priori methodology of Mises. Praxeology conceives of economic laws as akin to geometric or mathematical axioms: fixed, unchanging, objective and discernible through logical reasoning without the use of any empirical evidence.
According to Misesian economist Hans-Hermann Hoppe, eschewing the scientific method and empiricism distinguishes the Misesian approach "from all other current economic schools", which dismiss the Misesian approach as "dogmatic and unscientific." Mark Skousen of Chapman University and the Foundation for Economic Education, a critic of mainstream economics, praises Rothbard as brilliant, his writing style persuasive, his economic arguments nuanced and logically rigorous and his Misesian methodology sound. But Skousen concedes that Rothbard was effectively "outside the discipline" of mainstream economics and that his work "fell on deaf ears" outside his ideological circles.
Rothbard wrote extensively on Austrian business cycle theory and as part of this approach strongly opposed central banking, fiat money and fractional-reserve banking, advocating a gold standard and a 100% reserve requirement for banks.
Polemics against mainstream economics
Rothbard wrote a series of polemics in which he deprecated a number of leading modern economists. He vilified Adam Smith, calling him a "shameless plagiarist" who set economics off track, ultimately leading to the rise of Marxism. Rothbard praised Smith's contemporaries, including Richard Cantillon, Anne Robert Jacques Turgot and Étienne Bonnot de Condillac, for developing the subjective theory of value. In response to Rothbard's charge that Smith's The Wealth of Nations was largely plagiarized, David D. Friedman castigated Rothbard's scholarship and character, saying that he "was [either] deliberately dishonest or never really read the book he was criticizing". Tony Endres called Rothbard's treatment of Smith a "travesty".
Rothbard was equally scathing in his criticism of John Maynard Keynes, calling him weak on economic theory and a shallow political opportunist. Rothbard also wrote more generally that Keynesian-style governmental regulation of money and credit created a "dismal monetary and banking situation". He called John Stuart Mill a "wooly man of mush" and speculated that Mill's "soft" personality led his economic thought astray.
Rothbard was critical of monetarist economist Milton Friedman. In his polemic "Milton Friedman Unraveled", he called Friedman a "statist", a "favorite of the establishment", a friend of and "apologist" for Richard Nixon and a "pernicious influence" on public policy. Rothbard said that libertarians should scorn rather than celebrate Friedman's academic prestige and political influence. Noting that Rothbard has "been nasty to me and my work", Friedman responded to Rothbard's criticism by calling him a "cult builder and a dogmatist".
In a memorial volume published by the Mises Institute, Rothbard's protégé and libertarian theorist Hans-Hermann Hoppe wrote that Man, Economy, and State "presented a blistering refutation of all variants of mathematical economics" and included it among Rothbard's "almost mind-boggling achievements". Hoppe lamented that, like Mises, Rothbard died without winning the Nobel Prize that Hoppe says Rothbard deserved "twice over". Although Hoppe acknowledged that Rothbard and his work were largely ignored by academia, he called Rothbard an "intellectual giant" comparable to Aristotle, John Locke, and Immanuel Kant.
Disputes with other Austrian economists
Although he self-identified as an Austrian economist, Rothbard's methodology was at odds with that of many other Austrians. In 1956, Rothbard deprecated the views of Austrian economist Fritz Machlup, stating that Machlup was no praxeologist and calling him instead a "positivist" who failed to represent the views of Ludwig von Mises. Rothbard stated that in fact Machlup shared the opposing positivist view associated with economist Milton Friedman. Mises and Machlup had been colleagues in 1920s Vienna before each relocated to the United States and Mises later urged his American protege Israel Kirzner to pursue his PhD studies with Machlup at Johns Hopkins University.
According to libertarian economists Tyler Cowen and Richard Fink, Rothbard wrote that the term evenly rotating economy (ERE) can be used to analyze complexity in a world of change. The words ERE had been introduced by Mises as an alternative nomenclature for the mainstream economic method of static equilibrium and general equilibrium analysis. Cowen and Fink found "serious inconsistencies in both the nature of the ERE and its suggested uses". With the sole exception of Rothbard, no other economist adopted Mises' term and the concept continued to be called "equilibrium analysis".
In a 2011 article critical of Rothbard's "reflexive opposition" to inflation, The Economist noted that his views are increasingly gaining influence among politicians and laypeople on the right. The article contrasted Rothbard's categorical rejection of inflationary policies with the monetary views of "sophisticated Austrian-school monetary economists such as George Selgin and Larry White", [who] follow Hayek in treating stability of nominal spending as a monetary ideal—a position "not all that different from Mr [Scott] Sumner's".
According to economist Peter Boettke, Rothbard is better described as a property rights economist than as an Austrian economist. In 1988, Boettke noted that Rothbard "vehemently attacked all of the books of the younger Austrians".
Ethics
Although Rothbard adopted Ludwig von Mises' deductive methodology for his social theory and economics, he parted with Mises on the question of ethics. Specifically, he rejected Mises' conviction that ethical values remain subjective and opposed utilitarianism in favor of principle-based, natural law reasoning. In defense of his free market views, Mises employed utilitarian economic arguments aimed at demonstrating that interventionist policies made all of society worse off. On the other hand, Rothbard concluded that interventionist policies do in fact benefit some people, including certain government employees and beneficiaries of social programs. Therefore, unlike Mises, Rothbard argued for an objective, natural-law basis for the free market. He called this principle "self-ownership", loosely basing the idea on the writings of John Locke and also borrowing concepts from classical liberalism and the anti-imperialism of the Old Right.
Rothbard accepted the labor theory of property, but rejected the Lockean proviso, arguing that if an individual mixes his labor with unowned land then he becomes the proper owner eternally and that after that time it is private property which may change hands only by trade or gift.
Rothbard was a strong critic of egalitarianism. The title essay of Rothbard's 1974 book Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature and Other Essays held: "Equality is not in the natural order of things, and the crusade to make everyone equal in every respect (except before the law) is certain to have disastrous consequences". In it, Rothbard wrote: "At the heart of the egalitarian left is the pathological belief that there is no structure of reality; that all the world is a tabula rasa that can be changed at any moment in any desired direction by the mere exercise of human will".
Anarcho-capitalism
According to anarcho-capitalists, various theorists have espoused legal philosophies similar to anarcho-capitalism. However, Rothbard was the first person to use the term as in the mid-20th century he synthesized elements from the Austrian School of economics, classical liberalism and 19th-century American individualist anarchists. According to Lew Rockwell, Rothbard was the "conscience" of all the various strains of what he described as "libertarian anarchism", because their advocates (described as Rothbard's former "colleagues"), had often been personally inspired by his example.
During his years at graduate school in the late 1940s, Rothbard considered whether a strict adherence to libertarian and laissez-faire principles required the abolition of the state altogether. He visited Baldy Harper, a founder of the Foundation for Economic Education, who doubted the need for any government whatsoever. Rothbard said that during this period, he was influenced by 19th-century American individualist anarchists like Lysander Spooner and Benjamin Tucker and the Belgian economist Gustave de Molinari who wrote about how such a system could work. Thus, he "combined the laissez-faire economics of Mises with the absolutist views of human rights and rejection of the state" from individualist anarchists.
Rothbard began to consider himself a "private property anarchist" in 1950 and later began to use "anarcho-capitalist" to describe his political ideology. In his anarcho-capitalist model, the system of private property is upheld by private firms, such as hypothesized protection agencies, which compete in a free market and are voluntarily supported by consumers who choose to use their protective and judicial services. Anarcho-capitalists describe this as "the end of the state monopoly on force". He later came to terms that anarchism identified with socialism, and in an unpublished article wrote that individualist anarchism is different from anarcho-capitalism and other capitalist theories due to the individualist anarchists retaining the labor theory of value and socialist doctrines, suggesting a new term to identify himself: nonarchist.
In Man, Economy, and State, Rothbard divides the various kinds of state intervention in three categories: "autistic intervention", which is interference with private non-economic activities; "binary intervention", which is forced exchange between individuals and the state; and "triangular intervention", which is state-mandated exchange between individuals. According to Sanford Ikeda, Rothbard's typology "eliminates the gaps and inconsistencies that appear in Mises's original formulation". Rothbard writes in Power and Market that the role of the economist in a free market is limited, but it is much larger in a government that solicits economic policy recommendations. Rothbard argues that self-interest therefore prejudices the views of many economists in favor of increased government intervention.
Race, gender, and civil rights
Michael O'Malley, associate professor of history at George Mason University, characterizes Rothbard's "overall tone regard[ing]" the civil rights movement and the women's suffrage movement to be "contemptuous and hostile". Rothbard criticized women's rights activists, attributing the growth of the welfare state to politically active spinsters "whose busybody inclinations were not fettered by the responsibilities of health and heart". Rothbard argued that the progressive movement, which he regarded as a noxious influence on the United States, was spearheaded by a coalition of Yankee Protestants (people from the six New England states and upstate New York who were Protestants of English descent), Jewish women and "lesbian spinsters".
Rothbard called for the elimination of "the entire 'civil rights' structure" stating that it "tramples on the property rights of every American". He consistently favored repeal of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, including Title VII regarding employment discrimination, and called for overturning the Brown v. Board of Education decision on the grounds that state-mandated integration of schools violated libertarian principles. In an essay called "Right-wing Populism", Rothbard proposed a set of measures to "reach out" to the "middle and working classes", which included urging the police to crack down on "street criminals", writing that "cops must be unleashed" and "allowed to administer instant punishment, subject of course to liability when they are in error". He also advocated that the police "clear the streets of bums and vagrants."
Rothbard held strong opinions about many leaders of the civil rights movement. He considered black separatist Malcolm X to be a "great black leader" and integrationist Martin Luther King Jr. to be favored by whites because he "was the major restraining force on the developing Negro revolution". In 1993 he rejected the vision of a "separate black nation", asking "does anyone really believe that ... New Africa would be content to strike out on its own, with no massive "foreign aid" from the U.S.A.?". Rothbard also suggested that opposition to Martin Luther King Jr., whom he demeaned as a "coercive integrationist", should be a litmus test for members of his "paleolibertarian" political movement.
Opposition to war
Like Randolph Bourne, Rothbard believed that "war is the health of the state". According to David Gordon, this was the reason for Rothbard's opposition to aggressive foreign policy. Rothbard believed that stopping new wars was necessary and that knowledge of how government had led citizens into earlier wars was important. Two essays expanded on these views "War, Peace, and the State" and "Anatomy of the State". Rothbard used insights of Vilfredo Pareto, Gaetano Mosca and Robert Michels to build a model of state personnel, goals and ideology. In an obituary for his friend, the historical revisionist Harry Elmer Barnes, Rothbard wrote:
Rothbard's colleague Joseph Stromberg notes that Rothbard made two exceptions to his general condemnation of war: "the American Revolution and the War for Southern Independence, as viewed from the Confederate side". Rothbard condemned the "Northern war against slavery", saying it was inspired by "fanatical" religious faith and characterized by "a cheerful willingness to uproot institutions, to commit mayhem and mass murder, to plunder and loot and destroy, all in the name of high moral principle". He celebrated Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and other prominent Confederates as heroes while denouncing Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant and other Union leaders for "open[ing] the Pandora's Box of genocide and the extermination of civilians" in their war against the South.
Middle East conflict
Rothbard's The Libertarian Forum blamed the Middle East conflict on Israeli aggression "fueled by American arms and money". Rothbard warned that the Middle East conflict would draw the United States into a world war. He was anti-Zionist and opposed United States involvement in the Middle East. Rothbard criticized the Camp David Accords for having betrayed Palestinian aspirations and opposed Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon. In his essay, "War Guilt in the Middle East", Rothbard states that Israel refused "to let these refugees return and reclaim the property taken from them". He took negative views of the two state solution for the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, saying: On the one hand there are the Palestinian Arabs, who have tilled the soil or otherwise used the land of Palestine for centuries; and on the other, there are a group of external fanatics, who come from all over the world, and who claim the entire land area as "given" to them as a collective religion or tribe at some remote or legendary time in the past. There is no way the two claims can be resolved to the satisfaction of both parties. There can be no genuine settlement, no "peace" in the face of this irrepressible conflict; there can only be either a war to the death, or an uneasy practical compromise which can satisfy no one. That is the harsh reality of the Middle East.
Historical revisionism
Rothbard embraced "historical revisionism" as an antidote to what he perceived to be the dominant influence exerted by corrupt "court intellectuals" over mainstream historical narratives. Rothbard wrote that these mainstream intellectuals distorted the historical record in favor of "the state" in exchange for "wealth, power, and prestige" from the state. Rothbard characterized the revisionist task as "penetrating the fog of lies and deception of the State and its Court Intellectuals, and to present to the public the true history". He was influenced by and called a champion of the historian Harry Elmer Barnes. Rothbard endorsed Barnes's revisionism on World War II, favorably citing his view that "the murder of Germans and Japanese was the overriding aim of World War II". In addition to broadly supporting his historical views, Rothbard promoted Barnes as an influence for future revisionists.
Rothbard's endorsing of World War II revisionism and his association with Barnes and other Holocaust deniers have drawn criticism. Kevin D. Williamson wrote an opinion piece published by National Review which condemned Rothbard for "making common cause with the 'revisionist' historians of the Third Reich", a term he used to describe American Holocaust deniers associated with Rothbard, such as James J. Martin of the Institute for Historical Review. The piece also characterized "Rothbard and his faction" as being "culpably indulgent" of Holocaust denial, the view which "specifically denies that the Holocaust actually happened or holds that it was in some way exaggerated".
In an article for Rothbard's 50th birthday, Rothbard's friend and Buffalo State College historian Ralph Raico stated that Rothbard "is the main reason that revisionism has become a crucial part of the whole libertarian position".
Children's rights and parental obligations
In the Ethics of Liberty, Rothbard explores issues regarding children's rights in terms of self-ownership and contract. These include support for a woman's right to abortion, condemnation of parents showing aggression towards children and opposition to the state forcing parents to care for children. He also holds children have the right to run away from parents and seek new guardians as soon as they are able to choose to do so. He argued that parents have the right to put a child out for adoption or sell the rights to the child in a voluntary contract in what Rothbard suggests will be a "flourishing free market in children". He believes that selling children as consumer goods in accord with market forces—while "superficially monstrous"—will benefit "everyone" involved in the market: "the natural parents, the children, and the foster parents purchasing".
In Rothbard's view of parenthood, "the parent should not have a legal obligation to feed, clothe, or educate his children, since such obligations would entail positive acts coerced upon the parent and depriving the parent of his rights". Thus, Rothbard stated that parents should have the legal right to let any infant die by starvation and should be free to engage in other forms of child neglect. However, according to Rothbard, "the purely free society will have a flourishing free market in children". In a fully libertarian society, he wrote, "the existence of a free baby market will bring such 'neglect' down to a minimum".
Economist Gene Callahan of Cardiff University, formerly a scholar at the Rothbard-affiliated Mises Institute, observes that Rothbard allows "the logical elegance of his legal theory" to "trump any arguments based on the moral reprehensibility of a parent idly watching her six-month-old child slowly starve to death in its crib".
Retributive theory of criminal justice
In The Ethics of Liberty, Rothbard advocates for a "frankly retributive theory of punishment" or a system of "a tooth (or two teeth) for a tooth". Rothbard emphasizes that all punishment must be proportional, stating that "the criminal, or invader, loses his rights to the extent that he deprived another man of his". Applying his retributive theory, Rothbard states that a thief "must pay double the extent of theft". Rothbard gives the example of a thief who stole $15,000 and says he not only would have to return the stolen money, but also provide the victim an additional $15,000, money to which the thief has forfeited his right. The thief would be "put in a [temporary] state of enslavement to his victim" if he is unable to pay him immediately. Rothbard also applies his theory to justify beating and torturing violent criminals, although the beatings are required to be proportional to the crimes for which they are being punished.
Torture of criminal suspects
In chapter twelve of Ethics, Rothbard turns his attention to suspects arrested by the police. He argues that police should be able to torture certain types of criminal suspects, including accused murderers, for information related to their alleged crime. Writes Rothbard: "Suppose ... police beat and torture a suspected murderer to find information (not to wring a confession, since obviously a coerced confession could never be considered valid). If the suspect turns out to be guilty, then the police should be exonerated, for then they have only ladled out to the murderer a parcel of what he deserves in return; his rights had already been forfeited by more than that extent. But if the suspect is not convicted, then that means that the police have beaten and tortured an innocent man, and that they in turn must be put into the dock for criminal assault". Gene Callahan examines this position and concludes that Rothbard rejects the widely held belief that torture is inherently wrong, no matter who the victim. Callahan goes on to state that Rothbard's scheme gives the police a strong motive to frame the suspect after having tortured him or her.
Science and scientism
In an essay condemning "scientism in the study of man", Rothbard rejected the application of causal determinism to human beings, arguing that the actions of human beings—as opposed to those of everything else in nature—are not determined by prior causes, but by "free will". He argued that "determinism as applied to man, is a self-contradictory thesis, since the man who employs it relies implicitly on the existence of free will". Rothbard opposed what he considered the overspecialization of the academy and sought to fuse the disciplines of economics, history, ethics and political science to create a "science of liberty". Rothbard described the moral basis for his anarcho-capitalist position in two of his books: For a New Liberty, published in 1973; and The Ethics of Liberty, published in 1982. In his Power and Market (1970), Rothbard describes how a stateless economy might function.
Political activism
Throughout his life, Rothbard engaged in a number of different political movements in an effort to promote his Old Right and libertarian political principles. His first political activism came in 1948, on behalf of the segregationist South Carolinian Strom Thurmond's presidential campaign. In the 1948 presidential election, Rothbard, "as a Jewish student at Columbia, horrified his peers by organizing a Students for Strom Thurmond chapter, so staunchly did he believe in states' rights".
By the late 1960s, Rothbard's "long and winding yet somehow consistent road had taken him from anti-New Deal and anti-interventionist Robert A. Taft supporter into friendship with the quasi-pacifist Nebraska Republican Congressman Howard Buffett (father of Warren Buffett) then over to the League of (Adlai) Stevensonian Democrats and, by 1968, into tentative comradeship with the anarchist factions of the New Left". Rothbard advocated an alliance with the New Left anti-war movement on the grounds that the conservative movement had been completely subsumed by the statist establishment. However, Rothbard later criticized the New Left for supporting a "People's Republic" style draft. It was during this phase that he associated with Karl Hess and founded Left and Right: A Journal of Libertarian Thought with Leonard Liggio and George Resch, which existed from 1965 to 1968.
From 1969 to 1984, he edited The Libertarian Forum, also initially with Hess (although Hess's involvement ended in 1971). The Libertarian Forum provided a platform for Rothbard's writing. Despite its small readership, it engaged conservatives associated with the National Review in nationwide debate. Rothbard rejected the view that Ronald Reagan's 1980 election as president was a victory for libertarian principles and he attacked Reagan's economic program in a series of Libertarian Forum articles. In 1982, Rothbard called Reagan's claims of spending cuts a "fraud" and a "hoax" and accused Reaganites of doctoring the economic statistics to give the false impression that their policies were successfully reducing inflation and unemployment. He further criticized the "myths of Reaganomics" in 1987.
Rothbard criticized the "frenzied nihilism" of left-wing libertarians, but also criticized right-wing libertarians who were content to rely only on education to bring down the state; he believed that libertarians should adopt any moral tactic available to them to bring about liberty.
Imbibing Randolph Bourne's idea that "war is the health of the state", Rothbard opposed all wars in his lifetime and engaged in anti-war activism. During the 1970s and 1980s, Rothbard was active in the Libertarian Party. He was frequently involved in the party's internal politics. He was one of the founders of the Cato Institute and "came up with the idea of naming this libertarian think tank after Cato's Letters, a powerful series of British newspaper essays by John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon which played a decisive influence upon America's Founding Fathers in fomenting the Revolution". From 1978 to 1983, he was associated with the Libertarian Party Radical Caucus, allying himself with Justin Raimondo, Eric Garris and Williamson Evers. He opposed the "low-tax liberalism" espoused by 1980 Libertarian Party presidential candidate Ed Clark and Cato Institute president Edward H Crane III. According to Charles Burris, "Rothbard and Crane became bitter rivals after disputes emerging from the 1980 LP presidential campaign of Ed Clark carried over to strategic direction and management of Cato".
Rothbard split with the Radical Caucus at the 1983 national convention over cultural issues and aligned himself with what he called the "right-wing populist" wing of the party, notably Lew Rockwell and Ron Paul, who ran for president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 1988. Rothbard "worked closely with Lew Rockwell (joined later by his long-time friend Burton Blumert) in nurturing the Ludwig von Mises Institute, and the publication, The Rothbard-Rockwell Report; which after Rothbard's 1995 death evolved into the website, LewRockwell.com".
Paleolibertarianism
In 1989, Rothbard left the Libertarian Party and began building bridges to the post-Cold War anti-interventionist right, calling himself a paleolibertarian, a conservative reaction against the cultural liberalism of mainstream libertarianism. Paleolibertarianism sought to appeal to disaffected working class whites through a synthesis of cultural conservatism and libertarian economics. According to Reason, Rothbard advocated right-wing populism in part because he was frustrated that mainstream thinkers were not adopting the libertarian view and suggested that former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke and Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy were models for an "Outreach to the Rednecks" effort that could be used by a broad libertarian/paleoconservative coalition. Working together, the coalition would expose the "unholy alliance of 'corporate liberal' Big Business and media elites, who, through big government, have privileged and caused to rise up a parasitic Underclass". Rothbard blamed this "Underclass" for "looting and oppressing the bulk of the middle and working classes in America". Regarding the political program of the former Grand Wizard David Duke, Rothbard asserted that "nothing" in it that "could not also be embraced by paleoconservatives or paleolibertarians; lower taxes, dismantling the bureaucracy, slashing the welfare system, attacking affirmative action and racial set-asides, calling for equal rights for all Americans, including whites".
Rothbard supported the presidential campaign of Pat Buchanan in 1992 and wrote that "with Pat Buchanan as our leader, we shall break the clock of social democracy". When Buchanan dropped out of the Republican primary race, Rothbard then shifted his interest and support to Ross Perot, who Rothbard wrote had "brought an excitement, a verve, a sense of dynamics and of open possibilities to what had threatened to be a dreary race". However, Rothbard eventually withdrew his support from Perot, and endorsed George H. W. Bush in the 1992 election.
Like Buchanan, Rothbard opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). However, he had become disillusioned with Buchanan by 1995, believing that the latter's "commitment to protectionism was mutating into an all-round faith in economic planning and the nation state".
After Rothbard's death in 1995, Lew Rockwell, president of the Mises Institute, told The New York Times that Rothbard was "the founder of right-wing anarchism". William F. Buckley Jr. wrote a critical obituary in the National Review, criticizing Rothbard's "defective judgment" and views on the Cold War. Hoppe, Rockwell, and Rothbard's other colleagues at the Mises Institute took a different view, arguing that he was one of the most important philosophers in history.
Works
Articles
The Individualist (April and July–August 1971).
Revised and published by the Center for Independent Education in 1979 (). The Mises Institute, with editorial assistance from summer fellow Candice Jackson, published a 1999 edition with the restored original text and included an index provided by Institute Member Richard Perry. (. .)
"His only crime Was against the Old Guard: Milken: In the best tradition of free enterprise, he made money by serving the public." Los Angeles Times (March 3, 1992).
"Anti-Buchanania: A Mini-Encyclopedia." Rothbard-Rockwell Report (May 1992), pp. 1–13.
"Saint Hillary and the Religious Left." (December 1994).
"The Other Side of the Coin: Free Banking in Chile." Austrian Economics Newsletter, vol. 10, no. 2.
Books
Man, Economy, and State. D. Van Nostrand (1962). full text.
Second edition (Scholar's Edition) published in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2004). . Full text.
The Panic of 1819: Reactions and Policies. New York: Columbia University Press (1962). Full text.
Republished, Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2004). .
America's Great Depression. D. Van Nostrand (1973). Full text.
Fifth edition published in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2005). .
Power and Market: Government and the Economy. Sheed Andrews and McMeel (1970). full text.
Republished, Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2004). .
For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto. Collier Books (1973). Full text; audiobook. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute. .
Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature and Other Essays. Libertarian Review Press (1974). Full text.
Second edition, Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2000). .
Conceived in Liberty (4 vol.). New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House (1975–1979). Full text.
Republished, Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2012). .
The Logic of Action (2 vol.). Edward Elgar Publications (1997). . Full text.
Reprinted as Economic Controversies. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2011).
The Ethics of Liberty. Humanities Press (1982). New York University Press (1998). Full text; audiobook. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute. .
The Mystery of Banking. Richardson and Snyder, Dutton (1983). Full text.
Republished in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007). .
The Case Against the Fed. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (1994). Full text.
Republished in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007). .
America's Great Depression [5th ed.]. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (June 15, 2000).
An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought (2 vol.). Edward Elgar Publishers (1995). .
Vol. 1: Economic Thought Before Adam Smith. Republished in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2009).
Vol. 2: Classical Economics. Republished in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2009).
Making Economic Sense. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007). . Full text.
The Betrayal of the American Right. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007). . Full text and audiobook, narrated by Ian Temple.
Despite posthumous publication in 2007, it appears in print virtually unchanged from the manuscript untouched since the 1970s.
Book contributions
Introduction to Capital, Interest, and Rent: Essays in the Theory of Distribution, by Frank A. Fetter. Kansas City: Sheed Andrews and McMeel (1977).
Foreword to The Theory of Money and Credit, by Ludwig von Mises. Liberty Fund (1981). Full text .
"Bramble Minibook" (1973). In: The Essential von Mises. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (1988). Full text.
Monographs
Wall Street, Banks, and American Foreign Policy. World Market Perspective (1984). Full text. Spanish translation.
Republished by the Center for Libertarian Studies (1995), and the Ludwig von Mises Institute (2005).
Interviews
"Interview with Murray Rothbard on Man, Economy, and State, Mises, and the Future of the Austrian School" (Summer 1990). Austrian Economics Newsletter.
See also
American philosophy
Anarcho-capitalism
Criticism of the Federal Reserve
Hans-Hermann Hoppe
Libertarianism in the United States
List of American philosophers
List of peace activists
Milton Friedman
Notes
Further reading
Doherty, Brian (2007). Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement. PublicAffairs.
External links
Audiobooks by Rothbard at Mises Institute
Murray Rothbard full bibliography at Mises.org
Rothbard videos at YouTube channel of the Ludwig von Mises Institute
Murray N. Rothbard Library and Resources from LewRockwell.com
Rothbardiana (Italy)
Murray Rothbard Institute (Belgium)
1926 births
1995 deaths
20th-century American economists
20th-century American essayists
20th-century American historians
20th-century American journalists
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American philosophers
American agnostics
American anarcho-capitalists
American anti–Vietnam War activists
Jewish American atheists
American book editors
American economics writers
American foreign policy writers
American libertarians
American male essayists
American male journalists
American male non-fiction writers
American opinion journalists
American people of Polish-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American political journalists
American political philosophers
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Anti-Zionism in the United States
Anti-Zionist Jews
Austrian School economists
Birch Wathen Lenox School alumni
Burials in Virginia
Cato Institute people
Columbia College (New York) alumni
Critics of neoconservatism
Critics of Objectivism (Ayn Rand)
Economists from New York (state)
Historians of economic thought
Historians of the United States
Historical revisionism
Jewish agnostics
Jewish American historians
Jewish American social scientists
Jewish anti-communists
Jewish philosophers
Journalists from New York (state)
Libertarian economists
Libertarian historians
Libertarian theorists
Mises Institute people
New York (state) Libertarians
New York (state) Republicans
Non-interventionism
Old Right (United States)
Paleolibertarianism
Philosophers from Nevada
Philosophers from New York (state)
Philosophy writers
Polytechnic Institute of New York University faculty
Right-wing populism in the United States
University of Nevada, Las Vegas faculty
Writers from New York City
Historians from New York (state) | false | [
"\"Stay Out of My Life\" is a 1987 hit single by British pop group Five Star. It was the fifth release from their number one selling LP Silk & Steel, and reached no.9 in the UK singles chart.\n\nThe song's B-side, \"How Dare You (Stay Out of My Life)\", was used as the theme tune to the 1980s children's television series made by Tyne Tees TV called How Dare You, presented by Carrie Grant.\n\nTrack listings\n7” Single:\n\n1. \"Stay Out of My Life\"\n\n2. \"(How Dare You) Stay Out of My Life\" **\n\n12” Single:\n\n1. \"Stay Out of My Life\" (Extended Version) *\n\n2. \"If I Say Yes\" (Lew Hahn U.S. Dub Remix)\n\n3. \"(How Dare You) Stay Out of My Life\" **\n\n* Available on CD on the cd single of There's A Brand New World PD42236\n\n** Released in CD format on the Cherry Pop 2012 reissue of Five Star's 1987 Between the Lines album.\n\nReferences\n\nFive Star songs\n1987 singles\nSongs written by Denise Pearson",
"\"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"
] |
[
"Murray Rothbard",
"Education",
"where did he go to school?",
"Murray attended Birch Wathen, a private school in New York City.",
"did he study anywhere else?",
"He attended Columbia University,",
"what did he study?",
"he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics in 1945 and, eleven years later, his PhD in economics in 1956.",
"did he do any research?",
"I don't know.",
"what did he do after his time in college?",
"Burns went on leave from the Columbia faculty to head President Eisenhower's Council of Economic Advisors",
"how long did he stay there?",
"I don't know."
] | C_2f838a5bd1e748ca8c657827da681914_1 | did he teach at all? | 7 | Did Murray Rothbard teach at all? | Murray Rothbard | Murray Rothbard's parents were David and Rae Rothbard, Jewish immigrants to the U.S. from Poland and Russia, respectively. David Rothbard was a chemist. Murray attended Birch Wathen, a private school in New York City. Rothbard later stated that he much preferred Birch Wathen to the "debasing and egalitarian public school system" he had previously attended in the Bronx. Rothbard wrote of having grown up as a "right-winger" (adherent of the "Old Right") among friends and neighbors who were "communists or fellow-travelers." Rothbard characterized his immigrant father as an individualist who embraced the American values of minimal government, free enterprise, private property, and "a determination to rise by one's own merits". "[A]ll socialism seemed to me monstrously coercive and abhorrent." He attended Columbia University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics in 1945 and, eleven years later, his PhD in economics in 1956. The delay in receiving his PhD was due in part to conflict with his advisor, Joseph Dorfman, and in part to Arthur Burns rejecting his doctoral dissertation. Burns was a longtime friend of the Rothbard family and their neighbor at their Manhattan apartment building. It was only after Burns went on leave from the Columbia faculty to head President Eisenhower's Council of Economic Advisors that Rothbard's thesis was accepted and he received his doctorate. Rothbard later stated that all of his fellow students there were extreme leftists and that he was one of only two Republicans on the Columbia campus at the time. During the 1940s Rothbard became acquainted with Frank Chodorov and read widely in libertarian-oriented works by Albert Jay Nock, Garet Garrett, Isabel Paterson, H. L. Mencken and others, as well as Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises. In the early 1950s, when Mises was teaching at the Wall Street division of New York University Business School, Rothbard attended Mises' unofficial seminar. Rothbard was greatly influenced by Mises' book, Human Action. Rothbard attracted the attention of the William Volker Fund, a group that provided financial backing to promote various "right-wing" ideologies in the 1950s and early 1960s. The Volker Fund paid Rothbard to write a textbook to explain Human Action in a form which could be used to introduce college undergraduates to Mises' views; a sample chapter he wrote on money and credit won Mises's approval. For ten years, Rothbard was paid a retainer by the Volker Fund, which designated him a "senior analyst." As Rothbard continued his work, he enlarged the project. The result was Rothbard's book Man, Economy, and State, published in 1962. Upon its publication, Mises praised Rothbard's work effusively. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American heterodox economist of the Austrian School, economic historian and political theorist. Rothbard was a founder and leading theoretician of anarcho-capitalism and a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian movement. He wrote over twenty books on political theory, history, economics, and other subjects.
Rothbard argued that all services provided by the "monopoly system of the corporate state" could be provided more efficiently by the private sector and wrote that the state is "the organization of robbery systematized and writ large". He called fractional-reserve banking a form of fraud and opposed central banking. He categorically opposed all military, political, and economic interventionism in the affairs of other nations. According to his protégé Hans-Hermann Hoppe, "[t]here would be no anarcho-capitalist movement to speak of without Rothbard".
Libertarian economist Jeffrey Herbener, who calls Rothbard his friend and "intellectual mentor", wrote that Rothbard received "only ostracism" from mainstream academia. Rothbard rejected mainstream economic methodologies and instead embraced the praxeology of his most important intellectual precursor, Ludwig von Mises. To promote his economic and political ideas, Rothbard joined Lew Rockwell and Burton Blumert in 1982 to establish the Mises Institute in Alabama.
Life and work
Education
Rothbard's parents were David and Rae Rothbard, Jewish immigrants to the United States from Poland and Russia, respectively. David was a chemist. Murray attended Birch Wathen Lenox School, a private school in New York City. He later said he much preferred Birch Wathen to the "debasing and egalitarian public school system" he had attended in the Bronx.
Rothbard wrote of having grown up as a "right-winger" (adherent of the "Old Right") among friends and neighbors who were "communists or fellow-travelers". He was a member of The New York Young Republican Club in his youth. Rothbard characterized his immigrant father as an individualist who embraced the American values of minimal government, free enterprise, private property and "a determination to rise by one's own merits ... "[A]ll socialism seemed to me monstrously coercive and abhorrent".
Rothbard attended Columbia University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics in 1945 and a PhD in economics in 1956. The delay in receiving his PhD was due in part to conflict with his advisor, Joseph Dorfman, and in part to Arthur Burns’s rejecting his dissertation. Burns was a longtime friend of the Rothbards and their neighbor at their Manhattan apartment building. It was only after Burns went on leave from the Columbia faculty to head President Eisenhower's Council of Economic Advisors that Rothbard's thesis was accepted and he received his doctorate. Rothbard later said that all his fellow students were extreme leftists and that he was one of only two Republicans at Columbia at the time.
During the 1940s, Rothbard became acquainted with Frank Chodorov and read widely in libertarian-oriented works by Albert Jay Nock, Garet Garrett, Isabel Paterson, H. L. Mencken, and Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises. In the early 1950s, when Mises was teaching in the Wall Street division of the New York University Stern School of Business, Rothbard attended his unofficial seminar. Rothbard was greatly influenced by Mises's book Human Action. He attracted the attention of the William Volker Fund, a group that provided financial backing to promote right-wing ideologies in the 1950s and early 1960s. The Volker Fund paid Rothbard to write a textbook to explain Human Action in a form that could be used to introduce college undergraduates to Mises's views; a sample chapter he wrote on money and credit won Mises's approval. For ten years, the Volker Fund paid him a retainer as a "senior analyst". As Rothbard continued his work, he enlarged the project. The result was his book Man, Economy, and State, published in 1962. Upon its publication, Mises praised Rothbard's work effusively.
Marriage, employment, and activism
In 1953, Rothbard married JoAnn Beatrice Schumacher (September 17, 1928 – October 29, 1999), whom he called Joey, in New York City. JoAnn was a historian and was Rothbard's personal editor and a close adviser as well as hostess of his Rothbard Salon. They enjoyed a loving marriage and Rothbard often called her "the indispensable framework" of his life and achievements. According to Joey, the Volker Fund's patronage allowed Rothbard to work from home as a freelance theorist and pundit for the first 15 years of their marriage. The Volker Fund collapsed in 1962, leading Rothbard to seek employment from various New York academic institutions. He was offered a part-time position teaching economics to engineering students at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute in 1966 at age 40. The institution had no economics department or economics majors and Rothbard derided its social science department as "Marxist", but Justin Raimondo writes that Rothbard liked teaching at Brooklyn Polytechnic because working only two days a week gave him freedom to contribute to developments in libertarian politics.
Rothbard continued in this role until 1986. Then 60 years old, Rothbard left Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute for the Lee Business School at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), where he held the title of S.J. Hall Distinguished Professor of Economics, a chair endowed by a libertarian businessman. According to Rothbard's friend, colleague and fellow Misesian economist Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Rothbard led a "fringe existence" in academia, but he was able to attract a large number of "students and disciples" through his writings, thereby becoming "the creator and one of the principal agents of the contemporary libertarian movement". He kept his position at UNLV from 1986 until his death. Rothbard founded the Center for Libertarian Studies in 1976 and the Journal of Libertarian Studies in 1977. In 1982, he co-founded the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, and was vice president of academic affairs until 1995. Rothbard also founded the institute's Review of Austrian Economics, a heterodox economics journal later renamed the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, in 1987.
After Rothbard's death, Joey reflected on his happiness and bright spirit, saying, "he managed to make a living for 40 years without having to get up before noon. This was important to him." Rothbard was known to be a "night owl". She recalled how Rothbard would begin every day with a phone conversation with his colleague Lew Rockwell: "Gales of laughter would shake the house or apartment, as they checked in with each other. Murray thought it was the best possible way to start a day". Rothbard was irreligious and agnostic about God, describing himself as a "mixture of an agnostic and a Reform Jew". Despite identifying as an agnostic and an atheist, he was critical of the "left-libertarian hostility to religion". In Rothbard's later years, many of his friends anticipated that he would convert to Catholicism, but he never did. The New York Times obituary called Rothbard "an economist and social philosopher who fiercely defended individual freedom against government intervention".
Creation of the Mises Institute
As a result of the economic works of Murray Rothbard, Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Ludwig Von Mises, and other Austrian economists, the Mises Institute was founded in 1982 by Lew Rockwell, Burton Blumert, and Murray Rothbard, following a split between the Cato Institute and Rothbard, who had been one of the founders of the Cato Institute.
Conflict with Ayn Rand
In 1954, Rothbard, along with several other attendees of Mises's seminar, joined the circle of novelist Ayn Rand, the founder of Objectivism. He soon parted from her, writing among other things that her ideas were not as original as she proclaimed, but similar to those of Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and Herbert Spencer. In 1958, after the publication of Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged, Rothbard wrote her a "fan letter", calling the book "an infinite treasure house" and "not merely the greatest novel ever written, [but] one of the very greatest books ever written, fiction or nonfiction". He also wrote: "[Y]ou introduced me to the whole field of natural rights and natural law philosophy", prompting him to learn "the glorious natural rights tradition". Rothbard rejoined Rand's circle for a few months, but soon broke with Rand again over various differences, including his defense of his interpretation of anarchism.
Rothbard later satirized Rand's acolytes in his unpublished one-act farce Mozart Was a Red and his essay "The Sociology of the Ayn Rand Cult". He characterized Rand's circle as a "dogmatic, personality cult". His play parodies Rand (through the character Carson Sand) and her friends and is set during a visit from Keith Hackley, a fan of Sand's novel The Brow of Zeus (a play on Atlas Shrugged).
Death
Rothbard died of a heart attack on January 7, 1995, at the age of 68. He was buried in his wife's plot in Oakwood Cemetery, Unionville, Virginia.
Ethical and philosophical views
Austrian economics
Rothbard was an advocate and practitioner of the Austrian School tradition of his teacher Ludwig von Mises. Like Mises, Rothbard rejected the application of the scientific method to economics and dismissed econometrics, empirical and statistical analysis and other tools of mainstream social science as outside the field (economic history might use those tools, but not Economics proper). He instead embraced praxeology, the strictly a priori methodology of Mises. Praxeology conceives of economic laws as akin to geometric or mathematical axioms: fixed, unchanging, objective and discernible through logical reasoning without the use of any empirical evidence.
According to Misesian economist Hans-Hermann Hoppe, eschewing the scientific method and empiricism distinguishes the Misesian approach "from all other current economic schools", which dismiss the Misesian approach as "dogmatic and unscientific." Mark Skousen of Chapman University and the Foundation for Economic Education, a critic of mainstream economics, praises Rothbard as brilliant, his writing style persuasive, his economic arguments nuanced and logically rigorous and his Misesian methodology sound. But Skousen concedes that Rothbard was effectively "outside the discipline" of mainstream economics and that his work "fell on deaf ears" outside his ideological circles.
Rothbard wrote extensively on Austrian business cycle theory and as part of this approach strongly opposed central banking, fiat money and fractional-reserve banking, advocating a gold standard and a 100% reserve requirement for banks.
Polemics against mainstream economics
Rothbard wrote a series of polemics in which he deprecated a number of leading modern economists. He vilified Adam Smith, calling him a "shameless plagiarist" who set economics off track, ultimately leading to the rise of Marxism. Rothbard praised Smith's contemporaries, including Richard Cantillon, Anne Robert Jacques Turgot and Étienne Bonnot de Condillac, for developing the subjective theory of value. In response to Rothbard's charge that Smith's The Wealth of Nations was largely plagiarized, David D. Friedman castigated Rothbard's scholarship and character, saying that he "was [either] deliberately dishonest or never really read the book he was criticizing". Tony Endres called Rothbard's treatment of Smith a "travesty".
Rothbard was equally scathing in his criticism of John Maynard Keynes, calling him weak on economic theory and a shallow political opportunist. Rothbard also wrote more generally that Keynesian-style governmental regulation of money and credit created a "dismal monetary and banking situation". He called John Stuart Mill a "wooly man of mush" and speculated that Mill's "soft" personality led his economic thought astray.
Rothbard was critical of monetarist economist Milton Friedman. In his polemic "Milton Friedman Unraveled", he called Friedman a "statist", a "favorite of the establishment", a friend of and "apologist" for Richard Nixon and a "pernicious influence" on public policy. Rothbard said that libertarians should scorn rather than celebrate Friedman's academic prestige and political influence. Noting that Rothbard has "been nasty to me and my work", Friedman responded to Rothbard's criticism by calling him a "cult builder and a dogmatist".
In a memorial volume published by the Mises Institute, Rothbard's protégé and libertarian theorist Hans-Hermann Hoppe wrote that Man, Economy, and State "presented a blistering refutation of all variants of mathematical economics" and included it among Rothbard's "almost mind-boggling achievements". Hoppe lamented that, like Mises, Rothbard died without winning the Nobel Prize that Hoppe says Rothbard deserved "twice over". Although Hoppe acknowledged that Rothbard and his work were largely ignored by academia, he called Rothbard an "intellectual giant" comparable to Aristotle, John Locke, and Immanuel Kant.
Disputes with other Austrian economists
Although he self-identified as an Austrian economist, Rothbard's methodology was at odds with that of many other Austrians. In 1956, Rothbard deprecated the views of Austrian economist Fritz Machlup, stating that Machlup was no praxeologist and calling him instead a "positivist" who failed to represent the views of Ludwig von Mises. Rothbard stated that in fact Machlup shared the opposing positivist view associated with economist Milton Friedman. Mises and Machlup had been colleagues in 1920s Vienna before each relocated to the United States and Mises later urged his American protege Israel Kirzner to pursue his PhD studies with Machlup at Johns Hopkins University.
According to libertarian economists Tyler Cowen and Richard Fink, Rothbard wrote that the term evenly rotating economy (ERE) can be used to analyze complexity in a world of change. The words ERE had been introduced by Mises as an alternative nomenclature for the mainstream economic method of static equilibrium and general equilibrium analysis. Cowen and Fink found "serious inconsistencies in both the nature of the ERE and its suggested uses". With the sole exception of Rothbard, no other economist adopted Mises' term and the concept continued to be called "equilibrium analysis".
In a 2011 article critical of Rothbard's "reflexive opposition" to inflation, The Economist noted that his views are increasingly gaining influence among politicians and laypeople on the right. The article contrasted Rothbard's categorical rejection of inflationary policies with the monetary views of "sophisticated Austrian-school monetary economists such as George Selgin and Larry White", [who] follow Hayek in treating stability of nominal spending as a monetary ideal—a position "not all that different from Mr [Scott] Sumner's".
According to economist Peter Boettke, Rothbard is better described as a property rights economist than as an Austrian economist. In 1988, Boettke noted that Rothbard "vehemently attacked all of the books of the younger Austrians".
Ethics
Although Rothbard adopted Ludwig von Mises' deductive methodology for his social theory and economics, he parted with Mises on the question of ethics. Specifically, he rejected Mises' conviction that ethical values remain subjective and opposed utilitarianism in favor of principle-based, natural law reasoning. In defense of his free market views, Mises employed utilitarian economic arguments aimed at demonstrating that interventionist policies made all of society worse off. On the other hand, Rothbard concluded that interventionist policies do in fact benefit some people, including certain government employees and beneficiaries of social programs. Therefore, unlike Mises, Rothbard argued for an objective, natural-law basis for the free market. He called this principle "self-ownership", loosely basing the idea on the writings of John Locke and also borrowing concepts from classical liberalism and the anti-imperialism of the Old Right.
Rothbard accepted the labor theory of property, but rejected the Lockean proviso, arguing that if an individual mixes his labor with unowned land then he becomes the proper owner eternally and that after that time it is private property which may change hands only by trade or gift.
Rothbard was a strong critic of egalitarianism. The title essay of Rothbard's 1974 book Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature and Other Essays held: "Equality is not in the natural order of things, and the crusade to make everyone equal in every respect (except before the law) is certain to have disastrous consequences". In it, Rothbard wrote: "At the heart of the egalitarian left is the pathological belief that there is no structure of reality; that all the world is a tabula rasa that can be changed at any moment in any desired direction by the mere exercise of human will".
Anarcho-capitalism
According to anarcho-capitalists, various theorists have espoused legal philosophies similar to anarcho-capitalism. However, Rothbard was the first person to use the term as in the mid-20th century he synthesized elements from the Austrian School of economics, classical liberalism and 19th-century American individualist anarchists. According to Lew Rockwell, Rothbard was the "conscience" of all the various strains of what he described as "libertarian anarchism", because their advocates (described as Rothbard's former "colleagues"), had often been personally inspired by his example.
During his years at graduate school in the late 1940s, Rothbard considered whether a strict adherence to libertarian and laissez-faire principles required the abolition of the state altogether. He visited Baldy Harper, a founder of the Foundation for Economic Education, who doubted the need for any government whatsoever. Rothbard said that during this period, he was influenced by 19th-century American individualist anarchists like Lysander Spooner and Benjamin Tucker and the Belgian economist Gustave de Molinari who wrote about how such a system could work. Thus, he "combined the laissez-faire economics of Mises with the absolutist views of human rights and rejection of the state" from individualist anarchists.
Rothbard began to consider himself a "private property anarchist" in 1950 and later began to use "anarcho-capitalist" to describe his political ideology. In his anarcho-capitalist model, the system of private property is upheld by private firms, such as hypothesized protection agencies, which compete in a free market and are voluntarily supported by consumers who choose to use their protective and judicial services. Anarcho-capitalists describe this as "the end of the state monopoly on force". He later came to terms that anarchism identified with socialism, and in an unpublished article wrote that individualist anarchism is different from anarcho-capitalism and other capitalist theories due to the individualist anarchists retaining the labor theory of value and socialist doctrines, suggesting a new term to identify himself: nonarchist.
In Man, Economy, and State, Rothbard divides the various kinds of state intervention in three categories: "autistic intervention", which is interference with private non-economic activities; "binary intervention", which is forced exchange between individuals and the state; and "triangular intervention", which is state-mandated exchange between individuals. According to Sanford Ikeda, Rothbard's typology "eliminates the gaps and inconsistencies that appear in Mises's original formulation". Rothbard writes in Power and Market that the role of the economist in a free market is limited, but it is much larger in a government that solicits economic policy recommendations. Rothbard argues that self-interest therefore prejudices the views of many economists in favor of increased government intervention.
Race, gender, and civil rights
Michael O'Malley, associate professor of history at George Mason University, characterizes Rothbard's "overall tone regard[ing]" the civil rights movement and the women's suffrage movement to be "contemptuous and hostile". Rothbard criticized women's rights activists, attributing the growth of the welfare state to politically active spinsters "whose busybody inclinations were not fettered by the responsibilities of health and heart". Rothbard argued that the progressive movement, which he regarded as a noxious influence on the United States, was spearheaded by a coalition of Yankee Protestants (people from the six New England states and upstate New York who were Protestants of English descent), Jewish women and "lesbian spinsters".
Rothbard called for the elimination of "the entire 'civil rights' structure" stating that it "tramples on the property rights of every American". He consistently favored repeal of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, including Title VII regarding employment discrimination, and called for overturning the Brown v. Board of Education decision on the grounds that state-mandated integration of schools violated libertarian principles. In an essay called "Right-wing Populism", Rothbard proposed a set of measures to "reach out" to the "middle and working classes", which included urging the police to crack down on "street criminals", writing that "cops must be unleashed" and "allowed to administer instant punishment, subject of course to liability when they are in error". He also advocated that the police "clear the streets of bums and vagrants."
Rothbard held strong opinions about many leaders of the civil rights movement. He considered black separatist Malcolm X to be a "great black leader" and integrationist Martin Luther King Jr. to be favored by whites because he "was the major restraining force on the developing Negro revolution". In 1993 he rejected the vision of a "separate black nation", asking "does anyone really believe that ... New Africa would be content to strike out on its own, with no massive "foreign aid" from the U.S.A.?". Rothbard also suggested that opposition to Martin Luther King Jr., whom he demeaned as a "coercive integrationist", should be a litmus test for members of his "paleolibertarian" political movement.
Opposition to war
Like Randolph Bourne, Rothbard believed that "war is the health of the state". According to David Gordon, this was the reason for Rothbard's opposition to aggressive foreign policy. Rothbard believed that stopping new wars was necessary and that knowledge of how government had led citizens into earlier wars was important. Two essays expanded on these views "War, Peace, and the State" and "Anatomy of the State". Rothbard used insights of Vilfredo Pareto, Gaetano Mosca and Robert Michels to build a model of state personnel, goals and ideology. In an obituary for his friend, the historical revisionist Harry Elmer Barnes, Rothbard wrote:
Rothbard's colleague Joseph Stromberg notes that Rothbard made two exceptions to his general condemnation of war: "the American Revolution and the War for Southern Independence, as viewed from the Confederate side". Rothbard condemned the "Northern war against slavery", saying it was inspired by "fanatical" religious faith and characterized by "a cheerful willingness to uproot institutions, to commit mayhem and mass murder, to plunder and loot and destroy, all in the name of high moral principle". He celebrated Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and other prominent Confederates as heroes while denouncing Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant and other Union leaders for "open[ing] the Pandora's Box of genocide and the extermination of civilians" in their war against the South.
Middle East conflict
Rothbard's The Libertarian Forum blamed the Middle East conflict on Israeli aggression "fueled by American arms and money". Rothbard warned that the Middle East conflict would draw the United States into a world war. He was anti-Zionist and opposed United States involvement in the Middle East. Rothbard criticized the Camp David Accords for having betrayed Palestinian aspirations and opposed Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon. In his essay, "War Guilt in the Middle East", Rothbard states that Israel refused "to let these refugees return and reclaim the property taken from them". He took negative views of the two state solution for the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, saying: On the one hand there are the Palestinian Arabs, who have tilled the soil or otherwise used the land of Palestine for centuries; and on the other, there are a group of external fanatics, who come from all over the world, and who claim the entire land area as "given" to them as a collective religion or tribe at some remote or legendary time in the past. There is no way the two claims can be resolved to the satisfaction of both parties. There can be no genuine settlement, no "peace" in the face of this irrepressible conflict; there can only be either a war to the death, or an uneasy practical compromise which can satisfy no one. That is the harsh reality of the Middle East.
Historical revisionism
Rothbard embraced "historical revisionism" as an antidote to what he perceived to be the dominant influence exerted by corrupt "court intellectuals" over mainstream historical narratives. Rothbard wrote that these mainstream intellectuals distorted the historical record in favor of "the state" in exchange for "wealth, power, and prestige" from the state. Rothbard characterized the revisionist task as "penetrating the fog of lies and deception of the State and its Court Intellectuals, and to present to the public the true history". He was influenced by and called a champion of the historian Harry Elmer Barnes. Rothbard endorsed Barnes's revisionism on World War II, favorably citing his view that "the murder of Germans and Japanese was the overriding aim of World War II". In addition to broadly supporting his historical views, Rothbard promoted Barnes as an influence for future revisionists.
Rothbard's endorsing of World War II revisionism and his association with Barnes and other Holocaust deniers have drawn criticism. Kevin D. Williamson wrote an opinion piece published by National Review which condemned Rothbard for "making common cause with the 'revisionist' historians of the Third Reich", a term he used to describe American Holocaust deniers associated with Rothbard, such as James J. Martin of the Institute for Historical Review. The piece also characterized "Rothbard and his faction" as being "culpably indulgent" of Holocaust denial, the view which "specifically denies that the Holocaust actually happened or holds that it was in some way exaggerated".
In an article for Rothbard's 50th birthday, Rothbard's friend and Buffalo State College historian Ralph Raico stated that Rothbard "is the main reason that revisionism has become a crucial part of the whole libertarian position".
Children's rights and parental obligations
In the Ethics of Liberty, Rothbard explores issues regarding children's rights in terms of self-ownership and contract. These include support for a woman's right to abortion, condemnation of parents showing aggression towards children and opposition to the state forcing parents to care for children. He also holds children have the right to run away from parents and seek new guardians as soon as they are able to choose to do so. He argued that parents have the right to put a child out for adoption or sell the rights to the child in a voluntary contract in what Rothbard suggests will be a "flourishing free market in children". He believes that selling children as consumer goods in accord with market forces—while "superficially monstrous"—will benefit "everyone" involved in the market: "the natural parents, the children, and the foster parents purchasing".
In Rothbard's view of parenthood, "the parent should not have a legal obligation to feed, clothe, or educate his children, since such obligations would entail positive acts coerced upon the parent and depriving the parent of his rights". Thus, Rothbard stated that parents should have the legal right to let any infant die by starvation and should be free to engage in other forms of child neglect. However, according to Rothbard, "the purely free society will have a flourishing free market in children". In a fully libertarian society, he wrote, "the existence of a free baby market will bring such 'neglect' down to a minimum".
Economist Gene Callahan of Cardiff University, formerly a scholar at the Rothbard-affiliated Mises Institute, observes that Rothbard allows "the logical elegance of his legal theory" to "trump any arguments based on the moral reprehensibility of a parent idly watching her six-month-old child slowly starve to death in its crib".
Retributive theory of criminal justice
In The Ethics of Liberty, Rothbard advocates for a "frankly retributive theory of punishment" or a system of "a tooth (or two teeth) for a tooth". Rothbard emphasizes that all punishment must be proportional, stating that "the criminal, or invader, loses his rights to the extent that he deprived another man of his". Applying his retributive theory, Rothbard states that a thief "must pay double the extent of theft". Rothbard gives the example of a thief who stole $15,000 and says he not only would have to return the stolen money, but also provide the victim an additional $15,000, money to which the thief has forfeited his right. The thief would be "put in a [temporary] state of enslavement to his victim" if he is unable to pay him immediately. Rothbard also applies his theory to justify beating and torturing violent criminals, although the beatings are required to be proportional to the crimes for which they are being punished.
Torture of criminal suspects
In chapter twelve of Ethics, Rothbard turns his attention to suspects arrested by the police. He argues that police should be able to torture certain types of criminal suspects, including accused murderers, for information related to their alleged crime. Writes Rothbard: "Suppose ... police beat and torture a suspected murderer to find information (not to wring a confession, since obviously a coerced confession could never be considered valid). If the suspect turns out to be guilty, then the police should be exonerated, for then they have only ladled out to the murderer a parcel of what he deserves in return; his rights had already been forfeited by more than that extent. But if the suspect is not convicted, then that means that the police have beaten and tortured an innocent man, and that they in turn must be put into the dock for criminal assault". Gene Callahan examines this position and concludes that Rothbard rejects the widely held belief that torture is inherently wrong, no matter who the victim. Callahan goes on to state that Rothbard's scheme gives the police a strong motive to frame the suspect after having tortured him or her.
Science and scientism
In an essay condemning "scientism in the study of man", Rothbard rejected the application of causal determinism to human beings, arguing that the actions of human beings—as opposed to those of everything else in nature—are not determined by prior causes, but by "free will". He argued that "determinism as applied to man, is a self-contradictory thesis, since the man who employs it relies implicitly on the existence of free will". Rothbard opposed what he considered the overspecialization of the academy and sought to fuse the disciplines of economics, history, ethics and political science to create a "science of liberty". Rothbard described the moral basis for his anarcho-capitalist position in two of his books: For a New Liberty, published in 1973; and The Ethics of Liberty, published in 1982. In his Power and Market (1970), Rothbard describes how a stateless economy might function.
Political activism
Throughout his life, Rothbard engaged in a number of different political movements in an effort to promote his Old Right and libertarian political principles. His first political activism came in 1948, on behalf of the segregationist South Carolinian Strom Thurmond's presidential campaign. In the 1948 presidential election, Rothbard, "as a Jewish student at Columbia, horrified his peers by organizing a Students for Strom Thurmond chapter, so staunchly did he believe in states' rights".
By the late 1960s, Rothbard's "long and winding yet somehow consistent road had taken him from anti-New Deal and anti-interventionist Robert A. Taft supporter into friendship with the quasi-pacifist Nebraska Republican Congressman Howard Buffett (father of Warren Buffett) then over to the League of (Adlai) Stevensonian Democrats and, by 1968, into tentative comradeship with the anarchist factions of the New Left". Rothbard advocated an alliance with the New Left anti-war movement on the grounds that the conservative movement had been completely subsumed by the statist establishment. However, Rothbard later criticized the New Left for supporting a "People's Republic" style draft. It was during this phase that he associated with Karl Hess and founded Left and Right: A Journal of Libertarian Thought with Leonard Liggio and George Resch, which existed from 1965 to 1968.
From 1969 to 1984, he edited The Libertarian Forum, also initially with Hess (although Hess's involvement ended in 1971). The Libertarian Forum provided a platform for Rothbard's writing. Despite its small readership, it engaged conservatives associated with the National Review in nationwide debate. Rothbard rejected the view that Ronald Reagan's 1980 election as president was a victory for libertarian principles and he attacked Reagan's economic program in a series of Libertarian Forum articles. In 1982, Rothbard called Reagan's claims of spending cuts a "fraud" and a "hoax" and accused Reaganites of doctoring the economic statistics to give the false impression that their policies were successfully reducing inflation and unemployment. He further criticized the "myths of Reaganomics" in 1987.
Rothbard criticized the "frenzied nihilism" of left-wing libertarians, but also criticized right-wing libertarians who were content to rely only on education to bring down the state; he believed that libertarians should adopt any moral tactic available to them to bring about liberty.
Imbibing Randolph Bourne's idea that "war is the health of the state", Rothbard opposed all wars in his lifetime and engaged in anti-war activism. During the 1970s and 1980s, Rothbard was active in the Libertarian Party. He was frequently involved in the party's internal politics. He was one of the founders of the Cato Institute and "came up with the idea of naming this libertarian think tank after Cato's Letters, a powerful series of British newspaper essays by John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon which played a decisive influence upon America's Founding Fathers in fomenting the Revolution". From 1978 to 1983, he was associated with the Libertarian Party Radical Caucus, allying himself with Justin Raimondo, Eric Garris and Williamson Evers. He opposed the "low-tax liberalism" espoused by 1980 Libertarian Party presidential candidate Ed Clark and Cato Institute president Edward H Crane III. According to Charles Burris, "Rothbard and Crane became bitter rivals after disputes emerging from the 1980 LP presidential campaign of Ed Clark carried over to strategic direction and management of Cato".
Rothbard split with the Radical Caucus at the 1983 national convention over cultural issues and aligned himself with what he called the "right-wing populist" wing of the party, notably Lew Rockwell and Ron Paul, who ran for president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 1988. Rothbard "worked closely with Lew Rockwell (joined later by his long-time friend Burton Blumert) in nurturing the Ludwig von Mises Institute, and the publication, The Rothbard-Rockwell Report; which after Rothbard's 1995 death evolved into the website, LewRockwell.com".
Paleolibertarianism
In 1989, Rothbard left the Libertarian Party and began building bridges to the post-Cold War anti-interventionist right, calling himself a paleolibertarian, a conservative reaction against the cultural liberalism of mainstream libertarianism. Paleolibertarianism sought to appeal to disaffected working class whites through a synthesis of cultural conservatism and libertarian economics. According to Reason, Rothbard advocated right-wing populism in part because he was frustrated that mainstream thinkers were not adopting the libertarian view and suggested that former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke and Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy were models for an "Outreach to the Rednecks" effort that could be used by a broad libertarian/paleoconservative coalition. Working together, the coalition would expose the "unholy alliance of 'corporate liberal' Big Business and media elites, who, through big government, have privileged and caused to rise up a parasitic Underclass". Rothbard blamed this "Underclass" for "looting and oppressing the bulk of the middle and working classes in America". Regarding the political program of the former Grand Wizard David Duke, Rothbard asserted that "nothing" in it that "could not also be embraced by paleoconservatives or paleolibertarians; lower taxes, dismantling the bureaucracy, slashing the welfare system, attacking affirmative action and racial set-asides, calling for equal rights for all Americans, including whites".
Rothbard supported the presidential campaign of Pat Buchanan in 1992 and wrote that "with Pat Buchanan as our leader, we shall break the clock of social democracy". When Buchanan dropped out of the Republican primary race, Rothbard then shifted his interest and support to Ross Perot, who Rothbard wrote had "brought an excitement, a verve, a sense of dynamics and of open possibilities to what had threatened to be a dreary race". However, Rothbard eventually withdrew his support from Perot, and endorsed George H. W. Bush in the 1992 election.
Like Buchanan, Rothbard opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). However, he had become disillusioned with Buchanan by 1995, believing that the latter's "commitment to protectionism was mutating into an all-round faith in economic planning and the nation state".
After Rothbard's death in 1995, Lew Rockwell, president of the Mises Institute, told The New York Times that Rothbard was "the founder of right-wing anarchism". William F. Buckley Jr. wrote a critical obituary in the National Review, criticizing Rothbard's "defective judgment" and views on the Cold War. Hoppe, Rockwell, and Rothbard's other colleagues at the Mises Institute took a different view, arguing that he was one of the most important philosophers in history.
Works
Articles
The Individualist (April and July–August 1971).
Revised and published by the Center for Independent Education in 1979 (). The Mises Institute, with editorial assistance from summer fellow Candice Jackson, published a 1999 edition with the restored original text and included an index provided by Institute Member Richard Perry. (. .)
"His only crime Was against the Old Guard: Milken: In the best tradition of free enterprise, he made money by serving the public." Los Angeles Times (March 3, 1992).
"Anti-Buchanania: A Mini-Encyclopedia." Rothbard-Rockwell Report (May 1992), pp. 1–13.
"Saint Hillary and the Religious Left." (December 1994).
"The Other Side of the Coin: Free Banking in Chile." Austrian Economics Newsletter, vol. 10, no. 2.
Books
Man, Economy, and State. D. Van Nostrand (1962). full text.
Second edition (Scholar's Edition) published in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2004). . Full text.
The Panic of 1819: Reactions and Policies. New York: Columbia University Press (1962). Full text.
Republished, Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2004). .
America's Great Depression. D. Van Nostrand (1973). Full text.
Fifth edition published in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2005). .
Power and Market: Government and the Economy. Sheed Andrews and McMeel (1970). full text.
Republished, Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2004). .
For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto. Collier Books (1973). Full text; audiobook. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute. .
Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature and Other Essays. Libertarian Review Press (1974). Full text.
Second edition, Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2000). .
Conceived in Liberty (4 vol.). New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House (1975–1979). Full text.
Republished, Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2012). .
The Logic of Action (2 vol.). Edward Elgar Publications (1997). . Full text.
Reprinted as Economic Controversies. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2011).
The Ethics of Liberty. Humanities Press (1982). New York University Press (1998). Full text; audiobook. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute. .
The Mystery of Banking. Richardson and Snyder, Dutton (1983). Full text.
Republished in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007). .
The Case Against the Fed. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (1994). Full text.
Republished in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007). .
America's Great Depression [5th ed.]. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (June 15, 2000).
An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought (2 vol.). Edward Elgar Publishers (1995). .
Vol. 1: Economic Thought Before Adam Smith. Republished in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2009).
Vol. 2: Classical Economics. Republished in Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2009).
Making Economic Sense. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007). . Full text.
The Betrayal of the American Right. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2007). . Full text and audiobook, narrated by Ian Temple.
Despite posthumous publication in 2007, it appears in print virtually unchanged from the manuscript untouched since the 1970s.
Book contributions
Introduction to Capital, Interest, and Rent: Essays in the Theory of Distribution, by Frank A. Fetter. Kansas City: Sheed Andrews and McMeel (1977).
Foreword to The Theory of Money and Credit, by Ludwig von Mises. Liberty Fund (1981). Full text .
"Bramble Minibook" (1973). In: The Essential von Mises. Auburn, Alab: Ludwig von Mises Institute (1988). Full text.
Monographs
Wall Street, Banks, and American Foreign Policy. World Market Perspective (1984). Full text. Spanish translation.
Republished by the Center for Libertarian Studies (1995), and the Ludwig von Mises Institute (2005).
Interviews
"Interview with Murray Rothbard on Man, Economy, and State, Mises, and the Future of the Austrian School" (Summer 1990). Austrian Economics Newsletter.
See also
American philosophy
Anarcho-capitalism
Criticism of the Federal Reserve
Hans-Hermann Hoppe
Libertarianism in the United States
List of American philosophers
List of peace activists
Milton Friedman
Notes
Further reading
Doherty, Brian (2007). Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement. PublicAffairs.
External links
Audiobooks by Rothbard at Mises Institute
Murray Rothbard full bibliography at Mises.org
Rothbard videos at YouTube channel of the Ludwig von Mises Institute
Murray N. Rothbard Library and Resources from LewRockwell.com
Rothbardiana (Italy)
Murray Rothbard Institute (Belgium)
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Writers from New York City
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"Andrea Pasinetti is a co-founder and former co-CEO of Teach For China, a nonprofit organization that recruits university graduates from China and the United States and trains them to serve as full-time teachers for two years in under-resourced Chinese schools.\n\nBackground \n\nPasinetti studied at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and directed Princeton’s Interact Program, bringing civic education to poor high school students in the Trenton City area. He co-founded Teach For China in 2008 during a year of study at Tsinghua University's Inter-University Program. That year, while conducting research for his senior thesis, Pasinetti traveled to seven provinces in China and visited more than 300 schools. He cites his experiences visiting low-income Chinese schools and observing the challenges faced by rural students as the source of his inspiration to leave Princeton and found China Education Initiative, which has since been renamed Teach For China.\n\nTeach For China \nTeach For China recruits recent college graduates from China and the U.S. and trains them to serve as full-time teachers for two years in under-resourced Chinese schools. In 2011, Teach For China became a partner in the Teach For All network, a “global network of independent social enterprises working to expand educational opportunity in their countries by enlisting talented future leaders to the effort.”\n\nIn the 2012-2013 school year, more than 200 Teach For China Fellows served in 55 schools in China's Yunnan and Guangdong provinces, reaching more than 30,000 students. Since then the number of Teach For China Fellows has risen to over 450, reaching more than 70,000 students in Yunnan and Guangdong provinces. Teach for China is now an educational non-profit program under the Lead Foundation.\n\nAwards \nPasinetti was recognized in 2011 by ChinaNewsweek magazine as the most influential foreigner working in China.\n\nPersonal\nHe is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and frequently gives interviews on Chinese television. From 2018 thru 2020, he will be studying at the MBA program at Stanford Graduate School of Business.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \nEducation Initiative, PhoenixTelevision June 23, 2012.\n\nArticles\n\nInterviews\n最美丽的未来, YixiTalk October 18, 2012.\n志愿者支教系列：缩小城乡教育差距付诸行动, PhoenixTV March 28, 2012.\nUpClose 04/06/2013 Andrea Pasinetti, Founder and CEO of Teach For China, CCTV English April 8, 2013.\n\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nLiving people\nPrinceton School of Public and International Affairs alumni\nAmerican nonprofit chief executives",
"Teach Yourself is currently an imprint of Hodder Education and formerly a series published by the English Universities Press (a subsidiary company of Hodder & Stoughton) that specializes in self-instruction books. The series, which began in 1938, is most famous for its language education books, but its titles in mathematics (including algebra and calculus) are also best sellers, and over its long history the series has covered a great many other subjects as well. \"A Concise Guide to Teach Yourself\", compiled by A R Taylor, was published in 1958 and listed all the titles up until then.\n\nOverview\n\nThe Teach Yourself books were published from 1938 until 1966 under the imprint English Universities Press, owned by Hodder & Stoughton. Leonard Cutts (1904-1992) was overall editor from the start, and he remained the editor until 1964. Most titles published during the Second World War were aimed at helping the British nation survive as well as improving knowledge in the subjects that would advance the war effort. Teach Yourself to Fly by Nigel Tangye was published in September 1939 on the eve of the Second World War. It was immediately recommended by the Air Ministry to prospective RAF pilots. Teach Yourself Radio Communication and Teach Yourself Air Navigation were added to the list in 1941. There was a big demand for these books, especially as supplies were constrained by wartime paper shortages. In June 1941 The Times reported that \"sailors, soldiers and airmen have helped to bring the figures of Teach Yourself Mathematics (by John Davidson, 1938) and Teach Yourself Trigonometry (by Percival Abbott, 1940) to nearly 50,000 apiece\". Barely two months later the number had risen to 80,000 each. \n\nBy the 50th anniversary in 1988 some 40 million copies of the Teach Yourself series had been sold, with the books generating a turnover of over £1 million.\n\nLike many similar series, Teach Yourself has always used a common design for all of its books. Most older titles are covered with a distinctive yellow and blue, (formerly black), dust jacket, but over the years the publisher has changed the cover design several times, using an all-blue paperback format during the 1980s, a larger photographic or painted front cover with a black stripe containing the title in the 1990s, and recently adopting a yellow rounded rectangle with a black border as their primary logo in the 21st century.\n\nThe Original Series (19381966)\nThe earliest (EUP) volumes in the series were published in 1938 priced at two shillings and sixpence. The first five books to be published were adaptations from earlier works, but subsequently all were newly commissioned. The original numbering scheme reached to over 700. Notable early titles included:\n Teach Yourself About the Greeks by J. C. Stobart, was abridged from his full length work The Glory that was Greece (1911).\n Teach Yourself Amateur Acting by John Bourne, said to have been read by Michael Caine at the start of his career.\n Teach Yourself Arabic, first published in 1943, was written by Arthur Stanley Tritton. Tritton wrote a number of books on Islam and its history, and from 1938 to 1946 was Professor of Arabic at the School of Oriental and African Studies.\n Teach Yourself Astronomy was written by the noted British astronomer David Stanley Evans in 1957. At the time he was Chief Assistant at the Royal Observatory Cape of Good Hope.\n Teach Yourself Biology was written in 1940 by the pioneering woman physician Mary Elizabeth Phillips (with Lucy Ellen Cox). \n Teach Yourself Colloquial Arabic, first published in 1962, was written by Terence Frederick Mitchell.\n Teach Yourself Embroidery, one of the earliest titles in 1938, was written by Mary Thomas (1889-1948), who was editor of The Needlewoman in the 1920s and 1930s.\n Teach Yourself to Think, also published in 1938, was written by R. W. Jepson, headmaster of the Mercers' School.\n Teach Yourself Turkish, first published in 1953, was written by Geoffrey Lewis.\n Teach Yourself Irish, first published in 1961, was written by Myles Dillon and Donncha Ó Cróinín.\n\nSubjects covered in the series ranged from the vocational (Teach Yourself Banking by John Burgess Parker) to practical home help (Teach Yourself Bringing up Children, Teach Yourself Dressmaking, Teach Yourself Gas in the House, The Teach Yourself Letter Writer), to hobbyist (Teach Yourself Bee-Keeping, Teach Yourself Etching), and language learning (with Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Greek and Hindustani among the earliest titles). The books even stretched to highly technical subjects (Teach Yourself Chemistry, Teach Yourself Atomic Physics) and to the arts (Teach Yourself to Compose Music). One of the most extreme was Teach Yourself Jet Engines and Rocket Propulsion by Patrick Joseph McMahon, published in 1964. \n\nA Concise Guide to Teach Yourself was published in 1958, listing all the titles then available, although the official numbering only began in 1949, so the books published before them were assigned numbers posthumously.\n\nCurrent Series (1966)\nBooks in the Teach Yourself series have been published since 1966 by Hodder & Stoughton, who shifted the format of the books to trade paperbacks in 1973. For 2010, the books had a total redesign, and were printed in colour for the first time. Today they are available around the English-speaking world and cover numerous subjects, from language education to computers, games, and other crafts and hobbies. The company now specialises in self-instruction courses through books, audio and multimedia, with a particular emphasis on languages.\n\nTeach Yourself Languages Series\nThe Teach Yourself Languages range is available in over 65 languages and is available at four different levels. The Teach Yourself Languages range grade the four levels used against the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). In their 2012 range, Teach Yourself introduced a feature called Discovery Method. After each conversation has been practised, the Discovery Method provides further explanation through focusing on usage and practice rather than the focus on rules found in the traditional inductive method.\n\nGet Talking and Get Started Series: The first two strands, Get Talking (audio course) and Get Started, are aimed at absolute beginners and those who have not learnt a language since school. Get Talking is an all-audio course designed to get teach basic speaking in a short period. Get Started In is a more comprehensive course tackling all four skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking).\n\n Arabic\n Brazilian Portuguese\n Cantonese\n Danish\n Dutch\n French\n German\n Greek\n Gujarati\n Hindi\n Hungarian\n Italian\n Japanese\n Korean\n Latin\n Latin American Spanish\n Mandarin Chinese\n Modern Hebrew\n Norwegian\n Polish\n Portuguese\n Russian\n Spanish\n Swedish\n Thai\n Turkish \n Vietnamese\n\nComplete... Series: The third strand is the Complete course, which is again aimed at absolute beginners, but is longer and covers a greater range of material. The Complete range offers the broadest range of products in the Teach Yourself Languages series as it covers all 65 languages available from Teach Yourself. The Complete range includes many of the language volumes earlier included in the Teach Yourself series before the Complete language sub-series was devised.\n\n Afrikaans\n Arabic\n Bengali\n Brazilian Portuguese\n Bulgarian\n Cantonese\n Catalan\n Croatian \n Czech\n Danish\n Dutch\n English as a Foreign Language\n Esperanto\n Estonian\n Tagalog\n French\n Scottish Gaelic\n German\n Greek\n Hindi\n Hungarian\n Icelandic\n Indonesian\n Irish\n Italian\n Japanese\n Korean\n Latin American Spanish\n Latvian\n Lithuanian\n Malay\n Mandarin Chinese\n Modern Hebrew \n Modern Persian \n Nepali\n Norwegian\n Panjabi\n Polish\n Portuguese\n Romanian\n Russian\n Serbian\n Spanish\n Spoken Arabic of the Gulf\n Swahili\n Swedish\n Thai\n Turkish\n Ukrainian\n Urdu\n Vietnamese\n Welsh\n Xhosa \n Zulu\n\nEnjoy... Series: Enjoy is the fourth level, introducing further vocabulary and grammar. This series was formerly marketed as the \"Perfect your...\" series.\n\n German \n Italian\n Norwegian\n Spanish\n French\n Esperanto\n\nAll That Matters\nThe All That Matters series is a series of short introductions to various subjects, intended to allow readers to \"quickly discover all that matters about\" their subjects. , its titles include:\n\n Ancient Egypt\n Animal Rights\n Archaeology\n Astronomy\n Atheism\n Autism Spectrum Disorder\n Bioethics\n Buddhism\n Classical World\n Cyber Crime & Warfare\n Darwin\n Democracy\n Emotion\n Energy\n Euthanasia\n Existentialism\n Free Speech\n Future Cities\n Future\n God\n History of Medicine\n Intelligence\n International Relations\n Judaism\n Love\n Mathematics\n Modern China\n Modern Japan\n Modern Korea\n Muhammad\n Philosophy\n Plato\n Political Philosophy\n Risk\n Sexuality\n Shakespeare's Comedies\n Shakespeare's Tragedies\n Space Exploration\n Stress\n Sustainability\n Terrorism\n The Renaissance\n The Romans\n Water\n\nSee also\nLanguage education\nList of Language Self-Study Programs\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOfficial website\nCollecting Old Teach Yourself Books - older dustjackets in numbered sequence with background details\n Bookride: Teach Yourself Books\n\nPublishing companies established in 1938\nPublishing companies of the United Kingdom\nHodder & Stoughton books\nSelf-help books\n1938 establishments in England"
] |
[
"Jerry Lewis",
"Illness"
] | C_acddf0ca4d054573ab0b9e83c4a4fa9e_0 | When did lewis first fall ill? | 1 | When did Jerry Lewis first fall ill? | Jerry Lewis | Lewis had a number of illnesses and addictions related both to aging and a back injury sustained in a comedic pratfall from a piano while performing at the Sands Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip on March 20, 1965. The accident almost left him paralyzed. In its aftermath, Lewis became addicted to the painkiller Percodan for thirteen years. He said he had been off the drug since 1978. In April 2002, Lewis had a Medtronic "Synergy" neurostimulator implanted in his back, which helped reduce the discomfort. He was one of the company's leading spokesmen. In the 2011 documentary Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis, Lewis said he had his first heart attack at age 34 while filming Cinderfella in 1960. In December 1982, he had another heart attack. En route to San Diego from New York City on a cross-country commercial airline flight on June 11, 2006, he had another. It was discovered that he had pneumonia, as well as a severely damaged heart. He underwent a cardiac catheterization and two stents were inserted into one of his coronary arteries, which was 90 percent blocked. The surgery resulted in increased blood flow to his heart and allowed him to continue his rebound from earlier lung problems. Having the cardiac catheterization meant canceling several major events from his schedule, but Lewis fully recuperated in a matter of weeks. In 1999, Lewis' Australian tour was cut short when he had to be hospitalized in Darwin with viral meningitis. He was ill for more than five months. It was reported in the Australian press that he had failed to pay his medical bills. However, Lewis maintained that the payment confusion was the fault of his health insurer. The resulting negative publicity caused him to sue his insurer for US$100 million. Lewis had prostate cancer, type 1 diabetes, pulmonary fibrosis, and a decades-long history of cardiovascular disease. Prednisone treatment in the late 1990s for pulmonary fibrosis resulted in weight gain and a noticeable change in his appearance. In September 2001, Lewis was unable to perform at a planned London charity event at the London Palladium. He was the headlining act, and he was introduced but did not appear. He had suddenly become unwell, apparently with heart problems. He was subsequently taken to the hospital. Some months thereafter, Lewis began an arduous, months-long therapy that weaned him off prednisone and enabled him to return to work. On June 12, 2012, he was treated and released from a hospital after collapsing from hypoglycemia at a New York Friars Club event. This latest health issue forced him to cancel a show in Sydney. In an October 2016 interview with Inside Edition, Lewis acknowledged that he might not star in any more films, given his advanced age, while admitting, through tears, that he was afraid of dying, as it would leave his wife and daughter alone. In June 2017, Lewis was hospitalized at a Las Vegas hospital for a urinary tract infection. CANNOTANSWER | March 20, 1965. | Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, director, actor, screenwriter, singer, humanitarian and producer. Nicknamed "The King of Comedy", Lewis is regarded as one of the most significant American cultural figures of the 20th century, was widely known for his "kid" and "idiot" persona and his contributions to comedy and charity, along with his publicized personal life made him a global figure in pop culture over an eight-decade career. He professionally debuted in 1946 as part of the famous Martin and Lewis with singer Dean Martin and performed together until 1956.
That same year, his solo career started after the split. By becoming a solo star and innovative filmmaker, he helped to develop and popularize "video assist", the closed-circuit apparatus enabling film directors to see what had been shot without waiting for developed film footage. Lewis appeared and starred in 60 films with 13 directed by him. He was also national chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) and host of The Jerry Lewis Telethon each Labor Day weekend for many years.
Early life
Lewis was born Joseph Levitch on March 16, 1926, in Newark, New Jersey, to a Jewish family. His parents were Daniel "Danny" Levitch (1902–1980), a master of ceremonies and vaudevillian who performed under the stage name Danny Lewis, whose parents immigrated to the United States from the Russian Empire to New York, and Rachael "Rae" Levitch (née Brodsky; 1903–1983), a WOR radio pianist and Danny's music director, from Warsaw. Reports as to his birth name are conflicting; in Lewis's 1982 autobiography, he claimed his birth name was Joseph, after his maternal grandfather, but his birth certificate, the 1930 U. S. Census, and the 1940 U. S. Census all named him as Jerome.
Lewis said that he ceased using the names Joseph and Joey as an adult to avoid being confused with Joe E. Lewis and Joe Louis. Reports as to the hospital in which he was born conflict as well, with biographer Shawn Levy claiming he was born at Clinton Private Hospital and others claiming Newark Beth Israel Hospital. Other claims of his early life also conflict with accounts made by family members, burial records, and vital records. He was a "character" even in his teenage years, pulling pranks in his neighborhood including sneaking into kitchens to steal fried chicken and pies. He dropped out of Irvington High School in the tenth grade.
Early career
By age 15, he had developed his "Record Act" miming lyrics to songs while a phonograph played offstage. He landed a gig at a burlesque house in Buffalo, but his performance fell flat and was unable to book any more shows. To make ends meet, Lewis worked as a soda jerk and a theater usher for Suzanne Pleshette's father Gene at the Paramount Theatre as well as at Loew's Capitol Theatre, both in New York City,.
A veteran burlesque comedian, Max Coleman, who had worked with Lewis's father years before, persuaded him to try again. Irving Kaye, a Borscht Belt comedian, saw Lewis's mime act at Brown's Hotel in Loch Sheldrake, New York, the following summer, and the audience was so enthusiastic that Kaye became Lewis's manager and guardian for Borscht Belt appearances. During World War II, he was rejected for military service because of a heart murmur.
Career
Teaming with Dean Martin
In 1945, Lewis was 19 when he met 27-year-old singer Dean Martin at the Glass Hat Club in New York City, where the two performed until they debuted at Atlantic City's 500 Club as Martin and Lewis on July 25, 1946. The duo gained attention as a double act with Martin serving as the straight man to Lewis's zany antics. Along with being physically attractive, they played to each other and had ad-libbed improvisational segments within their planned routines, which added a unique quality to their act and separated them from previous comedy duos.
Martin and Lewis quickly rose to national prominence, first with their popular nightclub act, then as stars of their radio program The Martin and Lewis Show. The two made their television debut on CBS' Toast of the Town (later renamed as The Ed Sullivan Show) June 20, 1948.
This was followed by an appearance on Welcome Aboard on October 3, 1948, and by a guest stint on Texaco Star Theater in 1949.
In 1950, the boys signed with NBC to be one of a series of weekly rotating hosts of The Colgate Comedy Hour, a live Sunday evening broadcast. Lewis, writer for the team's nightclub act, hired Norman Lear and Ed Simmons as regular writers for their Comedy Hour material. Their Comedy Hour shows consisted of stand-up dialogue, song and dance from their nightclub act and movies, backed by Dick Stabile's big band, slapstick and satirical sketch comedy, Martin's solo songs, and Lewis's solo pantomimes or physical numbers.
They often broke character, ad-libbing and breaking the fourth wall. While not completely capturing the orchestrated mayhem of their nightclub act, the Comedy Hour displayed charismatic energy between the team and established their popularity nationwide. By 1951, with an appearance at the Paramount Theatre in New York, they were a cultural phenomenon. The duo began their film careers at Paramount Pictures as ensemble players, in My Friend Irma (1949) and its sequel My Friend Irma Goes West (1950).
They then starred in their own series of 14 new films, At War with the Army (1950), That's My Boy (1951), Sailor Beware (1952), Jumping Jacks (1952), The Stooge (1952), Scared Stiff (1953), The Caddy (1953), Money from Home (1953), Living It Up (1954), 3 Ring Circus (1954), You're Never Too Young (1955), Artists and Models (1955), Pardners (1956) and Hollywood or Bust (1956), all produced by Hal B. Wallis and appeared on Bing Crosby and Bob Hope's Olympic Fund Telethon.
Martin and Lewis cameoed in their film Road to Bali (1952), then Hope and Crosby would do the same in Scared Stiff a year later. Attesting to the duo's popularity, DC Comics published The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis from 1952 to 1957. The team appeared on What's My Line? in 1954, the 27th annual Academy Awards in 1955, The Steve Allen Show and The Today Show in 1956.
Their films were popular with audiences, and were financial successes for Paramount. In later years, both Lewis and Martin admitted frustration with Wallis for his formulaic and trite film choices, restricting them to narrow, repetitive roles. As Martin's roles in their films became less important over time and Lewis received the majority of critical acclaim, the partnership came under strain. Martin's participation became an embarrassment in 1954 when Look magazine published a publicity photo of the team for the magazine cover but cropped Martin out.
After their partnership ended with their final nightclub act on July 24, 1956, both Lewis and Martin went on to have successful solo careers and neither would comment on the split nor consider a reunion. They were occasionally seen at the same public events, though never together. On two occasions, in 1958 and 1961, Martin invited Lewis on stage, but the split was too serious for them to reconcile. Twenty years after their breakup Sinatra surprised Lewis by bringing Martin on live stage during the Jerry Lewis Telethon in September 1976. In 1989, Lewis returned the gesture, attending Martin's 72nd birthday.
Solo period
After ending his partnership with Martin in 1956, Lewis and his wife Patty took a vacation in Las Vegas to consider the direction of his career. He felt his life was in a crisis state: "I was unable to put one foot in front of the other with any confidence. I was completely unnerved to be alone". While there, he received an urgent request from his friend Sid Luft, who was Judy Garland's husband and manager, saying that she couldn't perform that night in Las Vegas because of strep throat, and asking Lewis to fill in.
Lewis had not sung alone on stage since he was five years old, twenty-five years before, but he appeared before the audience of a thousand, nonetheless, delivering jokes and clowning with the audience, while Garland sat off-stage, watching. He then sang a rendition of a song he'd learned as a child, "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody" along with "Come Rain or Come Shine". Lewis recalled, "When I was done, the place exploded. I walked off the stage knowing I could make it on my own".
At his wife's pleading, Lewis used his own money to record the songs on a single. Decca Records heard it, liked it and insisted he record an album for them. The single of Rock-a-Bye Your Baby went to No. 10 and the album Jerry Lewis Just Sings went to No. 3 on the Billboard charts, staying near the top for four months and selling a million and a half copies.
With the success of that album, he recorded the additional albums More Jerry Lewis (an EP of songs from this release was released as Somebody Loves Me), and Jerry Lewis Sings Big Songs for Little People (later reissued with fewer tracks as Jerry Lewis Sings for Children). Non-album singles were released, and It All Depends On You hit the charts in April and May 1957, but peaked at only No. 68. Further singles were recorded and released by Lewis into the mid-1960s.
But these were not Lewis's first forays into recording, nor his first appearance on the hit charts. During his partnership with Martin, they made several recordings together, charting at No. 22 in 1948 with the 1920s chestnut That Certain Party and later mostly re-recording songs highlighted in their films. Also during the time of their partnership, but without Martin, he recorded numerous novelty-comedy numbers for adults as well as records specifically intended for the children's market.
Having proven he could sing and do live shows, he began performing regularly at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, beginning in late 1956, which marked a turning point in his life and career. The Sands signed him for five years, to perform six weeks each year and paid him the same amount they had paid Martin and Lewis as a team. The critics gave him positive reviews: "Jerry was wonderful. He has proved that he can be a success by himself," wrote one. He continued with club performances in Miami, New York, Chicago and Washington.
Such live performances became a staple of his career and over the years he performed at casinos, theaters and state fairs coast-to-coast. In February 1957, he followed Garland at the Palace Theater in New York and Martin called on the phone during this period to wish him the best of luck. "I've never been happier," said Lewis. "I have peace of mind for the first time." Lewis established himself as a solo act on TV starting with the first of six appearances on What's My Line? from 1956 to 1966 and then guest starred on The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show.
He appeared on both Tonight Starring Jack Paar and The Ed Sullivan Show and beginning in January 1957, in a number of solo TV specials for NBC. He starred in his adaptation of "The Jazz Singer" for Startime. Lewis hosted the Academy Awards three times, in 1956, 1957 and the 31st Academy Awards in 1959, which ran twenty minutes short, forcing Lewis to improvise to fill time. DC Comics, switching from Martin and Lewis, published a new comic book series titled The Adventures of Jerry Lewis, running from 1957 to 1971.
Lewis remained at Paramount and started off with his first solo effort The Delicate Delinquent (1957) then starred in his next film The Sad Sack (1957). Frank Tashlin, whose background as a Looney Tunes cartoon director suited Lewis's brand of humor, came on board. Lewis did new films with him, first with Rock-A-Bye Baby (1958) and then The Geisha Boy (1958). Billy Wilder asked Lewis to play the lead role of an uptight jazz musician named Jerry, who winds up on the run from the mob, in Some Like It Hot but turned it down.
He then appeared in Don't Give Up The Ship (1959) and cameoed in Li'l Abner (1959). After his contract with Wallis ended, Lewis had several movies under his belt, eagering to flex his creative muscle and was free to deepen his comedy with pathos, believing, "Funny without pathos is a pie in the face. And a pie in the face is funny, but I wanted more." In 1959, a contract between Paramount and Jerry Lewis Productions was signed specifying a payment of $10 million plus 60% of the profits for 14 films over seven years.
This contract made Lewis the highest paid individual Hollywood talent to date and was unprecedented in that he had unlimited creative control, including final cut and the return of film rights after 30 years. Lewis's clout and box office were so strong (his films had already earned Paramount $100 million in rentals) that Barney Balaban, head of production at Paramount at that time, told the press, "If Jerry wants to burn down the studio I'll give him the match!"
He had finished his film contract with Wallis with Visit to a Small Planet (1960) and wrapped up production on his own film Cinderfella (1960), directed by Tashlin and was postponed for a Christmas 1960 release. Paramount Pictures, needing a quickie movie for its summer 1960 schedule, held Lewis to his contract to produce one. As a result, he made his debut as film director of The Bellboy (1960), which he also starred in.
Using the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami as his setting — on a small budget, with a very tight shooting schedule — Lewis shot the film during the day and performed at the hotel in the evenings. Bill Richmond collaborated with him on many of the sight gags. Lewis later revealed that Paramount was not happy about financing a "silent movie" and withdrew backing. Lewis used his own funds to cover the movie's $950,000 budget. Meanwhile, he directed an unsold pilot for Permanent Waves.
Lewis continued to direct more films that he had co-written with Richmond, including The Ladies Man (1961), where Lewis constructed a three-story dollhouse-like set spanning two sound stages, with the set equipped with state of the art lighting and sound, eliminating the need for boom mics in each room and his next movie The Errand Boy (1961), was one of the earliest films about movie-making, using all of the Paramount backlot and offices.
Lewis appeared in The Wacky World of Jerry Lewis, Celebrity Golf, The Garry Moore Show and Tashlin's It's Only Money (1962), then guest hosted The Tonight Show during the transition from Jack Paar to Johnny Carson in 1962 and his appearance on the show scored the highest ratings thus far in late night, surpassing other guest hosts and Paar. The three major networks began a bidding war, wooing Lewis for his own talk show, which debuted the following year.
Lewis then directed, co-wrote and starred in the smash hit The Nutty Professor (1963). A parody of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, it featured him as Professor Kelp, a socially inept scientist who invents a serum that turns him into a handsome but obnoxious ladies man. It is often considered to be Lewis's best film. It was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2004. The film inspired a franchise, which has included a 1996 remake starring Eddie Murphy in the title role and a stage musical adaptation.
He then appeared in a cameo role in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), then in Tashlin's Who's Minding the Store? (1963) and hosted The Jerry Lewis Show, a lavish 13-week, big-budget show which aired on ABC from September to December in 1963, but suffered in the ratings and was beleaguered by technical and other difficulties, including the assassination of then U.S. president John F. Kennedy, which left the country in a somber mood.
Lewis next starred in The Patsy (1964), his satire about the Hollywood star-making industry, The Disorderly Orderly (1964), his final collaboration with Tashlin, appeared in a cameo on The Joey Bishop Show and The Family Jewels (1965) about a young heiress who must choose among six uncles, one of whom is up to no good and out to harm the girl's beloved bodyguard who practically raised her. All six uncles and the bodyguard were played by Lewis.
In 1965, Lewis was interviewed on The David Susskind Show, then starred in Boeing Boeing (1965), his last film for Paramount, based on the French stage play, in which he received a Golden Globe nomination; an episode of Ben Casey, an early dramatic role; The Andy Williams Show; and Hullabaloo with his son Gary Lewis. In 1966, after 17 years, and with no explanation, Lewis left Paramount and signed with Columbia Pictures where he tried to reinvent himself with more serious roles.
He went on to star in Three on a Couch (1966), The Merv Griffin Show, Way...Way Out (1966), The Sammy Davis Jr. Show, Batman, Laugh In, Password, a pilot for Sheriff Who, a new version of The Jerry Lewis Show, this time as a one-hour variety show for NBC, which ran from 1967 to 1969, The Big Mouth (1967), Run for Your Life and The Danny Thomas Hour.
Lewis appeared in Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River (1968), Playboy After Dark (surprising friend Sammy Davis Jr.), Hook, Line & Sinker (1969), Jimmy Durante's The Lennon Sisters Hour, The Red Skelton Show and The Jack Benny Birthday Special and contributed to some scripts for Filmation's animated series Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down, appeared on The Mike Douglas Show and directed an episode of The Bold Ones.
Lewis guested on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, The Hollywood Palace, The Engelbert Humperdinck Show, The Irv Kupcinet Show, The Linkletter Show, The Real Tom Kennedy Show and A Christmas Night with the Stars, directed One More Time (1970), in which he played his first (and only) off-screen voice as a bandleader, starred in Which Way to the Front? (1970) and appeared on The Carol Burnett Show, The Rolf Harris Show and The Kraft Music Hall.
Lewis directed and appeared in the partly unreleased The Day the Clown Cried (1972), a drama set in a Nazi concentration camp. The film was rarely discussed by Lewis, but he said that litigation over post-production finances and copyright prevented its completion and theatrical release. During his book tour for Dean and Me, he also said a factor for the film's burial was that he was not proud of the effort.
Lewis explained his reason for choosing the project and the emotional difficulty of the subject matter in an interview with an Australian documentary film crew. A 31-minute version was shown on the German television station ARD, in the documentary Der Clown. It was later put on DVD and shown at Deutsches Filminstitute. The film was the earliest attempt by an American film director to address the subject of The Holocaust. Significant speculation continues to surround the film. Following this, Lewis took a break from the movie business for several years.
Lewis appeared as guest on Good Morning America, The Dick Cavett Show, NBC Follies, Celebrity Sportsman, Cher, Dinah! and Tony Orlando and Dawn. Lewis surprised Sinatra and Martin after walking onto the Aladdin stage in Las Vegas during their show and exchanged jokes for several minutes. He then starred in a revival of Hellzapoppin with Lynn Redgrave, but closed on the road before reaching Broadway. In 1979, he guest hosted as ringmaster of Circus of the Stars.
Lewis guest starred on Pink Lady in 1980, then made a comeback to the big screen in Hardly Working (1981), after an 11-year absence from film. Despite being panned by critics, it eventually earned $50 million. In 1982 and 1983, Lewis appeared on Late Night with David Letterman and in The King of Comedy, as a late-night TV host, plagued by two obsessive fans, in which he received wide critical acclaim and a BAFTA nomination for this serious dramatic role.
Lewis then starred in Saturday Night Live, Star Search, Cracking Up (1983), Slapstick (Of Another Kind) (1984), To Catch a Cop (1984) and How Did You Get In? We Didn't See You Leave (1984), the latter two films from France which had their distribution under Lewis's control and stated that they would never be released in American movie theaters and on home media. He then was a guest on an episode of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
He then hosted a new syndicated version of The Jerry Lewis Show, this time as a talk show for Metromedia, which was not continued beyond the scheduled five shows. In 1985, Lewis directed an episode of Brothers, appeared at the first Comic Relief in 1986, where he was the only performer to receive a standing ovation, was interviewed on Classic Treasures and starred in the ABC television movie Fight for Life (1987).
In 1987, Lewis performed a second double act with Davis Jr. at Bally's in Las Vegas, then after learning of the death of Martin's son Dean Paul Martin, he attended his funeral, which led to a more substantial reconciliation with Martin. In 1988, Lewis hosted America's All-Time Favorite Movies, then was interviewed by Howard Cosell on Speaking of Everything. He then starred in five episodes of Wiseguy.
The filming schedule of the show forced Lewis to miss the Museum of the Moving Image's opening with a retrospective of his work. In 1989, Lewis joined Martin on stage, for what would be Martin's final live performance, at Bally's Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Lewis wheeled out a cake on Martin's 72nd birthday, sang "Happy Birthday" to him and joked, "Why we broke up, I'll never know". Again, their appearance together made headlines. He next appeared in Cookie (1989).
Lewis handled two years directing episodes of Super Force and Good Grief in 1990 and 1991, then star in Mr. Saturday Night (1992), The Arsenio Hall Show, The Whoopi Goldberg Show and Inside The Comedy Mind. A three-part retrospective Martin & Lewis: Their Golden Age of Comedy, aired on The Disney Channel in 1992, using previously unseen kinescopes from Lewis' personal archive, highlighted his years as part of a team with Martin and as a soloist.
After guest spots on Mad About You and Larry King Live and film appearances in Arizona Dream (1993) and Funny Bones (1995), Lewis made his Broadway debut, as a replacement cast member playing the devil, in a revival of Damn Yankees and was reportedly paid the highest sum in Broadway history at the time for performing in both the national and London runs of the musical. He missed only three shows in more than four years, one of those occasions being the funeral of Martin, his comedy partner of ten years.
Lewis appeared on Inside the Actors Studio in 1996, the 12th annual American Comedy Awards in 1998 and in the 2000s, The Martin Short Show, Russell Gilbert Live, Your World with Neil Cavuto, The Simpsons, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Live with Kelly, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, the song "Time After Time" with Deana Martin on her album Memories Are Made of This and Curious George 2 (2009).
He made his last few appearances for the 81st Academy Awards, 50 Years of Movies & Music (a Michel Legrand special), Till Luck Do Us Part 2 (2013), The Talk, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The World Over with Raymond Arroyo, The Trust (2016), his final film Max Rose (2016), WTF with Marc Maron and Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.
Video assist and film class
During the 1960 production of The Bellboy, Lewis pioneered the technique of using video cameras and multiple closed circuit monitors, which allowed him to review his performance instantly. This was necessary since he was acting as well as directing. His techniques and methods of filmmaking, documented in his book and his USC class, enabled him to complete most of his films on time and under budget since reshoots could take place immediately instead of waiting for the dailies.
Man in Motion, a featurette for Three on a Couch, features the video system, named "Jerry's Noisy Toy" and shows Lewis receiving the Golden Light Technical Achievement award for its development. Lewis stated he worked with the head of Sony to produce the prototype. While he initiated its practice and use, and was instrumental in its development, he did not hold a patent. This practice is now commonplace in filmmaking.
Starting in 1967, Lewis taught a film directing class at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles for a number of years. His students included George Lucas, whose friend Steven Spielberg sometimes sat in on classes. Lewis screened Spielberg's early film Amblin' and told his students, "That's what filmmaking is all about." The class covered all topics related to filmmaking, including pre and post production, marketing and distribution and filming comedy with rhythm and timing.
His 1971 book The Total Film Maker, was based on 480 hours of his class lectures. Also, Lewis traveled to medical schools for seminars on laughter and healing with Dr. Clifford Kuhn and also did corporate and college lectures, motivational speaking and promoted the pain-treatment company Medtronic.
Acclaim and exposure in France
While Lewis was popular in France for his duo films with Dean Martin and his solo comedy films, his reputation and stature increased after the Paramount contract, when he began to exert total control over all aspects of his films. His involvement in directing, writing, editing and art direction coincided with the rise of auteur theory in French intellectual film criticism and the French New Wave movement. He earned consistent praise from French critics in the influential magazines Cahiers du Cinéma and Positif, where he was hailed as an ingenious auteur.
His singular mise-en-scène, and skill behind the camera, were aligned with Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock and Satyajit Ray. Appreciated too, was the complexity of his also being in front of the camera. The new French criticism viewed cinema as an art form unto itself, and comedy as part of this art. Lewis is then fitted into a historical context and seen as not only worthy of critique, but as an innovator and satirist of his time. Jean-Pierre Coursodon states in a 1975 Film Comment article, "The merit of the French critics, auteurist excesses notwithstanding, was their willingness to look at what Lewis was doing as a filmmaker for what it was, rather than with some preconception of what film comedy should be."
Not yet curricula at universities or art schools, film studies and film theory were avant-garde in early 1960s America. Mainstream movie reviewers such as Pauline Kael, were dismissive of auteur theory, and others, seeing only absurdist comedy, criticized Lewis for his ambition and "castigated him for his self-indulgence" and egotism. Despite this criticism often being held by American film critics, admiration for Lewis and his comedy continued to grow in France.
Appreciation of Lewis became a misunderstood stereotype about "the French", and it was often the object of jokes in American pop culture. "That Americans can't see Jerry Lewis' genius is bewildering," says N. T. Binh, a French film magazine critic. Such bewilderment was the basis of the book Why the French Love Jerry Lewis. In response to the lingering perception that French audiences adored him, Lewis stated in interviews he was more popular in Germany, Japan and Australia.
Muscular dystrophy cause and criticism
As a humanitarian, philanthropist and "number one volunteer", Lewis supported fundraising for research into muscular dystrophy. In 1951, he and Martin made their first appeal for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (simply known as MDA and formerly as the Muscular Dystrophy Associations of America and MDAA) in early December on the finale of The Colgate Comedy Hour. In 1952, after another appeal, Lewis hosted New York area telethons until 1959 and in 1954, fought Rocky Marciano in a boxing bout for MDA's fund drive.
After being named national chairman in 1956, Lewis began hosting and emceeing The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon in 1966 and aired every Labor Day weekend for six decades. Ed McMahon, announcer of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and host of Star Search, began his involvement in the telethon in 1968, before co-anchoring with Lewis from 1973 to 2008. The show originated from different locations including New York, Las Vegas and Hollywood, becoming the most successful fundraising event in the history of television.
It was the first to: raise over $1 million, in 1966; be shown entirely in color, in 1967; become a networked telethon, in 1968; go coast-to-coast, in 1970; be seen outside the continental U.S., in 1972. It: raised the largest sum ever in a single event for humanitarian purposes, in 1974; had the greatest amount ever pledged to a televised charitable event, in 1980 (from the Guinness Book of World Records); was the first to be seen by 100 million people, in 1985; celebrated its 25th anniversary, in 1990; saw its highest pledge in history, in 1992; and was the first seen worldwide via internet simulcast, in 1998.
By 1990, pop culture had shifted its view of disabled individuals and the telethon format. Lewis and the telethon's methods were criticized by disabled-rights activists who believed the show was "designed to evoke pity rather than empower the disabled". The activists said the telethon perpetuated prejudices and stereotypes, that Lewis treated those he claimed to be helping with little respect, and that he used offensive language when describing them. The songs "Smile" (by Charlie Chaplin), "What the World Needs Now Is Love" (by Jackie DeShannon) and "You'll Never Walk Alone" (by Rodgers and Hammerstein) have been long associated with the telethon.
In December 1996, Lewis and MDA were recognized by the American Medical Association with Lifetime Achievement Awards for significant and lasting contributions to the health and welfare of humanity. His motto summed up the philosophy behind his years of devotion to MDA: "I shall pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again".
Lewis rebutted the criticism and defended his methods saying, "If you don't tug at their heartstrings, then you're on the air for nothing."
The activist protests represented a very small minority of countless MDA patients and clients who had directly benefitted from Lewis's MDA fundraising. He received a Nobel Peace Prize nomination in 1977, a Governors Award in 2005 and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 2009, in recognition of his fight and efforts with the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
On August 3, 2011, it was announced that Lewis would no longer host the MDA telethons and that he was no longer associated with the Muscular Dystrophy Association. A tribute to Lewis was held during the 2011 telethon (which originally was to be his final show bearing his name with MDA). On May 1, 2015, it was announced that in view of "the new realities of television viewing and philanthropic giving", the telethon was being discontinued.
In early 2016, at MDA's brand re-launch event at Carnegie Hall in New York City, Lewis broke a five-year silence during a special taped message for the organization on its website, marking his first (and as it turned out, his final) appearance in support of MDA since his final telethon in 2010 and the end of his tenure as national chairman in 2011. Lewis raised an estimated $2.6 billion in donations for the cause.
MDA's website states, "Jerry's love, passion and brilliance are woven throughout this organization, which he helped build from the ground up, courted sponsors for MDA, appeared at openings of MDA care and research centers, addressed meetings of civic organizations, volunteers and the MDA Board of Directors, successfully lobbied Congress for federal neuromuscular disease research funds, made countless phone calls and visits to families served by MDA.
During Lewis's lifetime, MDA-funded scientists discovered the causes of most of the diseases in the Muscular Dystrophy Association's program, developing treatments, therapies and standards of care that have allowed many people living with these diseases to live longer and grow stronger. Over 200 research and treatment facilities were built with donations raised by the Jerry Lewis Telethons.
Non-career activities
Lewis opened a camera shop in 1950. In 1969 he agreed to lend his name to "Jerry Lewis Cinemas", offered by National Cinema Corporation as a franchise business opportunity for those interested in theatrical movie exhibition. Jerry Lewis Cinemas stated that their theaters could be operated by a staff of as few as two with the aid of automation and support provided by the franchiser in booking film and other aspects of film exhibition. A forerunner of the smaller rooms typical of later multi-screen complexes, a Jerry Lewis Cinema was billed in franchising ads as a "mini-theatre" with a seating capacity of between 200 and 350.
In addition to Lewis's name, each Jerry Lewis Cinemas bore a sign with a cartoon logo of Lewis in profile. Initially 158 territories were franchised, with a buy-in fee of $10,000 or $15,000 depending on the territory, for what was called an "individual exhibitor". For $50,000, Jerry Lewis Cinemas offered an opportunity known as an "area directorship", in which investors controlled franchising opportunities in a territory as well as their own cinemas. The success of the chain was hampered by a policy of only booking second-run, family-friendly films.Eventually the policy was changed, and the Jerry Lewis Cinemas were allowed to show more competitive movies. But after a decade the chain failed and both Lewis and National Cinema Corporation declared bankruptcy in 1980.
In 1973, Lewis appeared on the 1st annual 20-hour Highway Safety Foundation telethon, hosted by Davis Jr. and Monty Hall. In 1990, Lewis wrote and directed a short film for UNICEF's How Are The Children? anthology exploring the rights of children worldwide. The eight-minute segment, titled Boy, was about a young white child in a black world and being subjected to quiet, insidious racism, and outright racist bullying.
In 2010, Lewis met with seven-year-old Lochie Graham, who shared his idea for "Jerry's House", a place for vulnerable and traumatized children. Lewis and Graham entered into a joint partnership for an Australian and a U.S.-based charity and began raising funds to build the facility in Melbourne. On September 12, 2016, Lewis lent his name and star power to Criss Angel's HELP (Heal Every Life Possible) charity event.
Political views
Lewis kept a low political profile for many years, having taken advice reportedly given to him by President John F. Kennedy, who told him, "Don't get into anything political. Don't do that because they will usurp your energy." Nevertheless, he campaigned and performed on behalf of both JFK and Robert F. Kennedy. Lewis was a supporter of the Civil Rights Movement. For his 1957 NBC special, Lewis held his ground when southern affiliates objected to his stated friendship with Sammy Davis Jr. In a 1971 Movie Mirror magazine article, Lewis spoke out against the Vietnam War when his son Gary returned from service traumatized. He vowed to leave the country rather than send another of his sons.
Lewis once stated political speeches should not be at the Oscars. He stated, "I think we are the most dedicated industry in the world. And I think that we have to present ourselves that night as hard-working, caring and important people to the industry. We need to get more self-respect as an industry".
In a 2004 interview with The Guardian, Lewis was asked what he was least proud of, to which he answered, "Politics". Not his politics, but the world's politics – the madness, the destruction, the general lack of respect.
He lamented citizens' lack of pride in their country, stating, "President Bush is my president. I will not say anything negative about the president of the United States. I don't do that. And I don't allow my children to do that. Likewise when I come to England don't you do any jokes about 'Mum' to me. That is the Queen of England, you moron. Do you know how tough a job it is to be the Queen of England?"
In a December 2015 interview on EWTN's World Over with Raymond Arroyo, Lewis expressed opposition to the United States letting in Syrian refugees, saying, "No one has worked harder for the human condition than I have, but they're not part of the human condition if 11 guys in that group of 10,000 are ISIS. How can I take that chance?" In the same interview, he criticized President Barack Obama for not being prepared for ISIS, while expressing support for Donald Trump, saying he would make a good president because he was a good "showman". He also added that he admired Ronald Reagan's presidency.
Controversies
In 1998, at the Aspen U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, when asked which women comics he admired, Lewis answered, "I don't like any female comedians. A woman doing comedy doesn't offend me but sets me back a bit. I, as a viewer, have trouble with it. I think of her as a producing machine that brings babies in the world." He later clarified his statements saying, "Seeing a woman project the kind of aggression that you have to project as a comic just rubs me wrong. I cannot sit and watch a lady diminish her qualities to the lowest common denominator." Lewis explained his attitude as that of an older generation and said women are funny, but not when performing "broad" or "crude" humor.
He went on to praise Lucille Ball as "brilliant" and said Carol Burnett is "the greatest female entrepreneur of comedy". On other occasions Lewis expressed admiration for female comedians Totie Fields, Phyllis Diller, Kathleen Freeman, Elayne Boosler, Whoopi Goldberg and Tina Fey. During the 2007 MDA Telethon, Lewis used the word "fag" in a joke, for which he apologized. Lewis used the same word the following year on Australian television.
Personal life
Relationships and children
Lewis wed Patti Palmer (later Lewis, née Esther Grace Calonico; 1921–2021), an Italian American singer with Ted Fio Rito, on October 3, 1944, and the two had six children together—five biological: Gary Levitch (later Lewis) (born 1945); Scott (born 1956); Christopher (born 1957); Anthony (born 1959); and Joseph (1964–2009) – and one adopted, Ronald (born 1949). It was an interfaith marriage; Lewis was Jewish and Palmer was Catholic.
While married to Palmer, Lewis openly pursued relationships with other women and gave unapologetic interviews about his infidelity, revealing his affairs with Marilyn Monroe and Marlene Dietrich to People in 2011. Palmer filed for divorce from Lewis in 1980, after 35 years of marriage, citing Lewis's extravagant spending and infidelity on his part, and it was finalized in 1983. All of Lewis's children and grandchildren from his marriage to Palmer were excluded from inheriting any part of his estate. His eldest son, Gary, publicly called his father a "mean and evil person" and said that Lewis never showed him or his siblings any love or care.
Lewis's second wife was Sandra "SanDee" Pitnick, a UNCSA professionally trained ballerina and stewardess, who met Lewis after winning a bit part in a dancing scene on his film Hardly Working. They were wed on February 13, 1983, in Key Biscayne, Florida, and had one child together, an adopted daughter named Danielle (born 1992). They were married for 34 years until his death.
Patti Lewis died on January 15, 2021, at age 99.
Stalking incident
In February 1994, a man named Gary Benson was revealed to have been stalking Lewis and his family. Benson subsequently served four years in prison.
Sexual assault allegations
In February 2022, Vanity Fair published a special issue detailing several women who accused Lewis of various acts ranging from sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape. The claims come from seven actresses who worked with him in the 1960s. These actresses were identified as Karen Sharpe, Renée Taylor, Hope Holiday, Jill St. John, Connie Stevens, Anna Maria Alberghetti, and Lainie Kazan.
Illness and death
Lewis suffered from a number of chronic health problems, illnesses and addictions related both to aging and a back injury sustained in a comedic pratfall. The fall has been stated as being either from a piano while performing at the Sands Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip on March 20, 1965, or during an appearance on The Andy Williams Show. In its aftermath, Lewis became addicted to the painkiller Percodan for thirteen years. He said he had been off the drug since 1978. In April 2002, Lewis had a Medtronic "Synergy" neurostimulator implanted in his back, which helped reduce the discomfort. He was one of the company's leading spokesmen.
Lewis suffered numerous heart problems throughout his life; he revealed in the 2011 documentary Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis that he suffered his first heart attack at age 34 while filming Cinderfella in 1960. In December 1982, he had another heart attack. Two months later, in February 1983, Lewis underwent open-heart double-bypass surgery. En route to San Diego from New York City on a cross-country commercial airline flight on June 11, 2006, Lewis suffered his third heart attack. It was discovered that he had pneumonia, as well as a severely damaged heart. He underwent a cardiac catheterization days after the heart attack, and two stents were inserted into one of his coronary arteries, which was 90 percent blocked. The surgery resulted in increased blood flow to his heart and allowed him to continue his rebound from earlier lung problems. Having the cardiac catheterization required him to cancel several major events from his schedule, but Lewis fully recuperated in a matter of weeks.
In 1999, Lewis's Australian tour was cut short when he had to be hospitalized in Darwin with viral meningitis. He was ill for more than five months. It was reported in the Australian press that he had failed to pay his medical bills. However, Lewis maintained that the payment confusion was the fault of his health insurer. The resulting negative publicity caused him to sue his insurer for US$100 million.
In addition to his decades-long heart problems, Lewis had prostate cancer, type 1 diabetes, and pulmonary fibrosis. In the late 1990s, Lewis was treated with prednisone for pulmonary fibrosis, which caused considerable weight gain and a startling change in his appearance. In September 2001, Lewis was unable to perform at a planned London charity event at the London Palladium. He was the headlining act, and was introduced, but did not appear onstage. He had suddenly become unwell, apparently with cardiac problems.
He was subsequently taken to hospital. Some months thereafter, Lewis began an arduous, months-long therapy that weaned him off prednisone, and he lost much of the weight gained while on the drug. The treatment enabled him to return to work. On June 12, 2012, he was treated and released from a hospital after collapsing from hypoglycemia at a New York Friars Club event. This forced him to cancel a show in Sydney. In an October 2016 interview with Inside Edition, Lewis acknowledged that he might not star in any more films, given his advanced age, while admitting, through tears, that he was afraid of dying, as it would leave his wife and daughter alone. In June 2017, Lewis was hospitalized at a Las Vegas hospital for a urinary tract infection.
Lewis died at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada, on August 20, 2017, at the age of 91. The cause was end-stage cardiac disease and peripheral artery disease. Lewis was cremated. In his will, Lewis left his estate to his second wife of 34 years, SanDee Pitnick, and their daughter, and explicitly disinherited his children from his first marriage and their children.
Comedic style
Lewis "single-handedly created a style of humor that was half anarchy, half excruciation. Even comics who never took a pratfall in their careers owe something to the self-deprecation Jerry introduced into American show business." His self-deprecating style can be found in comics such as Larry David and David Letterman.
Lewis's comedy style was physically uninhibited, expressive, and potentially volatile. He was known especially for his distinctive voice, facial expressions, pratfalls, and physical stunts. His improvisations and ad-libbing, especially in nightclubs and early television were revolutionary among performers. It was "marked by a raw, edgy energy that would distinguish him within the comedy landscape". Will Sloan, of Flavorwire wrote, "In the late '40s and early '50s, nobody had ever seen a comedian as wild as Jerry Lewis." Placed in the context of the conservative era, his antics were radical and liberating, paving the way for future comedians Steve Martin, Richard Pryor, Andy Kaufman, Paul Reubens, and Jim Carrey. Carrey wrote: "Through his comedy, Jerry would stretch the boundaries of reality so far that it was an act of anarchy ... I learned from Jerry", and "I am because he was".
Acting the bumbling 'everyman', Lewis used tightly choreographed, sophisticated sight gags, physical routines, verbal double-talk and malapropisms. "You cannot help but notice Lewis' incredible sense of control in regards to performing—they may have looked at times like the ravings of a madman but his best work had a genuine grace and finesse behind it that would put most comedic performers of any era to shame." They are "choreographed as exactly as any ballet, each movement and gesture coming on natural beats and conforming to the overall rhythmic form which is headed to a spectacular finale: absolute catastrophe."
Drawing from his childhood traumas, Lewis crafted a complex comedic persona that involved four social aspects: sexuality, gender, race/ethnicity, and disability. Through these social aspects, he challenged norms, was misrepresented, and was heavily criticized. During his Martin and Lewis years, he challenged what it meant to be a heterosexual male. Not afraid to display sensitivity and a childlike innocence, he pushed aside heterosexual normality and embraced distorted conventions. This did not sit well with some critics who thought his actions were appalling and what were then considered effeminate. Lewis's feminine movement suggested a common gay stereotype of the era, though the intention was to represent the girl-crazy sexual panic of an inexperienced young man.
In the Martin and Lewis duo, Lewis's comedic persona was viewed as effeminate, weak, and inexperienced, which in turn made the Martin persona look masculine, strong, and worldly. The Lewis character was unconventional, in regards to gender, and that challenged what masculinity was. There are a few Martin and Lewis films that present the Lewis character in gender-swapped roles, but it was Lewis's solo films that posed questions about gender and gender roles. Apart from Cinderfella (1960) that cast him in the Cinderella role, films such as Rock-A-Bye Baby (1958) and The Geisha Boy (1958) showed his interactions with children that put him less in the authoritative father role and placed him more in the nurturing mother role. In the 1965 film The Family Jewels, Lewis takes on the dual role as protector, the father role, and nurturer, the mother role. Through his comedic persona and films, he showed that a man can take on what are considered feminine traits without that being a threat to his masculinity.
Although Lewis made it no secret that he was Jewish, he was criticized for hiding his Jewish heritage. In several of his films — both with Martin and solo — Lewis' Jewish identity is hinted at in passing, and was never made a defining characteristic of his onscreen persona. Aside from the 1959 television movie The Jazz Singer and the unreleased 1972 film The Day the Clown Cried, Lewis never appeared in a film or film role that had any ties to his Jewish heritage. When asked about this lack of Jewish portrayal in a 1984 interview, Lewis stated, "I never hid it, but I wouldn't announce it and I wouldn't exploit it. Plus the fact it had no room in the visual direction I was taking in my work."
Lewis' physical movements in films received some criticism because he was perceived as imitating or mocking those with a physical disability. Through the years, the disability that has been attached to his comedic persona has not been physical, but mental. Neuroticism and schizophrenia have been a part of Lewis's persona since his partnership with Dean Martin; however, it was in his solo career that these disabilities became important to the plots of his films and the characters. In films such as The Ladies Man (1961), The Disorderly Orderly (1964), The Patsy (1964) and Cracking Up (1983), there is either neuroticism, schizophrenia, or both that drive the plot. Lewis was able to explore and dissect the psychological side of his persona, which provided a depth to the character and the films that was not present in his previous efforts.
Tributes and legacy
From the late 1940s to the mid-1960s, "Lewis was a major force in American popular culture." Widely acknowledged as a comic genius, Lewis influenced successive generations of comedians, comedy writers, performers and filmmakers. As Lewis was often referred to as the bridge from Vaudeville to modern comedy, Carl Reiner wrote after Lewis's death, "All comedians watch other comedians, and every generation of comedians going back to those who watched Jerry on the Colgate Comedy Hour were influenced by Jerry. They say that mankind goes back to the first guy ... which everyone tries to copy. In comedy that guy was Jerry Lewis."
Lewis's films, especially his self-directed films, have warranted steady reappraisal. Richard Brody in The New Yorker said, Lewis was "one of the most original, inventive, ... profound directors of the time". and "one of the most skilled and original comic performers, verbal and physical, ever to appear on screen". Film critic and film curator for the Museum of Modern Art, Dave Kehr, wrote in The New York Times of Lewis' "fierce creativity", "the extreme formal sophistication of his direction" and, Lewis was "one of the great American filmmakers".
"Lewis was an explosive experimenter with a dazzling skill, and an audacious, innovatory flair for the technique of the cinema. He knew how to frame and present his own adrenaline-fuelled, instinctive physical comedy for the camera."
Lewis was at the forefront in the transition to independent filmmaking, which came to be known as New Hollywood in the late 1960s. Writing for the Los Angeles Times in 2005, screenwriter David Weddle lauded Lewis's audacity in 1959 "daring to declare his independence from the studio system". Lewis came along to a studio system in which the industry was regularly stratified between players and coaches. The studios tightly controlled the process and they wanted their people directing. Yet Lewis regularly led, often flouting the power structure to do so.
Steven Zeitchik of the LA Times wrote of Lewis, "Control over material was smart business, and it was also good art. Neither the entrepreneur nor the auteur were common types among actors in mid-20th century Hollywood. But there Lewis was, at a time of strict studio control, doing both."
No other comedic star, with the exceptions of Chaplin and Keaton in the silent era, dared to direct himself. "Not only would Lewis' efforts as a director pave the way for the likes of Mel Brooks and Woody Allen, but it would reveal him to be uncommonly skilled in that area as well." "Most screen comedies until that time were not especially cinematic—they tended to plop down the camera where it could best capture the action and that was it. Lewis, on the other hand, was interested in exploring the possibilities of the medium by utilizing the tools he had at his disposal in formally innovative and oftentimes hilarious ways." "In Lewis' work the way the scene is photographed is an integral part of the joke. His purposeful selection of lenses, for example, expands and contracts space to generate laughs that aren't necessarily inherent in the material, and he often achieves his biggest effects via what he leaves off screen, not just visually but structurally."
As a director, Lewis advanced the genre of film comedy with innovations in the areas of fragmented narrative, experimental use of music and sound technology, and near surrealist use of color and art direction. This prompted his peer, filmmaker Jean Luc Godard to proclaim, "Jerry Lewis ... is the only one in Hollywood doing something different, the only one who isn't falling in with the established categories, the norms, the principles. ... Lewis is the only one today who's making courageous films. He's been able to do it because of his personal genius". Jim Hemphill for American Cinematheque wrote, "They are films of ambitious visual and narrative experimentation, provocative and sometimes conflicted commentaries on masculinity in post-war America, and unsettling self-critiques and analyses of the performer's neuroses."
Intensely personal and original, Lewis's films were groundbreaking in their use of dark humor for psychological exploration. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times said, "The idea of comedians getting under the skin and tapping into their deepest, darkest selves is no longer especially novel, but it was far from a universally accepted notion when Lewis first took the spotlight. Few comedians before him had so brazenly turned arrested development into art, or held up such a warped fun house mirror to American identity in its loudest, ugliest, vulgarest excesses. Fewer still had advanced the still-radical notion that comedy doesn't always have to be funny, just fearless, in order to strike a nerve".
Before 1960, Hollywood comedies were screwball or farce. Lewis, from his earliest 'home movies, such as How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border, made in his playhouse in the early 1950s, was one of the first to introduce satire as a full-length film. This "sharp-eyed" satire continued in his mature work, commenting on the cult of celebrity, the machinery of 'fame', and "the dilemma of being true to oneself while also fitting into polite society". Stephen Dalton in The Hollywood Reporter wrote, Lewis had "an agreeably bitter streak, offering self-lacerating insights into celebrity culture which now look strikingly modern. Even post-modern in places." Speaking of The King of Comedy, "More contemporary satirists like Garry Shandling, Steve Coogan and Ricky Gervais owe at least some of their self-deconstructing chops to Lewis' generously unappetizing turn in Scorsese's cult classic."
Lewis was an early master of deconstruction to enhance comedy. From the first Comedy Hours he exposed the artifice of on-stage performance by acknowledging the lens, sets, malfunctioning props, failed jokes, and tricks of production. As Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote: Lewis had "the impulse to deconstruct and even demolish the fictional "givens" of any particular sketch, including those that he might have dreamed up himself, a kind of perpetual auto-destruction that becomes an essential part of his filmmaking as he steadily gains more control over the writing and direction of his features." His self directed films abound in behind-the-scene reveals, demystifying movie-making. Daniel Fairfax writes in Deconstructing Jerry: Lewis as a Director, "Lewis deconstructs the very functioning of the joke itself". ... quoting Chris Fujiwara, "The Patsy is a film so radical that it makes comedy out of the situation of a comedian who isn't funny." The final scene of The Patsy is famous for revealing to the audience the movie as a movie, and Lewis as actor/director. Lewis wrote in The Total Filmmaker, his belief in breaking the fourth wall, actors looking directly into the camera, despite industry norms. More contemporary comedies such as The Larry Sanders Show, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and The Office continue this method.
Robert DeNiro and Sandra Bernhard, both of whom starred with Lewis in The King of Comedy, reflected on his death. Bernhard said: "It was one of the great experiences of my career, he was tough but one of a kind". De Niro said: "Jerry was a pioneer in comedy and film. And he was a friend. I was fortunate to have seen him a few times over the past couple of years. Even at 91, he didn't miss a beat ... or a punchline. You'll be missed." There was also a New York Friars Club roast in honor of Lewis with Sarah Silverman and Amy Schumer. Martin Scorsese recalls working with him on The King of Comedy, "It was like watching a virtuoso pianist at the keyboard". Lewis was the subject of a documentary Jerry Lewis: Method to the Madness.
Peter Chelsom, director of Funny Bones wrote, "Working with him was a masterclass in comic acting – and in charm. From the outset he was generous." "There's a very thin line between a talent for being funny and being a great actor. Jerry Lewis epitomized that. Jerry embodied the term "funny bones": a way of differentiating between comedians who tell funny and those who are funny." Director Daniel Noah recalling his relationship with Lewis during production of Max Rose wrote, "He was kind and loving and patient and limitlessly generous with his genius. He was unbelievably complicated and shockingly self-aware."
Actor and comedian Jeffrey Tambor wrote after Lewis's death, "You invented the whole thing. Thank you doesn't even get close."
There have been numerous retrospectives of Lewis's films in the U.S. and abroad, most notably Jerry Lewis: A Film and Television Retrospective at Museum of the Moving Image, the 2013 Viennale, the 2016 Melbourne International Film Festival, The Innovator: Jerry Lewis at Paramount, at American Cinematheque in Los Angeles, and Happy Birthday Mr. Lewis: The Kid Turns 90, at MOMA.
Lewis is one of the few performers to have touched every aspect of 20th Century American entertainment, appearing in vaudeville, burlesque, the 'borsht belt', nightclubs, radio, Classical Hollywood Cinema (The 'Golden Age'), Las Vegas, television: variety, drama, sit-coms and talk shows, Broadway and independent films.
On August 21, 2017, multiple hotel marquees on the Las Vegas Strip honored Lewis with a coordinated video display of images of his career as a Las Vegas performer and resident. From 1949, as part of Martin and Lewis, and from 1956 as a solo, Lewis was a casino showroom headliner, playing numerous dates over the decades. Las Vegas was also the home of his annual Labor Day MDA telethon.
Jerry Lewis was among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.
In popular culture
Between 1952 and 1971, DC Comics published a 124-issue comic book series with Lewis as one (later, the only) main protagonist, titled The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. In The Simpsons, the character of Professor Frink is based on Lewis's Julius Kelp from The Nutty Professor. Lewis himself would later voice the character's father in the episode "Treehouse of Horror XIV". In Family Guy, Peter recreates Lewis's 'chairman of the board' scene from The Errand Boy. Comedian, actor and friend of Lewis, Martin Short, satirized him on the series SCTV in the sketches "The Nutty Lab Assistant", "Martin Scorsese presents Jerry Lewis Live on the Champs Elysees!", "The Tender Fella", and "Scenes From an Idiots Marriage", as well as on Saturday Night Lives "Celebrity Jeopardy!".
Also on SNL, the Martin and Lewis reunion on the 1976 MDA Telethon is reported by Chevy Chase on Weekend Update. Comedians Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo both parodied Lewis when he hosted SNL in 1983. Piscopo also channeled Jerry Lewis while performing as a 20th-century stand-up comedian in Star Trek: The Next Generation; in the second-season episode "The Outrageous Okona", Piscopo's Holodeck character, The Comic, tutors android Lieutenant Commander Data on humor and comedy. Comedian and actor Jim Carrey satirized Lewis on In Living Color in the sketch "Jheri's Kids Telethon". Carrey had an uncredited cameo playing Lewis in the series Buffalo Bill on the episode "Jerry Lewis Week". He also played Lewis, with impersonator Rich Little as Dean Martin, on stage. Actor Sean Hayes portrayed Lewis in the made-for-TV movie Martin and Lewis, with Jeremy Northam as Dean Martin. Actor Kevin Bacon plays the Lewis character in the 2005 film Where The Truth Lies, based on a fictionalized version of Martin and Lewis. In the satiric novel, Funny Men, about singer/wild comic double act, the character Sigmund "Ziggy" Blissman, is based on Lewis.
John Saleeby, writer for National Lampoon has a humor piece "Ten Things You Should Know About Jerry Lewis".
In the animated cartoon Popeye's 20th Anniversary, Martin and Lewis are portrayed on the dais. The animated series Animaniacs satirized Lewis in several episodes. The voice and boyish, naive cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants is partially based on Lewis, with particular inspiration from his film The Bellboy.
In 1998, The MTV animated show Celebrity Deathmatch had a clay-animated fight to the death between Dean Martin and Lewis. In a 1975 re-issue of MAD Magazine the contents of Lewis's wallet is satirized in their on-going feature "Celebrities' Wallets".
Lewis, and Martin & Lewis, as himself or his films, have been referenced by directors and performers of differing genres spanning decades, including Andy Warhol's Soap Opera (1964), John Frankenheimer's I Walk the Line (1970), Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather (1972), Randal Kleiser's Grease (1978), Rainer Werner Fassbinder's In a Year of 13 Moons (1978), Robert Zemeckis's Back to the Future (1985), Quentin Tarantino's Four Rooms (1995), Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York (2002), Hitchcock (2012), Ben Stiller's The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013), Jay Roach's Trumbo (2015), The Comedians (2015), Baskets (2016) and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017, 2018).
Similarly, varied musicians have mentioned Lewis in song lyrics including, Ice Cube, The Dead Milkmen, Queen Latifah, and Frank Zappa. The hip hop music band Beastie Boys have an unreleased single "The Jerry Lewis", which they mention, and danced to, on stage in Asheville, North Carolina in 2009. In their film Paul's Boutique — A Visual Companion, clips from The Nutty Professor play to "The Sounds of Science". In 1986, the comedy radio show Dr. Demento aired a parody of "Rock Me Amadeus", "Rock Me Jerry Lewis".
Apple iOS 10 includes an auto-text emoji for 'professor' with a Lewis lookalike portrayal from The Nutty Professor.
The word "flaaaven!", with its many variations and rhymes, is a Lewis-ism often used as a misspoken word or a person's mis-pronounced name. In a 2016 episode of the podcast West Wing Weekly, Joshua Malina is heard saying "flaven" when trying to remember a character's correct last name. Lewis's signature catchphrase "Hey, Laaady!" is ubiquitously used by comedians and laypersons alike.
Sammy Petrillo bore a coincidental resemblance to Lewis, so much so that Lewis at first tried to catch and kill Petrillo's career by signing him to a talent contract and then not giving him any work. When that failed (as Petrillo was under 18 at the time), Lewis tried to blackball Petrillo by pressuring television outlets and then nightclubs, also threatening legal action after Petrillo used his Lewis impersonation in the film Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla.
Awards, nominations, and other honors
1952 – Photoplay Award
1952 – Primetime Emmy Award Nomination for Best Comedian or Comedienne
1954 – Most Cooperative Actor, Golden Apple Award
1958 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1959 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1960 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1960 – Two stars (one for film and one for television) on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
1961 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Comedy Performance for Cinderfella
1961 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1962 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1963 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1963 – Cahiers du Cinema's Top 10 Film Award Nomination for Best Film for The Nutty Professor
1964 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1965 – Golden Laurel, Special Award – Family Comedy King
1965 – Cahiers du Cinema's Top 10 Film Award Nomination for Best Film for The Family Jewels
1966 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Comedy Performance (Male) for Boeing Boeing
1966 – Golden Light Technical Achievement Award for his 'video assist'
1966 – Golden Globe Nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical
1966 – Fotogramas de Plata Best Foreign Performer
1967 – Cahiers du Cinema's Top 10 Film Award Nomination for Best Film for The Big Mouth
1970 – Jerry Lewis Award for Outstanding achievement in being a "Person" and "Performer" for Which Way to the Front
1970 – The Michael S. McLean Happy Birthday and Thank You Award for Which Way to the Front
1977 – Nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, for his work on behalf of the Muscular Dystrophy Association
1978 – Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, a Jefferson Awards annual award.
1981 – Stinker Award Nomination for Worst Actor for Hardly Working
1981 – Stinker Award Nomination for Worst Sense of Direction for Hardly Working
1983 – British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for The King of Comedy
1983 – Cahiers du Cinema's Top 10 Film Award Nomination for Best Film for Cracking Up
1984 – Chevalier, Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur, France
1985 – Razzie Award Nomination for Worst Actor for Slapstick (Of Another Kind)
1991 – Comic Life Achievement Award
1991 – Induction into the Broadcast Hall of Fame
1991 – Lifetime Achievement Award, The Greater Fort Lauderdale Film Festival
1992 – Induction into the International Humor Hall of Fame
1995 – Theatre World Award, for Outstanding Broadway Debut for Damn Yankees
1997 – American Comedy Awards Lifetime Achievement Award
1999 – Golden Lion Honorary Award
2002 – Rotary International Award of Honour
2004 – Los Angeles Film Critics Association's Career Achievement Award
2005 – Primetime Emmy Governor's Award
2005 – Goldene Kamera Honorary Award
2006 – Medal of the City of Paris, France
2006 – Satellite Award for Outstanding Guest Star on Law and Order SVU
2006 – Commandeur, Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur, France
2009 – Induction into the New Jersey Hall of Fame
2009 – Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 81st Academy Awards
2009 – International Press Academy's Nikola Tesla Award in recognition of visionary achievements in filmmaking technology for his "video assist".
2010 – Chapman University Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters during the 2010 MDA Telethon
2011 – Ellis Island Medal of Honor
2013 – Homage from the Cannes Film Festival, with the screening of Lewis's latest film Max Rose
2013 – Honorary Member of the Order of Australia (AM), for service to the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation of Australia and those affected by the disorder
2014 – "Forecourt to the Stars" imprints at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood
2014 – New York Friars Club renames clubhouse building The Jerry Lewis Monastery
2014 – Publicists Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award
2015 – National Association of Broadcasters Distinguished Service Award
2015 – Casino Entertainment Legend Award
Filmography
Bibliography
(ISBN is for the 2004 Mass Market Edition)
Documentaries
Annett Wolf (Director) (1972) The World of Jerry Lewis (unreleased)
Robert Benayoun (Director) (1982) Bonjour Monsieur Lewis (Hello Mr. Lewis)
Burt Kearns (Director) (1989) Telethon (Released in US, 2014)
Carole Langer (Director) (1996) Jerry Lewis: The Last American Clown
Eckhart Schmidt (Director) (2006) König der Komödianten (King of Comedy)*
Gregg Barson (Director) (2011). Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis
Notes
References
Further reading
Also, Film Quarterly, Vol. 48, No. 1 (Autumn, 1994), pp. 12–26 University of California Press
Vol.23 Issue 1
Lamarca, Manuel (2017). Jerry Lewis. El día en el que el cómico filmó. Barcelona, Spain. Ediciones Carena.
Film criticism links
Bright Lights Film Online Journal
Film School Rejects
la furia umana (Multilingual Film Quarterly)
‘jerrython’ at MUBI
Museum of the Moving Image
An American Original: The RogerEbert.com Staff Remembers Jerry Lewis
Senses of Cinema
External links
Jerry Lewis Interview video at Directors Guild of America
Lewis interview video with Peter Bogdanovich Museum of the Moving Image Pinewood Dialogues
Jerry Lewis Interview Podcast WTF with Marc Maron
Drum Solo Battle (1955) with Buddy Rich at
1926 births
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20th-century American comedians
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American singers
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
American film producers
American humanitarians
American male comedians
American male comedy actors
American male film actors
American male musical theatre actors
American male non-fiction writers
American male screenwriters
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American philanthropists
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Comedians from New Jersey
Comedy film directors
Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur
Decca Records artists
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Honorary Members of the Order of Australia
Irvington High School (New Jersey) alumni
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award winners
Jewish American male actors
Jewish American male comedians
Jewish American musicians
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Jewish activists
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Las Vegas shows
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Male actors from New Jersey
Male actors from Newark, New Jersey
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Screenwriters from New Jersey
Singer-songwriters from New Jersey
Television producers from New Jersey
Traditional pop music singers
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Writers from Newark, New Jersey
Singer-songwriters from New York (state) | false | [
"David W. Lewis (1815-1885) was an American lawyer, civil servant and lecturer.\n\nborn in 1815 in Hancock County, Georgia. After graduating from the University of Georgia in 1837 he pursued careers as a lawyer, an agricultural reformer, and a planter. One of his first roles in public service began in 1839 as secretary to Georgia governor George N. Gilmer. He is also known for his service in the Congress of the Confederate States during the Civil War. In 1873 Lewis became the first president of North Georgia Agricultural College, an institution now formally known as the University of North Georgia. In addition to his service as president at the college, Lewis was also one of the two professors at the school in its early years, teaching Greek and English literature.\n\nLewis fell ill in the during the fall of 1885. In his final days he relocated to the house of his daughter, H. H. Perry, in Gainesville, Georgia. He died on December 18, 1885, and was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Dahlonega.\n\nReferences\n\n1815 births\nMembers of the Confederate House of Representatives from Georgia (U.S. state)\n19th-century American politicians\n1885 deaths\nPeople from Lumpkin County, Georgia\nPeople from Hancock County, Georgia\nUniversity of Georgia alumni",
"Thomas (Tom) Kennedy (November 2, 1887 – January 19, 1963) was a miner and president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) from 1960 to 1963.\n\nKennedy was born in 1887 in Lansford, Pennsylvania. He started work in the mines at the age of 12, breaking large chunks of coal into smaller pieces. He joined the Mine Workers in 1900, and was elected secretary of Local 1738 in 1903. He was elected to the District 7 board in 1908, and as District 7 president in 1910; he served until 1925. During this time, he was UMWA's chief negotiator for contracts with anthracite coal mine owners.\n\nIn 1925, he was elected UMWA's secretary-treasurer. He left that position when he was elected an international vice president in 1947. During his tenure as a UMWA vice president, he led the battle to convince the American Federation of Labor to embrace social insurance and unemployment insurance.\n\nHe was elected lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania in 1934, becoming the first Democrat to hold the office since Chauncey Black left office in 1887. He ran for governor four years later, but was defeated when the state Democratic political machine decided not to support him.\n\nKennedy was appointed to the National Defense Mediation Board in 1941, but resigned in protest later that year after the board ruled against UMWA in the \"captive mines\" case. He was re-appointed in 1942, but resigned again when the board issued its \"Little Steel\" organizing decision.\n\nAfter Lewis' retirement in 1960, Kennedy was elected president of the union. Although Lewis favored W. A. Boyle as his successor, Kennedy was well liked and well known. Kennedy was in failing health, however, and Boyle took over many of the president's duties. In November 1962, Kennedy became too ill to continue his duties and Boyle was named acting president. Kennedy died on January 19, 1963, in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, and Boyle was elected president as his successor.\n\nReferences\nDubofsky, Warren and Van Tine, Warren. John L. Lewis: A Biography. Reprint ed. Champaign, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1992. \nFink, Gary M., ed. Biographical Dictionary of American Labor. Westport, Ct.: Greenwood Press, 1984. \nFinley, Joseph E. The Corrupt Kingdom: The Rise and Fall of the United Mine Workers. New York City: Simon and Schuster, 1973. \nMcGovern, George S. and Guttridge, Leonard F. The Great Coalfield War. Paperback reissue ed. Niwot, Colo.: University Press of Colorado, 2004.\n\nExternal links\nUnited Mine Workers of America\nThe Political Graveyard\n\nAmerican coal miners\nPresidents of the United Mine Workers\nAmerican trade unionists of Irish descent\nLieutenant Governors of Pennsylvania\n1887 births\n1963 deaths\nPennsylvania Democrats\n20th-century American politicians"
] |
[
"Jerry Lewis",
"Illness",
"When did lewis first fall ill?",
"March 20, 1965."
] | C_acddf0ca4d054573ab0b9e83c4a4fa9e_0 | What caused the illness? | 2 | What caused Jerry Lewis' illness? | Jerry Lewis | Lewis had a number of illnesses and addictions related both to aging and a back injury sustained in a comedic pratfall from a piano while performing at the Sands Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip on March 20, 1965. The accident almost left him paralyzed. In its aftermath, Lewis became addicted to the painkiller Percodan for thirteen years. He said he had been off the drug since 1978. In April 2002, Lewis had a Medtronic "Synergy" neurostimulator implanted in his back, which helped reduce the discomfort. He was one of the company's leading spokesmen. In the 2011 documentary Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis, Lewis said he had his first heart attack at age 34 while filming Cinderfella in 1960. In December 1982, he had another heart attack. En route to San Diego from New York City on a cross-country commercial airline flight on June 11, 2006, he had another. It was discovered that he had pneumonia, as well as a severely damaged heart. He underwent a cardiac catheterization and two stents were inserted into one of his coronary arteries, which was 90 percent blocked. The surgery resulted in increased blood flow to his heart and allowed him to continue his rebound from earlier lung problems. Having the cardiac catheterization meant canceling several major events from his schedule, but Lewis fully recuperated in a matter of weeks. In 1999, Lewis' Australian tour was cut short when he had to be hospitalized in Darwin with viral meningitis. He was ill for more than five months. It was reported in the Australian press that he had failed to pay his medical bills. However, Lewis maintained that the payment confusion was the fault of his health insurer. The resulting negative publicity caused him to sue his insurer for US$100 million. Lewis had prostate cancer, type 1 diabetes, pulmonary fibrosis, and a decades-long history of cardiovascular disease. Prednisone treatment in the late 1990s for pulmonary fibrosis resulted in weight gain and a noticeable change in his appearance. In September 2001, Lewis was unable to perform at a planned London charity event at the London Palladium. He was the headlining act, and he was introduced but did not appear. He had suddenly become unwell, apparently with heart problems. He was subsequently taken to the hospital. Some months thereafter, Lewis began an arduous, months-long therapy that weaned him off prednisone and enabled him to return to work. On June 12, 2012, he was treated and released from a hospital after collapsing from hypoglycemia at a New York Friars Club event. This latest health issue forced him to cancel a show in Sydney. In an October 2016 interview with Inside Edition, Lewis acknowledged that he might not star in any more films, given his advanced age, while admitting, through tears, that he was afraid of dying, as it would leave his wife and daughter alone. In June 2017, Lewis was hospitalized at a Las Vegas hospital for a urinary tract infection. CANNOTANSWER | illnesses and addictions related both to aging and a back injury sustained | Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, director, actor, screenwriter, singer, humanitarian and producer. Nicknamed "The King of Comedy", Lewis is regarded as one of the most significant American cultural figures of the 20th century, was widely known for his "kid" and "idiot" persona and his contributions to comedy and charity, along with his publicized personal life made him a global figure in pop culture over an eight-decade career. He professionally debuted in 1946 as part of the famous Martin and Lewis with singer Dean Martin and performed together until 1956.
That same year, his solo career started after the split. By becoming a solo star and innovative filmmaker, he helped to develop and popularize "video assist", the closed-circuit apparatus enabling film directors to see what had been shot without waiting for developed film footage. Lewis appeared and starred in 60 films with 13 directed by him. He was also national chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) and host of The Jerry Lewis Telethon each Labor Day weekend for many years.
Early life
Lewis was born Joseph Levitch on March 16, 1926, in Newark, New Jersey, to a Jewish family. His parents were Daniel "Danny" Levitch (1902–1980), a master of ceremonies and vaudevillian who performed under the stage name Danny Lewis, whose parents immigrated to the United States from the Russian Empire to New York, and Rachael "Rae" Levitch (née Brodsky; 1903–1983), a WOR radio pianist and Danny's music director, from Warsaw. Reports as to his birth name are conflicting; in Lewis's 1982 autobiography, he claimed his birth name was Joseph, after his maternal grandfather, but his birth certificate, the 1930 U. S. Census, and the 1940 U. S. Census all named him as Jerome.
Lewis said that he ceased using the names Joseph and Joey as an adult to avoid being confused with Joe E. Lewis and Joe Louis. Reports as to the hospital in which he was born conflict as well, with biographer Shawn Levy claiming he was born at Clinton Private Hospital and others claiming Newark Beth Israel Hospital. Other claims of his early life also conflict with accounts made by family members, burial records, and vital records. He was a "character" even in his teenage years, pulling pranks in his neighborhood including sneaking into kitchens to steal fried chicken and pies. He dropped out of Irvington High School in the tenth grade.
Early career
By age 15, he had developed his "Record Act" miming lyrics to songs while a phonograph played offstage. He landed a gig at a burlesque house in Buffalo, but his performance fell flat and was unable to book any more shows. To make ends meet, Lewis worked as a soda jerk and a theater usher for Suzanne Pleshette's father Gene at the Paramount Theatre as well as at Loew's Capitol Theatre, both in New York City,.
A veteran burlesque comedian, Max Coleman, who had worked with Lewis's father years before, persuaded him to try again. Irving Kaye, a Borscht Belt comedian, saw Lewis's mime act at Brown's Hotel in Loch Sheldrake, New York, the following summer, and the audience was so enthusiastic that Kaye became Lewis's manager and guardian for Borscht Belt appearances. During World War II, he was rejected for military service because of a heart murmur.
Career
Teaming with Dean Martin
In 1945, Lewis was 19 when he met 27-year-old singer Dean Martin at the Glass Hat Club in New York City, where the two performed until they debuted at Atlantic City's 500 Club as Martin and Lewis on July 25, 1946. The duo gained attention as a double act with Martin serving as the straight man to Lewis's zany antics. Along with being physically attractive, they played to each other and had ad-libbed improvisational segments within their planned routines, which added a unique quality to their act and separated them from previous comedy duos.
Martin and Lewis quickly rose to national prominence, first with their popular nightclub act, then as stars of their radio program The Martin and Lewis Show. The two made their television debut on CBS' Toast of the Town (later renamed as The Ed Sullivan Show) June 20, 1948.
This was followed by an appearance on Welcome Aboard on October 3, 1948, and by a guest stint on Texaco Star Theater in 1949.
In 1950, the boys signed with NBC to be one of a series of weekly rotating hosts of The Colgate Comedy Hour, a live Sunday evening broadcast. Lewis, writer for the team's nightclub act, hired Norman Lear and Ed Simmons as regular writers for their Comedy Hour material. Their Comedy Hour shows consisted of stand-up dialogue, song and dance from their nightclub act and movies, backed by Dick Stabile's big band, slapstick and satirical sketch comedy, Martin's solo songs, and Lewis's solo pantomimes or physical numbers.
They often broke character, ad-libbing and breaking the fourth wall. While not completely capturing the orchestrated mayhem of their nightclub act, the Comedy Hour displayed charismatic energy between the team and established their popularity nationwide. By 1951, with an appearance at the Paramount Theatre in New York, they were a cultural phenomenon. The duo began their film careers at Paramount Pictures as ensemble players, in My Friend Irma (1949) and its sequel My Friend Irma Goes West (1950).
They then starred in their own series of 14 new films, At War with the Army (1950), That's My Boy (1951), Sailor Beware (1952), Jumping Jacks (1952), The Stooge (1952), Scared Stiff (1953), The Caddy (1953), Money from Home (1953), Living It Up (1954), 3 Ring Circus (1954), You're Never Too Young (1955), Artists and Models (1955), Pardners (1956) and Hollywood or Bust (1956), all produced by Hal B. Wallis and appeared on Bing Crosby and Bob Hope's Olympic Fund Telethon.
Martin and Lewis cameoed in their film Road to Bali (1952), then Hope and Crosby would do the same in Scared Stiff a year later. Attesting to the duo's popularity, DC Comics published The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis from 1952 to 1957. The team appeared on What's My Line? in 1954, the 27th annual Academy Awards in 1955, The Steve Allen Show and The Today Show in 1956.
Their films were popular with audiences, and were financial successes for Paramount. In later years, both Lewis and Martin admitted frustration with Wallis for his formulaic and trite film choices, restricting them to narrow, repetitive roles. As Martin's roles in their films became less important over time and Lewis received the majority of critical acclaim, the partnership came under strain. Martin's participation became an embarrassment in 1954 when Look magazine published a publicity photo of the team for the magazine cover but cropped Martin out.
After their partnership ended with their final nightclub act on July 24, 1956, both Lewis and Martin went on to have successful solo careers and neither would comment on the split nor consider a reunion. They were occasionally seen at the same public events, though never together. On two occasions, in 1958 and 1961, Martin invited Lewis on stage, but the split was too serious for them to reconcile. Twenty years after their breakup Sinatra surprised Lewis by bringing Martin on live stage during the Jerry Lewis Telethon in September 1976. In 1989, Lewis returned the gesture, attending Martin's 72nd birthday.
Solo period
After ending his partnership with Martin in 1956, Lewis and his wife Patty took a vacation in Las Vegas to consider the direction of his career. He felt his life was in a crisis state: "I was unable to put one foot in front of the other with any confidence. I was completely unnerved to be alone". While there, he received an urgent request from his friend Sid Luft, who was Judy Garland's husband and manager, saying that she couldn't perform that night in Las Vegas because of strep throat, and asking Lewis to fill in.
Lewis had not sung alone on stage since he was five years old, twenty-five years before, but he appeared before the audience of a thousand, nonetheless, delivering jokes and clowning with the audience, while Garland sat off-stage, watching. He then sang a rendition of a song he'd learned as a child, "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody" along with "Come Rain or Come Shine". Lewis recalled, "When I was done, the place exploded. I walked off the stage knowing I could make it on my own".
At his wife's pleading, Lewis used his own money to record the songs on a single. Decca Records heard it, liked it and insisted he record an album for them. The single of Rock-a-Bye Your Baby went to No. 10 and the album Jerry Lewis Just Sings went to No. 3 on the Billboard charts, staying near the top for four months and selling a million and a half copies.
With the success of that album, he recorded the additional albums More Jerry Lewis (an EP of songs from this release was released as Somebody Loves Me), and Jerry Lewis Sings Big Songs for Little People (later reissued with fewer tracks as Jerry Lewis Sings for Children). Non-album singles were released, and It All Depends On You hit the charts in April and May 1957, but peaked at only No. 68. Further singles were recorded and released by Lewis into the mid-1960s.
But these were not Lewis's first forays into recording, nor his first appearance on the hit charts. During his partnership with Martin, they made several recordings together, charting at No. 22 in 1948 with the 1920s chestnut That Certain Party and later mostly re-recording songs highlighted in their films. Also during the time of their partnership, but without Martin, he recorded numerous novelty-comedy numbers for adults as well as records specifically intended for the children's market.
Having proven he could sing and do live shows, he began performing regularly at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, beginning in late 1956, which marked a turning point in his life and career. The Sands signed him for five years, to perform six weeks each year and paid him the same amount they had paid Martin and Lewis as a team. The critics gave him positive reviews: "Jerry was wonderful. He has proved that he can be a success by himself," wrote one. He continued with club performances in Miami, New York, Chicago and Washington.
Such live performances became a staple of his career and over the years he performed at casinos, theaters and state fairs coast-to-coast. In February 1957, he followed Garland at the Palace Theater in New York and Martin called on the phone during this period to wish him the best of luck. "I've never been happier," said Lewis. "I have peace of mind for the first time." Lewis established himself as a solo act on TV starting with the first of six appearances on What's My Line? from 1956 to 1966 and then guest starred on The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show.
He appeared on both Tonight Starring Jack Paar and The Ed Sullivan Show and beginning in January 1957, in a number of solo TV specials for NBC. He starred in his adaptation of "The Jazz Singer" for Startime. Lewis hosted the Academy Awards three times, in 1956, 1957 and the 31st Academy Awards in 1959, which ran twenty minutes short, forcing Lewis to improvise to fill time. DC Comics, switching from Martin and Lewis, published a new comic book series titled The Adventures of Jerry Lewis, running from 1957 to 1971.
Lewis remained at Paramount and started off with his first solo effort The Delicate Delinquent (1957) then starred in his next film The Sad Sack (1957). Frank Tashlin, whose background as a Looney Tunes cartoon director suited Lewis's brand of humor, came on board. Lewis did new films with him, first with Rock-A-Bye Baby (1958) and then The Geisha Boy (1958). Billy Wilder asked Lewis to play the lead role of an uptight jazz musician named Jerry, who winds up on the run from the mob, in Some Like It Hot but turned it down.
He then appeared in Don't Give Up The Ship (1959) and cameoed in Li'l Abner (1959). After his contract with Wallis ended, Lewis had several movies under his belt, eagering to flex his creative muscle and was free to deepen his comedy with pathos, believing, "Funny without pathos is a pie in the face. And a pie in the face is funny, but I wanted more." In 1959, a contract between Paramount and Jerry Lewis Productions was signed specifying a payment of $10 million plus 60% of the profits for 14 films over seven years.
This contract made Lewis the highest paid individual Hollywood talent to date and was unprecedented in that he had unlimited creative control, including final cut and the return of film rights after 30 years. Lewis's clout and box office were so strong (his films had already earned Paramount $100 million in rentals) that Barney Balaban, head of production at Paramount at that time, told the press, "If Jerry wants to burn down the studio I'll give him the match!"
He had finished his film contract with Wallis with Visit to a Small Planet (1960) and wrapped up production on his own film Cinderfella (1960), directed by Tashlin and was postponed for a Christmas 1960 release. Paramount Pictures, needing a quickie movie for its summer 1960 schedule, held Lewis to his contract to produce one. As a result, he made his debut as film director of The Bellboy (1960), which he also starred in.
Using the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami as his setting — on a small budget, with a very tight shooting schedule — Lewis shot the film during the day and performed at the hotel in the evenings. Bill Richmond collaborated with him on many of the sight gags. Lewis later revealed that Paramount was not happy about financing a "silent movie" and withdrew backing. Lewis used his own funds to cover the movie's $950,000 budget. Meanwhile, he directed an unsold pilot for Permanent Waves.
Lewis continued to direct more films that he had co-written with Richmond, including The Ladies Man (1961), where Lewis constructed a three-story dollhouse-like set spanning two sound stages, with the set equipped with state of the art lighting and sound, eliminating the need for boom mics in each room and his next movie The Errand Boy (1961), was one of the earliest films about movie-making, using all of the Paramount backlot and offices.
Lewis appeared in The Wacky World of Jerry Lewis, Celebrity Golf, The Garry Moore Show and Tashlin's It's Only Money (1962), then guest hosted The Tonight Show during the transition from Jack Paar to Johnny Carson in 1962 and his appearance on the show scored the highest ratings thus far in late night, surpassing other guest hosts and Paar. The three major networks began a bidding war, wooing Lewis for his own talk show, which debuted the following year.
Lewis then directed, co-wrote and starred in the smash hit The Nutty Professor (1963). A parody of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, it featured him as Professor Kelp, a socially inept scientist who invents a serum that turns him into a handsome but obnoxious ladies man. It is often considered to be Lewis's best film. It was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2004. The film inspired a franchise, which has included a 1996 remake starring Eddie Murphy in the title role and a stage musical adaptation.
He then appeared in a cameo role in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), then in Tashlin's Who's Minding the Store? (1963) and hosted The Jerry Lewis Show, a lavish 13-week, big-budget show which aired on ABC from September to December in 1963, but suffered in the ratings and was beleaguered by technical and other difficulties, including the assassination of then U.S. president John F. Kennedy, which left the country in a somber mood.
Lewis next starred in The Patsy (1964), his satire about the Hollywood star-making industry, The Disorderly Orderly (1964), his final collaboration with Tashlin, appeared in a cameo on The Joey Bishop Show and The Family Jewels (1965) about a young heiress who must choose among six uncles, one of whom is up to no good and out to harm the girl's beloved bodyguard who practically raised her. All six uncles and the bodyguard were played by Lewis.
In 1965, Lewis was interviewed on The David Susskind Show, then starred in Boeing Boeing (1965), his last film for Paramount, based on the French stage play, in which he received a Golden Globe nomination; an episode of Ben Casey, an early dramatic role; The Andy Williams Show; and Hullabaloo with his son Gary Lewis. In 1966, after 17 years, and with no explanation, Lewis left Paramount and signed with Columbia Pictures where he tried to reinvent himself with more serious roles.
He went on to star in Three on a Couch (1966), The Merv Griffin Show, Way...Way Out (1966), The Sammy Davis Jr. Show, Batman, Laugh In, Password, a pilot for Sheriff Who, a new version of The Jerry Lewis Show, this time as a one-hour variety show for NBC, which ran from 1967 to 1969, The Big Mouth (1967), Run for Your Life and The Danny Thomas Hour.
Lewis appeared in Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River (1968), Playboy After Dark (surprising friend Sammy Davis Jr.), Hook, Line & Sinker (1969), Jimmy Durante's The Lennon Sisters Hour, The Red Skelton Show and The Jack Benny Birthday Special and contributed to some scripts for Filmation's animated series Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down, appeared on The Mike Douglas Show and directed an episode of The Bold Ones.
Lewis guested on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, The Hollywood Palace, The Engelbert Humperdinck Show, The Irv Kupcinet Show, The Linkletter Show, The Real Tom Kennedy Show and A Christmas Night with the Stars, directed One More Time (1970), in which he played his first (and only) off-screen voice as a bandleader, starred in Which Way to the Front? (1970) and appeared on The Carol Burnett Show, The Rolf Harris Show and The Kraft Music Hall.
Lewis directed and appeared in the partly unreleased The Day the Clown Cried (1972), a drama set in a Nazi concentration camp. The film was rarely discussed by Lewis, but he said that litigation over post-production finances and copyright prevented its completion and theatrical release. During his book tour for Dean and Me, he also said a factor for the film's burial was that he was not proud of the effort.
Lewis explained his reason for choosing the project and the emotional difficulty of the subject matter in an interview with an Australian documentary film crew. A 31-minute version was shown on the German television station ARD, in the documentary Der Clown. It was later put on DVD and shown at Deutsches Filminstitute. The film was the earliest attempt by an American film director to address the subject of The Holocaust. Significant speculation continues to surround the film. Following this, Lewis took a break from the movie business for several years.
Lewis appeared as guest on Good Morning America, The Dick Cavett Show, NBC Follies, Celebrity Sportsman, Cher, Dinah! and Tony Orlando and Dawn. Lewis surprised Sinatra and Martin after walking onto the Aladdin stage in Las Vegas during their show and exchanged jokes for several minutes. He then starred in a revival of Hellzapoppin with Lynn Redgrave, but closed on the road before reaching Broadway. In 1979, he guest hosted as ringmaster of Circus of the Stars.
Lewis guest starred on Pink Lady in 1980, then made a comeback to the big screen in Hardly Working (1981), after an 11-year absence from film. Despite being panned by critics, it eventually earned $50 million. In 1982 and 1983, Lewis appeared on Late Night with David Letterman and in The King of Comedy, as a late-night TV host, plagued by two obsessive fans, in which he received wide critical acclaim and a BAFTA nomination for this serious dramatic role.
Lewis then starred in Saturday Night Live, Star Search, Cracking Up (1983), Slapstick (Of Another Kind) (1984), To Catch a Cop (1984) and How Did You Get In? We Didn't See You Leave (1984), the latter two films from France which had their distribution under Lewis's control and stated that they would never be released in American movie theaters and on home media. He then was a guest on an episode of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
He then hosted a new syndicated version of The Jerry Lewis Show, this time as a talk show for Metromedia, which was not continued beyond the scheduled five shows. In 1985, Lewis directed an episode of Brothers, appeared at the first Comic Relief in 1986, where he was the only performer to receive a standing ovation, was interviewed on Classic Treasures and starred in the ABC television movie Fight for Life (1987).
In 1987, Lewis performed a second double act with Davis Jr. at Bally's in Las Vegas, then after learning of the death of Martin's son Dean Paul Martin, he attended his funeral, which led to a more substantial reconciliation with Martin. In 1988, Lewis hosted America's All-Time Favorite Movies, then was interviewed by Howard Cosell on Speaking of Everything. He then starred in five episodes of Wiseguy.
The filming schedule of the show forced Lewis to miss the Museum of the Moving Image's opening with a retrospective of his work. In 1989, Lewis joined Martin on stage, for what would be Martin's final live performance, at Bally's Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Lewis wheeled out a cake on Martin's 72nd birthday, sang "Happy Birthday" to him and joked, "Why we broke up, I'll never know". Again, their appearance together made headlines. He next appeared in Cookie (1989).
Lewis handled two years directing episodes of Super Force and Good Grief in 1990 and 1991, then star in Mr. Saturday Night (1992), The Arsenio Hall Show, The Whoopi Goldberg Show and Inside The Comedy Mind. A three-part retrospective Martin & Lewis: Their Golden Age of Comedy, aired on The Disney Channel in 1992, using previously unseen kinescopes from Lewis' personal archive, highlighted his years as part of a team with Martin and as a soloist.
After guest spots on Mad About You and Larry King Live and film appearances in Arizona Dream (1993) and Funny Bones (1995), Lewis made his Broadway debut, as a replacement cast member playing the devil, in a revival of Damn Yankees and was reportedly paid the highest sum in Broadway history at the time for performing in both the national and London runs of the musical. He missed only three shows in more than four years, one of those occasions being the funeral of Martin, his comedy partner of ten years.
Lewis appeared on Inside the Actors Studio in 1996, the 12th annual American Comedy Awards in 1998 and in the 2000s, The Martin Short Show, Russell Gilbert Live, Your World with Neil Cavuto, The Simpsons, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Live with Kelly, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, the song "Time After Time" with Deana Martin on her album Memories Are Made of This and Curious George 2 (2009).
He made his last few appearances for the 81st Academy Awards, 50 Years of Movies & Music (a Michel Legrand special), Till Luck Do Us Part 2 (2013), The Talk, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The World Over with Raymond Arroyo, The Trust (2016), his final film Max Rose (2016), WTF with Marc Maron and Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.
Video assist and film class
During the 1960 production of The Bellboy, Lewis pioneered the technique of using video cameras and multiple closed circuit monitors, which allowed him to review his performance instantly. This was necessary since he was acting as well as directing. His techniques and methods of filmmaking, documented in his book and his USC class, enabled him to complete most of his films on time and under budget since reshoots could take place immediately instead of waiting for the dailies.
Man in Motion, a featurette for Three on a Couch, features the video system, named "Jerry's Noisy Toy" and shows Lewis receiving the Golden Light Technical Achievement award for its development. Lewis stated he worked with the head of Sony to produce the prototype. While he initiated its practice and use, and was instrumental in its development, he did not hold a patent. This practice is now commonplace in filmmaking.
Starting in 1967, Lewis taught a film directing class at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles for a number of years. His students included George Lucas, whose friend Steven Spielberg sometimes sat in on classes. Lewis screened Spielberg's early film Amblin' and told his students, "That's what filmmaking is all about." The class covered all topics related to filmmaking, including pre and post production, marketing and distribution and filming comedy with rhythm and timing.
His 1971 book The Total Film Maker, was based on 480 hours of his class lectures. Also, Lewis traveled to medical schools for seminars on laughter and healing with Dr. Clifford Kuhn and also did corporate and college lectures, motivational speaking and promoted the pain-treatment company Medtronic.
Acclaim and exposure in France
While Lewis was popular in France for his duo films with Dean Martin and his solo comedy films, his reputation and stature increased after the Paramount contract, when he began to exert total control over all aspects of his films. His involvement in directing, writing, editing and art direction coincided with the rise of auteur theory in French intellectual film criticism and the French New Wave movement. He earned consistent praise from French critics in the influential magazines Cahiers du Cinéma and Positif, where he was hailed as an ingenious auteur.
His singular mise-en-scène, and skill behind the camera, were aligned with Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock and Satyajit Ray. Appreciated too, was the complexity of his also being in front of the camera. The new French criticism viewed cinema as an art form unto itself, and comedy as part of this art. Lewis is then fitted into a historical context and seen as not only worthy of critique, but as an innovator and satirist of his time. Jean-Pierre Coursodon states in a 1975 Film Comment article, "The merit of the French critics, auteurist excesses notwithstanding, was their willingness to look at what Lewis was doing as a filmmaker for what it was, rather than with some preconception of what film comedy should be."
Not yet curricula at universities or art schools, film studies and film theory were avant-garde in early 1960s America. Mainstream movie reviewers such as Pauline Kael, were dismissive of auteur theory, and others, seeing only absurdist comedy, criticized Lewis for his ambition and "castigated him for his self-indulgence" and egotism. Despite this criticism often being held by American film critics, admiration for Lewis and his comedy continued to grow in France.
Appreciation of Lewis became a misunderstood stereotype about "the French", and it was often the object of jokes in American pop culture. "That Americans can't see Jerry Lewis' genius is bewildering," says N. T. Binh, a French film magazine critic. Such bewilderment was the basis of the book Why the French Love Jerry Lewis. In response to the lingering perception that French audiences adored him, Lewis stated in interviews he was more popular in Germany, Japan and Australia.
Muscular dystrophy cause and criticism
As a humanitarian, philanthropist and "number one volunteer", Lewis supported fundraising for research into muscular dystrophy. In 1951, he and Martin made their first appeal for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (simply known as MDA and formerly as the Muscular Dystrophy Associations of America and MDAA) in early December on the finale of The Colgate Comedy Hour. In 1952, after another appeal, Lewis hosted New York area telethons until 1959 and in 1954, fought Rocky Marciano in a boxing bout for MDA's fund drive.
After being named national chairman in 1956, Lewis began hosting and emceeing The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon in 1966 and aired every Labor Day weekend for six decades. Ed McMahon, announcer of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and host of Star Search, began his involvement in the telethon in 1968, before co-anchoring with Lewis from 1973 to 2008. The show originated from different locations including New York, Las Vegas and Hollywood, becoming the most successful fundraising event in the history of television.
It was the first to: raise over $1 million, in 1966; be shown entirely in color, in 1967; become a networked telethon, in 1968; go coast-to-coast, in 1970; be seen outside the continental U.S., in 1972. It: raised the largest sum ever in a single event for humanitarian purposes, in 1974; had the greatest amount ever pledged to a televised charitable event, in 1980 (from the Guinness Book of World Records); was the first to be seen by 100 million people, in 1985; celebrated its 25th anniversary, in 1990; saw its highest pledge in history, in 1992; and was the first seen worldwide via internet simulcast, in 1998.
By 1990, pop culture had shifted its view of disabled individuals and the telethon format. Lewis and the telethon's methods were criticized by disabled-rights activists who believed the show was "designed to evoke pity rather than empower the disabled". The activists said the telethon perpetuated prejudices and stereotypes, that Lewis treated those he claimed to be helping with little respect, and that he used offensive language when describing them. The songs "Smile" (by Charlie Chaplin), "What the World Needs Now Is Love" (by Jackie DeShannon) and "You'll Never Walk Alone" (by Rodgers and Hammerstein) have been long associated with the telethon.
In December 1996, Lewis and MDA were recognized by the American Medical Association with Lifetime Achievement Awards for significant and lasting contributions to the health and welfare of humanity. His motto summed up the philosophy behind his years of devotion to MDA: "I shall pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again".
Lewis rebutted the criticism and defended his methods saying, "If you don't tug at their heartstrings, then you're on the air for nothing."
The activist protests represented a very small minority of countless MDA patients and clients who had directly benefitted from Lewis's MDA fundraising. He received a Nobel Peace Prize nomination in 1977, a Governors Award in 2005 and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 2009, in recognition of his fight and efforts with the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
On August 3, 2011, it was announced that Lewis would no longer host the MDA telethons and that he was no longer associated with the Muscular Dystrophy Association. A tribute to Lewis was held during the 2011 telethon (which originally was to be his final show bearing his name with MDA). On May 1, 2015, it was announced that in view of "the new realities of television viewing and philanthropic giving", the telethon was being discontinued.
In early 2016, at MDA's brand re-launch event at Carnegie Hall in New York City, Lewis broke a five-year silence during a special taped message for the organization on its website, marking his first (and as it turned out, his final) appearance in support of MDA since his final telethon in 2010 and the end of his tenure as national chairman in 2011. Lewis raised an estimated $2.6 billion in donations for the cause.
MDA's website states, "Jerry's love, passion and brilliance are woven throughout this organization, which he helped build from the ground up, courted sponsors for MDA, appeared at openings of MDA care and research centers, addressed meetings of civic organizations, volunteers and the MDA Board of Directors, successfully lobbied Congress for federal neuromuscular disease research funds, made countless phone calls and visits to families served by MDA.
During Lewis's lifetime, MDA-funded scientists discovered the causes of most of the diseases in the Muscular Dystrophy Association's program, developing treatments, therapies and standards of care that have allowed many people living with these diseases to live longer and grow stronger. Over 200 research and treatment facilities were built with donations raised by the Jerry Lewis Telethons.
Non-career activities
Lewis opened a camera shop in 1950. In 1969 he agreed to lend his name to "Jerry Lewis Cinemas", offered by National Cinema Corporation as a franchise business opportunity for those interested in theatrical movie exhibition. Jerry Lewis Cinemas stated that their theaters could be operated by a staff of as few as two with the aid of automation and support provided by the franchiser in booking film and other aspects of film exhibition. A forerunner of the smaller rooms typical of later multi-screen complexes, a Jerry Lewis Cinema was billed in franchising ads as a "mini-theatre" with a seating capacity of between 200 and 350.
In addition to Lewis's name, each Jerry Lewis Cinemas bore a sign with a cartoon logo of Lewis in profile. Initially 158 territories were franchised, with a buy-in fee of $10,000 or $15,000 depending on the territory, for what was called an "individual exhibitor". For $50,000, Jerry Lewis Cinemas offered an opportunity known as an "area directorship", in which investors controlled franchising opportunities in a territory as well as their own cinemas. The success of the chain was hampered by a policy of only booking second-run, family-friendly films.Eventually the policy was changed, and the Jerry Lewis Cinemas were allowed to show more competitive movies. But after a decade the chain failed and both Lewis and National Cinema Corporation declared bankruptcy in 1980.
In 1973, Lewis appeared on the 1st annual 20-hour Highway Safety Foundation telethon, hosted by Davis Jr. and Monty Hall. In 1990, Lewis wrote and directed a short film for UNICEF's How Are The Children? anthology exploring the rights of children worldwide. The eight-minute segment, titled Boy, was about a young white child in a black world and being subjected to quiet, insidious racism, and outright racist bullying.
In 2010, Lewis met with seven-year-old Lochie Graham, who shared his idea for "Jerry's House", a place for vulnerable and traumatized children. Lewis and Graham entered into a joint partnership for an Australian and a U.S.-based charity and began raising funds to build the facility in Melbourne. On September 12, 2016, Lewis lent his name and star power to Criss Angel's HELP (Heal Every Life Possible) charity event.
Political views
Lewis kept a low political profile for many years, having taken advice reportedly given to him by President John F. Kennedy, who told him, "Don't get into anything political. Don't do that because they will usurp your energy." Nevertheless, he campaigned and performed on behalf of both JFK and Robert F. Kennedy. Lewis was a supporter of the Civil Rights Movement. For his 1957 NBC special, Lewis held his ground when southern affiliates objected to his stated friendship with Sammy Davis Jr. In a 1971 Movie Mirror magazine article, Lewis spoke out against the Vietnam War when his son Gary returned from service traumatized. He vowed to leave the country rather than send another of his sons.
Lewis once stated political speeches should not be at the Oscars. He stated, "I think we are the most dedicated industry in the world. And I think that we have to present ourselves that night as hard-working, caring and important people to the industry. We need to get more self-respect as an industry".
In a 2004 interview with The Guardian, Lewis was asked what he was least proud of, to which he answered, "Politics". Not his politics, but the world's politics – the madness, the destruction, the general lack of respect.
He lamented citizens' lack of pride in their country, stating, "President Bush is my president. I will not say anything negative about the president of the United States. I don't do that. And I don't allow my children to do that. Likewise when I come to England don't you do any jokes about 'Mum' to me. That is the Queen of England, you moron. Do you know how tough a job it is to be the Queen of England?"
In a December 2015 interview on EWTN's World Over with Raymond Arroyo, Lewis expressed opposition to the United States letting in Syrian refugees, saying, "No one has worked harder for the human condition than I have, but they're not part of the human condition if 11 guys in that group of 10,000 are ISIS. How can I take that chance?" In the same interview, he criticized President Barack Obama for not being prepared for ISIS, while expressing support for Donald Trump, saying he would make a good president because he was a good "showman". He also added that he admired Ronald Reagan's presidency.
Controversies
In 1998, at the Aspen U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, when asked which women comics he admired, Lewis answered, "I don't like any female comedians. A woman doing comedy doesn't offend me but sets me back a bit. I, as a viewer, have trouble with it. I think of her as a producing machine that brings babies in the world." He later clarified his statements saying, "Seeing a woman project the kind of aggression that you have to project as a comic just rubs me wrong. I cannot sit and watch a lady diminish her qualities to the lowest common denominator." Lewis explained his attitude as that of an older generation and said women are funny, but not when performing "broad" or "crude" humor.
He went on to praise Lucille Ball as "brilliant" and said Carol Burnett is "the greatest female entrepreneur of comedy". On other occasions Lewis expressed admiration for female comedians Totie Fields, Phyllis Diller, Kathleen Freeman, Elayne Boosler, Whoopi Goldberg and Tina Fey. During the 2007 MDA Telethon, Lewis used the word "fag" in a joke, for which he apologized. Lewis used the same word the following year on Australian television.
Personal life
Relationships and children
Lewis wed Patti Palmer (later Lewis, née Esther Grace Calonico; 1921–2021), an Italian American singer with Ted Fio Rito, on October 3, 1944, and the two had six children together—five biological: Gary Levitch (later Lewis) (born 1945); Scott (born 1956); Christopher (born 1957); Anthony (born 1959); and Joseph (1964–2009) – and one adopted, Ronald (born 1949). It was an interfaith marriage; Lewis was Jewish and Palmer was Catholic.
While married to Palmer, Lewis openly pursued relationships with other women and gave unapologetic interviews about his infidelity, revealing his affairs with Marilyn Monroe and Marlene Dietrich to People in 2011. Palmer filed for divorce from Lewis in 1980, after 35 years of marriage, citing Lewis's extravagant spending and infidelity on his part, and it was finalized in 1983. All of Lewis's children and grandchildren from his marriage to Palmer were excluded from inheriting any part of his estate. His eldest son, Gary, publicly called his father a "mean and evil person" and said that Lewis never showed him or his siblings any love or care.
Lewis's second wife was Sandra "SanDee" Pitnick, a UNCSA professionally trained ballerina and stewardess, who met Lewis after winning a bit part in a dancing scene on his film Hardly Working. They were wed on February 13, 1983, in Key Biscayne, Florida, and had one child together, an adopted daughter named Danielle (born 1992). They were married for 34 years until his death.
Patti Lewis died on January 15, 2021, at age 99.
Stalking incident
In February 1994, a man named Gary Benson was revealed to have been stalking Lewis and his family. Benson subsequently served four years in prison.
Sexual assault allegations
In February 2022, Vanity Fair published a special issue detailing several women who accused Lewis of various acts ranging from sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape. The claims come from seven actresses who worked with him in the 1960s. These actresses were identified as Karen Sharpe, Renée Taylor, Hope Holiday, Jill St. John, Connie Stevens, Anna Maria Alberghetti, and Lainie Kazan.
Illness and death
Lewis suffered from a number of chronic health problems, illnesses and addictions related both to aging and a back injury sustained in a comedic pratfall. The fall has been stated as being either from a piano while performing at the Sands Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip on March 20, 1965, or during an appearance on The Andy Williams Show. In its aftermath, Lewis became addicted to the painkiller Percodan for thirteen years. He said he had been off the drug since 1978. In April 2002, Lewis had a Medtronic "Synergy" neurostimulator implanted in his back, which helped reduce the discomfort. He was one of the company's leading spokesmen.
Lewis suffered numerous heart problems throughout his life; he revealed in the 2011 documentary Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis that he suffered his first heart attack at age 34 while filming Cinderfella in 1960. In December 1982, he had another heart attack. Two months later, in February 1983, Lewis underwent open-heart double-bypass surgery. En route to San Diego from New York City on a cross-country commercial airline flight on June 11, 2006, Lewis suffered his third heart attack. It was discovered that he had pneumonia, as well as a severely damaged heart. He underwent a cardiac catheterization days after the heart attack, and two stents were inserted into one of his coronary arteries, which was 90 percent blocked. The surgery resulted in increased blood flow to his heart and allowed him to continue his rebound from earlier lung problems. Having the cardiac catheterization required him to cancel several major events from his schedule, but Lewis fully recuperated in a matter of weeks.
In 1999, Lewis's Australian tour was cut short when he had to be hospitalized in Darwin with viral meningitis. He was ill for more than five months. It was reported in the Australian press that he had failed to pay his medical bills. However, Lewis maintained that the payment confusion was the fault of his health insurer. The resulting negative publicity caused him to sue his insurer for US$100 million.
In addition to his decades-long heart problems, Lewis had prostate cancer, type 1 diabetes, and pulmonary fibrosis. In the late 1990s, Lewis was treated with prednisone for pulmonary fibrosis, which caused considerable weight gain and a startling change in his appearance. In September 2001, Lewis was unable to perform at a planned London charity event at the London Palladium. He was the headlining act, and was introduced, but did not appear onstage. He had suddenly become unwell, apparently with cardiac problems.
He was subsequently taken to hospital. Some months thereafter, Lewis began an arduous, months-long therapy that weaned him off prednisone, and he lost much of the weight gained while on the drug. The treatment enabled him to return to work. On June 12, 2012, he was treated and released from a hospital after collapsing from hypoglycemia at a New York Friars Club event. This forced him to cancel a show in Sydney. In an October 2016 interview with Inside Edition, Lewis acknowledged that he might not star in any more films, given his advanced age, while admitting, through tears, that he was afraid of dying, as it would leave his wife and daughter alone. In June 2017, Lewis was hospitalized at a Las Vegas hospital for a urinary tract infection.
Lewis died at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada, on August 20, 2017, at the age of 91. The cause was end-stage cardiac disease and peripheral artery disease. Lewis was cremated. In his will, Lewis left his estate to his second wife of 34 years, SanDee Pitnick, and their daughter, and explicitly disinherited his children from his first marriage and their children.
Comedic style
Lewis "single-handedly created a style of humor that was half anarchy, half excruciation. Even comics who never took a pratfall in their careers owe something to the self-deprecation Jerry introduced into American show business." His self-deprecating style can be found in comics such as Larry David and David Letterman.
Lewis's comedy style was physically uninhibited, expressive, and potentially volatile. He was known especially for his distinctive voice, facial expressions, pratfalls, and physical stunts. His improvisations and ad-libbing, especially in nightclubs and early television were revolutionary among performers. It was "marked by a raw, edgy energy that would distinguish him within the comedy landscape". Will Sloan, of Flavorwire wrote, "In the late '40s and early '50s, nobody had ever seen a comedian as wild as Jerry Lewis." Placed in the context of the conservative era, his antics were radical and liberating, paving the way for future comedians Steve Martin, Richard Pryor, Andy Kaufman, Paul Reubens, and Jim Carrey. Carrey wrote: "Through his comedy, Jerry would stretch the boundaries of reality so far that it was an act of anarchy ... I learned from Jerry", and "I am because he was".
Acting the bumbling 'everyman', Lewis used tightly choreographed, sophisticated sight gags, physical routines, verbal double-talk and malapropisms. "You cannot help but notice Lewis' incredible sense of control in regards to performing—they may have looked at times like the ravings of a madman but his best work had a genuine grace and finesse behind it that would put most comedic performers of any era to shame." They are "choreographed as exactly as any ballet, each movement and gesture coming on natural beats and conforming to the overall rhythmic form which is headed to a spectacular finale: absolute catastrophe."
Drawing from his childhood traumas, Lewis crafted a complex comedic persona that involved four social aspects: sexuality, gender, race/ethnicity, and disability. Through these social aspects, he challenged norms, was misrepresented, and was heavily criticized. During his Martin and Lewis years, he challenged what it meant to be a heterosexual male. Not afraid to display sensitivity and a childlike innocence, he pushed aside heterosexual normality and embraced distorted conventions. This did not sit well with some critics who thought his actions were appalling and what were then considered effeminate. Lewis's feminine movement suggested a common gay stereotype of the era, though the intention was to represent the girl-crazy sexual panic of an inexperienced young man.
In the Martin and Lewis duo, Lewis's comedic persona was viewed as effeminate, weak, and inexperienced, which in turn made the Martin persona look masculine, strong, and worldly. The Lewis character was unconventional, in regards to gender, and that challenged what masculinity was. There are a few Martin and Lewis films that present the Lewis character in gender-swapped roles, but it was Lewis's solo films that posed questions about gender and gender roles. Apart from Cinderfella (1960) that cast him in the Cinderella role, films such as Rock-A-Bye Baby (1958) and The Geisha Boy (1958) showed his interactions with children that put him less in the authoritative father role and placed him more in the nurturing mother role. In the 1965 film The Family Jewels, Lewis takes on the dual role as protector, the father role, and nurturer, the mother role. Through his comedic persona and films, he showed that a man can take on what are considered feminine traits without that being a threat to his masculinity.
Although Lewis made it no secret that he was Jewish, he was criticized for hiding his Jewish heritage. In several of his films — both with Martin and solo — Lewis' Jewish identity is hinted at in passing, and was never made a defining characteristic of his onscreen persona. Aside from the 1959 television movie The Jazz Singer and the unreleased 1972 film The Day the Clown Cried, Lewis never appeared in a film or film role that had any ties to his Jewish heritage. When asked about this lack of Jewish portrayal in a 1984 interview, Lewis stated, "I never hid it, but I wouldn't announce it and I wouldn't exploit it. Plus the fact it had no room in the visual direction I was taking in my work."
Lewis' physical movements in films received some criticism because he was perceived as imitating or mocking those with a physical disability. Through the years, the disability that has been attached to his comedic persona has not been physical, but mental. Neuroticism and schizophrenia have been a part of Lewis's persona since his partnership with Dean Martin; however, it was in his solo career that these disabilities became important to the plots of his films and the characters. In films such as The Ladies Man (1961), The Disorderly Orderly (1964), The Patsy (1964) and Cracking Up (1983), there is either neuroticism, schizophrenia, or both that drive the plot. Lewis was able to explore and dissect the psychological side of his persona, which provided a depth to the character and the films that was not present in his previous efforts.
Tributes and legacy
From the late 1940s to the mid-1960s, "Lewis was a major force in American popular culture." Widely acknowledged as a comic genius, Lewis influenced successive generations of comedians, comedy writers, performers and filmmakers. As Lewis was often referred to as the bridge from Vaudeville to modern comedy, Carl Reiner wrote after Lewis's death, "All comedians watch other comedians, and every generation of comedians going back to those who watched Jerry on the Colgate Comedy Hour were influenced by Jerry. They say that mankind goes back to the first guy ... which everyone tries to copy. In comedy that guy was Jerry Lewis."
Lewis's films, especially his self-directed films, have warranted steady reappraisal. Richard Brody in The New Yorker said, Lewis was "one of the most original, inventive, ... profound directors of the time". and "one of the most skilled and original comic performers, verbal and physical, ever to appear on screen". Film critic and film curator for the Museum of Modern Art, Dave Kehr, wrote in The New York Times of Lewis' "fierce creativity", "the extreme formal sophistication of his direction" and, Lewis was "one of the great American filmmakers".
"Lewis was an explosive experimenter with a dazzling skill, and an audacious, innovatory flair for the technique of the cinema. He knew how to frame and present his own adrenaline-fuelled, instinctive physical comedy for the camera."
Lewis was at the forefront in the transition to independent filmmaking, which came to be known as New Hollywood in the late 1960s. Writing for the Los Angeles Times in 2005, screenwriter David Weddle lauded Lewis's audacity in 1959 "daring to declare his independence from the studio system". Lewis came along to a studio system in which the industry was regularly stratified between players and coaches. The studios tightly controlled the process and they wanted their people directing. Yet Lewis regularly led, often flouting the power structure to do so.
Steven Zeitchik of the LA Times wrote of Lewis, "Control over material was smart business, and it was also good art. Neither the entrepreneur nor the auteur were common types among actors in mid-20th century Hollywood. But there Lewis was, at a time of strict studio control, doing both."
No other comedic star, with the exceptions of Chaplin and Keaton in the silent era, dared to direct himself. "Not only would Lewis' efforts as a director pave the way for the likes of Mel Brooks and Woody Allen, but it would reveal him to be uncommonly skilled in that area as well." "Most screen comedies until that time were not especially cinematic—they tended to plop down the camera where it could best capture the action and that was it. Lewis, on the other hand, was interested in exploring the possibilities of the medium by utilizing the tools he had at his disposal in formally innovative and oftentimes hilarious ways." "In Lewis' work the way the scene is photographed is an integral part of the joke. His purposeful selection of lenses, for example, expands and contracts space to generate laughs that aren't necessarily inherent in the material, and he often achieves his biggest effects via what he leaves off screen, not just visually but structurally."
As a director, Lewis advanced the genre of film comedy with innovations in the areas of fragmented narrative, experimental use of music and sound technology, and near surrealist use of color and art direction. This prompted his peer, filmmaker Jean Luc Godard to proclaim, "Jerry Lewis ... is the only one in Hollywood doing something different, the only one who isn't falling in with the established categories, the norms, the principles. ... Lewis is the only one today who's making courageous films. He's been able to do it because of his personal genius". Jim Hemphill for American Cinematheque wrote, "They are films of ambitious visual and narrative experimentation, provocative and sometimes conflicted commentaries on masculinity in post-war America, and unsettling self-critiques and analyses of the performer's neuroses."
Intensely personal and original, Lewis's films were groundbreaking in their use of dark humor for psychological exploration. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times said, "The idea of comedians getting under the skin and tapping into their deepest, darkest selves is no longer especially novel, but it was far from a universally accepted notion when Lewis first took the spotlight. Few comedians before him had so brazenly turned arrested development into art, or held up such a warped fun house mirror to American identity in its loudest, ugliest, vulgarest excesses. Fewer still had advanced the still-radical notion that comedy doesn't always have to be funny, just fearless, in order to strike a nerve".
Before 1960, Hollywood comedies were screwball or farce. Lewis, from his earliest 'home movies, such as How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border, made in his playhouse in the early 1950s, was one of the first to introduce satire as a full-length film. This "sharp-eyed" satire continued in his mature work, commenting on the cult of celebrity, the machinery of 'fame', and "the dilemma of being true to oneself while also fitting into polite society". Stephen Dalton in The Hollywood Reporter wrote, Lewis had "an agreeably bitter streak, offering self-lacerating insights into celebrity culture which now look strikingly modern. Even post-modern in places." Speaking of The King of Comedy, "More contemporary satirists like Garry Shandling, Steve Coogan and Ricky Gervais owe at least some of their self-deconstructing chops to Lewis' generously unappetizing turn in Scorsese's cult classic."
Lewis was an early master of deconstruction to enhance comedy. From the first Comedy Hours he exposed the artifice of on-stage performance by acknowledging the lens, sets, malfunctioning props, failed jokes, and tricks of production. As Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote: Lewis had "the impulse to deconstruct and even demolish the fictional "givens" of any particular sketch, including those that he might have dreamed up himself, a kind of perpetual auto-destruction that becomes an essential part of his filmmaking as he steadily gains more control over the writing and direction of his features." His self directed films abound in behind-the-scene reveals, demystifying movie-making. Daniel Fairfax writes in Deconstructing Jerry: Lewis as a Director, "Lewis deconstructs the very functioning of the joke itself". ... quoting Chris Fujiwara, "The Patsy is a film so radical that it makes comedy out of the situation of a comedian who isn't funny." The final scene of The Patsy is famous for revealing to the audience the movie as a movie, and Lewis as actor/director. Lewis wrote in The Total Filmmaker, his belief in breaking the fourth wall, actors looking directly into the camera, despite industry norms. More contemporary comedies such as The Larry Sanders Show, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and The Office continue this method.
Robert DeNiro and Sandra Bernhard, both of whom starred with Lewis in The King of Comedy, reflected on his death. Bernhard said: "It was one of the great experiences of my career, he was tough but one of a kind". De Niro said: "Jerry was a pioneer in comedy and film. And he was a friend. I was fortunate to have seen him a few times over the past couple of years. Even at 91, he didn't miss a beat ... or a punchline. You'll be missed." There was also a New York Friars Club roast in honor of Lewis with Sarah Silverman and Amy Schumer. Martin Scorsese recalls working with him on The King of Comedy, "It was like watching a virtuoso pianist at the keyboard". Lewis was the subject of a documentary Jerry Lewis: Method to the Madness.
Peter Chelsom, director of Funny Bones wrote, "Working with him was a masterclass in comic acting – and in charm. From the outset he was generous." "There's a very thin line between a talent for being funny and being a great actor. Jerry Lewis epitomized that. Jerry embodied the term "funny bones": a way of differentiating between comedians who tell funny and those who are funny." Director Daniel Noah recalling his relationship with Lewis during production of Max Rose wrote, "He was kind and loving and patient and limitlessly generous with his genius. He was unbelievably complicated and shockingly self-aware."
Actor and comedian Jeffrey Tambor wrote after Lewis's death, "You invented the whole thing. Thank you doesn't even get close."
There have been numerous retrospectives of Lewis's films in the U.S. and abroad, most notably Jerry Lewis: A Film and Television Retrospective at Museum of the Moving Image, the 2013 Viennale, the 2016 Melbourne International Film Festival, The Innovator: Jerry Lewis at Paramount, at American Cinematheque in Los Angeles, and Happy Birthday Mr. Lewis: The Kid Turns 90, at MOMA.
Lewis is one of the few performers to have touched every aspect of 20th Century American entertainment, appearing in vaudeville, burlesque, the 'borsht belt', nightclubs, radio, Classical Hollywood Cinema (The 'Golden Age'), Las Vegas, television: variety, drama, sit-coms and talk shows, Broadway and independent films.
On August 21, 2017, multiple hotel marquees on the Las Vegas Strip honored Lewis with a coordinated video display of images of his career as a Las Vegas performer and resident. From 1949, as part of Martin and Lewis, and from 1956 as a solo, Lewis was a casino showroom headliner, playing numerous dates over the decades. Las Vegas was also the home of his annual Labor Day MDA telethon.
Jerry Lewis was among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.
In popular culture
Between 1952 and 1971, DC Comics published a 124-issue comic book series with Lewis as one (later, the only) main protagonist, titled The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. In The Simpsons, the character of Professor Frink is based on Lewis's Julius Kelp from The Nutty Professor. Lewis himself would later voice the character's father in the episode "Treehouse of Horror XIV". In Family Guy, Peter recreates Lewis's 'chairman of the board' scene from The Errand Boy. Comedian, actor and friend of Lewis, Martin Short, satirized him on the series SCTV in the sketches "The Nutty Lab Assistant", "Martin Scorsese presents Jerry Lewis Live on the Champs Elysees!", "The Tender Fella", and "Scenes From an Idiots Marriage", as well as on Saturday Night Lives "Celebrity Jeopardy!".
Also on SNL, the Martin and Lewis reunion on the 1976 MDA Telethon is reported by Chevy Chase on Weekend Update. Comedians Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo both parodied Lewis when he hosted SNL in 1983. Piscopo also channeled Jerry Lewis while performing as a 20th-century stand-up comedian in Star Trek: The Next Generation; in the second-season episode "The Outrageous Okona", Piscopo's Holodeck character, The Comic, tutors android Lieutenant Commander Data on humor and comedy. Comedian and actor Jim Carrey satirized Lewis on In Living Color in the sketch "Jheri's Kids Telethon". Carrey had an uncredited cameo playing Lewis in the series Buffalo Bill on the episode "Jerry Lewis Week". He also played Lewis, with impersonator Rich Little as Dean Martin, on stage. Actor Sean Hayes portrayed Lewis in the made-for-TV movie Martin and Lewis, with Jeremy Northam as Dean Martin. Actor Kevin Bacon plays the Lewis character in the 2005 film Where The Truth Lies, based on a fictionalized version of Martin and Lewis. In the satiric novel, Funny Men, about singer/wild comic double act, the character Sigmund "Ziggy" Blissman, is based on Lewis.
John Saleeby, writer for National Lampoon has a humor piece "Ten Things You Should Know About Jerry Lewis".
In the animated cartoon Popeye's 20th Anniversary, Martin and Lewis are portrayed on the dais. The animated series Animaniacs satirized Lewis in several episodes. The voice and boyish, naive cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants is partially based on Lewis, with particular inspiration from his film The Bellboy.
In 1998, The MTV animated show Celebrity Deathmatch had a clay-animated fight to the death between Dean Martin and Lewis. In a 1975 re-issue of MAD Magazine the contents of Lewis's wallet is satirized in their on-going feature "Celebrities' Wallets".
Lewis, and Martin & Lewis, as himself or his films, have been referenced by directors and performers of differing genres spanning decades, including Andy Warhol's Soap Opera (1964), John Frankenheimer's I Walk the Line (1970), Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather (1972), Randal Kleiser's Grease (1978), Rainer Werner Fassbinder's In a Year of 13 Moons (1978), Robert Zemeckis's Back to the Future (1985), Quentin Tarantino's Four Rooms (1995), Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York (2002), Hitchcock (2012), Ben Stiller's The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013), Jay Roach's Trumbo (2015), The Comedians (2015), Baskets (2016) and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017, 2018).
Similarly, varied musicians have mentioned Lewis in song lyrics including, Ice Cube, The Dead Milkmen, Queen Latifah, and Frank Zappa. The hip hop music band Beastie Boys have an unreleased single "The Jerry Lewis", which they mention, and danced to, on stage in Asheville, North Carolina in 2009. In their film Paul's Boutique — A Visual Companion, clips from The Nutty Professor play to "The Sounds of Science". In 1986, the comedy radio show Dr. Demento aired a parody of "Rock Me Amadeus", "Rock Me Jerry Lewis".
Apple iOS 10 includes an auto-text emoji for 'professor' with a Lewis lookalike portrayal from The Nutty Professor.
The word "flaaaven!", with its many variations and rhymes, is a Lewis-ism often used as a misspoken word or a person's mis-pronounced name. In a 2016 episode of the podcast West Wing Weekly, Joshua Malina is heard saying "flaven" when trying to remember a character's correct last name. Lewis's signature catchphrase "Hey, Laaady!" is ubiquitously used by comedians and laypersons alike.
Sammy Petrillo bore a coincidental resemblance to Lewis, so much so that Lewis at first tried to catch and kill Petrillo's career by signing him to a talent contract and then not giving him any work. When that failed (as Petrillo was under 18 at the time), Lewis tried to blackball Petrillo by pressuring television outlets and then nightclubs, also threatening legal action after Petrillo used his Lewis impersonation in the film Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla.
Awards, nominations, and other honors
1952 – Photoplay Award
1952 – Primetime Emmy Award Nomination for Best Comedian or Comedienne
1954 – Most Cooperative Actor, Golden Apple Award
1958 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1959 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1960 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1960 – Two stars (one for film and one for television) on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
1961 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Comedy Performance for Cinderfella
1961 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1962 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1963 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1963 – Cahiers du Cinema's Top 10 Film Award Nomination for Best Film for The Nutty Professor
1964 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1965 – Golden Laurel, Special Award – Family Comedy King
1965 – Cahiers du Cinema's Top 10 Film Award Nomination for Best Film for The Family Jewels
1966 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Comedy Performance (Male) for Boeing Boeing
1966 – Golden Light Technical Achievement Award for his 'video assist'
1966 – Golden Globe Nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical
1966 – Fotogramas de Plata Best Foreign Performer
1967 – Cahiers du Cinema's Top 10 Film Award Nomination for Best Film for The Big Mouth
1970 – Jerry Lewis Award for Outstanding achievement in being a "Person" and "Performer" for Which Way to the Front
1970 – The Michael S. McLean Happy Birthday and Thank You Award for Which Way to the Front
1977 – Nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, for his work on behalf of the Muscular Dystrophy Association
1978 – Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, a Jefferson Awards annual award.
1981 – Stinker Award Nomination for Worst Actor for Hardly Working
1981 – Stinker Award Nomination for Worst Sense of Direction for Hardly Working
1983 – British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for The King of Comedy
1983 – Cahiers du Cinema's Top 10 Film Award Nomination for Best Film for Cracking Up
1984 – Chevalier, Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur, France
1985 – Razzie Award Nomination for Worst Actor for Slapstick (Of Another Kind)
1991 – Comic Life Achievement Award
1991 – Induction into the Broadcast Hall of Fame
1991 – Lifetime Achievement Award, The Greater Fort Lauderdale Film Festival
1992 – Induction into the International Humor Hall of Fame
1995 – Theatre World Award, for Outstanding Broadway Debut for Damn Yankees
1997 – American Comedy Awards Lifetime Achievement Award
1999 – Golden Lion Honorary Award
2002 – Rotary International Award of Honour
2004 – Los Angeles Film Critics Association's Career Achievement Award
2005 – Primetime Emmy Governor's Award
2005 – Goldene Kamera Honorary Award
2006 – Medal of the City of Paris, France
2006 – Satellite Award for Outstanding Guest Star on Law and Order SVU
2006 – Commandeur, Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur, France
2009 – Induction into the New Jersey Hall of Fame
2009 – Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 81st Academy Awards
2009 – International Press Academy's Nikola Tesla Award in recognition of visionary achievements in filmmaking technology for his "video assist".
2010 – Chapman University Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters during the 2010 MDA Telethon
2011 – Ellis Island Medal of Honor
2013 – Homage from the Cannes Film Festival, with the screening of Lewis's latest film Max Rose
2013 – Honorary Member of the Order of Australia (AM), for service to the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation of Australia and those affected by the disorder
2014 – "Forecourt to the Stars" imprints at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood
2014 – New York Friars Club renames clubhouse building The Jerry Lewis Monastery
2014 – Publicists Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award
2015 – National Association of Broadcasters Distinguished Service Award
2015 – Casino Entertainment Legend Award
Filmography
Bibliography
(ISBN is for the 2004 Mass Market Edition)
Documentaries
Annett Wolf (Director) (1972) The World of Jerry Lewis (unreleased)
Robert Benayoun (Director) (1982) Bonjour Monsieur Lewis (Hello Mr. Lewis)
Burt Kearns (Director) (1989) Telethon (Released in US, 2014)
Carole Langer (Director) (1996) Jerry Lewis: The Last American Clown
Eckhart Schmidt (Director) (2006) König der Komödianten (King of Comedy)*
Gregg Barson (Director) (2011). Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis
Notes
References
Further reading
Also, Film Quarterly, Vol. 48, No. 1 (Autumn, 1994), pp. 12–26 University of California Press
Vol.23 Issue 1
Lamarca, Manuel (2017). Jerry Lewis. El día en el que el cómico filmó. Barcelona, Spain. Ediciones Carena.
Film criticism links
Bright Lights Film Online Journal
Film School Rejects
la furia umana (Multilingual Film Quarterly)
‘jerrython’ at MUBI
Museum of the Moving Image
An American Original: The RogerEbert.com Staff Remembers Jerry Lewis
Senses of Cinema
External links
Jerry Lewis Interview video at Directors Guild of America
Lewis interview video with Peter Bogdanovich Museum of the Moving Image Pinewood Dialogues
Jerry Lewis Interview Podcast WTF with Marc Maron
Drum Solo Battle (1955) with Buddy Rich at
1926 births
2017 deaths
20th-century American comedians
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American singers
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
American film producers
American humanitarians
American male comedians
American male comedy actors
American male film actors
American male musical theatre actors
American male non-fiction writers
American male screenwriters
American male singer-songwriters
American male stage actors
American male television actors
American memoirists
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American philanthropists
American television directors
Comedians from New Jersey
Comedy film directors
Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur
Decca Records artists
Film directors from New Jersey
Film producers from New Jersey
Honorary Members of the Order of Australia
Irvington High School (New Jersey) alumni
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award winners
Jewish American male actors
Jewish American male comedians
Jewish American musicians
Jewish American writers
Jewish activists
Jewish singers
Las Vegas shows
Liberty Records artists
Male actors from New Jersey
Male actors from Newark, New Jersey
Musicians from Newark, New Jersey
New Jersey Hall of Fame inductees
Nightclub performers
Paramount Pictures contract players
People from Irvington, New Jersey
People with type 1 diabetes
Screenwriters from New Jersey
Singer-songwriters from New Jersey
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Traditional pop music singers
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Writers from Newark, New Jersey
Singer-songwriters from New York (state) | true | [
"This is a list of foodborne illness outbreaks by death toll, caused by infectious disease, heavy metals, chemical contamination, or from natural toxins, such as those found in poisonous mushrooms. \nBefore modern microbiology, foodbourne illness was not understood, and, from the mid 1800s to early-mid 1900s, was perceived as Ptomaine Poisoning, caused by a fundamental flaw in understanding how it worked. While the medical establishment ditched Ptomaine theory by the 30s, it remained the public conscience until the late 60s and early 70s. Proper noting of such events only properly started after the Bon Vivant Outbreak of 1971, and was still limited in scope, thereby it was highly likely many large scale outbreaks from the 60s or earlier occurred, but were poorly documented and may have gone unnoticed, as even after the Bon Vivant case, prior to the 92-93 Jack in the Box Outbreak, many outbreaks were not widely reported. As such, the majority of entries on this list post-date that outbreak.\n\nList by agent\n\nBy chemical contamination\n\nSee also\nList of epidemics\n\nReferences\n\nAdulteration\n\nfoodborne\nFoodborne illness outbreaks by death toll\nFoodborne illness outbreaks",
"Neuraminidase inhibitors (NAIs) are a class of drugs which block the neuraminidase enzyme. They are a commonly used antiviral drug type against influenza. Viral neuraminidases are essential for influenza reproduction, facilitating viral budding from the host cell. Oseltamivir (Tamiflu), zanamivir (Relenza), laninamivir (Inavir), and peramivir belong to this class. Unlike the M2 inhibitors, which work only against the influenza A virus, NAIs act against both influenza A and influenza B.\n\nThe NAIs oseltamivir and zanamivir were approved in the US and Europe for treatment and prevention of influenza A and B. Peramivir acts by strongly binding to the neuraminidase of the influenza viruses and inhibits activation of neuraminidase much longer than oseltamivir or zanamivir. However, laninamivir in the cells is slowly released into the respiratory tract, resulting in long-lasting anti-influenza virus activity. Thus the mechanism of the long-lasting activity of laninamivir is basically different from that of peramivir.\n\nThe efficacy was highly debated in recent years. However, after the pandemic caused by H1N1 in 2009, the effectiveness of early treatment with neuraminidase inhibitors in reducing serious cases and deaths was reported in various countries.\n \nIn countries where influenza-like illness is treated using NAIs on a national level, statistical reports show a low fatality record for symptomatic illness because of the universal implementation of early treatment using this class of drugs. Although oseltamivir is widely used in these countries, there have been no outbreaks caused by oseltamivir-resistant viruses and also no serious illness caused by oseltamivir-resistant viruses has ever been reported. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to recommend the use of oseltamavir treatment for people at high risk for complications and the elderly and those at lower risk who present within 48 hours of first symptoms of infection.\n\nCommon side effects include nausea and vomiting. The abnormal behaviors of children after taking oseltamivir that have been reported may be an extension of delirium or hallucinations caused by influenza. It occurs in the early stages of the illness, such as within 48 hours after onset of the illness. Therefore, children with influenza are advised to be observed by their parents until 48 hours after the onset of the influenza illness, regardless of whether the child is treated with NAIs.\n\nSpecific neuraminidase inhibitors\nLaninamivir\nOseltamivir (Tamiflu)\nPeramivir (Rapivab)\nZanamivir (Relenza)\n\nStructures of the viral neuraminidase inhibitors in use\n\nNatural products\nCyanidin-3-sambubioside (extracted from black elderberry)\nCoptisine\nBerberine\n\nSee also \nDiscovery and development of neuraminidase inhibitors\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n \nCarbohydrate chemistry"
] |
[
"Jerry Lewis",
"Illness",
"When did lewis first fall ill?",
"March 20, 1965.",
"What caused the illness?",
"illnesses and addictions related both to aging and a back injury sustained"
] | C_acddf0ca4d054573ab0b9e83c4a4fa9e_0 | How did he hurt his back? | 3 | How did Jerry Lewis hurt his back? | Jerry Lewis | Lewis had a number of illnesses and addictions related both to aging and a back injury sustained in a comedic pratfall from a piano while performing at the Sands Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip on March 20, 1965. The accident almost left him paralyzed. In its aftermath, Lewis became addicted to the painkiller Percodan for thirteen years. He said he had been off the drug since 1978. In April 2002, Lewis had a Medtronic "Synergy" neurostimulator implanted in his back, which helped reduce the discomfort. He was one of the company's leading spokesmen. In the 2011 documentary Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis, Lewis said he had his first heart attack at age 34 while filming Cinderfella in 1960. In December 1982, he had another heart attack. En route to San Diego from New York City on a cross-country commercial airline flight on June 11, 2006, he had another. It was discovered that he had pneumonia, as well as a severely damaged heart. He underwent a cardiac catheterization and two stents were inserted into one of his coronary arteries, which was 90 percent blocked. The surgery resulted in increased blood flow to his heart and allowed him to continue his rebound from earlier lung problems. Having the cardiac catheterization meant canceling several major events from his schedule, but Lewis fully recuperated in a matter of weeks. In 1999, Lewis' Australian tour was cut short when he had to be hospitalized in Darwin with viral meningitis. He was ill for more than five months. It was reported in the Australian press that he had failed to pay his medical bills. However, Lewis maintained that the payment confusion was the fault of his health insurer. The resulting negative publicity caused him to sue his insurer for US$100 million. Lewis had prostate cancer, type 1 diabetes, pulmonary fibrosis, and a decades-long history of cardiovascular disease. Prednisone treatment in the late 1990s for pulmonary fibrosis resulted in weight gain and a noticeable change in his appearance. In September 2001, Lewis was unable to perform at a planned London charity event at the London Palladium. He was the headlining act, and he was introduced but did not appear. He had suddenly become unwell, apparently with heart problems. He was subsequently taken to the hospital. Some months thereafter, Lewis began an arduous, months-long therapy that weaned him off prednisone and enabled him to return to work. On June 12, 2012, he was treated and released from a hospital after collapsing from hypoglycemia at a New York Friars Club event. This latest health issue forced him to cancel a show in Sydney. In an October 2016 interview with Inside Edition, Lewis acknowledged that he might not star in any more films, given his advanced age, while admitting, through tears, that he was afraid of dying, as it would leave his wife and daughter alone. In June 2017, Lewis was hospitalized at a Las Vegas hospital for a urinary tract infection. CANNOTANSWER | comedic pratfall from a piano while performing at the Sands Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip | Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, director, actor, screenwriter, singer, humanitarian and producer. Nicknamed "The King of Comedy", Lewis is regarded as one of the most significant American cultural figures of the 20th century, was widely known for his "kid" and "idiot" persona and his contributions to comedy and charity, along with his publicized personal life made him a global figure in pop culture over an eight-decade career. He professionally debuted in 1946 as part of the famous Martin and Lewis with singer Dean Martin and performed together until 1956.
That same year, his solo career started after the split. By becoming a solo star and innovative filmmaker, he helped to develop and popularize "video assist", the closed-circuit apparatus enabling film directors to see what had been shot without waiting for developed film footage. Lewis appeared and starred in 60 films with 13 directed by him. He was also national chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) and host of The Jerry Lewis Telethon each Labor Day weekend for many years.
Early life
Lewis was born Joseph Levitch on March 16, 1926, in Newark, New Jersey, to a Jewish family. His parents were Daniel "Danny" Levitch (1902–1980), a master of ceremonies and vaudevillian who performed under the stage name Danny Lewis, whose parents immigrated to the United States from the Russian Empire to New York, and Rachael "Rae" Levitch (née Brodsky; 1903–1983), a WOR radio pianist and Danny's music director, from Warsaw. Reports as to his birth name are conflicting; in Lewis's 1982 autobiography, he claimed his birth name was Joseph, after his maternal grandfather, but his birth certificate, the 1930 U. S. Census, and the 1940 U. S. Census all named him as Jerome.
Lewis said that he ceased using the names Joseph and Joey as an adult to avoid being confused with Joe E. Lewis and Joe Louis. Reports as to the hospital in which he was born conflict as well, with biographer Shawn Levy claiming he was born at Clinton Private Hospital and others claiming Newark Beth Israel Hospital. Other claims of his early life also conflict with accounts made by family members, burial records, and vital records. He was a "character" even in his teenage years, pulling pranks in his neighborhood including sneaking into kitchens to steal fried chicken and pies. He dropped out of Irvington High School in the tenth grade.
Early career
By age 15, he had developed his "Record Act" miming lyrics to songs while a phonograph played offstage. He landed a gig at a burlesque house in Buffalo, but his performance fell flat and was unable to book any more shows. To make ends meet, Lewis worked as a soda jerk and a theater usher for Suzanne Pleshette's father Gene at the Paramount Theatre as well as at Loew's Capitol Theatre, both in New York City,.
A veteran burlesque comedian, Max Coleman, who had worked with Lewis's father years before, persuaded him to try again. Irving Kaye, a Borscht Belt comedian, saw Lewis's mime act at Brown's Hotel in Loch Sheldrake, New York, the following summer, and the audience was so enthusiastic that Kaye became Lewis's manager and guardian for Borscht Belt appearances. During World War II, he was rejected for military service because of a heart murmur.
Career
Teaming with Dean Martin
In 1945, Lewis was 19 when he met 27-year-old singer Dean Martin at the Glass Hat Club in New York City, where the two performed until they debuted at Atlantic City's 500 Club as Martin and Lewis on July 25, 1946. The duo gained attention as a double act with Martin serving as the straight man to Lewis's zany antics. Along with being physically attractive, they played to each other and had ad-libbed improvisational segments within their planned routines, which added a unique quality to their act and separated them from previous comedy duos.
Martin and Lewis quickly rose to national prominence, first with their popular nightclub act, then as stars of their radio program The Martin and Lewis Show. The two made their television debut on CBS' Toast of the Town (later renamed as The Ed Sullivan Show) June 20, 1948.
This was followed by an appearance on Welcome Aboard on October 3, 1948, and by a guest stint on Texaco Star Theater in 1949.
In 1950, the boys signed with NBC to be one of a series of weekly rotating hosts of The Colgate Comedy Hour, a live Sunday evening broadcast. Lewis, writer for the team's nightclub act, hired Norman Lear and Ed Simmons as regular writers for their Comedy Hour material. Their Comedy Hour shows consisted of stand-up dialogue, song and dance from their nightclub act and movies, backed by Dick Stabile's big band, slapstick and satirical sketch comedy, Martin's solo songs, and Lewis's solo pantomimes or physical numbers.
They often broke character, ad-libbing and breaking the fourth wall. While not completely capturing the orchestrated mayhem of their nightclub act, the Comedy Hour displayed charismatic energy between the team and established their popularity nationwide. By 1951, with an appearance at the Paramount Theatre in New York, they were a cultural phenomenon. The duo began their film careers at Paramount Pictures as ensemble players, in My Friend Irma (1949) and its sequel My Friend Irma Goes West (1950).
They then starred in their own series of 14 new films, At War with the Army (1950), That's My Boy (1951), Sailor Beware (1952), Jumping Jacks (1952), The Stooge (1952), Scared Stiff (1953), The Caddy (1953), Money from Home (1953), Living It Up (1954), 3 Ring Circus (1954), You're Never Too Young (1955), Artists and Models (1955), Pardners (1956) and Hollywood or Bust (1956), all produced by Hal B. Wallis and appeared on Bing Crosby and Bob Hope's Olympic Fund Telethon.
Martin and Lewis cameoed in their film Road to Bali (1952), then Hope and Crosby would do the same in Scared Stiff a year later. Attesting to the duo's popularity, DC Comics published The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis from 1952 to 1957. The team appeared on What's My Line? in 1954, the 27th annual Academy Awards in 1955, The Steve Allen Show and The Today Show in 1956.
Their films were popular with audiences, and were financial successes for Paramount. In later years, both Lewis and Martin admitted frustration with Wallis for his formulaic and trite film choices, restricting them to narrow, repetitive roles. As Martin's roles in their films became less important over time and Lewis received the majority of critical acclaim, the partnership came under strain. Martin's participation became an embarrassment in 1954 when Look magazine published a publicity photo of the team for the magazine cover but cropped Martin out.
After their partnership ended with their final nightclub act on July 24, 1956, both Lewis and Martin went on to have successful solo careers and neither would comment on the split nor consider a reunion. They were occasionally seen at the same public events, though never together. On two occasions, in 1958 and 1961, Martin invited Lewis on stage, but the split was too serious for them to reconcile. Twenty years after their breakup Sinatra surprised Lewis by bringing Martin on live stage during the Jerry Lewis Telethon in September 1976. In 1989, Lewis returned the gesture, attending Martin's 72nd birthday.
Solo period
After ending his partnership with Martin in 1956, Lewis and his wife Patty took a vacation in Las Vegas to consider the direction of his career. He felt his life was in a crisis state: "I was unable to put one foot in front of the other with any confidence. I was completely unnerved to be alone". While there, he received an urgent request from his friend Sid Luft, who was Judy Garland's husband and manager, saying that she couldn't perform that night in Las Vegas because of strep throat, and asking Lewis to fill in.
Lewis had not sung alone on stage since he was five years old, twenty-five years before, but he appeared before the audience of a thousand, nonetheless, delivering jokes and clowning with the audience, while Garland sat off-stage, watching. He then sang a rendition of a song he'd learned as a child, "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody" along with "Come Rain or Come Shine". Lewis recalled, "When I was done, the place exploded. I walked off the stage knowing I could make it on my own".
At his wife's pleading, Lewis used his own money to record the songs on a single. Decca Records heard it, liked it and insisted he record an album for them. The single of Rock-a-Bye Your Baby went to No. 10 and the album Jerry Lewis Just Sings went to No. 3 on the Billboard charts, staying near the top for four months and selling a million and a half copies.
With the success of that album, he recorded the additional albums More Jerry Lewis (an EP of songs from this release was released as Somebody Loves Me), and Jerry Lewis Sings Big Songs for Little People (later reissued with fewer tracks as Jerry Lewis Sings for Children). Non-album singles were released, and It All Depends On You hit the charts in April and May 1957, but peaked at only No. 68. Further singles were recorded and released by Lewis into the mid-1960s.
But these were not Lewis's first forays into recording, nor his first appearance on the hit charts. During his partnership with Martin, they made several recordings together, charting at No. 22 in 1948 with the 1920s chestnut That Certain Party and later mostly re-recording songs highlighted in their films. Also during the time of their partnership, but without Martin, he recorded numerous novelty-comedy numbers for adults as well as records specifically intended for the children's market.
Having proven he could sing and do live shows, he began performing regularly at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, beginning in late 1956, which marked a turning point in his life and career. The Sands signed him for five years, to perform six weeks each year and paid him the same amount they had paid Martin and Lewis as a team. The critics gave him positive reviews: "Jerry was wonderful. He has proved that he can be a success by himself," wrote one. He continued with club performances in Miami, New York, Chicago and Washington.
Such live performances became a staple of his career and over the years he performed at casinos, theaters and state fairs coast-to-coast. In February 1957, he followed Garland at the Palace Theater in New York and Martin called on the phone during this period to wish him the best of luck. "I've never been happier," said Lewis. "I have peace of mind for the first time." Lewis established himself as a solo act on TV starting with the first of six appearances on What's My Line? from 1956 to 1966 and then guest starred on The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show.
He appeared on both Tonight Starring Jack Paar and The Ed Sullivan Show and beginning in January 1957, in a number of solo TV specials for NBC. He starred in his adaptation of "The Jazz Singer" for Startime. Lewis hosted the Academy Awards three times, in 1956, 1957 and the 31st Academy Awards in 1959, which ran twenty minutes short, forcing Lewis to improvise to fill time. DC Comics, switching from Martin and Lewis, published a new comic book series titled The Adventures of Jerry Lewis, running from 1957 to 1971.
Lewis remained at Paramount and started off with his first solo effort The Delicate Delinquent (1957) then starred in his next film The Sad Sack (1957). Frank Tashlin, whose background as a Looney Tunes cartoon director suited Lewis's brand of humor, came on board. Lewis did new films with him, first with Rock-A-Bye Baby (1958) and then The Geisha Boy (1958). Billy Wilder asked Lewis to play the lead role of an uptight jazz musician named Jerry, who winds up on the run from the mob, in Some Like It Hot but turned it down.
He then appeared in Don't Give Up The Ship (1959) and cameoed in Li'l Abner (1959). After his contract with Wallis ended, Lewis had several movies under his belt, eagering to flex his creative muscle and was free to deepen his comedy with pathos, believing, "Funny without pathos is a pie in the face. And a pie in the face is funny, but I wanted more." In 1959, a contract between Paramount and Jerry Lewis Productions was signed specifying a payment of $10 million plus 60% of the profits for 14 films over seven years.
This contract made Lewis the highest paid individual Hollywood talent to date and was unprecedented in that he had unlimited creative control, including final cut and the return of film rights after 30 years. Lewis's clout and box office were so strong (his films had already earned Paramount $100 million in rentals) that Barney Balaban, head of production at Paramount at that time, told the press, "If Jerry wants to burn down the studio I'll give him the match!"
He had finished his film contract with Wallis with Visit to a Small Planet (1960) and wrapped up production on his own film Cinderfella (1960), directed by Tashlin and was postponed for a Christmas 1960 release. Paramount Pictures, needing a quickie movie for its summer 1960 schedule, held Lewis to his contract to produce one. As a result, he made his debut as film director of The Bellboy (1960), which he also starred in.
Using the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami as his setting — on a small budget, with a very tight shooting schedule — Lewis shot the film during the day and performed at the hotel in the evenings. Bill Richmond collaborated with him on many of the sight gags. Lewis later revealed that Paramount was not happy about financing a "silent movie" and withdrew backing. Lewis used his own funds to cover the movie's $950,000 budget. Meanwhile, he directed an unsold pilot for Permanent Waves.
Lewis continued to direct more films that he had co-written with Richmond, including The Ladies Man (1961), where Lewis constructed a three-story dollhouse-like set spanning two sound stages, with the set equipped with state of the art lighting and sound, eliminating the need for boom mics in each room and his next movie The Errand Boy (1961), was one of the earliest films about movie-making, using all of the Paramount backlot and offices.
Lewis appeared in The Wacky World of Jerry Lewis, Celebrity Golf, The Garry Moore Show and Tashlin's It's Only Money (1962), then guest hosted The Tonight Show during the transition from Jack Paar to Johnny Carson in 1962 and his appearance on the show scored the highest ratings thus far in late night, surpassing other guest hosts and Paar. The three major networks began a bidding war, wooing Lewis for his own talk show, which debuted the following year.
Lewis then directed, co-wrote and starred in the smash hit The Nutty Professor (1963). A parody of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, it featured him as Professor Kelp, a socially inept scientist who invents a serum that turns him into a handsome but obnoxious ladies man. It is often considered to be Lewis's best film. It was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2004. The film inspired a franchise, which has included a 1996 remake starring Eddie Murphy in the title role and a stage musical adaptation.
He then appeared in a cameo role in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), then in Tashlin's Who's Minding the Store? (1963) and hosted The Jerry Lewis Show, a lavish 13-week, big-budget show which aired on ABC from September to December in 1963, but suffered in the ratings and was beleaguered by technical and other difficulties, including the assassination of then U.S. president John F. Kennedy, which left the country in a somber mood.
Lewis next starred in The Patsy (1964), his satire about the Hollywood star-making industry, The Disorderly Orderly (1964), his final collaboration with Tashlin, appeared in a cameo on The Joey Bishop Show and The Family Jewels (1965) about a young heiress who must choose among six uncles, one of whom is up to no good and out to harm the girl's beloved bodyguard who practically raised her. All six uncles and the bodyguard were played by Lewis.
In 1965, Lewis was interviewed on The David Susskind Show, then starred in Boeing Boeing (1965), his last film for Paramount, based on the French stage play, in which he received a Golden Globe nomination; an episode of Ben Casey, an early dramatic role; The Andy Williams Show; and Hullabaloo with his son Gary Lewis. In 1966, after 17 years, and with no explanation, Lewis left Paramount and signed with Columbia Pictures where he tried to reinvent himself with more serious roles.
He went on to star in Three on a Couch (1966), The Merv Griffin Show, Way...Way Out (1966), The Sammy Davis Jr. Show, Batman, Laugh In, Password, a pilot for Sheriff Who, a new version of The Jerry Lewis Show, this time as a one-hour variety show for NBC, which ran from 1967 to 1969, The Big Mouth (1967), Run for Your Life and The Danny Thomas Hour.
Lewis appeared in Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River (1968), Playboy After Dark (surprising friend Sammy Davis Jr.), Hook, Line & Sinker (1969), Jimmy Durante's The Lennon Sisters Hour, The Red Skelton Show and The Jack Benny Birthday Special and contributed to some scripts for Filmation's animated series Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down, appeared on The Mike Douglas Show and directed an episode of The Bold Ones.
Lewis guested on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, The Hollywood Palace, The Engelbert Humperdinck Show, The Irv Kupcinet Show, The Linkletter Show, The Real Tom Kennedy Show and A Christmas Night with the Stars, directed One More Time (1970), in which he played his first (and only) off-screen voice as a bandleader, starred in Which Way to the Front? (1970) and appeared on The Carol Burnett Show, The Rolf Harris Show and The Kraft Music Hall.
Lewis directed and appeared in the partly unreleased The Day the Clown Cried (1972), a drama set in a Nazi concentration camp. The film was rarely discussed by Lewis, but he said that litigation over post-production finances and copyright prevented its completion and theatrical release. During his book tour for Dean and Me, he also said a factor for the film's burial was that he was not proud of the effort.
Lewis explained his reason for choosing the project and the emotional difficulty of the subject matter in an interview with an Australian documentary film crew. A 31-minute version was shown on the German television station ARD, in the documentary Der Clown. It was later put on DVD and shown at Deutsches Filminstitute. The film was the earliest attempt by an American film director to address the subject of The Holocaust. Significant speculation continues to surround the film. Following this, Lewis took a break from the movie business for several years.
Lewis appeared as guest on Good Morning America, The Dick Cavett Show, NBC Follies, Celebrity Sportsman, Cher, Dinah! and Tony Orlando and Dawn. Lewis surprised Sinatra and Martin after walking onto the Aladdin stage in Las Vegas during their show and exchanged jokes for several minutes. He then starred in a revival of Hellzapoppin with Lynn Redgrave, but closed on the road before reaching Broadway. In 1979, he guest hosted as ringmaster of Circus of the Stars.
Lewis guest starred on Pink Lady in 1980, then made a comeback to the big screen in Hardly Working (1981), after an 11-year absence from film. Despite being panned by critics, it eventually earned $50 million. In 1982 and 1983, Lewis appeared on Late Night with David Letterman and in The King of Comedy, as a late-night TV host, plagued by two obsessive fans, in which he received wide critical acclaim and a BAFTA nomination for this serious dramatic role.
Lewis then starred in Saturday Night Live, Star Search, Cracking Up (1983), Slapstick (Of Another Kind) (1984), To Catch a Cop (1984) and How Did You Get In? We Didn't See You Leave (1984), the latter two films from France which had their distribution under Lewis's control and stated that they would never be released in American movie theaters and on home media. He then was a guest on an episode of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
He then hosted a new syndicated version of The Jerry Lewis Show, this time as a talk show for Metromedia, which was not continued beyond the scheduled five shows. In 1985, Lewis directed an episode of Brothers, appeared at the first Comic Relief in 1986, where he was the only performer to receive a standing ovation, was interviewed on Classic Treasures and starred in the ABC television movie Fight for Life (1987).
In 1987, Lewis performed a second double act with Davis Jr. at Bally's in Las Vegas, then after learning of the death of Martin's son Dean Paul Martin, he attended his funeral, which led to a more substantial reconciliation with Martin. In 1988, Lewis hosted America's All-Time Favorite Movies, then was interviewed by Howard Cosell on Speaking of Everything. He then starred in five episodes of Wiseguy.
The filming schedule of the show forced Lewis to miss the Museum of the Moving Image's opening with a retrospective of his work. In 1989, Lewis joined Martin on stage, for what would be Martin's final live performance, at Bally's Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Lewis wheeled out a cake on Martin's 72nd birthday, sang "Happy Birthday" to him and joked, "Why we broke up, I'll never know". Again, their appearance together made headlines. He next appeared in Cookie (1989).
Lewis handled two years directing episodes of Super Force and Good Grief in 1990 and 1991, then star in Mr. Saturday Night (1992), The Arsenio Hall Show, The Whoopi Goldberg Show and Inside The Comedy Mind. A three-part retrospective Martin & Lewis: Their Golden Age of Comedy, aired on The Disney Channel in 1992, using previously unseen kinescopes from Lewis' personal archive, highlighted his years as part of a team with Martin and as a soloist.
After guest spots on Mad About You and Larry King Live and film appearances in Arizona Dream (1993) and Funny Bones (1995), Lewis made his Broadway debut, as a replacement cast member playing the devil, in a revival of Damn Yankees and was reportedly paid the highest sum in Broadway history at the time for performing in both the national and London runs of the musical. He missed only three shows in more than four years, one of those occasions being the funeral of Martin, his comedy partner of ten years.
Lewis appeared on Inside the Actors Studio in 1996, the 12th annual American Comedy Awards in 1998 and in the 2000s, The Martin Short Show, Russell Gilbert Live, Your World with Neil Cavuto, The Simpsons, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Live with Kelly, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, the song "Time After Time" with Deana Martin on her album Memories Are Made of This and Curious George 2 (2009).
He made his last few appearances for the 81st Academy Awards, 50 Years of Movies & Music (a Michel Legrand special), Till Luck Do Us Part 2 (2013), The Talk, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The World Over with Raymond Arroyo, The Trust (2016), his final film Max Rose (2016), WTF with Marc Maron and Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.
Video assist and film class
During the 1960 production of The Bellboy, Lewis pioneered the technique of using video cameras and multiple closed circuit monitors, which allowed him to review his performance instantly. This was necessary since he was acting as well as directing. His techniques and methods of filmmaking, documented in his book and his USC class, enabled him to complete most of his films on time and under budget since reshoots could take place immediately instead of waiting for the dailies.
Man in Motion, a featurette for Three on a Couch, features the video system, named "Jerry's Noisy Toy" and shows Lewis receiving the Golden Light Technical Achievement award for its development. Lewis stated he worked with the head of Sony to produce the prototype. While he initiated its practice and use, and was instrumental in its development, he did not hold a patent. This practice is now commonplace in filmmaking.
Starting in 1967, Lewis taught a film directing class at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles for a number of years. His students included George Lucas, whose friend Steven Spielberg sometimes sat in on classes. Lewis screened Spielberg's early film Amblin' and told his students, "That's what filmmaking is all about." The class covered all topics related to filmmaking, including pre and post production, marketing and distribution and filming comedy with rhythm and timing.
His 1971 book The Total Film Maker, was based on 480 hours of his class lectures. Also, Lewis traveled to medical schools for seminars on laughter and healing with Dr. Clifford Kuhn and also did corporate and college lectures, motivational speaking and promoted the pain-treatment company Medtronic.
Acclaim and exposure in France
While Lewis was popular in France for his duo films with Dean Martin and his solo comedy films, his reputation and stature increased after the Paramount contract, when he began to exert total control over all aspects of his films. His involvement in directing, writing, editing and art direction coincided with the rise of auteur theory in French intellectual film criticism and the French New Wave movement. He earned consistent praise from French critics in the influential magazines Cahiers du Cinéma and Positif, where he was hailed as an ingenious auteur.
His singular mise-en-scène, and skill behind the camera, were aligned with Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock and Satyajit Ray. Appreciated too, was the complexity of his also being in front of the camera. The new French criticism viewed cinema as an art form unto itself, and comedy as part of this art. Lewis is then fitted into a historical context and seen as not only worthy of critique, but as an innovator and satirist of his time. Jean-Pierre Coursodon states in a 1975 Film Comment article, "The merit of the French critics, auteurist excesses notwithstanding, was their willingness to look at what Lewis was doing as a filmmaker for what it was, rather than with some preconception of what film comedy should be."
Not yet curricula at universities or art schools, film studies and film theory were avant-garde in early 1960s America. Mainstream movie reviewers such as Pauline Kael, were dismissive of auteur theory, and others, seeing only absurdist comedy, criticized Lewis for his ambition and "castigated him for his self-indulgence" and egotism. Despite this criticism often being held by American film critics, admiration for Lewis and his comedy continued to grow in France.
Appreciation of Lewis became a misunderstood stereotype about "the French", and it was often the object of jokes in American pop culture. "That Americans can't see Jerry Lewis' genius is bewildering," says N. T. Binh, a French film magazine critic. Such bewilderment was the basis of the book Why the French Love Jerry Lewis. In response to the lingering perception that French audiences adored him, Lewis stated in interviews he was more popular in Germany, Japan and Australia.
Muscular dystrophy cause and criticism
As a humanitarian, philanthropist and "number one volunteer", Lewis supported fundraising for research into muscular dystrophy. In 1951, he and Martin made their first appeal for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (simply known as MDA and formerly as the Muscular Dystrophy Associations of America and MDAA) in early December on the finale of The Colgate Comedy Hour. In 1952, after another appeal, Lewis hosted New York area telethons until 1959 and in 1954, fought Rocky Marciano in a boxing bout for MDA's fund drive.
After being named national chairman in 1956, Lewis began hosting and emceeing The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon in 1966 and aired every Labor Day weekend for six decades. Ed McMahon, announcer of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and host of Star Search, began his involvement in the telethon in 1968, before co-anchoring with Lewis from 1973 to 2008. The show originated from different locations including New York, Las Vegas and Hollywood, becoming the most successful fundraising event in the history of television.
It was the first to: raise over $1 million, in 1966; be shown entirely in color, in 1967; become a networked telethon, in 1968; go coast-to-coast, in 1970; be seen outside the continental U.S., in 1972. It: raised the largest sum ever in a single event for humanitarian purposes, in 1974; had the greatest amount ever pledged to a televised charitable event, in 1980 (from the Guinness Book of World Records); was the first to be seen by 100 million people, in 1985; celebrated its 25th anniversary, in 1990; saw its highest pledge in history, in 1992; and was the first seen worldwide via internet simulcast, in 1998.
By 1990, pop culture had shifted its view of disabled individuals and the telethon format. Lewis and the telethon's methods were criticized by disabled-rights activists who believed the show was "designed to evoke pity rather than empower the disabled". The activists said the telethon perpetuated prejudices and stereotypes, that Lewis treated those he claimed to be helping with little respect, and that he used offensive language when describing them. The songs "Smile" (by Charlie Chaplin), "What the World Needs Now Is Love" (by Jackie DeShannon) and "You'll Never Walk Alone" (by Rodgers and Hammerstein) have been long associated with the telethon.
In December 1996, Lewis and MDA were recognized by the American Medical Association with Lifetime Achievement Awards for significant and lasting contributions to the health and welfare of humanity. His motto summed up the philosophy behind his years of devotion to MDA: "I shall pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again".
Lewis rebutted the criticism and defended his methods saying, "If you don't tug at their heartstrings, then you're on the air for nothing."
The activist protests represented a very small minority of countless MDA patients and clients who had directly benefitted from Lewis's MDA fundraising. He received a Nobel Peace Prize nomination in 1977, a Governors Award in 2005 and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 2009, in recognition of his fight and efforts with the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
On August 3, 2011, it was announced that Lewis would no longer host the MDA telethons and that he was no longer associated with the Muscular Dystrophy Association. A tribute to Lewis was held during the 2011 telethon (which originally was to be his final show bearing his name with MDA). On May 1, 2015, it was announced that in view of "the new realities of television viewing and philanthropic giving", the telethon was being discontinued.
In early 2016, at MDA's brand re-launch event at Carnegie Hall in New York City, Lewis broke a five-year silence during a special taped message for the organization on its website, marking his first (and as it turned out, his final) appearance in support of MDA since his final telethon in 2010 and the end of his tenure as national chairman in 2011. Lewis raised an estimated $2.6 billion in donations for the cause.
MDA's website states, "Jerry's love, passion and brilliance are woven throughout this organization, which he helped build from the ground up, courted sponsors for MDA, appeared at openings of MDA care and research centers, addressed meetings of civic organizations, volunteers and the MDA Board of Directors, successfully lobbied Congress for federal neuromuscular disease research funds, made countless phone calls and visits to families served by MDA.
During Lewis's lifetime, MDA-funded scientists discovered the causes of most of the diseases in the Muscular Dystrophy Association's program, developing treatments, therapies and standards of care that have allowed many people living with these diseases to live longer and grow stronger. Over 200 research and treatment facilities were built with donations raised by the Jerry Lewis Telethons.
Non-career activities
Lewis opened a camera shop in 1950. In 1969 he agreed to lend his name to "Jerry Lewis Cinemas", offered by National Cinema Corporation as a franchise business opportunity for those interested in theatrical movie exhibition. Jerry Lewis Cinemas stated that their theaters could be operated by a staff of as few as two with the aid of automation and support provided by the franchiser in booking film and other aspects of film exhibition. A forerunner of the smaller rooms typical of later multi-screen complexes, a Jerry Lewis Cinema was billed in franchising ads as a "mini-theatre" with a seating capacity of between 200 and 350.
In addition to Lewis's name, each Jerry Lewis Cinemas bore a sign with a cartoon logo of Lewis in profile. Initially 158 territories were franchised, with a buy-in fee of $10,000 or $15,000 depending on the territory, for what was called an "individual exhibitor". For $50,000, Jerry Lewis Cinemas offered an opportunity known as an "area directorship", in which investors controlled franchising opportunities in a territory as well as their own cinemas. The success of the chain was hampered by a policy of only booking second-run, family-friendly films.Eventually the policy was changed, and the Jerry Lewis Cinemas were allowed to show more competitive movies. But after a decade the chain failed and both Lewis and National Cinema Corporation declared bankruptcy in 1980.
In 1973, Lewis appeared on the 1st annual 20-hour Highway Safety Foundation telethon, hosted by Davis Jr. and Monty Hall. In 1990, Lewis wrote and directed a short film for UNICEF's How Are The Children? anthology exploring the rights of children worldwide. The eight-minute segment, titled Boy, was about a young white child in a black world and being subjected to quiet, insidious racism, and outright racist bullying.
In 2010, Lewis met with seven-year-old Lochie Graham, who shared his idea for "Jerry's House", a place for vulnerable and traumatized children. Lewis and Graham entered into a joint partnership for an Australian and a U.S.-based charity and began raising funds to build the facility in Melbourne. On September 12, 2016, Lewis lent his name and star power to Criss Angel's HELP (Heal Every Life Possible) charity event.
Political views
Lewis kept a low political profile for many years, having taken advice reportedly given to him by President John F. Kennedy, who told him, "Don't get into anything political. Don't do that because they will usurp your energy." Nevertheless, he campaigned and performed on behalf of both JFK and Robert F. Kennedy. Lewis was a supporter of the Civil Rights Movement. For his 1957 NBC special, Lewis held his ground when southern affiliates objected to his stated friendship with Sammy Davis Jr. In a 1971 Movie Mirror magazine article, Lewis spoke out against the Vietnam War when his son Gary returned from service traumatized. He vowed to leave the country rather than send another of his sons.
Lewis once stated political speeches should not be at the Oscars. He stated, "I think we are the most dedicated industry in the world. And I think that we have to present ourselves that night as hard-working, caring and important people to the industry. We need to get more self-respect as an industry".
In a 2004 interview with The Guardian, Lewis was asked what he was least proud of, to which he answered, "Politics". Not his politics, but the world's politics – the madness, the destruction, the general lack of respect.
He lamented citizens' lack of pride in their country, stating, "President Bush is my president. I will not say anything negative about the president of the United States. I don't do that. And I don't allow my children to do that. Likewise when I come to England don't you do any jokes about 'Mum' to me. That is the Queen of England, you moron. Do you know how tough a job it is to be the Queen of England?"
In a December 2015 interview on EWTN's World Over with Raymond Arroyo, Lewis expressed opposition to the United States letting in Syrian refugees, saying, "No one has worked harder for the human condition than I have, but they're not part of the human condition if 11 guys in that group of 10,000 are ISIS. How can I take that chance?" In the same interview, he criticized President Barack Obama for not being prepared for ISIS, while expressing support for Donald Trump, saying he would make a good president because he was a good "showman". He also added that he admired Ronald Reagan's presidency.
Controversies
In 1998, at the Aspen U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, when asked which women comics he admired, Lewis answered, "I don't like any female comedians. A woman doing comedy doesn't offend me but sets me back a bit. I, as a viewer, have trouble with it. I think of her as a producing machine that brings babies in the world." He later clarified his statements saying, "Seeing a woman project the kind of aggression that you have to project as a comic just rubs me wrong. I cannot sit and watch a lady diminish her qualities to the lowest common denominator." Lewis explained his attitude as that of an older generation and said women are funny, but not when performing "broad" or "crude" humor.
He went on to praise Lucille Ball as "brilliant" and said Carol Burnett is "the greatest female entrepreneur of comedy". On other occasions Lewis expressed admiration for female comedians Totie Fields, Phyllis Diller, Kathleen Freeman, Elayne Boosler, Whoopi Goldberg and Tina Fey. During the 2007 MDA Telethon, Lewis used the word "fag" in a joke, for which he apologized. Lewis used the same word the following year on Australian television.
Personal life
Relationships and children
Lewis wed Patti Palmer (later Lewis, née Esther Grace Calonico; 1921–2021), an Italian American singer with Ted Fio Rito, on October 3, 1944, and the two had six children together—five biological: Gary Levitch (later Lewis) (born 1945); Scott (born 1956); Christopher (born 1957); Anthony (born 1959); and Joseph (1964–2009) – and one adopted, Ronald (born 1949). It was an interfaith marriage; Lewis was Jewish and Palmer was Catholic.
While married to Palmer, Lewis openly pursued relationships with other women and gave unapologetic interviews about his infidelity, revealing his affairs with Marilyn Monroe and Marlene Dietrich to People in 2011. Palmer filed for divorce from Lewis in 1980, after 35 years of marriage, citing Lewis's extravagant spending and infidelity on his part, and it was finalized in 1983. All of Lewis's children and grandchildren from his marriage to Palmer were excluded from inheriting any part of his estate. His eldest son, Gary, publicly called his father a "mean and evil person" and said that Lewis never showed him or his siblings any love or care.
Lewis's second wife was Sandra "SanDee" Pitnick, a UNCSA professionally trained ballerina and stewardess, who met Lewis after winning a bit part in a dancing scene on his film Hardly Working. They were wed on February 13, 1983, in Key Biscayne, Florida, and had one child together, an adopted daughter named Danielle (born 1992). They were married for 34 years until his death.
Patti Lewis died on January 15, 2021, at age 99.
Stalking incident
In February 1994, a man named Gary Benson was revealed to have been stalking Lewis and his family. Benson subsequently served four years in prison.
Sexual assault allegations
In February 2022, Vanity Fair published a special issue detailing several women who accused Lewis of various acts ranging from sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape. The claims come from seven actresses who worked with him in the 1960s. These actresses were identified as Karen Sharpe, Renée Taylor, Hope Holiday, Jill St. John, Connie Stevens, Anna Maria Alberghetti, and Lainie Kazan.
Illness and death
Lewis suffered from a number of chronic health problems, illnesses and addictions related both to aging and a back injury sustained in a comedic pratfall. The fall has been stated as being either from a piano while performing at the Sands Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip on March 20, 1965, or during an appearance on The Andy Williams Show. In its aftermath, Lewis became addicted to the painkiller Percodan for thirteen years. He said he had been off the drug since 1978. In April 2002, Lewis had a Medtronic "Synergy" neurostimulator implanted in his back, which helped reduce the discomfort. He was one of the company's leading spokesmen.
Lewis suffered numerous heart problems throughout his life; he revealed in the 2011 documentary Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis that he suffered his first heart attack at age 34 while filming Cinderfella in 1960. In December 1982, he had another heart attack. Two months later, in February 1983, Lewis underwent open-heart double-bypass surgery. En route to San Diego from New York City on a cross-country commercial airline flight on June 11, 2006, Lewis suffered his third heart attack. It was discovered that he had pneumonia, as well as a severely damaged heart. He underwent a cardiac catheterization days after the heart attack, and two stents were inserted into one of his coronary arteries, which was 90 percent blocked. The surgery resulted in increased blood flow to his heart and allowed him to continue his rebound from earlier lung problems. Having the cardiac catheterization required him to cancel several major events from his schedule, but Lewis fully recuperated in a matter of weeks.
In 1999, Lewis's Australian tour was cut short when he had to be hospitalized in Darwin with viral meningitis. He was ill for more than five months. It was reported in the Australian press that he had failed to pay his medical bills. However, Lewis maintained that the payment confusion was the fault of his health insurer. The resulting negative publicity caused him to sue his insurer for US$100 million.
In addition to his decades-long heart problems, Lewis had prostate cancer, type 1 diabetes, and pulmonary fibrosis. In the late 1990s, Lewis was treated with prednisone for pulmonary fibrosis, which caused considerable weight gain and a startling change in his appearance. In September 2001, Lewis was unable to perform at a planned London charity event at the London Palladium. He was the headlining act, and was introduced, but did not appear onstage. He had suddenly become unwell, apparently with cardiac problems.
He was subsequently taken to hospital. Some months thereafter, Lewis began an arduous, months-long therapy that weaned him off prednisone, and he lost much of the weight gained while on the drug. The treatment enabled him to return to work. On June 12, 2012, he was treated and released from a hospital after collapsing from hypoglycemia at a New York Friars Club event. This forced him to cancel a show in Sydney. In an October 2016 interview with Inside Edition, Lewis acknowledged that he might not star in any more films, given his advanced age, while admitting, through tears, that he was afraid of dying, as it would leave his wife and daughter alone. In June 2017, Lewis was hospitalized at a Las Vegas hospital for a urinary tract infection.
Lewis died at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada, on August 20, 2017, at the age of 91. The cause was end-stage cardiac disease and peripheral artery disease. Lewis was cremated. In his will, Lewis left his estate to his second wife of 34 years, SanDee Pitnick, and their daughter, and explicitly disinherited his children from his first marriage and their children.
Comedic style
Lewis "single-handedly created a style of humor that was half anarchy, half excruciation. Even comics who never took a pratfall in their careers owe something to the self-deprecation Jerry introduced into American show business." His self-deprecating style can be found in comics such as Larry David and David Letterman.
Lewis's comedy style was physically uninhibited, expressive, and potentially volatile. He was known especially for his distinctive voice, facial expressions, pratfalls, and physical stunts. His improvisations and ad-libbing, especially in nightclubs and early television were revolutionary among performers. It was "marked by a raw, edgy energy that would distinguish him within the comedy landscape". Will Sloan, of Flavorwire wrote, "In the late '40s and early '50s, nobody had ever seen a comedian as wild as Jerry Lewis." Placed in the context of the conservative era, his antics were radical and liberating, paving the way for future comedians Steve Martin, Richard Pryor, Andy Kaufman, Paul Reubens, and Jim Carrey. Carrey wrote: "Through his comedy, Jerry would stretch the boundaries of reality so far that it was an act of anarchy ... I learned from Jerry", and "I am because he was".
Acting the bumbling 'everyman', Lewis used tightly choreographed, sophisticated sight gags, physical routines, verbal double-talk and malapropisms. "You cannot help but notice Lewis' incredible sense of control in regards to performing—they may have looked at times like the ravings of a madman but his best work had a genuine grace and finesse behind it that would put most comedic performers of any era to shame." They are "choreographed as exactly as any ballet, each movement and gesture coming on natural beats and conforming to the overall rhythmic form which is headed to a spectacular finale: absolute catastrophe."
Drawing from his childhood traumas, Lewis crafted a complex comedic persona that involved four social aspects: sexuality, gender, race/ethnicity, and disability. Through these social aspects, he challenged norms, was misrepresented, and was heavily criticized. During his Martin and Lewis years, he challenged what it meant to be a heterosexual male. Not afraid to display sensitivity and a childlike innocence, he pushed aside heterosexual normality and embraced distorted conventions. This did not sit well with some critics who thought his actions were appalling and what were then considered effeminate. Lewis's feminine movement suggested a common gay stereotype of the era, though the intention was to represent the girl-crazy sexual panic of an inexperienced young man.
In the Martin and Lewis duo, Lewis's comedic persona was viewed as effeminate, weak, and inexperienced, which in turn made the Martin persona look masculine, strong, and worldly. The Lewis character was unconventional, in regards to gender, and that challenged what masculinity was. There are a few Martin and Lewis films that present the Lewis character in gender-swapped roles, but it was Lewis's solo films that posed questions about gender and gender roles. Apart from Cinderfella (1960) that cast him in the Cinderella role, films such as Rock-A-Bye Baby (1958) and The Geisha Boy (1958) showed his interactions with children that put him less in the authoritative father role and placed him more in the nurturing mother role. In the 1965 film The Family Jewels, Lewis takes on the dual role as protector, the father role, and nurturer, the mother role. Through his comedic persona and films, he showed that a man can take on what are considered feminine traits without that being a threat to his masculinity.
Although Lewis made it no secret that he was Jewish, he was criticized for hiding his Jewish heritage. In several of his films — both with Martin and solo — Lewis' Jewish identity is hinted at in passing, and was never made a defining characteristic of his onscreen persona. Aside from the 1959 television movie The Jazz Singer and the unreleased 1972 film The Day the Clown Cried, Lewis never appeared in a film or film role that had any ties to his Jewish heritage. When asked about this lack of Jewish portrayal in a 1984 interview, Lewis stated, "I never hid it, but I wouldn't announce it and I wouldn't exploit it. Plus the fact it had no room in the visual direction I was taking in my work."
Lewis' physical movements in films received some criticism because he was perceived as imitating or mocking those with a physical disability. Through the years, the disability that has been attached to his comedic persona has not been physical, but mental. Neuroticism and schizophrenia have been a part of Lewis's persona since his partnership with Dean Martin; however, it was in his solo career that these disabilities became important to the plots of his films and the characters. In films such as The Ladies Man (1961), The Disorderly Orderly (1964), The Patsy (1964) and Cracking Up (1983), there is either neuroticism, schizophrenia, or both that drive the plot. Lewis was able to explore and dissect the psychological side of his persona, which provided a depth to the character and the films that was not present in his previous efforts.
Tributes and legacy
From the late 1940s to the mid-1960s, "Lewis was a major force in American popular culture." Widely acknowledged as a comic genius, Lewis influenced successive generations of comedians, comedy writers, performers and filmmakers. As Lewis was often referred to as the bridge from Vaudeville to modern comedy, Carl Reiner wrote after Lewis's death, "All comedians watch other comedians, and every generation of comedians going back to those who watched Jerry on the Colgate Comedy Hour were influenced by Jerry. They say that mankind goes back to the first guy ... which everyone tries to copy. In comedy that guy was Jerry Lewis."
Lewis's films, especially his self-directed films, have warranted steady reappraisal. Richard Brody in The New Yorker said, Lewis was "one of the most original, inventive, ... profound directors of the time". and "one of the most skilled and original comic performers, verbal and physical, ever to appear on screen". Film critic and film curator for the Museum of Modern Art, Dave Kehr, wrote in The New York Times of Lewis' "fierce creativity", "the extreme formal sophistication of his direction" and, Lewis was "one of the great American filmmakers".
"Lewis was an explosive experimenter with a dazzling skill, and an audacious, innovatory flair for the technique of the cinema. He knew how to frame and present his own adrenaline-fuelled, instinctive physical comedy for the camera."
Lewis was at the forefront in the transition to independent filmmaking, which came to be known as New Hollywood in the late 1960s. Writing for the Los Angeles Times in 2005, screenwriter David Weddle lauded Lewis's audacity in 1959 "daring to declare his independence from the studio system". Lewis came along to a studio system in which the industry was regularly stratified between players and coaches. The studios tightly controlled the process and they wanted their people directing. Yet Lewis regularly led, often flouting the power structure to do so.
Steven Zeitchik of the LA Times wrote of Lewis, "Control over material was smart business, and it was also good art. Neither the entrepreneur nor the auteur were common types among actors in mid-20th century Hollywood. But there Lewis was, at a time of strict studio control, doing both."
No other comedic star, with the exceptions of Chaplin and Keaton in the silent era, dared to direct himself. "Not only would Lewis' efforts as a director pave the way for the likes of Mel Brooks and Woody Allen, but it would reveal him to be uncommonly skilled in that area as well." "Most screen comedies until that time were not especially cinematic—they tended to plop down the camera where it could best capture the action and that was it. Lewis, on the other hand, was interested in exploring the possibilities of the medium by utilizing the tools he had at his disposal in formally innovative and oftentimes hilarious ways." "In Lewis' work the way the scene is photographed is an integral part of the joke. His purposeful selection of lenses, for example, expands and contracts space to generate laughs that aren't necessarily inherent in the material, and he often achieves his biggest effects via what he leaves off screen, not just visually but structurally."
As a director, Lewis advanced the genre of film comedy with innovations in the areas of fragmented narrative, experimental use of music and sound technology, and near surrealist use of color and art direction. This prompted his peer, filmmaker Jean Luc Godard to proclaim, "Jerry Lewis ... is the only one in Hollywood doing something different, the only one who isn't falling in with the established categories, the norms, the principles. ... Lewis is the only one today who's making courageous films. He's been able to do it because of his personal genius". Jim Hemphill for American Cinematheque wrote, "They are films of ambitious visual and narrative experimentation, provocative and sometimes conflicted commentaries on masculinity in post-war America, and unsettling self-critiques and analyses of the performer's neuroses."
Intensely personal and original, Lewis's films were groundbreaking in their use of dark humor for psychological exploration. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times said, "The idea of comedians getting under the skin and tapping into their deepest, darkest selves is no longer especially novel, but it was far from a universally accepted notion when Lewis first took the spotlight. Few comedians before him had so brazenly turned arrested development into art, or held up such a warped fun house mirror to American identity in its loudest, ugliest, vulgarest excesses. Fewer still had advanced the still-radical notion that comedy doesn't always have to be funny, just fearless, in order to strike a nerve".
Before 1960, Hollywood comedies were screwball or farce. Lewis, from his earliest 'home movies, such as How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border, made in his playhouse in the early 1950s, was one of the first to introduce satire as a full-length film. This "sharp-eyed" satire continued in his mature work, commenting on the cult of celebrity, the machinery of 'fame', and "the dilemma of being true to oneself while also fitting into polite society". Stephen Dalton in The Hollywood Reporter wrote, Lewis had "an agreeably bitter streak, offering self-lacerating insights into celebrity culture which now look strikingly modern. Even post-modern in places." Speaking of The King of Comedy, "More contemporary satirists like Garry Shandling, Steve Coogan and Ricky Gervais owe at least some of their self-deconstructing chops to Lewis' generously unappetizing turn in Scorsese's cult classic."
Lewis was an early master of deconstruction to enhance comedy. From the first Comedy Hours he exposed the artifice of on-stage performance by acknowledging the lens, sets, malfunctioning props, failed jokes, and tricks of production. As Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote: Lewis had "the impulse to deconstruct and even demolish the fictional "givens" of any particular sketch, including those that he might have dreamed up himself, a kind of perpetual auto-destruction that becomes an essential part of his filmmaking as he steadily gains more control over the writing and direction of his features." His self directed films abound in behind-the-scene reveals, demystifying movie-making. Daniel Fairfax writes in Deconstructing Jerry: Lewis as a Director, "Lewis deconstructs the very functioning of the joke itself". ... quoting Chris Fujiwara, "The Patsy is a film so radical that it makes comedy out of the situation of a comedian who isn't funny." The final scene of The Patsy is famous for revealing to the audience the movie as a movie, and Lewis as actor/director. Lewis wrote in The Total Filmmaker, his belief in breaking the fourth wall, actors looking directly into the camera, despite industry norms. More contemporary comedies such as The Larry Sanders Show, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and The Office continue this method.
Robert DeNiro and Sandra Bernhard, both of whom starred with Lewis in The King of Comedy, reflected on his death. Bernhard said: "It was one of the great experiences of my career, he was tough but one of a kind". De Niro said: "Jerry was a pioneer in comedy and film. And he was a friend. I was fortunate to have seen him a few times over the past couple of years. Even at 91, he didn't miss a beat ... or a punchline. You'll be missed." There was also a New York Friars Club roast in honor of Lewis with Sarah Silverman and Amy Schumer. Martin Scorsese recalls working with him on The King of Comedy, "It was like watching a virtuoso pianist at the keyboard". Lewis was the subject of a documentary Jerry Lewis: Method to the Madness.
Peter Chelsom, director of Funny Bones wrote, "Working with him was a masterclass in comic acting – and in charm. From the outset he was generous." "There's a very thin line between a talent for being funny and being a great actor. Jerry Lewis epitomized that. Jerry embodied the term "funny bones": a way of differentiating between comedians who tell funny and those who are funny." Director Daniel Noah recalling his relationship with Lewis during production of Max Rose wrote, "He was kind and loving and patient and limitlessly generous with his genius. He was unbelievably complicated and shockingly self-aware."
Actor and comedian Jeffrey Tambor wrote after Lewis's death, "You invented the whole thing. Thank you doesn't even get close."
There have been numerous retrospectives of Lewis's films in the U.S. and abroad, most notably Jerry Lewis: A Film and Television Retrospective at Museum of the Moving Image, the 2013 Viennale, the 2016 Melbourne International Film Festival, The Innovator: Jerry Lewis at Paramount, at American Cinematheque in Los Angeles, and Happy Birthday Mr. Lewis: The Kid Turns 90, at MOMA.
Lewis is one of the few performers to have touched every aspect of 20th Century American entertainment, appearing in vaudeville, burlesque, the 'borsht belt', nightclubs, radio, Classical Hollywood Cinema (The 'Golden Age'), Las Vegas, television: variety, drama, sit-coms and talk shows, Broadway and independent films.
On August 21, 2017, multiple hotel marquees on the Las Vegas Strip honored Lewis with a coordinated video display of images of his career as a Las Vegas performer and resident. From 1949, as part of Martin and Lewis, and from 1956 as a solo, Lewis was a casino showroom headliner, playing numerous dates over the decades. Las Vegas was also the home of his annual Labor Day MDA telethon.
Jerry Lewis was among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.
In popular culture
Between 1952 and 1971, DC Comics published a 124-issue comic book series with Lewis as one (later, the only) main protagonist, titled The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. In The Simpsons, the character of Professor Frink is based on Lewis's Julius Kelp from The Nutty Professor. Lewis himself would later voice the character's father in the episode "Treehouse of Horror XIV". In Family Guy, Peter recreates Lewis's 'chairman of the board' scene from The Errand Boy. Comedian, actor and friend of Lewis, Martin Short, satirized him on the series SCTV in the sketches "The Nutty Lab Assistant", "Martin Scorsese presents Jerry Lewis Live on the Champs Elysees!", "The Tender Fella", and "Scenes From an Idiots Marriage", as well as on Saturday Night Lives "Celebrity Jeopardy!".
Also on SNL, the Martin and Lewis reunion on the 1976 MDA Telethon is reported by Chevy Chase on Weekend Update. Comedians Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo both parodied Lewis when he hosted SNL in 1983. Piscopo also channeled Jerry Lewis while performing as a 20th-century stand-up comedian in Star Trek: The Next Generation; in the second-season episode "The Outrageous Okona", Piscopo's Holodeck character, The Comic, tutors android Lieutenant Commander Data on humor and comedy. Comedian and actor Jim Carrey satirized Lewis on In Living Color in the sketch "Jheri's Kids Telethon". Carrey had an uncredited cameo playing Lewis in the series Buffalo Bill on the episode "Jerry Lewis Week". He also played Lewis, with impersonator Rich Little as Dean Martin, on stage. Actor Sean Hayes portrayed Lewis in the made-for-TV movie Martin and Lewis, with Jeremy Northam as Dean Martin. Actor Kevin Bacon plays the Lewis character in the 2005 film Where The Truth Lies, based on a fictionalized version of Martin and Lewis. In the satiric novel, Funny Men, about singer/wild comic double act, the character Sigmund "Ziggy" Blissman, is based on Lewis.
John Saleeby, writer for National Lampoon has a humor piece "Ten Things You Should Know About Jerry Lewis".
In the animated cartoon Popeye's 20th Anniversary, Martin and Lewis are portrayed on the dais. The animated series Animaniacs satirized Lewis in several episodes. The voice and boyish, naive cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants is partially based on Lewis, with particular inspiration from his film The Bellboy.
In 1998, The MTV animated show Celebrity Deathmatch had a clay-animated fight to the death between Dean Martin and Lewis. In a 1975 re-issue of MAD Magazine the contents of Lewis's wallet is satirized in their on-going feature "Celebrities' Wallets".
Lewis, and Martin & Lewis, as himself or his films, have been referenced by directors and performers of differing genres spanning decades, including Andy Warhol's Soap Opera (1964), John Frankenheimer's I Walk the Line (1970), Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather (1972), Randal Kleiser's Grease (1978), Rainer Werner Fassbinder's In a Year of 13 Moons (1978), Robert Zemeckis's Back to the Future (1985), Quentin Tarantino's Four Rooms (1995), Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York (2002), Hitchcock (2012), Ben Stiller's The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013), Jay Roach's Trumbo (2015), The Comedians (2015), Baskets (2016) and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017, 2018).
Similarly, varied musicians have mentioned Lewis in song lyrics including, Ice Cube, The Dead Milkmen, Queen Latifah, and Frank Zappa. The hip hop music band Beastie Boys have an unreleased single "The Jerry Lewis", which they mention, and danced to, on stage in Asheville, North Carolina in 2009. In their film Paul's Boutique — A Visual Companion, clips from The Nutty Professor play to "The Sounds of Science". In 1986, the comedy radio show Dr. Demento aired a parody of "Rock Me Amadeus", "Rock Me Jerry Lewis".
Apple iOS 10 includes an auto-text emoji for 'professor' with a Lewis lookalike portrayal from The Nutty Professor.
The word "flaaaven!", with its many variations and rhymes, is a Lewis-ism often used as a misspoken word or a person's mis-pronounced name. In a 2016 episode of the podcast West Wing Weekly, Joshua Malina is heard saying "flaven" when trying to remember a character's correct last name. Lewis's signature catchphrase "Hey, Laaady!" is ubiquitously used by comedians and laypersons alike.
Sammy Petrillo bore a coincidental resemblance to Lewis, so much so that Lewis at first tried to catch and kill Petrillo's career by signing him to a talent contract and then not giving him any work. When that failed (as Petrillo was under 18 at the time), Lewis tried to blackball Petrillo by pressuring television outlets and then nightclubs, also threatening legal action after Petrillo used his Lewis impersonation in the film Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla.
Awards, nominations, and other honors
1952 – Photoplay Award
1952 – Primetime Emmy Award Nomination for Best Comedian or Comedienne
1954 – Most Cooperative Actor, Golden Apple Award
1958 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1959 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1960 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1960 – Two stars (one for film and one for television) on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
1961 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Comedy Performance for Cinderfella
1961 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1962 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1963 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1963 – Cahiers du Cinema's Top 10 Film Award Nomination for Best Film for The Nutty Professor
1964 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1965 – Golden Laurel, Special Award – Family Comedy King
1965 – Cahiers du Cinema's Top 10 Film Award Nomination for Best Film for The Family Jewels
1966 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Comedy Performance (Male) for Boeing Boeing
1966 – Golden Light Technical Achievement Award for his 'video assist'
1966 – Golden Globe Nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical
1966 – Fotogramas de Plata Best Foreign Performer
1967 – Cahiers du Cinema's Top 10 Film Award Nomination for Best Film for The Big Mouth
1970 – Jerry Lewis Award for Outstanding achievement in being a "Person" and "Performer" for Which Way to the Front
1970 – The Michael S. McLean Happy Birthday and Thank You Award for Which Way to the Front
1977 – Nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, for his work on behalf of the Muscular Dystrophy Association
1978 – Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, a Jefferson Awards annual award.
1981 – Stinker Award Nomination for Worst Actor for Hardly Working
1981 – Stinker Award Nomination for Worst Sense of Direction for Hardly Working
1983 – British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for The King of Comedy
1983 – Cahiers du Cinema's Top 10 Film Award Nomination for Best Film for Cracking Up
1984 – Chevalier, Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur, France
1985 – Razzie Award Nomination for Worst Actor for Slapstick (Of Another Kind)
1991 – Comic Life Achievement Award
1991 – Induction into the Broadcast Hall of Fame
1991 – Lifetime Achievement Award, The Greater Fort Lauderdale Film Festival
1992 – Induction into the International Humor Hall of Fame
1995 – Theatre World Award, for Outstanding Broadway Debut for Damn Yankees
1997 – American Comedy Awards Lifetime Achievement Award
1999 – Golden Lion Honorary Award
2002 – Rotary International Award of Honour
2004 – Los Angeles Film Critics Association's Career Achievement Award
2005 – Primetime Emmy Governor's Award
2005 – Goldene Kamera Honorary Award
2006 – Medal of the City of Paris, France
2006 – Satellite Award for Outstanding Guest Star on Law and Order SVU
2006 – Commandeur, Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur, France
2009 – Induction into the New Jersey Hall of Fame
2009 – Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 81st Academy Awards
2009 – International Press Academy's Nikola Tesla Award in recognition of visionary achievements in filmmaking technology for his "video assist".
2010 – Chapman University Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters during the 2010 MDA Telethon
2011 – Ellis Island Medal of Honor
2013 – Homage from the Cannes Film Festival, with the screening of Lewis's latest film Max Rose
2013 – Honorary Member of the Order of Australia (AM), for service to the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation of Australia and those affected by the disorder
2014 – "Forecourt to the Stars" imprints at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood
2014 – New York Friars Club renames clubhouse building The Jerry Lewis Monastery
2014 – Publicists Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award
2015 – National Association of Broadcasters Distinguished Service Award
2015 – Casino Entertainment Legend Award
Filmography
Bibliography
(ISBN is for the 2004 Mass Market Edition)
Documentaries
Annett Wolf (Director) (1972) The World of Jerry Lewis (unreleased)
Robert Benayoun (Director) (1982) Bonjour Monsieur Lewis (Hello Mr. Lewis)
Burt Kearns (Director) (1989) Telethon (Released in US, 2014)
Carole Langer (Director) (1996) Jerry Lewis: The Last American Clown
Eckhart Schmidt (Director) (2006) König der Komödianten (King of Comedy)*
Gregg Barson (Director) (2011). Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis
Notes
References
Further reading
Also, Film Quarterly, Vol. 48, No. 1 (Autumn, 1994), pp. 12–26 University of California Press
Vol.23 Issue 1
Lamarca, Manuel (2017). Jerry Lewis. El día en el que el cómico filmó. Barcelona, Spain. Ediciones Carena.
Film criticism links
Bright Lights Film Online Journal
Film School Rejects
la furia umana (Multilingual Film Quarterly)
‘jerrython’ at MUBI
Museum of the Moving Image
An American Original: The RogerEbert.com Staff Remembers Jerry Lewis
Senses of Cinema
External links
Jerry Lewis Interview video at Directors Guild of America
Lewis interview video with Peter Bogdanovich Museum of the Moving Image Pinewood Dialogues
Jerry Lewis Interview Podcast WTF with Marc Maron
Drum Solo Battle (1955) with Buddy Rich at
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Singer-songwriters from New York (state) | false | [
"\"Hurt\" is a song by American hip hop recording artist T.I., released as the third official single from his fifth studio album T.I. vs. T.I.P. (2007). The song, produced by Timbaland and Danja, features guest appearances from fellow American rappers Busta Rhymes and Alfamega. It is a hip hop song.\n\nMusic video\nThe video premiered on BET's 106 & Park on October 3, 2007. The music video for \"Hurt\" includes cameo appearances from Grand Hustle's Young Dro, Big Kuntry King, DJ Drama, Xtaci, Maino and Yelawolf.\n\nIn other media\nThe official remix features a new verse from fellow Atlanta-based rapper Young Jeezy.\n\nCanadian pop punk group Simple Plan used the same instrumental in their song, \"Generation\", which was also produced by Danja. It was included on their self-titled studio album Simple Plan, released in 2008. Some words from Simple Plan : \"When we were in Miami the first time and Danja played us that beat, we wanted to use it, but he didn't know if T.I. was using it on his album. After the third time we went back, he hadn't heard back from T.I. so we started writing some stuff on it. But later he called and said he was using it. By then we liked what we had written, and T.I. didn't care.\" \"I love what he did with it,\" says Comeau of T.I.'s \"Hurt.\" \"Maybe one day we'll do a mash-up.\"\n\nThe Montreal Canadiens use the beat to \"Hurt\" whenever they score a goal.\n\nUK rapper Kano has made a freestyle over this songs instrumentals on his MC No.1 mixtape.\n\nTrack listing\n\nA-side\n1. \"Hurt [Explicit]\"\n2. \"Hurt [Instrumental]\"\n\nB-side\n1. \"Hurt [Radio]\"\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n2007 singles\n2007 songs\nBusta Rhymes songs\nT.I. songs\nGrand Hustle Records singles\nAtlantic Records singles\nHardcore hip hop songs\nSong recordings produced by Danja (record producer)\nSongs written by Danja (record producer)\nSongs written by T.I.\nSongs written by Busta Rhymes",
"Old Kentucky Chocolates, LLC. is a chocolate retail store founded by Don Hurt, owned and operated by Julia Kirkpatrick and Bill Hurt on Southland Drive in Lexington, Kentucky.\n\nHistory \nDon Hurt came into the candy-making business while working as a cook in the army in the late 1950s. He eventually specialized in baking for large groups, which led to his success after he was discharged\n\nAfter leaving the army he purchased his first bakery Magee's Bakery in Frankfort, Kentucky. He started making candy in the back of his shop, starting with peanut brittle, eventually buying a chocolate-making machine when a local factory went out of business.\n\nLocations \nDon Hurt founded Old Kentucky Chocolates when he was 27, with a single store in 1964, and added two additional outlets - Lexington Center next to Rupp Arena, Hamburg Shopping Center, Lansdowne Shoppes, and Southland Drive.\n\nChocolate \nCustomers can choose from about 20 different varieties of chocolate, pulled creams, cakes and Derby mints; which are made with a formula Hurt purchased from Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Hurt came up with the idea of chocolate-covered potato chips, which did not succeed until he added salt. Now they are one of the store's most popular items, followed by chocolate covered strawberries and grapes. Old Kentucky only used Jim Beam Bourbon exclusively after Beam personally invited him on a tour of his distillery and asked him to use his bourbon. Old Kentucky sells its own products, and non-chocolate candies made by other companies, as well as gift sets and fundraising candy bars which he sells to schools and other various civic groups.\n\nReferences\n\nRetailers\nRetail companies based in Kentucky\nLexington, Kentucky"
] |
[
"Jerry Lewis",
"Illness",
"When did lewis first fall ill?",
"March 20, 1965.",
"What caused the illness?",
"illnesses and addictions related both to aging and a back injury sustained",
"How did he hurt his back?",
"comedic pratfall from a piano while performing at the Sands Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip"
] | C_acddf0ca4d054573ab0b9e83c4a4fa9e_0 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 4 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article other than Jerry Lewis' illness? | Jerry Lewis | Lewis had a number of illnesses and addictions related both to aging and a back injury sustained in a comedic pratfall from a piano while performing at the Sands Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip on March 20, 1965. The accident almost left him paralyzed. In its aftermath, Lewis became addicted to the painkiller Percodan for thirteen years. He said he had been off the drug since 1978. In April 2002, Lewis had a Medtronic "Synergy" neurostimulator implanted in his back, which helped reduce the discomfort. He was one of the company's leading spokesmen. In the 2011 documentary Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis, Lewis said he had his first heart attack at age 34 while filming Cinderfella in 1960. In December 1982, he had another heart attack. En route to San Diego from New York City on a cross-country commercial airline flight on June 11, 2006, he had another. It was discovered that he had pneumonia, as well as a severely damaged heart. He underwent a cardiac catheterization and two stents were inserted into one of his coronary arteries, which was 90 percent blocked. The surgery resulted in increased blood flow to his heart and allowed him to continue his rebound from earlier lung problems. Having the cardiac catheterization meant canceling several major events from his schedule, but Lewis fully recuperated in a matter of weeks. In 1999, Lewis' Australian tour was cut short when he had to be hospitalized in Darwin with viral meningitis. He was ill for more than five months. It was reported in the Australian press that he had failed to pay his medical bills. However, Lewis maintained that the payment confusion was the fault of his health insurer. The resulting negative publicity caused him to sue his insurer for US$100 million. Lewis had prostate cancer, type 1 diabetes, pulmonary fibrosis, and a decades-long history of cardiovascular disease. Prednisone treatment in the late 1990s for pulmonary fibrosis resulted in weight gain and a noticeable change in his appearance. In September 2001, Lewis was unable to perform at a planned London charity event at the London Palladium. He was the headlining act, and he was introduced but did not appear. He had suddenly become unwell, apparently with heart problems. He was subsequently taken to the hospital. Some months thereafter, Lewis began an arduous, months-long therapy that weaned him off prednisone and enabled him to return to work. On June 12, 2012, he was treated and released from a hospital after collapsing from hypoglycemia at a New York Friars Club event. This latest health issue forced him to cancel a show in Sydney. In an October 2016 interview with Inside Edition, Lewis acknowledged that he might not star in any more films, given his advanced age, while admitting, through tears, that he was afraid of dying, as it would leave his wife and daughter alone. In June 2017, Lewis was hospitalized at a Las Vegas hospital for a urinary tract infection. CANNOTANSWER | Lewis had a Medtronic "Synergy" neurostimulator implanted in his back, which helped reduce the discomfort. | Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, director, actor, screenwriter, singer, humanitarian and producer. Nicknamed "The King of Comedy", Lewis is regarded as one of the most significant American cultural figures of the 20th century, was widely known for his "kid" and "idiot" persona and his contributions to comedy and charity, along with his publicized personal life made him a global figure in pop culture over an eight-decade career. He professionally debuted in 1946 as part of the famous Martin and Lewis with singer Dean Martin and performed together until 1956.
That same year, his solo career started after the split. By becoming a solo star and innovative filmmaker, he helped to develop and popularize "video assist", the closed-circuit apparatus enabling film directors to see what had been shot without waiting for developed film footage. Lewis appeared and starred in 60 films with 13 directed by him. He was also national chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) and host of The Jerry Lewis Telethon each Labor Day weekend for many years.
Early life
Lewis was born Joseph Levitch on March 16, 1926, in Newark, New Jersey, to a Jewish family. His parents were Daniel "Danny" Levitch (1902–1980), a master of ceremonies and vaudevillian who performed under the stage name Danny Lewis, whose parents immigrated to the United States from the Russian Empire to New York, and Rachael "Rae" Levitch (née Brodsky; 1903–1983), a WOR radio pianist and Danny's music director, from Warsaw. Reports as to his birth name are conflicting; in Lewis's 1982 autobiography, he claimed his birth name was Joseph, after his maternal grandfather, but his birth certificate, the 1930 U. S. Census, and the 1940 U. S. Census all named him as Jerome.
Lewis said that he ceased using the names Joseph and Joey as an adult to avoid being confused with Joe E. Lewis and Joe Louis. Reports as to the hospital in which he was born conflict as well, with biographer Shawn Levy claiming he was born at Clinton Private Hospital and others claiming Newark Beth Israel Hospital. Other claims of his early life also conflict with accounts made by family members, burial records, and vital records. He was a "character" even in his teenage years, pulling pranks in his neighborhood including sneaking into kitchens to steal fried chicken and pies. He dropped out of Irvington High School in the tenth grade.
Early career
By age 15, he had developed his "Record Act" miming lyrics to songs while a phonograph played offstage. He landed a gig at a burlesque house in Buffalo, but his performance fell flat and was unable to book any more shows. To make ends meet, Lewis worked as a soda jerk and a theater usher for Suzanne Pleshette's father Gene at the Paramount Theatre as well as at Loew's Capitol Theatre, both in New York City,.
A veteran burlesque comedian, Max Coleman, who had worked with Lewis's father years before, persuaded him to try again. Irving Kaye, a Borscht Belt comedian, saw Lewis's mime act at Brown's Hotel in Loch Sheldrake, New York, the following summer, and the audience was so enthusiastic that Kaye became Lewis's manager and guardian for Borscht Belt appearances. During World War II, he was rejected for military service because of a heart murmur.
Career
Teaming with Dean Martin
In 1945, Lewis was 19 when he met 27-year-old singer Dean Martin at the Glass Hat Club in New York City, where the two performed until they debuted at Atlantic City's 500 Club as Martin and Lewis on July 25, 1946. The duo gained attention as a double act with Martin serving as the straight man to Lewis's zany antics. Along with being physically attractive, they played to each other and had ad-libbed improvisational segments within their planned routines, which added a unique quality to their act and separated them from previous comedy duos.
Martin and Lewis quickly rose to national prominence, first with their popular nightclub act, then as stars of their radio program The Martin and Lewis Show. The two made their television debut on CBS' Toast of the Town (later renamed as The Ed Sullivan Show) June 20, 1948.
This was followed by an appearance on Welcome Aboard on October 3, 1948, and by a guest stint on Texaco Star Theater in 1949.
In 1950, the boys signed with NBC to be one of a series of weekly rotating hosts of The Colgate Comedy Hour, a live Sunday evening broadcast. Lewis, writer for the team's nightclub act, hired Norman Lear and Ed Simmons as regular writers for their Comedy Hour material. Their Comedy Hour shows consisted of stand-up dialogue, song and dance from their nightclub act and movies, backed by Dick Stabile's big band, slapstick and satirical sketch comedy, Martin's solo songs, and Lewis's solo pantomimes or physical numbers.
They often broke character, ad-libbing and breaking the fourth wall. While not completely capturing the orchestrated mayhem of their nightclub act, the Comedy Hour displayed charismatic energy between the team and established their popularity nationwide. By 1951, with an appearance at the Paramount Theatre in New York, they were a cultural phenomenon. The duo began their film careers at Paramount Pictures as ensemble players, in My Friend Irma (1949) and its sequel My Friend Irma Goes West (1950).
They then starred in their own series of 14 new films, At War with the Army (1950), That's My Boy (1951), Sailor Beware (1952), Jumping Jacks (1952), The Stooge (1952), Scared Stiff (1953), The Caddy (1953), Money from Home (1953), Living It Up (1954), 3 Ring Circus (1954), You're Never Too Young (1955), Artists and Models (1955), Pardners (1956) and Hollywood or Bust (1956), all produced by Hal B. Wallis and appeared on Bing Crosby and Bob Hope's Olympic Fund Telethon.
Martin and Lewis cameoed in their film Road to Bali (1952), then Hope and Crosby would do the same in Scared Stiff a year later. Attesting to the duo's popularity, DC Comics published The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis from 1952 to 1957. The team appeared on What's My Line? in 1954, the 27th annual Academy Awards in 1955, The Steve Allen Show and The Today Show in 1956.
Their films were popular with audiences, and were financial successes for Paramount. In later years, both Lewis and Martin admitted frustration with Wallis for his formulaic and trite film choices, restricting them to narrow, repetitive roles. As Martin's roles in their films became less important over time and Lewis received the majority of critical acclaim, the partnership came under strain. Martin's participation became an embarrassment in 1954 when Look magazine published a publicity photo of the team for the magazine cover but cropped Martin out.
After their partnership ended with their final nightclub act on July 24, 1956, both Lewis and Martin went on to have successful solo careers and neither would comment on the split nor consider a reunion. They were occasionally seen at the same public events, though never together. On two occasions, in 1958 and 1961, Martin invited Lewis on stage, but the split was too serious for them to reconcile. Twenty years after their breakup Sinatra surprised Lewis by bringing Martin on live stage during the Jerry Lewis Telethon in September 1976. In 1989, Lewis returned the gesture, attending Martin's 72nd birthday.
Solo period
After ending his partnership with Martin in 1956, Lewis and his wife Patty took a vacation in Las Vegas to consider the direction of his career. He felt his life was in a crisis state: "I was unable to put one foot in front of the other with any confidence. I was completely unnerved to be alone". While there, he received an urgent request from his friend Sid Luft, who was Judy Garland's husband and manager, saying that she couldn't perform that night in Las Vegas because of strep throat, and asking Lewis to fill in.
Lewis had not sung alone on stage since he was five years old, twenty-five years before, but he appeared before the audience of a thousand, nonetheless, delivering jokes and clowning with the audience, while Garland sat off-stage, watching. He then sang a rendition of a song he'd learned as a child, "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody" along with "Come Rain or Come Shine". Lewis recalled, "When I was done, the place exploded. I walked off the stage knowing I could make it on my own".
At his wife's pleading, Lewis used his own money to record the songs on a single. Decca Records heard it, liked it and insisted he record an album for them. The single of Rock-a-Bye Your Baby went to No. 10 and the album Jerry Lewis Just Sings went to No. 3 on the Billboard charts, staying near the top for four months and selling a million and a half copies.
With the success of that album, he recorded the additional albums More Jerry Lewis (an EP of songs from this release was released as Somebody Loves Me), and Jerry Lewis Sings Big Songs for Little People (later reissued with fewer tracks as Jerry Lewis Sings for Children). Non-album singles were released, and It All Depends On You hit the charts in April and May 1957, but peaked at only No. 68. Further singles were recorded and released by Lewis into the mid-1960s.
But these were not Lewis's first forays into recording, nor his first appearance on the hit charts. During his partnership with Martin, they made several recordings together, charting at No. 22 in 1948 with the 1920s chestnut That Certain Party and later mostly re-recording songs highlighted in their films. Also during the time of their partnership, but without Martin, he recorded numerous novelty-comedy numbers for adults as well as records specifically intended for the children's market.
Having proven he could sing and do live shows, he began performing regularly at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, beginning in late 1956, which marked a turning point in his life and career. The Sands signed him for five years, to perform six weeks each year and paid him the same amount they had paid Martin and Lewis as a team. The critics gave him positive reviews: "Jerry was wonderful. He has proved that he can be a success by himself," wrote one. He continued with club performances in Miami, New York, Chicago and Washington.
Such live performances became a staple of his career and over the years he performed at casinos, theaters and state fairs coast-to-coast. In February 1957, he followed Garland at the Palace Theater in New York and Martin called on the phone during this period to wish him the best of luck. "I've never been happier," said Lewis. "I have peace of mind for the first time." Lewis established himself as a solo act on TV starting with the first of six appearances on What's My Line? from 1956 to 1966 and then guest starred on The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show.
He appeared on both Tonight Starring Jack Paar and The Ed Sullivan Show and beginning in January 1957, in a number of solo TV specials for NBC. He starred in his adaptation of "The Jazz Singer" for Startime. Lewis hosted the Academy Awards three times, in 1956, 1957 and the 31st Academy Awards in 1959, which ran twenty minutes short, forcing Lewis to improvise to fill time. DC Comics, switching from Martin and Lewis, published a new comic book series titled The Adventures of Jerry Lewis, running from 1957 to 1971.
Lewis remained at Paramount and started off with his first solo effort The Delicate Delinquent (1957) then starred in his next film The Sad Sack (1957). Frank Tashlin, whose background as a Looney Tunes cartoon director suited Lewis's brand of humor, came on board. Lewis did new films with him, first with Rock-A-Bye Baby (1958) and then The Geisha Boy (1958). Billy Wilder asked Lewis to play the lead role of an uptight jazz musician named Jerry, who winds up on the run from the mob, in Some Like It Hot but turned it down.
He then appeared in Don't Give Up The Ship (1959) and cameoed in Li'l Abner (1959). After his contract with Wallis ended, Lewis had several movies under his belt, eagering to flex his creative muscle and was free to deepen his comedy with pathos, believing, "Funny without pathos is a pie in the face. And a pie in the face is funny, but I wanted more." In 1959, a contract between Paramount and Jerry Lewis Productions was signed specifying a payment of $10 million plus 60% of the profits for 14 films over seven years.
This contract made Lewis the highest paid individual Hollywood talent to date and was unprecedented in that he had unlimited creative control, including final cut and the return of film rights after 30 years. Lewis's clout and box office were so strong (his films had already earned Paramount $100 million in rentals) that Barney Balaban, head of production at Paramount at that time, told the press, "If Jerry wants to burn down the studio I'll give him the match!"
He had finished his film contract with Wallis with Visit to a Small Planet (1960) and wrapped up production on his own film Cinderfella (1960), directed by Tashlin and was postponed for a Christmas 1960 release. Paramount Pictures, needing a quickie movie for its summer 1960 schedule, held Lewis to his contract to produce one. As a result, he made his debut as film director of The Bellboy (1960), which he also starred in.
Using the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami as his setting — on a small budget, with a very tight shooting schedule — Lewis shot the film during the day and performed at the hotel in the evenings. Bill Richmond collaborated with him on many of the sight gags. Lewis later revealed that Paramount was not happy about financing a "silent movie" and withdrew backing. Lewis used his own funds to cover the movie's $950,000 budget. Meanwhile, he directed an unsold pilot for Permanent Waves.
Lewis continued to direct more films that he had co-written with Richmond, including The Ladies Man (1961), where Lewis constructed a three-story dollhouse-like set spanning two sound stages, with the set equipped with state of the art lighting and sound, eliminating the need for boom mics in each room and his next movie The Errand Boy (1961), was one of the earliest films about movie-making, using all of the Paramount backlot and offices.
Lewis appeared in The Wacky World of Jerry Lewis, Celebrity Golf, The Garry Moore Show and Tashlin's It's Only Money (1962), then guest hosted The Tonight Show during the transition from Jack Paar to Johnny Carson in 1962 and his appearance on the show scored the highest ratings thus far in late night, surpassing other guest hosts and Paar. The three major networks began a bidding war, wooing Lewis for his own talk show, which debuted the following year.
Lewis then directed, co-wrote and starred in the smash hit The Nutty Professor (1963). A parody of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, it featured him as Professor Kelp, a socially inept scientist who invents a serum that turns him into a handsome but obnoxious ladies man. It is often considered to be Lewis's best film. It was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2004. The film inspired a franchise, which has included a 1996 remake starring Eddie Murphy in the title role and a stage musical adaptation.
He then appeared in a cameo role in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), then in Tashlin's Who's Minding the Store? (1963) and hosted The Jerry Lewis Show, a lavish 13-week, big-budget show which aired on ABC from September to December in 1963, but suffered in the ratings and was beleaguered by technical and other difficulties, including the assassination of then U.S. president John F. Kennedy, which left the country in a somber mood.
Lewis next starred in The Patsy (1964), his satire about the Hollywood star-making industry, The Disorderly Orderly (1964), his final collaboration with Tashlin, appeared in a cameo on The Joey Bishop Show and The Family Jewels (1965) about a young heiress who must choose among six uncles, one of whom is up to no good and out to harm the girl's beloved bodyguard who practically raised her. All six uncles and the bodyguard were played by Lewis.
In 1965, Lewis was interviewed on The David Susskind Show, then starred in Boeing Boeing (1965), his last film for Paramount, based on the French stage play, in which he received a Golden Globe nomination; an episode of Ben Casey, an early dramatic role; The Andy Williams Show; and Hullabaloo with his son Gary Lewis. In 1966, after 17 years, and with no explanation, Lewis left Paramount and signed with Columbia Pictures where he tried to reinvent himself with more serious roles.
He went on to star in Three on a Couch (1966), The Merv Griffin Show, Way...Way Out (1966), The Sammy Davis Jr. Show, Batman, Laugh In, Password, a pilot for Sheriff Who, a new version of The Jerry Lewis Show, this time as a one-hour variety show for NBC, which ran from 1967 to 1969, The Big Mouth (1967), Run for Your Life and The Danny Thomas Hour.
Lewis appeared in Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River (1968), Playboy After Dark (surprising friend Sammy Davis Jr.), Hook, Line & Sinker (1969), Jimmy Durante's The Lennon Sisters Hour, The Red Skelton Show and The Jack Benny Birthday Special and contributed to some scripts for Filmation's animated series Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down, appeared on The Mike Douglas Show and directed an episode of The Bold Ones.
Lewis guested on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, The Hollywood Palace, The Engelbert Humperdinck Show, The Irv Kupcinet Show, The Linkletter Show, The Real Tom Kennedy Show and A Christmas Night with the Stars, directed One More Time (1970), in which he played his first (and only) off-screen voice as a bandleader, starred in Which Way to the Front? (1970) and appeared on The Carol Burnett Show, The Rolf Harris Show and The Kraft Music Hall.
Lewis directed and appeared in the partly unreleased The Day the Clown Cried (1972), a drama set in a Nazi concentration camp. The film was rarely discussed by Lewis, but he said that litigation over post-production finances and copyright prevented its completion and theatrical release. During his book tour for Dean and Me, he also said a factor for the film's burial was that he was not proud of the effort.
Lewis explained his reason for choosing the project and the emotional difficulty of the subject matter in an interview with an Australian documentary film crew. A 31-minute version was shown on the German television station ARD, in the documentary Der Clown. It was later put on DVD and shown at Deutsches Filminstitute. The film was the earliest attempt by an American film director to address the subject of The Holocaust. Significant speculation continues to surround the film. Following this, Lewis took a break from the movie business for several years.
Lewis appeared as guest on Good Morning America, The Dick Cavett Show, NBC Follies, Celebrity Sportsman, Cher, Dinah! and Tony Orlando and Dawn. Lewis surprised Sinatra and Martin after walking onto the Aladdin stage in Las Vegas during their show and exchanged jokes for several minutes. He then starred in a revival of Hellzapoppin with Lynn Redgrave, but closed on the road before reaching Broadway. In 1979, he guest hosted as ringmaster of Circus of the Stars.
Lewis guest starred on Pink Lady in 1980, then made a comeback to the big screen in Hardly Working (1981), after an 11-year absence from film. Despite being panned by critics, it eventually earned $50 million. In 1982 and 1983, Lewis appeared on Late Night with David Letterman and in The King of Comedy, as a late-night TV host, plagued by two obsessive fans, in which he received wide critical acclaim and a BAFTA nomination for this serious dramatic role.
Lewis then starred in Saturday Night Live, Star Search, Cracking Up (1983), Slapstick (Of Another Kind) (1984), To Catch a Cop (1984) and How Did You Get In? We Didn't See You Leave (1984), the latter two films from France which had their distribution under Lewis's control and stated that they would never be released in American movie theaters and on home media. He then was a guest on an episode of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
He then hosted a new syndicated version of The Jerry Lewis Show, this time as a talk show for Metromedia, which was not continued beyond the scheduled five shows. In 1985, Lewis directed an episode of Brothers, appeared at the first Comic Relief in 1986, where he was the only performer to receive a standing ovation, was interviewed on Classic Treasures and starred in the ABC television movie Fight for Life (1987).
In 1987, Lewis performed a second double act with Davis Jr. at Bally's in Las Vegas, then after learning of the death of Martin's son Dean Paul Martin, he attended his funeral, which led to a more substantial reconciliation with Martin. In 1988, Lewis hosted America's All-Time Favorite Movies, then was interviewed by Howard Cosell on Speaking of Everything. He then starred in five episodes of Wiseguy.
The filming schedule of the show forced Lewis to miss the Museum of the Moving Image's opening with a retrospective of his work. In 1989, Lewis joined Martin on stage, for what would be Martin's final live performance, at Bally's Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Lewis wheeled out a cake on Martin's 72nd birthday, sang "Happy Birthday" to him and joked, "Why we broke up, I'll never know". Again, their appearance together made headlines. He next appeared in Cookie (1989).
Lewis handled two years directing episodes of Super Force and Good Grief in 1990 and 1991, then star in Mr. Saturday Night (1992), The Arsenio Hall Show, The Whoopi Goldberg Show and Inside The Comedy Mind. A three-part retrospective Martin & Lewis: Their Golden Age of Comedy, aired on The Disney Channel in 1992, using previously unseen kinescopes from Lewis' personal archive, highlighted his years as part of a team with Martin and as a soloist.
After guest spots on Mad About You and Larry King Live and film appearances in Arizona Dream (1993) and Funny Bones (1995), Lewis made his Broadway debut, as a replacement cast member playing the devil, in a revival of Damn Yankees and was reportedly paid the highest sum in Broadway history at the time for performing in both the national and London runs of the musical. He missed only three shows in more than four years, one of those occasions being the funeral of Martin, his comedy partner of ten years.
Lewis appeared on Inside the Actors Studio in 1996, the 12th annual American Comedy Awards in 1998 and in the 2000s, The Martin Short Show, Russell Gilbert Live, Your World with Neil Cavuto, The Simpsons, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Live with Kelly, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, the song "Time After Time" with Deana Martin on her album Memories Are Made of This and Curious George 2 (2009).
He made his last few appearances for the 81st Academy Awards, 50 Years of Movies & Music (a Michel Legrand special), Till Luck Do Us Part 2 (2013), The Talk, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The World Over with Raymond Arroyo, The Trust (2016), his final film Max Rose (2016), WTF with Marc Maron and Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.
Video assist and film class
During the 1960 production of The Bellboy, Lewis pioneered the technique of using video cameras and multiple closed circuit monitors, which allowed him to review his performance instantly. This was necessary since he was acting as well as directing. His techniques and methods of filmmaking, documented in his book and his USC class, enabled him to complete most of his films on time and under budget since reshoots could take place immediately instead of waiting for the dailies.
Man in Motion, a featurette for Three on a Couch, features the video system, named "Jerry's Noisy Toy" and shows Lewis receiving the Golden Light Technical Achievement award for its development. Lewis stated he worked with the head of Sony to produce the prototype. While he initiated its practice and use, and was instrumental in its development, he did not hold a patent. This practice is now commonplace in filmmaking.
Starting in 1967, Lewis taught a film directing class at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles for a number of years. His students included George Lucas, whose friend Steven Spielberg sometimes sat in on classes. Lewis screened Spielberg's early film Amblin' and told his students, "That's what filmmaking is all about." The class covered all topics related to filmmaking, including pre and post production, marketing and distribution and filming comedy with rhythm and timing.
His 1971 book The Total Film Maker, was based on 480 hours of his class lectures. Also, Lewis traveled to medical schools for seminars on laughter and healing with Dr. Clifford Kuhn and also did corporate and college lectures, motivational speaking and promoted the pain-treatment company Medtronic.
Acclaim and exposure in France
While Lewis was popular in France for his duo films with Dean Martin and his solo comedy films, his reputation and stature increased after the Paramount contract, when he began to exert total control over all aspects of his films. His involvement in directing, writing, editing and art direction coincided with the rise of auteur theory in French intellectual film criticism and the French New Wave movement. He earned consistent praise from French critics in the influential magazines Cahiers du Cinéma and Positif, where he was hailed as an ingenious auteur.
His singular mise-en-scène, and skill behind the camera, were aligned with Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock and Satyajit Ray. Appreciated too, was the complexity of his also being in front of the camera. The new French criticism viewed cinema as an art form unto itself, and comedy as part of this art. Lewis is then fitted into a historical context and seen as not only worthy of critique, but as an innovator and satirist of his time. Jean-Pierre Coursodon states in a 1975 Film Comment article, "The merit of the French critics, auteurist excesses notwithstanding, was their willingness to look at what Lewis was doing as a filmmaker for what it was, rather than with some preconception of what film comedy should be."
Not yet curricula at universities or art schools, film studies and film theory were avant-garde in early 1960s America. Mainstream movie reviewers such as Pauline Kael, were dismissive of auteur theory, and others, seeing only absurdist comedy, criticized Lewis for his ambition and "castigated him for his self-indulgence" and egotism. Despite this criticism often being held by American film critics, admiration for Lewis and his comedy continued to grow in France.
Appreciation of Lewis became a misunderstood stereotype about "the French", and it was often the object of jokes in American pop culture. "That Americans can't see Jerry Lewis' genius is bewildering," says N. T. Binh, a French film magazine critic. Such bewilderment was the basis of the book Why the French Love Jerry Lewis. In response to the lingering perception that French audiences adored him, Lewis stated in interviews he was more popular in Germany, Japan and Australia.
Muscular dystrophy cause and criticism
As a humanitarian, philanthropist and "number one volunteer", Lewis supported fundraising for research into muscular dystrophy. In 1951, he and Martin made their first appeal for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (simply known as MDA and formerly as the Muscular Dystrophy Associations of America and MDAA) in early December on the finale of The Colgate Comedy Hour. In 1952, after another appeal, Lewis hosted New York area telethons until 1959 and in 1954, fought Rocky Marciano in a boxing bout for MDA's fund drive.
After being named national chairman in 1956, Lewis began hosting and emceeing The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon in 1966 and aired every Labor Day weekend for six decades. Ed McMahon, announcer of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and host of Star Search, began his involvement in the telethon in 1968, before co-anchoring with Lewis from 1973 to 2008. The show originated from different locations including New York, Las Vegas and Hollywood, becoming the most successful fundraising event in the history of television.
It was the first to: raise over $1 million, in 1966; be shown entirely in color, in 1967; become a networked telethon, in 1968; go coast-to-coast, in 1970; be seen outside the continental U.S., in 1972. It: raised the largest sum ever in a single event for humanitarian purposes, in 1974; had the greatest amount ever pledged to a televised charitable event, in 1980 (from the Guinness Book of World Records); was the first to be seen by 100 million people, in 1985; celebrated its 25th anniversary, in 1990; saw its highest pledge in history, in 1992; and was the first seen worldwide via internet simulcast, in 1998.
By 1990, pop culture had shifted its view of disabled individuals and the telethon format. Lewis and the telethon's methods were criticized by disabled-rights activists who believed the show was "designed to evoke pity rather than empower the disabled". The activists said the telethon perpetuated prejudices and stereotypes, that Lewis treated those he claimed to be helping with little respect, and that he used offensive language when describing them. The songs "Smile" (by Charlie Chaplin), "What the World Needs Now Is Love" (by Jackie DeShannon) and "You'll Never Walk Alone" (by Rodgers and Hammerstein) have been long associated with the telethon.
In December 1996, Lewis and MDA were recognized by the American Medical Association with Lifetime Achievement Awards for significant and lasting contributions to the health and welfare of humanity. His motto summed up the philosophy behind his years of devotion to MDA: "I shall pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again".
Lewis rebutted the criticism and defended his methods saying, "If you don't tug at their heartstrings, then you're on the air for nothing."
The activist protests represented a very small minority of countless MDA patients and clients who had directly benefitted from Lewis's MDA fundraising. He received a Nobel Peace Prize nomination in 1977, a Governors Award in 2005 and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 2009, in recognition of his fight and efforts with the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
On August 3, 2011, it was announced that Lewis would no longer host the MDA telethons and that he was no longer associated with the Muscular Dystrophy Association. A tribute to Lewis was held during the 2011 telethon (which originally was to be his final show bearing his name with MDA). On May 1, 2015, it was announced that in view of "the new realities of television viewing and philanthropic giving", the telethon was being discontinued.
In early 2016, at MDA's brand re-launch event at Carnegie Hall in New York City, Lewis broke a five-year silence during a special taped message for the organization on its website, marking his first (and as it turned out, his final) appearance in support of MDA since his final telethon in 2010 and the end of his tenure as national chairman in 2011. Lewis raised an estimated $2.6 billion in donations for the cause.
MDA's website states, "Jerry's love, passion and brilliance are woven throughout this organization, which he helped build from the ground up, courted sponsors for MDA, appeared at openings of MDA care and research centers, addressed meetings of civic organizations, volunteers and the MDA Board of Directors, successfully lobbied Congress for federal neuromuscular disease research funds, made countless phone calls and visits to families served by MDA.
During Lewis's lifetime, MDA-funded scientists discovered the causes of most of the diseases in the Muscular Dystrophy Association's program, developing treatments, therapies and standards of care that have allowed many people living with these diseases to live longer and grow stronger. Over 200 research and treatment facilities were built with donations raised by the Jerry Lewis Telethons.
Non-career activities
Lewis opened a camera shop in 1950. In 1969 he agreed to lend his name to "Jerry Lewis Cinemas", offered by National Cinema Corporation as a franchise business opportunity for those interested in theatrical movie exhibition. Jerry Lewis Cinemas stated that their theaters could be operated by a staff of as few as two with the aid of automation and support provided by the franchiser in booking film and other aspects of film exhibition. A forerunner of the smaller rooms typical of later multi-screen complexes, a Jerry Lewis Cinema was billed in franchising ads as a "mini-theatre" with a seating capacity of between 200 and 350.
In addition to Lewis's name, each Jerry Lewis Cinemas bore a sign with a cartoon logo of Lewis in profile. Initially 158 territories were franchised, with a buy-in fee of $10,000 or $15,000 depending on the territory, for what was called an "individual exhibitor". For $50,000, Jerry Lewis Cinemas offered an opportunity known as an "area directorship", in which investors controlled franchising opportunities in a territory as well as their own cinemas. The success of the chain was hampered by a policy of only booking second-run, family-friendly films.Eventually the policy was changed, and the Jerry Lewis Cinemas were allowed to show more competitive movies. But after a decade the chain failed and both Lewis and National Cinema Corporation declared bankruptcy in 1980.
In 1973, Lewis appeared on the 1st annual 20-hour Highway Safety Foundation telethon, hosted by Davis Jr. and Monty Hall. In 1990, Lewis wrote and directed a short film for UNICEF's How Are The Children? anthology exploring the rights of children worldwide. The eight-minute segment, titled Boy, was about a young white child in a black world and being subjected to quiet, insidious racism, and outright racist bullying.
In 2010, Lewis met with seven-year-old Lochie Graham, who shared his idea for "Jerry's House", a place for vulnerable and traumatized children. Lewis and Graham entered into a joint partnership for an Australian and a U.S.-based charity and began raising funds to build the facility in Melbourne. On September 12, 2016, Lewis lent his name and star power to Criss Angel's HELP (Heal Every Life Possible) charity event.
Political views
Lewis kept a low political profile for many years, having taken advice reportedly given to him by President John F. Kennedy, who told him, "Don't get into anything political. Don't do that because they will usurp your energy." Nevertheless, he campaigned and performed on behalf of both JFK and Robert F. Kennedy. Lewis was a supporter of the Civil Rights Movement. For his 1957 NBC special, Lewis held his ground when southern affiliates objected to his stated friendship with Sammy Davis Jr. In a 1971 Movie Mirror magazine article, Lewis spoke out against the Vietnam War when his son Gary returned from service traumatized. He vowed to leave the country rather than send another of his sons.
Lewis once stated political speeches should not be at the Oscars. He stated, "I think we are the most dedicated industry in the world. And I think that we have to present ourselves that night as hard-working, caring and important people to the industry. We need to get more self-respect as an industry".
In a 2004 interview with The Guardian, Lewis was asked what he was least proud of, to which he answered, "Politics". Not his politics, but the world's politics – the madness, the destruction, the general lack of respect.
He lamented citizens' lack of pride in their country, stating, "President Bush is my president. I will not say anything negative about the president of the United States. I don't do that. And I don't allow my children to do that. Likewise when I come to England don't you do any jokes about 'Mum' to me. That is the Queen of England, you moron. Do you know how tough a job it is to be the Queen of England?"
In a December 2015 interview on EWTN's World Over with Raymond Arroyo, Lewis expressed opposition to the United States letting in Syrian refugees, saying, "No one has worked harder for the human condition than I have, but they're not part of the human condition if 11 guys in that group of 10,000 are ISIS. How can I take that chance?" In the same interview, he criticized President Barack Obama for not being prepared for ISIS, while expressing support for Donald Trump, saying he would make a good president because he was a good "showman". He also added that he admired Ronald Reagan's presidency.
Controversies
In 1998, at the Aspen U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, when asked which women comics he admired, Lewis answered, "I don't like any female comedians. A woman doing comedy doesn't offend me but sets me back a bit. I, as a viewer, have trouble with it. I think of her as a producing machine that brings babies in the world." He later clarified his statements saying, "Seeing a woman project the kind of aggression that you have to project as a comic just rubs me wrong. I cannot sit and watch a lady diminish her qualities to the lowest common denominator." Lewis explained his attitude as that of an older generation and said women are funny, but not when performing "broad" or "crude" humor.
He went on to praise Lucille Ball as "brilliant" and said Carol Burnett is "the greatest female entrepreneur of comedy". On other occasions Lewis expressed admiration for female comedians Totie Fields, Phyllis Diller, Kathleen Freeman, Elayne Boosler, Whoopi Goldberg and Tina Fey. During the 2007 MDA Telethon, Lewis used the word "fag" in a joke, for which he apologized. Lewis used the same word the following year on Australian television.
Personal life
Relationships and children
Lewis wed Patti Palmer (later Lewis, née Esther Grace Calonico; 1921–2021), an Italian American singer with Ted Fio Rito, on October 3, 1944, and the two had six children together—five biological: Gary Levitch (later Lewis) (born 1945); Scott (born 1956); Christopher (born 1957); Anthony (born 1959); and Joseph (1964–2009) – and one adopted, Ronald (born 1949). It was an interfaith marriage; Lewis was Jewish and Palmer was Catholic.
While married to Palmer, Lewis openly pursued relationships with other women and gave unapologetic interviews about his infidelity, revealing his affairs with Marilyn Monroe and Marlene Dietrich to People in 2011. Palmer filed for divorce from Lewis in 1980, after 35 years of marriage, citing Lewis's extravagant spending and infidelity on his part, and it was finalized in 1983. All of Lewis's children and grandchildren from his marriage to Palmer were excluded from inheriting any part of his estate. His eldest son, Gary, publicly called his father a "mean and evil person" and said that Lewis never showed him or his siblings any love or care.
Lewis's second wife was Sandra "SanDee" Pitnick, a UNCSA professionally trained ballerina and stewardess, who met Lewis after winning a bit part in a dancing scene on his film Hardly Working. They were wed on February 13, 1983, in Key Biscayne, Florida, and had one child together, an adopted daughter named Danielle (born 1992). They were married for 34 years until his death.
Patti Lewis died on January 15, 2021, at age 99.
Stalking incident
In February 1994, a man named Gary Benson was revealed to have been stalking Lewis and his family. Benson subsequently served four years in prison.
Sexual assault allegations
In February 2022, Vanity Fair published a special issue detailing several women who accused Lewis of various acts ranging from sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape. The claims come from seven actresses who worked with him in the 1960s. These actresses were identified as Karen Sharpe, Renée Taylor, Hope Holiday, Jill St. John, Connie Stevens, Anna Maria Alberghetti, and Lainie Kazan.
Illness and death
Lewis suffered from a number of chronic health problems, illnesses and addictions related both to aging and a back injury sustained in a comedic pratfall. The fall has been stated as being either from a piano while performing at the Sands Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip on March 20, 1965, or during an appearance on The Andy Williams Show. In its aftermath, Lewis became addicted to the painkiller Percodan for thirteen years. He said he had been off the drug since 1978. In April 2002, Lewis had a Medtronic "Synergy" neurostimulator implanted in his back, which helped reduce the discomfort. He was one of the company's leading spokesmen.
Lewis suffered numerous heart problems throughout his life; he revealed in the 2011 documentary Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis that he suffered his first heart attack at age 34 while filming Cinderfella in 1960. In December 1982, he had another heart attack. Two months later, in February 1983, Lewis underwent open-heart double-bypass surgery. En route to San Diego from New York City on a cross-country commercial airline flight on June 11, 2006, Lewis suffered his third heart attack. It was discovered that he had pneumonia, as well as a severely damaged heart. He underwent a cardiac catheterization days after the heart attack, and two stents were inserted into one of his coronary arteries, which was 90 percent blocked. The surgery resulted in increased blood flow to his heart and allowed him to continue his rebound from earlier lung problems. Having the cardiac catheterization required him to cancel several major events from his schedule, but Lewis fully recuperated in a matter of weeks.
In 1999, Lewis's Australian tour was cut short when he had to be hospitalized in Darwin with viral meningitis. He was ill for more than five months. It was reported in the Australian press that he had failed to pay his medical bills. However, Lewis maintained that the payment confusion was the fault of his health insurer. The resulting negative publicity caused him to sue his insurer for US$100 million.
In addition to his decades-long heart problems, Lewis had prostate cancer, type 1 diabetes, and pulmonary fibrosis. In the late 1990s, Lewis was treated with prednisone for pulmonary fibrosis, which caused considerable weight gain and a startling change in his appearance. In September 2001, Lewis was unable to perform at a planned London charity event at the London Palladium. He was the headlining act, and was introduced, but did not appear onstage. He had suddenly become unwell, apparently with cardiac problems.
He was subsequently taken to hospital. Some months thereafter, Lewis began an arduous, months-long therapy that weaned him off prednisone, and he lost much of the weight gained while on the drug. The treatment enabled him to return to work. On June 12, 2012, he was treated and released from a hospital after collapsing from hypoglycemia at a New York Friars Club event. This forced him to cancel a show in Sydney. In an October 2016 interview with Inside Edition, Lewis acknowledged that he might not star in any more films, given his advanced age, while admitting, through tears, that he was afraid of dying, as it would leave his wife and daughter alone. In June 2017, Lewis was hospitalized at a Las Vegas hospital for a urinary tract infection.
Lewis died at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada, on August 20, 2017, at the age of 91. The cause was end-stage cardiac disease and peripheral artery disease. Lewis was cremated. In his will, Lewis left his estate to his second wife of 34 years, SanDee Pitnick, and their daughter, and explicitly disinherited his children from his first marriage and their children.
Comedic style
Lewis "single-handedly created a style of humor that was half anarchy, half excruciation. Even comics who never took a pratfall in their careers owe something to the self-deprecation Jerry introduced into American show business." His self-deprecating style can be found in comics such as Larry David and David Letterman.
Lewis's comedy style was physically uninhibited, expressive, and potentially volatile. He was known especially for his distinctive voice, facial expressions, pratfalls, and physical stunts. His improvisations and ad-libbing, especially in nightclubs and early television were revolutionary among performers. It was "marked by a raw, edgy energy that would distinguish him within the comedy landscape". Will Sloan, of Flavorwire wrote, "In the late '40s and early '50s, nobody had ever seen a comedian as wild as Jerry Lewis." Placed in the context of the conservative era, his antics were radical and liberating, paving the way for future comedians Steve Martin, Richard Pryor, Andy Kaufman, Paul Reubens, and Jim Carrey. Carrey wrote: "Through his comedy, Jerry would stretch the boundaries of reality so far that it was an act of anarchy ... I learned from Jerry", and "I am because he was".
Acting the bumbling 'everyman', Lewis used tightly choreographed, sophisticated sight gags, physical routines, verbal double-talk and malapropisms. "You cannot help but notice Lewis' incredible sense of control in regards to performing—they may have looked at times like the ravings of a madman but his best work had a genuine grace and finesse behind it that would put most comedic performers of any era to shame." They are "choreographed as exactly as any ballet, each movement and gesture coming on natural beats and conforming to the overall rhythmic form which is headed to a spectacular finale: absolute catastrophe."
Drawing from his childhood traumas, Lewis crafted a complex comedic persona that involved four social aspects: sexuality, gender, race/ethnicity, and disability. Through these social aspects, he challenged norms, was misrepresented, and was heavily criticized. During his Martin and Lewis years, he challenged what it meant to be a heterosexual male. Not afraid to display sensitivity and a childlike innocence, he pushed aside heterosexual normality and embraced distorted conventions. This did not sit well with some critics who thought his actions were appalling and what were then considered effeminate. Lewis's feminine movement suggested a common gay stereotype of the era, though the intention was to represent the girl-crazy sexual panic of an inexperienced young man.
In the Martin and Lewis duo, Lewis's comedic persona was viewed as effeminate, weak, and inexperienced, which in turn made the Martin persona look masculine, strong, and worldly. The Lewis character was unconventional, in regards to gender, and that challenged what masculinity was. There are a few Martin and Lewis films that present the Lewis character in gender-swapped roles, but it was Lewis's solo films that posed questions about gender and gender roles. Apart from Cinderfella (1960) that cast him in the Cinderella role, films such as Rock-A-Bye Baby (1958) and The Geisha Boy (1958) showed his interactions with children that put him less in the authoritative father role and placed him more in the nurturing mother role. In the 1965 film The Family Jewels, Lewis takes on the dual role as protector, the father role, and nurturer, the mother role. Through his comedic persona and films, he showed that a man can take on what are considered feminine traits without that being a threat to his masculinity.
Although Lewis made it no secret that he was Jewish, he was criticized for hiding his Jewish heritage. In several of his films — both with Martin and solo — Lewis' Jewish identity is hinted at in passing, and was never made a defining characteristic of his onscreen persona. Aside from the 1959 television movie The Jazz Singer and the unreleased 1972 film The Day the Clown Cried, Lewis never appeared in a film or film role that had any ties to his Jewish heritage. When asked about this lack of Jewish portrayal in a 1984 interview, Lewis stated, "I never hid it, but I wouldn't announce it and I wouldn't exploit it. Plus the fact it had no room in the visual direction I was taking in my work."
Lewis' physical movements in films received some criticism because he was perceived as imitating or mocking those with a physical disability. Through the years, the disability that has been attached to his comedic persona has not been physical, but mental. Neuroticism and schizophrenia have been a part of Lewis's persona since his partnership with Dean Martin; however, it was in his solo career that these disabilities became important to the plots of his films and the characters. In films such as The Ladies Man (1961), The Disorderly Orderly (1964), The Patsy (1964) and Cracking Up (1983), there is either neuroticism, schizophrenia, or both that drive the plot. Lewis was able to explore and dissect the psychological side of his persona, which provided a depth to the character and the films that was not present in his previous efforts.
Tributes and legacy
From the late 1940s to the mid-1960s, "Lewis was a major force in American popular culture." Widely acknowledged as a comic genius, Lewis influenced successive generations of comedians, comedy writers, performers and filmmakers. As Lewis was often referred to as the bridge from Vaudeville to modern comedy, Carl Reiner wrote after Lewis's death, "All comedians watch other comedians, and every generation of comedians going back to those who watched Jerry on the Colgate Comedy Hour were influenced by Jerry. They say that mankind goes back to the first guy ... which everyone tries to copy. In comedy that guy was Jerry Lewis."
Lewis's films, especially his self-directed films, have warranted steady reappraisal. Richard Brody in The New Yorker said, Lewis was "one of the most original, inventive, ... profound directors of the time". and "one of the most skilled and original comic performers, verbal and physical, ever to appear on screen". Film critic and film curator for the Museum of Modern Art, Dave Kehr, wrote in The New York Times of Lewis' "fierce creativity", "the extreme formal sophistication of his direction" and, Lewis was "one of the great American filmmakers".
"Lewis was an explosive experimenter with a dazzling skill, and an audacious, innovatory flair for the technique of the cinema. He knew how to frame and present his own adrenaline-fuelled, instinctive physical comedy for the camera."
Lewis was at the forefront in the transition to independent filmmaking, which came to be known as New Hollywood in the late 1960s. Writing for the Los Angeles Times in 2005, screenwriter David Weddle lauded Lewis's audacity in 1959 "daring to declare his independence from the studio system". Lewis came along to a studio system in which the industry was regularly stratified between players and coaches. The studios tightly controlled the process and they wanted their people directing. Yet Lewis regularly led, often flouting the power structure to do so.
Steven Zeitchik of the LA Times wrote of Lewis, "Control over material was smart business, and it was also good art. Neither the entrepreneur nor the auteur were common types among actors in mid-20th century Hollywood. But there Lewis was, at a time of strict studio control, doing both."
No other comedic star, with the exceptions of Chaplin and Keaton in the silent era, dared to direct himself. "Not only would Lewis' efforts as a director pave the way for the likes of Mel Brooks and Woody Allen, but it would reveal him to be uncommonly skilled in that area as well." "Most screen comedies until that time were not especially cinematic—they tended to plop down the camera where it could best capture the action and that was it. Lewis, on the other hand, was interested in exploring the possibilities of the medium by utilizing the tools he had at his disposal in formally innovative and oftentimes hilarious ways." "In Lewis' work the way the scene is photographed is an integral part of the joke. His purposeful selection of lenses, for example, expands and contracts space to generate laughs that aren't necessarily inherent in the material, and he often achieves his biggest effects via what he leaves off screen, not just visually but structurally."
As a director, Lewis advanced the genre of film comedy with innovations in the areas of fragmented narrative, experimental use of music and sound technology, and near surrealist use of color and art direction. This prompted his peer, filmmaker Jean Luc Godard to proclaim, "Jerry Lewis ... is the only one in Hollywood doing something different, the only one who isn't falling in with the established categories, the norms, the principles. ... Lewis is the only one today who's making courageous films. He's been able to do it because of his personal genius". Jim Hemphill for American Cinematheque wrote, "They are films of ambitious visual and narrative experimentation, provocative and sometimes conflicted commentaries on masculinity in post-war America, and unsettling self-critiques and analyses of the performer's neuroses."
Intensely personal and original, Lewis's films were groundbreaking in their use of dark humor for psychological exploration. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times said, "The idea of comedians getting under the skin and tapping into their deepest, darkest selves is no longer especially novel, but it was far from a universally accepted notion when Lewis first took the spotlight. Few comedians before him had so brazenly turned arrested development into art, or held up such a warped fun house mirror to American identity in its loudest, ugliest, vulgarest excesses. Fewer still had advanced the still-radical notion that comedy doesn't always have to be funny, just fearless, in order to strike a nerve".
Before 1960, Hollywood comedies were screwball or farce. Lewis, from his earliest 'home movies, such as How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border, made in his playhouse in the early 1950s, was one of the first to introduce satire as a full-length film. This "sharp-eyed" satire continued in his mature work, commenting on the cult of celebrity, the machinery of 'fame', and "the dilemma of being true to oneself while also fitting into polite society". Stephen Dalton in The Hollywood Reporter wrote, Lewis had "an agreeably bitter streak, offering self-lacerating insights into celebrity culture which now look strikingly modern. Even post-modern in places." Speaking of The King of Comedy, "More contemporary satirists like Garry Shandling, Steve Coogan and Ricky Gervais owe at least some of their self-deconstructing chops to Lewis' generously unappetizing turn in Scorsese's cult classic."
Lewis was an early master of deconstruction to enhance comedy. From the first Comedy Hours he exposed the artifice of on-stage performance by acknowledging the lens, sets, malfunctioning props, failed jokes, and tricks of production. As Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote: Lewis had "the impulse to deconstruct and even demolish the fictional "givens" of any particular sketch, including those that he might have dreamed up himself, a kind of perpetual auto-destruction that becomes an essential part of his filmmaking as he steadily gains more control over the writing and direction of his features." His self directed films abound in behind-the-scene reveals, demystifying movie-making. Daniel Fairfax writes in Deconstructing Jerry: Lewis as a Director, "Lewis deconstructs the very functioning of the joke itself". ... quoting Chris Fujiwara, "The Patsy is a film so radical that it makes comedy out of the situation of a comedian who isn't funny." The final scene of The Patsy is famous for revealing to the audience the movie as a movie, and Lewis as actor/director. Lewis wrote in The Total Filmmaker, his belief in breaking the fourth wall, actors looking directly into the camera, despite industry norms. More contemporary comedies such as The Larry Sanders Show, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and The Office continue this method.
Robert DeNiro and Sandra Bernhard, both of whom starred with Lewis in The King of Comedy, reflected on his death. Bernhard said: "It was one of the great experiences of my career, he was tough but one of a kind". De Niro said: "Jerry was a pioneer in comedy and film. And he was a friend. I was fortunate to have seen him a few times over the past couple of years. Even at 91, he didn't miss a beat ... or a punchline. You'll be missed." There was also a New York Friars Club roast in honor of Lewis with Sarah Silverman and Amy Schumer. Martin Scorsese recalls working with him on The King of Comedy, "It was like watching a virtuoso pianist at the keyboard". Lewis was the subject of a documentary Jerry Lewis: Method to the Madness.
Peter Chelsom, director of Funny Bones wrote, "Working with him was a masterclass in comic acting – and in charm. From the outset he was generous." "There's a very thin line between a talent for being funny and being a great actor. Jerry Lewis epitomized that. Jerry embodied the term "funny bones": a way of differentiating between comedians who tell funny and those who are funny." Director Daniel Noah recalling his relationship with Lewis during production of Max Rose wrote, "He was kind and loving and patient and limitlessly generous with his genius. He was unbelievably complicated and shockingly self-aware."
Actor and comedian Jeffrey Tambor wrote after Lewis's death, "You invented the whole thing. Thank you doesn't even get close."
There have been numerous retrospectives of Lewis's films in the U.S. and abroad, most notably Jerry Lewis: A Film and Television Retrospective at Museum of the Moving Image, the 2013 Viennale, the 2016 Melbourne International Film Festival, The Innovator: Jerry Lewis at Paramount, at American Cinematheque in Los Angeles, and Happy Birthday Mr. Lewis: The Kid Turns 90, at MOMA.
Lewis is one of the few performers to have touched every aspect of 20th Century American entertainment, appearing in vaudeville, burlesque, the 'borsht belt', nightclubs, radio, Classical Hollywood Cinema (The 'Golden Age'), Las Vegas, television: variety, drama, sit-coms and talk shows, Broadway and independent films.
On August 21, 2017, multiple hotel marquees on the Las Vegas Strip honored Lewis with a coordinated video display of images of his career as a Las Vegas performer and resident. From 1949, as part of Martin and Lewis, and from 1956 as a solo, Lewis was a casino showroom headliner, playing numerous dates over the decades. Las Vegas was also the home of his annual Labor Day MDA telethon.
Jerry Lewis was among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.
In popular culture
Between 1952 and 1971, DC Comics published a 124-issue comic book series with Lewis as one (later, the only) main protagonist, titled The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. In The Simpsons, the character of Professor Frink is based on Lewis's Julius Kelp from The Nutty Professor. Lewis himself would later voice the character's father in the episode "Treehouse of Horror XIV". In Family Guy, Peter recreates Lewis's 'chairman of the board' scene from The Errand Boy. Comedian, actor and friend of Lewis, Martin Short, satirized him on the series SCTV in the sketches "The Nutty Lab Assistant", "Martin Scorsese presents Jerry Lewis Live on the Champs Elysees!", "The Tender Fella", and "Scenes From an Idiots Marriage", as well as on Saturday Night Lives "Celebrity Jeopardy!".
Also on SNL, the Martin and Lewis reunion on the 1976 MDA Telethon is reported by Chevy Chase on Weekend Update. Comedians Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo both parodied Lewis when he hosted SNL in 1983. Piscopo also channeled Jerry Lewis while performing as a 20th-century stand-up comedian in Star Trek: The Next Generation; in the second-season episode "The Outrageous Okona", Piscopo's Holodeck character, The Comic, tutors android Lieutenant Commander Data on humor and comedy. Comedian and actor Jim Carrey satirized Lewis on In Living Color in the sketch "Jheri's Kids Telethon". Carrey had an uncredited cameo playing Lewis in the series Buffalo Bill on the episode "Jerry Lewis Week". He also played Lewis, with impersonator Rich Little as Dean Martin, on stage. Actor Sean Hayes portrayed Lewis in the made-for-TV movie Martin and Lewis, with Jeremy Northam as Dean Martin. Actor Kevin Bacon plays the Lewis character in the 2005 film Where The Truth Lies, based on a fictionalized version of Martin and Lewis. In the satiric novel, Funny Men, about singer/wild comic double act, the character Sigmund "Ziggy" Blissman, is based on Lewis.
John Saleeby, writer for National Lampoon has a humor piece "Ten Things You Should Know About Jerry Lewis".
In the animated cartoon Popeye's 20th Anniversary, Martin and Lewis are portrayed on the dais. The animated series Animaniacs satirized Lewis in several episodes. The voice and boyish, naive cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants is partially based on Lewis, with particular inspiration from his film The Bellboy.
In 1998, The MTV animated show Celebrity Deathmatch had a clay-animated fight to the death between Dean Martin and Lewis. In a 1975 re-issue of MAD Magazine the contents of Lewis's wallet is satirized in their on-going feature "Celebrities' Wallets".
Lewis, and Martin & Lewis, as himself or his films, have been referenced by directors and performers of differing genres spanning decades, including Andy Warhol's Soap Opera (1964), John Frankenheimer's I Walk the Line (1970), Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather (1972), Randal Kleiser's Grease (1978), Rainer Werner Fassbinder's In a Year of 13 Moons (1978), Robert Zemeckis's Back to the Future (1985), Quentin Tarantino's Four Rooms (1995), Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York (2002), Hitchcock (2012), Ben Stiller's The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013), Jay Roach's Trumbo (2015), The Comedians (2015), Baskets (2016) and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017, 2018).
Similarly, varied musicians have mentioned Lewis in song lyrics including, Ice Cube, The Dead Milkmen, Queen Latifah, and Frank Zappa. The hip hop music band Beastie Boys have an unreleased single "The Jerry Lewis", which they mention, and danced to, on stage in Asheville, North Carolina in 2009. In their film Paul's Boutique — A Visual Companion, clips from The Nutty Professor play to "The Sounds of Science". In 1986, the comedy radio show Dr. Demento aired a parody of "Rock Me Amadeus", "Rock Me Jerry Lewis".
Apple iOS 10 includes an auto-text emoji for 'professor' with a Lewis lookalike portrayal from The Nutty Professor.
The word "flaaaven!", with its many variations and rhymes, is a Lewis-ism often used as a misspoken word or a person's mis-pronounced name. In a 2016 episode of the podcast West Wing Weekly, Joshua Malina is heard saying "flaven" when trying to remember a character's correct last name. Lewis's signature catchphrase "Hey, Laaady!" is ubiquitously used by comedians and laypersons alike.
Sammy Petrillo bore a coincidental resemblance to Lewis, so much so that Lewis at first tried to catch and kill Petrillo's career by signing him to a talent contract and then not giving him any work. When that failed (as Petrillo was under 18 at the time), Lewis tried to blackball Petrillo by pressuring television outlets and then nightclubs, also threatening legal action after Petrillo used his Lewis impersonation in the film Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla.
Awards, nominations, and other honors
1952 – Photoplay Award
1952 – Primetime Emmy Award Nomination for Best Comedian or Comedienne
1954 – Most Cooperative Actor, Golden Apple Award
1958 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1959 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1960 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1960 – Two stars (one for film and one for television) on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
1961 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Comedy Performance for Cinderfella
1961 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1962 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1963 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1963 – Cahiers du Cinema's Top 10 Film Award Nomination for Best Film for The Nutty Professor
1964 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1965 – Golden Laurel, Special Award – Family Comedy King
1965 – Cahiers du Cinema's Top 10 Film Award Nomination for Best Film for The Family Jewels
1966 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Comedy Performance (Male) for Boeing Boeing
1966 – Golden Light Technical Achievement Award for his 'video assist'
1966 – Golden Globe Nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical
1966 – Fotogramas de Plata Best Foreign Performer
1967 – Cahiers du Cinema's Top 10 Film Award Nomination for Best Film for The Big Mouth
1970 – Jerry Lewis Award for Outstanding achievement in being a "Person" and "Performer" for Which Way to the Front
1970 – The Michael S. McLean Happy Birthday and Thank You Award for Which Way to the Front
1977 – Nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, for his work on behalf of the Muscular Dystrophy Association
1978 – Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, a Jefferson Awards annual award.
1981 – Stinker Award Nomination for Worst Actor for Hardly Working
1981 – Stinker Award Nomination for Worst Sense of Direction for Hardly Working
1983 – British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for The King of Comedy
1983 – Cahiers du Cinema's Top 10 Film Award Nomination for Best Film for Cracking Up
1984 – Chevalier, Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur, France
1985 – Razzie Award Nomination for Worst Actor for Slapstick (Of Another Kind)
1991 – Comic Life Achievement Award
1991 – Induction into the Broadcast Hall of Fame
1991 – Lifetime Achievement Award, The Greater Fort Lauderdale Film Festival
1992 – Induction into the International Humor Hall of Fame
1995 – Theatre World Award, for Outstanding Broadway Debut for Damn Yankees
1997 – American Comedy Awards Lifetime Achievement Award
1999 – Golden Lion Honorary Award
2002 – Rotary International Award of Honour
2004 – Los Angeles Film Critics Association's Career Achievement Award
2005 – Primetime Emmy Governor's Award
2005 – Goldene Kamera Honorary Award
2006 – Medal of the City of Paris, France
2006 – Satellite Award for Outstanding Guest Star on Law and Order SVU
2006 – Commandeur, Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur, France
2009 – Induction into the New Jersey Hall of Fame
2009 – Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 81st Academy Awards
2009 – International Press Academy's Nikola Tesla Award in recognition of visionary achievements in filmmaking technology for his "video assist".
2010 – Chapman University Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters during the 2010 MDA Telethon
2011 – Ellis Island Medal of Honor
2013 – Homage from the Cannes Film Festival, with the screening of Lewis's latest film Max Rose
2013 – Honorary Member of the Order of Australia (AM), for service to the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation of Australia and those affected by the disorder
2014 – "Forecourt to the Stars" imprints at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood
2014 – New York Friars Club renames clubhouse building The Jerry Lewis Monastery
2014 – Publicists Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award
2015 – National Association of Broadcasters Distinguished Service Award
2015 – Casino Entertainment Legend Award
Filmography
Bibliography
(ISBN is for the 2004 Mass Market Edition)
Documentaries
Annett Wolf (Director) (1972) The World of Jerry Lewis (unreleased)
Robert Benayoun (Director) (1982) Bonjour Monsieur Lewis (Hello Mr. Lewis)
Burt Kearns (Director) (1989) Telethon (Released in US, 2014)
Carole Langer (Director) (1996) Jerry Lewis: The Last American Clown
Eckhart Schmidt (Director) (2006) König der Komödianten (King of Comedy)*
Gregg Barson (Director) (2011). Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis
Notes
References
Further reading
Also, Film Quarterly, Vol. 48, No. 1 (Autumn, 1994), pp. 12–26 University of California Press
Vol.23 Issue 1
Lamarca, Manuel (2017). Jerry Lewis. El día en el que el cómico filmó. Barcelona, Spain. Ediciones Carena.
Film criticism links
Bright Lights Film Online Journal
Film School Rejects
la furia umana (Multilingual Film Quarterly)
‘jerrython’ at MUBI
Museum of the Moving Image
An American Original: The RogerEbert.com Staff Remembers Jerry Lewis
Senses of Cinema
External links
Jerry Lewis Interview video at Directors Guild of America
Lewis interview video with Peter Bogdanovich Museum of the Moving Image Pinewood Dialogues
Jerry Lewis Interview Podcast WTF with Marc Maron
Drum Solo Battle (1955) with Buddy Rich at
1926 births
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Singer-songwriters from New York (state) | 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"
] |
[
"Jerry Lewis",
"Illness",
"When did lewis first fall ill?",
"March 20, 1965.",
"What caused the illness?",
"illnesses and addictions related both to aging and a back injury sustained",
"How did he hurt his back?",
"comedic pratfall from a piano while performing at the Sands Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Lewis had a Medtronic \"Synergy\" neurostimulator implanted in his back, which helped reduce the discomfort."
] | C_acddf0ca4d054573ab0b9e83c4a4fa9e_0 | How did this illness affect him? | 5 | How did Jerry Lewis' illness affect him? | Jerry Lewis | Lewis had a number of illnesses and addictions related both to aging and a back injury sustained in a comedic pratfall from a piano while performing at the Sands Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip on March 20, 1965. The accident almost left him paralyzed. In its aftermath, Lewis became addicted to the painkiller Percodan for thirteen years. He said he had been off the drug since 1978. In April 2002, Lewis had a Medtronic "Synergy" neurostimulator implanted in his back, which helped reduce the discomfort. He was one of the company's leading spokesmen. In the 2011 documentary Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis, Lewis said he had his first heart attack at age 34 while filming Cinderfella in 1960. In December 1982, he had another heart attack. En route to San Diego from New York City on a cross-country commercial airline flight on June 11, 2006, he had another. It was discovered that he had pneumonia, as well as a severely damaged heart. He underwent a cardiac catheterization and two stents were inserted into one of his coronary arteries, which was 90 percent blocked. The surgery resulted in increased blood flow to his heart and allowed him to continue his rebound from earlier lung problems. Having the cardiac catheterization meant canceling several major events from his schedule, but Lewis fully recuperated in a matter of weeks. In 1999, Lewis' Australian tour was cut short when he had to be hospitalized in Darwin with viral meningitis. He was ill for more than five months. It was reported in the Australian press that he had failed to pay his medical bills. However, Lewis maintained that the payment confusion was the fault of his health insurer. The resulting negative publicity caused him to sue his insurer for US$100 million. Lewis had prostate cancer, type 1 diabetes, pulmonary fibrosis, and a decades-long history of cardiovascular disease. Prednisone treatment in the late 1990s for pulmonary fibrosis resulted in weight gain and a noticeable change in his appearance. In September 2001, Lewis was unable to perform at a planned London charity event at the London Palladium. He was the headlining act, and he was introduced but did not appear. He had suddenly become unwell, apparently with heart problems. He was subsequently taken to the hospital. Some months thereafter, Lewis began an arduous, months-long therapy that weaned him off prednisone and enabled him to return to work. On June 12, 2012, he was treated and released from a hospital after collapsing from hypoglycemia at a New York Friars Club event. This latest health issue forced him to cancel a show in Sydney. In an October 2016 interview with Inside Edition, Lewis acknowledged that he might not star in any more films, given his advanced age, while admitting, through tears, that he was afraid of dying, as it would leave his wife and daughter alone. In June 2017, Lewis was hospitalized at a Las Vegas hospital for a urinary tract infection. CANNOTANSWER | 1965. The accident almost left him paralyzed. | Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, director, actor, screenwriter, singer, humanitarian and producer. Nicknamed "The King of Comedy", Lewis is regarded as one of the most significant American cultural figures of the 20th century, was widely known for his "kid" and "idiot" persona and his contributions to comedy and charity, along with his publicized personal life made him a global figure in pop culture over an eight-decade career. He professionally debuted in 1946 as part of the famous Martin and Lewis with singer Dean Martin and performed together until 1956.
That same year, his solo career started after the split. By becoming a solo star and innovative filmmaker, he helped to develop and popularize "video assist", the closed-circuit apparatus enabling film directors to see what had been shot without waiting for developed film footage. Lewis appeared and starred in 60 films with 13 directed by him. He was also national chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) and host of The Jerry Lewis Telethon each Labor Day weekend for many years.
Early life
Lewis was born Joseph Levitch on March 16, 1926, in Newark, New Jersey, to a Jewish family. His parents were Daniel "Danny" Levitch (1902–1980), a master of ceremonies and vaudevillian who performed under the stage name Danny Lewis, whose parents immigrated to the United States from the Russian Empire to New York, and Rachael "Rae" Levitch (née Brodsky; 1903–1983), a WOR radio pianist and Danny's music director, from Warsaw. Reports as to his birth name are conflicting; in Lewis's 1982 autobiography, he claimed his birth name was Joseph, after his maternal grandfather, but his birth certificate, the 1930 U. S. Census, and the 1940 U. S. Census all named him as Jerome.
Lewis said that he ceased using the names Joseph and Joey as an adult to avoid being confused with Joe E. Lewis and Joe Louis. Reports as to the hospital in which he was born conflict as well, with biographer Shawn Levy claiming he was born at Clinton Private Hospital and others claiming Newark Beth Israel Hospital. Other claims of his early life also conflict with accounts made by family members, burial records, and vital records. He was a "character" even in his teenage years, pulling pranks in his neighborhood including sneaking into kitchens to steal fried chicken and pies. He dropped out of Irvington High School in the tenth grade.
Early career
By age 15, he had developed his "Record Act" miming lyrics to songs while a phonograph played offstage. He landed a gig at a burlesque house in Buffalo, but his performance fell flat and was unable to book any more shows. To make ends meet, Lewis worked as a soda jerk and a theater usher for Suzanne Pleshette's father Gene at the Paramount Theatre as well as at Loew's Capitol Theatre, both in New York City,.
A veteran burlesque comedian, Max Coleman, who had worked with Lewis's father years before, persuaded him to try again. Irving Kaye, a Borscht Belt comedian, saw Lewis's mime act at Brown's Hotel in Loch Sheldrake, New York, the following summer, and the audience was so enthusiastic that Kaye became Lewis's manager and guardian for Borscht Belt appearances. During World War II, he was rejected for military service because of a heart murmur.
Career
Teaming with Dean Martin
In 1945, Lewis was 19 when he met 27-year-old singer Dean Martin at the Glass Hat Club in New York City, where the two performed until they debuted at Atlantic City's 500 Club as Martin and Lewis on July 25, 1946. The duo gained attention as a double act with Martin serving as the straight man to Lewis's zany antics. Along with being physically attractive, they played to each other and had ad-libbed improvisational segments within their planned routines, which added a unique quality to their act and separated them from previous comedy duos.
Martin and Lewis quickly rose to national prominence, first with their popular nightclub act, then as stars of their radio program The Martin and Lewis Show. The two made their television debut on CBS' Toast of the Town (later renamed as The Ed Sullivan Show) June 20, 1948.
This was followed by an appearance on Welcome Aboard on October 3, 1948, and by a guest stint on Texaco Star Theater in 1949.
In 1950, the boys signed with NBC to be one of a series of weekly rotating hosts of The Colgate Comedy Hour, a live Sunday evening broadcast. Lewis, writer for the team's nightclub act, hired Norman Lear and Ed Simmons as regular writers for their Comedy Hour material. Their Comedy Hour shows consisted of stand-up dialogue, song and dance from their nightclub act and movies, backed by Dick Stabile's big band, slapstick and satirical sketch comedy, Martin's solo songs, and Lewis's solo pantomimes or physical numbers.
They often broke character, ad-libbing and breaking the fourth wall. While not completely capturing the orchestrated mayhem of their nightclub act, the Comedy Hour displayed charismatic energy between the team and established their popularity nationwide. By 1951, with an appearance at the Paramount Theatre in New York, they were a cultural phenomenon. The duo began their film careers at Paramount Pictures as ensemble players, in My Friend Irma (1949) and its sequel My Friend Irma Goes West (1950).
They then starred in their own series of 14 new films, At War with the Army (1950), That's My Boy (1951), Sailor Beware (1952), Jumping Jacks (1952), The Stooge (1952), Scared Stiff (1953), The Caddy (1953), Money from Home (1953), Living It Up (1954), 3 Ring Circus (1954), You're Never Too Young (1955), Artists and Models (1955), Pardners (1956) and Hollywood or Bust (1956), all produced by Hal B. Wallis and appeared on Bing Crosby and Bob Hope's Olympic Fund Telethon.
Martin and Lewis cameoed in their film Road to Bali (1952), then Hope and Crosby would do the same in Scared Stiff a year later. Attesting to the duo's popularity, DC Comics published The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis from 1952 to 1957. The team appeared on What's My Line? in 1954, the 27th annual Academy Awards in 1955, The Steve Allen Show and The Today Show in 1956.
Their films were popular with audiences, and were financial successes for Paramount. In later years, both Lewis and Martin admitted frustration with Wallis for his formulaic and trite film choices, restricting them to narrow, repetitive roles. As Martin's roles in their films became less important over time and Lewis received the majority of critical acclaim, the partnership came under strain. Martin's participation became an embarrassment in 1954 when Look magazine published a publicity photo of the team for the magazine cover but cropped Martin out.
After their partnership ended with their final nightclub act on July 24, 1956, both Lewis and Martin went on to have successful solo careers and neither would comment on the split nor consider a reunion. They were occasionally seen at the same public events, though never together. On two occasions, in 1958 and 1961, Martin invited Lewis on stage, but the split was too serious for them to reconcile. Twenty years after their breakup Sinatra surprised Lewis by bringing Martin on live stage during the Jerry Lewis Telethon in September 1976. In 1989, Lewis returned the gesture, attending Martin's 72nd birthday.
Solo period
After ending his partnership with Martin in 1956, Lewis and his wife Patty took a vacation in Las Vegas to consider the direction of his career. He felt his life was in a crisis state: "I was unable to put one foot in front of the other with any confidence. I was completely unnerved to be alone". While there, he received an urgent request from his friend Sid Luft, who was Judy Garland's husband and manager, saying that she couldn't perform that night in Las Vegas because of strep throat, and asking Lewis to fill in.
Lewis had not sung alone on stage since he was five years old, twenty-five years before, but he appeared before the audience of a thousand, nonetheless, delivering jokes and clowning with the audience, while Garland sat off-stage, watching. He then sang a rendition of a song he'd learned as a child, "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody" along with "Come Rain or Come Shine". Lewis recalled, "When I was done, the place exploded. I walked off the stage knowing I could make it on my own".
At his wife's pleading, Lewis used his own money to record the songs on a single. Decca Records heard it, liked it and insisted he record an album for them. The single of Rock-a-Bye Your Baby went to No. 10 and the album Jerry Lewis Just Sings went to No. 3 on the Billboard charts, staying near the top for four months and selling a million and a half copies.
With the success of that album, he recorded the additional albums More Jerry Lewis (an EP of songs from this release was released as Somebody Loves Me), and Jerry Lewis Sings Big Songs for Little People (later reissued with fewer tracks as Jerry Lewis Sings for Children). Non-album singles were released, and It All Depends On You hit the charts in April and May 1957, but peaked at only No. 68. Further singles were recorded and released by Lewis into the mid-1960s.
But these were not Lewis's first forays into recording, nor his first appearance on the hit charts. During his partnership with Martin, they made several recordings together, charting at No. 22 in 1948 with the 1920s chestnut That Certain Party and later mostly re-recording songs highlighted in their films. Also during the time of their partnership, but without Martin, he recorded numerous novelty-comedy numbers for adults as well as records specifically intended for the children's market.
Having proven he could sing and do live shows, he began performing regularly at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, beginning in late 1956, which marked a turning point in his life and career. The Sands signed him for five years, to perform six weeks each year and paid him the same amount they had paid Martin and Lewis as a team. The critics gave him positive reviews: "Jerry was wonderful. He has proved that he can be a success by himself," wrote one. He continued with club performances in Miami, New York, Chicago and Washington.
Such live performances became a staple of his career and over the years he performed at casinos, theaters and state fairs coast-to-coast. In February 1957, he followed Garland at the Palace Theater in New York and Martin called on the phone during this period to wish him the best of luck. "I've never been happier," said Lewis. "I have peace of mind for the first time." Lewis established himself as a solo act on TV starting with the first of six appearances on What's My Line? from 1956 to 1966 and then guest starred on The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show.
He appeared on both Tonight Starring Jack Paar and The Ed Sullivan Show and beginning in January 1957, in a number of solo TV specials for NBC. He starred in his adaptation of "The Jazz Singer" for Startime. Lewis hosted the Academy Awards three times, in 1956, 1957 and the 31st Academy Awards in 1959, which ran twenty minutes short, forcing Lewis to improvise to fill time. DC Comics, switching from Martin and Lewis, published a new comic book series titled The Adventures of Jerry Lewis, running from 1957 to 1971.
Lewis remained at Paramount and started off with his first solo effort The Delicate Delinquent (1957) then starred in his next film The Sad Sack (1957). Frank Tashlin, whose background as a Looney Tunes cartoon director suited Lewis's brand of humor, came on board. Lewis did new films with him, first with Rock-A-Bye Baby (1958) and then The Geisha Boy (1958). Billy Wilder asked Lewis to play the lead role of an uptight jazz musician named Jerry, who winds up on the run from the mob, in Some Like It Hot but turned it down.
He then appeared in Don't Give Up The Ship (1959) and cameoed in Li'l Abner (1959). After his contract with Wallis ended, Lewis had several movies under his belt, eagering to flex his creative muscle and was free to deepen his comedy with pathos, believing, "Funny without pathos is a pie in the face. And a pie in the face is funny, but I wanted more." In 1959, a contract between Paramount and Jerry Lewis Productions was signed specifying a payment of $10 million plus 60% of the profits for 14 films over seven years.
This contract made Lewis the highest paid individual Hollywood talent to date and was unprecedented in that he had unlimited creative control, including final cut and the return of film rights after 30 years. Lewis's clout and box office were so strong (his films had already earned Paramount $100 million in rentals) that Barney Balaban, head of production at Paramount at that time, told the press, "If Jerry wants to burn down the studio I'll give him the match!"
He had finished his film contract with Wallis with Visit to a Small Planet (1960) and wrapped up production on his own film Cinderfella (1960), directed by Tashlin and was postponed for a Christmas 1960 release. Paramount Pictures, needing a quickie movie for its summer 1960 schedule, held Lewis to his contract to produce one. As a result, he made his debut as film director of The Bellboy (1960), which he also starred in.
Using the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami as his setting — on a small budget, with a very tight shooting schedule — Lewis shot the film during the day and performed at the hotel in the evenings. Bill Richmond collaborated with him on many of the sight gags. Lewis later revealed that Paramount was not happy about financing a "silent movie" and withdrew backing. Lewis used his own funds to cover the movie's $950,000 budget. Meanwhile, he directed an unsold pilot for Permanent Waves.
Lewis continued to direct more films that he had co-written with Richmond, including The Ladies Man (1961), where Lewis constructed a three-story dollhouse-like set spanning two sound stages, with the set equipped with state of the art lighting and sound, eliminating the need for boom mics in each room and his next movie The Errand Boy (1961), was one of the earliest films about movie-making, using all of the Paramount backlot and offices.
Lewis appeared in The Wacky World of Jerry Lewis, Celebrity Golf, The Garry Moore Show and Tashlin's It's Only Money (1962), then guest hosted The Tonight Show during the transition from Jack Paar to Johnny Carson in 1962 and his appearance on the show scored the highest ratings thus far in late night, surpassing other guest hosts and Paar. The three major networks began a bidding war, wooing Lewis for his own talk show, which debuted the following year.
Lewis then directed, co-wrote and starred in the smash hit The Nutty Professor (1963). A parody of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, it featured him as Professor Kelp, a socially inept scientist who invents a serum that turns him into a handsome but obnoxious ladies man. It is often considered to be Lewis's best film. It was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2004. The film inspired a franchise, which has included a 1996 remake starring Eddie Murphy in the title role and a stage musical adaptation.
He then appeared in a cameo role in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), then in Tashlin's Who's Minding the Store? (1963) and hosted The Jerry Lewis Show, a lavish 13-week, big-budget show which aired on ABC from September to December in 1963, but suffered in the ratings and was beleaguered by technical and other difficulties, including the assassination of then U.S. president John F. Kennedy, which left the country in a somber mood.
Lewis next starred in The Patsy (1964), his satire about the Hollywood star-making industry, The Disorderly Orderly (1964), his final collaboration with Tashlin, appeared in a cameo on The Joey Bishop Show and The Family Jewels (1965) about a young heiress who must choose among six uncles, one of whom is up to no good and out to harm the girl's beloved bodyguard who practically raised her. All six uncles and the bodyguard were played by Lewis.
In 1965, Lewis was interviewed on The David Susskind Show, then starred in Boeing Boeing (1965), his last film for Paramount, based on the French stage play, in which he received a Golden Globe nomination; an episode of Ben Casey, an early dramatic role; The Andy Williams Show; and Hullabaloo with his son Gary Lewis. In 1966, after 17 years, and with no explanation, Lewis left Paramount and signed with Columbia Pictures where he tried to reinvent himself with more serious roles.
He went on to star in Three on a Couch (1966), The Merv Griffin Show, Way...Way Out (1966), The Sammy Davis Jr. Show, Batman, Laugh In, Password, a pilot for Sheriff Who, a new version of The Jerry Lewis Show, this time as a one-hour variety show for NBC, which ran from 1967 to 1969, The Big Mouth (1967), Run for Your Life and The Danny Thomas Hour.
Lewis appeared in Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River (1968), Playboy After Dark (surprising friend Sammy Davis Jr.), Hook, Line & Sinker (1969), Jimmy Durante's The Lennon Sisters Hour, The Red Skelton Show and The Jack Benny Birthday Special and contributed to some scripts for Filmation's animated series Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down, appeared on The Mike Douglas Show and directed an episode of The Bold Ones.
Lewis guested on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, The Hollywood Palace, The Engelbert Humperdinck Show, The Irv Kupcinet Show, The Linkletter Show, The Real Tom Kennedy Show and A Christmas Night with the Stars, directed One More Time (1970), in which he played his first (and only) off-screen voice as a bandleader, starred in Which Way to the Front? (1970) and appeared on The Carol Burnett Show, The Rolf Harris Show and The Kraft Music Hall.
Lewis directed and appeared in the partly unreleased The Day the Clown Cried (1972), a drama set in a Nazi concentration camp. The film was rarely discussed by Lewis, but he said that litigation over post-production finances and copyright prevented its completion and theatrical release. During his book tour for Dean and Me, he also said a factor for the film's burial was that he was not proud of the effort.
Lewis explained his reason for choosing the project and the emotional difficulty of the subject matter in an interview with an Australian documentary film crew. A 31-minute version was shown on the German television station ARD, in the documentary Der Clown. It was later put on DVD and shown at Deutsches Filminstitute. The film was the earliest attempt by an American film director to address the subject of The Holocaust. Significant speculation continues to surround the film. Following this, Lewis took a break from the movie business for several years.
Lewis appeared as guest on Good Morning America, The Dick Cavett Show, NBC Follies, Celebrity Sportsman, Cher, Dinah! and Tony Orlando and Dawn. Lewis surprised Sinatra and Martin after walking onto the Aladdin stage in Las Vegas during their show and exchanged jokes for several minutes. He then starred in a revival of Hellzapoppin with Lynn Redgrave, but closed on the road before reaching Broadway. In 1979, he guest hosted as ringmaster of Circus of the Stars.
Lewis guest starred on Pink Lady in 1980, then made a comeback to the big screen in Hardly Working (1981), after an 11-year absence from film. Despite being panned by critics, it eventually earned $50 million. In 1982 and 1983, Lewis appeared on Late Night with David Letterman and in The King of Comedy, as a late-night TV host, plagued by two obsessive fans, in which he received wide critical acclaim and a BAFTA nomination for this serious dramatic role.
Lewis then starred in Saturday Night Live, Star Search, Cracking Up (1983), Slapstick (Of Another Kind) (1984), To Catch a Cop (1984) and How Did You Get In? We Didn't See You Leave (1984), the latter two films from France which had their distribution under Lewis's control and stated that they would never be released in American movie theaters and on home media. He then was a guest on an episode of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
He then hosted a new syndicated version of The Jerry Lewis Show, this time as a talk show for Metromedia, which was not continued beyond the scheduled five shows. In 1985, Lewis directed an episode of Brothers, appeared at the first Comic Relief in 1986, where he was the only performer to receive a standing ovation, was interviewed on Classic Treasures and starred in the ABC television movie Fight for Life (1987).
In 1987, Lewis performed a second double act with Davis Jr. at Bally's in Las Vegas, then after learning of the death of Martin's son Dean Paul Martin, he attended his funeral, which led to a more substantial reconciliation with Martin. In 1988, Lewis hosted America's All-Time Favorite Movies, then was interviewed by Howard Cosell on Speaking of Everything. He then starred in five episodes of Wiseguy.
The filming schedule of the show forced Lewis to miss the Museum of the Moving Image's opening with a retrospective of his work. In 1989, Lewis joined Martin on stage, for what would be Martin's final live performance, at Bally's Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Lewis wheeled out a cake on Martin's 72nd birthday, sang "Happy Birthday" to him and joked, "Why we broke up, I'll never know". Again, their appearance together made headlines. He next appeared in Cookie (1989).
Lewis handled two years directing episodes of Super Force and Good Grief in 1990 and 1991, then star in Mr. Saturday Night (1992), The Arsenio Hall Show, The Whoopi Goldberg Show and Inside The Comedy Mind. A three-part retrospective Martin & Lewis: Their Golden Age of Comedy, aired on The Disney Channel in 1992, using previously unseen kinescopes from Lewis' personal archive, highlighted his years as part of a team with Martin and as a soloist.
After guest spots on Mad About You and Larry King Live and film appearances in Arizona Dream (1993) and Funny Bones (1995), Lewis made his Broadway debut, as a replacement cast member playing the devil, in a revival of Damn Yankees and was reportedly paid the highest sum in Broadway history at the time for performing in both the national and London runs of the musical. He missed only three shows in more than four years, one of those occasions being the funeral of Martin, his comedy partner of ten years.
Lewis appeared on Inside the Actors Studio in 1996, the 12th annual American Comedy Awards in 1998 and in the 2000s, The Martin Short Show, Russell Gilbert Live, Your World with Neil Cavuto, The Simpsons, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Live with Kelly, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, the song "Time After Time" with Deana Martin on her album Memories Are Made of This and Curious George 2 (2009).
He made his last few appearances for the 81st Academy Awards, 50 Years of Movies & Music (a Michel Legrand special), Till Luck Do Us Part 2 (2013), The Talk, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The World Over with Raymond Arroyo, The Trust (2016), his final film Max Rose (2016), WTF with Marc Maron and Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.
Video assist and film class
During the 1960 production of The Bellboy, Lewis pioneered the technique of using video cameras and multiple closed circuit monitors, which allowed him to review his performance instantly. This was necessary since he was acting as well as directing. His techniques and methods of filmmaking, documented in his book and his USC class, enabled him to complete most of his films on time and under budget since reshoots could take place immediately instead of waiting for the dailies.
Man in Motion, a featurette for Three on a Couch, features the video system, named "Jerry's Noisy Toy" and shows Lewis receiving the Golden Light Technical Achievement award for its development. Lewis stated he worked with the head of Sony to produce the prototype. While he initiated its practice and use, and was instrumental in its development, he did not hold a patent. This practice is now commonplace in filmmaking.
Starting in 1967, Lewis taught a film directing class at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles for a number of years. His students included George Lucas, whose friend Steven Spielberg sometimes sat in on classes. Lewis screened Spielberg's early film Amblin' and told his students, "That's what filmmaking is all about." The class covered all topics related to filmmaking, including pre and post production, marketing and distribution and filming comedy with rhythm and timing.
His 1971 book The Total Film Maker, was based on 480 hours of his class lectures. Also, Lewis traveled to medical schools for seminars on laughter and healing with Dr. Clifford Kuhn and also did corporate and college lectures, motivational speaking and promoted the pain-treatment company Medtronic.
Acclaim and exposure in France
While Lewis was popular in France for his duo films with Dean Martin and his solo comedy films, his reputation and stature increased after the Paramount contract, when he began to exert total control over all aspects of his films. His involvement in directing, writing, editing and art direction coincided with the rise of auteur theory in French intellectual film criticism and the French New Wave movement. He earned consistent praise from French critics in the influential magazines Cahiers du Cinéma and Positif, where he was hailed as an ingenious auteur.
His singular mise-en-scène, and skill behind the camera, were aligned with Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock and Satyajit Ray. Appreciated too, was the complexity of his also being in front of the camera. The new French criticism viewed cinema as an art form unto itself, and comedy as part of this art. Lewis is then fitted into a historical context and seen as not only worthy of critique, but as an innovator and satirist of his time. Jean-Pierre Coursodon states in a 1975 Film Comment article, "The merit of the French critics, auteurist excesses notwithstanding, was their willingness to look at what Lewis was doing as a filmmaker for what it was, rather than with some preconception of what film comedy should be."
Not yet curricula at universities or art schools, film studies and film theory were avant-garde in early 1960s America. Mainstream movie reviewers such as Pauline Kael, were dismissive of auteur theory, and others, seeing only absurdist comedy, criticized Lewis for his ambition and "castigated him for his self-indulgence" and egotism. Despite this criticism often being held by American film critics, admiration for Lewis and his comedy continued to grow in France.
Appreciation of Lewis became a misunderstood stereotype about "the French", and it was often the object of jokes in American pop culture. "That Americans can't see Jerry Lewis' genius is bewildering," says N. T. Binh, a French film magazine critic. Such bewilderment was the basis of the book Why the French Love Jerry Lewis. In response to the lingering perception that French audiences adored him, Lewis stated in interviews he was more popular in Germany, Japan and Australia.
Muscular dystrophy cause and criticism
As a humanitarian, philanthropist and "number one volunteer", Lewis supported fundraising for research into muscular dystrophy. In 1951, he and Martin made their first appeal for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (simply known as MDA and formerly as the Muscular Dystrophy Associations of America and MDAA) in early December on the finale of The Colgate Comedy Hour. In 1952, after another appeal, Lewis hosted New York area telethons until 1959 and in 1954, fought Rocky Marciano in a boxing bout for MDA's fund drive.
After being named national chairman in 1956, Lewis began hosting and emceeing The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon in 1966 and aired every Labor Day weekend for six decades. Ed McMahon, announcer of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and host of Star Search, began his involvement in the telethon in 1968, before co-anchoring with Lewis from 1973 to 2008. The show originated from different locations including New York, Las Vegas and Hollywood, becoming the most successful fundraising event in the history of television.
It was the first to: raise over $1 million, in 1966; be shown entirely in color, in 1967; become a networked telethon, in 1968; go coast-to-coast, in 1970; be seen outside the continental U.S., in 1972. It: raised the largest sum ever in a single event for humanitarian purposes, in 1974; had the greatest amount ever pledged to a televised charitable event, in 1980 (from the Guinness Book of World Records); was the first to be seen by 100 million people, in 1985; celebrated its 25th anniversary, in 1990; saw its highest pledge in history, in 1992; and was the first seen worldwide via internet simulcast, in 1998.
By 1990, pop culture had shifted its view of disabled individuals and the telethon format. Lewis and the telethon's methods were criticized by disabled-rights activists who believed the show was "designed to evoke pity rather than empower the disabled". The activists said the telethon perpetuated prejudices and stereotypes, that Lewis treated those he claimed to be helping with little respect, and that he used offensive language when describing them. The songs "Smile" (by Charlie Chaplin), "What the World Needs Now Is Love" (by Jackie DeShannon) and "You'll Never Walk Alone" (by Rodgers and Hammerstein) have been long associated with the telethon.
In December 1996, Lewis and MDA were recognized by the American Medical Association with Lifetime Achievement Awards for significant and lasting contributions to the health and welfare of humanity. His motto summed up the philosophy behind his years of devotion to MDA: "I shall pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again".
Lewis rebutted the criticism and defended his methods saying, "If you don't tug at their heartstrings, then you're on the air for nothing."
The activist protests represented a very small minority of countless MDA patients and clients who had directly benefitted from Lewis's MDA fundraising. He received a Nobel Peace Prize nomination in 1977, a Governors Award in 2005 and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 2009, in recognition of his fight and efforts with the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
On August 3, 2011, it was announced that Lewis would no longer host the MDA telethons and that he was no longer associated with the Muscular Dystrophy Association. A tribute to Lewis was held during the 2011 telethon (which originally was to be his final show bearing his name with MDA). On May 1, 2015, it was announced that in view of "the new realities of television viewing and philanthropic giving", the telethon was being discontinued.
In early 2016, at MDA's brand re-launch event at Carnegie Hall in New York City, Lewis broke a five-year silence during a special taped message for the organization on its website, marking his first (and as it turned out, his final) appearance in support of MDA since his final telethon in 2010 and the end of his tenure as national chairman in 2011. Lewis raised an estimated $2.6 billion in donations for the cause.
MDA's website states, "Jerry's love, passion and brilliance are woven throughout this organization, which he helped build from the ground up, courted sponsors for MDA, appeared at openings of MDA care and research centers, addressed meetings of civic organizations, volunteers and the MDA Board of Directors, successfully lobbied Congress for federal neuromuscular disease research funds, made countless phone calls and visits to families served by MDA.
During Lewis's lifetime, MDA-funded scientists discovered the causes of most of the diseases in the Muscular Dystrophy Association's program, developing treatments, therapies and standards of care that have allowed many people living with these diseases to live longer and grow stronger. Over 200 research and treatment facilities were built with donations raised by the Jerry Lewis Telethons.
Non-career activities
Lewis opened a camera shop in 1950. In 1969 he agreed to lend his name to "Jerry Lewis Cinemas", offered by National Cinema Corporation as a franchise business opportunity for those interested in theatrical movie exhibition. Jerry Lewis Cinemas stated that their theaters could be operated by a staff of as few as two with the aid of automation and support provided by the franchiser in booking film and other aspects of film exhibition. A forerunner of the smaller rooms typical of later multi-screen complexes, a Jerry Lewis Cinema was billed in franchising ads as a "mini-theatre" with a seating capacity of between 200 and 350.
In addition to Lewis's name, each Jerry Lewis Cinemas bore a sign with a cartoon logo of Lewis in profile. Initially 158 territories were franchised, with a buy-in fee of $10,000 or $15,000 depending on the territory, for what was called an "individual exhibitor". For $50,000, Jerry Lewis Cinemas offered an opportunity known as an "area directorship", in which investors controlled franchising opportunities in a territory as well as their own cinemas. The success of the chain was hampered by a policy of only booking second-run, family-friendly films.Eventually the policy was changed, and the Jerry Lewis Cinemas were allowed to show more competitive movies. But after a decade the chain failed and both Lewis and National Cinema Corporation declared bankruptcy in 1980.
In 1973, Lewis appeared on the 1st annual 20-hour Highway Safety Foundation telethon, hosted by Davis Jr. and Monty Hall. In 1990, Lewis wrote and directed a short film for UNICEF's How Are The Children? anthology exploring the rights of children worldwide. The eight-minute segment, titled Boy, was about a young white child in a black world and being subjected to quiet, insidious racism, and outright racist bullying.
In 2010, Lewis met with seven-year-old Lochie Graham, who shared his idea for "Jerry's House", a place for vulnerable and traumatized children. Lewis and Graham entered into a joint partnership for an Australian and a U.S.-based charity and began raising funds to build the facility in Melbourne. On September 12, 2016, Lewis lent his name and star power to Criss Angel's HELP (Heal Every Life Possible) charity event.
Political views
Lewis kept a low political profile for many years, having taken advice reportedly given to him by President John F. Kennedy, who told him, "Don't get into anything political. Don't do that because they will usurp your energy." Nevertheless, he campaigned and performed on behalf of both JFK and Robert F. Kennedy. Lewis was a supporter of the Civil Rights Movement. For his 1957 NBC special, Lewis held his ground when southern affiliates objected to his stated friendship with Sammy Davis Jr. In a 1971 Movie Mirror magazine article, Lewis spoke out against the Vietnam War when his son Gary returned from service traumatized. He vowed to leave the country rather than send another of his sons.
Lewis once stated political speeches should not be at the Oscars. He stated, "I think we are the most dedicated industry in the world. And I think that we have to present ourselves that night as hard-working, caring and important people to the industry. We need to get more self-respect as an industry".
In a 2004 interview with The Guardian, Lewis was asked what he was least proud of, to which he answered, "Politics". Not his politics, but the world's politics – the madness, the destruction, the general lack of respect.
He lamented citizens' lack of pride in their country, stating, "President Bush is my president. I will not say anything negative about the president of the United States. I don't do that. And I don't allow my children to do that. Likewise when I come to England don't you do any jokes about 'Mum' to me. That is the Queen of England, you moron. Do you know how tough a job it is to be the Queen of England?"
In a December 2015 interview on EWTN's World Over with Raymond Arroyo, Lewis expressed opposition to the United States letting in Syrian refugees, saying, "No one has worked harder for the human condition than I have, but they're not part of the human condition if 11 guys in that group of 10,000 are ISIS. How can I take that chance?" In the same interview, he criticized President Barack Obama for not being prepared for ISIS, while expressing support for Donald Trump, saying he would make a good president because he was a good "showman". He also added that he admired Ronald Reagan's presidency.
Controversies
In 1998, at the Aspen U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, when asked which women comics he admired, Lewis answered, "I don't like any female comedians. A woman doing comedy doesn't offend me but sets me back a bit. I, as a viewer, have trouble with it. I think of her as a producing machine that brings babies in the world." He later clarified his statements saying, "Seeing a woman project the kind of aggression that you have to project as a comic just rubs me wrong. I cannot sit and watch a lady diminish her qualities to the lowest common denominator." Lewis explained his attitude as that of an older generation and said women are funny, but not when performing "broad" or "crude" humor.
He went on to praise Lucille Ball as "brilliant" and said Carol Burnett is "the greatest female entrepreneur of comedy". On other occasions Lewis expressed admiration for female comedians Totie Fields, Phyllis Diller, Kathleen Freeman, Elayne Boosler, Whoopi Goldberg and Tina Fey. During the 2007 MDA Telethon, Lewis used the word "fag" in a joke, for which he apologized. Lewis used the same word the following year on Australian television.
Personal life
Relationships and children
Lewis wed Patti Palmer (later Lewis, née Esther Grace Calonico; 1921–2021), an Italian American singer with Ted Fio Rito, on October 3, 1944, and the two had six children together—five biological: Gary Levitch (later Lewis) (born 1945); Scott (born 1956); Christopher (born 1957); Anthony (born 1959); and Joseph (1964–2009) – and one adopted, Ronald (born 1949). It was an interfaith marriage; Lewis was Jewish and Palmer was Catholic.
While married to Palmer, Lewis openly pursued relationships with other women and gave unapologetic interviews about his infidelity, revealing his affairs with Marilyn Monroe and Marlene Dietrich to People in 2011. Palmer filed for divorce from Lewis in 1980, after 35 years of marriage, citing Lewis's extravagant spending and infidelity on his part, and it was finalized in 1983. All of Lewis's children and grandchildren from his marriage to Palmer were excluded from inheriting any part of his estate. His eldest son, Gary, publicly called his father a "mean and evil person" and said that Lewis never showed him or his siblings any love or care.
Lewis's second wife was Sandra "SanDee" Pitnick, a UNCSA professionally trained ballerina and stewardess, who met Lewis after winning a bit part in a dancing scene on his film Hardly Working. They were wed on February 13, 1983, in Key Biscayne, Florida, and had one child together, an adopted daughter named Danielle (born 1992). They were married for 34 years until his death.
Patti Lewis died on January 15, 2021, at age 99.
Stalking incident
In February 1994, a man named Gary Benson was revealed to have been stalking Lewis and his family. Benson subsequently served four years in prison.
Sexual assault allegations
In February 2022, Vanity Fair published a special issue detailing several women who accused Lewis of various acts ranging from sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape. The claims come from seven actresses who worked with him in the 1960s. These actresses were identified as Karen Sharpe, Renée Taylor, Hope Holiday, Jill St. John, Connie Stevens, Anna Maria Alberghetti, and Lainie Kazan.
Illness and death
Lewis suffered from a number of chronic health problems, illnesses and addictions related both to aging and a back injury sustained in a comedic pratfall. The fall has been stated as being either from a piano while performing at the Sands Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip on March 20, 1965, or during an appearance on The Andy Williams Show. In its aftermath, Lewis became addicted to the painkiller Percodan for thirteen years. He said he had been off the drug since 1978. In April 2002, Lewis had a Medtronic "Synergy" neurostimulator implanted in his back, which helped reduce the discomfort. He was one of the company's leading spokesmen.
Lewis suffered numerous heart problems throughout his life; he revealed in the 2011 documentary Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis that he suffered his first heart attack at age 34 while filming Cinderfella in 1960. In December 1982, he had another heart attack. Two months later, in February 1983, Lewis underwent open-heart double-bypass surgery. En route to San Diego from New York City on a cross-country commercial airline flight on June 11, 2006, Lewis suffered his third heart attack. It was discovered that he had pneumonia, as well as a severely damaged heart. He underwent a cardiac catheterization days after the heart attack, and two stents were inserted into one of his coronary arteries, which was 90 percent blocked. The surgery resulted in increased blood flow to his heart and allowed him to continue his rebound from earlier lung problems. Having the cardiac catheterization required him to cancel several major events from his schedule, but Lewis fully recuperated in a matter of weeks.
In 1999, Lewis's Australian tour was cut short when he had to be hospitalized in Darwin with viral meningitis. He was ill for more than five months. It was reported in the Australian press that he had failed to pay his medical bills. However, Lewis maintained that the payment confusion was the fault of his health insurer. The resulting negative publicity caused him to sue his insurer for US$100 million.
In addition to his decades-long heart problems, Lewis had prostate cancer, type 1 diabetes, and pulmonary fibrosis. In the late 1990s, Lewis was treated with prednisone for pulmonary fibrosis, which caused considerable weight gain and a startling change in his appearance. In September 2001, Lewis was unable to perform at a planned London charity event at the London Palladium. He was the headlining act, and was introduced, but did not appear onstage. He had suddenly become unwell, apparently with cardiac problems.
He was subsequently taken to hospital. Some months thereafter, Lewis began an arduous, months-long therapy that weaned him off prednisone, and he lost much of the weight gained while on the drug. The treatment enabled him to return to work. On June 12, 2012, he was treated and released from a hospital after collapsing from hypoglycemia at a New York Friars Club event. This forced him to cancel a show in Sydney. In an October 2016 interview with Inside Edition, Lewis acknowledged that he might not star in any more films, given his advanced age, while admitting, through tears, that he was afraid of dying, as it would leave his wife and daughter alone. In June 2017, Lewis was hospitalized at a Las Vegas hospital for a urinary tract infection.
Lewis died at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada, on August 20, 2017, at the age of 91. The cause was end-stage cardiac disease and peripheral artery disease. Lewis was cremated. In his will, Lewis left his estate to his second wife of 34 years, SanDee Pitnick, and their daughter, and explicitly disinherited his children from his first marriage and their children.
Comedic style
Lewis "single-handedly created a style of humor that was half anarchy, half excruciation. Even comics who never took a pratfall in their careers owe something to the self-deprecation Jerry introduced into American show business." His self-deprecating style can be found in comics such as Larry David and David Letterman.
Lewis's comedy style was physically uninhibited, expressive, and potentially volatile. He was known especially for his distinctive voice, facial expressions, pratfalls, and physical stunts. His improvisations and ad-libbing, especially in nightclubs and early television were revolutionary among performers. It was "marked by a raw, edgy energy that would distinguish him within the comedy landscape". Will Sloan, of Flavorwire wrote, "In the late '40s and early '50s, nobody had ever seen a comedian as wild as Jerry Lewis." Placed in the context of the conservative era, his antics were radical and liberating, paving the way for future comedians Steve Martin, Richard Pryor, Andy Kaufman, Paul Reubens, and Jim Carrey. Carrey wrote: "Through his comedy, Jerry would stretch the boundaries of reality so far that it was an act of anarchy ... I learned from Jerry", and "I am because he was".
Acting the bumbling 'everyman', Lewis used tightly choreographed, sophisticated sight gags, physical routines, verbal double-talk and malapropisms. "You cannot help but notice Lewis' incredible sense of control in regards to performing—they may have looked at times like the ravings of a madman but his best work had a genuine grace and finesse behind it that would put most comedic performers of any era to shame." They are "choreographed as exactly as any ballet, each movement and gesture coming on natural beats and conforming to the overall rhythmic form which is headed to a spectacular finale: absolute catastrophe."
Drawing from his childhood traumas, Lewis crafted a complex comedic persona that involved four social aspects: sexuality, gender, race/ethnicity, and disability. Through these social aspects, he challenged norms, was misrepresented, and was heavily criticized. During his Martin and Lewis years, he challenged what it meant to be a heterosexual male. Not afraid to display sensitivity and a childlike innocence, he pushed aside heterosexual normality and embraced distorted conventions. This did not sit well with some critics who thought his actions were appalling and what were then considered effeminate. Lewis's feminine movement suggested a common gay stereotype of the era, though the intention was to represent the girl-crazy sexual panic of an inexperienced young man.
In the Martin and Lewis duo, Lewis's comedic persona was viewed as effeminate, weak, and inexperienced, which in turn made the Martin persona look masculine, strong, and worldly. The Lewis character was unconventional, in regards to gender, and that challenged what masculinity was. There are a few Martin and Lewis films that present the Lewis character in gender-swapped roles, but it was Lewis's solo films that posed questions about gender and gender roles. Apart from Cinderfella (1960) that cast him in the Cinderella role, films such as Rock-A-Bye Baby (1958) and The Geisha Boy (1958) showed his interactions with children that put him less in the authoritative father role and placed him more in the nurturing mother role. In the 1965 film The Family Jewels, Lewis takes on the dual role as protector, the father role, and nurturer, the mother role. Through his comedic persona and films, he showed that a man can take on what are considered feminine traits without that being a threat to his masculinity.
Although Lewis made it no secret that he was Jewish, he was criticized for hiding his Jewish heritage. In several of his films — both with Martin and solo — Lewis' Jewish identity is hinted at in passing, and was never made a defining characteristic of his onscreen persona. Aside from the 1959 television movie The Jazz Singer and the unreleased 1972 film The Day the Clown Cried, Lewis never appeared in a film or film role that had any ties to his Jewish heritage. When asked about this lack of Jewish portrayal in a 1984 interview, Lewis stated, "I never hid it, but I wouldn't announce it and I wouldn't exploit it. Plus the fact it had no room in the visual direction I was taking in my work."
Lewis' physical movements in films received some criticism because he was perceived as imitating or mocking those with a physical disability. Through the years, the disability that has been attached to his comedic persona has not been physical, but mental. Neuroticism and schizophrenia have been a part of Lewis's persona since his partnership with Dean Martin; however, it was in his solo career that these disabilities became important to the plots of his films and the characters. In films such as The Ladies Man (1961), The Disorderly Orderly (1964), The Patsy (1964) and Cracking Up (1983), there is either neuroticism, schizophrenia, or both that drive the plot. Lewis was able to explore and dissect the psychological side of his persona, which provided a depth to the character and the films that was not present in his previous efforts.
Tributes and legacy
From the late 1940s to the mid-1960s, "Lewis was a major force in American popular culture." Widely acknowledged as a comic genius, Lewis influenced successive generations of comedians, comedy writers, performers and filmmakers. As Lewis was often referred to as the bridge from Vaudeville to modern comedy, Carl Reiner wrote after Lewis's death, "All comedians watch other comedians, and every generation of comedians going back to those who watched Jerry on the Colgate Comedy Hour were influenced by Jerry. They say that mankind goes back to the first guy ... which everyone tries to copy. In comedy that guy was Jerry Lewis."
Lewis's films, especially his self-directed films, have warranted steady reappraisal. Richard Brody in The New Yorker said, Lewis was "one of the most original, inventive, ... profound directors of the time". and "one of the most skilled and original comic performers, verbal and physical, ever to appear on screen". Film critic and film curator for the Museum of Modern Art, Dave Kehr, wrote in The New York Times of Lewis' "fierce creativity", "the extreme formal sophistication of his direction" and, Lewis was "one of the great American filmmakers".
"Lewis was an explosive experimenter with a dazzling skill, and an audacious, innovatory flair for the technique of the cinema. He knew how to frame and present his own adrenaline-fuelled, instinctive physical comedy for the camera."
Lewis was at the forefront in the transition to independent filmmaking, which came to be known as New Hollywood in the late 1960s. Writing for the Los Angeles Times in 2005, screenwriter David Weddle lauded Lewis's audacity in 1959 "daring to declare his independence from the studio system". Lewis came along to a studio system in which the industry was regularly stratified between players and coaches. The studios tightly controlled the process and they wanted their people directing. Yet Lewis regularly led, often flouting the power structure to do so.
Steven Zeitchik of the LA Times wrote of Lewis, "Control over material was smart business, and it was also good art. Neither the entrepreneur nor the auteur were common types among actors in mid-20th century Hollywood. But there Lewis was, at a time of strict studio control, doing both."
No other comedic star, with the exceptions of Chaplin and Keaton in the silent era, dared to direct himself. "Not only would Lewis' efforts as a director pave the way for the likes of Mel Brooks and Woody Allen, but it would reveal him to be uncommonly skilled in that area as well." "Most screen comedies until that time were not especially cinematic—they tended to plop down the camera where it could best capture the action and that was it. Lewis, on the other hand, was interested in exploring the possibilities of the medium by utilizing the tools he had at his disposal in formally innovative and oftentimes hilarious ways." "In Lewis' work the way the scene is photographed is an integral part of the joke. His purposeful selection of lenses, for example, expands and contracts space to generate laughs that aren't necessarily inherent in the material, and he often achieves his biggest effects via what he leaves off screen, not just visually but structurally."
As a director, Lewis advanced the genre of film comedy with innovations in the areas of fragmented narrative, experimental use of music and sound technology, and near surrealist use of color and art direction. This prompted his peer, filmmaker Jean Luc Godard to proclaim, "Jerry Lewis ... is the only one in Hollywood doing something different, the only one who isn't falling in with the established categories, the norms, the principles. ... Lewis is the only one today who's making courageous films. He's been able to do it because of his personal genius". Jim Hemphill for American Cinematheque wrote, "They are films of ambitious visual and narrative experimentation, provocative and sometimes conflicted commentaries on masculinity in post-war America, and unsettling self-critiques and analyses of the performer's neuroses."
Intensely personal and original, Lewis's films were groundbreaking in their use of dark humor for psychological exploration. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times said, "The idea of comedians getting under the skin and tapping into their deepest, darkest selves is no longer especially novel, but it was far from a universally accepted notion when Lewis first took the spotlight. Few comedians before him had so brazenly turned arrested development into art, or held up such a warped fun house mirror to American identity in its loudest, ugliest, vulgarest excesses. Fewer still had advanced the still-radical notion that comedy doesn't always have to be funny, just fearless, in order to strike a nerve".
Before 1960, Hollywood comedies were screwball or farce. Lewis, from his earliest 'home movies, such as How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border, made in his playhouse in the early 1950s, was one of the first to introduce satire as a full-length film. This "sharp-eyed" satire continued in his mature work, commenting on the cult of celebrity, the machinery of 'fame', and "the dilemma of being true to oneself while also fitting into polite society". Stephen Dalton in The Hollywood Reporter wrote, Lewis had "an agreeably bitter streak, offering self-lacerating insights into celebrity culture which now look strikingly modern. Even post-modern in places." Speaking of The King of Comedy, "More contemporary satirists like Garry Shandling, Steve Coogan and Ricky Gervais owe at least some of their self-deconstructing chops to Lewis' generously unappetizing turn in Scorsese's cult classic."
Lewis was an early master of deconstruction to enhance comedy. From the first Comedy Hours he exposed the artifice of on-stage performance by acknowledging the lens, sets, malfunctioning props, failed jokes, and tricks of production. As Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote: Lewis had "the impulse to deconstruct and even demolish the fictional "givens" of any particular sketch, including those that he might have dreamed up himself, a kind of perpetual auto-destruction that becomes an essential part of his filmmaking as he steadily gains more control over the writing and direction of his features." His self directed films abound in behind-the-scene reveals, demystifying movie-making. Daniel Fairfax writes in Deconstructing Jerry: Lewis as a Director, "Lewis deconstructs the very functioning of the joke itself". ... quoting Chris Fujiwara, "The Patsy is a film so radical that it makes comedy out of the situation of a comedian who isn't funny." The final scene of The Patsy is famous for revealing to the audience the movie as a movie, and Lewis as actor/director. Lewis wrote in The Total Filmmaker, his belief in breaking the fourth wall, actors looking directly into the camera, despite industry norms. More contemporary comedies such as The Larry Sanders Show, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and The Office continue this method.
Robert DeNiro and Sandra Bernhard, both of whom starred with Lewis in The King of Comedy, reflected on his death. Bernhard said: "It was one of the great experiences of my career, he was tough but one of a kind". De Niro said: "Jerry was a pioneer in comedy and film. And he was a friend. I was fortunate to have seen him a few times over the past couple of years. Even at 91, he didn't miss a beat ... or a punchline. You'll be missed." There was also a New York Friars Club roast in honor of Lewis with Sarah Silverman and Amy Schumer. Martin Scorsese recalls working with him on The King of Comedy, "It was like watching a virtuoso pianist at the keyboard". Lewis was the subject of a documentary Jerry Lewis: Method to the Madness.
Peter Chelsom, director of Funny Bones wrote, "Working with him was a masterclass in comic acting – and in charm. From the outset he was generous." "There's a very thin line between a talent for being funny and being a great actor. Jerry Lewis epitomized that. Jerry embodied the term "funny bones": a way of differentiating between comedians who tell funny and those who are funny." Director Daniel Noah recalling his relationship with Lewis during production of Max Rose wrote, "He was kind and loving and patient and limitlessly generous with his genius. He was unbelievably complicated and shockingly self-aware."
Actor and comedian Jeffrey Tambor wrote after Lewis's death, "You invented the whole thing. Thank you doesn't even get close."
There have been numerous retrospectives of Lewis's films in the U.S. and abroad, most notably Jerry Lewis: A Film and Television Retrospective at Museum of the Moving Image, the 2013 Viennale, the 2016 Melbourne International Film Festival, The Innovator: Jerry Lewis at Paramount, at American Cinematheque in Los Angeles, and Happy Birthday Mr. Lewis: The Kid Turns 90, at MOMA.
Lewis is one of the few performers to have touched every aspect of 20th Century American entertainment, appearing in vaudeville, burlesque, the 'borsht belt', nightclubs, radio, Classical Hollywood Cinema (The 'Golden Age'), Las Vegas, television: variety, drama, sit-coms and talk shows, Broadway and independent films.
On August 21, 2017, multiple hotel marquees on the Las Vegas Strip honored Lewis with a coordinated video display of images of his career as a Las Vegas performer and resident. From 1949, as part of Martin and Lewis, and from 1956 as a solo, Lewis was a casino showroom headliner, playing numerous dates over the decades. Las Vegas was also the home of his annual Labor Day MDA telethon.
Jerry Lewis was among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.
In popular culture
Between 1952 and 1971, DC Comics published a 124-issue comic book series with Lewis as one (later, the only) main protagonist, titled The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. In The Simpsons, the character of Professor Frink is based on Lewis's Julius Kelp from The Nutty Professor. Lewis himself would later voice the character's father in the episode "Treehouse of Horror XIV". In Family Guy, Peter recreates Lewis's 'chairman of the board' scene from The Errand Boy. Comedian, actor and friend of Lewis, Martin Short, satirized him on the series SCTV in the sketches "The Nutty Lab Assistant", "Martin Scorsese presents Jerry Lewis Live on the Champs Elysees!", "The Tender Fella", and "Scenes From an Idiots Marriage", as well as on Saturday Night Lives "Celebrity Jeopardy!".
Also on SNL, the Martin and Lewis reunion on the 1976 MDA Telethon is reported by Chevy Chase on Weekend Update. Comedians Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo both parodied Lewis when he hosted SNL in 1983. Piscopo also channeled Jerry Lewis while performing as a 20th-century stand-up comedian in Star Trek: The Next Generation; in the second-season episode "The Outrageous Okona", Piscopo's Holodeck character, The Comic, tutors android Lieutenant Commander Data on humor and comedy. Comedian and actor Jim Carrey satirized Lewis on In Living Color in the sketch "Jheri's Kids Telethon". Carrey had an uncredited cameo playing Lewis in the series Buffalo Bill on the episode "Jerry Lewis Week". He also played Lewis, with impersonator Rich Little as Dean Martin, on stage. Actor Sean Hayes portrayed Lewis in the made-for-TV movie Martin and Lewis, with Jeremy Northam as Dean Martin. Actor Kevin Bacon plays the Lewis character in the 2005 film Where The Truth Lies, based on a fictionalized version of Martin and Lewis. In the satiric novel, Funny Men, about singer/wild comic double act, the character Sigmund "Ziggy" Blissman, is based on Lewis.
John Saleeby, writer for National Lampoon has a humor piece "Ten Things You Should Know About Jerry Lewis".
In the animated cartoon Popeye's 20th Anniversary, Martin and Lewis are portrayed on the dais. The animated series Animaniacs satirized Lewis in several episodes. The voice and boyish, naive cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants is partially based on Lewis, with particular inspiration from his film The Bellboy.
In 1998, The MTV animated show Celebrity Deathmatch had a clay-animated fight to the death between Dean Martin and Lewis. In a 1975 re-issue of MAD Magazine the contents of Lewis's wallet is satirized in their on-going feature "Celebrities' Wallets".
Lewis, and Martin & Lewis, as himself or his films, have been referenced by directors and performers of differing genres spanning decades, including Andy Warhol's Soap Opera (1964), John Frankenheimer's I Walk the Line (1970), Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather (1972), Randal Kleiser's Grease (1978), Rainer Werner Fassbinder's In a Year of 13 Moons (1978), Robert Zemeckis's Back to the Future (1985), Quentin Tarantino's Four Rooms (1995), Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York (2002), Hitchcock (2012), Ben Stiller's The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013), Jay Roach's Trumbo (2015), The Comedians (2015), Baskets (2016) and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017, 2018).
Similarly, varied musicians have mentioned Lewis in song lyrics including, Ice Cube, The Dead Milkmen, Queen Latifah, and Frank Zappa. The hip hop music band Beastie Boys have an unreleased single "The Jerry Lewis", which they mention, and danced to, on stage in Asheville, North Carolina in 2009. In their film Paul's Boutique — A Visual Companion, clips from The Nutty Professor play to "The Sounds of Science". In 1986, the comedy radio show Dr. Demento aired a parody of "Rock Me Amadeus", "Rock Me Jerry Lewis".
Apple iOS 10 includes an auto-text emoji for 'professor' with a Lewis lookalike portrayal from The Nutty Professor.
The word "flaaaven!", with its many variations and rhymes, is a Lewis-ism often used as a misspoken word or a person's mis-pronounced name. In a 2016 episode of the podcast West Wing Weekly, Joshua Malina is heard saying "flaven" when trying to remember a character's correct last name. Lewis's signature catchphrase "Hey, Laaady!" is ubiquitously used by comedians and laypersons alike.
Sammy Petrillo bore a coincidental resemblance to Lewis, so much so that Lewis at first tried to catch and kill Petrillo's career by signing him to a talent contract and then not giving him any work. When that failed (as Petrillo was under 18 at the time), Lewis tried to blackball Petrillo by pressuring television outlets and then nightclubs, also threatening legal action after Petrillo used his Lewis impersonation in the film Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla.
Awards, nominations, and other honors
1952 – Photoplay Award
1952 – Primetime Emmy Award Nomination for Best Comedian or Comedienne
1954 – Most Cooperative Actor, Golden Apple Award
1958 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1959 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1960 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1960 – Two stars (one for film and one for television) on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
1961 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Comedy Performance for Cinderfella
1961 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1962 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1963 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1963 – Cahiers du Cinema's Top 10 Film Award Nomination for Best Film for The Nutty Professor
1964 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Top Male Star
1965 – Golden Laurel, Special Award – Family Comedy King
1965 – Cahiers du Cinema's Top 10 Film Award Nomination for Best Film for The Family Jewels
1966 – Golden Laurel Nomination for Comedy Performance (Male) for Boeing Boeing
1966 – Golden Light Technical Achievement Award for his 'video assist'
1966 – Golden Globe Nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical
1966 – Fotogramas de Plata Best Foreign Performer
1967 – Cahiers du Cinema's Top 10 Film Award Nomination for Best Film for The Big Mouth
1970 – Jerry Lewis Award for Outstanding achievement in being a "Person" and "Performer" for Which Way to the Front
1970 – The Michael S. McLean Happy Birthday and Thank You Award for Which Way to the Front
1977 – Nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, for his work on behalf of the Muscular Dystrophy Association
1978 – Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, a Jefferson Awards annual award.
1981 – Stinker Award Nomination for Worst Actor for Hardly Working
1981 – Stinker Award Nomination for Worst Sense of Direction for Hardly Working
1983 – British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for The King of Comedy
1983 – Cahiers du Cinema's Top 10 Film Award Nomination for Best Film for Cracking Up
1984 – Chevalier, Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur, France
1985 – Razzie Award Nomination for Worst Actor for Slapstick (Of Another Kind)
1991 – Comic Life Achievement Award
1991 – Induction into the Broadcast Hall of Fame
1991 – Lifetime Achievement Award, The Greater Fort Lauderdale Film Festival
1992 – Induction into the International Humor Hall of Fame
1995 – Theatre World Award, for Outstanding Broadway Debut for Damn Yankees
1997 – American Comedy Awards Lifetime Achievement Award
1999 – Golden Lion Honorary Award
2002 – Rotary International Award of Honour
2004 – Los Angeles Film Critics Association's Career Achievement Award
2005 – Primetime Emmy Governor's Award
2005 – Goldene Kamera Honorary Award
2006 – Medal of the City of Paris, France
2006 – Satellite Award for Outstanding Guest Star on Law and Order SVU
2006 – Commandeur, Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur, France
2009 – Induction into the New Jersey Hall of Fame
2009 – Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 81st Academy Awards
2009 – International Press Academy's Nikola Tesla Award in recognition of visionary achievements in filmmaking technology for his "video assist".
2010 – Chapman University Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters during the 2010 MDA Telethon
2011 – Ellis Island Medal of Honor
2013 – Homage from the Cannes Film Festival, with the screening of Lewis's latest film Max Rose
2013 – Honorary Member of the Order of Australia (AM), for service to the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation of Australia and those affected by the disorder
2014 – "Forecourt to the Stars" imprints at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood
2014 – New York Friars Club renames clubhouse building The Jerry Lewis Monastery
2014 – Publicists Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award
2015 – National Association of Broadcasters Distinguished Service Award
2015 – Casino Entertainment Legend Award
Filmography
Bibliography
(ISBN is for the 2004 Mass Market Edition)
Documentaries
Annett Wolf (Director) (1972) The World of Jerry Lewis (unreleased)
Robert Benayoun (Director) (1982) Bonjour Monsieur Lewis (Hello Mr. Lewis)
Burt Kearns (Director) (1989) Telethon (Released in US, 2014)
Carole Langer (Director) (1996) Jerry Lewis: The Last American Clown
Eckhart Schmidt (Director) (2006) König der Komödianten (King of Comedy)*
Gregg Barson (Director) (2011). Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis
Notes
References
Further reading
Also, Film Quarterly, Vol. 48, No. 1 (Autumn, 1994), pp. 12–26 University of California Press
Vol.23 Issue 1
Lamarca, Manuel (2017). Jerry Lewis. El día en el que el cómico filmó. Barcelona, Spain. Ediciones Carena.
Film criticism links
Bright Lights Film Online Journal
Film School Rejects
la furia umana (Multilingual Film Quarterly)
‘jerrython’ at MUBI
Museum of the Moving Image
An American Original: The RogerEbert.com Staff Remembers Jerry Lewis
Senses of Cinema
External links
Jerry Lewis Interview video at Directors Guild of America
Lewis interview video with Peter Bogdanovich Museum of the Moving Image Pinewood Dialogues
Jerry Lewis Interview Podcast WTF with Marc Maron
Drum Solo Battle (1955) with Buddy Rich at
1926 births
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20th-century American male actors
20th-century American singers
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American humanitarians
American male comedians
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Singer-songwriters from New York (state) | false | [
"Reasons to Stay Alive is a novel and memoir written by novelist Matt Haig, published on 5 March 2015. It is based on his experiences of living with depression and anxiety disorder, which he suffered from the age of 24. It is Matt Haig’s first nonfiction piece and the first time he wrote about his illness publicly.\n\nThe novel was reviewed by The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, the Star Tribune, and the Toronto Star.\n\nSummary \nOne day, in September of 1999, Matt Haig felt that his old self had died. He was 24 at the time, and with little or no understanding of depression, or awareness of it. The impression of a dark cloud that poured endless rain over him made him feel 'caved in', with no way of escaping. He was scared because he did not know what was going on inside his mind.\n\nAfter three days with no sleep and no food, he could not withstand any more the pain he was feeling. Everything he felt, everything he saw only made him more and more depressed. He felt that living brought too much pain, and the only way not to feel the pain was to end his life.\n\nHe got to the edge of a cliff, and was one step away from ending all his pain and suffering. Standing on the edge of the cliff, he thought of all the people who loved him, and he thought of death. He tried to gather up the courage to end everything once and for all, but he was too afraid, thinking that if he survived he might remain paralyzed, trapped in his body forever. He figured that to survive such tragedy would only bring more suffering; and so those thoughts restrained him from him ending his life.\n\nFrom that point on, even though he was still very ill, in a very small part of him he found the strength to try and fight the illness, and not let himself be consumed by it. After the near-suicide episode he spent the next three years battling his depression.\n\nMatt then goes on to narrate how he learned to examine himself, how he accepted and 'befriended' his depression, in which instead of him being part of his depression, depression was a part of him, and he had control over it. He recounts how through reading and learning about depression from others who have suffered from it, by writing, and the encouragement from his family and his girlfriend Andrea, he was able to conquer the illness. Eventually, he learned to appreciate life and all the things we take for granted.\n\nReasons to Stay Alive intends for readers to never lose sight of faith and support. Matt encourages to enjoy the little joys and moments of happiness that life brings, and tells that there are still opportunities to remain alive. Matt Haig tries to convince readers that time can heal, that at the end of it all, there is light at the end of the tunnel, even if can’t be seen.\n\nBreakdown\n\nChapter 1: Falling \nIt recounts Matt's first mental breakdown when he was just 24 years old, living in Spain with his girlfriend Andrea. He expresses that then, he felt he was going to die and did not see any hopes to keep on living. It emphasizes that a key symptom of depression is to not see any hope nor future; it made Matt feel trapped in a tunnel without any way of escaping.\n\nMatt talks about how depression is invisible and mysterious, and even himself was not aware of his condition, even though the history of depression in his family; where his mom suffered from it and his great grandmother ended up committing suicide due to depression. Matt did not kill himself when he got his first and most brutal episode, but it did make him feel even worse by not doing it.\n\nHe states that only those who suffer become aware of depression, as for the outside people it remains unseen, making those who suffer from it, feel alone and that no one can understand them. He goes on to say that stigmas created by society affect thoughts which in-hand affects depression which is an illness that is fed by thoughts. And depression can affect anyone.\n\nHe explains that because depression and anxiety make you internalize everything, it makes you scared to be alienated, and tend not to speak about it, when in fact speaking, writing, and reading about it is helpful. And it was through reading and writing that Matt himself found salvation from depression.\n\nHe has a conversation across time with himself. His past self with no strength to keep on living, anxious of everything, hears his present self who assures him that if he fights there will be hope and salvation not too far away. But the old self is still in panic and is not convinced that he will overcome his situation, but his present self still consoles him and reaffirms to keep on going, and that he knows what the past self is feeling but it will all pass and everything will be okay.\n\nAfter his episode, Andrea took Matt to the medical center, even though he was extremely afraid of going. A physician diagnoses Matt with depression and anxiety disorders and prescribes him with Diazepam. Matt expresses that he didn’t like the pills, instead, he was afraid to use them and when he used them, he did not feel that they worked, instead, he felt as he was slipping away from reality. He said that taking pills was just part of the problem.\n\nHe refused to take the pills, which lead him to experience his pain at a larger outcome but eventually got healed without the use of medication. He says that by not taking his med was how he started to learn about him and his illness. Matt realized that things like exercising, looking at the sunshine, sleep, and conversations made him feel better.\n\nShortly after his episode, he tries to get back on with his life. He starts to look for jobs and got one as an advertiser but ended up leaving the job. At this point, Matt says he felt like he was getting better, but yet he was still very ill. Matt refers to his depression as a cyclone where everything was very fast and it did not stop. But, as time passed, he started to be more aware of his symptoms. He said that depression was an illness that affected everything, both mind, and body. Matt goes on to say that depression is one of the deadliest diseases in the world and people do not realize how bad it is.\n\nMatt emphasizes that suicide is the major leading cause of death under the age of 35. That there are approximately one million people that kill themselves, at least 10 million people try to take their lives, one out of five in people get depression at one point in their lives, and more are likely to suffer from mental illness. Also, he blames society’s social stigma to that Men are 3 times more likely to commit suicide than women, because men, traditionally, see mental illness as a sign of weakness and are reluctant to seek help.\n\nChapter 2: Landing \nMatt starts by expressing that depression is like a bad storm, and once he went into the storm and came out, he was a changed person. He says that a side effect of depression is that you become obsessed with your brain and how it's functioning. And the more you research on depression the more you realize that depression is an illness characterized more by what we don’t know, than what we do know.\n\nHe restates the fact that medication did not help him, and instead he recurred to exercising, doing yoga and it was by that way, experimenting with his own body and mind, that he found what was the best solution for him. For him, it was important to take into consideration both his mind and body together.\n\nMatt mentions that he kind of knew that something was wrong with him from a very early age. When he was about thirteen years old, he was always worrying about things he shouldn’t be worrying about but he quite didn’t understand himself and why he was that way.\n\nFast forward, Matt got to a point in time where he would refer to his life as “Jenga Days”, one day he could feel progress and then another he would collapse. He would go for walks with Andrea and he would talk frequently with his family, but still, he was nervous and anxious most of the time and to fight depression day by day was still hard for him, he was still struggling.\n\nMatt explained that the longer it took time to pass and the longer he felt he was “alive” it brought him pain, but aside from all his depressive thoughts, he knew that he had a chance to make it through. He started having hope again and was starting to be more aware of himself; he did not feel as numb as before.\n\nChapter 3: Rising \nMatt describes the difference between his thoughts of his first panic attack versus his hundredth panic attack. In his first panic attack, Matt says he felt that he was going to die, that he was going to go crazy, that it wouldn’t end, that everything would get worse, that he was trapped, and he was the only person in the world who felt like that.\n\nBy his hundredth panic attack, he knew when it was coming, he knew that he had been there before, he knew that he was not going to die, that it was not the worst panic attack ever, and he continuously told himself that he would get over it. He went from panicking to knowing what was coming; he learned how to handle himself.\n\nMatt talks about how walking by himself through depression was like. He was afraid of being left alone, but he kept reminding himself that it was going to be ok. He has another conversation in time in which his present self tells his past self that they made it, that they will get through depression, and that there is another life beyond that horrifying point. He tells his old self to not worry about worrying.\n\nMatt goes and mentions his reason to stay alive. He says that there are people in the same place as him and others that have already been there, that things are not going to get worse, that nothing lasts forever, that life has a lot to offer and life is always worth it. And it is by these conditions that he was able to put himself together. Matt also says that love saved him, with the love of Andrea and her caring for him is how he survived with her being his biggest supporter.\n\nMatt goes on to guide and recommend supporters on how to be there for people with depression. He says that you need to make them feel appreciated and needed, that you have to listen to them and that you need to be educated and be patient.\n\nAt this time Matt says that he started to be aware of his progress. There were times that he did not think of his depression at all and he was able to focus on his job, writing, and being able to publish his writing. It is here that he noticed that it was a sign of process.\n\nThree years down the line, by 2002, he now continuously kept feeling well. He found courage in him and constantly put himself in uncomfortable situations that made him grew stronger. It was at this point that he wrote his first novel.\n\nMatt explains how running also made him feel better. He says that because many of the symptoms of running were similar to those of panic attacks, it made him clear his mind and made him feel stronger. He got to realize that depression is a long-life fight and that it is important to know that depression is smaller than you even when it feels vast; it operates within you and not you within it.\n\nChapter 4: Living \nMatt’s point of view of the world and our society is that the world is designed to depress us because happiness is not good for the economy. If all the people in the world were to be content with what they had there wouldn’t be a monetary gain for big companies.\n\nHe talks about the warnings of depression, that he as a college student and when he was 24, was never aware of his constant worries and panics he had. He never noticed his symptoms. Matt speaks about anxiety and how it becomes the partner of depression. He explains how both can trigger each other and how they can coexist.\n\nBecause anxiety takes a toll on everything, he recurred to doing yoga and meditation. He learned to accept and cope with things instead of fighting them. He learned to live in the moment, live in the breath. And that love was his anxiety greatest killer.\n\nHe talks about how when dealing with depression things can get better and get worse. Once he understood this, he gives testimony that would he felt better by recognizing the things that made him feel better. He was finally able to recognize his illness and himself.\n\nChapter 5: Being \nMatt wraps up his testimony by saying that he appreciates and thanks depression because he learned what is to feel nothingness and what is to appreciate life.\n\nHe accepted depression and feels that it was an important part of his life as it helped him found joy in life and appreciate things, he used to take for granted. He says that he hates depression and is still afraid of it, but at the end of the day, it made him who he is today. \n\nHe acknowledges he has gotten better and can now handle himself. He is grateful for being able to enjoy that life gave him a second chance.\n\nCharacters \n Andrea: long-time girlfriend since college.\n Phoebe: younger sister living in Australia.\n Mary: Matt's mother; worked as a head teacher at an infant school.\n Andy and Dawn: neighbors of Matt and Andrea in Spain.\n Paul: old friend who used to be Matt's shoplifting partner when teenagers.\n\nAwards \n Waterstones Book of the Year Nominee (2015) \nThe Sunday Times No.1 Best Seller\n\nReferences\n\n2015 non-fiction books\nBooks about depression\nBritish memoirs",
"Lost Echoes is a 2007 crime/mystery novel by American author Joe R. Lansdale. It was first printed as a limited edition and trade hardcover by Subterranean Press. It was later reissued as a trade paperback by Vintage Crime/Black Lizard publications. The Subterranean editions have long since sold out.\n\nPlot summary\nSince a mysterious childhood illness Harry Wilkes has experienced horrific visions of gruesome murders and other horrible scenes. In college Harry turns to alcohol to suppress the visions and deal with the enormous stress that comes with it. One night at a bar he witnesses a fellow drunk easily fending off three would–be muggers. The man, whose name is Tad, turns out to be a student and expert of the martial arts. Harry strikes up a friendship with Tad who later becomes his sensei and teaches him to master his unusual gift. Soon a woman Harry had a crush on in his childhood comes asking him to help solve her father's murder. Unsure of how this will affect him, Harry and Tad find themselves involved in a horrible crime and murder. The question is will Harry's ability help him cope with the situation or contribute to his downfall.\n\nReferences\n\nSources\nWhat's That Sound?, Esquire magazine, February 28, 2007\nLost Echoes by Joe R. Lansdale – review, Spinetingler magazine, December 14, 2010\nLost Echoes (starred review), Publishers Weekly, February 1, 2007\n\nExternal links\nAuthor's Official Website\nSubterranean Press Website\nVintage Crime/Black Lizard Website\n\nNovels by Joe R. Lansdale\nAmerican mystery novels\n\n2007 American novels\nNovels set in Texas\nWorks by Joe R. Lansdale"
] |
[
"The Sweet",
"First album"
] | C_b1e767986d2542acaf8dafe8942132ea_0 | What was the sweets first album? | 1 | What was The Sweet's first album? | The Sweet | The Sweet made their UK television debut in December 1970 on a pop show called Lift Off, performing the song "Funny Funny". A management deal was signed with the aforementioned songwriting team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Phil Wainman resumed his collaboration with Sweet, as executive producer. This management deal also included a worldwide (the U.S. excepted) record contract with RCA Records (in the United States and Canada Bell Records issued the group's music until late 1973; followed by Capitol Records). In March 1971 RCA issued "Funny Funny", written by Chinn and Chapman, which became the group's first international hit, climbing to the Top 20 on many of the world's charts. EMI reissued their 1970 single "All You'll Ever Get from Me" (May 1971) and it again failed to chart. Their next RCA release "Co-Co" (June 1971) went to number two in the U.K. and their follow up single, "Alexander Graham Bell" (October 1971), only went to #33. These tracks still featured session musicians on the instruments with the quartet providing only the vocals. The Sweet's first full LP album, Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, was released in November 1971. A collection of the band's recent singles supplemented by some new Chinn/Chapman tunes (including "Chop Chop" and "Tom Tom Turnaround") and pop covers (such as the Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream" and the Supremes' "Reflections"), the album, recorded at Nova Studios in London, was produced by Phil Wainman and engineered by Richard Dodd and Eric Holland. It was not a serious contender on the charts. Their albums' failure to match the success of their singles was a problem that would plague the band throughout their career. CANNOTANSWER | The Sweet's first full LP album, Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, was released in November 1971. | The Sweet, sometimes also shortened to just Sweet, are a British glam rock band that rose to worldwide fame in the 1970s. Their best known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bass player Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott, and drummer Mick Tucker. The group was originally called The Sweetshop.
The band was formed in London in 1968 and achieved their first hit, "Funny Funny", in 1971 after teaming up with songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman and record producer Phil Wainman. During 1971 and 1972, their musical style followed a marked progression from the Archies-like bubblegum style of "Funny Funny" to a Who-influenced hard rock style supplemented by a striking use of high-pitched backing vocals.
The band first achieved success in the UK charts, with thirteen Top 20 hits during the 1970s alone, with "Block Buster!" (1973) topping the chart, followed by three consecutive number two hits in "Hell Raiser" (1973), "The Ballroom Blitz" (1973) and "Teenage Rampage" (1974). The band turned to a more hard rock style with their mid-career singles, like 1974's "Turn It Down". "Fox on the Run" (1975) also reached number two on the UK charts. These results were topped in West Germany and other countries on the European mainland. They also achieved success and popularity in the US with the top ten hits "Little Willy", "The Ballroom Blitz", "Fox on the Run", and "Love is Like Oxygen".
The Sweet had their last international success in 1978 with "Love Is Like Oxygen". Connolly left the group in 1979 to start a solo career and the remaining members continued as a trio until disbanding in 1981. From the mid-1980s, Scott, Connolly and Priest each played with their own versions of Sweet at different times. Connolly died in 1997, Tucker in 2002 and Priest in 2020. Andy Scott is still active with his version of the band. Sweet have since sold over 35 million albums worldwide.
History
Origins
Sweet's origins can be traced back to British soul band Wainwright's Gentlemen. Mark Lay's history of that band states they formed around 1962 and were initially known as Unit 4. Founding members included Chris Wright (vocals), Jan Frewer (bass), with Jim Searle and Alfred Fripp on guitars. Phil Kenton joined on drums as the band changed its name to Wainwright's Gentlemen (due to there being another band known as Unit 4). Managed by Frewer's father, the band performed in the Hayes, Harrow and Wembley area. By 1964 the group was also playing in London, including at the Saint Germain Club on Poland Street.
In January 1964 the band came fifth in a national beat group contest, with finals held at the Lyceum Strand on 4 May 1964. Highlights of the show were presented on BBC1 by Alan Freeman. Chris Wright left the line-up in late 1964 and was replaced by Ian Gillan. A female vocalist named Ann Cully soon joined the band. Mick Tucker, from Ruislip, joined on drums replacing Phil Kenton. The band recorded a number of tracks including a cover of the Coasters-Hollies hit "Ain't That Just Like Me", which was probably recorded at Jackson Sound Studios in Rickmansworth. The track includes Gillan on vocals, Tucker on drums and, according to band bassist Jan Frewer, is thought to have been recorded in 1965. Gillan quit in May 1965 to join Episode Six, and later, Deep Purple. Cully remained as vocalist before departing some time later. Gillan's and Cully's eventual replacement, in late 1966, was Scots-born vocalist Brian Connolly, who hailed more recently from Harefield. Tony Hall had joined on saxophone and vocals and when Fripp left he was replaced by Gordon Fairminer. Fairminer's position was eventually assumed by Frank Torpey (born Frank Edward Torpey, 30 April 1945, Kilburn, North West London) - a schoolfriend of Tucker's who had just left West London group The Tribe (aka The Dream). Torpey only lasted a few months, and in late 1967 Robin Box (born 19 June 1944) took his place. Searle, regarded by many as the most talented musically, disappeared from the scene. Tucker and Connolly remained with Wainwright's Gentlemen until January 1968. Tucker was replaced by Roger Hills. When the Gentlemen eventually broke up, Hills and Box joined White Plains who eventually scored a big hit with "My Baby Loves Lovin'".
Early years
In January 1968 Connolly and Tucker formed a new band calling themselves The Sweetshop. They recruited bass guitarist and vocalist Steve Priest from a local band called The Army. Priest had previously played with mid-'60s band the Countdowns who had been produced and recorded by Joe Meek. Frank Torpey was again recruited to play guitar. The quartet made its public debut at the Pavilion in Hemel Hempstead on 9 March 1968 and soon developed a following on the pub circuit, which led to a contract with Fontana Records. At the time, another UK band released a single under the same name Sweetshop, so the band abbreviated their moniker to Sweet. The band was managed by Paul Nicholas, who later went on to star in Hair. Nicholas worked with record producer Phil Wainman at Mellin Music Publishing and recommended the band to him. Their debut single "Slow Motion" (July 1968), produced by Wainman, and released on Fontana, failed to chart and owing to its rarity now sells for several hundred pounds when auctioned. Sweet were released from the recording contract and Frank Torpey left. In his autobiography Are You Ready Steve, Priest said that Gordon Fairminer was approached to play for them when Torpey decided to leave Sweet after a gig at Playhouse Theatre Walton-on-Thames on 5 July 1969 but turned the job down as he wanted to concentrate on other interests.
New line-up and new record deal
Guitarist Mick Stewart joined in 1969. Stewart had some rock pedigree, having previously worked with The (Ealing) Redcaps and Simon Scott & The All-Nite Workers in the mid-1960s. In late 1965, that band became The Phil Wainman Set when the future Sweet producer joined on drums and the group cut some singles with Errol Dixon. In early 1966, Stewart left and later worked with Johnny Kidd & The Pirates.
Sweet signed a new record contract with EMI's Parlophone label. Three bubblegum pop singles were released: "Lollipop Man" (September 1969), "All You'll Ever Get from Me" (January 1970), and a cover version of the Archies' "Get on the Line" (June 1970), all of which failed to chart. Stewart then quit, and was not replaced for some time. Connolly and Tucker had a chance meeting with Wainman, who was now producing, and knew of two aspiring songwriters, Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, who were looking for a group to sing some demos they had written. Connolly, Priest, and Tucker provided the vocals on a track called "Funny Funny" which featured Pip Williams on guitar, John Roberts on bass, and Wainman on drums. The latter began offering the track to various recording companies. The band held auditions for a replacement guitarist and settled on Welsh-born Andy Scott. He had most recently been playing with Mike McCartney (brother of Paul) in the Scaffold. As a member of the Elastic Band, he had played guitar on two singles for Decca, "Think of You Baby" and "Do Unto Others". He also appeared on the band's lone album release, Expansions on Life, and on some recordings by the Scaffold. The band rehearsed for a number of weeks before Scott made his live debut with Sweet on 26 September 1970 at the Windsor Ballroom in Redcar.
Sweet initially attempted to combine diverse musical influences, including the Monkees and 1960s bubblegum pop groups such as the Archies, with more heavy rock-oriented groups such as the Who. Sweet adopted the rich vocal harmony style of the Hollies, with distorted guitars and a heavy rhythm section. This fusion of pop and hard rock would remain a central trademark of Sweet's music and prefigured the glam metal of a few years later.
Sweet's initial album appearance was on the budget label Music for Pleasure as part of a compilation called Gimme Dat Ding, released in December 1970. Sweet had one side of the record; the Pipkins (whose sole hit, "Gimme Dat Ding", gave the LP its name) had the other. Sweet's contribution consisted of the A- and B-sides of the band's three Parlophone singles. Andy Scott appears in the album cover shot, even though he did not play on any of the recordings.
First album
Sweet made their UK television debut in December 1970 on a pop show called Lift Off, performing the song "Funny Funny". A management deal was signed with the aforementioned songwriting team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Phil Wainman resumed his collaboration with Sweet, as executive producer. This management deal also included a worldwide record contract with RCA Records, the U.S. excepted: in the United States and Canada Bell Records issued the group's music until late 1973, followed by Capitol Records.
In March 1971 RCA issued "Funny Funny", written by Chinn and Chapman, which became the group's first international hit, climbing to the Top 20 on many of the world's charts. EMI reissued their 1970 single "All You'll Ever Get from Me" (May 1971) and it again failed to chart. Their next RCA release "Co-Co" (June 1971) went to number two in the U.K. and their follow up single, "Alexander Graham Bell" (October 1971), only went to No. 33. These tracks still featured session musicians on the instruments with the quartet providing only the vocals.
Sweet's first full LP album, Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, was released in November 1971. A collection of the band's recent singles supplemented by some new Chinn/Chapman tunes (including "Chop Chop" and "Tom Tom Turnaround") and pop covers (such as the Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream" and the Supremes' "Reflections"), the album, recorded at Nova Studios in London, was produced by Phil Wainman and engineered by Richard Dodd and Eric Holland. It was not a serious contender on the charts.
Initial success and rise to fame
February 1972 saw the release of "Poppa Joe", which reached number 1 in Finland and peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart. The next two singles of that year, "Little Willy" and "Wig-Wam Bam", both reached No. 4 in the UK. "Little Willy" peaked at No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 after a re-issue in 1973, thus becoming the group's biggest American hit. Although "Wig-Wam Bam" remained largely true to the style of Sweet's previous recordings, the vocals and guitars had a harder, more rock-oriented sound, largely because it was the first Chinn-Chapman single on which only members of Sweet played the instruments. In January 1973 "Block Buster!" became Sweet's first single to reach number 1 on the UK chart, remaining there for five consecutive weeks. After their next single "Hell Raiser" was released in May and reached number 2 in the U.K., Sweet's U.S. label, Bell, released the group's first American album The Sweet in July 1973.
To promote their singles, Sweet made numerous appearances on U.K. and European TV shows such as Top of the Pops and Supersonic. In one performance of "Block Buster!" on Top of the Pops Christmas edition, Priest aroused complaints after he appeared replete in a German military uniform, Hitler moustache and displaying a swastika armband. The band also capitalised on the glam rock explosion, rivalling Gary Glitter, T. Rex, Queen, Slade, and Wizzard for outrageous stage clothing.
Despite Sweet's success, the relationship with their management was becoming increasingly tense. While they had developed a large fan-base among teenagers, Sweet were not happy with their 'bubblegum' image. Sweet had always composed their own heavy-rock songs on the B-sides of their singles to contrast with the bubblegum A-sides which were composed by Chinn and Chapman. During this time, Sweet's live performances consisted of B-sides, album tracks, and various medleys of rock and roll classics; they avoided older novelty hits like "Funny Funny" and "Poppa Joe". A 1973 performance at the Palace Theatre and Grand Hall in Kilmarnock ended in Sweet being bottled off stage; the disorder was attributed by some (including Steve Priest) to Sweet's lipstick and eye-shadow look, and by others to the audience being unfamiliar with the concert set (the 1999 CD release Live at the Rainbow 1973 documents a live show from this period). The incident would be immortalised in the hit "The Ballroom Blitz" (September 1973). In the meantime, Sweet's chart success continued, showing particular strength in the UK, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, and Australia. By the end of 1973, the band's name evolved from "The Sweet" to "Sweet". The change would be reflected in all of their releases from 1974 onward.
Forming a new image
By 1974, Sweet had grown tired of the management team of Chinn and Chapman, who wrote the group's major hits and cultivated the band's glam rock image. The group and producer Phil Wainman, assisted by engineer Peter Coleman, recorded the album Sweet Fanny Adams, which was released in April 1974. Sweet's technical proficiency was demonstrated for the first time on self-penned hard rock tracks such as "Sweet F.A." and "Set Me Free". Sweet also adopted a more conventional hard rock sound and appearance. Sweet Fanny Adams also featured compressed high-pitched backing vocal harmonies, which was a trend that continued on all of Sweet's albums.
During sessions for the album, Brian Connolly was injured in a fight in Staines High Street. His throat was badly injured and his ability to sing severely limited. Priest and Scott filled in on lead vocals on some tracks ("No You Don't", "Into The Night" and "Restless") and Connolly, under treatment from a Harley Street specialist, managed to complete the album. The band did not publicise the incident and told the press that subsequent cancelled shows were due to Connolly having a throat infection. This incident reportedly permanently compromised Connolly's singing ability, with his range diminished.
No previous singles appeared on the album, and none were released, except in Japan, New Zealand and Australia, where "Peppermint Twist/Rebel Rouser", apparently released by their record company without their knowledge, gained a No. 1 chart position in the latter. Sweet Fanny Adams would be Sweet's only non-compilation release to break the UK Albums Chart Top 40.
Sweet were invited by Pete Townshend to support the Who, who were playing at Charlton Athletic's football ground, The Valley in June 1974. However, Connolly's badly bruised throat kept them from fulfilling the role. Sweet had frequently cited the Who as being one of their main influences and played a medley of their tracks in their live set for many years.
Desolation Boulevard
Their third album, Desolation Boulevard, was released later in 1974, six months after Sweet Fanny Adams. By that stage, producer Phil Wainman had moved on and the album was produced by Mike Chapman. It was recorded in a mere six days and featured a rawer "live" sound. One track, "The Man with the Golden Arm", written by Elmer Bernstein and Sylvia Fine for the 1955 Frank Sinatra movie of the same name, featured drummer Mick Tucker performing an 8 and half minute solo (although this was not included in the U.S. release). This had been a staple of the band's live performance for years. The first single from the LP, the heavy-melodic "The Six Teens" (July 1974), was a Top 10 hit in the U.K. and still part of the amazing unbroken string of No. 1's in Denmark. However, the subsequent single release, "Turn It Down" (November 1974), reached only No. 41 on the U.K. chart and No. 2 in Denmark. "Turn It Down" received minimal airplay on UK radio and was banned by some radio stations because of certain lyrical content - "God-awful sound" and "For God sakes, turn it down" - which were deemed "unsuitable for family listening." The band resumed playing live shows nearly a full six months after Connolly's throat injury, with band and critics noting a rougher edge to his voice and a reduced range. The album also featured a group composition, "Fox On The Run", which was to be re-recorded months later.
The U.S. version of Desolation Boulevard was different from the U.K. version and included several songs from Sweet Fanny Adams in addition to the "Ballroom Blitz" and "Fox on the Run" singles (both of which peaked at No. 5 in the US). Side One of the album contained all Chapman-Chinn penned songs, while Side Two featured songs written and produced by Sweet.
Writing and producing their own material
In 1975 Sweet went back into the studio to re-arrange and record a more pop-oriented version of the track "Fox on the Run". Sweet's first self-written and produced single, "Fox on the Run" was released worldwide in March 1975 and became their biggest selling hit, reaching number one in Germany, Denmark, and South Africa, number two in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway and the Netherlands and number three in Austria and Switzerland. In Australia it not only made it to the top of the charts, it also became the biggest selling single of that year. The song reached number two in Canada and number five in the U.S. The release of this track marked the end of the formal Chinn-Chapman working relationship and the band stressed it was now fully self-sufficient as writers and producers.
The following single release, "Action" (July 1975), peaked at number 15 in the UK. Now confident in their own songwriting and production abilities, Sweet spent the latter half of 1975 in Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany, where they recorded the Give Us A Wink album with German sound engineer Reinhold Mack, who later recorded with Electric Light Orchestra and co-produced Queen. The new album release was deferred until 1976 so as not to stifle the chart success Desolation Boulevard was enjoying, peaking at number 25 in the US and number 5 in Canada.
With Give Us a Wink being held over, RCA issued a double album in Europe, Strung Up, in November. It contained one live disc, recorded in London in December 1973, and one disc compiling previously released singles (plus an unused track by Chinn and Chapman – "I Wanna Be Committed"). At the end of the year, Andy Scott released his first solo single, "Lady Starlight" b/w "Where D'Ya Go". Tucker played drums on both tracks.
Decline in popularity
January 1976 saw the release of the single "The Lies In Your Eyes", which made the Top 10 in Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Australia, but only reached No. 35 on the U.K. charts. Sweet's first album to be fully produced and written by themselves, Give Us A Wink, was released in March 1976. A third single from the album, "4th Of July", was issued in Australia.
By this time, Sweet strove to build on their growing popularity in America with a schedule of more than fifty headline concert dates. Even though Give Us A Winks release was imminent, the band's set essentially promoted the US version of Desolation Boulevard plus the new US hit single "Action". During an appearance at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in California on 24 March, Sweet played "All Right Now" with Ritchie Blackmore as a tribute to mark the death of Free guitarist Paul Kossoff, who was to have supported Sweet with his band Back Street Crawler. The US tour was not financially successful, with small audiences at many venues leading to the final half-dozen or so dates to be cancelled. Following the end of the tour, the band went on to Scandinavia and Germany. The band also spent a week at the Who's Ramport Studios in Battersea demoing material for a new album before abandoning that project and playing eight dates in Japan. By the end of the Japanese shows Connolly's extremely hoarse singing voice was manifest evidence of the demands of constant touring and the enduring after-effects of his 1974 assault.
Between October 1976 and January 1977, Sweet wrote and recorded new material at Kingsway Recorders and Audio International London studios for their next album. An advance single from the album, "Lost Angels", was only a hit in Germany, Austria and Sweden. A new album, Off the Record, was released in April. The next single from the album, "Fever of Love", represented the band heading in a somewhat more Europop hard rock direction, once again charting in Germany, Austria and Sweden, while reaching number 10 in South Africa. On this album, Sweet again worked with Give Us A Wink engineer Louis Austin, who would later engineer Def Leppard's On Through The Night 1980 début album. The band cancelled a US tour with emerging US rockers Aerosmith, did not play any live dates in support of the album and, in fact, did not play a single concert for the whole of 1977.
Level Headed and a change in style
Sweet left RCA in 1977 and signed a new deal with Polydor though it would not come into force until later in the year. Sweet's manager David Walker, from Handle Artists, negotiated the move which was reputed to be worth around £750,000. In the United States, Canada, and Japan, Capitol had issued Sweet's albums since 1974 and would continue to do so through to 1980.
The first Polydor album, Level Headed (January 1978), found Sweet experimenting by combining rock and classical sounds "a-la clavesin", an approach similar to Electric Light Orchestra's, and featured the single "Love Is Like Oxygen". Largely recorded during 1977 at Château d'Hérouville near Paris, France after a 30-day writing session at Clearwell Castle in the Forest Of Dean UK, the album represented a new musical direction, largely abandoning hard-rock for a more melodic pop style, interspersed with ballads accompanied by a 30-piece orchestra. The ballad, "Lettres D'Amour", featured a duet between Connolly and Stevie Lange (who would emerge as lead singer with the group Night in 1979).
With the addition of session and touring musicians keyboardist Gary Moberley and guitarist Nico Ramsden, Sweet undertook a short European and Scandinavian tour followed by a single British concert at London's Hammersmith Odeon on 24 February 1978. However, "Love Is Like Oxygen" (January 1978) was their last U.K., U.S., and German Top 10 hit. Scott was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for co-composing the song. One more single from the album, "California Nights" (May 1978), featuring Steve Priest as the lead vocalist, peaked at number 23 on the German chart.
Departure of Brian Connolly
Between March and May 1978 Sweet extensively toured the US, as a support act for Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. The tour included a disastrous date in Birmingham, Alabama on 3 May, during which visiting Capitol Records executives in the audience saw Brian Connolly give a drunken and incoherent performance that terminated early in the set with his collapse on stage, leaving the rest of the group to play on without him. The band returned briefly to Britain before resuming the second leg of their US tour in late May supporting other acts, including Foghat and Alice Cooper. Concluding the US tour in early July 1978, Brian's alcoholism and estrangement from the group was steadily becoming a greater issue.
In late October, having spent further time at Clearwell Castle to write for their next album, Sweet arrived at The Town House studio in Shepherd's Bush, London to complete and record, Cut Above the Rest (April 1979). Due to tensions between various members attributed to Connolly's health and diminishing status with the group, his long-time friend and fellow founding member, Mick Tucker, was tasked to produce Connolly's vocals. It was felt Tucker would extract a better performance than Scott from Connolly. A number of tracks were recorded featuring Connolly. However, these efforts were deemed unsatisfactory and Brian left the band on 2 November 1978.
On 23 February 1979, Brian Connolly's departure from Sweet was formally announced by manager David Walker. Publicly, Connolly was said to be pursuing a solo career with an interest in recording country rock.
Three piece Sweet
Sweet continued as a trio with Priest assuming the lion's share of lead vocals, though Scott and Tucker were also active in that role. The first single release for the trio was "Call Me". Guest keyboard player Gary Moberley continued to augment the group on stage. Guitarist Ray McRiner joined their touring line-up in 1979, with a small tour with Journey in the eastern United States and Cheap Trick in Texas in the spring and summer of '79 to support Cut Above The Rest (which was released in April 1979). McRiner would also contribute the songs "Too Much Talking" and the single "Give The Lady Some Respect" to the next Sweet album, Waters Edge (August 1980), which was recorded in Canada. In the US, Waters Edge was titled Sweet VI. It featured the singles "Sixties Man" and "Give The Lady Some Respect". Tragedy befell Mick Tucker when his wife Pauline drowned in the bath at their home on 26 December 1979. The band withdrew from live work for all of 1980.
One more studio album, Identity Crisis, was recorded during 1980–81 but was only released in West Germany and Mexico. Sweet undertook a short tour of the UK and performed their last live show at Glasgow University on 20 March 1981. Steve Priest then returned to the United States, where he had been living since late 1979. When Polydor released Identity Crisis in October 1982, the original Sweet had been disbanded for almost a year.
Re-formed versions (1984–present)
Andy Scott's Sweet (1985–present)
Andy Scott and Mick Tucker organised their own version of Sweet with Paul Mario Day (ex-Iron Maiden, More, Wildfire) on lead vocals, Phil Lanzon (ex-Grand Prix) on keyboards and Mal McNulty on bass. The band performed at the Marquee Club in London in February 1986, with the shows recorded and gaining release a few years later, bolstered by four new studio tracks including a cover of the Motown standard "Reach Out I'll Be There". This line-up also toured Australian and New Zealand pubs and clubs for more than three months in 1985 and for a similar period again in 1986. Singer Paul Day ended up marrying the band's Australian tour guide and relocating downunder. He continued with Sweet commuting back and forth to Europe for the group's tours until this proved to be too cumbersome. He departed in late 1988. As McNulty moved into the front man spot, Jeff Brown came in to take over bass early in 1989. Lanzon too went back and forth between Sweet and Uriah Heep during 1986-1988 before Heep's schedule grew too busy. Malcolm Pearson and then Ian Gibbons (who had played with The Kinks and The Records) both filled in for Lanzon until Steve Mann (Liar, Lionheart, McAuley Schenker Group) arrived in December 1989.
Tucker departed after a show in Lochau, Austria, on 5 May 1991. He later was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia. Three drummers, Andy Hoyler, Bobby Andersen and Bruce Bisland (Weapon, Wildfire, Praying Mantis), provided short-term relief before Bodo Schopf (McAuley Schenker Group) took over. They recorded an album during this period, simply titled A. Before the band embarked on the supporting tour for A in 1992, Bodo left and Bisland returned as permanent percussionist. Scott changed the band's name to 'Andy Scott's Sweet' after Tucker's departure but truncated it to simply 'The Sweet' once again after Tucker's death in 2002.
Mal McNulty, now lead vocalist, departed in 1994, though he would return briefly that year to fill in for Jeff Brown on bass (as he would again in 1995 as lead singer for a few dates while Rocky Newton subbed on bass). Sweet's former keyboard men Gary Moberley and Ian Gibbons also did fill-in jaunts with the group that year, as did Chris Goulstone. Chad Brown (ex-Lionheart; no relation to Jeff) was the new front man. Glitz Blitz and Hitz, a new studio album of re-recorded Sweet hits, was released during this period.
In 1996 Mann left to take a job in television and Gibbons came back for a short time before Steve Grant (ex-The Animals) became the permanent keyboardist. When Chad Brown quit in 1998 after developing a throat infection, Jeff Brown assumed lead vocals and bass duties. After this, the band was stable again for the next five years.
The mid-2000s would bring further confusing shake-ups and rotations. Tony O'Hora (ex-Onslaught, Praying Mantis) replaced Brown as lead vocalist in 2003. Ian Gibbons came back for a third stint as fill-in keyboardist in June 2005 for a gig in the Faroe Islands. O'Hora decided to split to take a teaching job in late 2005. Grant then jumped from keyboards to lead vocals and bass as Phil Lanzon returned on keyboards for a tour of Russia and Germany in October/November. New singer Mark Thompson Smith (ex-Praying Mantis) joined in November 2005 for some Swedish gigs, while Jo Burt (ex-Black Sabbath) was temporary bass player. Tony Mills (ex-Shy) was slated to be Sweet's new singer in early 2006 but failed to work out and left after six shows in Denmark. At this point, O'Hora came back as fill in front man and then Grant did another turn himself as the singer/bassist (Steve Mann depped on keyboards) until the group finally landed a new permanent front man when Peter Lincoln (ex-Sailor) arrived in July 2006. The line-up then consisted of Scott, Bisland, Grant and Lincoln.
Scott produced the Suzi Quatro album Back to the Drive, released in February 2006. March 2006 saw the U.S. release of his band's album Sweetlife.
In 2007 the group played in Germany, Belgium, Austria and Italy. In May of that year, the band played in Porto Alegre and Curitiba, Brazil, their first and only South American shows. The tour was called the 'Sweet Fanny Adams Tour'.
The band toured again in March 2008 under the name 'Sweet Fanny Adams Revisited Tour'. In May and June, Scott's Sweet were part of the "Glitz Blitz & 70s Hitz" tour of the UK alongside The Rubettes and Showaddywaddy.
In March and April 2010, Scott was absent from a couple of gigs due to ill health and Martin Mickels stood in. Scott revealed later that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was treated at the Bristol Royal Infirmary. After a course of treatment and rest, he was back to full touring fitness. In 2010 the band played at venues in Europe and back at Bilston in October.
In March 2011 there was a short tour of Australia, Regal Theatre - Perth, and Clipsal 500, Adelaide with the Doobie Brothers. Also in 2011, Tony O'Hora came back to the group, this time as keyboardist, after Grant departed.
In March 2012 the band released a new album New York Connection. Recorded in England, it comprised 11 cover versions, including the 2011 single "Join Together" and one revamped original recording; the 1972 B-side "New York Connection". All the covers either featured 'bits and pieces' of Sweet hits or other artist songs, such as a "new version of the Ramones Blitzkrieg Bop [which] shared space with samples from ‘Ballroom Blitz,’ and a take on Hello’s New York Groove (made famous in the US by Ace Frehley) featured a sample from Jay-Z’s Empire State Of Mind along with other Sweet references."
On the eve of their March 2012 "Join Together" tour of Australia, the band undertook an acoustic performance of three tracks, "New York Groove-Empire State of Mind", "Blockbuster" and "Peppermint Twist", in front of a live audience at ABC Radio Studios in East Perth. Shows in Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Geelong, Melbourne and Sydney featured tracks from the new album for the first time.
Paul Manzi joined Sweet on their 2014 Australian tour, replacing Tony O'Hora who was absent for personal reasons. Manzi played guitar, keyboard and undertook lead vocals on "Set Me Free" and "AC-DC" as the band performed shows in regional centres, including outback Western Australia, Darwin and far-north Queensland, NSW and Victoria during February and March. The band, with O'Hora back in the ranks, returned to Australia in September 2014 as the headlining act for "Rock The Boat 4". This was a cruise aboard the ship Rhapsody of the Seas which departed Sydney and took in New Caledonia and Vanuatu. The band played two gigs and various members guested with Australian veteran performers including Brian Cadd and Russell Morris and members of AC/DC, The Angels, Rose Tattoo and Skyhooks.
In June 2015 it was revealed that the band were going on an extensive tour of the UK in late 2015 and that this tour would probably be their last.
For the 2015 summer tour dates, Paul Manzi returned to sub for Peter Lincoln who left this online message to the fans: "There have been a few rumours going around this weekend, so . . . just to say that I am alive and well! The short explanation for my absence is that I need to rest my voice for a few weeks. We are lucky that our good friend Paul Manzi is able to step in, and Tony knows the role of bass player/singer, so the shows can go ahead, and they will be great! I look forward to being back on stage very soon."
Pete Lincoln duly resumed his role in the band and they continued with extensive live dates, known as the "Finale" tour in Germany.
In 2017 after Andy undertook a successful Australian visit with Suzi Quatro and Don Powell in the side outfit known as QSP, Sweet was again booked for an extensive European tour. In the years following both Tony O'Hora and Pete Lincoln departed the band. Paul Manzi returned as permanent lead vocalist, quitting the popular outfit Cats in Space to do so. Lee Small joined as bassist and backing vocalist. Former guitarist and keyboard player Steve Mann joined for a handful of shows as a special guest. During the COVID-19 pandemic the band recorded a new album of old tracks entitled Isolation Boulevard.
New Sweet, Brian Connolly's Sweet (1984–1997)
In 1984 Brian Connolly formed a new version of the Sweet without any of the other original members. Despite recurring ill health, Connolly toured the UK and Europe with his band, "Brian Connolly's Sweet", which was then renamed to "New Sweet". His most successful concerts were in West Germany, before and after reunification.
During 1987, Connolly met up again with Frank Torpey. Torpey later explained in interviews Connolly was trying to get a German recording deal. The two got on very well and Torpey subsequently invited Connolly to go into the recording studio with him, as an informal project. After much trepidation, Connolly turned up and the track "Sharontina" was recorded. This recording would not be released until 1998, appearing on Frank Torpey's album Sweeter.
By July 1990, plans were made for Connolly and his band to tour Australia in November. During the long flight to Australia, Connolly's health had suffered and he was hospitalised in Adelaide Hospital, allegedly for dehydration and related problems. The rest of the band played a show in Adelaide without him. After being released from the hospital, Connolly joined the other band members in Melbourne for a gig at the Pier Hotel, in Frankston. After several other shows, including one at the Dingley Powerhouse, Connolly and his band played a final date at Melbourne's Greek Theatre. It was felt Connolly's health was sufficient reason for the tour not to be extended, and some of the planned dates were abandoned. Connolly went back to England and his band appeared on The Bob Downe Christmas show on 18 December 1990.
During the early 1990s, Connolly played the European "oldies" circuit and occasional outdoor festivals in Europe with his band. On 22 March 1992, a heavy duty tape recorder was stolen from the band's van whilst at a gig in the Bristol Hippodrome with Mud. It contained demos of four new songs, totalling about 20 mixes.
Legal problems were going on in the background over the use of the Sweet name between Connolly and Andy Scott. Both parties agreed to distinguish their group's names to help promoters and fans. The New Sweet went back to being called Brian Connolly's Sweet and Andy Scott's version became Andy Scott's Sweet.
In 1994, Connolly and his band played in Dubai. He appeared at the Galleria Theatre, Hyatt Regency. He also performed in Bahrain.
By this time Connolly had healed the differences with Steve Priest and Mick Tucker, and was invited to the wedding of Priest's eldest daughter, Lisa. At the private function, for which Priest specially flew back to England, Priest and Connolly performed together.
In 1995, Connolly released a new album entitled Let's Go. His partner Jean, whom he had met a few years earlier, gave birth to a son. Connolly also performed in Switzerland that year.
On 2 November 1996 British TV Network Channel 4 aired a programme Don't Leave Me This Way, which examined Connolly's time as a pop star with the Sweet, the subsequent decline in the band's popularity, and its impact on Connolly and the other band members. The show revealed Connolly's ill health but also that he was continuing with his concert dates at Butlins. Connolly and his band had appeared at Butlins a number of times on tour during the early 1990s.
Connolly's final concert was at the Bristol Hippodrome on 5 December 1996, with Slade II and John Rossall's Glitter Band Experience.
Steve Priest's Sweet (2008–Present)
In January 2008, Steve Priest assembled his own version of the Sweet in Los Angeles. He enlisted a guitarist Stuart Smith and L.A. native Richie Onori, Smith's bandmate in Heaven & Earth, was brought in on drums. The keyboard spot was manned by ex-Crow and World Classic Rockers alumni Stevie Stewart. Front-man and vocalist Joe Retta was brought in to round out the line-up.
After an initial appearance on L.A. rock station 95.5 KLOS's popular Mark & Brian radio programme, the "Are You Ready Steve?" tour kicked off at the Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood on 12 June 2008. The band spent the next several months playing festivals and gigs throughout the U.S. and Canada, including Moondance Jam in Walker, Minnesota; headlining at the Rock N Resort Music Festival in North Lawrence, Ohio (near Canal Fulton); London, Ontario's Rock the Park; another headlining gig at Peterborough's Festival of Lights; the Common Ground Festival in Lansing, Michigan; and a benefit concert for victims of California's wildfires at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California.
In January 2009, the Sweet presented at the concert industry's Pollstar Awards, and also played a short set at the Nokia Theatre where the event was held, marking the first time in the ceremony's history that a band performed at the show. In addition to local gigs at the House of Blues on L.A.'s Sunset Strip and Universal CityWalk, 2009 saw the band return to Canada for sold-out shows at the Mae Wilson Theater and Casino Regina, as well as the Nakusp Music Fest and Rockin' the Fields of Minnedosa in Minnedosa, Manitoba. U.S. festivals have included Minnesota's Halfway Jam, Rockin' the Rivers in Montana (with Pat Travers and Peter Frampton), and two late-summer shows at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
The new band recorded a cover version of the Beatles' "Ticket to Ride", which was included on Cleopatra Records' Abbey Road, a Fab Four tribute CD that was released on 24 March 2009.
A preview of the band's new CD Live in America, which was recorded live at the Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa in Cabazon, California on 30 August 2008, was featured on KLOS's "Front Row" programme on 12 April 2009. The CD, which was first sold at shows and via the band's on-line store, was released worldwide in an exclusive deal with Amazon.com on 21 July 2009. The release has garnered favourable reviews from The Rock n Roll Report, Classic Rock Revisited and Hard Rock Haven, among others.
In April 2010, the band released its first single on iTunes: an updated, hard rock version of the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There." Performances on the 2010 summer tour included the Wildflower! Arts and Music Festival in Richardson, Texas; Las Vegas, Nevada's Fremont Street Experience; Rock N' America in Oklahoma City, OK; Summer Jam in Des Moines, Iowa; Jack FM's Fifth Show at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Los Angeles; an appearance at the Hard Rock Hotel in Biloxi, Mississippi; and the inaugural edition of the Thunder Mountain Rock Festival in Sawyer, North Dakota.
On 11 November 2010, it was announced that in May 2011 "Steve Priest's Sweet" had been booked to perform at a handful of European dates, but the gigs ultimately had to be cancelled in late January 2011 after it was learned that one of the promoters was a suspected swindler wanted by British law enforcement officials. As of February 2011, fans who purchased pre-sale tickets were still in the process of working through the administrative channels with PayPal and various banks and credit card issuers in order to try to reclaim their funds.
The band toured South America along with Journey during March 2011.
The band and their European fans then also got re-united quicker than thought, when the band got booked by a befriended female Belgian promoter. Two east German gigs, 27 and 28 May 2011, so in Borna and in Schwarzenberg Steve Priest's Sweet hit the European grounds. After more than 30 years, Steve Priest got a warm welcome back in Europe.
As of 12 August 2012, Stuart Smith resigned from the guitar post in order to dedicate more time to his "Heaven & Earth" project.
Beginning with the band's October 2012 appearance at the Festival Internacional Chihuahua in Mexico, Los Angeles-based guitarist Ricky Z. teamed up with Steve Priest and company for their live performances. In February 2013, this lineup returned to Casino Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada. Tour dates played in summer 2013 included Riverfest in Watertown, Wisconsin, the St. Clair, MI Riverfest, several additional dates in Canada, and a reprise of their appearances at both Moondance Jam in Walker, MN and Rockin' the Rivers in Three Forks, Montana. The band made some rare appearances on the U.S. east coast in July 2013, including a performance with David Johansen of the New York Dolls at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, New Jersey. Singer Joe Retta was unavailable for these dates due to a scheduling conflict, so Tribe of Gypsies frontman Chas West, who has played with Jason Bonham's band and has experience subbing in such well-known bands as Foreigner, Lynch Mob and Diamond Head, stepped in to man the microphone for a series of shows in New York, New Jersey and Maryland.
On 27 August 2014, Steve Priest announced on the band's Facebook page that guitarist Mitch Perry had been tapped for the guitar slot. Most recently on tour with Lita Ford, Mitch's other credentials included his work with Michael Schenker Group, Asia Featuring John Payne, Edgar Winter, Billy Sheehan and David Lee Roth His first live appearance with Sweet was at the Rock the River festival in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on 23 August 2014.
22 December 2017 saw the launch of the 50th anniversary tour at the Whisky a Go Go on L.A.'s Sunset Strip and the introduction of new singer Paul Zablidowski AKA "Paulie Z" former lead singer and guitarist of ZO2, children's band "The Z Brothers" and star of IFC show Z-Rock. Recently known as the host for local show "Ultimate Jam Night." Z replaced Joe Retta, who had served as the frontman for the Los Angeles incarnation of Sweet since its formation in 2008. Priest died on 4 June 2020.
Brief reunions and the deaths of Brian Connolly, Mick Tucker and Steve Priest
Steve Priest was asked to join Tucker and Scott for the 1985 Australian tour, but declined at the last moment.
Mike Chapman contacted Connolly, Priest, Scott, and Tucker in 1988, offering to finance a recording session in Los Angeles. As he remembers: "I met them at the airport and Andy and Mick came off the plane. I said, 'Where's Brian?' They said, 'Oh, he's coming.' All the people had come off the plane by now. Then this little old man hobbled towards us. He was shaking, and had a ghostly white face. I thought, 'Oh, Jesus Christ.' It was horrifying." Reworked studio versions of "Action" and "The Ballroom Blitz" were recorded, but it became clear that Connolly's voice and physical health had made Sweet's original member comeback too difficult to promote commercially. Consequently, the reunion attempt was aborted.
In 1990 this line-up was again reunited for the promotion of a music documentary entitled Sweet's Ballroom Blitz. This UK video release, which contained UK television performances from the 1970s and current-day interviews, was released at Tower Records, London. Sweet was interviewed by Power Hour, Super Channel, and spoke of a possible reunion.
Brian Connolly died at the age of 51 on 9 February 1997, from liver failure and repeated heart attacks, attributed to his abuse of alcohol in the 1970s and early 1980s. Mick Tucker died on 14 February 2002 from leukemia, at the age of 54. On 4 June 2020 it was announced that Steve Priest had died. It left Andy Scott as the sole living member of Sweet's 'classic lineup'.
Later years
Two versions of The Sweet were active with original members: "Andy Scott's Sweet", who frequently tour across Europe as Sweet and makes occasional sojourns to other markets including regular visits to Australia, and "Steve Priest's Sweet" who toured the US and Canada.
On 28 April 2009, Shout! Factory released a two-disc, career-spanning greatest hits album called Action: The Sweet Anthology. It received a four-star (out of five) rating in Rolling Stone.
In September 2009 Ace Frehley released his version of "Fox on the Run" on his album Anomaly.
In an October 2012 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Axl Rose, lead singer of Guns N' Roses, referenced Sweet as one of his favourite bands growing up along with fellow British band Queen.
In April 2016, the chart topping song (1973), "The Ballroom Blitz" was featured in a trailer for Suicide Squad.
In December 2016, their single "Fox on the Run" (1975) was featured in a trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
In 2019, the songs "Fox on the Run" and "Set Me Free" were featured in an episode of Jamie Johnson.
Personnel
Original band
Classic lineup
Brian Connolly – lead vocals, percussion, synthesizer, acoustic guitar (1968–1978; died 1997)
Steve Priest – bass, backing and lead vocals (1968–1981; died 2020)
Mick Tucker – drums, percussion, backing and lead vocals (1968–1981; died 2002)
Andy Scott – guitars, keyboards, synthesizers, piano, backing and lead vocals (1970–1981)
Early members
Frank Torpey – guitars (1968–1969)
Mick Stewart – guitars (1969–1970)
Touring musicians
Gary Moberley – keyboards, synthesizers, piano (1978–1981)
Nico Ramsden – guitar (1978)
Ray McRiner – guitar (1979)
Andy Scott’s Sweet
Current members
Andy Scott – guitars, keyboards, synthesizers, piano, backing and lead vocals (1985–present)
Bruce Bisland – drums, backing vocals (1992–present)
Paul Manzi – lead vocals (2019–present; substitute appearances in 2014 and 2015)
Lee Small – bass, backing vocals (2019–present)
Former members
Mick Tucker – drums, backing vocals (1985–1991; died 2002)
Paul Mario Day – lead vocals (1985–1989)
Phil Lanzon – keyboards, piano, backing vocals (1985–1989; 2005—2006)
Mal McNulty – bass, lead and backing vocals (1985–1995)
Jeff Brown – bass, lead and backing vocals (1989–2003)
Steve Mann – keyboards, guitars, backing vocals (1989-1996)
Bodo Schopf – drums, backing vocals (1991–1992)
Chad Brown — lead vocals (1995–1998)
Steve Grant — keyboards, piano, backing vocals (1996–2005, 2006–2011); lead vocals, bass (2005–2006)
Tony O’Hora – lead and backing vocals, bass (2003–2005, 2006, 2011–2019), guitars, keyboards (2011–2019)
Peter Lincoln – bass, lead and backing vocals (2006–2019)
Timeline
Discography
Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be (1971)
Sweet Fanny Adams (1974)
Desolation Boulevard (1974)
Give Us a Wink (1976)
Off the Record (1977)
Level Headed (1978)
Cut Above the Rest (1979)
Waters Edge (titled Sweet VI with a different cover in the U.S.) (1980)
Identity Crisis (1982)
Sweetlife (2002) by Andy Scott's Sweet
Isolation Boulevard (2020) by Andy Scott's Sweet
References
Bibliography
(2008 eBook available at )
External links
Channel 4 documentary on The Sweet from 1996
English hard rock musical groups
English glam rock groups
Musical groups established in 1968
Capitol Records artists
Polydor Records artists
RCA Records artists
1968 establishments in the United Kingdom
Musical groups disestablished in 1982
1982 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Musical groups reestablished in 1985
1985 establishments in the United Kingdom | false | [
"Oscar Peterson + Harry Edison + Eddie \"Cleanhead\" Vinson is an album by the jazz pianist Oscar Peterson accompanied by trumpeters Harry \"Sweets\" Edison and the alto saxophonist Eddie \"Cleanhead\" Vinson that was recorded in 1986.\n\nReviews\nThe album was reviewed by Steve Hecox in Option magazine who was of the opinion that the album was \"Yet another Norman Granz \"let's put these guys together and see what happens\" session.\" Hecox felt that the results were successful as they played to the performer's strengths with Peterson using his usual reliable three-piece rhythm section, and Eddie Vinson providing an instrumental session in which he stuck to alto sax.\n\nTrack listing\n \"Stuffy\" (Coleman Hawkins) – 9:13\n \"This One's for Jaws\" (Miles Davis, Harry \"Sweets\" Edison) – 4:53\n \"Everything Happens to Me\" (Tom Adair, Matt Dennis) – 4:36\n \"Broadway\" (Billy Bird, Teddy McRae, Henri Woode) – 5:13\n \"Slooow Drag\" (Edison, Joe Pass, Oscar Peterson, Eddie Vinson) – 10:36\n \"What's New?\" (Bob Haggart, Johnny Burke) – 4:28\n \"Satin Doll\" (Duke Ellington, Johnny Mercer, Billy Strayhorn) – 7:29\n\nPersonnel\n Harry \"Sweets\" Edison – trumpet\n Eddie \"Cleanhead\" Vinson – alto saxophone\n Oscar Peterson – piano\n Joe Pass – guitar\n Dave Young – double bass\n Martin Drew – drums\n\nReferences\n\n1986 albums\nOscar Peterson albums\nHarry Edison albums\nEddie Vinson albums\nAlbums produced by Norman Granz\nPablo Records albums\nCollaborative albums",
"was a Japanese girl group formed by Avex Trax in 2003. It consists of five members: Aki, Aya, Haruna, Miori, and Mai. The group debuted in 2003 with the song \"Lolita Strawberry in Summer\" and released in 2004 the song \"Love Like Candy Floss.\" While active as a group, Sweets was also part of the supergroup Girl's Box along with other Avex artists. After three years of activity, Sweets disbanded in 2006.\n\nHistory\n\n2003: Debut\nDuring the Avex Auditions 2002, five 12-year-old girls were selected out of fifteen finalists to create a new girl group, with the project planned by TV Tokyo's variety show Platinum Ticket. They first performed at A-nation '03 Avex Summer Festa on April 12, 2003. Later, on August 27, they released their first single, \"Lolita Strawberry in Summer\", as the fourth ending theme to Monkey Typhoon. The song was produced by Bounceback, who had previously written songs for BoA and Ayumi Hamasaki. On November 19, 2003, Sweets released their second single, \"Love Raspberry Juice\", which was featured as the theme song in the commercial for the game Tokyo Friend Park II: Friend Park e Asobi ni Ikō!! 100 girls appeared as extras in the music video. At the end of 2003, Sweets collaborated with Dream and Fruits Punch as the supergroup Girl's Box to release the single 1st X'mas.\n\n2004: \"Love Like Candy Floss\", Sweets\nSweets' third single, \"Love Like Candy Floss\", was released on February 11, 2004 as the theme song in the commercial for Circle K's bakery. The song's theme was described as \"falling in love with a friend.\" The music video was filmed in Nagano, making it the first of their videos to be filmed outside of a studio, and was described as \"drama-like\", featuring Haruna following an older man. The music video was featured on the television show Pop Jam for four weeks. On March 3, 2004, Sweets released their first mini album, Sweets. On June 16, 2004, they released their fourth single, a triple A-side titled \"Growin' into Shinin'\" / \"Never Ending Story\" / \"Shochū Omimai Mōshiagemasu.\" The song \"Growin' into Shinin' Stars\" was the official cheer song for the Yomiuri Giants beginning April 2004; \"Never Ending Story\" was the ending theme song to the variety show Doubutsu Kisou Tenkai from April to September 2004; and \"Shochū Omimai Mōshiagemasu\", a cover of the Candies song of the same name, was used as the theme song for a promotional campaign. On November 3, 2004, Sweets released the song \"Sky\" as the ending theme to Genseishin Justirisers. By the end of the year, Sweets was voted number 1 in the magazine CD-Data. Later, Sweets participated in a second Christmas collaboration single with Dream and Aiko Kayō, which released on December 1, 2004.\n\n===2005: Keep On Movin''', first tour, Aki and Aya's hiatus, 5 Elements===\nOn February 2, 2005, Sweets released the double A-side single \"Countdown\" / \"Our Song (Wakare no Toki)\", which was followed up with the release of their second mini album, Keep On Movin', on February 23, 2005. \"Mienai Tsubasa\" was released on June 1, 2005. The music video, as well as their behind-the-scenes DVD Wings of My Heart, were shot in Hawaii. Several members became ill during the shooting because of the rain.\n\nOn August 10, 2005, Sweets released their 8th single, \"Earthship (Uchūsen Chikyūgō)\", which was then followed up by their first concert tour named after the song, with three shows in Osaka, Nagoya, and Tokyo. Shortly after their tour, they performed at A-nation '05 and released their first photo book, Sweets #1. Afterwards, Aki and Aya went on hiatus from September 2005 to April 2006 to focus on their high school entrance exams. The remaining three members continued to promote without them and released \"On the Way (Yakusoku no Basho e)\" as their 9th single. On October 5, 2005, Sweets released their first studio album, 5 Elements. On November 16, 2005, Sweets collaborated with Dream, Nao Nagasawa, Nanase Hoshii, Aiko Kayō, Paradise Go! Go!, and Michi Saito for Girl's Box's third Christmas collaboration single.\n\n2006: Disbandment\nAki and Aya returned from hiatus, and Sweets released the single \"Bitter Sweets\" on March 23, 2006. During a promotional event at Tokyo Dome City Hall on March 26, 2006, all five members of Sweets announced that they were disbanding, citing interest in different career paths, as well as Aki and Aya retiring to focus on high school. Afterwards, on June 7, 2006, they released \"Color of Tears\" as their final single along with Hi Ma'am, their \"graduation\" photo book, and Precious Memories'', their final behind-the-scenes DVD.\n\nMembers\n\n Aki () - leader\n Aya ()\n Haruna ()\n Miori ()\n Mai ()\n\nDiscography\n\nStudio albums\n\nExtended plays\n\nCompilation albums\n\nVideo albums\n\nSingles\n\nAs lead artist\n\nAs featured artist\n\nVideo singles\n\nDVDs\n\nPublications\n\nPhoto books\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nJapanese girl groups\nJapanese pop music groups\nAvex Group artists\nMusical groups from Tokyo\nSinging talent show winners"
] |
[
"The Sweet",
"First album",
"What was the sweets first album?",
"The Sweet's first full LP album, Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, was released in November 1971."
] | C_b1e767986d2542acaf8dafe8942132ea_0 | did it do well? | 2 | Did The Sweet's album Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be do well? | The Sweet | The Sweet made their UK television debut in December 1970 on a pop show called Lift Off, performing the song "Funny Funny". A management deal was signed with the aforementioned songwriting team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Phil Wainman resumed his collaboration with Sweet, as executive producer. This management deal also included a worldwide (the U.S. excepted) record contract with RCA Records (in the United States and Canada Bell Records issued the group's music until late 1973; followed by Capitol Records). In March 1971 RCA issued "Funny Funny", written by Chinn and Chapman, which became the group's first international hit, climbing to the Top 20 on many of the world's charts. EMI reissued their 1970 single "All You'll Ever Get from Me" (May 1971) and it again failed to chart. Their next RCA release "Co-Co" (June 1971) went to number two in the U.K. and their follow up single, "Alexander Graham Bell" (October 1971), only went to #33. These tracks still featured session musicians on the instruments with the quartet providing only the vocals. The Sweet's first full LP album, Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, was released in November 1971. A collection of the band's recent singles supplemented by some new Chinn/Chapman tunes (including "Chop Chop" and "Tom Tom Turnaround") and pop covers (such as the Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream" and the Supremes' "Reflections"), the album, recorded at Nova Studios in London, was produced by Phil Wainman and engineered by Richard Dodd and Eric Holland. It was not a serious contender on the charts. Their albums' failure to match the success of their singles was a problem that would plague the band throughout their career. CANNOTANSWER | It was not a serious contender on the charts. | The Sweet, sometimes also shortened to just Sweet, are a British glam rock band that rose to worldwide fame in the 1970s. Their best known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bass player Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott, and drummer Mick Tucker. The group was originally called The Sweetshop.
The band was formed in London in 1968 and achieved their first hit, "Funny Funny", in 1971 after teaming up with songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman and record producer Phil Wainman. During 1971 and 1972, their musical style followed a marked progression from the Archies-like bubblegum style of "Funny Funny" to a Who-influenced hard rock style supplemented by a striking use of high-pitched backing vocals.
The band first achieved success in the UK charts, with thirteen Top 20 hits during the 1970s alone, with "Block Buster!" (1973) topping the chart, followed by three consecutive number two hits in "Hell Raiser" (1973), "The Ballroom Blitz" (1973) and "Teenage Rampage" (1974). The band turned to a more hard rock style with their mid-career singles, like 1974's "Turn It Down". "Fox on the Run" (1975) also reached number two on the UK charts. These results were topped in West Germany and other countries on the European mainland. They also achieved success and popularity in the US with the top ten hits "Little Willy", "The Ballroom Blitz", "Fox on the Run", and "Love is Like Oxygen".
The Sweet had their last international success in 1978 with "Love Is Like Oxygen". Connolly left the group in 1979 to start a solo career and the remaining members continued as a trio until disbanding in 1981. From the mid-1980s, Scott, Connolly and Priest each played with their own versions of Sweet at different times. Connolly died in 1997, Tucker in 2002 and Priest in 2020. Andy Scott is still active with his version of the band. Sweet have since sold over 35 million albums worldwide.
History
Origins
Sweet's origins can be traced back to British soul band Wainwright's Gentlemen. Mark Lay's history of that band states they formed around 1962 and were initially known as Unit 4. Founding members included Chris Wright (vocals), Jan Frewer (bass), with Jim Searle and Alfred Fripp on guitars. Phil Kenton joined on drums as the band changed its name to Wainwright's Gentlemen (due to there being another band known as Unit 4). Managed by Frewer's father, the band performed in the Hayes, Harrow and Wembley area. By 1964 the group was also playing in London, including at the Saint Germain Club on Poland Street.
In January 1964 the band came fifth in a national beat group contest, with finals held at the Lyceum Strand on 4 May 1964. Highlights of the show were presented on BBC1 by Alan Freeman. Chris Wright left the line-up in late 1964 and was replaced by Ian Gillan. A female vocalist named Ann Cully soon joined the band. Mick Tucker, from Ruislip, joined on drums replacing Phil Kenton. The band recorded a number of tracks including a cover of the Coasters-Hollies hit "Ain't That Just Like Me", which was probably recorded at Jackson Sound Studios in Rickmansworth. The track includes Gillan on vocals, Tucker on drums and, according to band bassist Jan Frewer, is thought to have been recorded in 1965. Gillan quit in May 1965 to join Episode Six, and later, Deep Purple. Cully remained as vocalist before departing some time later. Gillan's and Cully's eventual replacement, in late 1966, was Scots-born vocalist Brian Connolly, who hailed more recently from Harefield. Tony Hall had joined on saxophone and vocals and when Fripp left he was replaced by Gordon Fairminer. Fairminer's position was eventually assumed by Frank Torpey (born Frank Edward Torpey, 30 April 1945, Kilburn, North West London) - a schoolfriend of Tucker's who had just left West London group The Tribe (aka The Dream). Torpey only lasted a few months, and in late 1967 Robin Box (born 19 June 1944) took his place. Searle, regarded by many as the most talented musically, disappeared from the scene. Tucker and Connolly remained with Wainwright's Gentlemen until January 1968. Tucker was replaced by Roger Hills. When the Gentlemen eventually broke up, Hills and Box joined White Plains who eventually scored a big hit with "My Baby Loves Lovin'".
Early years
In January 1968 Connolly and Tucker formed a new band calling themselves The Sweetshop. They recruited bass guitarist and vocalist Steve Priest from a local band called The Army. Priest had previously played with mid-'60s band the Countdowns who had been produced and recorded by Joe Meek. Frank Torpey was again recruited to play guitar. The quartet made its public debut at the Pavilion in Hemel Hempstead on 9 March 1968 and soon developed a following on the pub circuit, which led to a contract with Fontana Records. At the time, another UK band released a single under the same name Sweetshop, so the band abbreviated their moniker to Sweet. The band was managed by Paul Nicholas, who later went on to star in Hair. Nicholas worked with record producer Phil Wainman at Mellin Music Publishing and recommended the band to him. Their debut single "Slow Motion" (July 1968), produced by Wainman, and released on Fontana, failed to chart and owing to its rarity now sells for several hundred pounds when auctioned. Sweet were released from the recording contract and Frank Torpey left. In his autobiography Are You Ready Steve, Priest said that Gordon Fairminer was approached to play for them when Torpey decided to leave Sweet after a gig at Playhouse Theatre Walton-on-Thames on 5 July 1969 but turned the job down as he wanted to concentrate on other interests.
New line-up and new record deal
Guitarist Mick Stewart joined in 1969. Stewart had some rock pedigree, having previously worked with The (Ealing) Redcaps and Simon Scott & The All-Nite Workers in the mid-1960s. In late 1965, that band became The Phil Wainman Set when the future Sweet producer joined on drums and the group cut some singles with Errol Dixon. In early 1966, Stewart left and later worked with Johnny Kidd & The Pirates.
Sweet signed a new record contract with EMI's Parlophone label. Three bubblegum pop singles were released: "Lollipop Man" (September 1969), "All You'll Ever Get from Me" (January 1970), and a cover version of the Archies' "Get on the Line" (June 1970), all of which failed to chart. Stewart then quit, and was not replaced for some time. Connolly and Tucker had a chance meeting with Wainman, who was now producing, and knew of two aspiring songwriters, Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, who were looking for a group to sing some demos they had written. Connolly, Priest, and Tucker provided the vocals on a track called "Funny Funny" which featured Pip Williams on guitar, John Roberts on bass, and Wainman on drums. The latter began offering the track to various recording companies. The band held auditions for a replacement guitarist and settled on Welsh-born Andy Scott. He had most recently been playing with Mike McCartney (brother of Paul) in the Scaffold. As a member of the Elastic Band, he had played guitar on two singles for Decca, "Think of You Baby" and "Do Unto Others". He also appeared on the band's lone album release, Expansions on Life, and on some recordings by the Scaffold. The band rehearsed for a number of weeks before Scott made his live debut with Sweet on 26 September 1970 at the Windsor Ballroom in Redcar.
Sweet initially attempted to combine diverse musical influences, including the Monkees and 1960s bubblegum pop groups such as the Archies, with more heavy rock-oriented groups such as the Who. Sweet adopted the rich vocal harmony style of the Hollies, with distorted guitars and a heavy rhythm section. This fusion of pop and hard rock would remain a central trademark of Sweet's music and prefigured the glam metal of a few years later.
Sweet's initial album appearance was on the budget label Music for Pleasure as part of a compilation called Gimme Dat Ding, released in December 1970. Sweet had one side of the record; the Pipkins (whose sole hit, "Gimme Dat Ding", gave the LP its name) had the other. Sweet's contribution consisted of the A- and B-sides of the band's three Parlophone singles. Andy Scott appears in the album cover shot, even though he did not play on any of the recordings.
First album
Sweet made their UK television debut in December 1970 on a pop show called Lift Off, performing the song "Funny Funny". A management deal was signed with the aforementioned songwriting team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Phil Wainman resumed his collaboration with Sweet, as executive producer. This management deal also included a worldwide record contract with RCA Records, the U.S. excepted: in the United States and Canada Bell Records issued the group's music until late 1973, followed by Capitol Records.
In March 1971 RCA issued "Funny Funny", written by Chinn and Chapman, which became the group's first international hit, climbing to the Top 20 on many of the world's charts. EMI reissued their 1970 single "All You'll Ever Get from Me" (May 1971) and it again failed to chart. Their next RCA release "Co-Co" (June 1971) went to number two in the U.K. and their follow up single, "Alexander Graham Bell" (October 1971), only went to No. 33. These tracks still featured session musicians on the instruments with the quartet providing only the vocals.
Sweet's first full LP album, Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, was released in November 1971. A collection of the band's recent singles supplemented by some new Chinn/Chapman tunes (including "Chop Chop" and "Tom Tom Turnaround") and pop covers (such as the Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream" and the Supremes' "Reflections"), the album, recorded at Nova Studios in London, was produced by Phil Wainman and engineered by Richard Dodd and Eric Holland. It was not a serious contender on the charts.
Initial success and rise to fame
February 1972 saw the release of "Poppa Joe", which reached number 1 in Finland and peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart. The next two singles of that year, "Little Willy" and "Wig-Wam Bam", both reached No. 4 in the UK. "Little Willy" peaked at No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 after a re-issue in 1973, thus becoming the group's biggest American hit. Although "Wig-Wam Bam" remained largely true to the style of Sweet's previous recordings, the vocals and guitars had a harder, more rock-oriented sound, largely because it was the first Chinn-Chapman single on which only members of Sweet played the instruments. In January 1973 "Block Buster!" became Sweet's first single to reach number 1 on the UK chart, remaining there for five consecutive weeks. After their next single "Hell Raiser" was released in May and reached number 2 in the U.K., Sweet's U.S. label, Bell, released the group's first American album The Sweet in July 1973.
To promote their singles, Sweet made numerous appearances on U.K. and European TV shows such as Top of the Pops and Supersonic. In one performance of "Block Buster!" on Top of the Pops Christmas edition, Priest aroused complaints after he appeared replete in a German military uniform, Hitler moustache and displaying a swastika armband. The band also capitalised on the glam rock explosion, rivalling Gary Glitter, T. Rex, Queen, Slade, and Wizzard for outrageous stage clothing.
Despite Sweet's success, the relationship with their management was becoming increasingly tense. While they had developed a large fan-base among teenagers, Sweet were not happy with their 'bubblegum' image. Sweet had always composed their own heavy-rock songs on the B-sides of their singles to contrast with the bubblegum A-sides which were composed by Chinn and Chapman. During this time, Sweet's live performances consisted of B-sides, album tracks, and various medleys of rock and roll classics; they avoided older novelty hits like "Funny Funny" and "Poppa Joe". A 1973 performance at the Palace Theatre and Grand Hall in Kilmarnock ended in Sweet being bottled off stage; the disorder was attributed by some (including Steve Priest) to Sweet's lipstick and eye-shadow look, and by others to the audience being unfamiliar with the concert set (the 1999 CD release Live at the Rainbow 1973 documents a live show from this period). The incident would be immortalised in the hit "The Ballroom Blitz" (September 1973). In the meantime, Sweet's chart success continued, showing particular strength in the UK, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, and Australia. By the end of 1973, the band's name evolved from "The Sweet" to "Sweet". The change would be reflected in all of their releases from 1974 onward.
Forming a new image
By 1974, Sweet had grown tired of the management team of Chinn and Chapman, who wrote the group's major hits and cultivated the band's glam rock image. The group and producer Phil Wainman, assisted by engineer Peter Coleman, recorded the album Sweet Fanny Adams, which was released in April 1974. Sweet's technical proficiency was demonstrated for the first time on self-penned hard rock tracks such as "Sweet F.A." and "Set Me Free". Sweet also adopted a more conventional hard rock sound and appearance. Sweet Fanny Adams also featured compressed high-pitched backing vocal harmonies, which was a trend that continued on all of Sweet's albums.
During sessions for the album, Brian Connolly was injured in a fight in Staines High Street. His throat was badly injured and his ability to sing severely limited. Priest and Scott filled in on lead vocals on some tracks ("No You Don't", "Into The Night" and "Restless") and Connolly, under treatment from a Harley Street specialist, managed to complete the album. The band did not publicise the incident and told the press that subsequent cancelled shows were due to Connolly having a throat infection. This incident reportedly permanently compromised Connolly's singing ability, with his range diminished.
No previous singles appeared on the album, and none were released, except in Japan, New Zealand and Australia, where "Peppermint Twist/Rebel Rouser", apparently released by their record company without their knowledge, gained a No. 1 chart position in the latter. Sweet Fanny Adams would be Sweet's only non-compilation release to break the UK Albums Chart Top 40.
Sweet were invited by Pete Townshend to support the Who, who were playing at Charlton Athletic's football ground, The Valley in June 1974. However, Connolly's badly bruised throat kept them from fulfilling the role. Sweet had frequently cited the Who as being one of their main influences and played a medley of their tracks in their live set for many years.
Desolation Boulevard
Their third album, Desolation Boulevard, was released later in 1974, six months after Sweet Fanny Adams. By that stage, producer Phil Wainman had moved on and the album was produced by Mike Chapman. It was recorded in a mere six days and featured a rawer "live" sound. One track, "The Man with the Golden Arm", written by Elmer Bernstein and Sylvia Fine for the 1955 Frank Sinatra movie of the same name, featured drummer Mick Tucker performing an 8 and half minute solo (although this was not included in the U.S. release). This had been a staple of the band's live performance for years. The first single from the LP, the heavy-melodic "The Six Teens" (July 1974), was a Top 10 hit in the U.K. and still part of the amazing unbroken string of No. 1's in Denmark. However, the subsequent single release, "Turn It Down" (November 1974), reached only No. 41 on the U.K. chart and No. 2 in Denmark. "Turn It Down" received minimal airplay on UK radio and was banned by some radio stations because of certain lyrical content - "God-awful sound" and "For God sakes, turn it down" - which were deemed "unsuitable for family listening." The band resumed playing live shows nearly a full six months after Connolly's throat injury, with band and critics noting a rougher edge to his voice and a reduced range. The album also featured a group composition, "Fox On The Run", which was to be re-recorded months later.
The U.S. version of Desolation Boulevard was different from the U.K. version and included several songs from Sweet Fanny Adams in addition to the "Ballroom Blitz" and "Fox on the Run" singles (both of which peaked at No. 5 in the US). Side One of the album contained all Chapman-Chinn penned songs, while Side Two featured songs written and produced by Sweet.
Writing and producing their own material
In 1975 Sweet went back into the studio to re-arrange and record a more pop-oriented version of the track "Fox on the Run". Sweet's first self-written and produced single, "Fox on the Run" was released worldwide in March 1975 and became their biggest selling hit, reaching number one in Germany, Denmark, and South Africa, number two in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway and the Netherlands and number three in Austria and Switzerland. In Australia it not only made it to the top of the charts, it also became the biggest selling single of that year. The song reached number two in Canada and number five in the U.S. The release of this track marked the end of the formal Chinn-Chapman working relationship and the band stressed it was now fully self-sufficient as writers and producers.
The following single release, "Action" (July 1975), peaked at number 15 in the UK. Now confident in their own songwriting and production abilities, Sweet spent the latter half of 1975 in Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany, where they recorded the Give Us A Wink album with German sound engineer Reinhold Mack, who later recorded with Electric Light Orchestra and co-produced Queen. The new album release was deferred until 1976 so as not to stifle the chart success Desolation Boulevard was enjoying, peaking at number 25 in the US and number 5 in Canada.
With Give Us a Wink being held over, RCA issued a double album in Europe, Strung Up, in November. It contained one live disc, recorded in London in December 1973, and one disc compiling previously released singles (plus an unused track by Chinn and Chapman – "I Wanna Be Committed"). At the end of the year, Andy Scott released his first solo single, "Lady Starlight" b/w "Where D'Ya Go". Tucker played drums on both tracks.
Decline in popularity
January 1976 saw the release of the single "The Lies In Your Eyes", which made the Top 10 in Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Australia, but only reached No. 35 on the U.K. charts. Sweet's first album to be fully produced and written by themselves, Give Us A Wink, was released in March 1976. A third single from the album, "4th Of July", was issued in Australia.
By this time, Sweet strove to build on their growing popularity in America with a schedule of more than fifty headline concert dates. Even though Give Us A Winks release was imminent, the band's set essentially promoted the US version of Desolation Boulevard plus the new US hit single "Action". During an appearance at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in California on 24 March, Sweet played "All Right Now" with Ritchie Blackmore as a tribute to mark the death of Free guitarist Paul Kossoff, who was to have supported Sweet with his band Back Street Crawler. The US tour was not financially successful, with small audiences at many venues leading to the final half-dozen or so dates to be cancelled. Following the end of the tour, the band went on to Scandinavia and Germany. The band also spent a week at the Who's Ramport Studios in Battersea demoing material for a new album before abandoning that project and playing eight dates in Japan. By the end of the Japanese shows Connolly's extremely hoarse singing voice was manifest evidence of the demands of constant touring and the enduring after-effects of his 1974 assault.
Between October 1976 and January 1977, Sweet wrote and recorded new material at Kingsway Recorders and Audio International London studios for their next album. An advance single from the album, "Lost Angels", was only a hit in Germany, Austria and Sweden. A new album, Off the Record, was released in April. The next single from the album, "Fever of Love", represented the band heading in a somewhat more Europop hard rock direction, once again charting in Germany, Austria and Sweden, while reaching number 10 in South Africa. On this album, Sweet again worked with Give Us A Wink engineer Louis Austin, who would later engineer Def Leppard's On Through The Night 1980 début album. The band cancelled a US tour with emerging US rockers Aerosmith, did not play any live dates in support of the album and, in fact, did not play a single concert for the whole of 1977.
Level Headed and a change in style
Sweet left RCA in 1977 and signed a new deal with Polydor though it would not come into force until later in the year. Sweet's manager David Walker, from Handle Artists, negotiated the move which was reputed to be worth around £750,000. In the United States, Canada, and Japan, Capitol had issued Sweet's albums since 1974 and would continue to do so through to 1980.
The first Polydor album, Level Headed (January 1978), found Sweet experimenting by combining rock and classical sounds "a-la clavesin", an approach similar to Electric Light Orchestra's, and featured the single "Love Is Like Oxygen". Largely recorded during 1977 at Château d'Hérouville near Paris, France after a 30-day writing session at Clearwell Castle in the Forest Of Dean UK, the album represented a new musical direction, largely abandoning hard-rock for a more melodic pop style, interspersed with ballads accompanied by a 30-piece orchestra. The ballad, "Lettres D'Amour", featured a duet between Connolly and Stevie Lange (who would emerge as lead singer with the group Night in 1979).
With the addition of session and touring musicians keyboardist Gary Moberley and guitarist Nico Ramsden, Sweet undertook a short European and Scandinavian tour followed by a single British concert at London's Hammersmith Odeon on 24 February 1978. However, "Love Is Like Oxygen" (January 1978) was their last U.K., U.S., and German Top 10 hit. Scott was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for co-composing the song. One more single from the album, "California Nights" (May 1978), featuring Steve Priest as the lead vocalist, peaked at number 23 on the German chart.
Departure of Brian Connolly
Between March and May 1978 Sweet extensively toured the US, as a support act for Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. The tour included a disastrous date in Birmingham, Alabama on 3 May, during which visiting Capitol Records executives in the audience saw Brian Connolly give a drunken and incoherent performance that terminated early in the set with his collapse on stage, leaving the rest of the group to play on without him. The band returned briefly to Britain before resuming the second leg of their US tour in late May supporting other acts, including Foghat and Alice Cooper. Concluding the US tour in early July 1978, Brian's alcoholism and estrangement from the group was steadily becoming a greater issue.
In late October, having spent further time at Clearwell Castle to write for their next album, Sweet arrived at The Town House studio in Shepherd's Bush, London to complete and record, Cut Above the Rest (April 1979). Due to tensions between various members attributed to Connolly's health and diminishing status with the group, his long-time friend and fellow founding member, Mick Tucker, was tasked to produce Connolly's vocals. It was felt Tucker would extract a better performance than Scott from Connolly. A number of tracks were recorded featuring Connolly. However, these efforts were deemed unsatisfactory and Brian left the band on 2 November 1978.
On 23 February 1979, Brian Connolly's departure from Sweet was formally announced by manager David Walker. Publicly, Connolly was said to be pursuing a solo career with an interest in recording country rock.
Three piece Sweet
Sweet continued as a trio with Priest assuming the lion's share of lead vocals, though Scott and Tucker were also active in that role. The first single release for the trio was "Call Me". Guest keyboard player Gary Moberley continued to augment the group on stage. Guitarist Ray McRiner joined their touring line-up in 1979, with a small tour with Journey in the eastern United States and Cheap Trick in Texas in the spring and summer of '79 to support Cut Above The Rest (which was released in April 1979). McRiner would also contribute the songs "Too Much Talking" and the single "Give The Lady Some Respect" to the next Sweet album, Waters Edge (August 1980), which was recorded in Canada. In the US, Waters Edge was titled Sweet VI. It featured the singles "Sixties Man" and "Give The Lady Some Respect". Tragedy befell Mick Tucker when his wife Pauline drowned in the bath at their home on 26 December 1979. The band withdrew from live work for all of 1980.
One more studio album, Identity Crisis, was recorded during 1980–81 but was only released in West Germany and Mexico. Sweet undertook a short tour of the UK and performed their last live show at Glasgow University on 20 March 1981. Steve Priest then returned to the United States, where he had been living since late 1979. When Polydor released Identity Crisis in October 1982, the original Sweet had been disbanded for almost a year.
Re-formed versions (1984–present)
Andy Scott's Sweet (1985–present)
Andy Scott and Mick Tucker organised their own version of Sweet with Paul Mario Day (ex-Iron Maiden, More, Wildfire) on lead vocals, Phil Lanzon (ex-Grand Prix) on keyboards and Mal McNulty on bass. The band performed at the Marquee Club in London in February 1986, with the shows recorded and gaining release a few years later, bolstered by four new studio tracks including a cover of the Motown standard "Reach Out I'll Be There". This line-up also toured Australian and New Zealand pubs and clubs for more than three months in 1985 and for a similar period again in 1986. Singer Paul Day ended up marrying the band's Australian tour guide and relocating downunder. He continued with Sweet commuting back and forth to Europe for the group's tours until this proved to be too cumbersome. He departed in late 1988. As McNulty moved into the front man spot, Jeff Brown came in to take over bass early in 1989. Lanzon too went back and forth between Sweet and Uriah Heep during 1986-1988 before Heep's schedule grew too busy. Malcolm Pearson and then Ian Gibbons (who had played with The Kinks and The Records) both filled in for Lanzon until Steve Mann (Liar, Lionheart, McAuley Schenker Group) arrived in December 1989.
Tucker departed after a show in Lochau, Austria, on 5 May 1991. He later was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia. Three drummers, Andy Hoyler, Bobby Andersen and Bruce Bisland (Weapon, Wildfire, Praying Mantis), provided short-term relief before Bodo Schopf (McAuley Schenker Group) took over. They recorded an album during this period, simply titled A. Before the band embarked on the supporting tour for A in 1992, Bodo left and Bisland returned as permanent percussionist. Scott changed the band's name to 'Andy Scott's Sweet' after Tucker's departure but truncated it to simply 'The Sweet' once again after Tucker's death in 2002.
Mal McNulty, now lead vocalist, departed in 1994, though he would return briefly that year to fill in for Jeff Brown on bass (as he would again in 1995 as lead singer for a few dates while Rocky Newton subbed on bass). Sweet's former keyboard men Gary Moberley and Ian Gibbons also did fill-in jaunts with the group that year, as did Chris Goulstone. Chad Brown (ex-Lionheart; no relation to Jeff) was the new front man. Glitz Blitz and Hitz, a new studio album of re-recorded Sweet hits, was released during this period.
In 1996 Mann left to take a job in television and Gibbons came back for a short time before Steve Grant (ex-The Animals) became the permanent keyboardist. When Chad Brown quit in 1998 after developing a throat infection, Jeff Brown assumed lead vocals and bass duties. After this, the band was stable again for the next five years.
The mid-2000s would bring further confusing shake-ups and rotations. Tony O'Hora (ex-Onslaught, Praying Mantis) replaced Brown as lead vocalist in 2003. Ian Gibbons came back for a third stint as fill-in keyboardist in June 2005 for a gig in the Faroe Islands. O'Hora decided to split to take a teaching job in late 2005. Grant then jumped from keyboards to lead vocals and bass as Phil Lanzon returned on keyboards for a tour of Russia and Germany in October/November. New singer Mark Thompson Smith (ex-Praying Mantis) joined in November 2005 for some Swedish gigs, while Jo Burt (ex-Black Sabbath) was temporary bass player. Tony Mills (ex-Shy) was slated to be Sweet's new singer in early 2006 but failed to work out and left after six shows in Denmark. At this point, O'Hora came back as fill in front man and then Grant did another turn himself as the singer/bassist (Steve Mann depped on keyboards) until the group finally landed a new permanent front man when Peter Lincoln (ex-Sailor) arrived in July 2006. The line-up then consisted of Scott, Bisland, Grant and Lincoln.
Scott produced the Suzi Quatro album Back to the Drive, released in February 2006. March 2006 saw the U.S. release of his band's album Sweetlife.
In 2007 the group played in Germany, Belgium, Austria and Italy. In May of that year, the band played in Porto Alegre and Curitiba, Brazil, their first and only South American shows. The tour was called the 'Sweet Fanny Adams Tour'.
The band toured again in March 2008 under the name 'Sweet Fanny Adams Revisited Tour'. In May and June, Scott's Sweet were part of the "Glitz Blitz & 70s Hitz" tour of the UK alongside The Rubettes and Showaddywaddy.
In March and April 2010, Scott was absent from a couple of gigs due to ill health and Martin Mickels stood in. Scott revealed later that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was treated at the Bristol Royal Infirmary. After a course of treatment and rest, he was back to full touring fitness. In 2010 the band played at venues in Europe and back at Bilston in October.
In March 2011 there was a short tour of Australia, Regal Theatre - Perth, and Clipsal 500, Adelaide with the Doobie Brothers. Also in 2011, Tony O'Hora came back to the group, this time as keyboardist, after Grant departed.
In March 2012 the band released a new album New York Connection. Recorded in England, it comprised 11 cover versions, including the 2011 single "Join Together" and one revamped original recording; the 1972 B-side "New York Connection". All the covers either featured 'bits and pieces' of Sweet hits or other artist songs, such as a "new version of the Ramones Blitzkrieg Bop [which] shared space with samples from ‘Ballroom Blitz,’ and a take on Hello’s New York Groove (made famous in the US by Ace Frehley) featured a sample from Jay-Z’s Empire State Of Mind along with other Sweet references."
On the eve of their March 2012 "Join Together" tour of Australia, the band undertook an acoustic performance of three tracks, "New York Groove-Empire State of Mind", "Blockbuster" and "Peppermint Twist", in front of a live audience at ABC Radio Studios in East Perth. Shows in Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Geelong, Melbourne and Sydney featured tracks from the new album for the first time.
Paul Manzi joined Sweet on their 2014 Australian tour, replacing Tony O'Hora who was absent for personal reasons. Manzi played guitar, keyboard and undertook lead vocals on "Set Me Free" and "AC-DC" as the band performed shows in regional centres, including outback Western Australia, Darwin and far-north Queensland, NSW and Victoria during February and March. The band, with O'Hora back in the ranks, returned to Australia in September 2014 as the headlining act for "Rock The Boat 4". This was a cruise aboard the ship Rhapsody of the Seas which departed Sydney and took in New Caledonia and Vanuatu. The band played two gigs and various members guested with Australian veteran performers including Brian Cadd and Russell Morris and members of AC/DC, The Angels, Rose Tattoo and Skyhooks.
In June 2015 it was revealed that the band were going on an extensive tour of the UK in late 2015 and that this tour would probably be their last.
For the 2015 summer tour dates, Paul Manzi returned to sub for Peter Lincoln who left this online message to the fans: "There have been a few rumours going around this weekend, so . . . just to say that I am alive and well! The short explanation for my absence is that I need to rest my voice for a few weeks. We are lucky that our good friend Paul Manzi is able to step in, and Tony knows the role of bass player/singer, so the shows can go ahead, and they will be great! I look forward to being back on stage very soon."
Pete Lincoln duly resumed his role in the band and they continued with extensive live dates, known as the "Finale" tour in Germany.
In 2017 after Andy undertook a successful Australian visit with Suzi Quatro and Don Powell in the side outfit known as QSP, Sweet was again booked for an extensive European tour. In the years following both Tony O'Hora and Pete Lincoln departed the band. Paul Manzi returned as permanent lead vocalist, quitting the popular outfit Cats in Space to do so. Lee Small joined as bassist and backing vocalist. Former guitarist and keyboard player Steve Mann joined for a handful of shows as a special guest. During the COVID-19 pandemic the band recorded a new album of old tracks entitled Isolation Boulevard.
New Sweet, Brian Connolly's Sweet (1984–1997)
In 1984 Brian Connolly formed a new version of the Sweet without any of the other original members. Despite recurring ill health, Connolly toured the UK and Europe with his band, "Brian Connolly's Sweet", which was then renamed to "New Sweet". His most successful concerts were in West Germany, before and after reunification.
During 1987, Connolly met up again with Frank Torpey. Torpey later explained in interviews Connolly was trying to get a German recording deal. The two got on very well and Torpey subsequently invited Connolly to go into the recording studio with him, as an informal project. After much trepidation, Connolly turned up and the track "Sharontina" was recorded. This recording would not be released until 1998, appearing on Frank Torpey's album Sweeter.
By July 1990, plans were made for Connolly and his band to tour Australia in November. During the long flight to Australia, Connolly's health had suffered and he was hospitalised in Adelaide Hospital, allegedly for dehydration and related problems. The rest of the band played a show in Adelaide without him. After being released from the hospital, Connolly joined the other band members in Melbourne for a gig at the Pier Hotel, in Frankston. After several other shows, including one at the Dingley Powerhouse, Connolly and his band played a final date at Melbourne's Greek Theatre. It was felt Connolly's health was sufficient reason for the tour not to be extended, and some of the planned dates were abandoned. Connolly went back to England and his band appeared on The Bob Downe Christmas show on 18 December 1990.
During the early 1990s, Connolly played the European "oldies" circuit and occasional outdoor festivals in Europe with his band. On 22 March 1992, a heavy duty tape recorder was stolen from the band's van whilst at a gig in the Bristol Hippodrome with Mud. It contained demos of four new songs, totalling about 20 mixes.
Legal problems were going on in the background over the use of the Sweet name between Connolly and Andy Scott. Both parties agreed to distinguish their group's names to help promoters and fans. The New Sweet went back to being called Brian Connolly's Sweet and Andy Scott's version became Andy Scott's Sweet.
In 1994, Connolly and his band played in Dubai. He appeared at the Galleria Theatre, Hyatt Regency. He also performed in Bahrain.
By this time Connolly had healed the differences with Steve Priest and Mick Tucker, and was invited to the wedding of Priest's eldest daughter, Lisa. At the private function, for which Priest specially flew back to England, Priest and Connolly performed together.
In 1995, Connolly released a new album entitled Let's Go. His partner Jean, whom he had met a few years earlier, gave birth to a son. Connolly also performed in Switzerland that year.
On 2 November 1996 British TV Network Channel 4 aired a programme Don't Leave Me This Way, which examined Connolly's time as a pop star with the Sweet, the subsequent decline in the band's popularity, and its impact on Connolly and the other band members. The show revealed Connolly's ill health but also that he was continuing with his concert dates at Butlins. Connolly and his band had appeared at Butlins a number of times on tour during the early 1990s.
Connolly's final concert was at the Bristol Hippodrome on 5 December 1996, with Slade II and John Rossall's Glitter Band Experience.
Steve Priest's Sweet (2008–Present)
In January 2008, Steve Priest assembled his own version of the Sweet in Los Angeles. He enlisted a guitarist Stuart Smith and L.A. native Richie Onori, Smith's bandmate in Heaven & Earth, was brought in on drums. The keyboard spot was manned by ex-Crow and World Classic Rockers alumni Stevie Stewart. Front-man and vocalist Joe Retta was brought in to round out the line-up.
After an initial appearance on L.A. rock station 95.5 KLOS's popular Mark & Brian radio programme, the "Are You Ready Steve?" tour kicked off at the Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood on 12 June 2008. The band spent the next several months playing festivals and gigs throughout the U.S. and Canada, including Moondance Jam in Walker, Minnesota; headlining at the Rock N Resort Music Festival in North Lawrence, Ohio (near Canal Fulton); London, Ontario's Rock the Park; another headlining gig at Peterborough's Festival of Lights; the Common Ground Festival in Lansing, Michigan; and a benefit concert for victims of California's wildfires at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California.
In January 2009, the Sweet presented at the concert industry's Pollstar Awards, and also played a short set at the Nokia Theatre where the event was held, marking the first time in the ceremony's history that a band performed at the show. In addition to local gigs at the House of Blues on L.A.'s Sunset Strip and Universal CityWalk, 2009 saw the band return to Canada for sold-out shows at the Mae Wilson Theater and Casino Regina, as well as the Nakusp Music Fest and Rockin' the Fields of Minnedosa in Minnedosa, Manitoba. U.S. festivals have included Minnesota's Halfway Jam, Rockin' the Rivers in Montana (with Pat Travers and Peter Frampton), and two late-summer shows at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
The new band recorded a cover version of the Beatles' "Ticket to Ride", which was included on Cleopatra Records' Abbey Road, a Fab Four tribute CD that was released on 24 March 2009.
A preview of the band's new CD Live in America, which was recorded live at the Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa in Cabazon, California on 30 August 2008, was featured on KLOS's "Front Row" programme on 12 April 2009. The CD, which was first sold at shows and via the band's on-line store, was released worldwide in an exclusive deal with Amazon.com on 21 July 2009. The release has garnered favourable reviews from The Rock n Roll Report, Classic Rock Revisited and Hard Rock Haven, among others.
In April 2010, the band released its first single on iTunes: an updated, hard rock version of the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There." Performances on the 2010 summer tour included the Wildflower! Arts and Music Festival in Richardson, Texas; Las Vegas, Nevada's Fremont Street Experience; Rock N' America in Oklahoma City, OK; Summer Jam in Des Moines, Iowa; Jack FM's Fifth Show at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Los Angeles; an appearance at the Hard Rock Hotel in Biloxi, Mississippi; and the inaugural edition of the Thunder Mountain Rock Festival in Sawyer, North Dakota.
On 11 November 2010, it was announced that in May 2011 "Steve Priest's Sweet" had been booked to perform at a handful of European dates, but the gigs ultimately had to be cancelled in late January 2011 after it was learned that one of the promoters was a suspected swindler wanted by British law enforcement officials. As of February 2011, fans who purchased pre-sale tickets were still in the process of working through the administrative channels with PayPal and various banks and credit card issuers in order to try to reclaim their funds.
The band toured South America along with Journey during March 2011.
The band and their European fans then also got re-united quicker than thought, when the band got booked by a befriended female Belgian promoter. Two east German gigs, 27 and 28 May 2011, so in Borna and in Schwarzenberg Steve Priest's Sweet hit the European grounds. After more than 30 years, Steve Priest got a warm welcome back in Europe.
As of 12 August 2012, Stuart Smith resigned from the guitar post in order to dedicate more time to his "Heaven & Earth" project.
Beginning with the band's October 2012 appearance at the Festival Internacional Chihuahua in Mexico, Los Angeles-based guitarist Ricky Z. teamed up with Steve Priest and company for their live performances. In February 2013, this lineup returned to Casino Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada. Tour dates played in summer 2013 included Riverfest in Watertown, Wisconsin, the St. Clair, MI Riverfest, several additional dates in Canada, and a reprise of their appearances at both Moondance Jam in Walker, MN and Rockin' the Rivers in Three Forks, Montana. The band made some rare appearances on the U.S. east coast in July 2013, including a performance with David Johansen of the New York Dolls at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, New Jersey. Singer Joe Retta was unavailable for these dates due to a scheduling conflict, so Tribe of Gypsies frontman Chas West, who has played with Jason Bonham's band and has experience subbing in such well-known bands as Foreigner, Lynch Mob and Diamond Head, stepped in to man the microphone for a series of shows in New York, New Jersey and Maryland.
On 27 August 2014, Steve Priest announced on the band's Facebook page that guitarist Mitch Perry had been tapped for the guitar slot. Most recently on tour with Lita Ford, Mitch's other credentials included his work with Michael Schenker Group, Asia Featuring John Payne, Edgar Winter, Billy Sheehan and David Lee Roth His first live appearance with Sweet was at the Rock the River festival in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on 23 August 2014.
22 December 2017 saw the launch of the 50th anniversary tour at the Whisky a Go Go on L.A.'s Sunset Strip and the introduction of new singer Paul Zablidowski AKA "Paulie Z" former lead singer and guitarist of ZO2, children's band "The Z Brothers" and star of IFC show Z-Rock. Recently known as the host for local show "Ultimate Jam Night." Z replaced Joe Retta, who had served as the frontman for the Los Angeles incarnation of Sweet since its formation in 2008. Priest died on 4 June 2020.
Brief reunions and the deaths of Brian Connolly, Mick Tucker and Steve Priest
Steve Priest was asked to join Tucker and Scott for the 1985 Australian tour, but declined at the last moment.
Mike Chapman contacted Connolly, Priest, Scott, and Tucker in 1988, offering to finance a recording session in Los Angeles. As he remembers: "I met them at the airport and Andy and Mick came off the plane. I said, 'Where's Brian?' They said, 'Oh, he's coming.' All the people had come off the plane by now. Then this little old man hobbled towards us. He was shaking, and had a ghostly white face. I thought, 'Oh, Jesus Christ.' It was horrifying." Reworked studio versions of "Action" and "The Ballroom Blitz" were recorded, but it became clear that Connolly's voice and physical health had made Sweet's original member comeback too difficult to promote commercially. Consequently, the reunion attempt was aborted.
In 1990 this line-up was again reunited for the promotion of a music documentary entitled Sweet's Ballroom Blitz. This UK video release, which contained UK television performances from the 1970s and current-day interviews, was released at Tower Records, London. Sweet was interviewed by Power Hour, Super Channel, and spoke of a possible reunion.
Brian Connolly died at the age of 51 on 9 February 1997, from liver failure and repeated heart attacks, attributed to his abuse of alcohol in the 1970s and early 1980s. Mick Tucker died on 14 February 2002 from leukemia, at the age of 54. On 4 June 2020 it was announced that Steve Priest had died. It left Andy Scott as the sole living member of Sweet's 'classic lineup'.
Later years
Two versions of The Sweet were active with original members: "Andy Scott's Sweet", who frequently tour across Europe as Sweet and makes occasional sojourns to other markets including regular visits to Australia, and "Steve Priest's Sweet" who toured the US and Canada.
On 28 April 2009, Shout! Factory released a two-disc, career-spanning greatest hits album called Action: The Sweet Anthology. It received a four-star (out of five) rating in Rolling Stone.
In September 2009 Ace Frehley released his version of "Fox on the Run" on his album Anomaly.
In an October 2012 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Axl Rose, lead singer of Guns N' Roses, referenced Sweet as one of his favourite bands growing up along with fellow British band Queen.
In April 2016, the chart topping song (1973), "The Ballroom Blitz" was featured in a trailer for Suicide Squad.
In December 2016, their single "Fox on the Run" (1975) was featured in a trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
In 2019, the songs "Fox on the Run" and "Set Me Free" were featured in an episode of Jamie Johnson.
Personnel
Original band
Classic lineup
Brian Connolly – lead vocals, percussion, synthesizer, acoustic guitar (1968–1978; died 1997)
Steve Priest – bass, backing and lead vocals (1968–1981; died 2020)
Mick Tucker – drums, percussion, backing and lead vocals (1968–1981; died 2002)
Andy Scott – guitars, keyboards, synthesizers, piano, backing and lead vocals (1970–1981)
Early members
Frank Torpey – guitars (1968–1969)
Mick Stewart – guitars (1969–1970)
Touring musicians
Gary Moberley – keyboards, synthesizers, piano (1978–1981)
Nico Ramsden – guitar (1978)
Ray McRiner – guitar (1979)
Andy Scott’s Sweet
Current members
Andy Scott – guitars, keyboards, synthesizers, piano, backing and lead vocals (1985–present)
Bruce Bisland – drums, backing vocals (1992–present)
Paul Manzi – lead vocals (2019–present; substitute appearances in 2014 and 2015)
Lee Small – bass, backing vocals (2019–present)
Former members
Mick Tucker – drums, backing vocals (1985–1991; died 2002)
Paul Mario Day – lead vocals (1985–1989)
Phil Lanzon – keyboards, piano, backing vocals (1985–1989; 2005—2006)
Mal McNulty – bass, lead and backing vocals (1985–1995)
Jeff Brown – bass, lead and backing vocals (1989–2003)
Steve Mann – keyboards, guitars, backing vocals (1989-1996)
Bodo Schopf – drums, backing vocals (1991–1992)
Chad Brown — lead vocals (1995–1998)
Steve Grant — keyboards, piano, backing vocals (1996–2005, 2006–2011); lead vocals, bass (2005–2006)
Tony O’Hora – lead and backing vocals, bass (2003–2005, 2006, 2011–2019), guitars, keyboards (2011–2019)
Peter Lincoln – bass, lead and backing vocals (2006–2019)
Timeline
Discography
Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be (1971)
Sweet Fanny Adams (1974)
Desolation Boulevard (1974)
Give Us a Wink (1976)
Off the Record (1977)
Level Headed (1978)
Cut Above the Rest (1979)
Waters Edge (titled Sweet VI with a different cover in the U.S.) (1980)
Identity Crisis (1982)
Sweetlife (2002) by Andy Scott's Sweet
Isolation Boulevard (2020) by Andy Scott's Sweet
References
Bibliography
(2008 eBook available at )
External links
Channel 4 documentary on The Sweet from 1996
English hard rock musical groups
English glam rock groups
Musical groups established in 1968
Capitol Records artists
Polydor Records artists
RCA Records artists
1968 establishments in the United Kingdom
Musical groups disestablished in 1982
1982 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Musical groups reestablished in 1985
1985 establishments in the United Kingdom | true | [
"This One's for You is the sixth album by R&B crooner Teddy Pendergrass. It was released just after a bad car accident Pendergrass was involved in, which left him paralyzed from the waist down due to a spinal cord injury. The album did not do as well as his previous albums did on the Billboard 200, peaking at only #59, but it did do well on the R&B album chart, reaching #6. Only one single was released, \"I Can't Win for Losing\", which peaked at only #32 on the R&B charts.\n\nTrack listing\n \"I Can't Win for Losing\" 4:16 (Victor Carstarphen, Gene McFadden, John Whitehead)\n \"This One's for You\" 6:18 (Barry Manilow, Marty Panzer)\n \"Loving You Was Good\" 3:35 (LeRoy Bell, Casey James)\n \"This Gift of Life\" 4:27 (Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff)\n \"Now Tell Me That You Love Me\" 5:15 (Gamble, Huff)\n \"It's Up to You (What You Do With Your Life)\" 5:37 (Gamble, Huff)\n \"Don't Leave Me out Along the Road\" 3:34 (Richard Roebuck)\n \"Only to You\" 3:53 (Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson)\n\nReferences\n\n1982 albums\nTeddy Pendergrass albums\nAlbums produced by Kenneth Gamble\nAlbums produced by Leon Huff\nAlbums produced by Thom Bell\nAlbums produced by Ashford & Simpson\nAlbums arranged by Bobby Martin\nAlbums recorded at Sigma Sound Studios\nPhiladelphia International Records albums",
"Follow Me is the second album of Dutch singer Do.\n\nIt did well in the Netherlands, debuting at #8 in the Mega Top 100 (album chart).\n\nAlbum information\nAfter her successful debut album Do she began working on her second album with her best friend and musical partner Glenn Corneille. They made a basis for the next album but Glenn Corneille died in a car disaster. However, Do needed to go on, so she started again where she left off.\n\nThe album contains 12 songs. Do co-wrote 3 songs; Love Me, Tune Into Me and When Everything is Gone. It features several different music genres, such as Pop, Jazz, Gospel and Country.\n\nTrack listing\n\nChart positions\n\nReferences\n.\n\n2006 albums\nDo (singer) albums\nSony BMG albums"
] |
[
"The Sweet",
"First album",
"What was the sweets first album?",
"The Sweet's first full LP album, Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, was released in November 1971.",
"did it do well?",
"It was not a serious contender on the charts."
] | C_b1e767986d2542acaf8dafe8942132ea_0 | what was special about their first album? | 3 | What was special about The Sweet's first album? | The Sweet | The Sweet made their UK television debut in December 1970 on a pop show called Lift Off, performing the song "Funny Funny". A management deal was signed with the aforementioned songwriting team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Phil Wainman resumed his collaboration with Sweet, as executive producer. This management deal also included a worldwide (the U.S. excepted) record contract with RCA Records (in the United States and Canada Bell Records issued the group's music until late 1973; followed by Capitol Records). In March 1971 RCA issued "Funny Funny", written by Chinn and Chapman, which became the group's first international hit, climbing to the Top 20 on many of the world's charts. EMI reissued their 1970 single "All You'll Ever Get from Me" (May 1971) and it again failed to chart. Their next RCA release "Co-Co" (June 1971) went to number two in the U.K. and their follow up single, "Alexander Graham Bell" (October 1971), only went to #33. These tracks still featured session musicians on the instruments with the quartet providing only the vocals. The Sweet's first full LP album, Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, was released in November 1971. A collection of the band's recent singles supplemented by some new Chinn/Chapman tunes (including "Chop Chop" and "Tom Tom Turnaround") and pop covers (such as the Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream" and the Supremes' "Reflections"), the album, recorded at Nova Studios in London, was produced by Phil Wainman and engineered by Richard Dodd and Eric Holland. It was not a serious contender on the charts. Their albums' failure to match the success of their singles was a problem that would plague the band throughout their career. CANNOTANSWER | A collection of the band's recent singles supplemented by some new Chinn/Chapman tunes | The Sweet, sometimes also shortened to just Sweet, are a British glam rock band that rose to worldwide fame in the 1970s. Their best known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bass player Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott, and drummer Mick Tucker. The group was originally called The Sweetshop.
The band was formed in London in 1968 and achieved their first hit, "Funny Funny", in 1971 after teaming up with songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman and record producer Phil Wainman. During 1971 and 1972, their musical style followed a marked progression from the Archies-like bubblegum style of "Funny Funny" to a Who-influenced hard rock style supplemented by a striking use of high-pitched backing vocals.
The band first achieved success in the UK charts, with thirteen Top 20 hits during the 1970s alone, with "Block Buster!" (1973) topping the chart, followed by three consecutive number two hits in "Hell Raiser" (1973), "The Ballroom Blitz" (1973) and "Teenage Rampage" (1974). The band turned to a more hard rock style with their mid-career singles, like 1974's "Turn It Down". "Fox on the Run" (1975) also reached number two on the UK charts. These results were topped in West Germany and other countries on the European mainland. They also achieved success and popularity in the US with the top ten hits "Little Willy", "The Ballroom Blitz", "Fox on the Run", and "Love is Like Oxygen".
The Sweet had their last international success in 1978 with "Love Is Like Oxygen". Connolly left the group in 1979 to start a solo career and the remaining members continued as a trio until disbanding in 1981. From the mid-1980s, Scott, Connolly and Priest each played with their own versions of Sweet at different times. Connolly died in 1997, Tucker in 2002 and Priest in 2020. Andy Scott is still active with his version of the band. Sweet have since sold over 35 million albums worldwide.
History
Origins
Sweet's origins can be traced back to British soul band Wainwright's Gentlemen. Mark Lay's history of that band states they formed around 1962 and were initially known as Unit 4. Founding members included Chris Wright (vocals), Jan Frewer (bass), with Jim Searle and Alfred Fripp on guitars. Phil Kenton joined on drums as the band changed its name to Wainwright's Gentlemen (due to there being another band known as Unit 4). Managed by Frewer's father, the band performed in the Hayes, Harrow and Wembley area. By 1964 the group was also playing in London, including at the Saint Germain Club on Poland Street.
In January 1964 the band came fifth in a national beat group contest, with finals held at the Lyceum Strand on 4 May 1964. Highlights of the show were presented on BBC1 by Alan Freeman. Chris Wright left the line-up in late 1964 and was replaced by Ian Gillan. A female vocalist named Ann Cully soon joined the band. Mick Tucker, from Ruislip, joined on drums replacing Phil Kenton. The band recorded a number of tracks including a cover of the Coasters-Hollies hit "Ain't That Just Like Me", which was probably recorded at Jackson Sound Studios in Rickmansworth. The track includes Gillan on vocals, Tucker on drums and, according to band bassist Jan Frewer, is thought to have been recorded in 1965. Gillan quit in May 1965 to join Episode Six, and later, Deep Purple. Cully remained as vocalist before departing some time later. Gillan's and Cully's eventual replacement, in late 1966, was Scots-born vocalist Brian Connolly, who hailed more recently from Harefield. Tony Hall had joined on saxophone and vocals and when Fripp left he was replaced by Gordon Fairminer. Fairminer's position was eventually assumed by Frank Torpey (born Frank Edward Torpey, 30 April 1945, Kilburn, North West London) - a schoolfriend of Tucker's who had just left West London group The Tribe (aka The Dream). Torpey only lasted a few months, and in late 1967 Robin Box (born 19 June 1944) took his place. Searle, regarded by many as the most talented musically, disappeared from the scene. Tucker and Connolly remained with Wainwright's Gentlemen until January 1968. Tucker was replaced by Roger Hills. When the Gentlemen eventually broke up, Hills and Box joined White Plains who eventually scored a big hit with "My Baby Loves Lovin'".
Early years
In January 1968 Connolly and Tucker formed a new band calling themselves The Sweetshop. They recruited bass guitarist and vocalist Steve Priest from a local band called The Army. Priest had previously played with mid-'60s band the Countdowns who had been produced and recorded by Joe Meek. Frank Torpey was again recruited to play guitar. The quartet made its public debut at the Pavilion in Hemel Hempstead on 9 March 1968 and soon developed a following on the pub circuit, which led to a contract with Fontana Records. At the time, another UK band released a single under the same name Sweetshop, so the band abbreviated their moniker to Sweet. The band was managed by Paul Nicholas, who later went on to star in Hair. Nicholas worked with record producer Phil Wainman at Mellin Music Publishing and recommended the band to him. Their debut single "Slow Motion" (July 1968), produced by Wainman, and released on Fontana, failed to chart and owing to its rarity now sells for several hundred pounds when auctioned. Sweet were released from the recording contract and Frank Torpey left. In his autobiography Are You Ready Steve, Priest said that Gordon Fairminer was approached to play for them when Torpey decided to leave Sweet after a gig at Playhouse Theatre Walton-on-Thames on 5 July 1969 but turned the job down as he wanted to concentrate on other interests.
New line-up and new record deal
Guitarist Mick Stewart joined in 1969. Stewart had some rock pedigree, having previously worked with The (Ealing) Redcaps and Simon Scott & The All-Nite Workers in the mid-1960s. In late 1965, that band became The Phil Wainman Set when the future Sweet producer joined on drums and the group cut some singles with Errol Dixon. In early 1966, Stewart left and later worked with Johnny Kidd & The Pirates.
Sweet signed a new record contract with EMI's Parlophone label. Three bubblegum pop singles were released: "Lollipop Man" (September 1969), "All You'll Ever Get from Me" (January 1970), and a cover version of the Archies' "Get on the Line" (June 1970), all of which failed to chart. Stewart then quit, and was not replaced for some time. Connolly and Tucker had a chance meeting with Wainman, who was now producing, and knew of two aspiring songwriters, Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, who were looking for a group to sing some demos they had written. Connolly, Priest, and Tucker provided the vocals on a track called "Funny Funny" which featured Pip Williams on guitar, John Roberts on bass, and Wainman on drums. The latter began offering the track to various recording companies. The band held auditions for a replacement guitarist and settled on Welsh-born Andy Scott. He had most recently been playing with Mike McCartney (brother of Paul) in the Scaffold. As a member of the Elastic Band, he had played guitar on two singles for Decca, "Think of You Baby" and "Do Unto Others". He also appeared on the band's lone album release, Expansions on Life, and on some recordings by the Scaffold. The band rehearsed for a number of weeks before Scott made his live debut with Sweet on 26 September 1970 at the Windsor Ballroom in Redcar.
Sweet initially attempted to combine diverse musical influences, including the Monkees and 1960s bubblegum pop groups such as the Archies, with more heavy rock-oriented groups such as the Who. Sweet adopted the rich vocal harmony style of the Hollies, with distorted guitars and a heavy rhythm section. This fusion of pop and hard rock would remain a central trademark of Sweet's music and prefigured the glam metal of a few years later.
Sweet's initial album appearance was on the budget label Music for Pleasure as part of a compilation called Gimme Dat Ding, released in December 1970. Sweet had one side of the record; the Pipkins (whose sole hit, "Gimme Dat Ding", gave the LP its name) had the other. Sweet's contribution consisted of the A- and B-sides of the band's three Parlophone singles. Andy Scott appears in the album cover shot, even though he did not play on any of the recordings.
First album
Sweet made their UK television debut in December 1970 on a pop show called Lift Off, performing the song "Funny Funny". A management deal was signed with the aforementioned songwriting team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Phil Wainman resumed his collaboration with Sweet, as executive producer. This management deal also included a worldwide record contract with RCA Records, the U.S. excepted: in the United States and Canada Bell Records issued the group's music until late 1973, followed by Capitol Records.
In March 1971 RCA issued "Funny Funny", written by Chinn and Chapman, which became the group's first international hit, climbing to the Top 20 on many of the world's charts. EMI reissued their 1970 single "All You'll Ever Get from Me" (May 1971) and it again failed to chart. Their next RCA release "Co-Co" (June 1971) went to number two in the U.K. and their follow up single, "Alexander Graham Bell" (October 1971), only went to No. 33. These tracks still featured session musicians on the instruments with the quartet providing only the vocals.
Sweet's first full LP album, Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, was released in November 1971. A collection of the band's recent singles supplemented by some new Chinn/Chapman tunes (including "Chop Chop" and "Tom Tom Turnaround") and pop covers (such as the Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream" and the Supremes' "Reflections"), the album, recorded at Nova Studios in London, was produced by Phil Wainman and engineered by Richard Dodd and Eric Holland. It was not a serious contender on the charts.
Initial success and rise to fame
February 1972 saw the release of "Poppa Joe", which reached number 1 in Finland and peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart. The next two singles of that year, "Little Willy" and "Wig-Wam Bam", both reached No. 4 in the UK. "Little Willy" peaked at No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 after a re-issue in 1973, thus becoming the group's biggest American hit. Although "Wig-Wam Bam" remained largely true to the style of Sweet's previous recordings, the vocals and guitars had a harder, more rock-oriented sound, largely because it was the first Chinn-Chapman single on which only members of Sweet played the instruments. In January 1973 "Block Buster!" became Sweet's first single to reach number 1 on the UK chart, remaining there for five consecutive weeks. After their next single "Hell Raiser" was released in May and reached number 2 in the U.K., Sweet's U.S. label, Bell, released the group's first American album The Sweet in July 1973.
To promote their singles, Sweet made numerous appearances on U.K. and European TV shows such as Top of the Pops and Supersonic. In one performance of "Block Buster!" on Top of the Pops Christmas edition, Priest aroused complaints after he appeared replete in a German military uniform, Hitler moustache and displaying a swastika armband. The band also capitalised on the glam rock explosion, rivalling Gary Glitter, T. Rex, Queen, Slade, and Wizzard for outrageous stage clothing.
Despite Sweet's success, the relationship with their management was becoming increasingly tense. While they had developed a large fan-base among teenagers, Sweet were not happy with their 'bubblegum' image. Sweet had always composed their own heavy-rock songs on the B-sides of their singles to contrast with the bubblegum A-sides which were composed by Chinn and Chapman. During this time, Sweet's live performances consisted of B-sides, album tracks, and various medleys of rock and roll classics; they avoided older novelty hits like "Funny Funny" and "Poppa Joe". A 1973 performance at the Palace Theatre and Grand Hall in Kilmarnock ended in Sweet being bottled off stage; the disorder was attributed by some (including Steve Priest) to Sweet's lipstick and eye-shadow look, and by others to the audience being unfamiliar with the concert set (the 1999 CD release Live at the Rainbow 1973 documents a live show from this period). The incident would be immortalised in the hit "The Ballroom Blitz" (September 1973). In the meantime, Sweet's chart success continued, showing particular strength in the UK, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, and Australia. By the end of 1973, the band's name evolved from "The Sweet" to "Sweet". The change would be reflected in all of their releases from 1974 onward.
Forming a new image
By 1974, Sweet had grown tired of the management team of Chinn and Chapman, who wrote the group's major hits and cultivated the band's glam rock image. The group and producer Phil Wainman, assisted by engineer Peter Coleman, recorded the album Sweet Fanny Adams, which was released in April 1974. Sweet's technical proficiency was demonstrated for the first time on self-penned hard rock tracks such as "Sweet F.A." and "Set Me Free". Sweet also adopted a more conventional hard rock sound and appearance. Sweet Fanny Adams also featured compressed high-pitched backing vocal harmonies, which was a trend that continued on all of Sweet's albums.
During sessions for the album, Brian Connolly was injured in a fight in Staines High Street. His throat was badly injured and his ability to sing severely limited. Priest and Scott filled in on lead vocals on some tracks ("No You Don't", "Into The Night" and "Restless") and Connolly, under treatment from a Harley Street specialist, managed to complete the album. The band did not publicise the incident and told the press that subsequent cancelled shows were due to Connolly having a throat infection. This incident reportedly permanently compromised Connolly's singing ability, with his range diminished.
No previous singles appeared on the album, and none were released, except in Japan, New Zealand and Australia, where "Peppermint Twist/Rebel Rouser", apparently released by their record company without their knowledge, gained a No. 1 chart position in the latter. Sweet Fanny Adams would be Sweet's only non-compilation release to break the UK Albums Chart Top 40.
Sweet were invited by Pete Townshend to support the Who, who were playing at Charlton Athletic's football ground, The Valley in June 1974. However, Connolly's badly bruised throat kept them from fulfilling the role. Sweet had frequently cited the Who as being one of their main influences and played a medley of their tracks in their live set for many years.
Desolation Boulevard
Their third album, Desolation Boulevard, was released later in 1974, six months after Sweet Fanny Adams. By that stage, producer Phil Wainman had moved on and the album was produced by Mike Chapman. It was recorded in a mere six days and featured a rawer "live" sound. One track, "The Man with the Golden Arm", written by Elmer Bernstein and Sylvia Fine for the 1955 Frank Sinatra movie of the same name, featured drummer Mick Tucker performing an 8 and half minute solo (although this was not included in the U.S. release). This had been a staple of the band's live performance for years. The first single from the LP, the heavy-melodic "The Six Teens" (July 1974), was a Top 10 hit in the U.K. and still part of the amazing unbroken string of No. 1's in Denmark. However, the subsequent single release, "Turn It Down" (November 1974), reached only No. 41 on the U.K. chart and No. 2 in Denmark. "Turn It Down" received minimal airplay on UK radio and was banned by some radio stations because of certain lyrical content - "God-awful sound" and "For God sakes, turn it down" - which were deemed "unsuitable for family listening." The band resumed playing live shows nearly a full six months after Connolly's throat injury, with band and critics noting a rougher edge to his voice and a reduced range. The album also featured a group composition, "Fox On The Run", which was to be re-recorded months later.
The U.S. version of Desolation Boulevard was different from the U.K. version and included several songs from Sweet Fanny Adams in addition to the "Ballroom Blitz" and "Fox on the Run" singles (both of which peaked at No. 5 in the US). Side One of the album contained all Chapman-Chinn penned songs, while Side Two featured songs written and produced by Sweet.
Writing and producing their own material
In 1975 Sweet went back into the studio to re-arrange and record a more pop-oriented version of the track "Fox on the Run". Sweet's first self-written and produced single, "Fox on the Run" was released worldwide in March 1975 and became their biggest selling hit, reaching number one in Germany, Denmark, and South Africa, number two in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway and the Netherlands and number three in Austria and Switzerland. In Australia it not only made it to the top of the charts, it also became the biggest selling single of that year. The song reached number two in Canada and number five in the U.S. The release of this track marked the end of the formal Chinn-Chapman working relationship and the band stressed it was now fully self-sufficient as writers and producers.
The following single release, "Action" (July 1975), peaked at number 15 in the UK. Now confident in their own songwriting and production abilities, Sweet spent the latter half of 1975 in Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany, where they recorded the Give Us A Wink album with German sound engineer Reinhold Mack, who later recorded with Electric Light Orchestra and co-produced Queen. The new album release was deferred until 1976 so as not to stifle the chart success Desolation Boulevard was enjoying, peaking at number 25 in the US and number 5 in Canada.
With Give Us a Wink being held over, RCA issued a double album in Europe, Strung Up, in November. It contained one live disc, recorded in London in December 1973, and one disc compiling previously released singles (plus an unused track by Chinn and Chapman – "I Wanna Be Committed"). At the end of the year, Andy Scott released his first solo single, "Lady Starlight" b/w "Where D'Ya Go". Tucker played drums on both tracks.
Decline in popularity
January 1976 saw the release of the single "The Lies In Your Eyes", which made the Top 10 in Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Australia, but only reached No. 35 on the U.K. charts. Sweet's first album to be fully produced and written by themselves, Give Us A Wink, was released in March 1976. A third single from the album, "4th Of July", was issued in Australia.
By this time, Sweet strove to build on their growing popularity in America with a schedule of more than fifty headline concert dates. Even though Give Us A Winks release was imminent, the band's set essentially promoted the US version of Desolation Boulevard plus the new US hit single "Action". During an appearance at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in California on 24 March, Sweet played "All Right Now" with Ritchie Blackmore as a tribute to mark the death of Free guitarist Paul Kossoff, who was to have supported Sweet with his band Back Street Crawler. The US tour was not financially successful, with small audiences at many venues leading to the final half-dozen or so dates to be cancelled. Following the end of the tour, the band went on to Scandinavia and Germany. The band also spent a week at the Who's Ramport Studios in Battersea demoing material for a new album before abandoning that project and playing eight dates in Japan. By the end of the Japanese shows Connolly's extremely hoarse singing voice was manifest evidence of the demands of constant touring and the enduring after-effects of his 1974 assault.
Between October 1976 and January 1977, Sweet wrote and recorded new material at Kingsway Recorders and Audio International London studios for their next album. An advance single from the album, "Lost Angels", was only a hit in Germany, Austria and Sweden. A new album, Off the Record, was released in April. The next single from the album, "Fever of Love", represented the band heading in a somewhat more Europop hard rock direction, once again charting in Germany, Austria and Sweden, while reaching number 10 in South Africa. On this album, Sweet again worked with Give Us A Wink engineer Louis Austin, who would later engineer Def Leppard's On Through The Night 1980 début album. The band cancelled a US tour with emerging US rockers Aerosmith, did not play any live dates in support of the album and, in fact, did not play a single concert for the whole of 1977.
Level Headed and a change in style
Sweet left RCA in 1977 and signed a new deal with Polydor though it would not come into force until later in the year. Sweet's manager David Walker, from Handle Artists, negotiated the move which was reputed to be worth around £750,000. In the United States, Canada, and Japan, Capitol had issued Sweet's albums since 1974 and would continue to do so through to 1980.
The first Polydor album, Level Headed (January 1978), found Sweet experimenting by combining rock and classical sounds "a-la clavesin", an approach similar to Electric Light Orchestra's, and featured the single "Love Is Like Oxygen". Largely recorded during 1977 at Château d'Hérouville near Paris, France after a 30-day writing session at Clearwell Castle in the Forest Of Dean UK, the album represented a new musical direction, largely abandoning hard-rock for a more melodic pop style, interspersed with ballads accompanied by a 30-piece orchestra. The ballad, "Lettres D'Amour", featured a duet between Connolly and Stevie Lange (who would emerge as lead singer with the group Night in 1979).
With the addition of session and touring musicians keyboardist Gary Moberley and guitarist Nico Ramsden, Sweet undertook a short European and Scandinavian tour followed by a single British concert at London's Hammersmith Odeon on 24 February 1978. However, "Love Is Like Oxygen" (January 1978) was their last U.K., U.S., and German Top 10 hit. Scott was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for co-composing the song. One more single from the album, "California Nights" (May 1978), featuring Steve Priest as the lead vocalist, peaked at number 23 on the German chart.
Departure of Brian Connolly
Between March and May 1978 Sweet extensively toured the US, as a support act for Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. The tour included a disastrous date in Birmingham, Alabama on 3 May, during which visiting Capitol Records executives in the audience saw Brian Connolly give a drunken and incoherent performance that terminated early in the set with his collapse on stage, leaving the rest of the group to play on without him. The band returned briefly to Britain before resuming the second leg of their US tour in late May supporting other acts, including Foghat and Alice Cooper. Concluding the US tour in early July 1978, Brian's alcoholism and estrangement from the group was steadily becoming a greater issue.
In late October, having spent further time at Clearwell Castle to write for their next album, Sweet arrived at The Town House studio in Shepherd's Bush, London to complete and record, Cut Above the Rest (April 1979). Due to tensions between various members attributed to Connolly's health and diminishing status with the group, his long-time friend and fellow founding member, Mick Tucker, was tasked to produce Connolly's vocals. It was felt Tucker would extract a better performance than Scott from Connolly. A number of tracks were recorded featuring Connolly. However, these efforts were deemed unsatisfactory and Brian left the band on 2 November 1978.
On 23 February 1979, Brian Connolly's departure from Sweet was formally announced by manager David Walker. Publicly, Connolly was said to be pursuing a solo career with an interest in recording country rock.
Three piece Sweet
Sweet continued as a trio with Priest assuming the lion's share of lead vocals, though Scott and Tucker were also active in that role. The first single release for the trio was "Call Me". Guest keyboard player Gary Moberley continued to augment the group on stage. Guitarist Ray McRiner joined their touring line-up in 1979, with a small tour with Journey in the eastern United States and Cheap Trick in Texas in the spring and summer of '79 to support Cut Above The Rest (which was released in April 1979). McRiner would also contribute the songs "Too Much Talking" and the single "Give The Lady Some Respect" to the next Sweet album, Waters Edge (August 1980), which was recorded in Canada. In the US, Waters Edge was titled Sweet VI. It featured the singles "Sixties Man" and "Give The Lady Some Respect". Tragedy befell Mick Tucker when his wife Pauline drowned in the bath at their home on 26 December 1979. The band withdrew from live work for all of 1980.
One more studio album, Identity Crisis, was recorded during 1980–81 but was only released in West Germany and Mexico. Sweet undertook a short tour of the UK and performed their last live show at Glasgow University on 20 March 1981. Steve Priest then returned to the United States, where he had been living since late 1979. When Polydor released Identity Crisis in October 1982, the original Sweet had been disbanded for almost a year.
Re-formed versions (1984–present)
Andy Scott's Sweet (1985–present)
Andy Scott and Mick Tucker organised their own version of Sweet with Paul Mario Day (ex-Iron Maiden, More, Wildfire) on lead vocals, Phil Lanzon (ex-Grand Prix) on keyboards and Mal McNulty on bass. The band performed at the Marquee Club in London in February 1986, with the shows recorded and gaining release a few years later, bolstered by four new studio tracks including a cover of the Motown standard "Reach Out I'll Be There". This line-up also toured Australian and New Zealand pubs and clubs for more than three months in 1985 and for a similar period again in 1986. Singer Paul Day ended up marrying the band's Australian tour guide and relocating downunder. He continued with Sweet commuting back and forth to Europe for the group's tours until this proved to be too cumbersome. He departed in late 1988. As McNulty moved into the front man spot, Jeff Brown came in to take over bass early in 1989. Lanzon too went back and forth between Sweet and Uriah Heep during 1986-1988 before Heep's schedule grew too busy. Malcolm Pearson and then Ian Gibbons (who had played with The Kinks and The Records) both filled in for Lanzon until Steve Mann (Liar, Lionheart, McAuley Schenker Group) arrived in December 1989.
Tucker departed after a show in Lochau, Austria, on 5 May 1991. He later was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia. Three drummers, Andy Hoyler, Bobby Andersen and Bruce Bisland (Weapon, Wildfire, Praying Mantis), provided short-term relief before Bodo Schopf (McAuley Schenker Group) took over. They recorded an album during this period, simply titled A. Before the band embarked on the supporting tour for A in 1992, Bodo left and Bisland returned as permanent percussionist. Scott changed the band's name to 'Andy Scott's Sweet' after Tucker's departure but truncated it to simply 'The Sweet' once again after Tucker's death in 2002.
Mal McNulty, now lead vocalist, departed in 1994, though he would return briefly that year to fill in for Jeff Brown on bass (as he would again in 1995 as lead singer for a few dates while Rocky Newton subbed on bass). Sweet's former keyboard men Gary Moberley and Ian Gibbons also did fill-in jaunts with the group that year, as did Chris Goulstone. Chad Brown (ex-Lionheart; no relation to Jeff) was the new front man. Glitz Blitz and Hitz, a new studio album of re-recorded Sweet hits, was released during this period.
In 1996 Mann left to take a job in television and Gibbons came back for a short time before Steve Grant (ex-The Animals) became the permanent keyboardist. When Chad Brown quit in 1998 after developing a throat infection, Jeff Brown assumed lead vocals and bass duties. After this, the band was stable again for the next five years.
The mid-2000s would bring further confusing shake-ups and rotations. Tony O'Hora (ex-Onslaught, Praying Mantis) replaced Brown as lead vocalist in 2003. Ian Gibbons came back for a third stint as fill-in keyboardist in June 2005 for a gig in the Faroe Islands. O'Hora decided to split to take a teaching job in late 2005. Grant then jumped from keyboards to lead vocals and bass as Phil Lanzon returned on keyboards for a tour of Russia and Germany in October/November. New singer Mark Thompson Smith (ex-Praying Mantis) joined in November 2005 for some Swedish gigs, while Jo Burt (ex-Black Sabbath) was temporary bass player. Tony Mills (ex-Shy) was slated to be Sweet's new singer in early 2006 but failed to work out and left after six shows in Denmark. At this point, O'Hora came back as fill in front man and then Grant did another turn himself as the singer/bassist (Steve Mann depped on keyboards) until the group finally landed a new permanent front man when Peter Lincoln (ex-Sailor) arrived in July 2006. The line-up then consisted of Scott, Bisland, Grant and Lincoln.
Scott produced the Suzi Quatro album Back to the Drive, released in February 2006. March 2006 saw the U.S. release of his band's album Sweetlife.
In 2007 the group played in Germany, Belgium, Austria and Italy. In May of that year, the band played in Porto Alegre and Curitiba, Brazil, their first and only South American shows. The tour was called the 'Sweet Fanny Adams Tour'.
The band toured again in March 2008 under the name 'Sweet Fanny Adams Revisited Tour'. In May and June, Scott's Sweet were part of the "Glitz Blitz & 70s Hitz" tour of the UK alongside The Rubettes and Showaddywaddy.
In March and April 2010, Scott was absent from a couple of gigs due to ill health and Martin Mickels stood in. Scott revealed later that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was treated at the Bristol Royal Infirmary. After a course of treatment and rest, he was back to full touring fitness. In 2010 the band played at venues in Europe and back at Bilston in October.
In March 2011 there was a short tour of Australia, Regal Theatre - Perth, and Clipsal 500, Adelaide with the Doobie Brothers. Also in 2011, Tony O'Hora came back to the group, this time as keyboardist, after Grant departed.
In March 2012 the band released a new album New York Connection. Recorded in England, it comprised 11 cover versions, including the 2011 single "Join Together" and one revamped original recording; the 1972 B-side "New York Connection". All the covers either featured 'bits and pieces' of Sweet hits or other artist songs, such as a "new version of the Ramones Blitzkrieg Bop [which] shared space with samples from ‘Ballroom Blitz,’ and a take on Hello’s New York Groove (made famous in the US by Ace Frehley) featured a sample from Jay-Z’s Empire State Of Mind along with other Sweet references."
On the eve of their March 2012 "Join Together" tour of Australia, the band undertook an acoustic performance of three tracks, "New York Groove-Empire State of Mind", "Blockbuster" and "Peppermint Twist", in front of a live audience at ABC Radio Studios in East Perth. Shows in Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Geelong, Melbourne and Sydney featured tracks from the new album for the first time.
Paul Manzi joined Sweet on their 2014 Australian tour, replacing Tony O'Hora who was absent for personal reasons. Manzi played guitar, keyboard and undertook lead vocals on "Set Me Free" and "AC-DC" as the band performed shows in regional centres, including outback Western Australia, Darwin and far-north Queensland, NSW and Victoria during February and March. The band, with O'Hora back in the ranks, returned to Australia in September 2014 as the headlining act for "Rock The Boat 4". This was a cruise aboard the ship Rhapsody of the Seas which departed Sydney and took in New Caledonia and Vanuatu. The band played two gigs and various members guested with Australian veteran performers including Brian Cadd and Russell Morris and members of AC/DC, The Angels, Rose Tattoo and Skyhooks.
In June 2015 it was revealed that the band were going on an extensive tour of the UK in late 2015 and that this tour would probably be their last.
For the 2015 summer tour dates, Paul Manzi returned to sub for Peter Lincoln who left this online message to the fans: "There have been a few rumours going around this weekend, so . . . just to say that I am alive and well! The short explanation for my absence is that I need to rest my voice for a few weeks. We are lucky that our good friend Paul Manzi is able to step in, and Tony knows the role of bass player/singer, so the shows can go ahead, and they will be great! I look forward to being back on stage very soon."
Pete Lincoln duly resumed his role in the band and they continued with extensive live dates, known as the "Finale" tour in Germany.
In 2017 after Andy undertook a successful Australian visit with Suzi Quatro and Don Powell in the side outfit known as QSP, Sweet was again booked for an extensive European tour. In the years following both Tony O'Hora and Pete Lincoln departed the band. Paul Manzi returned as permanent lead vocalist, quitting the popular outfit Cats in Space to do so. Lee Small joined as bassist and backing vocalist. Former guitarist and keyboard player Steve Mann joined for a handful of shows as a special guest. During the COVID-19 pandemic the band recorded a new album of old tracks entitled Isolation Boulevard.
New Sweet, Brian Connolly's Sweet (1984–1997)
In 1984 Brian Connolly formed a new version of the Sweet without any of the other original members. Despite recurring ill health, Connolly toured the UK and Europe with his band, "Brian Connolly's Sweet", which was then renamed to "New Sweet". His most successful concerts were in West Germany, before and after reunification.
During 1987, Connolly met up again with Frank Torpey. Torpey later explained in interviews Connolly was trying to get a German recording deal. The two got on very well and Torpey subsequently invited Connolly to go into the recording studio with him, as an informal project. After much trepidation, Connolly turned up and the track "Sharontina" was recorded. This recording would not be released until 1998, appearing on Frank Torpey's album Sweeter.
By July 1990, plans were made for Connolly and his band to tour Australia in November. During the long flight to Australia, Connolly's health had suffered and he was hospitalised in Adelaide Hospital, allegedly for dehydration and related problems. The rest of the band played a show in Adelaide without him. After being released from the hospital, Connolly joined the other band members in Melbourne for a gig at the Pier Hotel, in Frankston. After several other shows, including one at the Dingley Powerhouse, Connolly and his band played a final date at Melbourne's Greek Theatre. It was felt Connolly's health was sufficient reason for the tour not to be extended, and some of the planned dates were abandoned. Connolly went back to England and his band appeared on The Bob Downe Christmas show on 18 December 1990.
During the early 1990s, Connolly played the European "oldies" circuit and occasional outdoor festivals in Europe with his band. On 22 March 1992, a heavy duty tape recorder was stolen from the band's van whilst at a gig in the Bristol Hippodrome with Mud. It contained demos of four new songs, totalling about 20 mixes.
Legal problems were going on in the background over the use of the Sweet name between Connolly and Andy Scott. Both parties agreed to distinguish their group's names to help promoters and fans. The New Sweet went back to being called Brian Connolly's Sweet and Andy Scott's version became Andy Scott's Sweet.
In 1994, Connolly and his band played in Dubai. He appeared at the Galleria Theatre, Hyatt Regency. He also performed in Bahrain.
By this time Connolly had healed the differences with Steve Priest and Mick Tucker, and was invited to the wedding of Priest's eldest daughter, Lisa. At the private function, for which Priest specially flew back to England, Priest and Connolly performed together.
In 1995, Connolly released a new album entitled Let's Go. His partner Jean, whom he had met a few years earlier, gave birth to a son. Connolly also performed in Switzerland that year.
On 2 November 1996 British TV Network Channel 4 aired a programme Don't Leave Me This Way, which examined Connolly's time as a pop star with the Sweet, the subsequent decline in the band's popularity, and its impact on Connolly and the other band members. The show revealed Connolly's ill health but also that he was continuing with his concert dates at Butlins. Connolly and his band had appeared at Butlins a number of times on tour during the early 1990s.
Connolly's final concert was at the Bristol Hippodrome on 5 December 1996, with Slade II and John Rossall's Glitter Band Experience.
Steve Priest's Sweet (2008–Present)
In January 2008, Steve Priest assembled his own version of the Sweet in Los Angeles. He enlisted a guitarist Stuart Smith and L.A. native Richie Onori, Smith's bandmate in Heaven & Earth, was brought in on drums. The keyboard spot was manned by ex-Crow and World Classic Rockers alumni Stevie Stewart. Front-man and vocalist Joe Retta was brought in to round out the line-up.
After an initial appearance on L.A. rock station 95.5 KLOS's popular Mark & Brian radio programme, the "Are You Ready Steve?" tour kicked off at the Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood on 12 June 2008. The band spent the next several months playing festivals and gigs throughout the U.S. and Canada, including Moondance Jam in Walker, Minnesota; headlining at the Rock N Resort Music Festival in North Lawrence, Ohio (near Canal Fulton); London, Ontario's Rock the Park; another headlining gig at Peterborough's Festival of Lights; the Common Ground Festival in Lansing, Michigan; and a benefit concert for victims of California's wildfires at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California.
In January 2009, the Sweet presented at the concert industry's Pollstar Awards, and also played a short set at the Nokia Theatre where the event was held, marking the first time in the ceremony's history that a band performed at the show. In addition to local gigs at the House of Blues on L.A.'s Sunset Strip and Universal CityWalk, 2009 saw the band return to Canada for sold-out shows at the Mae Wilson Theater and Casino Regina, as well as the Nakusp Music Fest and Rockin' the Fields of Minnedosa in Minnedosa, Manitoba. U.S. festivals have included Minnesota's Halfway Jam, Rockin' the Rivers in Montana (with Pat Travers and Peter Frampton), and two late-summer shows at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
The new band recorded a cover version of the Beatles' "Ticket to Ride", which was included on Cleopatra Records' Abbey Road, a Fab Four tribute CD that was released on 24 March 2009.
A preview of the band's new CD Live in America, which was recorded live at the Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa in Cabazon, California on 30 August 2008, was featured on KLOS's "Front Row" programme on 12 April 2009. The CD, which was first sold at shows and via the band's on-line store, was released worldwide in an exclusive deal with Amazon.com on 21 July 2009. The release has garnered favourable reviews from The Rock n Roll Report, Classic Rock Revisited and Hard Rock Haven, among others.
In April 2010, the band released its first single on iTunes: an updated, hard rock version of the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There." Performances on the 2010 summer tour included the Wildflower! Arts and Music Festival in Richardson, Texas; Las Vegas, Nevada's Fremont Street Experience; Rock N' America in Oklahoma City, OK; Summer Jam in Des Moines, Iowa; Jack FM's Fifth Show at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Los Angeles; an appearance at the Hard Rock Hotel in Biloxi, Mississippi; and the inaugural edition of the Thunder Mountain Rock Festival in Sawyer, North Dakota.
On 11 November 2010, it was announced that in May 2011 "Steve Priest's Sweet" had been booked to perform at a handful of European dates, but the gigs ultimately had to be cancelled in late January 2011 after it was learned that one of the promoters was a suspected swindler wanted by British law enforcement officials. As of February 2011, fans who purchased pre-sale tickets were still in the process of working through the administrative channels with PayPal and various banks and credit card issuers in order to try to reclaim their funds.
The band toured South America along with Journey during March 2011.
The band and their European fans then also got re-united quicker than thought, when the band got booked by a befriended female Belgian promoter. Two east German gigs, 27 and 28 May 2011, so in Borna and in Schwarzenberg Steve Priest's Sweet hit the European grounds. After more than 30 years, Steve Priest got a warm welcome back in Europe.
As of 12 August 2012, Stuart Smith resigned from the guitar post in order to dedicate more time to his "Heaven & Earth" project.
Beginning with the band's October 2012 appearance at the Festival Internacional Chihuahua in Mexico, Los Angeles-based guitarist Ricky Z. teamed up with Steve Priest and company for their live performances. In February 2013, this lineup returned to Casino Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada. Tour dates played in summer 2013 included Riverfest in Watertown, Wisconsin, the St. Clair, MI Riverfest, several additional dates in Canada, and a reprise of their appearances at both Moondance Jam in Walker, MN and Rockin' the Rivers in Three Forks, Montana. The band made some rare appearances on the U.S. east coast in July 2013, including a performance with David Johansen of the New York Dolls at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, New Jersey. Singer Joe Retta was unavailable for these dates due to a scheduling conflict, so Tribe of Gypsies frontman Chas West, who has played with Jason Bonham's band and has experience subbing in such well-known bands as Foreigner, Lynch Mob and Diamond Head, stepped in to man the microphone for a series of shows in New York, New Jersey and Maryland.
On 27 August 2014, Steve Priest announced on the band's Facebook page that guitarist Mitch Perry had been tapped for the guitar slot. Most recently on tour with Lita Ford, Mitch's other credentials included his work with Michael Schenker Group, Asia Featuring John Payne, Edgar Winter, Billy Sheehan and David Lee Roth His first live appearance with Sweet was at the Rock the River festival in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on 23 August 2014.
22 December 2017 saw the launch of the 50th anniversary tour at the Whisky a Go Go on L.A.'s Sunset Strip and the introduction of new singer Paul Zablidowski AKA "Paulie Z" former lead singer and guitarist of ZO2, children's band "The Z Brothers" and star of IFC show Z-Rock. Recently known as the host for local show "Ultimate Jam Night." Z replaced Joe Retta, who had served as the frontman for the Los Angeles incarnation of Sweet since its formation in 2008. Priest died on 4 June 2020.
Brief reunions and the deaths of Brian Connolly, Mick Tucker and Steve Priest
Steve Priest was asked to join Tucker and Scott for the 1985 Australian tour, but declined at the last moment.
Mike Chapman contacted Connolly, Priest, Scott, and Tucker in 1988, offering to finance a recording session in Los Angeles. As he remembers: "I met them at the airport and Andy and Mick came off the plane. I said, 'Where's Brian?' They said, 'Oh, he's coming.' All the people had come off the plane by now. Then this little old man hobbled towards us. He was shaking, and had a ghostly white face. I thought, 'Oh, Jesus Christ.' It was horrifying." Reworked studio versions of "Action" and "The Ballroom Blitz" were recorded, but it became clear that Connolly's voice and physical health had made Sweet's original member comeback too difficult to promote commercially. Consequently, the reunion attempt was aborted.
In 1990 this line-up was again reunited for the promotion of a music documentary entitled Sweet's Ballroom Blitz. This UK video release, which contained UK television performances from the 1970s and current-day interviews, was released at Tower Records, London. Sweet was interviewed by Power Hour, Super Channel, and spoke of a possible reunion.
Brian Connolly died at the age of 51 on 9 February 1997, from liver failure and repeated heart attacks, attributed to his abuse of alcohol in the 1970s and early 1980s. Mick Tucker died on 14 February 2002 from leukemia, at the age of 54. On 4 June 2020 it was announced that Steve Priest had died. It left Andy Scott as the sole living member of Sweet's 'classic lineup'.
Later years
Two versions of The Sweet were active with original members: "Andy Scott's Sweet", who frequently tour across Europe as Sweet and makes occasional sojourns to other markets including regular visits to Australia, and "Steve Priest's Sweet" who toured the US and Canada.
On 28 April 2009, Shout! Factory released a two-disc, career-spanning greatest hits album called Action: The Sweet Anthology. It received a four-star (out of five) rating in Rolling Stone.
In September 2009 Ace Frehley released his version of "Fox on the Run" on his album Anomaly.
In an October 2012 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Axl Rose, lead singer of Guns N' Roses, referenced Sweet as one of his favourite bands growing up along with fellow British band Queen.
In April 2016, the chart topping song (1973), "The Ballroom Blitz" was featured in a trailer for Suicide Squad.
In December 2016, their single "Fox on the Run" (1975) was featured in a trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
In 2019, the songs "Fox on the Run" and "Set Me Free" were featured in an episode of Jamie Johnson.
Personnel
Original band
Classic lineup
Brian Connolly – lead vocals, percussion, synthesizer, acoustic guitar (1968–1978; died 1997)
Steve Priest – bass, backing and lead vocals (1968–1981; died 2020)
Mick Tucker – drums, percussion, backing and lead vocals (1968–1981; died 2002)
Andy Scott – guitars, keyboards, synthesizers, piano, backing and lead vocals (1970–1981)
Early members
Frank Torpey – guitars (1968–1969)
Mick Stewart – guitars (1969–1970)
Touring musicians
Gary Moberley – keyboards, synthesizers, piano (1978–1981)
Nico Ramsden – guitar (1978)
Ray McRiner – guitar (1979)
Andy Scott’s Sweet
Current members
Andy Scott – guitars, keyboards, synthesizers, piano, backing and lead vocals (1985–present)
Bruce Bisland – drums, backing vocals (1992–present)
Paul Manzi – lead vocals (2019–present; substitute appearances in 2014 and 2015)
Lee Small – bass, backing vocals (2019–present)
Former members
Mick Tucker – drums, backing vocals (1985–1991; died 2002)
Paul Mario Day – lead vocals (1985–1989)
Phil Lanzon – keyboards, piano, backing vocals (1985–1989; 2005—2006)
Mal McNulty – bass, lead and backing vocals (1985–1995)
Jeff Brown – bass, lead and backing vocals (1989–2003)
Steve Mann – keyboards, guitars, backing vocals (1989-1996)
Bodo Schopf – drums, backing vocals (1991–1992)
Chad Brown — lead vocals (1995–1998)
Steve Grant — keyboards, piano, backing vocals (1996–2005, 2006–2011); lead vocals, bass (2005–2006)
Tony O’Hora – lead and backing vocals, bass (2003–2005, 2006, 2011–2019), guitars, keyboards (2011–2019)
Peter Lincoln – bass, lead and backing vocals (2006–2019)
Timeline
Discography
Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be (1971)
Sweet Fanny Adams (1974)
Desolation Boulevard (1974)
Give Us a Wink (1976)
Off the Record (1977)
Level Headed (1978)
Cut Above the Rest (1979)
Waters Edge (titled Sweet VI with a different cover in the U.S.) (1980)
Identity Crisis (1982)
Sweetlife (2002) by Andy Scott's Sweet
Isolation Boulevard (2020) by Andy Scott's Sweet
References
Bibliography
(2008 eBook available at )
External links
Channel 4 documentary on The Sweet from 1996
English hard rock musical groups
English glam rock groups
Musical groups established in 1968
Capitol Records artists
Polydor Records artists
RCA Records artists
1968 establishments in the United Kingdom
Musical groups disestablished in 1982
1982 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Musical groups reestablished in 1985
1985 establishments in the United Kingdom | true | [
"Rise is the debut album by Northern Ireland rock band The Answer. It has sold in excess of 30,000 copies in the UK & Europe and 10,000 on day one in Japan.\n\nThe album was recorded at Olympic Studio 1 at the Monnow Valley Studio in Wales and the Albert Studio in London during the fall of 2005. Produced by Andy Bradfield and Avril MacKintosh, the Albert Productions team (with back room production from George Young) and Neal Calderwood from the band's hometown.\n\nTracks released from the album were \"Never Too Late\", \"Into The Gutter\", \"Under The Sky\", \"Come Follow Me\" and \"Be What You Want\".\n\nTheir website initially stated that Rise should have been released in the United States by December 2010. However, since signing with Napalm Records, they have announced that re-releases of The Answer's back catalogue will be released in the United States and other key territories in the near future. It was eventually released in the US in late 2013.\n\nTrack listings\n\nPersonnel\nCormac Neeson - Lead vocals\nPaul Mahon - Guitar\nMicky Waters - Bass\nJames Heatley - Drums\n\nStudio Personnel \nRecorded at: Olympic Studios, Monnow Valley, Albert's\n\nEngineered by: Avril Mackintosh, Andy Bradfield\n\nMixed by: Andy Bradfield\n\nSpecial edition\nA special edition version of the album was released on 17 June 2007 under the name \"Rise: Special Edition\". It contained two discs, with the first being the original \"Rise\" track listing, and the second being a collection of B-Sides, live recordings, as well as some acoustic sessions. It was given four out of five stars by TheMusicZine.\n\nSpecial edition disc 2 track listing\n\nThe live versions of \"Come Follow Me\", \"Sometimes Your Love\" and \"Be What You Want/Moment Jam\" are also available on the Everyday Demons special edition CDs.\n\nSingles\n\nUnder the Sky\n\"Under the Sky\" is a song by The Answer which was featured on their album Rise, and was released as a download-only single in 2006.\n\nTrack listing\n \"Under the Sky\"\n \"I Won't Let You Down\"\n \"Doctor\" (live session)\n \"Under the Sky\" (video)\n\nCome Follow Me\n\"Come Follow Me\" is a song by The Answer which was featured on their album Rise, and was released as a download-only single in 2006.\n\nTrack listing\n \"Come Follow Me\"\n \"Preachin'\" (acoustic)\n \"So Cold\"\n\nBe What You Want\n\"Be What You Want\" is a song by The Answer. It was featured on their album Rise, and was released as a download-only single in 2007.\n\nTrack listing\n \"Be What You Want\"\n \"Sweet Emotion\"\n \"Into the Gutter\" (acoustic)\n \"No Questions Asked\" (live radio version)\n\nReferences\n\n2006 debut albums\nThe Answer (band) albums\nAlbert Productions albums",
"What If... is the seventh full-length studio album by the American rock band Mr. Big, which was released on January 21, 2011 through Frontiers Records. It was the band's first album since their 2009 reunion, their first album in 10 years since 2001's Actual Size and their first album with the original line-up featuring guitarist Paul Gilbert since 1996's Hey Man.\n\nThe album was recorded between September–October 2010 in a Los Angeles-area studio with producer Kevin Shirley (Iron Maiden, Aerosmith, Rush, Black Country Communion).\n\nThe first single from the album, \"Undertow\", was released on November 27, 2010. A music video was filmed for the single and featured on the special edition DVD of the album The album was supported by a world tour in 2011.\n\nTrack listing\n\nPersonnel\nMr. Big\n Eric Martin – lead vocals\n Paul Gilbert – guitar, backing vocals\n Billy Sheehan – bass guitar, backing vocals\n Pat Torpey – drums, percussion and backing vocals\n\nProduction\nKevin Shirley – producer, mixing\nVanessa Parr – engineer at Village Recorders\nJared Kvitka – engineer at The Cave\nSteve Hall – mastering at Future Disc, Los Angeles\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n 'What If...' Album Review\n WHD Entertainment Website\n\nMr. Big (American band) albums\n2011 albums\nFrontiers Records albums\nAlbums produced by Kevin Shirley"
] |
[
"The Sweet",
"First album",
"What was the sweets first album?",
"The Sweet's first full LP album, Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, was released in November 1971.",
"did it do well?",
"It was not a serious contender on the charts.",
"what was special about their first album?",
"A collection of the band's recent singles supplemented by some new Chinn/Chapman tunes"
] | C_b1e767986d2542acaf8dafe8942132ea_0 | did the band tour? | 4 | Did The Sweet tour? | The Sweet | The Sweet made their UK television debut in December 1970 on a pop show called Lift Off, performing the song "Funny Funny". A management deal was signed with the aforementioned songwriting team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Phil Wainman resumed his collaboration with Sweet, as executive producer. This management deal also included a worldwide (the U.S. excepted) record contract with RCA Records (in the United States and Canada Bell Records issued the group's music until late 1973; followed by Capitol Records). In March 1971 RCA issued "Funny Funny", written by Chinn and Chapman, which became the group's first international hit, climbing to the Top 20 on many of the world's charts. EMI reissued their 1970 single "All You'll Ever Get from Me" (May 1971) and it again failed to chart. Their next RCA release "Co-Co" (June 1971) went to number two in the U.K. and their follow up single, "Alexander Graham Bell" (October 1971), only went to #33. These tracks still featured session musicians on the instruments with the quartet providing only the vocals. The Sweet's first full LP album, Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, was released in November 1971. A collection of the band's recent singles supplemented by some new Chinn/Chapman tunes (including "Chop Chop" and "Tom Tom Turnaround") and pop covers (such as the Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream" and the Supremes' "Reflections"), the album, recorded at Nova Studios in London, was produced by Phil Wainman and engineered by Richard Dodd and Eric Holland. It was not a serious contender on the charts. Their albums' failure to match the success of their singles was a problem that would plague the band throughout their career. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | The Sweet, sometimes also shortened to just Sweet, are a British glam rock band that rose to worldwide fame in the 1970s. Their best known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bass player Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott, and drummer Mick Tucker. The group was originally called The Sweetshop.
The band was formed in London in 1968 and achieved their first hit, "Funny Funny", in 1971 after teaming up with songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman and record producer Phil Wainman. During 1971 and 1972, their musical style followed a marked progression from the Archies-like bubblegum style of "Funny Funny" to a Who-influenced hard rock style supplemented by a striking use of high-pitched backing vocals.
The band first achieved success in the UK charts, with thirteen Top 20 hits during the 1970s alone, with "Block Buster!" (1973) topping the chart, followed by three consecutive number two hits in "Hell Raiser" (1973), "The Ballroom Blitz" (1973) and "Teenage Rampage" (1974). The band turned to a more hard rock style with their mid-career singles, like 1974's "Turn It Down". "Fox on the Run" (1975) also reached number two on the UK charts. These results were topped in West Germany and other countries on the European mainland. They also achieved success and popularity in the US with the top ten hits "Little Willy", "The Ballroom Blitz", "Fox on the Run", and "Love is Like Oxygen".
The Sweet had their last international success in 1978 with "Love Is Like Oxygen". Connolly left the group in 1979 to start a solo career and the remaining members continued as a trio until disbanding in 1981. From the mid-1980s, Scott, Connolly and Priest each played with their own versions of Sweet at different times. Connolly died in 1997, Tucker in 2002 and Priest in 2020. Andy Scott is still active with his version of the band. Sweet have since sold over 35 million albums worldwide.
History
Origins
Sweet's origins can be traced back to British soul band Wainwright's Gentlemen. Mark Lay's history of that band states they formed around 1962 and were initially known as Unit 4. Founding members included Chris Wright (vocals), Jan Frewer (bass), with Jim Searle and Alfred Fripp on guitars. Phil Kenton joined on drums as the band changed its name to Wainwright's Gentlemen (due to there being another band known as Unit 4). Managed by Frewer's father, the band performed in the Hayes, Harrow and Wembley area. By 1964 the group was also playing in London, including at the Saint Germain Club on Poland Street.
In January 1964 the band came fifth in a national beat group contest, with finals held at the Lyceum Strand on 4 May 1964. Highlights of the show were presented on BBC1 by Alan Freeman. Chris Wright left the line-up in late 1964 and was replaced by Ian Gillan. A female vocalist named Ann Cully soon joined the band. Mick Tucker, from Ruislip, joined on drums replacing Phil Kenton. The band recorded a number of tracks including a cover of the Coasters-Hollies hit "Ain't That Just Like Me", which was probably recorded at Jackson Sound Studios in Rickmansworth. The track includes Gillan on vocals, Tucker on drums and, according to band bassist Jan Frewer, is thought to have been recorded in 1965. Gillan quit in May 1965 to join Episode Six, and later, Deep Purple. Cully remained as vocalist before departing some time later. Gillan's and Cully's eventual replacement, in late 1966, was Scots-born vocalist Brian Connolly, who hailed more recently from Harefield. Tony Hall had joined on saxophone and vocals and when Fripp left he was replaced by Gordon Fairminer. Fairminer's position was eventually assumed by Frank Torpey (born Frank Edward Torpey, 30 April 1945, Kilburn, North West London) - a schoolfriend of Tucker's who had just left West London group The Tribe (aka The Dream). Torpey only lasted a few months, and in late 1967 Robin Box (born 19 June 1944) took his place. Searle, regarded by many as the most talented musically, disappeared from the scene. Tucker and Connolly remained with Wainwright's Gentlemen until January 1968. Tucker was replaced by Roger Hills. When the Gentlemen eventually broke up, Hills and Box joined White Plains who eventually scored a big hit with "My Baby Loves Lovin'".
Early years
In January 1968 Connolly and Tucker formed a new band calling themselves The Sweetshop. They recruited bass guitarist and vocalist Steve Priest from a local band called The Army. Priest had previously played with mid-'60s band the Countdowns who had been produced and recorded by Joe Meek. Frank Torpey was again recruited to play guitar. The quartet made its public debut at the Pavilion in Hemel Hempstead on 9 March 1968 and soon developed a following on the pub circuit, which led to a contract with Fontana Records. At the time, another UK band released a single under the same name Sweetshop, so the band abbreviated their moniker to Sweet. The band was managed by Paul Nicholas, who later went on to star in Hair. Nicholas worked with record producer Phil Wainman at Mellin Music Publishing and recommended the band to him. Their debut single "Slow Motion" (July 1968), produced by Wainman, and released on Fontana, failed to chart and owing to its rarity now sells for several hundred pounds when auctioned. Sweet were released from the recording contract and Frank Torpey left. In his autobiography Are You Ready Steve, Priest said that Gordon Fairminer was approached to play for them when Torpey decided to leave Sweet after a gig at Playhouse Theatre Walton-on-Thames on 5 July 1969 but turned the job down as he wanted to concentrate on other interests.
New line-up and new record deal
Guitarist Mick Stewart joined in 1969. Stewart had some rock pedigree, having previously worked with The (Ealing) Redcaps and Simon Scott & The All-Nite Workers in the mid-1960s. In late 1965, that band became The Phil Wainman Set when the future Sweet producer joined on drums and the group cut some singles with Errol Dixon. In early 1966, Stewart left and later worked with Johnny Kidd & The Pirates.
Sweet signed a new record contract with EMI's Parlophone label. Three bubblegum pop singles were released: "Lollipop Man" (September 1969), "All You'll Ever Get from Me" (January 1970), and a cover version of the Archies' "Get on the Line" (June 1970), all of which failed to chart. Stewart then quit, and was not replaced for some time. Connolly and Tucker had a chance meeting with Wainman, who was now producing, and knew of two aspiring songwriters, Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, who were looking for a group to sing some demos they had written. Connolly, Priest, and Tucker provided the vocals on a track called "Funny Funny" which featured Pip Williams on guitar, John Roberts on bass, and Wainman on drums. The latter began offering the track to various recording companies. The band held auditions for a replacement guitarist and settled on Welsh-born Andy Scott. He had most recently been playing with Mike McCartney (brother of Paul) in the Scaffold. As a member of the Elastic Band, he had played guitar on two singles for Decca, "Think of You Baby" and "Do Unto Others". He also appeared on the band's lone album release, Expansions on Life, and on some recordings by the Scaffold. The band rehearsed for a number of weeks before Scott made his live debut with Sweet on 26 September 1970 at the Windsor Ballroom in Redcar.
Sweet initially attempted to combine diverse musical influences, including the Monkees and 1960s bubblegum pop groups such as the Archies, with more heavy rock-oriented groups such as the Who. Sweet adopted the rich vocal harmony style of the Hollies, with distorted guitars and a heavy rhythm section. This fusion of pop and hard rock would remain a central trademark of Sweet's music and prefigured the glam metal of a few years later.
Sweet's initial album appearance was on the budget label Music for Pleasure as part of a compilation called Gimme Dat Ding, released in December 1970. Sweet had one side of the record; the Pipkins (whose sole hit, "Gimme Dat Ding", gave the LP its name) had the other. Sweet's contribution consisted of the A- and B-sides of the band's three Parlophone singles. Andy Scott appears in the album cover shot, even though he did not play on any of the recordings.
First album
Sweet made their UK television debut in December 1970 on a pop show called Lift Off, performing the song "Funny Funny". A management deal was signed with the aforementioned songwriting team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Phil Wainman resumed his collaboration with Sweet, as executive producer. This management deal also included a worldwide record contract with RCA Records, the U.S. excepted: in the United States and Canada Bell Records issued the group's music until late 1973, followed by Capitol Records.
In March 1971 RCA issued "Funny Funny", written by Chinn and Chapman, which became the group's first international hit, climbing to the Top 20 on many of the world's charts. EMI reissued their 1970 single "All You'll Ever Get from Me" (May 1971) and it again failed to chart. Their next RCA release "Co-Co" (June 1971) went to number two in the U.K. and their follow up single, "Alexander Graham Bell" (October 1971), only went to No. 33. These tracks still featured session musicians on the instruments with the quartet providing only the vocals.
Sweet's first full LP album, Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, was released in November 1971. A collection of the band's recent singles supplemented by some new Chinn/Chapman tunes (including "Chop Chop" and "Tom Tom Turnaround") and pop covers (such as the Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream" and the Supremes' "Reflections"), the album, recorded at Nova Studios in London, was produced by Phil Wainman and engineered by Richard Dodd and Eric Holland. It was not a serious contender on the charts.
Initial success and rise to fame
February 1972 saw the release of "Poppa Joe", which reached number 1 in Finland and peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart. The next two singles of that year, "Little Willy" and "Wig-Wam Bam", both reached No. 4 in the UK. "Little Willy" peaked at No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 after a re-issue in 1973, thus becoming the group's biggest American hit. Although "Wig-Wam Bam" remained largely true to the style of Sweet's previous recordings, the vocals and guitars had a harder, more rock-oriented sound, largely because it was the first Chinn-Chapman single on which only members of Sweet played the instruments. In January 1973 "Block Buster!" became Sweet's first single to reach number 1 on the UK chart, remaining there for five consecutive weeks. After their next single "Hell Raiser" was released in May and reached number 2 in the U.K., Sweet's U.S. label, Bell, released the group's first American album The Sweet in July 1973.
To promote their singles, Sweet made numerous appearances on U.K. and European TV shows such as Top of the Pops and Supersonic. In one performance of "Block Buster!" on Top of the Pops Christmas edition, Priest aroused complaints after he appeared replete in a German military uniform, Hitler moustache and displaying a swastika armband. The band also capitalised on the glam rock explosion, rivalling Gary Glitter, T. Rex, Queen, Slade, and Wizzard for outrageous stage clothing.
Despite Sweet's success, the relationship with their management was becoming increasingly tense. While they had developed a large fan-base among teenagers, Sweet were not happy with their 'bubblegum' image. Sweet had always composed their own heavy-rock songs on the B-sides of their singles to contrast with the bubblegum A-sides which were composed by Chinn and Chapman. During this time, Sweet's live performances consisted of B-sides, album tracks, and various medleys of rock and roll classics; they avoided older novelty hits like "Funny Funny" and "Poppa Joe". A 1973 performance at the Palace Theatre and Grand Hall in Kilmarnock ended in Sweet being bottled off stage; the disorder was attributed by some (including Steve Priest) to Sweet's lipstick and eye-shadow look, and by others to the audience being unfamiliar with the concert set (the 1999 CD release Live at the Rainbow 1973 documents a live show from this period). The incident would be immortalised in the hit "The Ballroom Blitz" (September 1973). In the meantime, Sweet's chart success continued, showing particular strength in the UK, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, and Australia. By the end of 1973, the band's name evolved from "The Sweet" to "Sweet". The change would be reflected in all of their releases from 1974 onward.
Forming a new image
By 1974, Sweet had grown tired of the management team of Chinn and Chapman, who wrote the group's major hits and cultivated the band's glam rock image. The group and producer Phil Wainman, assisted by engineer Peter Coleman, recorded the album Sweet Fanny Adams, which was released in April 1974. Sweet's technical proficiency was demonstrated for the first time on self-penned hard rock tracks such as "Sweet F.A." and "Set Me Free". Sweet also adopted a more conventional hard rock sound and appearance. Sweet Fanny Adams also featured compressed high-pitched backing vocal harmonies, which was a trend that continued on all of Sweet's albums.
During sessions for the album, Brian Connolly was injured in a fight in Staines High Street. His throat was badly injured and his ability to sing severely limited. Priest and Scott filled in on lead vocals on some tracks ("No You Don't", "Into The Night" and "Restless") and Connolly, under treatment from a Harley Street specialist, managed to complete the album. The band did not publicise the incident and told the press that subsequent cancelled shows were due to Connolly having a throat infection. This incident reportedly permanently compromised Connolly's singing ability, with his range diminished.
No previous singles appeared on the album, and none were released, except in Japan, New Zealand and Australia, where "Peppermint Twist/Rebel Rouser", apparently released by their record company without their knowledge, gained a No. 1 chart position in the latter. Sweet Fanny Adams would be Sweet's only non-compilation release to break the UK Albums Chart Top 40.
Sweet were invited by Pete Townshend to support the Who, who were playing at Charlton Athletic's football ground, The Valley in June 1974. However, Connolly's badly bruised throat kept them from fulfilling the role. Sweet had frequently cited the Who as being one of their main influences and played a medley of their tracks in their live set for many years.
Desolation Boulevard
Their third album, Desolation Boulevard, was released later in 1974, six months after Sweet Fanny Adams. By that stage, producer Phil Wainman had moved on and the album was produced by Mike Chapman. It was recorded in a mere six days and featured a rawer "live" sound. One track, "The Man with the Golden Arm", written by Elmer Bernstein and Sylvia Fine for the 1955 Frank Sinatra movie of the same name, featured drummer Mick Tucker performing an 8 and half minute solo (although this was not included in the U.S. release). This had been a staple of the band's live performance for years. The first single from the LP, the heavy-melodic "The Six Teens" (July 1974), was a Top 10 hit in the U.K. and still part of the amazing unbroken string of No. 1's in Denmark. However, the subsequent single release, "Turn It Down" (November 1974), reached only No. 41 on the U.K. chart and No. 2 in Denmark. "Turn It Down" received minimal airplay on UK radio and was banned by some radio stations because of certain lyrical content - "God-awful sound" and "For God sakes, turn it down" - which were deemed "unsuitable for family listening." The band resumed playing live shows nearly a full six months after Connolly's throat injury, with band and critics noting a rougher edge to his voice and a reduced range. The album also featured a group composition, "Fox On The Run", which was to be re-recorded months later.
The U.S. version of Desolation Boulevard was different from the U.K. version and included several songs from Sweet Fanny Adams in addition to the "Ballroom Blitz" and "Fox on the Run" singles (both of which peaked at No. 5 in the US). Side One of the album contained all Chapman-Chinn penned songs, while Side Two featured songs written and produced by Sweet.
Writing and producing their own material
In 1975 Sweet went back into the studio to re-arrange and record a more pop-oriented version of the track "Fox on the Run". Sweet's first self-written and produced single, "Fox on the Run" was released worldwide in March 1975 and became their biggest selling hit, reaching number one in Germany, Denmark, and South Africa, number two in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway and the Netherlands and number three in Austria and Switzerland. In Australia it not only made it to the top of the charts, it also became the biggest selling single of that year. The song reached number two in Canada and number five in the U.S. The release of this track marked the end of the formal Chinn-Chapman working relationship and the band stressed it was now fully self-sufficient as writers and producers.
The following single release, "Action" (July 1975), peaked at number 15 in the UK. Now confident in their own songwriting and production abilities, Sweet spent the latter half of 1975 in Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany, where they recorded the Give Us A Wink album with German sound engineer Reinhold Mack, who later recorded with Electric Light Orchestra and co-produced Queen. The new album release was deferred until 1976 so as not to stifle the chart success Desolation Boulevard was enjoying, peaking at number 25 in the US and number 5 in Canada.
With Give Us a Wink being held over, RCA issued a double album in Europe, Strung Up, in November. It contained one live disc, recorded in London in December 1973, and one disc compiling previously released singles (plus an unused track by Chinn and Chapman – "I Wanna Be Committed"). At the end of the year, Andy Scott released his first solo single, "Lady Starlight" b/w "Where D'Ya Go". Tucker played drums on both tracks.
Decline in popularity
January 1976 saw the release of the single "The Lies In Your Eyes", which made the Top 10 in Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Australia, but only reached No. 35 on the U.K. charts. Sweet's first album to be fully produced and written by themselves, Give Us A Wink, was released in March 1976. A third single from the album, "4th Of July", was issued in Australia.
By this time, Sweet strove to build on their growing popularity in America with a schedule of more than fifty headline concert dates. Even though Give Us A Winks release was imminent, the band's set essentially promoted the US version of Desolation Boulevard plus the new US hit single "Action". During an appearance at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in California on 24 March, Sweet played "All Right Now" with Ritchie Blackmore as a tribute to mark the death of Free guitarist Paul Kossoff, who was to have supported Sweet with his band Back Street Crawler. The US tour was not financially successful, with small audiences at many venues leading to the final half-dozen or so dates to be cancelled. Following the end of the tour, the band went on to Scandinavia and Germany. The band also spent a week at the Who's Ramport Studios in Battersea demoing material for a new album before abandoning that project and playing eight dates in Japan. By the end of the Japanese shows Connolly's extremely hoarse singing voice was manifest evidence of the demands of constant touring and the enduring after-effects of his 1974 assault.
Between October 1976 and January 1977, Sweet wrote and recorded new material at Kingsway Recorders and Audio International London studios for their next album. An advance single from the album, "Lost Angels", was only a hit in Germany, Austria and Sweden. A new album, Off the Record, was released in April. The next single from the album, "Fever of Love", represented the band heading in a somewhat more Europop hard rock direction, once again charting in Germany, Austria and Sweden, while reaching number 10 in South Africa. On this album, Sweet again worked with Give Us A Wink engineer Louis Austin, who would later engineer Def Leppard's On Through The Night 1980 début album. The band cancelled a US tour with emerging US rockers Aerosmith, did not play any live dates in support of the album and, in fact, did not play a single concert for the whole of 1977.
Level Headed and a change in style
Sweet left RCA in 1977 and signed a new deal with Polydor though it would not come into force until later in the year. Sweet's manager David Walker, from Handle Artists, negotiated the move which was reputed to be worth around £750,000. In the United States, Canada, and Japan, Capitol had issued Sweet's albums since 1974 and would continue to do so through to 1980.
The first Polydor album, Level Headed (January 1978), found Sweet experimenting by combining rock and classical sounds "a-la clavesin", an approach similar to Electric Light Orchestra's, and featured the single "Love Is Like Oxygen". Largely recorded during 1977 at Château d'Hérouville near Paris, France after a 30-day writing session at Clearwell Castle in the Forest Of Dean UK, the album represented a new musical direction, largely abandoning hard-rock for a more melodic pop style, interspersed with ballads accompanied by a 30-piece orchestra. The ballad, "Lettres D'Amour", featured a duet between Connolly and Stevie Lange (who would emerge as lead singer with the group Night in 1979).
With the addition of session and touring musicians keyboardist Gary Moberley and guitarist Nico Ramsden, Sweet undertook a short European and Scandinavian tour followed by a single British concert at London's Hammersmith Odeon on 24 February 1978. However, "Love Is Like Oxygen" (January 1978) was their last U.K., U.S., and German Top 10 hit. Scott was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for co-composing the song. One more single from the album, "California Nights" (May 1978), featuring Steve Priest as the lead vocalist, peaked at number 23 on the German chart.
Departure of Brian Connolly
Between March and May 1978 Sweet extensively toured the US, as a support act for Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. The tour included a disastrous date in Birmingham, Alabama on 3 May, during which visiting Capitol Records executives in the audience saw Brian Connolly give a drunken and incoherent performance that terminated early in the set with his collapse on stage, leaving the rest of the group to play on without him. The band returned briefly to Britain before resuming the second leg of their US tour in late May supporting other acts, including Foghat and Alice Cooper. Concluding the US tour in early July 1978, Brian's alcoholism and estrangement from the group was steadily becoming a greater issue.
In late October, having spent further time at Clearwell Castle to write for their next album, Sweet arrived at The Town House studio in Shepherd's Bush, London to complete and record, Cut Above the Rest (April 1979). Due to tensions between various members attributed to Connolly's health and diminishing status with the group, his long-time friend and fellow founding member, Mick Tucker, was tasked to produce Connolly's vocals. It was felt Tucker would extract a better performance than Scott from Connolly. A number of tracks were recorded featuring Connolly. However, these efforts were deemed unsatisfactory and Brian left the band on 2 November 1978.
On 23 February 1979, Brian Connolly's departure from Sweet was formally announced by manager David Walker. Publicly, Connolly was said to be pursuing a solo career with an interest in recording country rock.
Three piece Sweet
Sweet continued as a trio with Priest assuming the lion's share of lead vocals, though Scott and Tucker were also active in that role. The first single release for the trio was "Call Me". Guest keyboard player Gary Moberley continued to augment the group on stage. Guitarist Ray McRiner joined their touring line-up in 1979, with a small tour with Journey in the eastern United States and Cheap Trick in Texas in the spring and summer of '79 to support Cut Above The Rest (which was released in April 1979). McRiner would also contribute the songs "Too Much Talking" and the single "Give The Lady Some Respect" to the next Sweet album, Waters Edge (August 1980), which was recorded in Canada. In the US, Waters Edge was titled Sweet VI. It featured the singles "Sixties Man" and "Give The Lady Some Respect". Tragedy befell Mick Tucker when his wife Pauline drowned in the bath at their home on 26 December 1979. The band withdrew from live work for all of 1980.
One more studio album, Identity Crisis, was recorded during 1980–81 but was only released in West Germany and Mexico. Sweet undertook a short tour of the UK and performed their last live show at Glasgow University on 20 March 1981. Steve Priest then returned to the United States, where he had been living since late 1979. When Polydor released Identity Crisis in October 1982, the original Sweet had been disbanded for almost a year.
Re-formed versions (1984–present)
Andy Scott's Sweet (1985–present)
Andy Scott and Mick Tucker organised their own version of Sweet with Paul Mario Day (ex-Iron Maiden, More, Wildfire) on lead vocals, Phil Lanzon (ex-Grand Prix) on keyboards and Mal McNulty on bass. The band performed at the Marquee Club in London in February 1986, with the shows recorded and gaining release a few years later, bolstered by four new studio tracks including a cover of the Motown standard "Reach Out I'll Be There". This line-up also toured Australian and New Zealand pubs and clubs for more than three months in 1985 and for a similar period again in 1986. Singer Paul Day ended up marrying the band's Australian tour guide and relocating downunder. He continued with Sweet commuting back and forth to Europe for the group's tours until this proved to be too cumbersome. He departed in late 1988. As McNulty moved into the front man spot, Jeff Brown came in to take over bass early in 1989. Lanzon too went back and forth between Sweet and Uriah Heep during 1986-1988 before Heep's schedule grew too busy. Malcolm Pearson and then Ian Gibbons (who had played with The Kinks and The Records) both filled in for Lanzon until Steve Mann (Liar, Lionheart, McAuley Schenker Group) arrived in December 1989.
Tucker departed after a show in Lochau, Austria, on 5 May 1991. He later was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia. Three drummers, Andy Hoyler, Bobby Andersen and Bruce Bisland (Weapon, Wildfire, Praying Mantis), provided short-term relief before Bodo Schopf (McAuley Schenker Group) took over. They recorded an album during this period, simply titled A. Before the band embarked on the supporting tour for A in 1992, Bodo left and Bisland returned as permanent percussionist. Scott changed the band's name to 'Andy Scott's Sweet' after Tucker's departure but truncated it to simply 'The Sweet' once again after Tucker's death in 2002.
Mal McNulty, now lead vocalist, departed in 1994, though he would return briefly that year to fill in for Jeff Brown on bass (as he would again in 1995 as lead singer for a few dates while Rocky Newton subbed on bass). Sweet's former keyboard men Gary Moberley and Ian Gibbons also did fill-in jaunts with the group that year, as did Chris Goulstone. Chad Brown (ex-Lionheart; no relation to Jeff) was the new front man. Glitz Blitz and Hitz, a new studio album of re-recorded Sweet hits, was released during this period.
In 1996 Mann left to take a job in television and Gibbons came back for a short time before Steve Grant (ex-The Animals) became the permanent keyboardist. When Chad Brown quit in 1998 after developing a throat infection, Jeff Brown assumed lead vocals and bass duties. After this, the band was stable again for the next five years.
The mid-2000s would bring further confusing shake-ups and rotations. Tony O'Hora (ex-Onslaught, Praying Mantis) replaced Brown as lead vocalist in 2003. Ian Gibbons came back for a third stint as fill-in keyboardist in June 2005 for a gig in the Faroe Islands. O'Hora decided to split to take a teaching job in late 2005. Grant then jumped from keyboards to lead vocals and bass as Phil Lanzon returned on keyboards for a tour of Russia and Germany in October/November. New singer Mark Thompson Smith (ex-Praying Mantis) joined in November 2005 for some Swedish gigs, while Jo Burt (ex-Black Sabbath) was temporary bass player. Tony Mills (ex-Shy) was slated to be Sweet's new singer in early 2006 but failed to work out and left after six shows in Denmark. At this point, O'Hora came back as fill in front man and then Grant did another turn himself as the singer/bassist (Steve Mann depped on keyboards) until the group finally landed a new permanent front man when Peter Lincoln (ex-Sailor) arrived in July 2006. The line-up then consisted of Scott, Bisland, Grant and Lincoln.
Scott produced the Suzi Quatro album Back to the Drive, released in February 2006. March 2006 saw the U.S. release of his band's album Sweetlife.
In 2007 the group played in Germany, Belgium, Austria and Italy. In May of that year, the band played in Porto Alegre and Curitiba, Brazil, their first and only South American shows. The tour was called the 'Sweet Fanny Adams Tour'.
The band toured again in March 2008 under the name 'Sweet Fanny Adams Revisited Tour'. In May and June, Scott's Sweet were part of the "Glitz Blitz & 70s Hitz" tour of the UK alongside The Rubettes and Showaddywaddy.
In March and April 2010, Scott was absent from a couple of gigs due to ill health and Martin Mickels stood in. Scott revealed later that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was treated at the Bristol Royal Infirmary. After a course of treatment and rest, he was back to full touring fitness. In 2010 the band played at venues in Europe and back at Bilston in October.
In March 2011 there was a short tour of Australia, Regal Theatre - Perth, and Clipsal 500, Adelaide with the Doobie Brothers. Also in 2011, Tony O'Hora came back to the group, this time as keyboardist, after Grant departed.
In March 2012 the band released a new album New York Connection. Recorded in England, it comprised 11 cover versions, including the 2011 single "Join Together" and one revamped original recording; the 1972 B-side "New York Connection". All the covers either featured 'bits and pieces' of Sweet hits or other artist songs, such as a "new version of the Ramones Blitzkrieg Bop [which] shared space with samples from ‘Ballroom Blitz,’ and a take on Hello’s New York Groove (made famous in the US by Ace Frehley) featured a sample from Jay-Z’s Empire State Of Mind along with other Sweet references."
On the eve of their March 2012 "Join Together" tour of Australia, the band undertook an acoustic performance of three tracks, "New York Groove-Empire State of Mind", "Blockbuster" and "Peppermint Twist", in front of a live audience at ABC Radio Studios in East Perth. Shows in Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Geelong, Melbourne and Sydney featured tracks from the new album for the first time.
Paul Manzi joined Sweet on their 2014 Australian tour, replacing Tony O'Hora who was absent for personal reasons. Manzi played guitar, keyboard and undertook lead vocals on "Set Me Free" and "AC-DC" as the band performed shows in regional centres, including outback Western Australia, Darwin and far-north Queensland, NSW and Victoria during February and March. The band, with O'Hora back in the ranks, returned to Australia in September 2014 as the headlining act for "Rock The Boat 4". This was a cruise aboard the ship Rhapsody of the Seas which departed Sydney and took in New Caledonia and Vanuatu. The band played two gigs and various members guested with Australian veteran performers including Brian Cadd and Russell Morris and members of AC/DC, The Angels, Rose Tattoo and Skyhooks.
In June 2015 it was revealed that the band were going on an extensive tour of the UK in late 2015 and that this tour would probably be their last.
For the 2015 summer tour dates, Paul Manzi returned to sub for Peter Lincoln who left this online message to the fans: "There have been a few rumours going around this weekend, so . . . just to say that I am alive and well! The short explanation for my absence is that I need to rest my voice for a few weeks. We are lucky that our good friend Paul Manzi is able to step in, and Tony knows the role of bass player/singer, so the shows can go ahead, and they will be great! I look forward to being back on stage very soon."
Pete Lincoln duly resumed his role in the band and they continued with extensive live dates, known as the "Finale" tour in Germany.
In 2017 after Andy undertook a successful Australian visit with Suzi Quatro and Don Powell in the side outfit known as QSP, Sweet was again booked for an extensive European tour. In the years following both Tony O'Hora and Pete Lincoln departed the band. Paul Manzi returned as permanent lead vocalist, quitting the popular outfit Cats in Space to do so. Lee Small joined as bassist and backing vocalist. Former guitarist and keyboard player Steve Mann joined for a handful of shows as a special guest. During the COVID-19 pandemic the band recorded a new album of old tracks entitled Isolation Boulevard.
New Sweet, Brian Connolly's Sweet (1984–1997)
In 1984 Brian Connolly formed a new version of the Sweet without any of the other original members. Despite recurring ill health, Connolly toured the UK and Europe with his band, "Brian Connolly's Sweet", which was then renamed to "New Sweet". His most successful concerts were in West Germany, before and after reunification.
During 1987, Connolly met up again with Frank Torpey. Torpey later explained in interviews Connolly was trying to get a German recording deal. The two got on very well and Torpey subsequently invited Connolly to go into the recording studio with him, as an informal project. After much trepidation, Connolly turned up and the track "Sharontina" was recorded. This recording would not be released until 1998, appearing on Frank Torpey's album Sweeter.
By July 1990, plans were made for Connolly and his band to tour Australia in November. During the long flight to Australia, Connolly's health had suffered and he was hospitalised in Adelaide Hospital, allegedly for dehydration and related problems. The rest of the band played a show in Adelaide without him. After being released from the hospital, Connolly joined the other band members in Melbourne for a gig at the Pier Hotel, in Frankston. After several other shows, including one at the Dingley Powerhouse, Connolly and his band played a final date at Melbourne's Greek Theatre. It was felt Connolly's health was sufficient reason for the tour not to be extended, and some of the planned dates were abandoned. Connolly went back to England and his band appeared on The Bob Downe Christmas show on 18 December 1990.
During the early 1990s, Connolly played the European "oldies" circuit and occasional outdoor festivals in Europe with his band. On 22 March 1992, a heavy duty tape recorder was stolen from the band's van whilst at a gig in the Bristol Hippodrome with Mud. It contained demos of four new songs, totalling about 20 mixes.
Legal problems were going on in the background over the use of the Sweet name between Connolly and Andy Scott. Both parties agreed to distinguish their group's names to help promoters and fans. The New Sweet went back to being called Brian Connolly's Sweet and Andy Scott's version became Andy Scott's Sweet.
In 1994, Connolly and his band played in Dubai. He appeared at the Galleria Theatre, Hyatt Regency. He also performed in Bahrain.
By this time Connolly had healed the differences with Steve Priest and Mick Tucker, and was invited to the wedding of Priest's eldest daughter, Lisa. At the private function, for which Priest specially flew back to England, Priest and Connolly performed together.
In 1995, Connolly released a new album entitled Let's Go. His partner Jean, whom he had met a few years earlier, gave birth to a son. Connolly also performed in Switzerland that year.
On 2 November 1996 British TV Network Channel 4 aired a programme Don't Leave Me This Way, which examined Connolly's time as a pop star with the Sweet, the subsequent decline in the band's popularity, and its impact on Connolly and the other band members. The show revealed Connolly's ill health but also that he was continuing with his concert dates at Butlins. Connolly and his band had appeared at Butlins a number of times on tour during the early 1990s.
Connolly's final concert was at the Bristol Hippodrome on 5 December 1996, with Slade II and John Rossall's Glitter Band Experience.
Steve Priest's Sweet (2008–Present)
In January 2008, Steve Priest assembled his own version of the Sweet in Los Angeles. He enlisted a guitarist Stuart Smith and L.A. native Richie Onori, Smith's bandmate in Heaven & Earth, was brought in on drums. The keyboard spot was manned by ex-Crow and World Classic Rockers alumni Stevie Stewart. Front-man and vocalist Joe Retta was brought in to round out the line-up.
After an initial appearance on L.A. rock station 95.5 KLOS's popular Mark & Brian radio programme, the "Are You Ready Steve?" tour kicked off at the Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood on 12 June 2008. The band spent the next several months playing festivals and gigs throughout the U.S. and Canada, including Moondance Jam in Walker, Minnesota; headlining at the Rock N Resort Music Festival in North Lawrence, Ohio (near Canal Fulton); London, Ontario's Rock the Park; another headlining gig at Peterborough's Festival of Lights; the Common Ground Festival in Lansing, Michigan; and a benefit concert for victims of California's wildfires at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California.
In January 2009, the Sweet presented at the concert industry's Pollstar Awards, and also played a short set at the Nokia Theatre where the event was held, marking the first time in the ceremony's history that a band performed at the show. In addition to local gigs at the House of Blues on L.A.'s Sunset Strip and Universal CityWalk, 2009 saw the band return to Canada for sold-out shows at the Mae Wilson Theater and Casino Regina, as well as the Nakusp Music Fest and Rockin' the Fields of Minnedosa in Minnedosa, Manitoba. U.S. festivals have included Minnesota's Halfway Jam, Rockin' the Rivers in Montana (with Pat Travers and Peter Frampton), and two late-summer shows at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
The new band recorded a cover version of the Beatles' "Ticket to Ride", which was included on Cleopatra Records' Abbey Road, a Fab Four tribute CD that was released on 24 March 2009.
A preview of the band's new CD Live in America, which was recorded live at the Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa in Cabazon, California on 30 August 2008, was featured on KLOS's "Front Row" programme on 12 April 2009. The CD, which was first sold at shows and via the band's on-line store, was released worldwide in an exclusive deal with Amazon.com on 21 July 2009. The release has garnered favourable reviews from The Rock n Roll Report, Classic Rock Revisited and Hard Rock Haven, among others.
In April 2010, the band released its first single on iTunes: an updated, hard rock version of the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There." Performances on the 2010 summer tour included the Wildflower! Arts and Music Festival in Richardson, Texas; Las Vegas, Nevada's Fremont Street Experience; Rock N' America in Oklahoma City, OK; Summer Jam in Des Moines, Iowa; Jack FM's Fifth Show at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Los Angeles; an appearance at the Hard Rock Hotel in Biloxi, Mississippi; and the inaugural edition of the Thunder Mountain Rock Festival in Sawyer, North Dakota.
On 11 November 2010, it was announced that in May 2011 "Steve Priest's Sweet" had been booked to perform at a handful of European dates, but the gigs ultimately had to be cancelled in late January 2011 after it was learned that one of the promoters was a suspected swindler wanted by British law enforcement officials. As of February 2011, fans who purchased pre-sale tickets were still in the process of working through the administrative channels with PayPal and various banks and credit card issuers in order to try to reclaim their funds.
The band toured South America along with Journey during March 2011.
The band and their European fans then also got re-united quicker than thought, when the band got booked by a befriended female Belgian promoter. Two east German gigs, 27 and 28 May 2011, so in Borna and in Schwarzenberg Steve Priest's Sweet hit the European grounds. After more than 30 years, Steve Priest got a warm welcome back in Europe.
As of 12 August 2012, Stuart Smith resigned from the guitar post in order to dedicate more time to his "Heaven & Earth" project.
Beginning with the band's October 2012 appearance at the Festival Internacional Chihuahua in Mexico, Los Angeles-based guitarist Ricky Z. teamed up with Steve Priest and company for their live performances. In February 2013, this lineup returned to Casino Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada. Tour dates played in summer 2013 included Riverfest in Watertown, Wisconsin, the St. Clair, MI Riverfest, several additional dates in Canada, and a reprise of their appearances at both Moondance Jam in Walker, MN and Rockin' the Rivers in Three Forks, Montana. The band made some rare appearances on the U.S. east coast in July 2013, including a performance with David Johansen of the New York Dolls at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, New Jersey. Singer Joe Retta was unavailable for these dates due to a scheduling conflict, so Tribe of Gypsies frontman Chas West, who has played with Jason Bonham's band and has experience subbing in such well-known bands as Foreigner, Lynch Mob and Diamond Head, stepped in to man the microphone for a series of shows in New York, New Jersey and Maryland.
On 27 August 2014, Steve Priest announced on the band's Facebook page that guitarist Mitch Perry had been tapped for the guitar slot. Most recently on tour with Lita Ford, Mitch's other credentials included his work with Michael Schenker Group, Asia Featuring John Payne, Edgar Winter, Billy Sheehan and David Lee Roth His first live appearance with Sweet was at the Rock the River festival in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on 23 August 2014.
22 December 2017 saw the launch of the 50th anniversary tour at the Whisky a Go Go on L.A.'s Sunset Strip and the introduction of new singer Paul Zablidowski AKA "Paulie Z" former lead singer and guitarist of ZO2, children's band "The Z Brothers" and star of IFC show Z-Rock. Recently known as the host for local show "Ultimate Jam Night." Z replaced Joe Retta, who had served as the frontman for the Los Angeles incarnation of Sweet since its formation in 2008. Priest died on 4 June 2020.
Brief reunions and the deaths of Brian Connolly, Mick Tucker and Steve Priest
Steve Priest was asked to join Tucker and Scott for the 1985 Australian tour, but declined at the last moment.
Mike Chapman contacted Connolly, Priest, Scott, and Tucker in 1988, offering to finance a recording session in Los Angeles. As he remembers: "I met them at the airport and Andy and Mick came off the plane. I said, 'Where's Brian?' They said, 'Oh, he's coming.' All the people had come off the plane by now. Then this little old man hobbled towards us. He was shaking, and had a ghostly white face. I thought, 'Oh, Jesus Christ.' It was horrifying." Reworked studio versions of "Action" and "The Ballroom Blitz" were recorded, but it became clear that Connolly's voice and physical health had made Sweet's original member comeback too difficult to promote commercially. Consequently, the reunion attempt was aborted.
In 1990 this line-up was again reunited for the promotion of a music documentary entitled Sweet's Ballroom Blitz. This UK video release, which contained UK television performances from the 1970s and current-day interviews, was released at Tower Records, London. Sweet was interviewed by Power Hour, Super Channel, and spoke of a possible reunion.
Brian Connolly died at the age of 51 on 9 February 1997, from liver failure and repeated heart attacks, attributed to his abuse of alcohol in the 1970s and early 1980s. Mick Tucker died on 14 February 2002 from leukemia, at the age of 54. On 4 June 2020 it was announced that Steve Priest had died. It left Andy Scott as the sole living member of Sweet's 'classic lineup'.
Later years
Two versions of The Sweet were active with original members: "Andy Scott's Sweet", who frequently tour across Europe as Sweet and makes occasional sojourns to other markets including regular visits to Australia, and "Steve Priest's Sweet" who toured the US and Canada.
On 28 April 2009, Shout! Factory released a two-disc, career-spanning greatest hits album called Action: The Sweet Anthology. It received a four-star (out of five) rating in Rolling Stone.
In September 2009 Ace Frehley released his version of "Fox on the Run" on his album Anomaly.
In an October 2012 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Axl Rose, lead singer of Guns N' Roses, referenced Sweet as one of his favourite bands growing up along with fellow British band Queen.
In April 2016, the chart topping song (1973), "The Ballroom Blitz" was featured in a trailer for Suicide Squad.
In December 2016, their single "Fox on the Run" (1975) was featured in a trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
In 2019, the songs "Fox on the Run" and "Set Me Free" were featured in an episode of Jamie Johnson.
Personnel
Original band
Classic lineup
Brian Connolly – lead vocals, percussion, synthesizer, acoustic guitar (1968–1978; died 1997)
Steve Priest – bass, backing and lead vocals (1968–1981; died 2020)
Mick Tucker – drums, percussion, backing and lead vocals (1968–1981; died 2002)
Andy Scott – guitars, keyboards, synthesizers, piano, backing and lead vocals (1970–1981)
Early members
Frank Torpey – guitars (1968–1969)
Mick Stewart – guitars (1969–1970)
Touring musicians
Gary Moberley – keyboards, synthesizers, piano (1978–1981)
Nico Ramsden – guitar (1978)
Ray McRiner – guitar (1979)
Andy Scott’s Sweet
Current members
Andy Scott – guitars, keyboards, synthesizers, piano, backing and lead vocals (1985–present)
Bruce Bisland – drums, backing vocals (1992–present)
Paul Manzi – lead vocals (2019–present; substitute appearances in 2014 and 2015)
Lee Small – bass, backing vocals (2019–present)
Former members
Mick Tucker – drums, backing vocals (1985–1991; died 2002)
Paul Mario Day – lead vocals (1985–1989)
Phil Lanzon – keyboards, piano, backing vocals (1985–1989; 2005—2006)
Mal McNulty – bass, lead and backing vocals (1985–1995)
Jeff Brown – bass, lead and backing vocals (1989–2003)
Steve Mann – keyboards, guitars, backing vocals (1989-1996)
Bodo Schopf – drums, backing vocals (1991–1992)
Chad Brown — lead vocals (1995–1998)
Steve Grant — keyboards, piano, backing vocals (1996–2005, 2006–2011); lead vocals, bass (2005–2006)
Tony O’Hora – lead and backing vocals, bass (2003–2005, 2006, 2011–2019), guitars, keyboards (2011–2019)
Peter Lincoln – bass, lead and backing vocals (2006–2019)
Timeline
Discography
Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be (1971)
Sweet Fanny Adams (1974)
Desolation Boulevard (1974)
Give Us a Wink (1976)
Off the Record (1977)
Level Headed (1978)
Cut Above the Rest (1979)
Waters Edge (titled Sweet VI with a different cover in the U.S.) (1980)
Identity Crisis (1982)
Sweetlife (2002) by Andy Scott's Sweet
Isolation Boulevard (2020) by Andy Scott's Sweet
References
Bibliography
(2008 eBook available at )
External links
Channel 4 documentary on The Sweet from 1996
English hard rock musical groups
English glam rock groups
Musical groups established in 1968
Capitol Records artists
Polydor Records artists
RCA Records artists
1968 establishments in the United Kingdom
Musical groups disestablished in 1982
1982 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Musical groups reestablished in 1985
1985 establishments in the United Kingdom | false | [
"Death Hawks is a Finnish psychedelic rock band formed in 2011.\n\nHistory\n\nDeath Hawks was put together in the spring of 2010 to arrange and record songs by singer Teemu Markkula, but it soon metamorphosed into a solid band. Death Hawks played its first show with a complete lineup in April 2011.\n\nDeath Hawks’ intense live shows, with their psychedelic meanderings, soon created an organic hype around the band. Death Hawks recorded their debut album “Death & Decay” in the summer of 2011 and it was released in February 2012 through Tampere-based GAEA records.\nDeath & Decay received generally good reviews and the music media noticed the new and young psychedelic rock band singing about dark subjects (usually addressed by heavier bands) combining e.g. blues and krautrock to a folkier songwriting with their psychedelic way. Media started to talk about the band as a future Finnish music export name. Death & Decay reached number 10 on Finnish album charts.\n\nAfter the record release the band continued to do shows with a more frequent pace touring all over Finland and from January 2013 on touring across Europe too. In January the band did a week long Swedish tour and some shows in The Netherlands. In April 2013 Death Hawks did a small Finnish tour with Graveyard (band) from Sweden and in May participated in Fullsteam Ahead Tour (organised together by Makia Clothing and Lapin Kulta) which featured selected Finnish bands touring with a steamboat in the Finnish archipelago. A document film was released from the tour.\nIn the winter and spring of 2013 Death Hawks also started the recording of their sophomore album.\n\nThe self-titled second album came out September 2013 from GAEA Records. The album “Death Hawks” reached number 15 on Finnish album charts. \nAfter some shows in Finland Death Hawks joined the German hard rock band Kadavar for their tour in Germany and Austria in October 2013. January 2014 Death Hawks did a short Scandinavian tour followed by two gigs in Oslo, Norway where the album “Death Hawks” was among the top 10 finalists nominated for Nordic Music Prize 2013 (an annual award for the Best Nordic Album Of The Year). \nDeath Hawks’ second album got also nominated in Emma gala 2014 (the “Finnish Grammys”) and it was chosen as the best album of 2013 by Soundi magazine.\n\nIn May 2014 the band did their first longer European tour including Sweden, Poland, Germany, Austria, Hungary and Croatia. In summer they performed near every weekend playing the biggest festivals in Finland and also stopping by in Sweden and Russia. \nOctober 2014 Death Hawks toured Germany and later that year performed in UK, Poland and France.\n\nIn the beginning of 2015 Death Hawks started to write new material for their third studio album. In April they had a brief break from studio work to play at Roadburn Festival in Netherlands. In May the band headed to Suomenlinna Studios with producer Janne Lastumäki and engineer Ilari Larjosto. By the end of the summer the album was ready to be sent to press. In that summer Death Hawks also did some shows in Finland, Germany and Sweden. On November 13, 2015 the album Sun Future Moon was released through Svart Records. In November and December the band also did a vast tour of Finland and a smaller tour in Norway. In Finland they toured with the experimental rock band Circle (band).\n\nThe year 2016 was all about playing shows and touring for Death Hawks. They played close to a hundred shows and did three wider tours that year. In March they did a Finnish tour and in April Death Hawks embarked on a month long European Tour called Cobra Run 2016. After that the band played a lot of summer festivals and in September they headed back to Central Europe and Scandinavia for a couple of weeks. The rest of the year Death Hawks continued playing shows and did a couple also with the Swedish Blues Pills.\n\nThe members of Death Hawks also had a previous band together in 2005-2007 called Genzale.\nThis band featured all of the members from Death Hawks plus a second guitarist Niko Matiskainen. \nGenzale recorded one promotional album in 2006 which consisted of eight songs and was never released officially.\n\nDiscography\n\nAlbums\n Death & Decay (Gaea Records) (2012)\n Death Hawks (Gaea Records) (2013)\n Sun Future Moon (Svart Records) (2015)\n Psychic Harmony (Svart Records) (2019)\n\nEP's and Singles\n Humanoids - single\" (Digital single Gaea Records) (2013)\n Death Hawks / Kiki Pau - Split 7\" (Promotional release by Music Finland) (2013)\n The song \"Buddiman\" by Death Hawks was released on Vähän multaa päälle compilation album (Fonal Records) (2012)\n\nBand members \nCurrent members\nTeemu Markkula – vocals, guitar \nRiku Pirttiniemi – bass, vocals\nTenho Mattila – keyboards, synthesizers, saxophone\nMiikka Heikkinen – drums, percussion\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \nDeath Hawks in Alt Agency & Management's roster\nhttp://www.deathhawks.com/\nDeath Hawks in last.fm\nDeath Hawks album review on The Line Of Best Fit\n\nFinnish rock music groups\nMusical quartets\n2011 establishments in Finland",
"The Talk on Corners Tour is the second concert tour by Irish band, The Corrs. Beginning November 1997, the tour supported the band's second studio album, Talk on Corners. To date, it is their longest tour, with over 150 dates in Europe, Australasia, Asia and North America. The tour began with the band performing in theatres and nightclubs and progressed to arenas and amphitheaters; along with a mix of music festival appearances.\n\nBackground\nAfter promoting their second studio album, the band began tour rehearsals in October 1997 at The Factory Studios in Dublin. After rehearsals, the band promoted the tour on various radio stations throughout Europe. In February 1998 the band began their tour of Australia and New Zealand, while in New Zealand the band shot the video for \"What Can I Do?\". In March 1998, the band began their tour of the United Kingdom, where the performed at the Royal Albert Hall on Saint Patrick's Day with Mick Fleetwood joining the band for \"Dreams\", \"Haste to the Wedding\" and \"Toss the Feathers\". The show helped push \"Dreams\" to the top spot on British charts. It Also propelled their success to become the 2nd biggest band from Ireland behind U2.\n\nOnce breaking UK music scene, the band set out to follow the success in the US, where the tours in October 1998. During their stay in Chicago, the band shot the video for \"So Young\". In December, the band set of on a large UK/European tour and selling out 5 night at Wembley Arena, and selling out more than half of the other venues on the tour. In March 1999, the band toured North America with The Rolling Stones as part of their No Security Tour. In July 1999, the band set off on a summer festival tour as they did the previous July (1998). But on 17 July 1999 the band did the biggest concert to date, in front of a home crowd of 45,000 people at Lansdowne Road.\n\nOpening acts\nDakota Moon (3–22 December 1998)\nPicturehouse (14 January–1 February 1999)\nBabel Fish (3–8 February 1999)\nBrian Kennedy (20–26 February 1999)\nAn Pierlé (Amsterdam)\nCatie Curtis (Alexandria, Chicago, West Hollywood and Solana Beach)\n\nSetlist\nThe following setlist is obtained from the 5 June 1998 concert at the Portsmouth Guildhall in Portsmouth, England. It does not represent all concerts during the tour.\n\"Instrumental Sequence\"\n\"When He's Not Around\"\n\"No Good for Me\"\n\"Love to Love You\"\n\"Instrumental Sequence\" (contains elements of \"(Lough) Erin Shore\")\n\"Forgiven, Not Forgotten\"\n\"Joy of Life\"\n\"Intimacy\"\n\"What Can I Do?\"\n\"The Right Time\"\n\"Queen of Hollywood\"\n\"Dreams\"\n\"Instrumental Sequence\" (contains elements of \"Haste to the Wedding\")\n\"Runaway\"\n\"Only When I Sleep\"\n\"Hopelessly Addicted\"\n\"I Never Loved You Anyway\"\nEncore\n\"So Young\"\n\"Toss the Feathers\"\n\nTour dates\n\nFestivals and other miscellaneous performances\n\nConcierto Básico 40\nFleadh Festival\nDerby Day Picnic\nGuinness Fleadh Music Festival\nOhne Filter\nStorsjöyran\nMidtfyns Festival\nParty in the Park\nBalinger Open Air\nDoctor Music Festival\nMontreux Jazz Festival\nAxion Beach Rock\nGurtenfestival\nNuits de Fourvière\nSziget Festival\nRadio 1 Roadshow\nSopot International Song Festival\nXVI Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony\nCity in the Park\nGlastonbury Festival\nXacobeo '99\nStadsfesten Skellefteå\nSolidays\n\nCancellations and rescheduled shows\n\nPersonnel\n\nBand\nAndrea Corr (lead vocals, tin whistle)\nSharon Corr (violin, keyboards, vocals)\nCaroline Corr (drums, bodhran, piano, vocals)\nJim Corr (guitars, keyboards, vocals)\nKeith Duffy (bass)\nAnthony Drennan (lead guitar)\nConor Brady (lead guitar) (replaced Anto during the Genesis tour; 1997–1998)\n\nManagement & Agents\nJohn Hughes (manager)\nEmma Hill (management assistant)\nJohn Giddings at Solo ITG (international agent)\nBarry Gaster (Irish agent)\n\nThe Crew\nHenry McGroggan (tour manager)\nAiden Lee (production manager)\nLiam McCarthy (lighting designer)\nMax Bisgrove (sound engineer)\nPaul 'Mini' Moore (monitor engineer)\nDeclan Hogan (drum technician)\nJohn Parsons (guitar technician)\nOisin Murray (midi technician)\nJay Mascrey (makeup)\n\nReferences\n\n1997 concert tours\n1998 concert tours\n1999 concert tours\nThe Corrs concert tours"
] |
[
"The Sweet",
"First album",
"What was the sweets first album?",
"The Sweet's first full LP album, Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, was released in November 1971.",
"did it do well?",
"It was not a serious contender on the charts.",
"what was special about their first album?",
"A collection of the band's recent singles supplemented by some new Chinn/Chapman tunes",
"did the band tour?",
"I don't know."
] | C_b1e767986d2542acaf8dafe8942132ea_0 | did any of their songs chart? | 5 | Did any of The Sweet's songs chart? | The Sweet | The Sweet made their UK television debut in December 1970 on a pop show called Lift Off, performing the song "Funny Funny". A management deal was signed with the aforementioned songwriting team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Phil Wainman resumed his collaboration with Sweet, as executive producer. This management deal also included a worldwide (the U.S. excepted) record contract with RCA Records (in the United States and Canada Bell Records issued the group's music until late 1973; followed by Capitol Records). In March 1971 RCA issued "Funny Funny", written by Chinn and Chapman, which became the group's first international hit, climbing to the Top 20 on many of the world's charts. EMI reissued their 1970 single "All You'll Ever Get from Me" (May 1971) and it again failed to chart. Their next RCA release "Co-Co" (June 1971) went to number two in the U.K. and their follow up single, "Alexander Graham Bell" (October 1971), only went to #33. These tracks still featured session musicians on the instruments with the quartet providing only the vocals. The Sweet's first full LP album, Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, was released in November 1971. A collection of the band's recent singles supplemented by some new Chinn/Chapman tunes (including "Chop Chop" and "Tom Tom Turnaround") and pop covers (such as the Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream" and the Supremes' "Reflections"), the album, recorded at Nova Studios in London, was produced by Phil Wainman and engineered by Richard Dodd and Eric Holland. It was not a serious contender on the charts. Their albums' failure to match the success of their singles was a problem that would plague the band throughout their career. CANNOTANSWER | Their next RCA release "Co-Co" (June 1971) went to number two in the U.K. | The Sweet, sometimes also shortened to just Sweet, are a British glam rock band that rose to worldwide fame in the 1970s. Their best known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bass player Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott, and drummer Mick Tucker. The group was originally called The Sweetshop.
The band was formed in London in 1968 and achieved their first hit, "Funny Funny", in 1971 after teaming up with songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman and record producer Phil Wainman. During 1971 and 1972, their musical style followed a marked progression from the Archies-like bubblegum style of "Funny Funny" to a Who-influenced hard rock style supplemented by a striking use of high-pitched backing vocals.
The band first achieved success in the UK charts, with thirteen Top 20 hits during the 1970s alone, with "Block Buster!" (1973) topping the chart, followed by three consecutive number two hits in "Hell Raiser" (1973), "The Ballroom Blitz" (1973) and "Teenage Rampage" (1974). The band turned to a more hard rock style with their mid-career singles, like 1974's "Turn It Down". "Fox on the Run" (1975) also reached number two on the UK charts. These results were topped in West Germany and other countries on the European mainland. They also achieved success and popularity in the US with the top ten hits "Little Willy", "The Ballroom Blitz", "Fox on the Run", and "Love is Like Oxygen".
The Sweet had their last international success in 1978 with "Love Is Like Oxygen". Connolly left the group in 1979 to start a solo career and the remaining members continued as a trio until disbanding in 1981. From the mid-1980s, Scott, Connolly and Priest each played with their own versions of Sweet at different times. Connolly died in 1997, Tucker in 2002 and Priest in 2020. Andy Scott is still active with his version of the band. Sweet have since sold over 35 million albums worldwide.
History
Origins
Sweet's origins can be traced back to British soul band Wainwright's Gentlemen. Mark Lay's history of that band states they formed around 1962 and were initially known as Unit 4. Founding members included Chris Wright (vocals), Jan Frewer (bass), with Jim Searle and Alfred Fripp on guitars. Phil Kenton joined on drums as the band changed its name to Wainwright's Gentlemen (due to there being another band known as Unit 4). Managed by Frewer's father, the band performed in the Hayes, Harrow and Wembley area. By 1964 the group was also playing in London, including at the Saint Germain Club on Poland Street.
In January 1964 the band came fifth in a national beat group contest, with finals held at the Lyceum Strand on 4 May 1964. Highlights of the show were presented on BBC1 by Alan Freeman. Chris Wright left the line-up in late 1964 and was replaced by Ian Gillan. A female vocalist named Ann Cully soon joined the band. Mick Tucker, from Ruislip, joined on drums replacing Phil Kenton. The band recorded a number of tracks including a cover of the Coasters-Hollies hit "Ain't That Just Like Me", which was probably recorded at Jackson Sound Studios in Rickmansworth. The track includes Gillan on vocals, Tucker on drums and, according to band bassist Jan Frewer, is thought to have been recorded in 1965. Gillan quit in May 1965 to join Episode Six, and later, Deep Purple. Cully remained as vocalist before departing some time later. Gillan's and Cully's eventual replacement, in late 1966, was Scots-born vocalist Brian Connolly, who hailed more recently from Harefield. Tony Hall had joined on saxophone and vocals and when Fripp left he was replaced by Gordon Fairminer. Fairminer's position was eventually assumed by Frank Torpey (born Frank Edward Torpey, 30 April 1945, Kilburn, North West London) - a schoolfriend of Tucker's who had just left West London group The Tribe (aka The Dream). Torpey only lasted a few months, and in late 1967 Robin Box (born 19 June 1944) took his place. Searle, regarded by many as the most talented musically, disappeared from the scene. Tucker and Connolly remained with Wainwright's Gentlemen until January 1968. Tucker was replaced by Roger Hills. When the Gentlemen eventually broke up, Hills and Box joined White Plains who eventually scored a big hit with "My Baby Loves Lovin'".
Early years
In January 1968 Connolly and Tucker formed a new band calling themselves The Sweetshop. They recruited bass guitarist and vocalist Steve Priest from a local band called The Army. Priest had previously played with mid-'60s band the Countdowns who had been produced and recorded by Joe Meek. Frank Torpey was again recruited to play guitar. The quartet made its public debut at the Pavilion in Hemel Hempstead on 9 March 1968 and soon developed a following on the pub circuit, which led to a contract with Fontana Records. At the time, another UK band released a single under the same name Sweetshop, so the band abbreviated their moniker to Sweet. The band was managed by Paul Nicholas, who later went on to star in Hair. Nicholas worked with record producer Phil Wainman at Mellin Music Publishing and recommended the band to him. Their debut single "Slow Motion" (July 1968), produced by Wainman, and released on Fontana, failed to chart and owing to its rarity now sells for several hundred pounds when auctioned. Sweet were released from the recording contract and Frank Torpey left. In his autobiography Are You Ready Steve, Priest said that Gordon Fairminer was approached to play for them when Torpey decided to leave Sweet after a gig at Playhouse Theatre Walton-on-Thames on 5 July 1969 but turned the job down as he wanted to concentrate on other interests.
New line-up and new record deal
Guitarist Mick Stewart joined in 1969. Stewart had some rock pedigree, having previously worked with The (Ealing) Redcaps and Simon Scott & The All-Nite Workers in the mid-1960s. In late 1965, that band became The Phil Wainman Set when the future Sweet producer joined on drums and the group cut some singles with Errol Dixon. In early 1966, Stewart left and later worked with Johnny Kidd & The Pirates.
Sweet signed a new record contract with EMI's Parlophone label. Three bubblegum pop singles were released: "Lollipop Man" (September 1969), "All You'll Ever Get from Me" (January 1970), and a cover version of the Archies' "Get on the Line" (June 1970), all of which failed to chart. Stewart then quit, and was not replaced for some time. Connolly and Tucker had a chance meeting with Wainman, who was now producing, and knew of two aspiring songwriters, Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, who were looking for a group to sing some demos they had written. Connolly, Priest, and Tucker provided the vocals on a track called "Funny Funny" which featured Pip Williams on guitar, John Roberts on bass, and Wainman on drums. The latter began offering the track to various recording companies. The band held auditions for a replacement guitarist and settled on Welsh-born Andy Scott. He had most recently been playing with Mike McCartney (brother of Paul) in the Scaffold. As a member of the Elastic Band, he had played guitar on two singles for Decca, "Think of You Baby" and "Do Unto Others". He also appeared on the band's lone album release, Expansions on Life, and on some recordings by the Scaffold. The band rehearsed for a number of weeks before Scott made his live debut with Sweet on 26 September 1970 at the Windsor Ballroom in Redcar.
Sweet initially attempted to combine diverse musical influences, including the Monkees and 1960s bubblegum pop groups such as the Archies, with more heavy rock-oriented groups such as the Who. Sweet adopted the rich vocal harmony style of the Hollies, with distorted guitars and a heavy rhythm section. This fusion of pop and hard rock would remain a central trademark of Sweet's music and prefigured the glam metal of a few years later.
Sweet's initial album appearance was on the budget label Music for Pleasure as part of a compilation called Gimme Dat Ding, released in December 1970. Sweet had one side of the record; the Pipkins (whose sole hit, "Gimme Dat Ding", gave the LP its name) had the other. Sweet's contribution consisted of the A- and B-sides of the band's three Parlophone singles. Andy Scott appears in the album cover shot, even though he did not play on any of the recordings.
First album
Sweet made their UK television debut in December 1970 on a pop show called Lift Off, performing the song "Funny Funny". A management deal was signed with the aforementioned songwriting team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Phil Wainman resumed his collaboration with Sweet, as executive producer. This management deal also included a worldwide record contract with RCA Records, the U.S. excepted: in the United States and Canada Bell Records issued the group's music until late 1973, followed by Capitol Records.
In March 1971 RCA issued "Funny Funny", written by Chinn and Chapman, which became the group's first international hit, climbing to the Top 20 on many of the world's charts. EMI reissued their 1970 single "All You'll Ever Get from Me" (May 1971) and it again failed to chart. Their next RCA release "Co-Co" (June 1971) went to number two in the U.K. and their follow up single, "Alexander Graham Bell" (October 1971), only went to No. 33. These tracks still featured session musicians on the instruments with the quartet providing only the vocals.
Sweet's first full LP album, Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, was released in November 1971. A collection of the band's recent singles supplemented by some new Chinn/Chapman tunes (including "Chop Chop" and "Tom Tom Turnaround") and pop covers (such as the Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream" and the Supremes' "Reflections"), the album, recorded at Nova Studios in London, was produced by Phil Wainman and engineered by Richard Dodd and Eric Holland. It was not a serious contender on the charts.
Initial success and rise to fame
February 1972 saw the release of "Poppa Joe", which reached number 1 in Finland and peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart. The next two singles of that year, "Little Willy" and "Wig-Wam Bam", both reached No. 4 in the UK. "Little Willy" peaked at No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 after a re-issue in 1973, thus becoming the group's biggest American hit. Although "Wig-Wam Bam" remained largely true to the style of Sweet's previous recordings, the vocals and guitars had a harder, more rock-oriented sound, largely because it was the first Chinn-Chapman single on which only members of Sweet played the instruments. In January 1973 "Block Buster!" became Sweet's first single to reach number 1 on the UK chart, remaining there for five consecutive weeks. After their next single "Hell Raiser" was released in May and reached number 2 in the U.K., Sweet's U.S. label, Bell, released the group's first American album The Sweet in July 1973.
To promote their singles, Sweet made numerous appearances on U.K. and European TV shows such as Top of the Pops and Supersonic. In one performance of "Block Buster!" on Top of the Pops Christmas edition, Priest aroused complaints after he appeared replete in a German military uniform, Hitler moustache and displaying a swastika armband. The band also capitalised on the glam rock explosion, rivalling Gary Glitter, T. Rex, Queen, Slade, and Wizzard for outrageous stage clothing.
Despite Sweet's success, the relationship with their management was becoming increasingly tense. While they had developed a large fan-base among teenagers, Sweet were not happy with their 'bubblegum' image. Sweet had always composed their own heavy-rock songs on the B-sides of their singles to contrast with the bubblegum A-sides which were composed by Chinn and Chapman. During this time, Sweet's live performances consisted of B-sides, album tracks, and various medleys of rock and roll classics; they avoided older novelty hits like "Funny Funny" and "Poppa Joe". A 1973 performance at the Palace Theatre and Grand Hall in Kilmarnock ended in Sweet being bottled off stage; the disorder was attributed by some (including Steve Priest) to Sweet's lipstick and eye-shadow look, and by others to the audience being unfamiliar with the concert set (the 1999 CD release Live at the Rainbow 1973 documents a live show from this period). The incident would be immortalised in the hit "The Ballroom Blitz" (September 1973). In the meantime, Sweet's chart success continued, showing particular strength in the UK, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, and Australia. By the end of 1973, the band's name evolved from "The Sweet" to "Sweet". The change would be reflected in all of their releases from 1974 onward.
Forming a new image
By 1974, Sweet had grown tired of the management team of Chinn and Chapman, who wrote the group's major hits and cultivated the band's glam rock image. The group and producer Phil Wainman, assisted by engineer Peter Coleman, recorded the album Sweet Fanny Adams, which was released in April 1974. Sweet's technical proficiency was demonstrated for the first time on self-penned hard rock tracks such as "Sweet F.A." and "Set Me Free". Sweet also adopted a more conventional hard rock sound and appearance. Sweet Fanny Adams also featured compressed high-pitched backing vocal harmonies, which was a trend that continued on all of Sweet's albums.
During sessions for the album, Brian Connolly was injured in a fight in Staines High Street. His throat was badly injured and his ability to sing severely limited. Priest and Scott filled in on lead vocals on some tracks ("No You Don't", "Into The Night" and "Restless") and Connolly, under treatment from a Harley Street specialist, managed to complete the album. The band did not publicise the incident and told the press that subsequent cancelled shows were due to Connolly having a throat infection. This incident reportedly permanently compromised Connolly's singing ability, with his range diminished.
No previous singles appeared on the album, and none were released, except in Japan, New Zealand and Australia, where "Peppermint Twist/Rebel Rouser", apparently released by their record company without their knowledge, gained a No. 1 chart position in the latter. Sweet Fanny Adams would be Sweet's only non-compilation release to break the UK Albums Chart Top 40.
Sweet were invited by Pete Townshend to support the Who, who were playing at Charlton Athletic's football ground, The Valley in June 1974. However, Connolly's badly bruised throat kept them from fulfilling the role. Sweet had frequently cited the Who as being one of their main influences and played a medley of their tracks in their live set for many years.
Desolation Boulevard
Their third album, Desolation Boulevard, was released later in 1974, six months after Sweet Fanny Adams. By that stage, producer Phil Wainman had moved on and the album was produced by Mike Chapman. It was recorded in a mere six days and featured a rawer "live" sound. One track, "The Man with the Golden Arm", written by Elmer Bernstein and Sylvia Fine for the 1955 Frank Sinatra movie of the same name, featured drummer Mick Tucker performing an 8 and half minute solo (although this was not included in the U.S. release). This had been a staple of the band's live performance for years. The first single from the LP, the heavy-melodic "The Six Teens" (July 1974), was a Top 10 hit in the U.K. and still part of the amazing unbroken string of No. 1's in Denmark. However, the subsequent single release, "Turn It Down" (November 1974), reached only No. 41 on the U.K. chart and No. 2 in Denmark. "Turn It Down" received minimal airplay on UK radio and was banned by some radio stations because of certain lyrical content - "God-awful sound" and "For God sakes, turn it down" - which were deemed "unsuitable for family listening." The band resumed playing live shows nearly a full six months after Connolly's throat injury, with band and critics noting a rougher edge to his voice and a reduced range. The album also featured a group composition, "Fox On The Run", which was to be re-recorded months later.
The U.S. version of Desolation Boulevard was different from the U.K. version and included several songs from Sweet Fanny Adams in addition to the "Ballroom Blitz" and "Fox on the Run" singles (both of which peaked at No. 5 in the US). Side One of the album contained all Chapman-Chinn penned songs, while Side Two featured songs written and produced by Sweet.
Writing and producing their own material
In 1975 Sweet went back into the studio to re-arrange and record a more pop-oriented version of the track "Fox on the Run". Sweet's first self-written and produced single, "Fox on the Run" was released worldwide in March 1975 and became their biggest selling hit, reaching number one in Germany, Denmark, and South Africa, number two in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway and the Netherlands and number three in Austria and Switzerland. In Australia it not only made it to the top of the charts, it also became the biggest selling single of that year. The song reached number two in Canada and number five in the U.S. The release of this track marked the end of the formal Chinn-Chapman working relationship and the band stressed it was now fully self-sufficient as writers and producers.
The following single release, "Action" (July 1975), peaked at number 15 in the UK. Now confident in their own songwriting and production abilities, Sweet spent the latter half of 1975 in Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany, where they recorded the Give Us A Wink album with German sound engineer Reinhold Mack, who later recorded with Electric Light Orchestra and co-produced Queen. The new album release was deferred until 1976 so as not to stifle the chart success Desolation Boulevard was enjoying, peaking at number 25 in the US and number 5 in Canada.
With Give Us a Wink being held over, RCA issued a double album in Europe, Strung Up, in November. It contained one live disc, recorded in London in December 1973, and one disc compiling previously released singles (plus an unused track by Chinn and Chapman – "I Wanna Be Committed"). At the end of the year, Andy Scott released his first solo single, "Lady Starlight" b/w "Where D'Ya Go". Tucker played drums on both tracks.
Decline in popularity
January 1976 saw the release of the single "The Lies In Your Eyes", which made the Top 10 in Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Australia, but only reached No. 35 on the U.K. charts. Sweet's first album to be fully produced and written by themselves, Give Us A Wink, was released in March 1976. A third single from the album, "4th Of July", was issued in Australia.
By this time, Sweet strove to build on their growing popularity in America with a schedule of more than fifty headline concert dates. Even though Give Us A Winks release was imminent, the band's set essentially promoted the US version of Desolation Boulevard plus the new US hit single "Action". During an appearance at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in California on 24 March, Sweet played "All Right Now" with Ritchie Blackmore as a tribute to mark the death of Free guitarist Paul Kossoff, who was to have supported Sweet with his band Back Street Crawler. The US tour was not financially successful, with small audiences at many venues leading to the final half-dozen or so dates to be cancelled. Following the end of the tour, the band went on to Scandinavia and Germany. The band also spent a week at the Who's Ramport Studios in Battersea demoing material for a new album before abandoning that project and playing eight dates in Japan. By the end of the Japanese shows Connolly's extremely hoarse singing voice was manifest evidence of the demands of constant touring and the enduring after-effects of his 1974 assault.
Between October 1976 and January 1977, Sweet wrote and recorded new material at Kingsway Recorders and Audio International London studios for their next album. An advance single from the album, "Lost Angels", was only a hit in Germany, Austria and Sweden. A new album, Off the Record, was released in April. The next single from the album, "Fever of Love", represented the band heading in a somewhat more Europop hard rock direction, once again charting in Germany, Austria and Sweden, while reaching number 10 in South Africa. On this album, Sweet again worked with Give Us A Wink engineer Louis Austin, who would later engineer Def Leppard's On Through The Night 1980 début album. The band cancelled a US tour with emerging US rockers Aerosmith, did not play any live dates in support of the album and, in fact, did not play a single concert for the whole of 1977.
Level Headed and a change in style
Sweet left RCA in 1977 and signed a new deal with Polydor though it would not come into force until later in the year. Sweet's manager David Walker, from Handle Artists, negotiated the move which was reputed to be worth around £750,000. In the United States, Canada, and Japan, Capitol had issued Sweet's albums since 1974 and would continue to do so through to 1980.
The first Polydor album, Level Headed (January 1978), found Sweet experimenting by combining rock and classical sounds "a-la clavesin", an approach similar to Electric Light Orchestra's, and featured the single "Love Is Like Oxygen". Largely recorded during 1977 at Château d'Hérouville near Paris, France after a 30-day writing session at Clearwell Castle in the Forest Of Dean UK, the album represented a new musical direction, largely abandoning hard-rock for a more melodic pop style, interspersed with ballads accompanied by a 30-piece orchestra. The ballad, "Lettres D'Amour", featured a duet between Connolly and Stevie Lange (who would emerge as lead singer with the group Night in 1979).
With the addition of session and touring musicians keyboardist Gary Moberley and guitarist Nico Ramsden, Sweet undertook a short European and Scandinavian tour followed by a single British concert at London's Hammersmith Odeon on 24 February 1978. However, "Love Is Like Oxygen" (January 1978) was their last U.K., U.S., and German Top 10 hit. Scott was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for co-composing the song. One more single from the album, "California Nights" (May 1978), featuring Steve Priest as the lead vocalist, peaked at number 23 on the German chart.
Departure of Brian Connolly
Between March and May 1978 Sweet extensively toured the US, as a support act for Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. The tour included a disastrous date in Birmingham, Alabama on 3 May, during which visiting Capitol Records executives in the audience saw Brian Connolly give a drunken and incoherent performance that terminated early in the set with his collapse on stage, leaving the rest of the group to play on without him. The band returned briefly to Britain before resuming the second leg of their US tour in late May supporting other acts, including Foghat and Alice Cooper. Concluding the US tour in early July 1978, Brian's alcoholism and estrangement from the group was steadily becoming a greater issue.
In late October, having spent further time at Clearwell Castle to write for their next album, Sweet arrived at The Town House studio in Shepherd's Bush, London to complete and record, Cut Above the Rest (April 1979). Due to tensions between various members attributed to Connolly's health and diminishing status with the group, his long-time friend and fellow founding member, Mick Tucker, was tasked to produce Connolly's vocals. It was felt Tucker would extract a better performance than Scott from Connolly. A number of tracks were recorded featuring Connolly. However, these efforts were deemed unsatisfactory and Brian left the band on 2 November 1978.
On 23 February 1979, Brian Connolly's departure from Sweet was formally announced by manager David Walker. Publicly, Connolly was said to be pursuing a solo career with an interest in recording country rock.
Three piece Sweet
Sweet continued as a trio with Priest assuming the lion's share of lead vocals, though Scott and Tucker were also active in that role. The first single release for the trio was "Call Me". Guest keyboard player Gary Moberley continued to augment the group on stage. Guitarist Ray McRiner joined their touring line-up in 1979, with a small tour with Journey in the eastern United States and Cheap Trick in Texas in the spring and summer of '79 to support Cut Above The Rest (which was released in April 1979). McRiner would also contribute the songs "Too Much Talking" and the single "Give The Lady Some Respect" to the next Sweet album, Waters Edge (August 1980), which was recorded in Canada. In the US, Waters Edge was titled Sweet VI. It featured the singles "Sixties Man" and "Give The Lady Some Respect". Tragedy befell Mick Tucker when his wife Pauline drowned in the bath at their home on 26 December 1979. The band withdrew from live work for all of 1980.
One more studio album, Identity Crisis, was recorded during 1980–81 but was only released in West Germany and Mexico. Sweet undertook a short tour of the UK and performed their last live show at Glasgow University on 20 March 1981. Steve Priest then returned to the United States, where he had been living since late 1979. When Polydor released Identity Crisis in October 1982, the original Sweet had been disbanded for almost a year.
Re-formed versions (1984–present)
Andy Scott's Sweet (1985–present)
Andy Scott and Mick Tucker organised their own version of Sweet with Paul Mario Day (ex-Iron Maiden, More, Wildfire) on lead vocals, Phil Lanzon (ex-Grand Prix) on keyboards and Mal McNulty on bass. The band performed at the Marquee Club in London in February 1986, with the shows recorded and gaining release a few years later, bolstered by four new studio tracks including a cover of the Motown standard "Reach Out I'll Be There". This line-up also toured Australian and New Zealand pubs and clubs for more than three months in 1985 and for a similar period again in 1986. Singer Paul Day ended up marrying the band's Australian tour guide and relocating downunder. He continued with Sweet commuting back and forth to Europe for the group's tours until this proved to be too cumbersome. He departed in late 1988. As McNulty moved into the front man spot, Jeff Brown came in to take over bass early in 1989. Lanzon too went back and forth between Sweet and Uriah Heep during 1986-1988 before Heep's schedule grew too busy. Malcolm Pearson and then Ian Gibbons (who had played with The Kinks and The Records) both filled in for Lanzon until Steve Mann (Liar, Lionheart, McAuley Schenker Group) arrived in December 1989.
Tucker departed after a show in Lochau, Austria, on 5 May 1991. He later was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia. Three drummers, Andy Hoyler, Bobby Andersen and Bruce Bisland (Weapon, Wildfire, Praying Mantis), provided short-term relief before Bodo Schopf (McAuley Schenker Group) took over. They recorded an album during this period, simply titled A. Before the band embarked on the supporting tour for A in 1992, Bodo left and Bisland returned as permanent percussionist. Scott changed the band's name to 'Andy Scott's Sweet' after Tucker's departure but truncated it to simply 'The Sweet' once again after Tucker's death in 2002.
Mal McNulty, now lead vocalist, departed in 1994, though he would return briefly that year to fill in for Jeff Brown on bass (as he would again in 1995 as lead singer for a few dates while Rocky Newton subbed on bass). Sweet's former keyboard men Gary Moberley and Ian Gibbons also did fill-in jaunts with the group that year, as did Chris Goulstone. Chad Brown (ex-Lionheart; no relation to Jeff) was the new front man. Glitz Blitz and Hitz, a new studio album of re-recorded Sweet hits, was released during this period.
In 1996 Mann left to take a job in television and Gibbons came back for a short time before Steve Grant (ex-The Animals) became the permanent keyboardist. When Chad Brown quit in 1998 after developing a throat infection, Jeff Brown assumed lead vocals and bass duties. After this, the band was stable again for the next five years.
The mid-2000s would bring further confusing shake-ups and rotations. Tony O'Hora (ex-Onslaught, Praying Mantis) replaced Brown as lead vocalist in 2003. Ian Gibbons came back for a third stint as fill-in keyboardist in June 2005 for a gig in the Faroe Islands. O'Hora decided to split to take a teaching job in late 2005. Grant then jumped from keyboards to lead vocals and bass as Phil Lanzon returned on keyboards for a tour of Russia and Germany in October/November. New singer Mark Thompson Smith (ex-Praying Mantis) joined in November 2005 for some Swedish gigs, while Jo Burt (ex-Black Sabbath) was temporary bass player. Tony Mills (ex-Shy) was slated to be Sweet's new singer in early 2006 but failed to work out and left after six shows in Denmark. At this point, O'Hora came back as fill in front man and then Grant did another turn himself as the singer/bassist (Steve Mann depped on keyboards) until the group finally landed a new permanent front man when Peter Lincoln (ex-Sailor) arrived in July 2006. The line-up then consisted of Scott, Bisland, Grant and Lincoln.
Scott produced the Suzi Quatro album Back to the Drive, released in February 2006. March 2006 saw the U.S. release of his band's album Sweetlife.
In 2007 the group played in Germany, Belgium, Austria and Italy. In May of that year, the band played in Porto Alegre and Curitiba, Brazil, their first and only South American shows. The tour was called the 'Sweet Fanny Adams Tour'.
The band toured again in March 2008 under the name 'Sweet Fanny Adams Revisited Tour'. In May and June, Scott's Sweet were part of the "Glitz Blitz & 70s Hitz" tour of the UK alongside The Rubettes and Showaddywaddy.
In March and April 2010, Scott was absent from a couple of gigs due to ill health and Martin Mickels stood in. Scott revealed later that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was treated at the Bristol Royal Infirmary. After a course of treatment and rest, he was back to full touring fitness. In 2010 the band played at venues in Europe and back at Bilston in October.
In March 2011 there was a short tour of Australia, Regal Theatre - Perth, and Clipsal 500, Adelaide with the Doobie Brothers. Also in 2011, Tony O'Hora came back to the group, this time as keyboardist, after Grant departed.
In March 2012 the band released a new album New York Connection. Recorded in England, it comprised 11 cover versions, including the 2011 single "Join Together" and one revamped original recording; the 1972 B-side "New York Connection". All the covers either featured 'bits and pieces' of Sweet hits or other artist songs, such as a "new version of the Ramones Blitzkrieg Bop [which] shared space with samples from ‘Ballroom Blitz,’ and a take on Hello’s New York Groove (made famous in the US by Ace Frehley) featured a sample from Jay-Z’s Empire State Of Mind along with other Sweet references."
On the eve of their March 2012 "Join Together" tour of Australia, the band undertook an acoustic performance of three tracks, "New York Groove-Empire State of Mind", "Blockbuster" and "Peppermint Twist", in front of a live audience at ABC Radio Studios in East Perth. Shows in Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Geelong, Melbourne and Sydney featured tracks from the new album for the first time.
Paul Manzi joined Sweet on their 2014 Australian tour, replacing Tony O'Hora who was absent for personal reasons. Manzi played guitar, keyboard and undertook lead vocals on "Set Me Free" and "AC-DC" as the band performed shows in regional centres, including outback Western Australia, Darwin and far-north Queensland, NSW and Victoria during February and March. The band, with O'Hora back in the ranks, returned to Australia in September 2014 as the headlining act for "Rock The Boat 4". This was a cruise aboard the ship Rhapsody of the Seas which departed Sydney and took in New Caledonia and Vanuatu. The band played two gigs and various members guested with Australian veteran performers including Brian Cadd and Russell Morris and members of AC/DC, The Angels, Rose Tattoo and Skyhooks.
In June 2015 it was revealed that the band were going on an extensive tour of the UK in late 2015 and that this tour would probably be their last.
For the 2015 summer tour dates, Paul Manzi returned to sub for Peter Lincoln who left this online message to the fans: "There have been a few rumours going around this weekend, so . . . just to say that I am alive and well! The short explanation for my absence is that I need to rest my voice for a few weeks. We are lucky that our good friend Paul Manzi is able to step in, and Tony knows the role of bass player/singer, so the shows can go ahead, and they will be great! I look forward to being back on stage very soon."
Pete Lincoln duly resumed his role in the band and they continued with extensive live dates, known as the "Finale" tour in Germany.
In 2017 after Andy undertook a successful Australian visit with Suzi Quatro and Don Powell in the side outfit known as QSP, Sweet was again booked for an extensive European tour. In the years following both Tony O'Hora and Pete Lincoln departed the band. Paul Manzi returned as permanent lead vocalist, quitting the popular outfit Cats in Space to do so. Lee Small joined as bassist and backing vocalist. Former guitarist and keyboard player Steve Mann joined for a handful of shows as a special guest. During the COVID-19 pandemic the band recorded a new album of old tracks entitled Isolation Boulevard.
New Sweet, Brian Connolly's Sweet (1984–1997)
In 1984 Brian Connolly formed a new version of the Sweet without any of the other original members. Despite recurring ill health, Connolly toured the UK and Europe with his band, "Brian Connolly's Sweet", which was then renamed to "New Sweet". His most successful concerts were in West Germany, before and after reunification.
During 1987, Connolly met up again with Frank Torpey. Torpey later explained in interviews Connolly was trying to get a German recording deal. The two got on very well and Torpey subsequently invited Connolly to go into the recording studio with him, as an informal project. After much trepidation, Connolly turned up and the track "Sharontina" was recorded. This recording would not be released until 1998, appearing on Frank Torpey's album Sweeter.
By July 1990, plans were made for Connolly and his band to tour Australia in November. During the long flight to Australia, Connolly's health had suffered and he was hospitalised in Adelaide Hospital, allegedly for dehydration and related problems. The rest of the band played a show in Adelaide without him. After being released from the hospital, Connolly joined the other band members in Melbourne for a gig at the Pier Hotel, in Frankston. After several other shows, including one at the Dingley Powerhouse, Connolly and his band played a final date at Melbourne's Greek Theatre. It was felt Connolly's health was sufficient reason for the tour not to be extended, and some of the planned dates were abandoned. Connolly went back to England and his band appeared on The Bob Downe Christmas show on 18 December 1990.
During the early 1990s, Connolly played the European "oldies" circuit and occasional outdoor festivals in Europe with his band. On 22 March 1992, a heavy duty tape recorder was stolen from the band's van whilst at a gig in the Bristol Hippodrome with Mud. It contained demos of four new songs, totalling about 20 mixes.
Legal problems were going on in the background over the use of the Sweet name between Connolly and Andy Scott. Both parties agreed to distinguish their group's names to help promoters and fans. The New Sweet went back to being called Brian Connolly's Sweet and Andy Scott's version became Andy Scott's Sweet.
In 1994, Connolly and his band played in Dubai. He appeared at the Galleria Theatre, Hyatt Regency. He also performed in Bahrain.
By this time Connolly had healed the differences with Steve Priest and Mick Tucker, and was invited to the wedding of Priest's eldest daughter, Lisa. At the private function, for which Priest specially flew back to England, Priest and Connolly performed together.
In 1995, Connolly released a new album entitled Let's Go. His partner Jean, whom he had met a few years earlier, gave birth to a son. Connolly also performed in Switzerland that year.
On 2 November 1996 British TV Network Channel 4 aired a programme Don't Leave Me This Way, which examined Connolly's time as a pop star with the Sweet, the subsequent decline in the band's popularity, and its impact on Connolly and the other band members. The show revealed Connolly's ill health but also that he was continuing with his concert dates at Butlins. Connolly and his band had appeared at Butlins a number of times on tour during the early 1990s.
Connolly's final concert was at the Bristol Hippodrome on 5 December 1996, with Slade II and John Rossall's Glitter Band Experience.
Steve Priest's Sweet (2008–Present)
In January 2008, Steve Priest assembled his own version of the Sweet in Los Angeles. He enlisted a guitarist Stuart Smith and L.A. native Richie Onori, Smith's bandmate in Heaven & Earth, was brought in on drums. The keyboard spot was manned by ex-Crow and World Classic Rockers alumni Stevie Stewart. Front-man and vocalist Joe Retta was brought in to round out the line-up.
After an initial appearance on L.A. rock station 95.5 KLOS's popular Mark & Brian radio programme, the "Are You Ready Steve?" tour kicked off at the Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood on 12 June 2008. The band spent the next several months playing festivals and gigs throughout the U.S. and Canada, including Moondance Jam in Walker, Minnesota; headlining at the Rock N Resort Music Festival in North Lawrence, Ohio (near Canal Fulton); London, Ontario's Rock the Park; another headlining gig at Peterborough's Festival of Lights; the Common Ground Festival in Lansing, Michigan; and a benefit concert for victims of California's wildfires at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California.
In January 2009, the Sweet presented at the concert industry's Pollstar Awards, and also played a short set at the Nokia Theatre where the event was held, marking the first time in the ceremony's history that a band performed at the show. In addition to local gigs at the House of Blues on L.A.'s Sunset Strip and Universal CityWalk, 2009 saw the band return to Canada for sold-out shows at the Mae Wilson Theater and Casino Regina, as well as the Nakusp Music Fest and Rockin' the Fields of Minnedosa in Minnedosa, Manitoba. U.S. festivals have included Minnesota's Halfway Jam, Rockin' the Rivers in Montana (with Pat Travers and Peter Frampton), and two late-summer shows at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
The new band recorded a cover version of the Beatles' "Ticket to Ride", which was included on Cleopatra Records' Abbey Road, a Fab Four tribute CD that was released on 24 March 2009.
A preview of the band's new CD Live in America, which was recorded live at the Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa in Cabazon, California on 30 August 2008, was featured on KLOS's "Front Row" programme on 12 April 2009. The CD, which was first sold at shows and via the band's on-line store, was released worldwide in an exclusive deal with Amazon.com on 21 July 2009. The release has garnered favourable reviews from The Rock n Roll Report, Classic Rock Revisited and Hard Rock Haven, among others.
In April 2010, the band released its first single on iTunes: an updated, hard rock version of the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There." Performances on the 2010 summer tour included the Wildflower! Arts and Music Festival in Richardson, Texas; Las Vegas, Nevada's Fremont Street Experience; Rock N' America in Oklahoma City, OK; Summer Jam in Des Moines, Iowa; Jack FM's Fifth Show at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Los Angeles; an appearance at the Hard Rock Hotel in Biloxi, Mississippi; and the inaugural edition of the Thunder Mountain Rock Festival in Sawyer, North Dakota.
On 11 November 2010, it was announced that in May 2011 "Steve Priest's Sweet" had been booked to perform at a handful of European dates, but the gigs ultimately had to be cancelled in late January 2011 after it was learned that one of the promoters was a suspected swindler wanted by British law enforcement officials. As of February 2011, fans who purchased pre-sale tickets were still in the process of working through the administrative channels with PayPal and various banks and credit card issuers in order to try to reclaim their funds.
The band toured South America along with Journey during March 2011.
The band and their European fans then also got re-united quicker than thought, when the band got booked by a befriended female Belgian promoter. Two east German gigs, 27 and 28 May 2011, so in Borna and in Schwarzenberg Steve Priest's Sweet hit the European grounds. After more than 30 years, Steve Priest got a warm welcome back in Europe.
As of 12 August 2012, Stuart Smith resigned from the guitar post in order to dedicate more time to his "Heaven & Earth" project.
Beginning with the band's October 2012 appearance at the Festival Internacional Chihuahua in Mexico, Los Angeles-based guitarist Ricky Z. teamed up with Steve Priest and company for their live performances. In February 2013, this lineup returned to Casino Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada. Tour dates played in summer 2013 included Riverfest in Watertown, Wisconsin, the St. Clair, MI Riverfest, several additional dates in Canada, and a reprise of their appearances at both Moondance Jam in Walker, MN and Rockin' the Rivers in Three Forks, Montana. The band made some rare appearances on the U.S. east coast in July 2013, including a performance with David Johansen of the New York Dolls at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, New Jersey. Singer Joe Retta was unavailable for these dates due to a scheduling conflict, so Tribe of Gypsies frontman Chas West, who has played with Jason Bonham's band and has experience subbing in such well-known bands as Foreigner, Lynch Mob and Diamond Head, stepped in to man the microphone for a series of shows in New York, New Jersey and Maryland.
On 27 August 2014, Steve Priest announced on the band's Facebook page that guitarist Mitch Perry had been tapped for the guitar slot. Most recently on tour with Lita Ford, Mitch's other credentials included his work with Michael Schenker Group, Asia Featuring John Payne, Edgar Winter, Billy Sheehan and David Lee Roth His first live appearance with Sweet was at the Rock the River festival in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on 23 August 2014.
22 December 2017 saw the launch of the 50th anniversary tour at the Whisky a Go Go on L.A.'s Sunset Strip and the introduction of new singer Paul Zablidowski AKA "Paulie Z" former lead singer and guitarist of ZO2, children's band "The Z Brothers" and star of IFC show Z-Rock. Recently known as the host for local show "Ultimate Jam Night." Z replaced Joe Retta, who had served as the frontman for the Los Angeles incarnation of Sweet since its formation in 2008. Priest died on 4 June 2020.
Brief reunions and the deaths of Brian Connolly, Mick Tucker and Steve Priest
Steve Priest was asked to join Tucker and Scott for the 1985 Australian tour, but declined at the last moment.
Mike Chapman contacted Connolly, Priest, Scott, and Tucker in 1988, offering to finance a recording session in Los Angeles. As he remembers: "I met them at the airport and Andy and Mick came off the plane. I said, 'Where's Brian?' They said, 'Oh, he's coming.' All the people had come off the plane by now. Then this little old man hobbled towards us. He was shaking, and had a ghostly white face. I thought, 'Oh, Jesus Christ.' It was horrifying." Reworked studio versions of "Action" and "The Ballroom Blitz" were recorded, but it became clear that Connolly's voice and physical health had made Sweet's original member comeback too difficult to promote commercially. Consequently, the reunion attempt was aborted.
In 1990 this line-up was again reunited for the promotion of a music documentary entitled Sweet's Ballroom Blitz. This UK video release, which contained UK television performances from the 1970s and current-day interviews, was released at Tower Records, London. Sweet was interviewed by Power Hour, Super Channel, and spoke of a possible reunion.
Brian Connolly died at the age of 51 on 9 February 1997, from liver failure and repeated heart attacks, attributed to his abuse of alcohol in the 1970s and early 1980s. Mick Tucker died on 14 February 2002 from leukemia, at the age of 54. On 4 June 2020 it was announced that Steve Priest had died. It left Andy Scott as the sole living member of Sweet's 'classic lineup'.
Later years
Two versions of The Sweet were active with original members: "Andy Scott's Sweet", who frequently tour across Europe as Sweet and makes occasional sojourns to other markets including regular visits to Australia, and "Steve Priest's Sweet" who toured the US and Canada.
On 28 April 2009, Shout! Factory released a two-disc, career-spanning greatest hits album called Action: The Sweet Anthology. It received a four-star (out of five) rating in Rolling Stone.
In September 2009 Ace Frehley released his version of "Fox on the Run" on his album Anomaly.
In an October 2012 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Axl Rose, lead singer of Guns N' Roses, referenced Sweet as one of his favourite bands growing up along with fellow British band Queen.
In April 2016, the chart topping song (1973), "The Ballroom Blitz" was featured in a trailer for Suicide Squad.
In December 2016, their single "Fox on the Run" (1975) was featured in a trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
In 2019, the songs "Fox on the Run" and "Set Me Free" were featured in an episode of Jamie Johnson.
Personnel
Original band
Classic lineup
Brian Connolly – lead vocals, percussion, synthesizer, acoustic guitar (1968–1978; died 1997)
Steve Priest – bass, backing and lead vocals (1968–1981; died 2020)
Mick Tucker – drums, percussion, backing and lead vocals (1968–1981; died 2002)
Andy Scott – guitars, keyboards, synthesizers, piano, backing and lead vocals (1970–1981)
Early members
Frank Torpey – guitars (1968–1969)
Mick Stewart – guitars (1969–1970)
Touring musicians
Gary Moberley – keyboards, synthesizers, piano (1978–1981)
Nico Ramsden – guitar (1978)
Ray McRiner – guitar (1979)
Andy Scott’s Sweet
Current members
Andy Scott – guitars, keyboards, synthesizers, piano, backing and lead vocals (1985–present)
Bruce Bisland – drums, backing vocals (1992–present)
Paul Manzi – lead vocals (2019–present; substitute appearances in 2014 and 2015)
Lee Small – bass, backing vocals (2019–present)
Former members
Mick Tucker – drums, backing vocals (1985–1991; died 2002)
Paul Mario Day – lead vocals (1985–1989)
Phil Lanzon – keyboards, piano, backing vocals (1985–1989; 2005—2006)
Mal McNulty – bass, lead and backing vocals (1985–1995)
Jeff Brown – bass, lead and backing vocals (1989–2003)
Steve Mann – keyboards, guitars, backing vocals (1989-1996)
Bodo Schopf – drums, backing vocals (1991–1992)
Chad Brown — lead vocals (1995–1998)
Steve Grant — keyboards, piano, backing vocals (1996–2005, 2006–2011); lead vocals, bass (2005–2006)
Tony O’Hora – lead and backing vocals, bass (2003–2005, 2006, 2011–2019), guitars, keyboards (2011–2019)
Peter Lincoln – bass, lead and backing vocals (2006–2019)
Timeline
Discography
Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be (1971)
Sweet Fanny Adams (1974)
Desolation Boulevard (1974)
Give Us a Wink (1976)
Off the Record (1977)
Level Headed (1978)
Cut Above the Rest (1979)
Waters Edge (titled Sweet VI with a different cover in the U.S.) (1980)
Identity Crisis (1982)
Sweetlife (2002) by Andy Scott's Sweet
Isolation Boulevard (2020) by Andy Scott's Sweet
References
Bibliography
(2008 eBook available at )
External links
Channel 4 documentary on The Sweet from 1996
English hard rock musical groups
English glam rock groups
Musical groups established in 1968
Capitol Records artists
Polydor Records artists
RCA Records artists
1968 establishments in the United Kingdom
Musical groups disestablished in 1982
1982 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Musical groups reestablished in 1985
1985 establishments in the United Kingdom | true | [
"The Gaon Digital Chart of Gaon Music Chart is a chart that ranks the best-performing songs in South Korea. The data is collected by the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA) and ranks songs according to their performance on the Gaon Download, Streaming and BGM charts. Below is a list of songs that topped the weekly and monthly charts. The actual overall best-performing song on the chart of 2011, T-ara's \"Roly-Poly\", did not top any weekly or monthly chart—becoming the first (and, so far, only) time this feat has happened in the chart's history.\n\nWeekly charts\n\nMonthly charts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Gaon Digital Chart - Official Website \n\n2011 singles\nKorea, South singles\n2011 in South Korean music",
"\"So Fine\" is a song written by Johnny Otis and performed by The Fiestas. It reached #3 on the U.S. R&B chart and #11 on the U.S. pop chart in 1959.\n\nJim Gribble is credited as the writer of the song, however, Johnny Otis filed a lawsuit claiming the copyright of the song, which had been recorded in 1955 by The Sheiks, a group that included Jesse Belvin. Otis' side won the case.\n\nThe song was ranked #69 on Billboard's Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1959.\n\nOther charting versions\nIke & Tina Turner and the Ikettes released a version of the song from the album So Fine. It reached #50 on the U.S. R&B chart and #117 on the U.S. pop chart in 1968.\nJohnny Rivers released a version of the song as a medley with \"Searchin'\" which reached #113 on the U.S. pop chart in 1973.\nThe Oak Ridge Boys released a version of the song which reached #22 on the U.S. country chart and #76 on the U.S. pop chart in 1982. It was featured on their album Bobbie Sue.\n\nOther versions\nThe Hollywood Argyles released a version of the song as the B-side to their 1960 single \"Hully Gully\".\nMaurice Williams and the Zodiacs released a version of the song on their 1961 album Stay.\nThe Ventures released a version of the song on their 1963 album Let's Go!\nThe Premiers released a version of the song as a single in 1964, but it did not chart. It was produced by Eddie Davis.\nThe Believers released a version of the song as a single in 1965, but it did not chart. It was produced by Joe South.\nThe Everly Brothers released a version of the song on their 1965 album Rock'n Soul.\nPaul Revere and The Raiders released a version of the song as a single in 1966, but it did not chart.\nDale and Grace released a version of the song as the B-side to their 1967 single \"It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin'\".\nThe Newbeats released a version of the song as the B-side to their 1967 single \"Top Secret\". It was produced by Wesley Rose.\nStone Poneys released a version of the song as a single in 1968, but it did not chart.\nAmen Corner released a version of the song as a single in 1969, but it did not chart.\nElvin Bishop Group released a version of the song as a single in 1970, but it did not chart. It was produced by David Rubinson.\nLoggins and Messina released a version of the song on their 1975 album So Fine.\n\nReferences\n\n1955 songs\n1958 singles\n1964 singles\n1965 singles\n1966 singles\n1968 singles\n1969 singles\n1970 singles\n1973 singles\n1982 singles\nSongs written by Johnny Otis\nIke & Tina Turner songs\nJohnny Rivers songs\nThe Oak Ridge Boys songs\nMaurice Williams and the Zodiacs songs\nThe Ventures songs\nThe Everly Brothers songs\nThe Newbeats songs\nAmen Corner (band) songs\nLoggins and Messina songs\nUnited Artists Records singles\nMCA Records singles\nLondon Records singles\nWarner Records singles\nImmediate Records singles\nSong recordings produced by Ike Turner\n\nThe Ikettes songs"
] |
[
"The Sweet",
"First album",
"What was the sweets first album?",
"The Sweet's first full LP album, Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, was released in November 1971.",
"did it do well?",
"It was not a serious contender on the charts.",
"what was special about their first album?",
"A collection of the band's recent singles supplemented by some new Chinn/Chapman tunes",
"did the band tour?",
"I don't know.",
"did any of their songs chart?",
"Their next RCA release \"Co-Co\" (June 1971) went to number two in the U.K."
] | C_b1e767986d2542acaf8dafe8942132ea_0 | did they win any awards? | 6 | Did The Sweet win any awards? | The Sweet | The Sweet made their UK television debut in December 1970 on a pop show called Lift Off, performing the song "Funny Funny". A management deal was signed with the aforementioned songwriting team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Phil Wainman resumed his collaboration with Sweet, as executive producer. This management deal also included a worldwide (the U.S. excepted) record contract with RCA Records (in the United States and Canada Bell Records issued the group's music until late 1973; followed by Capitol Records). In March 1971 RCA issued "Funny Funny", written by Chinn and Chapman, which became the group's first international hit, climbing to the Top 20 on many of the world's charts. EMI reissued their 1970 single "All You'll Ever Get from Me" (May 1971) and it again failed to chart. Their next RCA release "Co-Co" (June 1971) went to number two in the U.K. and their follow up single, "Alexander Graham Bell" (October 1971), only went to #33. These tracks still featured session musicians on the instruments with the quartet providing only the vocals. The Sweet's first full LP album, Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, was released in November 1971. A collection of the band's recent singles supplemented by some new Chinn/Chapman tunes (including "Chop Chop" and "Tom Tom Turnaround") and pop covers (such as the Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream" and the Supremes' "Reflections"), the album, recorded at Nova Studios in London, was produced by Phil Wainman and engineered by Richard Dodd and Eric Holland. It was not a serious contender on the charts. Their albums' failure to match the success of their singles was a problem that would plague the band throughout their career. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | The Sweet, sometimes also shortened to just Sweet, are a British glam rock band that rose to worldwide fame in the 1970s. Their best known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bass player Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott, and drummer Mick Tucker. The group was originally called The Sweetshop.
The band was formed in London in 1968 and achieved their first hit, "Funny Funny", in 1971 after teaming up with songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman and record producer Phil Wainman. During 1971 and 1972, their musical style followed a marked progression from the Archies-like bubblegum style of "Funny Funny" to a Who-influenced hard rock style supplemented by a striking use of high-pitched backing vocals.
The band first achieved success in the UK charts, with thirteen Top 20 hits during the 1970s alone, with "Block Buster!" (1973) topping the chart, followed by three consecutive number two hits in "Hell Raiser" (1973), "The Ballroom Blitz" (1973) and "Teenage Rampage" (1974). The band turned to a more hard rock style with their mid-career singles, like 1974's "Turn It Down". "Fox on the Run" (1975) also reached number two on the UK charts. These results were topped in West Germany and other countries on the European mainland. They also achieved success and popularity in the US with the top ten hits "Little Willy", "The Ballroom Blitz", "Fox on the Run", and "Love is Like Oxygen".
The Sweet had their last international success in 1978 with "Love Is Like Oxygen". Connolly left the group in 1979 to start a solo career and the remaining members continued as a trio until disbanding in 1981. From the mid-1980s, Scott, Connolly and Priest each played with their own versions of Sweet at different times. Connolly died in 1997, Tucker in 2002 and Priest in 2020. Andy Scott is still active with his version of the band. Sweet have since sold over 35 million albums worldwide.
History
Origins
Sweet's origins can be traced back to British soul band Wainwright's Gentlemen. Mark Lay's history of that band states they formed around 1962 and were initially known as Unit 4. Founding members included Chris Wright (vocals), Jan Frewer (bass), with Jim Searle and Alfred Fripp on guitars. Phil Kenton joined on drums as the band changed its name to Wainwright's Gentlemen (due to there being another band known as Unit 4). Managed by Frewer's father, the band performed in the Hayes, Harrow and Wembley area. By 1964 the group was also playing in London, including at the Saint Germain Club on Poland Street.
In January 1964 the band came fifth in a national beat group contest, with finals held at the Lyceum Strand on 4 May 1964. Highlights of the show were presented on BBC1 by Alan Freeman. Chris Wright left the line-up in late 1964 and was replaced by Ian Gillan. A female vocalist named Ann Cully soon joined the band. Mick Tucker, from Ruislip, joined on drums replacing Phil Kenton. The band recorded a number of tracks including a cover of the Coasters-Hollies hit "Ain't That Just Like Me", which was probably recorded at Jackson Sound Studios in Rickmansworth. The track includes Gillan on vocals, Tucker on drums and, according to band bassist Jan Frewer, is thought to have been recorded in 1965. Gillan quit in May 1965 to join Episode Six, and later, Deep Purple. Cully remained as vocalist before departing some time later. Gillan's and Cully's eventual replacement, in late 1966, was Scots-born vocalist Brian Connolly, who hailed more recently from Harefield. Tony Hall had joined on saxophone and vocals and when Fripp left he was replaced by Gordon Fairminer. Fairminer's position was eventually assumed by Frank Torpey (born Frank Edward Torpey, 30 April 1945, Kilburn, North West London) - a schoolfriend of Tucker's who had just left West London group The Tribe (aka The Dream). Torpey only lasted a few months, and in late 1967 Robin Box (born 19 June 1944) took his place. Searle, regarded by many as the most talented musically, disappeared from the scene. Tucker and Connolly remained with Wainwright's Gentlemen until January 1968. Tucker was replaced by Roger Hills. When the Gentlemen eventually broke up, Hills and Box joined White Plains who eventually scored a big hit with "My Baby Loves Lovin'".
Early years
In January 1968 Connolly and Tucker formed a new band calling themselves The Sweetshop. They recruited bass guitarist and vocalist Steve Priest from a local band called The Army. Priest had previously played with mid-'60s band the Countdowns who had been produced and recorded by Joe Meek. Frank Torpey was again recruited to play guitar. The quartet made its public debut at the Pavilion in Hemel Hempstead on 9 March 1968 and soon developed a following on the pub circuit, which led to a contract with Fontana Records. At the time, another UK band released a single under the same name Sweetshop, so the band abbreviated their moniker to Sweet. The band was managed by Paul Nicholas, who later went on to star in Hair. Nicholas worked with record producer Phil Wainman at Mellin Music Publishing and recommended the band to him. Their debut single "Slow Motion" (July 1968), produced by Wainman, and released on Fontana, failed to chart and owing to its rarity now sells for several hundred pounds when auctioned. Sweet were released from the recording contract and Frank Torpey left. In his autobiography Are You Ready Steve, Priest said that Gordon Fairminer was approached to play for them when Torpey decided to leave Sweet after a gig at Playhouse Theatre Walton-on-Thames on 5 July 1969 but turned the job down as he wanted to concentrate on other interests.
New line-up and new record deal
Guitarist Mick Stewart joined in 1969. Stewart had some rock pedigree, having previously worked with The (Ealing) Redcaps and Simon Scott & The All-Nite Workers in the mid-1960s. In late 1965, that band became The Phil Wainman Set when the future Sweet producer joined on drums and the group cut some singles with Errol Dixon. In early 1966, Stewart left and later worked with Johnny Kidd & The Pirates.
Sweet signed a new record contract with EMI's Parlophone label. Three bubblegum pop singles were released: "Lollipop Man" (September 1969), "All You'll Ever Get from Me" (January 1970), and a cover version of the Archies' "Get on the Line" (June 1970), all of which failed to chart. Stewart then quit, and was not replaced for some time. Connolly and Tucker had a chance meeting with Wainman, who was now producing, and knew of two aspiring songwriters, Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, who were looking for a group to sing some demos they had written. Connolly, Priest, and Tucker provided the vocals on a track called "Funny Funny" which featured Pip Williams on guitar, John Roberts on bass, and Wainman on drums. The latter began offering the track to various recording companies. The band held auditions for a replacement guitarist and settled on Welsh-born Andy Scott. He had most recently been playing with Mike McCartney (brother of Paul) in the Scaffold. As a member of the Elastic Band, he had played guitar on two singles for Decca, "Think of You Baby" and "Do Unto Others". He also appeared on the band's lone album release, Expansions on Life, and on some recordings by the Scaffold. The band rehearsed for a number of weeks before Scott made his live debut with Sweet on 26 September 1970 at the Windsor Ballroom in Redcar.
Sweet initially attempted to combine diverse musical influences, including the Monkees and 1960s bubblegum pop groups such as the Archies, with more heavy rock-oriented groups such as the Who. Sweet adopted the rich vocal harmony style of the Hollies, with distorted guitars and a heavy rhythm section. This fusion of pop and hard rock would remain a central trademark of Sweet's music and prefigured the glam metal of a few years later.
Sweet's initial album appearance was on the budget label Music for Pleasure as part of a compilation called Gimme Dat Ding, released in December 1970. Sweet had one side of the record; the Pipkins (whose sole hit, "Gimme Dat Ding", gave the LP its name) had the other. Sweet's contribution consisted of the A- and B-sides of the band's three Parlophone singles. Andy Scott appears in the album cover shot, even though he did not play on any of the recordings.
First album
Sweet made their UK television debut in December 1970 on a pop show called Lift Off, performing the song "Funny Funny". A management deal was signed with the aforementioned songwriting team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Phil Wainman resumed his collaboration with Sweet, as executive producer. This management deal also included a worldwide record contract with RCA Records, the U.S. excepted: in the United States and Canada Bell Records issued the group's music until late 1973, followed by Capitol Records.
In March 1971 RCA issued "Funny Funny", written by Chinn and Chapman, which became the group's first international hit, climbing to the Top 20 on many of the world's charts. EMI reissued their 1970 single "All You'll Ever Get from Me" (May 1971) and it again failed to chart. Their next RCA release "Co-Co" (June 1971) went to number two in the U.K. and their follow up single, "Alexander Graham Bell" (October 1971), only went to No. 33. These tracks still featured session musicians on the instruments with the quartet providing only the vocals.
Sweet's first full LP album, Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, was released in November 1971. A collection of the band's recent singles supplemented by some new Chinn/Chapman tunes (including "Chop Chop" and "Tom Tom Turnaround") and pop covers (such as the Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream" and the Supremes' "Reflections"), the album, recorded at Nova Studios in London, was produced by Phil Wainman and engineered by Richard Dodd and Eric Holland. It was not a serious contender on the charts.
Initial success and rise to fame
February 1972 saw the release of "Poppa Joe", which reached number 1 in Finland and peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart. The next two singles of that year, "Little Willy" and "Wig-Wam Bam", both reached No. 4 in the UK. "Little Willy" peaked at No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 after a re-issue in 1973, thus becoming the group's biggest American hit. Although "Wig-Wam Bam" remained largely true to the style of Sweet's previous recordings, the vocals and guitars had a harder, more rock-oriented sound, largely because it was the first Chinn-Chapman single on which only members of Sweet played the instruments. In January 1973 "Block Buster!" became Sweet's first single to reach number 1 on the UK chart, remaining there for five consecutive weeks. After their next single "Hell Raiser" was released in May and reached number 2 in the U.K., Sweet's U.S. label, Bell, released the group's first American album The Sweet in July 1973.
To promote their singles, Sweet made numerous appearances on U.K. and European TV shows such as Top of the Pops and Supersonic. In one performance of "Block Buster!" on Top of the Pops Christmas edition, Priest aroused complaints after he appeared replete in a German military uniform, Hitler moustache and displaying a swastika armband. The band also capitalised on the glam rock explosion, rivalling Gary Glitter, T. Rex, Queen, Slade, and Wizzard for outrageous stage clothing.
Despite Sweet's success, the relationship with their management was becoming increasingly tense. While they had developed a large fan-base among teenagers, Sweet were not happy with their 'bubblegum' image. Sweet had always composed their own heavy-rock songs on the B-sides of their singles to contrast with the bubblegum A-sides which were composed by Chinn and Chapman. During this time, Sweet's live performances consisted of B-sides, album tracks, and various medleys of rock and roll classics; they avoided older novelty hits like "Funny Funny" and "Poppa Joe". A 1973 performance at the Palace Theatre and Grand Hall in Kilmarnock ended in Sweet being bottled off stage; the disorder was attributed by some (including Steve Priest) to Sweet's lipstick and eye-shadow look, and by others to the audience being unfamiliar with the concert set (the 1999 CD release Live at the Rainbow 1973 documents a live show from this period). The incident would be immortalised in the hit "The Ballroom Blitz" (September 1973). In the meantime, Sweet's chart success continued, showing particular strength in the UK, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, and Australia. By the end of 1973, the band's name evolved from "The Sweet" to "Sweet". The change would be reflected in all of their releases from 1974 onward.
Forming a new image
By 1974, Sweet had grown tired of the management team of Chinn and Chapman, who wrote the group's major hits and cultivated the band's glam rock image. The group and producer Phil Wainman, assisted by engineer Peter Coleman, recorded the album Sweet Fanny Adams, which was released in April 1974. Sweet's technical proficiency was demonstrated for the first time on self-penned hard rock tracks such as "Sweet F.A." and "Set Me Free". Sweet also adopted a more conventional hard rock sound and appearance. Sweet Fanny Adams also featured compressed high-pitched backing vocal harmonies, which was a trend that continued on all of Sweet's albums.
During sessions for the album, Brian Connolly was injured in a fight in Staines High Street. His throat was badly injured and his ability to sing severely limited. Priest and Scott filled in on lead vocals on some tracks ("No You Don't", "Into The Night" and "Restless") and Connolly, under treatment from a Harley Street specialist, managed to complete the album. The band did not publicise the incident and told the press that subsequent cancelled shows were due to Connolly having a throat infection. This incident reportedly permanently compromised Connolly's singing ability, with his range diminished.
No previous singles appeared on the album, and none were released, except in Japan, New Zealand and Australia, where "Peppermint Twist/Rebel Rouser", apparently released by their record company without their knowledge, gained a No. 1 chart position in the latter. Sweet Fanny Adams would be Sweet's only non-compilation release to break the UK Albums Chart Top 40.
Sweet were invited by Pete Townshend to support the Who, who were playing at Charlton Athletic's football ground, The Valley in June 1974. However, Connolly's badly bruised throat kept them from fulfilling the role. Sweet had frequently cited the Who as being one of their main influences and played a medley of their tracks in their live set for many years.
Desolation Boulevard
Their third album, Desolation Boulevard, was released later in 1974, six months after Sweet Fanny Adams. By that stage, producer Phil Wainman had moved on and the album was produced by Mike Chapman. It was recorded in a mere six days and featured a rawer "live" sound. One track, "The Man with the Golden Arm", written by Elmer Bernstein and Sylvia Fine for the 1955 Frank Sinatra movie of the same name, featured drummer Mick Tucker performing an 8 and half minute solo (although this was not included in the U.S. release). This had been a staple of the band's live performance for years. The first single from the LP, the heavy-melodic "The Six Teens" (July 1974), was a Top 10 hit in the U.K. and still part of the amazing unbroken string of No. 1's in Denmark. However, the subsequent single release, "Turn It Down" (November 1974), reached only No. 41 on the U.K. chart and No. 2 in Denmark. "Turn It Down" received minimal airplay on UK radio and was banned by some radio stations because of certain lyrical content - "God-awful sound" and "For God sakes, turn it down" - which were deemed "unsuitable for family listening." The band resumed playing live shows nearly a full six months after Connolly's throat injury, with band and critics noting a rougher edge to his voice and a reduced range. The album also featured a group composition, "Fox On The Run", which was to be re-recorded months later.
The U.S. version of Desolation Boulevard was different from the U.K. version and included several songs from Sweet Fanny Adams in addition to the "Ballroom Blitz" and "Fox on the Run" singles (both of which peaked at No. 5 in the US). Side One of the album contained all Chapman-Chinn penned songs, while Side Two featured songs written and produced by Sweet.
Writing and producing their own material
In 1975 Sweet went back into the studio to re-arrange and record a more pop-oriented version of the track "Fox on the Run". Sweet's first self-written and produced single, "Fox on the Run" was released worldwide in March 1975 and became their biggest selling hit, reaching number one in Germany, Denmark, and South Africa, number two in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway and the Netherlands and number three in Austria and Switzerland. In Australia it not only made it to the top of the charts, it also became the biggest selling single of that year. The song reached number two in Canada and number five in the U.S. The release of this track marked the end of the formal Chinn-Chapman working relationship and the band stressed it was now fully self-sufficient as writers and producers.
The following single release, "Action" (July 1975), peaked at number 15 in the UK. Now confident in their own songwriting and production abilities, Sweet spent the latter half of 1975 in Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany, where they recorded the Give Us A Wink album with German sound engineer Reinhold Mack, who later recorded with Electric Light Orchestra and co-produced Queen. The new album release was deferred until 1976 so as not to stifle the chart success Desolation Boulevard was enjoying, peaking at number 25 in the US and number 5 in Canada.
With Give Us a Wink being held over, RCA issued a double album in Europe, Strung Up, in November. It contained one live disc, recorded in London in December 1973, and one disc compiling previously released singles (plus an unused track by Chinn and Chapman – "I Wanna Be Committed"). At the end of the year, Andy Scott released his first solo single, "Lady Starlight" b/w "Where D'Ya Go". Tucker played drums on both tracks.
Decline in popularity
January 1976 saw the release of the single "The Lies In Your Eyes", which made the Top 10 in Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Australia, but only reached No. 35 on the U.K. charts. Sweet's first album to be fully produced and written by themselves, Give Us A Wink, was released in March 1976. A third single from the album, "4th Of July", was issued in Australia.
By this time, Sweet strove to build on their growing popularity in America with a schedule of more than fifty headline concert dates. Even though Give Us A Winks release was imminent, the band's set essentially promoted the US version of Desolation Boulevard plus the new US hit single "Action". During an appearance at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in California on 24 March, Sweet played "All Right Now" with Ritchie Blackmore as a tribute to mark the death of Free guitarist Paul Kossoff, who was to have supported Sweet with his band Back Street Crawler. The US tour was not financially successful, with small audiences at many venues leading to the final half-dozen or so dates to be cancelled. Following the end of the tour, the band went on to Scandinavia and Germany. The band also spent a week at the Who's Ramport Studios in Battersea demoing material for a new album before abandoning that project and playing eight dates in Japan. By the end of the Japanese shows Connolly's extremely hoarse singing voice was manifest evidence of the demands of constant touring and the enduring after-effects of his 1974 assault.
Between October 1976 and January 1977, Sweet wrote and recorded new material at Kingsway Recorders and Audio International London studios for their next album. An advance single from the album, "Lost Angels", was only a hit in Germany, Austria and Sweden. A new album, Off the Record, was released in April. The next single from the album, "Fever of Love", represented the band heading in a somewhat more Europop hard rock direction, once again charting in Germany, Austria and Sweden, while reaching number 10 in South Africa. On this album, Sweet again worked with Give Us A Wink engineer Louis Austin, who would later engineer Def Leppard's On Through The Night 1980 début album. The band cancelled a US tour with emerging US rockers Aerosmith, did not play any live dates in support of the album and, in fact, did not play a single concert for the whole of 1977.
Level Headed and a change in style
Sweet left RCA in 1977 and signed a new deal with Polydor though it would not come into force until later in the year. Sweet's manager David Walker, from Handle Artists, negotiated the move which was reputed to be worth around £750,000. In the United States, Canada, and Japan, Capitol had issued Sweet's albums since 1974 and would continue to do so through to 1980.
The first Polydor album, Level Headed (January 1978), found Sweet experimenting by combining rock and classical sounds "a-la clavesin", an approach similar to Electric Light Orchestra's, and featured the single "Love Is Like Oxygen". Largely recorded during 1977 at Château d'Hérouville near Paris, France after a 30-day writing session at Clearwell Castle in the Forest Of Dean UK, the album represented a new musical direction, largely abandoning hard-rock for a more melodic pop style, interspersed with ballads accompanied by a 30-piece orchestra. The ballad, "Lettres D'Amour", featured a duet between Connolly and Stevie Lange (who would emerge as lead singer with the group Night in 1979).
With the addition of session and touring musicians keyboardist Gary Moberley and guitarist Nico Ramsden, Sweet undertook a short European and Scandinavian tour followed by a single British concert at London's Hammersmith Odeon on 24 February 1978. However, "Love Is Like Oxygen" (January 1978) was their last U.K., U.S., and German Top 10 hit. Scott was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for co-composing the song. One more single from the album, "California Nights" (May 1978), featuring Steve Priest as the lead vocalist, peaked at number 23 on the German chart.
Departure of Brian Connolly
Between March and May 1978 Sweet extensively toured the US, as a support act for Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. The tour included a disastrous date in Birmingham, Alabama on 3 May, during which visiting Capitol Records executives in the audience saw Brian Connolly give a drunken and incoherent performance that terminated early in the set with his collapse on stage, leaving the rest of the group to play on without him. The band returned briefly to Britain before resuming the second leg of their US tour in late May supporting other acts, including Foghat and Alice Cooper. Concluding the US tour in early July 1978, Brian's alcoholism and estrangement from the group was steadily becoming a greater issue.
In late October, having spent further time at Clearwell Castle to write for their next album, Sweet arrived at The Town House studio in Shepherd's Bush, London to complete and record, Cut Above the Rest (April 1979). Due to tensions between various members attributed to Connolly's health and diminishing status with the group, his long-time friend and fellow founding member, Mick Tucker, was tasked to produce Connolly's vocals. It was felt Tucker would extract a better performance than Scott from Connolly. A number of tracks were recorded featuring Connolly. However, these efforts were deemed unsatisfactory and Brian left the band on 2 November 1978.
On 23 February 1979, Brian Connolly's departure from Sweet was formally announced by manager David Walker. Publicly, Connolly was said to be pursuing a solo career with an interest in recording country rock.
Three piece Sweet
Sweet continued as a trio with Priest assuming the lion's share of lead vocals, though Scott and Tucker were also active in that role. The first single release for the trio was "Call Me". Guest keyboard player Gary Moberley continued to augment the group on stage. Guitarist Ray McRiner joined their touring line-up in 1979, with a small tour with Journey in the eastern United States and Cheap Trick in Texas in the spring and summer of '79 to support Cut Above The Rest (which was released in April 1979). McRiner would also contribute the songs "Too Much Talking" and the single "Give The Lady Some Respect" to the next Sweet album, Waters Edge (August 1980), which was recorded in Canada. In the US, Waters Edge was titled Sweet VI. It featured the singles "Sixties Man" and "Give The Lady Some Respect". Tragedy befell Mick Tucker when his wife Pauline drowned in the bath at their home on 26 December 1979. The band withdrew from live work for all of 1980.
One more studio album, Identity Crisis, was recorded during 1980–81 but was only released in West Germany and Mexico. Sweet undertook a short tour of the UK and performed their last live show at Glasgow University on 20 March 1981. Steve Priest then returned to the United States, where he had been living since late 1979. When Polydor released Identity Crisis in October 1982, the original Sweet had been disbanded for almost a year.
Re-formed versions (1984–present)
Andy Scott's Sweet (1985–present)
Andy Scott and Mick Tucker organised their own version of Sweet with Paul Mario Day (ex-Iron Maiden, More, Wildfire) on lead vocals, Phil Lanzon (ex-Grand Prix) on keyboards and Mal McNulty on bass. The band performed at the Marquee Club in London in February 1986, with the shows recorded and gaining release a few years later, bolstered by four new studio tracks including a cover of the Motown standard "Reach Out I'll Be There". This line-up also toured Australian and New Zealand pubs and clubs for more than three months in 1985 and for a similar period again in 1986. Singer Paul Day ended up marrying the band's Australian tour guide and relocating downunder. He continued with Sweet commuting back and forth to Europe for the group's tours until this proved to be too cumbersome. He departed in late 1988. As McNulty moved into the front man spot, Jeff Brown came in to take over bass early in 1989. Lanzon too went back and forth between Sweet and Uriah Heep during 1986-1988 before Heep's schedule grew too busy. Malcolm Pearson and then Ian Gibbons (who had played with The Kinks and The Records) both filled in for Lanzon until Steve Mann (Liar, Lionheart, McAuley Schenker Group) arrived in December 1989.
Tucker departed after a show in Lochau, Austria, on 5 May 1991. He later was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia. Three drummers, Andy Hoyler, Bobby Andersen and Bruce Bisland (Weapon, Wildfire, Praying Mantis), provided short-term relief before Bodo Schopf (McAuley Schenker Group) took over. They recorded an album during this period, simply titled A. Before the band embarked on the supporting tour for A in 1992, Bodo left and Bisland returned as permanent percussionist. Scott changed the band's name to 'Andy Scott's Sweet' after Tucker's departure but truncated it to simply 'The Sweet' once again after Tucker's death in 2002.
Mal McNulty, now lead vocalist, departed in 1994, though he would return briefly that year to fill in for Jeff Brown on bass (as he would again in 1995 as lead singer for a few dates while Rocky Newton subbed on bass). Sweet's former keyboard men Gary Moberley and Ian Gibbons also did fill-in jaunts with the group that year, as did Chris Goulstone. Chad Brown (ex-Lionheart; no relation to Jeff) was the new front man. Glitz Blitz and Hitz, a new studio album of re-recorded Sweet hits, was released during this period.
In 1996 Mann left to take a job in television and Gibbons came back for a short time before Steve Grant (ex-The Animals) became the permanent keyboardist. When Chad Brown quit in 1998 after developing a throat infection, Jeff Brown assumed lead vocals and bass duties. After this, the band was stable again for the next five years.
The mid-2000s would bring further confusing shake-ups and rotations. Tony O'Hora (ex-Onslaught, Praying Mantis) replaced Brown as lead vocalist in 2003. Ian Gibbons came back for a third stint as fill-in keyboardist in June 2005 for a gig in the Faroe Islands. O'Hora decided to split to take a teaching job in late 2005. Grant then jumped from keyboards to lead vocals and bass as Phil Lanzon returned on keyboards for a tour of Russia and Germany in October/November. New singer Mark Thompson Smith (ex-Praying Mantis) joined in November 2005 for some Swedish gigs, while Jo Burt (ex-Black Sabbath) was temporary bass player. Tony Mills (ex-Shy) was slated to be Sweet's new singer in early 2006 but failed to work out and left after six shows in Denmark. At this point, O'Hora came back as fill in front man and then Grant did another turn himself as the singer/bassist (Steve Mann depped on keyboards) until the group finally landed a new permanent front man when Peter Lincoln (ex-Sailor) arrived in July 2006. The line-up then consisted of Scott, Bisland, Grant and Lincoln.
Scott produced the Suzi Quatro album Back to the Drive, released in February 2006. March 2006 saw the U.S. release of his band's album Sweetlife.
In 2007 the group played in Germany, Belgium, Austria and Italy. In May of that year, the band played in Porto Alegre and Curitiba, Brazil, their first and only South American shows. The tour was called the 'Sweet Fanny Adams Tour'.
The band toured again in March 2008 under the name 'Sweet Fanny Adams Revisited Tour'. In May and June, Scott's Sweet were part of the "Glitz Blitz & 70s Hitz" tour of the UK alongside The Rubettes and Showaddywaddy.
In March and April 2010, Scott was absent from a couple of gigs due to ill health and Martin Mickels stood in. Scott revealed later that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was treated at the Bristol Royal Infirmary. After a course of treatment and rest, he was back to full touring fitness. In 2010 the band played at venues in Europe and back at Bilston in October.
In March 2011 there was a short tour of Australia, Regal Theatre - Perth, and Clipsal 500, Adelaide with the Doobie Brothers. Also in 2011, Tony O'Hora came back to the group, this time as keyboardist, after Grant departed.
In March 2012 the band released a new album New York Connection. Recorded in England, it comprised 11 cover versions, including the 2011 single "Join Together" and one revamped original recording; the 1972 B-side "New York Connection". All the covers either featured 'bits and pieces' of Sweet hits or other artist songs, such as a "new version of the Ramones Blitzkrieg Bop [which] shared space with samples from ‘Ballroom Blitz,’ and a take on Hello’s New York Groove (made famous in the US by Ace Frehley) featured a sample from Jay-Z’s Empire State Of Mind along with other Sweet references."
On the eve of their March 2012 "Join Together" tour of Australia, the band undertook an acoustic performance of three tracks, "New York Groove-Empire State of Mind", "Blockbuster" and "Peppermint Twist", in front of a live audience at ABC Radio Studios in East Perth. Shows in Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Geelong, Melbourne and Sydney featured tracks from the new album for the first time.
Paul Manzi joined Sweet on their 2014 Australian tour, replacing Tony O'Hora who was absent for personal reasons. Manzi played guitar, keyboard and undertook lead vocals on "Set Me Free" and "AC-DC" as the band performed shows in regional centres, including outback Western Australia, Darwin and far-north Queensland, NSW and Victoria during February and March. The band, with O'Hora back in the ranks, returned to Australia in September 2014 as the headlining act for "Rock The Boat 4". This was a cruise aboard the ship Rhapsody of the Seas which departed Sydney and took in New Caledonia and Vanuatu. The band played two gigs and various members guested with Australian veteran performers including Brian Cadd and Russell Morris and members of AC/DC, The Angels, Rose Tattoo and Skyhooks.
In June 2015 it was revealed that the band were going on an extensive tour of the UK in late 2015 and that this tour would probably be their last.
For the 2015 summer tour dates, Paul Manzi returned to sub for Peter Lincoln who left this online message to the fans: "There have been a few rumours going around this weekend, so . . . just to say that I am alive and well! The short explanation for my absence is that I need to rest my voice for a few weeks. We are lucky that our good friend Paul Manzi is able to step in, and Tony knows the role of bass player/singer, so the shows can go ahead, and they will be great! I look forward to being back on stage very soon."
Pete Lincoln duly resumed his role in the band and they continued with extensive live dates, known as the "Finale" tour in Germany.
In 2017 after Andy undertook a successful Australian visit with Suzi Quatro and Don Powell in the side outfit known as QSP, Sweet was again booked for an extensive European tour. In the years following both Tony O'Hora and Pete Lincoln departed the band. Paul Manzi returned as permanent lead vocalist, quitting the popular outfit Cats in Space to do so. Lee Small joined as bassist and backing vocalist. Former guitarist and keyboard player Steve Mann joined for a handful of shows as a special guest. During the COVID-19 pandemic the band recorded a new album of old tracks entitled Isolation Boulevard.
New Sweet, Brian Connolly's Sweet (1984–1997)
In 1984 Brian Connolly formed a new version of the Sweet without any of the other original members. Despite recurring ill health, Connolly toured the UK and Europe with his band, "Brian Connolly's Sweet", which was then renamed to "New Sweet". His most successful concerts were in West Germany, before and after reunification.
During 1987, Connolly met up again with Frank Torpey. Torpey later explained in interviews Connolly was trying to get a German recording deal. The two got on very well and Torpey subsequently invited Connolly to go into the recording studio with him, as an informal project. After much trepidation, Connolly turned up and the track "Sharontina" was recorded. This recording would not be released until 1998, appearing on Frank Torpey's album Sweeter.
By July 1990, plans were made for Connolly and his band to tour Australia in November. During the long flight to Australia, Connolly's health had suffered and he was hospitalised in Adelaide Hospital, allegedly for dehydration and related problems. The rest of the band played a show in Adelaide without him. After being released from the hospital, Connolly joined the other band members in Melbourne for a gig at the Pier Hotel, in Frankston. After several other shows, including one at the Dingley Powerhouse, Connolly and his band played a final date at Melbourne's Greek Theatre. It was felt Connolly's health was sufficient reason for the tour not to be extended, and some of the planned dates were abandoned. Connolly went back to England and his band appeared on The Bob Downe Christmas show on 18 December 1990.
During the early 1990s, Connolly played the European "oldies" circuit and occasional outdoor festivals in Europe with his band. On 22 March 1992, a heavy duty tape recorder was stolen from the band's van whilst at a gig in the Bristol Hippodrome with Mud. It contained demos of four new songs, totalling about 20 mixes.
Legal problems were going on in the background over the use of the Sweet name between Connolly and Andy Scott. Both parties agreed to distinguish their group's names to help promoters and fans. The New Sweet went back to being called Brian Connolly's Sweet and Andy Scott's version became Andy Scott's Sweet.
In 1994, Connolly and his band played in Dubai. He appeared at the Galleria Theatre, Hyatt Regency. He also performed in Bahrain.
By this time Connolly had healed the differences with Steve Priest and Mick Tucker, and was invited to the wedding of Priest's eldest daughter, Lisa. At the private function, for which Priest specially flew back to England, Priest and Connolly performed together.
In 1995, Connolly released a new album entitled Let's Go. His partner Jean, whom he had met a few years earlier, gave birth to a son. Connolly also performed in Switzerland that year.
On 2 November 1996 British TV Network Channel 4 aired a programme Don't Leave Me This Way, which examined Connolly's time as a pop star with the Sweet, the subsequent decline in the band's popularity, and its impact on Connolly and the other band members. The show revealed Connolly's ill health but also that he was continuing with his concert dates at Butlins. Connolly and his band had appeared at Butlins a number of times on tour during the early 1990s.
Connolly's final concert was at the Bristol Hippodrome on 5 December 1996, with Slade II and John Rossall's Glitter Band Experience.
Steve Priest's Sweet (2008–Present)
In January 2008, Steve Priest assembled his own version of the Sweet in Los Angeles. He enlisted a guitarist Stuart Smith and L.A. native Richie Onori, Smith's bandmate in Heaven & Earth, was brought in on drums. The keyboard spot was manned by ex-Crow and World Classic Rockers alumni Stevie Stewart. Front-man and vocalist Joe Retta was brought in to round out the line-up.
After an initial appearance on L.A. rock station 95.5 KLOS's popular Mark & Brian radio programme, the "Are You Ready Steve?" tour kicked off at the Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood on 12 June 2008. The band spent the next several months playing festivals and gigs throughout the U.S. and Canada, including Moondance Jam in Walker, Minnesota; headlining at the Rock N Resort Music Festival in North Lawrence, Ohio (near Canal Fulton); London, Ontario's Rock the Park; another headlining gig at Peterborough's Festival of Lights; the Common Ground Festival in Lansing, Michigan; and a benefit concert for victims of California's wildfires at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California.
In January 2009, the Sweet presented at the concert industry's Pollstar Awards, and also played a short set at the Nokia Theatre where the event was held, marking the first time in the ceremony's history that a band performed at the show. In addition to local gigs at the House of Blues on L.A.'s Sunset Strip and Universal CityWalk, 2009 saw the band return to Canada for sold-out shows at the Mae Wilson Theater and Casino Regina, as well as the Nakusp Music Fest and Rockin' the Fields of Minnedosa in Minnedosa, Manitoba. U.S. festivals have included Minnesota's Halfway Jam, Rockin' the Rivers in Montana (with Pat Travers and Peter Frampton), and two late-summer shows at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
The new band recorded a cover version of the Beatles' "Ticket to Ride", which was included on Cleopatra Records' Abbey Road, a Fab Four tribute CD that was released on 24 March 2009.
A preview of the band's new CD Live in America, which was recorded live at the Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa in Cabazon, California on 30 August 2008, was featured on KLOS's "Front Row" programme on 12 April 2009. The CD, which was first sold at shows and via the band's on-line store, was released worldwide in an exclusive deal with Amazon.com on 21 July 2009. The release has garnered favourable reviews from The Rock n Roll Report, Classic Rock Revisited and Hard Rock Haven, among others.
In April 2010, the band released its first single on iTunes: an updated, hard rock version of the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There." Performances on the 2010 summer tour included the Wildflower! Arts and Music Festival in Richardson, Texas; Las Vegas, Nevada's Fremont Street Experience; Rock N' America in Oklahoma City, OK; Summer Jam in Des Moines, Iowa; Jack FM's Fifth Show at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Los Angeles; an appearance at the Hard Rock Hotel in Biloxi, Mississippi; and the inaugural edition of the Thunder Mountain Rock Festival in Sawyer, North Dakota.
On 11 November 2010, it was announced that in May 2011 "Steve Priest's Sweet" had been booked to perform at a handful of European dates, but the gigs ultimately had to be cancelled in late January 2011 after it was learned that one of the promoters was a suspected swindler wanted by British law enforcement officials. As of February 2011, fans who purchased pre-sale tickets were still in the process of working through the administrative channels with PayPal and various banks and credit card issuers in order to try to reclaim their funds.
The band toured South America along with Journey during March 2011.
The band and their European fans then also got re-united quicker than thought, when the band got booked by a befriended female Belgian promoter. Two east German gigs, 27 and 28 May 2011, so in Borna and in Schwarzenberg Steve Priest's Sweet hit the European grounds. After more than 30 years, Steve Priest got a warm welcome back in Europe.
As of 12 August 2012, Stuart Smith resigned from the guitar post in order to dedicate more time to his "Heaven & Earth" project.
Beginning with the band's October 2012 appearance at the Festival Internacional Chihuahua in Mexico, Los Angeles-based guitarist Ricky Z. teamed up with Steve Priest and company for their live performances. In February 2013, this lineup returned to Casino Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada. Tour dates played in summer 2013 included Riverfest in Watertown, Wisconsin, the St. Clair, MI Riverfest, several additional dates in Canada, and a reprise of their appearances at both Moondance Jam in Walker, MN and Rockin' the Rivers in Three Forks, Montana. The band made some rare appearances on the U.S. east coast in July 2013, including a performance with David Johansen of the New York Dolls at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, New Jersey. Singer Joe Retta was unavailable for these dates due to a scheduling conflict, so Tribe of Gypsies frontman Chas West, who has played with Jason Bonham's band and has experience subbing in such well-known bands as Foreigner, Lynch Mob and Diamond Head, stepped in to man the microphone for a series of shows in New York, New Jersey and Maryland.
On 27 August 2014, Steve Priest announced on the band's Facebook page that guitarist Mitch Perry had been tapped for the guitar slot. Most recently on tour with Lita Ford, Mitch's other credentials included his work with Michael Schenker Group, Asia Featuring John Payne, Edgar Winter, Billy Sheehan and David Lee Roth His first live appearance with Sweet was at the Rock the River festival in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on 23 August 2014.
22 December 2017 saw the launch of the 50th anniversary tour at the Whisky a Go Go on L.A.'s Sunset Strip and the introduction of new singer Paul Zablidowski AKA "Paulie Z" former lead singer and guitarist of ZO2, children's band "The Z Brothers" and star of IFC show Z-Rock. Recently known as the host for local show "Ultimate Jam Night." Z replaced Joe Retta, who had served as the frontman for the Los Angeles incarnation of Sweet since its formation in 2008. Priest died on 4 June 2020.
Brief reunions and the deaths of Brian Connolly, Mick Tucker and Steve Priest
Steve Priest was asked to join Tucker and Scott for the 1985 Australian tour, but declined at the last moment.
Mike Chapman contacted Connolly, Priest, Scott, and Tucker in 1988, offering to finance a recording session in Los Angeles. As he remembers: "I met them at the airport and Andy and Mick came off the plane. I said, 'Where's Brian?' They said, 'Oh, he's coming.' All the people had come off the plane by now. Then this little old man hobbled towards us. He was shaking, and had a ghostly white face. I thought, 'Oh, Jesus Christ.' It was horrifying." Reworked studio versions of "Action" and "The Ballroom Blitz" were recorded, but it became clear that Connolly's voice and physical health had made Sweet's original member comeback too difficult to promote commercially. Consequently, the reunion attempt was aborted.
In 1990 this line-up was again reunited for the promotion of a music documentary entitled Sweet's Ballroom Blitz. This UK video release, which contained UK television performances from the 1970s and current-day interviews, was released at Tower Records, London. Sweet was interviewed by Power Hour, Super Channel, and spoke of a possible reunion.
Brian Connolly died at the age of 51 on 9 February 1997, from liver failure and repeated heart attacks, attributed to his abuse of alcohol in the 1970s and early 1980s. Mick Tucker died on 14 February 2002 from leukemia, at the age of 54. On 4 June 2020 it was announced that Steve Priest had died. It left Andy Scott as the sole living member of Sweet's 'classic lineup'.
Later years
Two versions of The Sweet were active with original members: "Andy Scott's Sweet", who frequently tour across Europe as Sweet and makes occasional sojourns to other markets including regular visits to Australia, and "Steve Priest's Sweet" who toured the US and Canada.
On 28 April 2009, Shout! Factory released a two-disc, career-spanning greatest hits album called Action: The Sweet Anthology. It received a four-star (out of five) rating in Rolling Stone.
In September 2009 Ace Frehley released his version of "Fox on the Run" on his album Anomaly.
In an October 2012 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Axl Rose, lead singer of Guns N' Roses, referenced Sweet as one of his favourite bands growing up along with fellow British band Queen.
In April 2016, the chart topping song (1973), "The Ballroom Blitz" was featured in a trailer for Suicide Squad.
In December 2016, their single "Fox on the Run" (1975) was featured in a trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
In 2019, the songs "Fox on the Run" and "Set Me Free" were featured in an episode of Jamie Johnson.
Personnel
Original band
Classic lineup
Brian Connolly – lead vocals, percussion, synthesizer, acoustic guitar (1968–1978; died 1997)
Steve Priest – bass, backing and lead vocals (1968–1981; died 2020)
Mick Tucker – drums, percussion, backing and lead vocals (1968–1981; died 2002)
Andy Scott – guitars, keyboards, synthesizers, piano, backing and lead vocals (1970–1981)
Early members
Frank Torpey – guitars (1968–1969)
Mick Stewart – guitars (1969–1970)
Touring musicians
Gary Moberley – keyboards, synthesizers, piano (1978–1981)
Nico Ramsden – guitar (1978)
Ray McRiner – guitar (1979)
Andy Scott’s Sweet
Current members
Andy Scott – guitars, keyboards, synthesizers, piano, backing and lead vocals (1985–present)
Bruce Bisland – drums, backing vocals (1992–present)
Paul Manzi – lead vocals (2019–present; substitute appearances in 2014 and 2015)
Lee Small – bass, backing vocals (2019–present)
Former members
Mick Tucker – drums, backing vocals (1985–1991; died 2002)
Paul Mario Day – lead vocals (1985–1989)
Phil Lanzon – keyboards, piano, backing vocals (1985–1989; 2005—2006)
Mal McNulty – bass, lead and backing vocals (1985–1995)
Jeff Brown – bass, lead and backing vocals (1989–2003)
Steve Mann – keyboards, guitars, backing vocals (1989-1996)
Bodo Schopf – drums, backing vocals (1991–1992)
Chad Brown — lead vocals (1995–1998)
Steve Grant — keyboards, piano, backing vocals (1996–2005, 2006–2011); lead vocals, bass (2005–2006)
Tony O’Hora – lead and backing vocals, bass (2003–2005, 2006, 2011–2019), guitars, keyboards (2011–2019)
Peter Lincoln – bass, lead and backing vocals (2006–2019)
Timeline
Discography
Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be (1971)
Sweet Fanny Adams (1974)
Desolation Boulevard (1974)
Give Us a Wink (1976)
Off the Record (1977)
Level Headed (1978)
Cut Above the Rest (1979)
Waters Edge (titled Sweet VI with a different cover in the U.S.) (1980)
Identity Crisis (1982)
Sweetlife (2002) by Andy Scott's Sweet
Isolation Boulevard (2020) by Andy Scott's Sweet
References
Bibliography
(2008 eBook available at )
External links
Channel 4 documentary on The Sweet from 1996
English hard rock musical groups
English glam rock groups
Musical groups established in 1968
Capitol Records artists
Polydor Records artists
RCA Records artists
1968 establishments in the United Kingdom
Musical groups disestablished in 1982
1982 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Musical groups reestablished in 1985
1985 establishments in the United Kingdom | false | [
"Le Cousin is a 1997 French film directed by Alain Corneau.\n\nPlot \nThe film deals with the relationship of the police and an informant in the drug scene.\n\nAwards and nominations\nLe Cousin was nominated for 5 César Awards but did not win in any category.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1997 films\n1997 crime films\nFilms about drugs\nFilms directed by Alain Corneau\nFrench crime films\nFrench films\nFrench-language films",
"The 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"
] |
[
"The Sweet",
"First album",
"What was the sweets first album?",
"The Sweet's first full LP album, Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, was released in November 1971.",
"did it do well?",
"It was not a serious contender on the charts.",
"what was special about their first album?",
"A collection of the band's recent singles supplemented by some new Chinn/Chapman tunes",
"did the band tour?",
"I don't know.",
"did any of their songs chart?",
"Their next RCA release \"Co-Co\" (June 1971) went to number two in the U.K.",
"did they win any awards?",
"I don't know."
] | C_b1e767986d2542acaf8dafe8942132ea_0 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 7 | Other than The Sweet's song "Co-Co" going to number two in the UK, are there any other interesting aspects of their career? | The Sweet | The Sweet made their UK television debut in December 1970 on a pop show called Lift Off, performing the song "Funny Funny". A management deal was signed with the aforementioned songwriting team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Phil Wainman resumed his collaboration with Sweet, as executive producer. This management deal also included a worldwide (the U.S. excepted) record contract with RCA Records (in the United States and Canada Bell Records issued the group's music until late 1973; followed by Capitol Records). In March 1971 RCA issued "Funny Funny", written by Chinn and Chapman, which became the group's first international hit, climbing to the Top 20 on many of the world's charts. EMI reissued their 1970 single "All You'll Ever Get from Me" (May 1971) and it again failed to chart. Their next RCA release "Co-Co" (June 1971) went to number two in the U.K. and their follow up single, "Alexander Graham Bell" (October 1971), only went to #33. These tracks still featured session musicians on the instruments with the quartet providing only the vocals. The Sweet's first full LP album, Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, was released in November 1971. A collection of the band's recent singles supplemented by some new Chinn/Chapman tunes (including "Chop Chop" and "Tom Tom Turnaround") and pop covers (such as the Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream" and the Supremes' "Reflections"), the album, recorded at Nova Studios in London, was produced by Phil Wainman and engineered by Richard Dodd and Eric Holland. It was not a serious contender on the charts. Their albums' failure to match the success of their singles was a problem that would plague the band throughout their career. CANNOTANSWER | A management deal was signed with the aforementioned songwriting team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. | The Sweet, sometimes also shortened to just Sweet, are a British glam rock band that rose to worldwide fame in the 1970s. Their best known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bass player Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott, and drummer Mick Tucker. The group was originally called The Sweetshop.
The band was formed in London in 1968 and achieved their first hit, "Funny Funny", in 1971 after teaming up with songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman and record producer Phil Wainman. During 1971 and 1972, their musical style followed a marked progression from the Archies-like bubblegum style of "Funny Funny" to a Who-influenced hard rock style supplemented by a striking use of high-pitched backing vocals.
The band first achieved success in the UK charts, with thirteen Top 20 hits during the 1970s alone, with "Block Buster!" (1973) topping the chart, followed by three consecutive number two hits in "Hell Raiser" (1973), "The Ballroom Blitz" (1973) and "Teenage Rampage" (1974). The band turned to a more hard rock style with their mid-career singles, like 1974's "Turn It Down". "Fox on the Run" (1975) also reached number two on the UK charts. These results were topped in West Germany and other countries on the European mainland. They also achieved success and popularity in the US with the top ten hits "Little Willy", "The Ballroom Blitz", "Fox on the Run", and "Love is Like Oxygen".
The Sweet had their last international success in 1978 with "Love Is Like Oxygen". Connolly left the group in 1979 to start a solo career and the remaining members continued as a trio until disbanding in 1981. From the mid-1980s, Scott, Connolly and Priest each played with their own versions of Sweet at different times. Connolly died in 1997, Tucker in 2002 and Priest in 2020. Andy Scott is still active with his version of the band. Sweet have since sold over 35 million albums worldwide.
History
Origins
Sweet's origins can be traced back to British soul band Wainwright's Gentlemen. Mark Lay's history of that band states they formed around 1962 and were initially known as Unit 4. Founding members included Chris Wright (vocals), Jan Frewer (bass), with Jim Searle and Alfred Fripp on guitars. Phil Kenton joined on drums as the band changed its name to Wainwright's Gentlemen (due to there being another band known as Unit 4). Managed by Frewer's father, the band performed in the Hayes, Harrow and Wembley area. By 1964 the group was also playing in London, including at the Saint Germain Club on Poland Street.
In January 1964 the band came fifth in a national beat group contest, with finals held at the Lyceum Strand on 4 May 1964. Highlights of the show were presented on BBC1 by Alan Freeman. Chris Wright left the line-up in late 1964 and was replaced by Ian Gillan. A female vocalist named Ann Cully soon joined the band. Mick Tucker, from Ruislip, joined on drums replacing Phil Kenton. The band recorded a number of tracks including a cover of the Coasters-Hollies hit "Ain't That Just Like Me", which was probably recorded at Jackson Sound Studios in Rickmansworth. The track includes Gillan on vocals, Tucker on drums and, according to band bassist Jan Frewer, is thought to have been recorded in 1965. Gillan quit in May 1965 to join Episode Six, and later, Deep Purple. Cully remained as vocalist before departing some time later. Gillan's and Cully's eventual replacement, in late 1966, was Scots-born vocalist Brian Connolly, who hailed more recently from Harefield. Tony Hall had joined on saxophone and vocals and when Fripp left he was replaced by Gordon Fairminer. Fairminer's position was eventually assumed by Frank Torpey (born Frank Edward Torpey, 30 April 1945, Kilburn, North West London) - a schoolfriend of Tucker's who had just left West London group The Tribe (aka The Dream). Torpey only lasted a few months, and in late 1967 Robin Box (born 19 June 1944) took his place. Searle, regarded by many as the most talented musically, disappeared from the scene. Tucker and Connolly remained with Wainwright's Gentlemen until January 1968. Tucker was replaced by Roger Hills. When the Gentlemen eventually broke up, Hills and Box joined White Plains who eventually scored a big hit with "My Baby Loves Lovin'".
Early years
In January 1968 Connolly and Tucker formed a new band calling themselves The Sweetshop. They recruited bass guitarist and vocalist Steve Priest from a local band called The Army. Priest had previously played with mid-'60s band the Countdowns who had been produced and recorded by Joe Meek. Frank Torpey was again recruited to play guitar. The quartet made its public debut at the Pavilion in Hemel Hempstead on 9 March 1968 and soon developed a following on the pub circuit, which led to a contract with Fontana Records. At the time, another UK band released a single under the same name Sweetshop, so the band abbreviated their moniker to Sweet. The band was managed by Paul Nicholas, who later went on to star in Hair. Nicholas worked with record producer Phil Wainman at Mellin Music Publishing and recommended the band to him. Their debut single "Slow Motion" (July 1968), produced by Wainman, and released on Fontana, failed to chart and owing to its rarity now sells for several hundred pounds when auctioned. Sweet were released from the recording contract and Frank Torpey left. In his autobiography Are You Ready Steve, Priest said that Gordon Fairminer was approached to play for them when Torpey decided to leave Sweet after a gig at Playhouse Theatre Walton-on-Thames on 5 July 1969 but turned the job down as he wanted to concentrate on other interests.
New line-up and new record deal
Guitarist Mick Stewart joined in 1969. Stewart had some rock pedigree, having previously worked with The (Ealing) Redcaps and Simon Scott & The All-Nite Workers in the mid-1960s. In late 1965, that band became The Phil Wainman Set when the future Sweet producer joined on drums and the group cut some singles with Errol Dixon. In early 1966, Stewart left and later worked with Johnny Kidd & The Pirates.
Sweet signed a new record contract with EMI's Parlophone label. Three bubblegum pop singles were released: "Lollipop Man" (September 1969), "All You'll Ever Get from Me" (January 1970), and a cover version of the Archies' "Get on the Line" (June 1970), all of which failed to chart. Stewart then quit, and was not replaced for some time. Connolly and Tucker had a chance meeting with Wainman, who was now producing, and knew of two aspiring songwriters, Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, who were looking for a group to sing some demos they had written. Connolly, Priest, and Tucker provided the vocals on a track called "Funny Funny" which featured Pip Williams on guitar, John Roberts on bass, and Wainman on drums. The latter began offering the track to various recording companies. The band held auditions for a replacement guitarist and settled on Welsh-born Andy Scott. He had most recently been playing with Mike McCartney (brother of Paul) in the Scaffold. As a member of the Elastic Band, he had played guitar on two singles for Decca, "Think of You Baby" and "Do Unto Others". He also appeared on the band's lone album release, Expansions on Life, and on some recordings by the Scaffold. The band rehearsed for a number of weeks before Scott made his live debut with Sweet on 26 September 1970 at the Windsor Ballroom in Redcar.
Sweet initially attempted to combine diverse musical influences, including the Monkees and 1960s bubblegum pop groups such as the Archies, with more heavy rock-oriented groups such as the Who. Sweet adopted the rich vocal harmony style of the Hollies, with distorted guitars and a heavy rhythm section. This fusion of pop and hard rock would remain a central trademark of Sweet's music and prefigured the glam metal of a few years later.
Sweet's initial album appearance was on the budget label Music for Pleasure as part of a compilation called Gimme Dat Ding, released in December 1970. Sweet had one side of the record; the Pipkins (whose sole hit, "Gimme Dat Ding", gave the LP its name) had the other. Sweet's contribution consisted of the A- and B-sides of the band's three Parlophone singles. Andy Scott appears in the album cover shot, even though he did not play on any of the recordings.
First album
Sweet made their UK television debut in December 1970 on a pop show called Lift Off, performing the song "Funny Funny". A management deal was signed with the aforementioned songwriting team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Phil Wainman resumed his collaboration with Sweet, as executive producer. This management deal also included a worldwide record contract with RCA Records, the U.S. excepted: in the United States and Canada Bell Records issued the group's music until late 1973, followed by Capitol Records.
In March 1971 RCA issued "Funny Funny", written by Chinn and Chapman, which became the group's first international hit, climbing to the Top 20 on many of the world's charts. EMI reissued their 1970 single "All You'll Ever Get from Me" (May 1971) and it again failed to chart. Their next RCA release "Co-Co" (June 1971) went to number two in the U.K. and their follow up single, "Alexander Graham Bell" (October 1971), only went to No. 33. These tracks still featured session musicians on the instruments with the quartet providing only the vocals.
Sweet's first full LP album, Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, was released in November 1971. A collection of the band's recent singles supplemented by some new Chinn/Chapman tunes (including "Chop Chop" and "Tom Tom Turnaround") and pop covers (such as the Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream" and the Supremes' "Reflections"), the album, recorded at Nova Studios in London, was produced by Phil Wainman and engineered by Richard Dodd and Eric Holland. It was not a serious contender on the charts.
Initial success and rise to fame
February 1972 saw the release of "Poppa Joe", which reached number 1 in Finland and peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart. The next two singles of that year, "Little Willy" and "Wig-Wam Bam", both reached No. 4 in the UK. "Little Willy" peaked at No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 after a re-issue in 1973, thus becoming the group's biggest American hit. Although "Wig-Wam Bam" remained largely true to the style of Sweet's previous recordings, the vocals and guitars had a harder, more rock-oriented sound, largely because it was the first Chinn-Chapman single on which only members of Sweet played the instruments. In January 1973 "Block Buster!" became Sweet's first single to reach number 1 on the UK chart, remaining there for five consecutive weeks. After their next single "Hell Raiser" was released in May and reached number 2 in the U.K., Sweet's U.S. label, Bell, released the group's first American album The Sweet in July 1973.
To promote their singles, Sweet made numerous appearances on U.K. and European TV shows such as Top of the Pops and Supersonic. In one performance of "Block Buster!" on Top of the Pops Christmas edition, Priest aroused complaints after he appeared replete in a German military uniform, Hitler moustache and displaying a swastika armband. The band also capitalised on the glam rock explosion, rivalling Gary Glitter, T. Rex, Queen, Slade, and Wizzard for outrageous stage clothing.
Despite Sweet's success, the relationship with their management was becoming increasingly tense. While they had developed a large fan-base among teenagers, Sweet were not happy with their 'bubblegum' image. Sweet had always composed their own heavy-rock songs on the B-sides of their singles to contrast with the bubblegum A-sides which were composed by Chinn and Chapman. During this time, Sweet's live performances consisted of B-sides, album tracks, and various medleys of rock and roll classics; they avoided older novelty hits like "Funny Funny" and "Poppa Joe". A 1973 performance at the Palace Theatre and Grand Hall in Kilmarnock ended in Sweet being bottled off stage; the disorder was attributed by some (including Steve Priest) to Sweet's lipstick and eye-shadow look, and by others to the audience being unfamiliar with the concert set (the 1999 CD release Live at the Rainbow 1973 documents a live show from this period). The incident would be immortalised in the hit "The Ballroom Blitz" (September 1973). In the meantime, Sweet's chart success continued, showing particular strength in the UK, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, and Australia. By the end of 1973, the band's name evolved from "The Sweet" to "Sweet". The change would be reflected in all of their releases from 1974 onward.
Forming a new image
By 1974, Sweet had grown tired of the management team of Chinn and Chapman, who wrote the group's major hits and cultivated the band's glam rock image. The group and producer Phil Wainman, assisted by engineer Peter Coleman, recorded the album Sweet Fanny Adams, which was released in April 1974. Sweet's technical proficiency was demonstrated for the first time on self-penned hard rock tracks such as "Sweet F.A." and "Set Me Free". Sweet also adopted a more conventional hard rock sound and appearance. Sweet Fanny Adams also featured compressed high-pitched backing vocal harmonies, which was a trend that continued on all of Sweet's albums.
During sessions for the album, Brian Connolly was injured in a fight in Staines High Street. His throat was badly injured and his ability to sing severely limited. Priest and Scott filled in on lead vocals on some tracks ("No You Don't", "Into The Night" and "Restless") and Connolly, under treatment from a Harley Street specialist, managed to complete the album. The band did not publicise the incident and told the press that subsequent cancelled shows were due to Connolly having a throat infection. This incident reportedly permanently compromised Connolly's singing ability, with his range diminished.
No previous singles appeared on the album, and none were released, except in Japan, New Zealand and Australia, where "Peppermint Twist/Rebel Rouser", apparently released by their record company without their knowledge, gained a No. 1 chart position in the latter. Sweet Fanny Adams would be Sweet's only non-compilation release to break the UK Albums Chart Top 40.
Sweet were invited by Pete Townshend to support the Who, who were playing at Charlton Athletic's football ground, The Valley in June 1974. However, Connolly's badly bruised throat kept them from fulfilling the role. Sweet had frequently cited the Who as being one of their main influences and played a medley of their tracks in their live set for many years.
Desolation Boulevard
Their third album, Desolation Boulevard, was released later in 1974, six months after Sweet Fanny Adams. By that stage, producer Phil Wainman had moved on and the album was produced by Mike Chapman. It was recorded in a mere six days and featured a rawer "live" sound. One track, "The Man with the Golden Arm", written by Elmer Bernstein and Sylvia Fine for the 1955 Frank Sinatra movie of the same name, featured drummer Mick Tucker performing an 8 and half minute solo (although this was not included in the U.S. release). This had been a staple of the band's live performance for years. The first single from the LP, the heavy-melodic "The Six Teens" (July 1974), was a Top 10 hit in the U.K. and still part of the amazing unbroken string of No. 1's in Denmark. However, the subsequent single release, "Turn It Down" (November 1974), reached only No. 41 on the U.K. chart and No. 2 in Denmark. "Turn It Down" received minimal airplay on UK radio and was banned by some radio stations because of certain lyrical content - "God-awful sound" and "For God sakes, turn it down" - which were deemed "unsuitable for family listening." The band resumed playing live shows nearly a full six months after Connolly's throat injury, with band and critics noting a rougher edge to his voice and a reduced range. The album also featured a group composition, "Fox On The Run", which was to be re-recorded months later.
The U.S. version of Desolation Boulevard was different from the U.K. version and included several songs from Sweet Fanny Adams in addition to the "Ballroom Blitz" and "Fox on the Run" singles (both of which peaked at No. 5 in the US). Side One of the album contained all Chapman-Chinn penned songs, while Side Two featured songs written and produced by Sweet.
Writing and producing their own material
In 1975 Sweet went back into the studio to re-arrange and record a more pop-oriented version of the track "Fox on the Run". Sweet's first self-written and produced single, "Fox on the Run" was released worldwide in March 1975 and became their biggest selling hit, reaching number one in Germany, Denmark, and South Africa, number two in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway and the Netherlands and number three in Austria and Switzerland. In Australia it not only made it to the top of the charts, it also became the biggest selling single of that year. The song reached number two in Canada and number five in the U.S. The release of this track marked the end of the formal Chinn-Chapman working relationship and the band stressed it was now fully self-sufficient as writers and producers.
The following single release, "Action" (July 1975), peaked at number 15 in the UK. Now confident in their own songwriting and production abilities, Sweet spent the latter half of 1975 in Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany, where they recorded the Give Us A Wink album with German sound engineer Reinhold Mack, who later recorded with Electric Light Orchestra and co-produced Queen. The new album release was deferred until 1976 so as not to stifle the chart success Desolation Boulevard was enjoying, peaking at number 25 in the US and number 5 in Canada.
With Give Us a Wink being held over, RCA issued a double album in Europe, Strung Up, in November. It contained one live disc, recorded in London in December 1973, and one disc compiling previously released singles (plus an unused track by Chinn and Chapman – "I Wanna Be Committed"). At the end of the year, Andy Scott released his first solo single, "Lady Starlight" b/w "Where D'Ya Go". Tucker played drums on both tracks.
Decline in popularity
January 1976 saw the release of the single "The Lies In Your Eyes", which made the Top 10 in Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Australia, but only reached No. 35 on the U.K. charts. Sweet's first album to be fully produced and written by themselves, Give Us A Wink, was released in March 1976. A third single from the album, "4th Of July", was issued in Australia.
By this time, Sweet strove to build on their growing popularity in America with a schedule of more than fifty headline concert dates. Even though Give Us A Winks release was imminent, the band's set essentially promoted the US version of Desolation Boulevard plus the new US hit single "Action". During an appearance at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in California on 24 March, Sweet played "All Right Now" with Ritchie Blackmore as a tribute to mark the death of Free guitarist Paul Kossoff, who was to have supported Sweet with his band Back Street Crawler. The US tour was not financially successful, with small audiences at many venues leading to the final half-dozen or so dates to be cancelled. Following the end of the tour, the band went on to Scandinavia and Germany. The band also spent a week at the Who's Ramport Studios in Battersea demoing material for a new album before abandoning that project and playing eight dates in Japan. By the end of the Japanese shows Connolly's extremely hoarse singing voice was manifest evidence of the demands of constant touring and the enduring after-effects of his 1974 assault.
Between October 1976 and January 1977, Sweet wrote and recorded new material at Kingsway Recorders and Audio International London studios for their next album. An advance single from the album, "Lost Angels", was only a hit in Germany, Austria and Sweden. A new album, Off the Record, was released in April. The next single from the album, "Fever of Love", represented the band heading in a somewhat more Europop hard rock direction, once again charting in Germany, Austria and Sweden, while reaching number 10 in South Africa. On this album, Sweet again worked with Give Us A Wink engineer Louis Austin, who would later engineer Def Leppard's On Through The Night 1980 début album. The band cancelled a US tour with emerging US rockers Aerosmith, did not play any live dates in support of the album and, in fact, did not play a single concert for the whole of 1977.
Level Headed and a change in style
Sweet left RCA in 1977 and signed a new deal with Polydor though it would not come into force until later in the year. Sweet's manager David Walker, from Handle Artists, negotiated the move which was reputed to be worth around £750,000. In the United States, Canada, and Japan, Capitol had issued Sweet's albums since 1974 and would continue to do so through to 1980.
The first Polydor album, Level Headed (January 1978), found Sweet experimenting by combining rock and classical sounds "a-la clavesin", an approach similar to Electric Light Orchestra's, and featured the single "Love Is Like Oxygen". Largely recorded during 1977 at Château d'Hérouville near Paris, France after a 30-day writing session at Clearwell Castle in the Forest Of Dean UK, the album represented a new musical direction, largely abandoning hard-rock for a more melodic pop style, interspersed with ballads accompanied by a 30-piece orchestra. The ballad, "Lettres D'Amour", featured a duet between Connolly and Stevie Lange (who would emerge as lead singer with the group Night in 1979).
With the addition of session and touring musicians keyboardist Gary Moberley and guitarist Nico Ramsden, Sweet undertook a short European and Scandinavian tour followed by a single British concert at London's Hammersmith Odeon on 24 February 1978. However, "Love Is Like Oxygen" (January 1978) was their last U.K., U.S., and German Top 10 hit. Scott was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for co-composing the song. One more single from the album, "California Nights" (May 1978), featuring Steve Priest as the lead vocalist, peaked at number 23 on the German chart.
Departure of Brian Connolly
Between March and May 1978 Sweet extensively toured the US, as a support act for Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. The tour included a disastrous date in Birmingham, Alabama on 3 May, during which visiting Capitol Records executives in the audience saw Brian Connolly give a drunken and incoherent performance that terminated early in the set with his collapse on stage, leaving the rest of the group to play on without him. The band returned briefly to Britain before resuming the second leg of their US tour in late May supporting other acts, including Foghat and Alice Cooper. Concluding the US tour in early July 1978, Brian's alcoholism and estrangement from the group was steadily becoming a greater issue.
In late October, having spent further time at Clearwell Castle to write for their next album, Sweet arrived at The Town House studio in Shepherd's Bush, London to complete and record, Cut Above the Rest (April 1979). Due to tensions between various members attributed to Connolly's health and diminishing status with the group, his long-time friend and fellow founding member, Mick Tucker, was tasked to produce Connolly's vocals. It was felt Tucker would extract a better performance than Scott from Connolly. A number of tracks were recorded featuring Connolly. However, these efforts were deemed unsatisfactory and Brian left the band on 2 November 1978.
On 23 February 1979, Brian Connolly's departure from Sweet was formally announced by manager David Walker. Publicly, Connolly was said to be pursuing a solo career with an interest in recording country rock.
Three piece Sweet
Sweet continued as a trio with Priest assuming the lion's share of lead vocals, though Scott and Tucker were also active in that role. The first single release for the trio was "Call Me". Guest keyboard player Gary Moberley continued to augment the group on stage. Guitarist Ray McRiner joined their touring line-up in 1979, with a small tour with Journey in the eastern United States and Cheap Trick in Texas in the spring and summer of '79 to support Cut Above The Rest (which was released in April 1979). McRiner would also contribute the songs "Too Much Talking" and the single "Give The Lady Some Respect" to the next Sweet album, Waters Edge (August 1980), which was recorded in Canada. In the US, Waters Edge was titled Sweet VI. It featured the singles "Sixties Man" and "Give The Lady Some Respect". Tragedy befell Mick Tucker when his wife Pauline drowned in the bath at their home on 26 December 1979. The band withdrew from live work for all of 1980.
One more studio album, Identity Crisis, was recorded during 1980–81 but was only released in West Germany and Mexico. Sweet undertook a short tour of the UK and performed their last live show at Glasgow University on 20 March 1981. Steve Priest then returned to the United States, where he had been living since late 1979. When Polydor released Identity Crisis in October 1982, the original Sweet had been disbanded for almost a year.
Re-formed versions (1984–present)
Andy Scott's Sweet (1985–present)
Andy Scott and Mick Tucker organised their own version of Sweet with Paul Mario Day (ex-Iron Maiden, More, Wildfire) on lead vocals, Phil Lanzon (ex-Grand Prix) on keyboards and Mal McNulty on bass. The band performed at the Marquee Club in London in February 1986, with the shows recorded and gaining release a few years later, bolstered by four new studio tracks including a cover of the Motown standard "Reach Out I'll Be There". This line-up also toured Australian and New Zealand pubs and clubs for more than three months in 1985 and for a similar period again in 1986. Singer Paul Day ended up marrying the band's Australian tour guide and relocating downunder. He continued with Sweet commuting back and forth to Europe for the group's tours until this proved to be too cumbersome. He departed in late 1988. As McNulty moved into the front man spot, Jeff Brown came in to take over bass early in 1989. Lanzon too went back and forth between Sweet and Uriah Heep during 1986-1988 before Heep's schedule grew too busy. Malcolm Pearson and then Ian Gibbons (who had played with The Kinks and The Records) both filled in for Lanzon until Steve Mann (Liar, Lionheart, McAuley Schenker Group) arrived in December 1989.
Tucker departed after a show in Lochau, Austria, on 5 May 1991. He later was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia. Three drummers, Andy Hoyler, Bobby Andersen and Bruce Bisland (Weapon, Wildfire, Praying Mantis), provided short-term relief before Bodo Schopf (McAuley Schenker Group) took over. They recorded an album during this period, simply titled A. Before the band embarked on the supporting tour for A in 1992, Bodo left and Bisland returned as permanent percussionist. Scott changed the band's name to 'Andy Scott's Sweet' after Tucker's departure but truncated it to simply 'The Sweet' once again after Tucker's death in 2002.
Mal McNulty, now lead vocalist, departed in 1994, though he would return briefly that year to fill in for Jeff Brown on bass (as he would again in 1995 as lead singer for a few dates while Rocky Newton subbed on bass). Sweet's former keyboard men Gary Moberley and Ian Gibbons also did fill-in jaunts with the group that year, as did Chris Goulstone. Chad Brown (ex-Lionheart; no relation to Jeff) was the new front man. Glitz Blitz and Hitz, a new studio album of re-recorded Sweet hits, was released during this period.
In 1996 Mann left to take a job in television and Gibbons came back for a short time before Steve Grant (ex-The Animals) became the permanent keyboardist. When Chad Brown quit in 1998 after developing a throat infection, Jeff Brown assumed lead vocals and bass duties. After this, the band was stable again for the next five years.
The mid-2000s would bring further confusing shake-ups and rotations. Tony O'Hora (ex-Onslaught, Praying Mantis) replaced Brown as lead vocalist in 2003. Ian Gibbons came back for a third stint as fill-in keyboardist in June 2005 for a gig in the Faroe Islands. O'Hora decided to split to take a teaching job in late 2005. Grant then jumped from keyboards to lead vocals and bass as Phil Lanzon returned on keyboards for a tour of Russia and Germany in October/November. New singer Mark Thompson Smith (ex-Praying Mantis) joined in November 2005 for some Swedish gigs, while Jo Burt (ex-Black Sabbath) was temporary bass player. Tony Mills (ex-Shy) was slated to be Sweet's new singer in early 2006 but failed to work out and left after six shows in Denmark. At this point, O'Hora came back as fill in front man and then Grant did another turn himself as the singer/bassist (Steve Mann depped on keyboards) until the group finally landed a new permanent front man when Peter Lincoln (ex-Sailor) arrived in July 2006. The line-up then consisted of Scott, Bisland, Grant and Lincoln.
Scott produced the Suzi Quatro album Back to the Drive, released in February 2006. March 2006 saw the U.S. release of his band's album Sweetlife.
In 2007 the group played in Germany, Belgium, Austria and Italy. In May of that year, the band played in Porto Alegre and Curitiba, Brazil, their first and only South American shows. The tour was called the 'Sweet Fanny Adams Tour'.
The band toured again in March 2008 under the name 'Sweet Fanny Adams Revisited Tour'. In May and June, Scott's Sweet were part of the "Glitz Blitz & 70s Hitz" tour of the UK alongside The Rubettes and Showaddywaddy.
In March and April 2010, Scott was absent from a couple of gigs due to ill health and Martin Mickels stood in. Scott revealed later that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was treated at the Bristol Royal Infirmary. After a course of treatment and rest, he was back to full touring fitness. In 2010 the band played at venues in Europe and back at Bilston in October.
In March 2011 there was a short tour of Australia, Regal Theatre - Perth, and Clipsal 500, Adelaide with the Doobie Brothers. Also in 2011, Tony O'Hora came back to the group, this time as keyboardist, after Grant departed.
In March 2012 the band released a new album New York Connection. Recorded in England, it comprised 11 cover versions, including the 2011 single "Join Together" and one revamped original recording; the 1972 B-side "New York Connection". All the covers either featured 'bits and pieces' of Sweet hits or other artist songs, such as a "new version of the Ramones Blitzkrieg Bop [which] shared space with samples from ‘Ballroom Blitz,’ and a take on Hello’s New York Groove (made famous in the US by Ace Frehley) featured a sample from Jay-Z’s Empire State Of Mind along with other Sweet references."
On the eve of their March 2012 "Join Together" tour of Australia, the band undertook an acoustic performance of three tracks, "New York Groove-Empire State of Mind", "Blockbuster" and "Peppermint Twist", in front of a live audience at ABC Radio Studios in East Perth. Shows in Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Geelong, Melbourne and Sydney featured tracks from the new album for the first time.
Paul Manzi joined Sweet on their 2014 Australian tour, replacing Tony O'Hora who was absent for personal reasons. Manzi played guitar, keyboard and undertook lead vocals on "Set Me Free" and "AC-DC" as the band performed shows in regional centres, including outback Western Australia, Darwin and far-north Queensland, NSW and Victoria during February and March. The band, with O'Hora back in the ranks, returned to Australia in September 2014 as the headlining act for "Rock The Boat 4". This was a cruise aboard the ship Rhapsody of the Seas which departed Sydney and took in New Caledonia and Vanuatu. The band played two gigs and various members guested with Australian veteran performers including Brian Cadd and Russell Morris and members of AC/DC, The Angels, Rose Tattoo and Skyhooks.
In June 2015 it was revealed that the band were going on an extensive tour of the UK in late 2015 and that this tour would probably be their last.
For the 2015 summer tour dates, Paul Manzi returned to sub for Peter Lincoln who left this online message to the fans: "There have been a few rumours going around this weekend, so . . . just to say that I am alive and well! The short explanation for my absence is that I need to rest my voice for a few weeks. We are lucky that our good friend Paul Manzi is able to step in, and Tony knows the role of bass player/singer, so the shows can go ahead, and they will be great! I look forward to being back on stage very soon."
Pete Lincoln duly resumed his role in the band and they continued with extensive live dates, known as the "Finale" tour in Germany.
In 2017 after Andy undertook a successful Australian visit with Suzi Quatro and Don Powell in the side outfit known as QSP, Sweet was again booked for an extensive European tour. In the years following both Tony O'Hora and Pete Lincoln departed the band. Paul Manzi returned as permanent lead vocalist, quitting the popular outfit Cats in Space to do so. Lee Small joined as bassist and backing vocalist. Former guitarist and keyboard player Steve Mann joined for a handful of shows as a special guest. During the COVID-19 pandemic the band recorded a new album of old tracks entitled Isolation Boulevard.
New Sweet, Brian Connolly's Sweet (1984–1997)
In 1984 Brian Connolly formed a new version of the Sweet without any of the other original members. Despite recurring ill health, Connolly toured the UK and Europe with his band, "Brian Connolly's Sweet", which was then renamed to "New Sweet". His most successful concerts were in West Germany, before and after reunification.
During 1987, Connolly met up again with Frank Torpey. Torpey later explained in interviews Connolly was trying to get a German recording deal. The two got on very well and Torpey subsequently invited Connolly to go into the recording studio with him, as an informal project. After much trepidation, Connolly turned up and the track "Sharontina" was recorded. This recording would not be released until 1998, appearing on Frank Torpey's album Sweeter.
By July 1990, plans were made for Connolly and his band to tour Australia in November. During the long flight to Australia, Connolly's health had suffered and he was hospitalised in Adelaide Hospital, allegedly for dehydration and related problems. The rest of the band played a show in Adelaide without him. After being released from the hospital, Connolly joined the other band members in Melbourne for a gig at the Pier Hotel, in Frankston. After several other shows, including one at the Dingley Powerhouse, Connolly and his band played a final date at Melbourne's Greek Theatre. It was felt Connolly's health was sufficient reason for the tour not to be extended, and some of the planned dates were abandoned. Connolly went back to England and his band appeared on The Bob Downe Christmas show on 18 December 1990.
During the early 1990s, Connolly played the European "oldies" circuit and occasional outdoor festivals in Europe with his band. On 22 March 1992, a heavy duty tape recorder was stolen from the band's van whilst at a gig in the Bristol Hippodrome with Mud. It contained demos of four new songs, totalling about 20 mixes.
Legal problems were going on in the background over the use of the Sweet name between Connolly and Andy Scott. Both parties agreed to distinguish their group's names to help promoters and fans. The New Sweet went back to being called Brian Connolly's Sweet and Andy Scott's version became Andy Scott's Sweet.
In 1994, Connolly and his band played in Dubai. He appeared at the Galleria Theatre, Hyatt Regency. He also performed in Bahrain.
By this time Connolly had healed the differences with Steve Priest and Mick Tucker, and was invited to the wedding of Priest's eldest daughter, Lisa. At the private function, for which Priest specially flew back to England, Priest and Connolly performed together.
In 1995, Connolly released a new album entitled Let's Go. His partner Jean, whom he had met a few years earlier, gave birth to a son. Connolly also performed in Switzerland that year.
On 2 November 1996 British TV Network Channel 4 aired a programme Don't Leave Me This Way, which examined Connolly's time as a pop star with the Sweet, the subsequent decline in the band's popularity, and its impact on Connolly and the other band members. The show revealed Connolly's ill health but also that he was continuing with his concert dates at Butlins. Connolly and his band had appeared at Butlins a number of times on tour during the early 1990s.
Connolly's final concert was at the Bristol Hippodrome on 5 December 1996, with Slade II and John Rossall's Glitter Band Experience.
Steve Priest's Sweet (2008–Present)
In January 2008, Steve Priest assembled his own version of the Sweet in Los Angeles. He enlisted a guitarist Stuart Smith and L.A. native Richie Onori, Smith's bandmate in Heaven & Earth, was brought in on drums. The keyboard spot was manned by ex-Crow and World Classic Rockers alumni Stevie Stewart. Front-man and vocalist Joe Retta was brought in to round out the line-up.
After an initial appearance on L.A. rock station 95.5 KLOS's popular Mark & Brian radio programme, the "Are You Ready Steve?" tour kicked off at the Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood on 12 June 2008. The band spent the next several months playing festivals and gigs throughout the U.S. and Canada, including Moondance Jam in Walker, Minnesota; headlining at the Rock N Resort Music Festival in North Lawrence, Ohio (near Canal Fulton); London, Ontario's Rock the Park; another headlining gig at Peterborough's Festival of Lights; the Common Ground Festival in Lansing, Michigan; and a benefit concert for victims of California's wildfires at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California.
In January 2009, the Sweet presented at the concert industry's Pollstar Awards, and also played a short set at the Nokia Theatre where the event was held, marking the first time in the ceremony's history that a band performed at the show. In addition to local gigs at the House of Blues on L.A.'s Sunset Strip and Universal CityWalk, 2009 saw the band return to Canada for sold-out shows at the Mae Wilson Theater and Casino Regina, as well as the Nakusp Music Fest and Rockin' the Fields of Minnedosa in Minnedosa, Manitoba. U.S. festivals have included Minnesota's Halfway Jam, Rockin' the Rivers in Montana (with Pat Travers and Peter Frampton), and two late-summer shows at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
The new band recorded a cover version of the Beatles' "Ticket to Ride", which was included on Cleopatra Records' Abbey Road, a Fab Four tribute CD that was released on 24 March 2009.
A preview of the band's new CD Live in America, which was recorded live at the Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa in Cabazon, California on 30 August 2008, was featured on KLOS's "Front Row" programme on 12 April 2009. The CD, which was first sold at shows and via the band's on-line store, was released worldwide in an exclusive deal with Amazon.com on 21 July 2009. The release has garnered favourable reviews from The Rock n Roll Report, Classic Rock Revisited and Hard Rock Haven, among others.
In April 2010, the band released its first single on iTunes: an updated, hard rock version of the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There." Performances on the 2010 summer tour included the Wildflower! Arts and Music Festival in Richardson, Texas; Las Vegas, Nevada's Fremont Street Experience; Rock N' America in Oklahoma City, OK; Summer Jam in Des Moines, Iowa; Jack FM's Fifth Show at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Los Angeles; an appearance at the Hard Rock Hotel in Biloxi, Mississippi; and the inaugural edition of the Thunder Mountain Rock Festival in Sawyer, North Dakota.
On 11 November 2010, it was announced that in May 2011 "Steve Priest's Sweet" had been booked to perform at a handful of European dates, but the gigs ultimately had to be cancelled in late January 2011 after it was learned that one of the promoters was a suspected swindler wanted by British law enforcement officials. As of February 2011, fans who purchased pre-sale tickets were still in the process of working through the administrative channels with PayPal and various banks and credit card issuers in order to try to reclaim their funds.
The band toured South America along with Journey during March 2011.
The band and their European fans then also got re-united quicker than thought, when the band got booked by a befriended female Belgian promoter. Two east German gigs, 27 and 28 May 2011, so in Borna and in Schwarzenberg Steve Priest's Sweet hit the European grounds. After more than 30 years, Steve Priest got a warm welcome back in Europe.
As of 12 August 2012, Stuart Smith resigned from the guitar post in order to dedicate more time to his "Heaven & Earth" project.
Beginning with the band's October 2012 appearance at the Festival Internacional Chihuahua in Mexico, Los Angeles-based guitarist Ricky Z. teamed up with Steve Priest and company for their live performances. In February 2013, this lineup returned to Casino Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada. Tour dates played in summer 2013 included Riverfest in Watertown, Wisconsin, the St. Clair, MI Riverfest, several additional dates in Canada, and a reprise of their appearances at both Moondance Jam in Walker, MN and Rockin' the Rivers in Three Forks, Montana. The band made some rare appearances on the U.S. east coast in July 2013, including a performance with David Johansen of the New York Dolls at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, New Jersey. Singer Joe Retta was unavailable for these dates due to a scheduling conflict, so Tribe of Gypsies frontman Chas West, who has played with Jason Bonham's band and has experience subbing in such well-known bands as Foreigner, Lynch Mob and Diamond Head, stepped in to man the microphone for a series of shows in New York, New Jersey and Maryland.
On 27 August 2014, Steve Priest announced on the band's Facebook page that guitarist Mitch Perry had been tapped for the guitar slot. Most recently on tour with Lita Ford, Mitch's other credentials included his work with Michael Schenker Group, Asia Featuring John Payne, Edgar Winter, Billy Sheehan and David Lee Roth His first live appearance with Sweet was at the Rock the River festival in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on 23 August 2014.
22 December 2017 saw the launch of the 50th anniversary tour at the Whisky a Go Go on L.A.'s Sunset Strip and the introduction of new singer Paul Zablidowski AKA "Paulie Z" former lead singer and guitarist of ZO2, children's band "The Z Brothers" and star of IFC show Z-Rock. Recently known as the host for local show "Ultimate Jam Night." Z replaced Joe Retta, who had served as the frontman for the Los Angeles incarnation of Sweet since its formation in 2008. Priest died on 4 June 2020.
Brief reunions and the deaths of Brian Connolly, Mick Tucker and Steve Priest
Steve Priest was asked to join Tucker and Scott for the 1985 Australian tour, but declined at the last moment.
Mike Chapman contacted Connolly, Priest, Scott, and Tucker in 1988, offering to finance a recording session in Los Angeles. As he remembers: "I met them at the airport and Andy and Mick came off the plane. I said, 'Where's Brian?' They said, 'Oh, he's coming.' All the people had come off the plane by now. Then this little old man hobbled towards us. He was shaking, and had a ghostly white face. I thought, 'Oh, Jesus Christ.' It was horrifying." Reworked studio versions of "Action" and "The Ballroom Blitz" were recorded, but it became clear that Connolly's voice and physical health had made Sweet's original member comeback too difficult to promote commercially. Consequently, the reunion attempt was aborted.
In 1990 this line-up was again reunited for the promotion of a music documentary entitled Sweet's Ballroom Blitz. This UK video release, which contained UK television performances from the 1970s and current-day interviews, was released at Tower Records, London. Sweet was interviewed by Power Hour, Super Channel, and spoke of a possible reunion.
Brian Connolly died at the age of 51 on 9 February 1997, from liver failure and repeated heart attacks, attributed to his abuse of alcohol in the 1970s and early 1980s. Mick Tucker died on 14 February 2002 from leukemia, at the age of 54. On 4 June 2020 it was announced that Steve Priest had died. It left Andy Scott as the sole living member of Sweet's 'classic lineup'.
Later years
Two versions of The Sweet were active with original members: "Andy Scott's Sweet", who frequently tour across Europe as Sweet and makes occasional sojourns to other markets including regular visits to Australia, and "Steve Priest's Sweet" who toured the US and Canada.
On 28 April 2009, Shout! Factory released a two-disc, career-spanning greatest hits album called Action: The Sweet Anthology. It received a four-star (out of five) rating in Rolling Stone.
In September 2009 Ace Frehley released his version of "Fox on the Run" on his album Anomaly.
In an October 2012 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Axl Rose, lead singer of Guns N' Roses, referenced Sweet as one of his favourite bands growing up along with fellow British band Queen.
In April 2016, the chart topping song (1973), "The Ballroom Blitz" was featured in a trailer for Suicide Squad.
In December 2016, their single "Fox on the Run" (1975) was featured in a trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
In 2019, the songs "Fox on the Run" and "Set Me Free" were featured in an episode of Jamie Johnson.
Personnel
Original band
Classic lineup
Brian Connolly – lead vocals, percussion, synthesizer, acoustic guitar (1968–1978; died 1997)
Steve Priest – bass, backing and lead vocals (1968–1981; died 2020)
Mick Tucker – drums, percussion, backing and lead vocals (1968–1981; died 2002)
Andy Scott – guitars, keyboards, synthesizers, piano, backing and lead vocals (1970–1981)
Early members
Frank Torpey – guitars (1968–1969)
Mick Stewart – guitars (1969–1970)
Touring musicians
Gary Moberley – keyboards, synthesizers, piano (1978–1981)
Nico Ramsden – guitar (1978)
Ray McRiner – guitar (1979)
Andy Scott’s Sweet
Current members
Andy Scott – guitars, keyboards, synthesizers, piano, backing and lead vocals (1985–present)
Bruce Bisland – drums, backing vocals (1992–present)
Paul Manzi – lead vocals (2019–present; substitute appearances in 2014 and 2015)
Lee Small – bass, backing vocals (2019–present)
Former members
Mick Tucker – drums, backing vocals (1985–1991; died 2002)
Paul Mario Day – lead vocals (1985–1989)
Phil Lanzon – keyboards, piano, backing vocals (1985–1989; 2005—2006)
Mal McNulty – bass, lead and backing vocals (1985–1995)
Jeff Brown – bass, lead and backing vocals (1989–2003)
Steve Mann – keyboards, guitars, backing vocals (1989-1996)
Bodo Schopf – drums, backing vocals (1991–1992)
Chad Brown — lead vocals (1995–1998)
Steve Grant — keyboards, piano, backing vocals (1996–2005, 2006–2011); lead vocals, bass (2005–2006)
Tony O’Hora – lead and backing vocals, bass (2003–2005, 2006, 2011–2019), guitars, keyboards (2011–2019)
Peter Lincoln – bass, lead and backing vocals (2006–2019)
Timeline
Discography
Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be (1971)
Sweet Fanny Adams (1974)
Desolation Boulevard (1974)
Give Us a Wink (1976)
Off the Record (1977)
Level Headed (1978)
Cut Above the Rest (1979)
Waters Edge (titled Sweet VI with a different cover in the U.S.) (1980)
Identity Crisis (1982)
Sweetlife (2002) by Andy Scott's Sweet
Isolation Boulevard (2020) by Andy Scott's Sweet
References
Bibliography
(2008 eBook available at )
External links
Channel 4 documentary on The Sweet from 1996
English hard rock musical groups
English glam rock groups
Musical groups established in 1968
Capitol Records artists
Polydor Records artists
RCA Records artists
1968 establishments in the United Kingdom
Musical groups disestablished in 1982
1982 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Musical groups reestablished in 1985
1985 establishments in the United Kingdom | 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"
] |
[
"The Sweet",
"First album",
"What was the sweets first album?",
"The Sweet's first full LP album, Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, was released in November 1971.",
"did it do well?",
"It was not a serious contender on the charts.",
"what was special about their first album?",
"A collection of the band's recent singles supplemented by some new Chinn/Chapman tunes",
"did the band tour?",
"I don't know.",
"did any of their songs chart?",
"Their next RCA release \"Co-Co\" (June 1971) went to number two in the U.K.",
"did they win any awards?",
"I don't know.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"A management deal was signed with the aforementioned songwriting team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman."
] | C_b1e767986d2542acaf8dafe8942132ea_0 | when was this deal signed? | 8 | When was The Sweet's deal with Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman signed? | The Sweet | The Sweet made their UK television debut in December 1970 on a pop show called Lift Off, performing the song "Funny Funny". A management deal was signed with the aforementioned songwriting team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Phil Wainman resumed his collaboration with Sweet, as executive producer. This management deal also included a worldwide (the U.S. excepted) record contract with RCA Records (in the United States and Canada Bell Records issued the group's music until late 1973; followed by Capitol Records). In March 1971 RCA issued "Funny Funny", written by Chinn and Chapman, which became the group's first international hit, climbing to the Top 20 on many of the world's charts. EMI reissued their 1970 single "All You'll Ever Get from Me" (May 1971) and it again failed to chart. Their next RCA release "Co-Co" (June 1971) went to number two in the U.K. and their follow up single, "Alexander Graham Bell" (October 1971), only went to #33. These tracks still featured session musicians on the instruments with the quartet providing only the vocals. The Sweet's first full LP album, Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, was released in November 1971. A collection of the band's recent singles supplemented by some new Chinn/Chapman tunes (including "Chop Chop" and "Tom Tom Turnaround") and pop covers (such as the Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream" and the Supremes' "Reflections"), the album, recorded at Nova Studios in London, was produced by Phil Wainman and engineered by Richard Dodd and Eric Holland. It was not a serious contender on the charts. Their albums' failure to match the success of their singles was a problem that would plague the band throughout their career. CANNOTANSWER | The Sweet made their UK television debut in December 1970 | The Sweet, sometimes also shortened to just Sweet, are a British glam rock band that rose to worldwide fame in the 1970s. Their best known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bass player Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott, and drummer Mick Tucker. The group was originally called The Sweetshop.
The band was formed in London in 1968 and achieved their first hit, "Funny Funny", in 1971 after teaming up with songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman and record producer Phil Wainman. During 1971 and 1972, their musical style followed a marked progression from the Archies-like bubblegum style of "Funny Funny" to a Who-influenced hard rock style supplemented by a striking use of high-pitched backing vocals.
The band first achieved success in the UK charts, with thirteen Top 20 hits during the 1970s alone, with "Block Buster!" (1973) topping the chart, followed by three consecutive number two hits in "Hell Raiser" (1973), "The Ballroom Blitz" (1973) and "Teenage Rampage" (1974). The band turned to a more hard rock style with their mid-career singles, like 1974's "Turn It Down". "Fox on the Run" (1975) also reached number two on the UK charts. These results were topped in West Germany and other countries on the European mainland. They also achieved success and popularity in the US with the top ten hits "Little Willy", "The Ballroom Blitz", "Fox on the Run", and "Love is Like Oxygen".
The Sweet had their last international success in 1978 with "Love Is Like Oxygen". Connolly left the group in 1979 to start a solo career and the remaining members continued as a trio until disbanding in 1981. From the mid-1980s, Scott, Connolly and Priest each played with their own versions of Sweet at different times. Connolly died in 1997, Tucker in 2002 and Priest in 2020. Andy Scott is still active with his version of the band. Sweet have since sold over 35 million albums worldwide.
History
Origins
Sweet's origins can be traced back to British soul band Wainwright's Gentlemen. Mark Lay's history of that band states they formed around 1962 and were initially known as Unit 4. Founding members included Chris Wright (vocals), Jan Frewer (bass), with Jim Searle and Alfred Fripp on guitars. Phil Kenton joined on drums as the band changed its name to Wainwright's Gentlemen (due to there being another band known as Unit 4). Managed by Frewer's father, the band performed in the Hayes, Harrow and Wembley area. By 1964 the group was also playing in London, including at the Saint Germain Club on Poland Street.
In January 1964 the band came fifth in a national beat group contest, with finals held at the Lyceum Strand on 4 May 1964. Highlights of the show were presented on BBC1 by Alan Freeman. Chris Wright left the line-up in late 1964 and was replaced by Ian Gillan. A female vocalist named Ann Cully soon joined the band. Mick Tucker, from Ruislip, joined on drums replacing Phil Kenton. The band recorded a number of tracks including a cover of the Coasters-Hollies hit "Ain't That Just Like Me", which was probably recorded at Jackson Sound Studios in Rickmansworth. The track includes Gillan on vocals, Tucker on drums and, according to band bassist Jan Frewer, is thought to have been recorded in 1965. Gillan quit in May 1965 to join Episode Six, and later, Deep Purple. Cully remained as vocalist before departing some time later. Gillan's and Cully's eventual replacement, in late 1966, was Scots-born vocalist Brian Connolly, who hailed more recently from Harefield. Tony Hall had joined on saxophone and vocals and when Fripp left he was replaced by Gordon Fairminer. Fairminer's position was eventually assumed by Frank Torpey (born Frank Edward Torpey, 30 April 1945, Kilburn, North West London) - a schoolfriend of Tucker's who had just left West London group The Tribe (aka The Dream). Torpey only lasted a few months, and in late 1967 Robin Box (born 19 June 1944) took his place. Searle, regarded by many as the most talented musically, disappeared from the scene. Tucker and Connolly remained with Wainwright's Gentlemen until January 1968. Tucker was replaced by Roger Hills. When the Gentlemen eventually broke up, Hills and Box joined White Plains who eventually scored a big hit with "My Baby Loves Lovin'".
Early years
In January 1968 Connolly and Tucker formed a new band calling themselves The Sweetshop. They recruited bass guitarist and vocalist Steve Priest from a local band called The Army. Priest had previously played with mid-'60s band the Countdowns who had been produced and recorded by Joe Meek. Frank Torpey was again recruited to play guitar. The quartet made its public debut at the Pavilion in Hemel Hempstead on 9 March 1968 and soon developed a following on the pub circuit, which led to a contract with Fontana Records. At the time, another UK band released a single under the same name Sweetshop, so the band abbreviated their moniker to Sweet. The band was managed by Paul Nicholas, who later went on to star in Hair. Nicholas worked with record producer Phil Wainman at Mellin Music Publishing and recommended the band to him. Their debut single "Slow Motion" (July 1968), produced by Wainman, and released on Fontana, failed to chart and owing to its rarity now sells for several hundred pounds when auctioned. Sweet were released from the recording contract and Frank Torpey left. In his autobiography Are You Ready Steve, Priest said that Gordon Fairminer was approached to play for them when Torpey decided to leave Sweet after a gig at Playhouse Theatre Walton-on-Thames on 5 July 1969 but turned the job down as he wanted to concentrate on other interests.
New line-up and new record deal
Guitarist Mick Stewart joined in 1969. Stewart had some rock pedigree, having previously worked with The (Ealing) Redcaps and Simon Scott & The All-Nite Workers in the mid-1960s. In late 1965, that band became The Phil Wainman Set when the future Sweet producer joined on drums and the group cut some singles with Errol Dixon. In early 1966, Stewart left and later worked with Johnny Kidd & The Pirates.
Sweet signed a new record contract with EMI's Parlophone label. Three bubblegum pop singles were released: "Lollipop Man" (September 1969), "All You'll Ever Get from Me" (January 1970), and a cover version of the Archies' "Get on the Line" (June 1970), all of which failed to chart. Stewart then quit, and was not replaced for some time. Connolly and Tucker had a chance meeting with Wainman, who was now producing, and knew of two aspiring songwriters, Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, who were looking for a group to sing some demos they had written. Connolly, Priest, and Tucker provided the vocals on a track called "Funny Funny" which featured Pip Williams on guitar, John Roberts on bass, and Wainman on drums. The latter began offering the track to various recording companies. The band held auditions for a replacement guitarist and settled on Welsh-born Andy Scott. He had most recently been playing with Mike McCartney (brother of Paul) in the Scaffold. As a member of the Elastic Band, he had played guitar on two singles for Decca, "Think of You Baby" and "Do Unto Others". He also appeared on the band's lone album release, Expansions on Life, and on some recordings by the Scaffold. The band rehearsed for a number of weeks before Scott made his live debut with Sweet on 26 September 1970 at the Windsor Ballroom in Redcar.
Sweet initially attempted to combine diverse musical influences, including the Monkees and 1960s bubblegum pop groups such as the Archies, with more heavy rock-oriented groups such as the Who. Sweet adopted the rich vocal harmony style of the Hollies, with distorted guitars and a heavy rhythm section. This fusion of pop and hard rock would remain a central trademark of Sweet's music and prefigured the glam metal of a few years later.
Sweet's initial album appearance was on the budget label Music for Pleasure as part of a compilation called Gimme Dat Ding, released in December 1970. Sweet had one side of the record; the Pipkins (whose sole hit, "Gimme Dat Ding", gave the LP its name) had the other. Sweet's contribution consisted of the A- and B-sides of the band's three Parlophone singles. Andy Scott appears in the album cover shot, even though he did not play on any of the recordings.
First album
Sweet made their UK television debut in December 1970 on a pop show called Lift Off, performing the song "Funny Funny". A management deal was signed with the aforementioned songwriting team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Phil Wainman resumed his collaboration with Sweet, as executive producer. This management deal also included a worldwide record contract with RCA Records, the U.S. excepted: in the United States and Canada Bell Records issued the group's music until late 1973, followed by Capitol Records.
In March 1971 RCA issued "Funny Funny", written by Chinn and Chapman, which became the group's first international hit, climbing to the Top 20 on many of the world's charts. EMI reissued their 1970 single "All You'll Ever Get from Me" (May 1971) and it again failed to chart. Their next RCA release "Co-Co" (June 1971) went to number two in the U.K. and their follow up single, "Alexander Graham Bell" (October 1971), only went to No. 33. These tracks still featured session musicians on the instruments with the quartet providing only the vocals.
Sweet's first full LP album, Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, was released in November 1971. A collection of the band's recent singles supplemented by some new Chinn/Chapman tunes (including "Chop Chop" and "Tom Tom Turnaround") and pop covers (such as the Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream" and the Supremes' "Reflections"), the album, recorded at Nova Studios in London, was produced by Phil Wainman and engineered by Richard Dodd and Eric Holland. It was not a serious contender on the charts.
Initial success and rise to fame
February 1972 saw the release of "Poppa Joe", which reached number 1 in Finland and peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart. The next two singles of that year, "Little Willy" and "Wig-Wam Bam", both reached No. 4 in the UK. "Little Willy" peaked at No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 after a re-issue in 1973, thus becoming the group's biggest American hit. Although "Wig-Wam Bam" remained largely true to the style of Sweet's previous recordings, the vocals and guitars had a harder, more rock-oriented sound, largely because it was the first Chinn-Chapman single on which only members of Sweet played the instruments. In January 1973 "Block Buster!" became Sweet's first single to reach number 1 on the UK chart, remaining there for five consecutive weeks. After their next single "Hell Raiser" was released in May and reached number 2 in the U.K., Sweet's U.S. label, Bell, released the group's first American album The Sweet in July 1973.
To promote their singles, Sweet made numerous appearances on U.K. and European TV shows such as Top of the Pops and Supersonic. In one performance of "Block Buster!" on Top of the Pops Christmas edition, Priest aroused complaints after he appeared replete in a German military uniform, Hitler moustache and displaying a swastika armband. The band also capitalised on the glam rock explosion, rivalling Gary Glitter, T. Rex, Queen, Slade, and Wizzard for outrageous stage clothing.
Despite Sweet's success, the relationship with their management was becoming increasingly tense. While they had developed a large fan-base among teenagers, Sweet were not happy with their 'bubblegum' image. Sweet had always composed their own heavy-rock songs on the B-sides of their singles to contrast with the bubblegum A-sides which were composed by Chinn and Chapman. During this time, Sweet's live performances consisted of B-sides, album tracks, and various medleys of rock and roll classics; they avoided older novelty hits like "Funny Funny" and "Poppa Joe". A 1973 performance at the Palace Theatre and Grand Hall in Kilmarnock ended in Sweet being bottled off stage; the disorder was attributed by some (including Steve Priest) to Sweet's lipstick and eye-shadow look, and by others to the audience being unfamiliar with the concert set (the 1999 CD release Live at the Rainbow 1973 documents a live show from this period). The incident would be immortalised in the hit "The Ballroom Blitz" (September 1973). In the meantime, Sweet's chart success continued, showing particular strength in the UK, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, and Australia. By the end of 1973, the band's name evolved from "The Sweet" to "Sweet". The change would be reflected in all of their releases from 1974 onward.
Forming a new image
By 1974, Sweet had grown tired of the management team of Chinn and Chapman, who wrote the group's major hits and cultivated the band's glam rock image. The group and producer Phil Wainman, assisted by engineer Peter Coleman, recorded the album Sweet Fanny Adams, which was released in April 1974. Sweet's technical proficiency was demonstrated for the first time on self-penned hard rock tracks such as "Sweet F.A." and "Set Me Free". Sweet also adopted a more conventional hard rock sound and appearance. Sweet Fanny Adams also featured compressed high-pitched backing vocal harmonies, which was a trend that continued on all of Sweet's albums.
During sessions for the album, Brian Connolly was injured in a fight in Staines High Street. His throat was badly injured and his ability to sing severely limited. Priest and Scott filled in on lead vocals on some tracks ("No You Don't", "Into The Night" and "Restless") and Connolly, under treatment from a Harley Street specialist, managed to complete the album. The band did not publicise the incident and told the press that subsequent cancelled shows were due to Connolly having a throat infection. This incident reportedly permanently compromised Connolly's singing ability, with his range diminished.
No previous singles appeared on the album, and none were released, except in Japan, New Zealand and Australia, where "Peppermint Twist/Rebel Rouser", apparently released by their record company without their knowledge, gained a No. 1 chart position in the latter. Sweet Fanny Adams would be Sweet's only non-compilation release to break the UK Albums Chart Top 40.
Sweet were invited by Pete Townshend to support the Who, who were playing at Charlton Athletic's football ground, The Valley in June 1974. However, Connolly's badly bruised throat kept them from fulfilling the role. Sweet had frequently cited the Who as being one of their main influences and played a medley of their tracks in their live set for many years.
Desolation Boulevard
Their third album, Desolation Boulevard, was released later in 1974, six months after Sweet Fanny Adams. By that stage, producer Phil Wainman had moved on and the album was produced by Mike Chapman. It was recorded in a mere six days and featured a rawer "live" sound. One track, "The Man with the Golden Arm", written by Elmer Bernstein and Sylvia Fine for the 1955 Frank Sinatra movie of the same name, featured drummer Mick Tucker performing an 8 and half minute solo (although this was not included in the U.S. release). This had been a staple of the band's live performance for years. The first single from the LP, the heavy-melodic "The Six Teens" (July 1974), was a Top 10 hit in the U.K. and still part of the amazing unbroken string of No. 1's in Denmark. However, the subsequent single release, "Turn It Down" (November 1974), reached only No. 41 on the U.K. chart and No. 2 in Denmark. "Turn It Down" received minimal airplay on UK radio and was banned by some radio stations because of certain lyrical content - "God-awful sound" and "For God sakes, turn it down" - which were deemed "unsuitable for family listening." The band resumed playing live shows nearly a full six months after Connolly's throat injury, with band and critics noting a rougher edge to his voice and a reduced range. The album also featured a group composition, "Fox On The Run", which was to be re-recorded months later.
The U.S. version of Desolation Boulevard was different from the U.K. version and included several songs from Sweet Fanny Adams in addition to the "Ballroom Blitz" and "Fox on the Run" singles (both of which peaked at No. 5 in the US). Side One of the album contained all Chapman-Chinn penned songs, while Side Two featured songs written and produced by Sweet.
Writing and producing their own material
In 1975 Sweet went back into the studio to re-arrange and record a more pop-oriented version of the track "Fox on the Run". Sweet's first self-written and produced single, "Fox on the Run" was released worldwide in March 1975 and became their biggest selling hit, reaching number one in Germany, Denmark, and South Africa, number two in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway and the Netherlands and number three in Austria and Switzerland. In Australia it not only made it to the top of the charts, it also became the biggest selling single of that year. The song reached number two in Canada and number five in the U.S. The release of this track marked the end of the formal Chinn-Chapman working relationship and the band stressed it was now fully self-sufficient as writers and producers.
The following single release, "Action" (July 1975), peaked at number 15 in the UK. Now confident in their own songwriting and production abilities, Sweet spent the latter half of 1975 in Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany, where they recorded the Give Us A Wink album with German sound engineer Reinhold Mack, who later recorded with Electric Light Orchestra and co-produced Queen. The new album release was deferred until 1976 so as not to stifle the chart success Desolation Boulevard was enjoying, peaking at number 25 in the US and number 5 in Canada.
With Give Us a Wink being held over, RCA issued a double album in Europe, Strung Up, in November. It contained one live disc, recorded in London in December 1973, and one disc compiling previously released singles (plus an unused track by Chinn and Chapman – "I Wanna Be Committed"). At the end of the year, Andy Scott released his first solo single, "Lady Starlight" b/w "Where D'Ya Go". Tucker played drums on both tracks.
Decline in popularity
January 1976 saw the release of the single "The Lies In Your Eyes", which made the Top 10 in Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Australia, but only reached No. 35 on the U.K. charts. Sweet's first album to be fully produced and written by themselves, Give Us A Wink, was released in March 1976. A third single from the album, "4th Of July", was issued in Australia.
By this time, Sweet strove to build on their growing popularity in America with a schedule of more than fifty headline concert dates. Even though Give Us A Winks release was imminent, the band's set essentially promoted the US version of Desolation Boulevard plus the new US hit single "Action". During an appearance at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in California on 24 March, Sweet played "All Right Now" with Ritchie Blackmore as a tribute to mark the death of Free guitarist Paul Kossoff, who was to have supported Sweet with his band Back Street Crawler. The US tour was not financially successful, with small audiences at many venues leading to the final half-dozen or so dates to be cancelled. Following the end of the tour, the band went on to Scandinavia and Germany. The band also spent a week at the Who's Ramport Studios in Battersea demoing material for a new album before abandoning that project and playing eight dates in Japan. By the end of the Japanese shows Connolly's extremely hoarse singing voice was manifest evidence of the demands of constant touring and the enduring after-effects of his 1974 assault.
Between October 1976 and January 1977, Sweet wrote and recorded new material at Kingsway Recorders and Audio International London studios for their next album. An advance single from the album, "Lost Angels", was only a hit in Germany, Austria and Sweden. A new album, Off the Record, was released in April. The next single from the album, "Fever of Love", represented the band heading in a somewhat more Europop hard rock direction, once again charting in Germany, Austria and Sweden, while reaching number 10 in South Africa. On this album, Sweet again worked with Give Us A Wink engineer Louis Austin, who would later engineer Def Leppard's On Through The Night 1980 début album. The band cancelled a US tour with emerging US rockers Aerosmith, did not play any live dates in support of the album and, in fact, did not play a single concert for the whole of 1977.
Level Headed and a change in style
Sweet left RCA in 1977 and signed a new deal with Polydor though it would not come into force until later in the year. Sweet's manager David Walker, from Handle Artists, negotiated the move which was reputed to be worth around £750,000. In the United States, Canada, and Japan, Capitol had issued Sweet's albums since 1974 and would continue to do so through to 1980.
The first Polydor album, Level Headed (January 1978), found Sweet experimenting by combining rock and classical sounds "a-la clavesin", an approach similar to Electric Light Orchestra's, and featured the single "Love Is Like Oxygen". Largely recorded during 1977 at Château d'Hérouville near Paris, France after a 30-day writing session at Clearwell Castle in the Forest Of Dean UK, the album represented a new musical direction, largely abandoning hard-rock for a more melodic pop style, interspersed with ballads accompanied by a 30-piece orchestra. The ballad, "Lettres D'Amour", featured a duet between Connolly and Stevie Lange (who would emerge as lead singer with the group Night in 1979).
With the addition of session and touring musicians keyboardist Gary Moberley and guitarist Nico Ramsden, Sweet undertook a short European and Scandinavian tour followed by a single British concert at London's Hammersmith Odeon on 24 February 1978. However, "Love Is Like Oxygen" (January 1978) was their last U.K., U.S., and German Top 10 hit. Scott was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for co-composing the song. One more single from the album, "California Nights" (May 1978), featuring Steve Priest as the lead vocalist, peaked at number 23 on the German chart.
Departure of Brian Connolly
Between March and May 1978 Sweet extensively toured the US, as a support act for Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. The tour included a disastrous date in Birmingham, Alabama on 3 May, during which visiting Capitol Records executives in the audience saw Brian Connolly give a drunken and incoherent performance that terminated early in the set with his collapse on stage, leaving the rest of the group to play on without him. The band returned briefly to Britain before resuming the second leg of their US tour in late May supporting other acts, including Foghat and Alice Cooper. Concluding the US tour in early July 1978, Brian's alcoholism and estrangement from the group was steadily becoming a greater issue.
In late October, having spent further time at Clearwell Castle to write for their next album, Sweet arrived at The Town House studio in Shepherd's Bush, London to complete and record, Cut Above the Rest (April 1979). Due to tensions between various members attributed to Connolly's health and diminishing status with the group, his long-time friend and fellow founding member, Mick Tucker, was tasked to produce Connolly's vocals. It was felt Tucker would extract a better performance than Scott from Connolly. A number of tracks were recorded featuring Connolly. However, these efforts were deemed unsatisfactory and Brian left the band on 2 November 1978.
On 23 February 1979, Brian Connolly's departure from Sweet was formally announced by manager David Walker. Publicly, Connolly was said to be pursuing a solo career with an interest in recording country rock.
Three piece Sweet
Sweet continued as a trio with Priest assuming the lion's share of lead vocals, though Scott and Tucker were also active in that role. The first single release for the trio was "Call Me". Guest keyboard player Gary Moberley continued to augment the group on stage. Guitarist Ray McRiner joined their touring line-up in 1979, with a small tour with Journey in the eastern United States and Cheap Trick in Texas in the spring and summer of '79 to support Cut Above The Rest (which was released in April 1979). McRiner would also contribute the songs "Too Much Talking" and the single "Give The Lady Some Respect" to the next Sweet album, Waters Edge (August 1980), which was recorded in Canada. In the US, Waters Edge was titled Sweet VI. It featured the singles "Sixties Man" and "Give The Lady Some Respect". Tragedy befell Mick Tucker when his wife Pauline drowned in the bath at their home on 26 December 1979. The band withdrew from live work for all of 1980.
One more studio album, Identity Crisis, was recorded during 1980–81 but was only released in West Germany and Mexico. Sweet undertook a short tour of the UK and performed their last live show at Glasgow University on 20 March 1981. Steve Priest then returned to the United States, where he had been living since late 1979. When Polydor released Identity Crisis in October 1982, the original Sweet had been disbanded for almost a year.
Re-formed versions (1984–present)
Andy Scott's Sweet (1985–present)
Andy Scott and Mick Tucker organised their own version of Sweet with Paul Mario Day (ex-Iron Maiden, More, Wildfire) on lead vocals, Phil Lanzon (ex-Grand Prix) on keyboards and Mal McNulty on bass. The band performed at the Marquee Club in London in February 1986, with the shows recorded and gaining release a few years later, bolstered by four new studio tracks including a cover of the Motown standard "Reach Out I'll Be There". This line-up also toured Australian and New Zealand pubs and clubs for more than three months in 1985 and for a similar period again in 1986. Singer Paul Day ended up marrying the band's Australian tour guide and relocating downunder. He continued with Sweet commuting back and forth to Europe for the group's tours until this proved to be too cumbersome. He departed in late 1988. As McNulty moved into the front man spot, Jeff Brown came in to take over bass early in 1989. Lanzon too went back and forth between Sweet and Uriah Heep during 1986-1988 before Heep's schedule grew too busy. Malcolm Pearson and then Ian Gibbons (who had played with The Kinks and The Records) both filled in for Lanzon until Steve Mann (Liar, Lionheart, McAuley Schenker Group) arrived in December 1989.
Tucker departed after a show in Lochau, Austria, on 5 May 1991. He later was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia. Three drummers, Andy Hoyler, Bobby Andersen and Bruce Bisland (Weapon, Wildfire, Praying Mantis), provided short-term relief before Bodo Schopf (McAuley Schenker Group) took over. They recorded an album during this period, simply titled A. Before the band embarked on the supporting tour for A in 1992, Bodo left and Bisland returned as permanent percussionist. Scott changed the band's name to 'Andy Scott's Sweet' after Tucker's departure but truncated it to simply 'The Sweet' once again after Tucker's death in 2002.
Mal McNulty, now lead vocalist, departed in 1994, though he would return briefly that year to fill in for Jeff Brown on bass (as he would again in 1995 as lead singer for a few dates while Rocky Newton subbed on bass). Sweet's former keyboard men Gary Moberley and Ian Gibbons also did fill-in jaunts with the group that year, as did Chris Goulstone. Chad Brown (ex-Lionheart; no relation to Jeff) was the new front man. Glitz Blitz and Hitz, a new studio album of re-recorded Sweet hits, was released during this period.
In 1996 Mann left to take a job in television and Gibbons came back for a short time before Steve Grant (ex-The Animals) became the permanent keyboardist. When Chad Brown quit in 1998 after developing a throat infection, Jeff Brown assumed lead vocals and bass duties. After this, the band was stable again for the next five years.
The mid-2000s would bring further confusing shake-ups and rotations. Tony O'Hora (ex-Onslaught, Praying Mantis) replaced Brown as lead vocalist in 2003. Ian Gibbons came back for a third stint as fill-in keyboardist in June 2005 for a gig in the Faroe Islands. O'Hora decided to split to take a teaching job in late 2005. Grant then jumped from keyboards to lead vocals and bass as Phil Lanzon returned on keyboards for a tour of Russia and Germany in October/November. New singer Mark Thompson Smith (ex-Praying Mantis) joined in November 2005 for some Swedish gigs, while Jo Burt (ex-Black Sabbath) was temporary bass player. Tony Mills (ex-Shy) was slated to be Sweet's new singer in early 2006 but failed to work out and left after six shows in Denmark. At this point, O'Hora came back as fill in front man and then Grant did another turn himself as the singer/bassist (Steve Mann depped on keyboards) until the group finally landed a new permanent front man when Peter Lincoln (ex-Sailor) arrived in July 2006. The line-up then consisted of Scott, Bisland, Grant and Lincoln.
Scott produced the Suzi Quatro album Back to the Drive, released in February 2006. March 2006 saw the U.S. release of his band's album Sweetlife.
In 2007 the group played in Germany, Belgium, Austria and Italy. In May of that year, the band played in Porto Alegre and Curitiba, Brazil, their first and only South American shows. The tour was called the 'Sweet Fanny Adams Tour'.
The band toured again in March 2008 under the name 'Sweet Fanny Adams Revisited Tour'. In May and June, Scott's Sweet were part of the "Glitz Blitz & 70s Hitz" tour of the UK alongside The Rubettes and Showaddywaddy.
In March and April 2010, Scott was absent from a couple of gigs due to ill health and Martin Mickels stood in. Scott revealed later that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was treated at the Bristol Royal Infirmary. After a course of treatment and rest, he was back to full touring fitness. In 2010 the band played at venues in Europe and back at Bilston in October.
In March 2011 there was a short tour of Australia, Regal Theatre - Perth, and Clipsal 500, Adelaide with the Doobie Brothers. Also in 2011, Tony O'Hora came back to the group, this time as keyboardist, after Grant departed.
In March 2012 the band released a new album New York Connection. Recorded in England, it comprised 11 cover versions, including the 2011 single "Join Together" and one revamped original recording; the 1972 B-side "New York Connection". All the covers either featured 'bits and pieces' of Sweet hits or other artist songs, such as a "new version of the Ramones Blitzkrieg Bop [which] shared space with samples from ‘Ballroom Blitz,’ and a take on Hello’s New York Groove (made famous in the US by Ace Frehley) featured a sample from Jay-Z’s Empire State Of Mind along with other Sweet references."
On the eve of their March 2012 "Join Together" tour of Australia, the band undertook an acoustic performance of three tracks, "New York Groove-Empire State of Mind", "Blockbuster" and "Peppermint Twist", in front of a live audience at ABC Radio Studios in East Perth. Shows in Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Geelong, Melbourne and Sydney featured tracks from the new album for the first time.
Paul Manzi joined Sweet on their 2014 Australian tour, replacing Tony O'Hora who was absent for personal reasons. Manzi played guitar, keyboard and undertook lead vocals on "Set Me Free" and "AC-DC" as the band performed shows in regional centres, including outback Western Australia, Darwin and far-north Queensland, NSW and Victoria during February and March. The band, with O'Hora back in the ranks, returned to Australia in September 2014 as the headlining act for "Rock The Boat 4". This was a cruise aboard the ship Rhapsody of the Seas which departed Sydney and took in New Caledonia and Vanuatu. The band played two gigs and various members guested with Australian veteran performers including Brian Cadd and Russell Morris and members of AC/DC, The Angels, Rose Tattoo and Skyhooks.
In June 2015 it was revealed that the band were going on an extensive tour of the UK in late 2015 and that this tour would probably be their last.
For the 2015 summer tour dates, Paul Manzi returned to sub for Peter Lincoln who left this online message to the fans: "There have been a few rumours going around this weekend, so . . . just to say that I am alive and well! The short explanation for my absence is that I need to rest my voice for a few weeks. We are lucky that our good friend Paul Manzi is able to step in, and Tony knows the role of bass player/singer, so the shows can go ahead, and they will be great! I look forward to being back on stage very soon."
Pete Lincoln duly resumed his role in the band and they continued with extensive live dates, known as the "Finale" tour in Germany.
In 2017 after Andy undertook a successful Australian visit with Suzi Quatro and Don Powell in the side outfit known as QSP, Sweet was again booked for an extensive European tour. In the years following both Tony O'Hora and Pete Lincoln departed the band. Paul Manzi returned as permanent lead vocalist, quitting the popular outfit Cats in Space to do so. Lee Small joined as bassist and backing vocalist. Former guitarist and keyboard player Steve Mann joined for a handful of shows as a special guest. During the COVID-19 pandemic the band recorded a new album of old tracks entitled Isolation Boulevard.
New Sweet, Brian Connolly's Sweet (1984–1997)
In 1984 Brian Connolly formed a new version of the Sweet without any of the other original members. Despite recurring ill health, Connolly toured the UK and Europe with his band, "Brian Connolly's Sweet", which was then renamed to "New Sweet". His most successful concerts were in West Germany, before and after reunification.
During 1987, Connolly met up again with Frank Torpey. Torpey later explained in interviews Connolly was trying to get a German recording deal. The two got on very well and Torpey subsequently invited Connolly to go into the recording studio with him, as an informal project. After much trepidation, Connolly turned up and the track "Sharontina" was recorded. This recording would not be released until 1998, appearing on Frank Torpey's album Sweeter.
By July 1990, plans were made for Connolly and his band to tour Australia in November. During the long flight to Australia, Connolly's health had suffered and he was hospitalised in Adelaide Hospital, allegedly for dehydration and related problems. The rest of the band played a show in Adelaide without him. After being released from the hospital, Connolly joined the other band members in Melbourne for a gig at the Pier Hotel, in Frankston. After several other shows, including one at the Dingley Powerhouse, Connolly and his band played a final date at Melbourne's Greek Theatre. It was felt Connolly's health was sufficient reason for the tour not to be extended, and some of the planned dates were abandoned. Connolly went back to England and his band appeared on The Bob Downe Christmas show on 18 December 1990.
During the early 1990s, Connolly played the European "oldies" circuit and occasional outdoor festivals in Europe with his band. On 22 March 1992, a heavy duty tape recorder was stolen from the band's van whilst at a gig in the Bristol Hippodrome with Mud. It contained demos of four new songs, totalling about 20 mixes.
Legal problems were going on in the background over the use of the Sweet name between Connolly and Andy Scott. Both parties agreed to distinguish their group's names to help promoters and fans. The New Sweet went back to being called Brian Connolly's Sweet and Andy Scott's version became Andy Scott's Sweet.
In 1994, Connolly and his band played in Dubai. He appeared at the Galleria Theatre, Hyatt Regency. He also performed in Bahrain.
By this time Connolly had healed the differences with Steve Priest and Mick Tucker, and was invited to the wedding of Priest's eldest daughter, Lisa. At the private function, for which Priest specially flew back to England, Priest and Connolly performed together.
In 1995, Connolly released a new album entitled Let's Go. His partner Jean, whom he had met a few years earlier, gave birth to a son. Connolly also performed in Switzerland that year.
On 2 November 1996 British TV Network Channel 4 aired a programme Don't Leave Me This Way, which examined Connolly's time as a pop star with the Sweet, the subsequent decline in the band's popularity, and its impact on Connolly and the other band members. The show revealed Connolly's ill health but also that he was continuing with his concert dates at Butlins. Connolly and his band had appeared at Butlins a number of times on tour during the early 1990s.
Connolly's final concert was at the Bristol Hippodrome on 5 December 1996, with Slade II and John Rossall's Glitter Band Experience.
Steve Priest's Sweet (2008–Present)
In January 2008, Steve Priest assembled his own version of the Sweet in Los Angeles. He enlisted a guitarist Stuart Smith and L.A. native Richie Onori, Smith's bandmate in Heaven & Earth, was brought in on drums. The keyboard spot was manned by ex-Crow and World Classic Rockers alumni Stevie Stewart. Front-man and vocalist Joe Retta was brought in to round out the line-up.
After an initial appearance on L.A. rock station 95.5 KLOS's popular Mark & Brian radio programme, the "Are You Ready Steve?" tour kicked off at the Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood on 12 June 2008. The band spent the next several months playing festivals and gigs throughout the U.S. and Canada, including Moondance Jam in Walker, Minnesota; headlining at the Rock N Resort Music Festival in North Lawrence, Ohio (near Canal Fulton); London, Ontario's Rock the Park; another headlining gig at Peterborough's Festival of Lights; the Common Ground Festival in Lansing, Michigan; and a benefit concert for victims of California's wildfires at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California.
In January 2009, the Sweet presented at the concert industry's Pollstar Awards, and also played a short set at the Nokia Theatre where the event was held, marking the first time in the ceremony's history that a band performed at the show. In addition to local gigs at the House of Blues on L.A.'s Sunset Strip and Universal CityWalk, 2009 saw the band return to Canada for sold-out shows at the Mae Wilson Theater and Casino Regina, as well as the Nakusp Music Fest and Rockin' the Fields of Minnedosa in Minnedosa, Manitoba. U.S. festivals have included Minnesota's Halfway Jam, Rockin' the Rivers in Montana (with Pat Travers and Peter Frampton), and two late-summer shows at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
The new band recorded a cover version of the Beatles' "Ticket to Ride", which was included on Cleopatra Records' Abbey Road, a Fab Four tribute CD that was released on 24 March 2009.
A preview of the band's new CD Live in America, which was recorded live at the Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa in Cabazon, California on 30 August 2008, was featured on KLOS's "Front Row" programme on 12 April 2009. The CD, which was first sold at shows and via the band's on-line store, was released worldwide in an exclusive deal with Amazon.com on 21 July 2009. The release has garnered favourable reviews from The Rock n Roll Report, Classic Rock Revisited and Hard Rock Haven, among others.
In April 2010, the band released its first single on iTunes: an updated, hard rock version of the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There." Performances on the 2010 summer tour included the Wildflower! Arts and Music Festival in Richardson, Texas; Las Vegas, Nevada's Fremont Street Experience; Rock N' America in Oklahoma City, OK; Summer Jam in Des Moines, Iowa; Jack FM's Fifth Show at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Los Angeles; an appearance at the Hard Rock Hotel in Biloxi, Mississippi; and the inaugural edition of the Thunder Mountain Rock Festival in Sawyer, North Dakota.
On 11 November 2010, it was announced that in May 2011 "Steve Priest's Sweet" had been booked to perform at a handful of European dates, but the gigs ultimately had to be cancelled in late January 2011 after it was learned that one of the promoters was a suspected swindler wanted by British law enforcement officials. As of February 2011, fans who purchased pre-sale tickets were still in the process of working through the administrative channels with PayPal and various banks and credit card issuers in order to try to reclaim their funds.
The band toured South America along with Journey during March 2011.
The band and their European fans then also got re-united quicker than thought, when the band got booked by a befriended female Belgian promoter. Two east German gigs, 27 and 28 May 2011, so in Borna and in Schwarzenberg Steve Priest's Sweet hit the European grounds. After more than 30 years, Steve Priest got a warm welcome back in Europe.
As of 12 August 2012, Stuart Smith resigned from the guitar post in order to dedicate more time to his "Heaven & Earth" project.
Beginning with the band's October 2012 appearance at the Festival Internacional Chihuahua in Mexico, Los Angeles-based guitarist Ricky Z. teamed up with Steve Priest and company for their live performances. In February 2013, this lineup returned to Casino Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada. Tour dates played in summer 2013 included Riverfest in Watertown, Wisconsin, the St. Clair, MI Riverfest, several additional dates in Canada, and a reprise of their appearances at both Moondance Jam in Walker, MN and Rockin' the Rivers in Three Forks, Montana. The band made some rare appearances on the U.S. east coast in July 2013, including a performance with David Johansen of the New York Dolls at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, New Jersey. Singer Joe Retta was unavailable for these dates due to a scheduling conflict, so Tribe of Gypsies frontman Chas West, who has played with Jason Bonham's band and has experience subbing in such well-known bands as Foreigner, Lynch Mob and Diamond Head, stepped in to man the microphone for a series of shows in New York, New Jersey and Maryland.
On 27 August 2014, Steve Priest announced on the band's Facebook page that guitarist Mitch Perry had been tapped for the guitar slot. Most recently on tour with Lita Ford, Mitch's other credentials included his work with Michael Schenker Group, Asia Featuring John Payne, Edgar Winter, Billy Sheehan and David Lee Roth His first live appearance with Sweet was at the Rock the River festival in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on 23 August 2014.
22 December 2017 saw the launch of the 50th anniversary tour at the Whisky a Go Go on L.A.'s Sunset Strip and the introduction of new singer Paul Zablidowski AKA "Paulie Z" former lead singer and guitarist of ZO2, children's band "The Z Brothers" and star of IFC show Z-Rock. Recently known as the host for local show "Ultimate Jam Night." Z replaced Joe Retta, who had served as the frontman for the Los Angeles incarnation of Sweet since its formation in 2008. Priest died on 4 June 2020.
Brief reunions and the deaths of Brian Connolly, Mick Tucker and Steve Priest
Steve Priest was asked to join Tucker and Scott for the 1985 Australian tour, but declined at the last moment.
Mike Chapman contacted Connolly, Priest, Scott, and Tucker in 1988, offering to finance a recording session in Los Angeles. As he remembers: "I met them at the airport and Andy and Mick came off the plane. I said, 'Where's Brian?' They said, 'Oh, he's coming.' All the people had come off the plane by now. Then this little old man hobbled towards us. He was shaking, and had a ghostly white face. I thought, 'Oh, Jesus Christ.' It was horrifying." Reworked studio versions of "Action" and "The Ballroom Blitz" were recorded, but it became clear that Connolly's voice and physical health had made Sweet's original member comeback too difficult to promote commercially. Consequently, the reunion attempt was aborted.
In 1990 this line-up was again reunited for the promotion of a music documentary entitled Sweet's Ballroom Blitz. This UK video release, which contained UK television performances from the 1970s and current-day interviews, was released at Tower Records, London. Sweet was interviewed by Power Hour, Super Channel, and spoke of a possible reunion.
Brian Connolly died at the age of 51 on 9 February 1997, from liver failure and repeated heart attacks, attributed to his abuse of alcohol in the 1970s and early 1980s. Mick Tucker died on 14 February 2002 from leukemia, at the age of 54. On 4 June 2020 it was announced that Steve Priest had died. It left Andy Scott as the sole living member of Sweet's 'classic lineup'.
Later years
Two versions of The Sweet were active with original members: "Andy Scott's Sweet", who frequently tour across Europe as Sweet and makes occasional sojourns to other markets including regular visits to Australia, and "Steve Priest's Sweet" who toured the US and Canada.
On 28 April 2009, Shout! Factory released a two-disc, career-spanning greatest hits album called Action: The Sweet Anthology. It received a four-star (out of five) rating in Rolling Stone.
In September 2009 Ace Frehley released his version of "Fox on the Run" on his album Anomaly.
In an October 2012 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Axl Rose, lead singer of Guns N' Roses, referenced Sweet as one of his favourite bands growing up along with fellow British band Queen.
In April 2016, the chart topping song (1973), "The Ballroom Blitz" was featured in a trailer for Suicide Squad.
In December 2016, their single "Fox on the Run" (1975) was featured in a trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
In 2019, the songs "Fox on the Run" and "Set Me Free" were featured in an episode of Jamie Johnson.
Personnel
Original band
Classic lineup
Brian Connolly – lead vocals, percussion, synthesizer, acoustic guitar (1968–1978; died 1997)
Steve Priest – bass, backing and lead vocals (1968–1981; died 2020)
Mick Tucker – drums, percussion, backing and lead vocals (1968–1981; died 2002)
Andy Scott – guitars, keyboards, synthesizers, piano, backing and lead vocals (1970–1981)
Early members
Frank Torpey – guitars (1968–1969)
Mick Stewart – guitars (1969–1970)
Touring musicians
Gary Moberley – keyboards, synthesizers, piano (1978–1981)
Nico Ramsden – guitar (1978)
Ray McRiner – guitar (1979)
Andy Scott’s Sweet
Current members
Andy Scott – guitars, keyboards, synthesizers, piano, backing and lead vocals (1985–present)
Bruce Bisland – drums, backing vocals (1992–present)
Paul Manzi – lead vocals (2019–present; substitute appearances in 2014 and 2015)
Lee Small – bass, backing vocals (2019–present)
Former members
Mick Tucker – drums, backing vocals (1985–1991; died 2002)
Paul Mario Day – lead vocals (1985–1989)
Phil Lanzon – keyboards, piano, backing vocals (1985–1989; 2005—2006)
Mal McNulty – bass, lead and backing vocals (1985–1995)
Jeff Brown – bass, lead and backing vocals (1989–2003)
Steve Mann – keyboards, guitars, backing vocals (1989-1996)
Bodo Schopf – drums, backing vocals (1991–1992)
Chad Brown — lead vocals (1995–1998)
Steve Grant — keyboards, piano, backing vocals (1996–2005, 2006–2011); lead vocals, bass (2005–2006)
Tony O’Hora – lead and backing vocals, bass (2003–2005, 2006, 2011–2019), guitars, keyboards (2011–2019)
Peter Lincoln – bass, lead and backing vocals (2006–2019)
Timeline
Discography
Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be (1971)
Sweet Fanny Adams (1974)
Desolation Boulevard (1974)
Give Us a Wink (1976)
Off the Record (1977)
Level Headed (1978)
Cut Above the Rest (1979)
Waters Edge (titled Sweet VI with a different cover in the U.S.) (1980)
Identity Crisis (1982)
Sweetlife (2002) by Andy Scott's Sweet
Isolation Boulevard (2020) by Andy Scott's Sweet
References
Bibliography
(2008 eBook available at )
External links
Channel 4 documentary on The Sweet from 1996
English hard rock musical groups
English glam rock groups
Musical groups established in 1968
Capitol Records artists
Polydor Records artists
RCA Records artists
1968 establishments in the United Kingdom
Musical groups disestablished in 1982
1982 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Musical groups reestablished in 1985
1985 establishments in the United Kingdom | false | [
"Nicola Capellini (born 24 February 1991) is an Italian football midfielder who plays for Cesena.\n\nCareer\nOn 31 August 2012 Capellini left for San Marino Calcio in a temporary deal.\n\nOn 13 June 2013 Capellini was re-signed by A.C. Cesena in a 3-year deal. On 3 January 2014 he was signed by Venezia in another temporary deal.\n\nOn 12 July 2014 he was signed by Forlì in another temporary deal.\n\nOn 16 July 2015 he signed a one-year deal, with option for a 2nd year, with Andria.\n\nIn the summer 2016 he signed for Forlì.\n\nIn July 2019 he signed with Cesena and helped them achieve promotion to Serie C.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n\n1991 births\nLiving people\nItalian footballers\nAssociation football midfielders\nA.C. Cesena players\nVenezia F.C. players\nS.S. Fidelis Andria 1928 players\nSerie B players\nSerie C players\nSerie D players",
"Corporate sponsorship of domestic league of rugby league in England dates back to the 1980s.\n\nHistory\nThe first competition to be sponsored was the Challenge Cup in 1980 when the Rugby Football League (RFL) signed a five-year deal with State Express.\n\nSuper League\n\nThe Super League has been sponsored every year apart from 2013 when it was known as Super League 2013 or Super League XVIII.\n\n1986–1997: Slalom Lager and Stones Bitter\nThe RFL Championship became the first domestic competition to be sponsored in 1980, along with the Challenge Cup sponsorship, signing a deal with Slalom Lager becoming known as the Slalom Lager Championship. In 1986, a new sponsorship deal was signed with Stones Bitter changing the league's name once again to the Stones Bitter Championship. This deal ran until 1997 and the league was named Stones Super League in 1996 when the Super League was founded.\n\n1998–1999: JJB Sports\nJJB Sports signed a two-year deal to sponsor the Super League in 1998. The league became known as the JJB Super League. It was the first Super League season to have a playoff and Grand Final which was also named the JJB Super League Grand Final. JJB also sponsor Wigan Warriors and had the naming rights to their stadium.\n\n2000–2004: Tetley's\nTetley's Bitter became the third sponsor of the Super League after they signed a five-year deal in 2000 to become the Tetley's Super League. Like the JJB deal, Tetley's also had the naming rights to the Super League Playoffs and Grand Final. They also sponsored Leeds Rhinos who went on to win the 2004 Grand Final. Tetley's later went on the sponsor the Challenge Cup in 2013 and 2014.\n\n2005–2011: Engage Mutual Assurance\nIn 2005 the Super League signed its longest deal to date with Engage Mutual Assurance, thus becoming the Engage Super League. The deal lasted six years, and included the naming rights to Super League, playoffs and Grand Final. Engage continued their relationship with rugby league in 2012 by sponsoring the referees.\n\n2012: Stobart\nIn 2012 the Super League signed a unique three-year deal with Stobart Group, with the option to opt out after 12 months. The deal included naming rights thus becoming the Stobart Super League. The Stobart logo did not appear on teams kits or anywhere on the pitch including the post cuisines. No cash was invoked in the deal but Super League players and logo was advertised on 100 Stobart lorries across the country. Super League clubs and players criticised the RFL for turning down a cash deal from a betting company and after the 2012 season the RFL activated to opt out clause in the contract, despite TV audiences rising 45% and match day attendance's reaching record highs. The RFL failed to find a sponsor for 2013.\n\n2014–2016: First Utility\nIn 2014 a three-year deal was signed with utility firm First Utility, the First Utility Super League, thought to be worth around £750,000 a year (£2,250,000 in total), which was around the same amount as the Engage deal between 2005 and 2011. The First Utility sponsorship also included a major redesign of the competitions logo.\n\n2017–2019: Betfred\nBetfred became the first bookmakers to sponsor Super League after a U-turn by the RFL who rejected an offer from Betfair in 2012. The deal is believed to be worth between £850,000 and £900,000 a year with the name becoming the Betfred Super League.\n\nThe Championships\n\nThe Championships were formed in 2003 as the National Leagues and renamed the Championships in 2008. Championship 1 (tier 3) was renamed League 1 in 2015.\n\n2003–2008: LHF Healthplan\nIn 2003 the RFL signed a five-year deal with LHF to sponsor the then National Leagues 1 and 2, the second and third division of British rugby league. The divisions became known as the LHF Healthplan National Leagues.\n\n2009–2012: Cooperative\nAfter the LHF deal expired the National Leagues were renamed the Championship and Championship 1 together being known as the Rugby League Championships. A deal was then negotiated with the Cooperative Group for the naming rights, Cooperative Championships and newly established playoffs and Grand Final.\n\n2013–2016: Kingstone Press\nA new deal was negotiated with Cider company Kingstone Press. The RFL negotiated other deal with Kingstone Press including England sponsorship and secondary Super League sponsors along with the NCL deal.\n\nNational Conference League\n\nThe National Conference League was founded in 1986 and three more divisions were added to it throughout the 90s and 2000s.\n\n1997–2011: Cooperative\nThe Cooperative Group began its long association with rugby leagues lower divisions with the NCL in 1997, signing an 11-year deal for the title sponsorship. The Co-op later sponsored the Championship and League 1.\n\n2012–2017: Kingstone Press\nKingstone Press Cider began their association with rugby league by sponsoring all four divisions of the NCL signing a five-year deal for the naming rights. In 2013 they also sponsored the Championship and League 1 as the Cooperative did during their sponsorship.\n\n2018-2019: Betfred\nIn 2018, Betfred were announced as sponsors of the Championship and League 1 as well as their sponsorship of Super League. They signed a two year deal.\n\nChallenge Cup\n\n1980–1985: State Express\nIn 1980 the RFL signed their first sponsorship deal with cigarette brand State Express 555 for the naming rights of the Challenge Cup. It was the first sponsorship deal in rugby league along with the RFL Championship being sponsored by Slalom Larger the same year.\n\n1985–2001: Silk Cut\nIn 1985 Silk Cut became the last cigarette brand to sponsor a major tournament in rugby. It was also the longest sponsorship deal in rugby league, lasting for 16 years.\n\n2002–2003: Kellogg's\nIn 2002 after the long term Silk Cut deal ended, the RFL were quick to find a new title sponsor for their flagship cup competition. They signed a short term two-year deal with Kellogg's for the naming rights, the cup now becoming the Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Challenge Cup.\n\n2004–2007: Powergen\nIn 2004 the RFL signed a new long term 4-year deal with energy supplier Powergen. Powergen were the title sponsor when the final was played at the new Wembley for the first time and Catalans Dragons became the first French, and non English side, to reach a Challenge Cup Final.\n\n2008–2012: Leeds Metropolitan Carnegie\nIn 2008 Leeds Met Carnegie became the title sponsors of the Challenge Cup, signing a five-year deal for the competition to be known as the Carnegie Challenge Cup.\n\n2013–2014: Tetley's\nLeeds Met Carnegie ended their long association with the Cup in 2012. The RFL were qui to find a new title sponsor and did so with Tetley's Bitter continuing their long term association with rugby league by signing a two-year deal.\n\n2015–2017: Ladbrokes\nLadbrokes became the first betting company to sponsor a rugby league competition after the RFL took a U-turn on betting companies sponsoring major competitions after they turned down a cash deal with Betfair to sponsor the Super League in 2012.\n\nSponsors\nThe first British competition to be sponsored was the Challenge Cup in 1980 and was sponsored by State Express and was then known as the State Express Challenge Cup. The Super League has been sponsored every season since 1996 with the exception of the 2013 season.\n\nSee also\n\nSports sponsorships\nRugby league in England"
] |
[
"Ludwig Mies van der Rohe",
"Early career"
] | C_4312728096574796a6727ac2c366f99e_1 | What did he do first in his career? | 1 | What did Ludwig do first in his career? | Ludwig Mies van der Rohe | Mies was born March 27, 1886 in Aachen, Germany. He worked in his father's stone carving shop and at several local design firms before he moved to Berlin, where he joined the office of interior designer Bruno Paul. He began his architectural career as an apprentice at the studio of Peter Behrens from 1908 to 1912, where he was exposed to the current design theories and to progressive German culture, working alongside Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, who was later also involved in the development of the Bauhaus. Mies served as construction manager of the Embassy of the German Empire in Saint Petersburg under Behrens. His talent was quickly recognized and he soon began independent commissions, despite his lack of a formal college-level education. A physically imposing, deliberative, and reticent man, Ludwig Mies renamed himself as part of his rapid transformation from a tradesman's son to an architect working with Berlin's cultural elite, adding "van der" and his mother's surname "Rohe", using the Dutch "van der", because the German form "von" was a nobiliary particle legally restricted to those of genuine aristocratic lineage. He began his independent professional career designing upper-class homes, joining the movement seeking a return to the purity of early 19th-century Germanic domestic styles. He admired the broad proportions, regularity of rhythmic elements, attention to the relationship of the man-made to nature, and compositions using simple cubic forms of the early nineteenth century Prussian Neo-Classical architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel. He rejected the eclectic and cluttered classical styles so common at the turn of the 20th century as irrelevant to the modern times. CANNOTANSWER | He worked in his father's stone carving shop and at several local design firms | Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd Wright, he is regarded as one of the pioneers of modernist architecture.
In the 1930s, Mies was the last director of the Bauhaus, a ground-breaking school of modern art, design and architecture. After Nazism's rise to power, with its strong opposition to modernism (leading to the closing of the Bauhaus itself), Mies emigrated to the United States. He accepted the position to head the architecture school at what is today the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.
Mies sought to establish his own particular architectural style that could represent modern times just as Classical and Gothic did for their own eras. The style he created made a statement with its extreme clarity and simplicity. His mature buildings made use of modern materials such as industrial steel and plate glass to define interior spaces, as also conducted by other modernist architects in the 1920s and 1930s such as Richard Neutra. Mies strove toward an architecture with a minimal framework of structural order balanced against the implied freedom of unobstructed free-flowing open space. He called his buildings "skin and bones" architecture. He sought an objective approach that would guide the creative process of architectural design, but was always concerned with expressing the spirit of the modern era. He is often associated with his fondness for the aphorisms, "less is more" and "God is in the details".
Early career
Mies was born March 27, 1886, in Aachen, Germany. He worked in his father's stone carving shop and at several local design firms before he moved to Berlin, where he joined the office of interior designer Bruno Paul. He began his architectural career as an apprentice at the studio of Peter Behrens from 1908 to 1912, where he was exposed to the current design theories and to progressive German culture. He worked alongside Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, who was later also involved in the development of the Bauhaus. Mies served as construction manager of the Embassy of the German Empire in Saint Petersburg under Behrens.
Ludwig Mies renamed himself as part of his transformation from a tradesman's son to an architect working with Berlin's cultural elite, adding "van der" and his mother's maiden name "Rohe" (the word mies means "lousy" in German) and using the Dutch "van der", because the German form "von" was a nobiliary particle legally restricted to those of genuine aristocratic lineage. He began his independent professional career designing upper-class homes.
Personal life
In 1913, Mies married Adele Auguste (Ada) Bruhn (1885–1951), the daughter of a wealthy industrialist. The couple separated in 1918, after having three daughters: Dorothea (1914–2008), an actress and dancer who was known as Georgia, Marianne (1915–2003), and Waltraut (1917–1959), who was a research scholar and curator at the Art Institute of Chicago. During his military service in 1917, Mies fathered a son out of wedlock.
In 1925 Mies began a relationship with designer Lilly Reich that ended when he moved to the United States; from 1940 until his death, artist Lora Marx (1900–1989) was his primary companion. Mies carried on a romantic relationship with sculptor and art collector Mary Callery for whom he designed an artist's studio in Huntington, Long Island, New York. He had a brief romantic relationship with Nelly van Doesburg. After having met in Europe many years prior, they met again in New York in 1947 during a dinner with Josep Lluís Sert where he promised her he would help organize an exhibition in Chicago featuring the work of her late husband Theo van Doesburg. This exhibition took place from the 15th of October until the 8th of November 1947, with their romance officially ending not much later. Nevertheless they remained on good terms, spending Easter together in 1948 at a modern farmhouse renovated by Mies on Long Island, as well as meeting several more times that year. He also was rumored to have a brief relationship with Edith Farnsworth, who commissioned his work for the Farnsworth House. His daughter Marianne's son, Dirk Lohan (b. 1938), studied under, and later worked for, Mies.
Traditionalism to Modernism
After World War I, while still designing traditional neoclassical homes, Mies began a parallel experimental effort. He joined his avant-garde peers in the long-running search for a new style that would be suitable for the modern industrial age. The weak points of traditional styles had been under attack by progressive theorists since the mid-nineteenth century, primarily for the contradictions of hiding modern construction technology with a facade of ornamented traditional styles.
The mounting criticism of the historical styles gained substantial cultural credibility after World War I, a disaster widely seen as a failure of the old world order of imperial leadership of Europe. The aristocratic classical revival styles were particularly reviled by many as the architectural symbol of a now-discredited and outmoded social system. Progressive thinkers called for a completely new architectural design process guided by rational problem-solving and an exterior expression of modern materials and structure rather than what they considered the superficial application of classical facades.
While continuing his traditional neoclassical design practice, Mies began to develop visionary projects that, though mostly unbuilt, rocketed him to fame as an architect capable of giving form that was in harmony with the spirit of the emerging modern society. Boldly abandoning ornament altogether, Mies made a dramatic modernist debut in 1921 with his stunning competition proposal for the faceted all-glass Friedrichstraße skyscraper, followed by a taller curved version in 1922 named the Glass Skyscraper.
He constructed his first modernist house with the Villa Wolf in 1926 in Guben (today Gubin, Poland) for Erich and Elisabeth Wolf. This was shortly followed by Haus Lange and Haus Esters in 1928.
He continued with a series of pioneering projects, culminating in his two European masterworks: the temporary German Pavilion for the Barcelona exposition (often called the Barcelona Pavilion) in 1929 (a 1986 reconstruction is now built on the original site) and the elegant Villa Tugendhat in Brno, Czechoslovakia, completed in 1930.
He joined the German avant-garde, working with the progressive design magazine G, which started in July 1923. He developed prominence as architectural director of the Werkbund, organizing the influential Weissenhof Estate prototype modernist housing exhibition. He was also one of the founders of the architectural association Der Ring. He joined the avant-garde Bauhaus design school as their director of architecture, adopting and developing their functionalist application of simple geometric forms in the design of useful objects. He served as its last director.
Like many other avant-garde architects of the day, Mies based his architectural mission and principles on his understanding and interpretation of ideas developed by theorists and critics who pondered the declining relevance of the traditional design styles. He selectively adopted theoretical ideas such as the aesthetic credos of Russian Constructivism with their ideology of "efficient" sculptural assembly of modern industrial materials. Mies found appeal in the use of simple rectilinear and planar forms, clean lines, pure use of color, and the extension of space around and beyond interior walls expounded by the Dutch De Stijl group. In particular, the layering of functional sub-spaces within an overall space and the distinct articulation of parts as expressed by Gerrit Rietveld appealed to Mies.
The design theories of Adolf Loos found resonance with Mies, particularly the ideas of replacing elaborate applied artistic ornament with the straightforward display of innate visual qualities of materials and forms. Loos had proposed that art and crafts should be entirely independent of architecture, that the architect should no longer control those cultural elements as the Beaux Arts principles had dictated. Mies also admired his ideas about the nobility that could be found in the anonymity of modern life.
The bold work of leading American architects was admired by European architects. Like other architects who viewed the drawings in Frank Lloyd Wright's Wasmuth Portfolio, Mies was enthralled with the free-flowing spaces of inter-connected rooms that encompass their outdoor surroundings, as demonstrated by the open floor plans of the Wright's American Prairie Style. American engineering structures were also held up as exemplary of the beauty possible in functional construction, and American skyscrapers were greatly admired.
Emigration to the United States
Commission opportunities dwindled with the Great Depression after 1929. Starting in 1930, Mies served as the last director of the faltering Bauhaus, at the request of his colleague and competitor Walter Gropius. In 1932, Nazi political pressure forced the state-supported school to leave its campus in Dessau, and Mies moved it to an abandoned telephone factory in Berlin. By 1933, however, the continued operation of the school was untenable (it was raided by the Gestapo in April), and in July of that year, Mies and the faculty voted to close the Bauhaus. He built very little in these years (one built commission was Philip Johnson's New York apartment); the Nazis rejected his style as not "German" in character.
Frustrated and unhappy, he left his homeland reluctantly in 1937 as he saw his opportunity for any future building commissions vanish, accepting a residential commission in Wyoming and then an offer to head the department of architecture of the newly established Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chicago. There he introduced a new kind of education and attitude later known as Second Chicago School, which became very influential in the following decades in North America and Europe.
Career in the United States
Mies settled in Chicago, Illinois, where he was appointed head of the architecture school at Chicago's Armour Institute of Technology (later renamed Illinois Institute of Technology). One of the benefits of taking this position was that he would be commissioned to design the new buildings and master plan for the campus. All his buildings still stand there, including Alumni Hall, the chapel, and his masterpiece the S.R. Crown Hall, built as the home of IIT's School of Architecture. Crown Hall is widely regarded as Mies' finest work, the definition of Miesian architecture.
In 1944, he became an American citizen, completing his severance from his native Germany. His thirty years as an American architect reflect a more structural, pure approach toward achieving his goal of a new architecture for the twentieth century. He focused his efforts on enclosing open and adaptable "universal" spaces with clearly arranged structural frameworks, featuring prefabricated steel shapes filled in with large sheets of glass.
His early projects at the IIT campus, and for developer Herbert Greenwald, presented to Americans a style that seemed a natural progression of the almost forgotten nineteenth century Chicago School style. His architecture, with origins in the German Bauhaus and western European International Style, became an accepted mode of building for American cultural and educational institutions, developers, public agencies, and large corporations.
American work
Mies worked from his studio in downtown Chicago for his entire 31-year period in America. His significant projects in the U.S. include in Chicago and the area: the residential towers of 860–880 Lake Shore Dr, the Chicago Federal Center complex, the Farnsworth House, Crown Hall and other structures at IIT; and the Seagram Building in New York. These iconic works became the prototypes for his other projects. He also built homes for wealthy clients.
Chicago Federal Complex
Chicago Federal Center Plaza, also known as Chicago Federal Plaza, unified three buildings of varying scales: the mid-rise Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse, the high-rise John C. Kluczynski Building, and the single-story Post Office building. The complex's plot area extends over two blocks; a one-block site, bounded by Jackson, Clark, Adams, and Dearborn streets, contains the Kluczynski Federal Building and U.S. Post Office Loop Station, while a parcel on an adjacent block to the east contains the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse. The structural framing of the buildings is formed of high-tensile bolted steel and concrete. The exterior curtain walls are defined by projecting steel I-beam mullions covered with flat black graphite paint, characteristic of Mies's designs. The balance of the curtain walls are of bronze-tinted glass panes, framed in shiny aluminum, and separated by steel spandrels, also covered with flat black graphite paint. The entire complex is organized on a 28-foot grid pattern subdivided into six 4-foot, 8-inch modules. This pattern extends from the granite-paved plaza into the ground-floor lobbies of the two tower buildings with the grid lines continuing vertically up the buildings and integrating each component of the complex. Associated architects that have played a role in the complex's long history from 1959 to 1974 include Schmidt, Garden & Erickson; C.F. Murphy Associates; and A. Epstein & Sons.
Farnsworth House
Between 1946 and 1951, Mies van der Rohe designed and built the Farnsworth House, a weekend retreat outside Chicago for an independent professional woman, Dr. Edith Farnsworth. Here, Mies explored the relationship between people, shelter, and nature. The glass pavilion is raised six feet above a floodplain next to the Fox River, surrounded by forest and rural prairies.
The highly crafted pristine white structural frame and all-glass walls define a simple rectilinear interior space, allowing nature and light to envelop the interior space. A wood-paneled fireplace (also housing mechanical equipment, kitchen, and toilets) is positioned within the open space to suggest living, dining and sleeping spaces without using walls. No partitions touch the surrounding all-glass enclosure. Without solid exterior walls, full-height draperies on a perimeter track allow freedom to provide full or partial privacy when and where desired. The house has been described as sublime, a temple hovering between heaven and earth, a poem, a work of art.
The Farnsworth House and its wooded site was purchased at auction for US$7.5 million by preservation groups in 2004 and is now owned and operated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as a public museum. The building influenced the creation of hundreds of modernist glass houses, most notably the Glass House by Philip Johnson, located near New York City and also now owned by the National Trust.
The house is an embodiment of Mies' mature vision of modern architecture for the new technological age: a single unencumbered space within a minimal "skin and bones" framework, a clearly understandable arrangement of architectural parts. His ideas are stated with clarity and simplicity, using materials that are configured to express their own individual character.
The Promontory – Lake Shore Drive
The Promontory Apartments is a 22-story skyscraper in Hyde Park, Chicago, Illinois, that overlooks Promontory Point in Burnham Park and its Lake Michigan beaches. It is the first residential skyscraper Mies designed and the first of his buildings to feature concepts such as an exposed skeleton. An active community cooperative, the building which is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, has 122 units. Its building was initiated by developer Herbert Greenwald for wealthier occupants. Mies employed a Double T design with the horizontal cross-bars joined; the stems of the T's form wings to the rear. Each T is its own building with separate addresses, elevators, and interior stairways. This tripartite design would feature prominently in future Mies designs. Starting with the third story, each floor of each T has three apartments that share an elevator lobby. A solarium and party room on the roof provides excellent views of the park and beaches to the east, and the University of Chicago to the west.
860–880 Lake Shore Drive
Mies designed a series of four middle-income high-rise apartment buildings for developer Herbert Greenwald: the 860–880 (which was built between 1949 and 1951) and 900–910 Lake Shore Drive towers on Chicago's Lakefront. These towers, with façades of steel and glass, were radical departures from the typical residential brick apartment buildings of the time. Mies found their unit sizes too small for him, choosing instead to continue living in a spacious traditional luxury apartment a few blocks away. The towers were simple rectangular boxes with a non-hierarchical wall enclosure, raised on stilts above a glass-enclosed lobby.
The lobby is set back from the perimeter columns, which were exposed around the perimeter of the building above, creating a modern arcade not unlike those of the Greek temples. This configuration created a feeling of light, openness, and freedom of movement at the ground level that became the prototype for countless new towers designed both by Mies's office and his followers. Some historians argue that this new approach is an expression of the American spirit and the boundless open space of the frontier, which German culture so admired.
Once Mies had established his basic design concept for the general form and details of his tower buildings, he applied those solutions (with evolving refinements) to his later high-rise building projects. The architecture of his towers appears similar, but each project represents new ideas about the formation of highly sophisticated urban space at ground level. He delighted in the composition of multiple towers arranged in a seemingly casual non-hierarchical relation to each other.
Just as with his interiors, he created free flowing spaces and flat surfaces that represented the idea of an oasis of uncluttered clarity and calm within the chaos of the city. He included nature by leaving openings in the pavement, through which plants seem to grow unfettered by urbanization, just as in the pre-settlement environment.
Seagram Building
Although now acclaimed and widely influential as an urban design feature, Mies had to convince Bronfman's bankers that a taller tower with significant "unused" open space at ground level would enhance the presence and prestige of the building. Mies' design included a bronze curtain wall with external H-shaped mullions that were exaggerated in depth beyond what was structurally necessary. Detractors criticized it as having committed Adolf Loos's "crime of ornamentation". Philip Johnson had a role in interior materials selections, and he designed the sumptuous Four Seasons Restaurant. The Seagram Building is said to be an early example of the innovative "fast-track" construction process, where design documentation and construction are done concurrently.
During 1951–1952, Mies' designed the steel, glass, and brick McCormick House, located in Elmhurst, Illinois (15 miles west of the Chicago Loop), for real-estate developer Robert Hall McCormick, Jr. A one-story adaptation of the exterior curtain wall of his famous 860–880 Lake Shore Drive towers, it served as a prototype for an unbuilt series of speculative houses to be constructed in Melrose Park, Illinois. The house has been moved and reconfigured as a part of the public Elmhurst Art Museum. He also built a residence for John M. van Beuren on a family estate near Morristown, New Jersey.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Mies designed two buildings for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) as additions to the Caroline Wiess Law Building. In 1953, the MFAH commissioned Mies van der Rohe to create a master plan for the institution. He designed two additions to the building—Cullinan Hall, completed in 1958, and the Brown Pavilion, completed in 1974. A renowned example of the International Style, these portions of the Caroline Wiess Law Building comprise one of only two Mies-designed museums in the world.
Two buildings in Baltimore, MD
The One Charles Center, built in 1962, is a 23-story aluminum and glass building that heralded the beginning of Baltimore's downtown modern buildings. The Highfield House, just to the northeast of the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus, was built in 1964 as a rental apartment building. The 15-story concrete tower became a residential condominium building in 1979. Both buildings are now on the National Register of Historic Places.
National Gallery, Berlin
Mies's last work was the Neue Nationalgalerie art museum, the New National Gallery for the Berlin National Gallery. Considered one of the most perfect statements of his architectural approach, the upper pavilion is a precise composition of monumental steel columns and a cantilevered (overhanging) roof plane with a glass enclosure. The simple square glass pavilion is a powerful expression of his ideas about flexible interior space, defined by transparent walls and supported by an external structural frame. Art installations by Ulrich Rückriem (1998) or Jenny Holzer, as much as exhibitions on the work of Renzo Piano or Rem Koolhaas have demonstrated the exceptional possibilities of this space.
The glass pavilion is a relatively small portion of the overall building, serving as a symbolic architectural entry point and monumental gallery for temporary exhibits. A large podium building below the pavilion accommodates most of the museum's total built area with conventional white-walled art gallery spaces and support functions. A large window running along all the West facade opens these spaces up to the large sculpture garden which is part of the podium building.
Mies Building at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN
In 1952, a fraternity commissioned Mies to design a building on the Indiana University campus in Bloomington, Indiana. The plan was not realized during his lifetime, but the design was rediscovered in 2013, and in 2019 the university's Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design announced they would be constructing it with blessing of his grandchildren. The building is scheduled to open in September 2021.
Furniture
Mies, often in collaboration with Lilly Reich, designed modern furniture pieces using new industrial technologies that have become popular classics, such as the Barcelona chair and table, the Brno chair, and the Tugendhat chair. His furniture is known for fine craftsmanship, a mix of traditional luxurious fabrics like leather combined with modern chrome frames, and a distinct separation of the supporting structure and the supported surfaces, often employing cantilevers to enhance the feeling of lightness created by delicate structural frames.
Educator
Mies served as the last director of Berlin's Bauhaus, and then headed the department of architecture, Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, where he developed the Second Chicago School. He played a significant role as an educator, believing his architectural language could be learned, then applied to design any type of modern building. He set up a new education at the department of architecture of the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago replacing the traditional Ecole des Beaux-Art curriculum by a three-step-education beginning with crafts of drawing and construction leading to planning skills and finishing with theory of architecture (compare Vitruvius: firmitas, utilitas, venustas). He worked personally and intensively on prototype solutions, and then allowed his students, both in school and his office, to develop derivative solutions for specific projects under his guidance.
Some of Mies' curriculum is still put in practice in the first and second year programs at IIT, including the precise drafting of brick construction details so unpopular with aspiring student architects. When none was able to match the quality of his own work, he agonized about where his educational method had gone wrong. Nevertheless, his achievements in creating a teachable architecture language that can be used to express the modern technological era survives until today.
Mies placed great importance on education of architects who could carry on his design principles. He devoted a great deal of time and effort leading the architecture program at IIT. Mies served on the initial Advisory Board of the Graham Foundation in Chicago. His own practice was based on intensive personal involvement in design efforts to create prototype solutions for building types (860 Lake Shore Drive, the Farnsworth House, Seagram Building, S. R. Crown Hall, The New National Gallery), then allowing his studio designers to develop derivative buildings under his supervision.
In 1961, a program at Columbia University's School of Architecture celebrated the four great founders of contemporary architecture: Charles-Edouard Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright. It included addresses by Le Corbusier and Gropius as well as an interview with Mies van der Rohe. Discussion focused upon philosophies of design, aspects of their various architectural projects, and the juncture of architecture and city planning.
Mies's grandson Dirk Lohan and two partners led the firm after he died in 1969. Lohan, who had collaborated with Mies on the New National Gallery, continued with existing projects but soon led the firm on his own independent path. Other disciples continued Mies's architectural language for years, notably Gene Summers, David Haid, Myron Goldsmith, Y.C. Wong, Jacques Brownson, and other architects at the firms of C.F. Murphy and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
But while Mies' work had enormous influence and critical recognition, his approach failed to sustain a creative force as a style after his death and was eclipsed by the new wave of Post Modernism by the 1980s. Proponents of the Post Modern style attacked the Modernism with clever statements such as "less is a bore" and with captivating images such as Crown Hall sinking in Lake Michigan. Mies had hoped his architecture would serve as a universal model that could be easily imitated, but the aesthetic power of his best buildings proved impossible to match, instead resulting mostly in drab and uninspired structures rejected by the general public. The failure of his followers to meet his high standard may have contributed to demise of Modernism and the rise of new competing design theories following his death.
Later years and death
Over the last twenty years of his life, Mies developed and built his vision of a monumental "skin and bones" architecture that reflected his goal to provide the individual a place to fulfill himself in the modern era. Mies sought to create free and open spaces, enclosed within a structural order with minimal presence. In 1963, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Mies van der Rohe died on August 17, 1969, from esophageal cancer caused by his smoking habit. After cremation, his ashes were buried near Chicago's other famous architects in Chicago's Graceland Cemetery. His grave is marked by an intentionally unadorned, clean-line black slab of polished granite and a large honey locust tree.
Archives
The Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Archive, an administratively independent section of the Museum of Modern Art's department of architecture and design, was established in 1968 by the museum's trustees. It was founded in response to the architect's desire to bequeath his entire work to the museum. The archive consists of about nineteen thousand drawings and prints, one thousand of which are by the designer and architect Lilly Reich (1885–1947), Mies van der Rohe's close collaborator from 1927 to 1937; of written documents (primarily, the business correspondence) covering nearly the entire career of the architect; of photographs of buildings, models, and furniture; and of audiotapes, books, and periodicals.
Archival materials are also held by the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries at the Art Institute of Chicago. The Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Collection, 1929–1969 (bulk 1948–1960) includes correspondence, articles, and materials related to his association with the Illinois Institute of Technology. The Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Metropolitan Structures Collection, 1961–1969, includes scrapbooks and photographs documenting Chicago projects.
Other archives are held at the University of Illinois at Chicago (personal book collection), the Canadian Centre for Architecture (drawings and photos) in Montreal, the Newberry Library in Chicago (personal correspondence), and at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. (professional correspondence).
Gallery
List of works
Early career in Europe (1907–1938)
1908 Riehl House – Residential home, Potsdam, Germany
1911 Perls House – Residential home, Zehlendorf
1913 Werner House – Residential home, Zehlendorf
1917 Urbig House – Residential home, Potsdam
1922 Kempner House – Residential home, Charlottenburg
1922 Eichstaedt House – Residential home, Wannsee
1922 Feldmann House – Residential home, Wilmersdorf
1923 Ryder House – Residential home, Wiesbaden
1925 Villa Wolf – Residential home, Guben
1926 Mosler House – Residential home, Babelsberg
1926 – Monument dedicated to Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde, Berlin
1927 Afrikanische Straße Apartments – Multi-Family Residential, Berlin, Germany
1927 Weissenhof Estate – Housing Exhibition coordinated by Mies and with a contribution by him, Stuttgart
1928 Haus Lange and Haus Esters – Residential home and an art museum, Krefeld
1929 Barcelona Pavilion – World's Fair Pavilion, Barcelona, Spain
1930 Villa Tugendhat – Residential home, Brno, Czechia, designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2001
1930 Verseidag Factory – Dyeing and HE Silk Mill building Krefeld, Germany
1932 Lemke House – Residential home, Weissensee
Buildings after emigration to the United States (1939–1960)
1939–1958 – Illinois Institute of Technology Campus Master Plan, academic campus & buildings, Chicago, Illinois
1949 The Promontory Apartments – Residential apartment complex, Chicago, Illinois
1951 Sheridan-Oakdale Apartments (2933 N Sheridan Rd ) – Residential apartment complex, Chicago, Illinois
1951 Lake Shore Drive Apartments – Residential apartment towers, Chicago
1951 Algonquin Apartments – Residential apartments, Chicago, Illinois
1951 Farnsworth House – Vacation home, Plano, Illinois
1952 Arts Club of Chicago Interior Renovation – Art gallery, demolished in 1997, Chicago, Illinois
1952 Robert H. McCormick House – Residential home, relocated to the Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, Illinois
1954 Cullinan Hall – Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
1956 Crown Hall, Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture – Academic building, Chicago, Illinois
1956 900-910 North Lake Shore (Esplanade Apartments) – Residential apartment complex, Chicago, Illinois
1957 Commonwealth Promenade Apartments (330–330 W Diversey Parkway) – Residential apartment complex, Chicago (1957)
1958 Seagram Building – Office tower, New York City, New York
1958 Caroline Wiess Law Building, Museum of Fine Art, Houston
1959 Home Federal Savings and Loan Association Building – Office building, Des Moines, Iowa
1959 Lafayette Park – Residential development, Detroit, Michigan.
1960 Pavilion and Colonnade Apartments– Residential complex, Newark, New Jersey
Late career Worldwide (1961–69)
1961 Bacardi Office Building – Office Building, Mexico City
1962 Tourelle-Sur-Rive – Residential apartment complex of three towers, Nuns' Island, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
1962 Home Federal Savings and Loan Association of Des Moines Building – Office Building, Des Moines, Iowa
1962 One Charles Center – Office Tower, Baltimore, Maryland
1963 2400 North Lakeview Apartments – Residential Apartment Complex, Chicago, Illinois
1963 Morris Greenwald House – Vacation Home, Weston, Connecticut
1964 Chicago Federal Center – Civic Complex, Chicago, Illinois
1960–1964 Dirksen Federal Building – Office Tower, Chicago
Kluczynski Federal Building – Office Tower, Chicago
United States Post Office Loop Station – General Post Office, Chicago
1964 Highfield House, 4000 North Charles – Originally Rental Apartments, and now Condominium Apartments, Baltimore, Maryland
1965 University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration – Academic Building Chicago, Illinois
1965 Richard King Mellon Hall – Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA
1965 Meredith Hall – School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Drake University, Des Moines, IA
1967 Westmount Square – Office & Residential Tower Complex, Westmount, Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada
1968 Neue Nationalgalerie – Modern Art Museum, Berlin, Germany
1965–1968 Brown Pavilion, Museum of Fine Art, Houston
1967–1969 Toronto-Dominion Centre – Office Tower Complex, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
1969 Filling station – Nuns' Island, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (closed)
1970 One Illinois Center – Office Tower, Chicago, Illinois (completed post-mortem)
1972 Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library – District of Columbia Public Library, Washington, D.C. (completed post-mortem)
1973 American Life Building – Louisville, Kentucky (completed after Mies's death by Bruno Conterato)
1973 IBM Plaza – Office Tower, Chicago (completed post-mortem)
Buildings on the Illinois Institute of Technology Campus (1939–1958)
1943 Minerals & Metals Research Building – Research
1945 Engineering Research Building – Research
1946 Alumni Memorial Hall – Classroom
1946 Wishnick Hall – Classroom
1946 Perlstein Hall – Classroom
1950 I.I.T. Boiler Plant – Academic
1950 Institute of Gas Technology Building – Research
1950 American Association of Railroads Administration Building (now the College of Music Building) – Administration
1952 Mechanical Engineering Research Building I – Research
1952 Carr Memorial Chapel – Religious
1953 American Association of Railroads Mechanical Engineering Building – Research
1953 Carman Hall at IIT – Dormitory
1955 Cunningham Hall – Dormitory
1955 Bailey Hall – Dormitory
1955 I.I.T. Commons Building
1956 Crown Hall – Academic, College of Architecture
1957 Physics & Electrical Engineering Research Building – Research
1957 Siegel Hall – Classroom
1953 American Association of Railroads Laboratory Building – Research
1958 Metals Technology Building Extension – Research
See also
Online Architecture – lets the construction purpose of building online
International style (architecture)
References
Further reading
Lamster, Mark (2018). "The man in the Glass House: Philip Johnson, Architect of the Modern Century" (hardcover,528 pages) Little, Brown & Co. English; ;
Rovira, Josep M; Casais, Lluis (2002). Mies van der Rohe Pavilion: Reflections,71 pages. Publisher:Triangle Postal.
External links
Mies van der Rohe Society
Mies van der Rohe Foundation
Mies in Berlin-Mies in America
Great Buildings Architects
Mies van der Rohe Spotlight – ArchDaily
Elmhurst Art Museum, featuring McCormick House
Richard King Mellon Hall, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA
Mies, IIT, and the Second Chicago School
Mies in America exhibition
Travel guide to Mies Buildings
Construction underway to transform famed Nuns’ Island gas station
Mies' Lafayette Park in Detroit
Mies in IR
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe architectural and furniture drawings, 1946–1961, held by the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University
Finding aid for the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and his students collection , Canadian Centre for Architecture
Functionalist architects
1886 births
1969 deaths
19th-century Prussian people
20th-century American architects
Bauhaus teachers
Burials at Graceland Cemetery (Chicago)
20th-century German architects
German emigrants to the United States
German furniture designers
Illinois Institute of Technology faculty
Architecture educators
International style architects
Modernist architects from Germany
People from Aachen
Artists from Chicago
People from the Rhine Province
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)
Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Fellows of the American Institute of Architects
Recipients of the AIA Gold Medal | true | [
"Maurice Richlin (February 23, 1920 – November 13, 1990) was an American screenwriter. He received two Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay nominations for Pillow Talk and Operation Petticoat in the same year. For the first of which he won along with Russell Rouse, Stanley Shapiro and Clarence Greene.\n\nHe co-wrote the original treatment, story and screenplay, The Pink Panther.\n\nHe wrote All in a Night's Work, Come September, Soldier in the Rain, For Pete's Sake.\n\nHe wrote the story for What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?.\n\nHe had an extensive career writing in radio and later, television, before his film career.\n\nHis son is the famous artist Lance Richlin.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n\n1920 births\n1990 deaths\nBest Original Screenplay Academy Award winners\nAmerican male screenwriters\n20th-century American male writers\n20th-century American screenwriters",
"\"Do What You Do\" is a song by American R&B singer Jermaine Jackson, sibling of singers Michael and Janet Jackson and former member of The Jackson 5. It was released as the second single from his 1984 album, entitled Jermaine Jackson in the United States but marketed as Dynamite in the United Kingdom and other countries.\n\nThis was one of Jermaine's first releases with Arista Records after a long recording career with Motown Records, first as a member of The Jackson 5, then later as a solo artist. Although Jermaine Jackson never achieved the same level of solo success as sister Janet or brother Michael, \"Do What You Do\" was one of six top 20 solo hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the singer. The song peaked at No. 13 on the Hot 100, No. 14 on the Billboard R&B chart, and spent three weeks atop the Billboard adult contemporary chart. In Canada it peaked on the RPM Top Singles chart at No. 29. The song was one of Jackson's biggest hits in the UK, where it reached No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart.\n\nIn the ballad, Jackson is requesting that his lover continue with certain enjoyable events they have both experienced in the past: Why don't you do what you do / when you did what you did to me?\n\nSamples and covers\nThe song was sampled by Lil Wayne for \"How Could Something\" and by Chamillionaire for \"Void In My Life\".\n\nMusic video\nThe music video was an imitation of The Godfather and supermodel Iman played Jackson's love interest who eventually betrays him by trying to shoot him. After his henchmen take her away, it is not revealed what happened to her.\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nCertifications\n\nSee also\n List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1984 (U.S.)\n\nReferences\n\n1984 singles\nJermaine Jackson songs\nMusic videos directed by Bob Giraldi\nContemporary R&B ballads\n1984 songs\n1980s ballads"
] |
[
"Ludwig Mies van der Rohe",
"Early career",
"What did he do first in his career?",
"He worked in his father's stone carving shop and at several local design firms"
] | C_4312728096574796a6727ac2c366f99e_1 | What design firms did he work for? | 2 | What design firms did Ludwig work for? | Ludwig Mies van der Rohe | Mies was born March 27, 1886 in Aachen, Germany. He worked in his father's stone carving shop and at several local design firms before he moved to Berlin, where he joined the office of interior designer Bruno Paul. He began his architectural career as an apprentice at the studio of Peter Behrens from 1908 to 1912, where he was exposed to the current design theories and to progressive German culture, working alongside Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, who was later also involved in the development of the Bauhaus. Mies served as construction manager of the Embassy of the German Empire in Saint Petersburg under Behrens. His talent was quickly recognized and he soon began independent commissions, despite his lack of a formal college-level education. A physically imposing, deliberative, and reticent man, Ludwig Mies renamed himself as part of his rapid transformation from a tradesman's son to an architect working with Berlin's cultural elite, adding "van der" and his mother's surname "Rohe", using the Dutch "van der", because the German form "von" was a nobiliary particle legally restricted to those of genuine aristocratic lineage. He began his independent professional career designing upper-class homes, joining the movement seeking a return to the purity of early 19th-century Germanic domestic styles. He admired the broad proportions, regularity of rhythmic elements, attention to the relationship of the man-made to nature, and compositions using simple cubic forms of the early nineteenth century Prussian Neo-Classical architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel. He rejected the eclectic and cluttered classical styles so common at the turn of the 20th century as irrelevant to the modern times. CANNOTANSWER | He began his architectural career as an apprentice at the studio of Peter Behrens from 1908 to 1912, | Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd Wright, he is regarded as one of the pioneers of modernist architecture.
In the 1930s, Mies was the last director of the Bauhaus, a ground-breaking school of modern art, design and architecture. After Nazism's rise to power, with its strong opposition to modernism (leading to the closing of the Bauhaus itself), Mies emigrated to the United States. He accepted the position to head the architecture school at what is today the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.
Mies sought to establish his own particular architectural style that could represent modern times just as Classical and Gothic did for their own eras. The style he created made a statement with its extreme clarity and simplicity. His mature buildings made use of modern materials such as industrial steel and plate glass to define interior spaces, as also conducted by other modernist architects in the 1920s and 1930s such as Richard Neutra. Mies strove toward an architecture with a minimal framework of structural order balanced against the implied freedom of unobstructed free-flowing open space. He called his buildings "skin and bones" architecture. He sought an objective approach that would guide the creative process of architectural design, but was always concerned with expressing the spirit of the modern era. He is often associated with his fondness for the aphorisms, "less is more" and "God is in the details".
Early career
Mies was born March 27, 1886, in Aachen, Germany. He worked in his father's stone carving shop and at several local design firms before he moved to Berlin, where he joined the office of interior designer Bruno Paul. He began his architectural career as an apprentice at the studio of Peter Behrens from 1908 to 1912, where he was exposed to the current design theories and to progressive German culture. He worked alongside Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, who was later also involved in the development of the Bauhaus. Mies served as construction manager of the Embassy of the German Empire in Saint Petersburg under Behrens.
Ludwig Mies renamed himself as part of his transformation from a tradesman's son to an architect working with Berlin's cultural elite, adding "van der" and his mother's maiden name "Rohe" (the word mies means "lousy" in German) and using the Dutch "van der", because the German form "von" was a nobiliary particle legally restricted to those of genuine aristocratic lineage. He began his independent professional career designing upper-class homes.
Personal life
In 1913, Mies married Adele Auguste (Ada) Bruhn (1885–1951), the daughter of a wealthy industrialist. The couple separated in 1918, after having three daughters: Dorothea (1914–2008), an actress and dancer who was known as Georgia, Marianne (1915–2003), and Waltraut (1917–1959), who was a research scholar and curator at the Art Institute of Chicago. During his military service in 1917, Mies fathered a son out of wedlock.
In 1925 Mies began a relationship with designer Lilly Reich that ended when he moved to the United States; from 1940 until his death, artist Lora Marx (1900–1989) was his primary companion. Mies carried on a romantic relationship with sculptor and art collector Mary Callery for whom he designed an artist's studio in Huntington, Long Island, New York. He had a brief romantic relationship with Nelly van Doesburg. After having met in Europe many years prior, they met again in New York in 1947 during a dinner with Josep Lluís Sert where he promised her he would help organize an exhibition in Chicago featuring the work of her late husband Theo van Doesburg. This exhibition took place from the 15th of October until the 8th of November 1947, with their romance officially ending not much later. Nevertheless they remained on good terms, spending Easter together in 1948 at a modern farmhouse renovated by Mies on Long Island, as well as meeting several more times that year. He also was rumored to have a brief relationship with Edith Farnsworth, who commissioned his work for the Farnsworth House. His daughter Marianne's son, Dirk Lohan (b. 1938), studied under, and later worked for, Mies.
Traditionalism to Modernism
After World War I, while still designing traditional neoclassical homes, Mies began a parallel experimental effort. He joined his avant-garde peers in the long-running search for a new style that would be suitable for the modern industrial age. The weak points of traditional styles had been under attack by progressive theorists since the mid-nineteenth century, primarily for the contradictions of hiding modern construction technology with a facade of ornamented traditional styles.
The mounting criticism of the historical styles gained substantial cultural credibility after World War I, a disaster widely seen as a failure of the old world order of imperial leadership of Europe. The aristocratic classical revival styles were particularly reviled by many as the architectural symbol of a now-discredited and outmoded social system. Progressive thinkers called for a completely new architectural design process guided by rational problem-solving and an exterior expression of modern materials and structure rather than what they considered the superficial application of classical facades.
While continuing his traditional neoclassical design practice, Mies began to develop visionary projects that, though mostly unbuilt, rocketed him to fame as an architect capable of giving form that was in harmony with the spirit of the emerging modern society. Boldly abandoning ornament altogether, Mies made a dramatic modernist debut in 1921 with his stunning competition proposal for the faceted all-glass Friedrichstraße skyscraper, followed by a taller curved version in 1922 named the Glass Skyscraper.
He constructed his first modernist house with the Villa Wolf in 1926 in Guben (today Gubin, Poland) for Erich and Elisabeth Wolf. This was shortly followed by Haus Lange and Haus Esters in 1928.
He continued with a series of pioneering projects, culminating in his two European masterworks: the temporary German Pavilion for the Barcelona exposition (often called the Barcelona Pavilion) in 1929 (a 1986 reconstruction is now built on the original site) and the elegant Villa Tugendhat in Brno, Czechoslovakia, completed in 1930.
He joined the German avant-garde, working with the progressive design magazine G, which started in July 1923. He developed prominence as architectural director of the Werkbund, organizing the influential Weissenhof Estate prototype modernist housing exhibition. He was also one of the founders of the architectural association Der Ring. He joined the avant-garde Bauhaus design school as their director of architecture, adopting and developing their functionalist application of simple geometric forms in the design of useful objects. He served as its last director.
Like many other avant-garde architects of the day, Mies based his architectural mission and principles on his understanding and interpretation of ideas developed by theorists and critics who pondered the declining relevance of the traditional design styles. He selectively adopted theoretical ideas such as the aesthetic credos of Russian Constructivism with their ideology of "efficient" sculptural assembly of modern industrial materials. Mies found appeal in the use of simple rectilinear and planar forms, clean lines, pure use of color, and the extension of space around and beyond interior walls expounded by the Dutch De Stijl group. In particular, the layering of functional sub-spaces within an overall space and the distinct articulation of parts as expressed by Gerrit Rietveld appealed to Mies.
The design theories of Adolf Loos found resonance with Mies, particularly the ideas of replacing elaborate applied artistic ornament with the straightforward display of innate visual qualities of materials and forms. Loos had proposed that art and crafts should be entirely independent of architecture, that the architect should no longer control those cultural elements as the Beaux Arts principles had dictated. Mies also admired his ideas about the nobility that could be found in the anonymity of modern life.
The bold work of leading American architects was admired by European architects. Like other architects who viewed the drawings in Frank Lloyd Wright's Wasmuth Portfolio, Mies was enthralled with the free-flowing spaces of inter-connected rooms that encompass their outdoor surroundings, as demonstrated by the open floor plans of the Wright's American Prairie Style. American engineering structures were also held up as exemplary of the beauty possible in functional construction, and American skyscrapers were greatly admired.
Emigration to the United States
Commission opportunities dwindled with the Great Depression after 1929. Starting in 1930, Mies served as the last director of the faltering Bauhaus, at the request of his colleague and competitor Walter Gropius. In 1932, Nazi political pressure forced the state-supported school to leave its campus in Dessau, and Mies moved it to an abandoned telephone factory in Berlin. By 1933, however, the continued operation of the school was untenable (it was raided by the Gestapo in April), and in July of that year, Mies and the faculty voted to close the Bauhaus. He built very little in these years (one built commission was Philip Johnson's New York apartment); the Nazis rejected his style as not "German" in character.
Frustrated and unhappy, he left his homeland reluctantly in 1937 as he saw his opportunity for any future building commissions vanish, accepting a residential commission in Wyoming and then an offer to head the department of architecture of the newly established Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chicago. There he introduced a new kind of education and attitude later known as Second Chicago School, which became very influential in the following decades in North America and Europe.
Career in the United States
Mies settled in Chicago, Illinois, where he was appointed head of the architecture school at Chicago's Armour Institute of Technology (later renamed Illinois Institute of Technology). One of the benefits of taking this position was that he would be commissioned to design the new buildings and master plan for the campus. All his buildings still stand there, including Alumni Hall, the chapel, and his masterpiece the S.R. Crown Hall, built as the home of IIT's School of Architecture. Crown Hall is widely regarded as Mies' finest work, the definition of Miesian architecture.
In 1944, he became an American citizen, completing his severance from his native Germany. His thirty years as an American architect reflect a more structural, pure approach toward achieving his goal of a new architecture for the twentieth century. He focused his efforts on enclosing open and adaptable "universal" spaces with clearly arranged structural frameworks, featuring prefabricated steel shapes filled in with large sheets of glass.
His early projects at the IIT campus, and for developer Herbert Greenwald, presented to Americans a style that seemed a natural progression of the almost forgotten nineteenth century Chicago School style. His architecture, with origins in the German Bauhaus and western European International Style, became an accepted mode of building for American cultural and educational institutions, developers, public agencies, and large corporations.
American work
Mies worked from his studio in downtown Chicago for his entire 31-year period in America. His significant projects in the U.S. include in Chicago and the area: the residential towers of 860–880 Lake Shore Dr, the Chicago Federal Center complex, the Farnsworth House, Crown Hall and other structures at IIT; and the Seagram Building in New York. These iconic works became the prototypes for his other projects. He also built homes for wealthy clients.
Chicago Federal Complex
Chicago Federal Center Plaza, also known as Chicago Federal Plaza, unified three buildings of varying scales: the mid-rise Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse, the high-rise John C. Kluczynski Building, and the single-story Post Office building. The complex's plot area extends over two blocks; a one-block site, bounded by Jackson, Clark, Adams, and Dearborn streets, contains the Kluczynski Federal Building and U.S. Post Office Loop Station, while a parcel on an adjacent block to the east contains the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse. The structural framing of the buildings is formed of high-tensile bolted steel and concrete. The exterior curtain walls are defined by projecting steel I-beam mullions covered with flat black graphite paint, characteristic of Mies's designs. The balance of the curtain walls are of bronze-tinted glass panes, framed in shiny aluminum, and separated by steel spandrels, also covered with flat black graphite paint. The entire complex is organized on a 28-foot grid pattern subdivided into six 4-foot, 8-inch modules. This pattern extends from the granite-paved plaza into the ground-floor lobbies of the two tower buildings with the grid lines continuing vertically up the buildings and integrating each component of the complex. Associated architects that have played a role in the complex's long history from 1959 to 1974 include Schmidt, Garden & Erickson; C.F. Murphy Associates; and A. Epstein & Sons.
Farnsworth House
Between 1946 and 1951, Mies van der Rohe designed and built the Farnsworth House, a weekend retreat outside Chicago for an independent professional woman, Dr. Edith Farnsworth. Here, Mies explored the relationship between people, shelter, and nature. The glass pavilion is raised six feet above a floodplain next to the Fox River, surrounded by forest and rural prairies.
The highly crafted pristine white structural frame and all-glass walls define a simple rectilinear interior space, allowing nature and light to envelop the interior space. A wood-paneled fireplace (also housing mechanical equipment, kitchen, and toilets) is positioned within the open space to suggest living, dining and sleeping spaces without using walls. No partitions touch the surrounding all-glass enclosure. Without solid exterior walls, full-height draperies on a perimeter track allow freedom to provide full or partial privacy when and where desired. The house has been described as sublime, a temple hovering between heaven and earth, a poem, a work of art.
The Farnsworth House and its wooded site was purchased at auction for US$7.5 million by preservation groups in 2004 and is now owned and operated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as a public museum. The building influenced the creation of hundreds of modernist glass houses, most notably the Glass House by Philip Johnson, located near New York City and also now owned by the National Trust.
The house is an embodiment of Mies' mature vision of modern architecture for the new technological age: a single unencumbered space within a minimal "skin and bones" framework, a clearly understandable arrangement of architectural parts. His ideas are stated with clarity and simplicity, using materials that are configured to express their own individual character.
The Promontory – Lake Shore Drive
The Promontory Apartments is a 22-story skyscraper in Hyde Park, Chicago, Illinois, that overlooks Promontory Point in Burnham Park and its Lake Michigan beaches. It is the first residential skyscraper Mies designed and the first of his buildings to feature concepts such as an exposed skeleton. An active community cooperative, the building which is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, has 122 units. Its building was initiated by developer Herbert Greenwald for wealthier occupants. Mies employed a Double T design with the horizontal cross-bars joined; the stems of the T's form wings to the rear. Each T is its own building with separate addresses, elevators, and interior stairways. This tripartite design would feature prominently in future Mies designs. Starting with the third story, each floor of each T has three apartments that share an elevator lobby. A solarium and party room on the roof provides excellent views of the park and beaches to the east, and the University of Chicago to the west.
860–880 Lake Shore Drive
Mies designed a series of four middle-income high-rise apartment buildings for developer Herbert Greenwald: the 860–880 (which was built between 1949 and 1951) and 900–910 Lake Shore Drive towers on Chicago's Lakefront. These towers, with façades of steel and glass, were radical departures from the typical residential brick apartment buildings of the time. Mies found their unit sizes too small for him, choosing instead to continue living in a spacious traditional luxury apartment a few blocks away. The towers were simple rectangular boxes with a non-hierarchical wall enclosure, raised on stilts above a glass-enclosed lobby.
The lobby is set back from the perimeter columns, which were exposed around the perimeter of the building above, creating a modern arcade not unlike those of the Greek temples. This configuration created a feeling of light, openness, and freedom of movement at the ground level that became the prototype for countless new towers designed both by Mies's office and his followers. Some historians argue that this new approach is an expression of the American spirit and the boundless open space of the frontier, which German culture so admired.
Once Mies had established his basic design concept for the general form and details of his tower buildings, he applied those solutions (with evolving refinements) to his later high-rise building projects. The architecture of his towers appears similar, but each project represents new ideas about the formation of highly sophisticated urban space at ground level. He delighted in the composition of multiple towers arranged in a seemingly casual non-hierarchical relation to each other.
Just as with his interiors, he created free flowing spaces and flat surfaces that represented the idea of an oasis of uncluttered clarity and calm within the chaos of the city. He included nature by leaving openings in the pavement, through which plants seem to grow unfettered by urbanization, just as in the pre-settlement environment.
Seagram Building
Although now acclaimed and widely influential as an urban design feature, Mies had to convince Bronfman's bankers that a taller tower with significant "unused" open space at ground level would enhance the presence and prestige of the building. Mies' design included a bronze curtain wall with external H-shaped mullions that were exaggerated in depth beyond what was structurally necessary. Detractors criticized it as having committed Adolf Loos's "crime of ornamentation". Philip Johnson had a role in interior materials selections, and he designed the sumptuous Four Seasons Restaurant. The Seagram Building is said to be an early example of the innovative "fast-track" construction process, where design documentation and construction are done concurrently.
During 1951–1952, Mies' designed the steel, glass, and brick McCormick House, located in Elmhurst, Illinois (15 miles west of the Chicago Loop), for real-estate developer Robert Hall McCormick, Jr. A one-story adaptation of the exterior curtain wall of his famous 860–880 Lake Shore Drive towers, it served as a prototype for an unbuilt series of speculative houses to be constructed in Melrose Park, Illinois. The house has been moved and reconfigured as a part of the public Elmhurst Art Museum. He also built a residence for John M. van Beuren on a family estate near Morristown, New Jersey.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Mies designed two buildings for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) as additions to the Caroline Wiess Law Building. In 1953, the MFAH commissioned Mies van der Rohe to create a master plan for the institution. He designed two additions to the building—Cullinan Hall, completed in 1958, and the Brown Pavilion, completed in 1974. A renowned example of the International Style, these portions of the Caroline Wiess Law Building comprise one of only two Mies-designed museums in the world.
Two buildings in Baltimore, MD
The One Charles Center, built in 1962, is a 23-story aluminum and glass building that heralded the beginning of Baltimore's downtown modern buildings. The Highfield House, just to the northeast of the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus, was built in 1964 as a rental apartment building. The 15-story concrete tower became a residential condominium building in 1979. Both buildings are now on the National Register of Historic Places.
National Gallery, Berlin
Mies's last work was the Neue Nationalgalerie art museum, the New National Gallery for the Berlin National Gallery. Considered one of the most perfect statements of his architectural approach, the upper pavilion is a precise composition of monumental steel columns and a cantilevered (overhanging) roof plane with a glass enclosure. The simple square glass pavilion is a powerful expression of his ideas about flexible interior space, defined by transparent walls and supported by an external structural frame. Art installations by Ulrich Rückriem (1998) or Jenny Holzer, as much as exhibitions on the work of Renzo Piano or Rem Koolhaas have demonstrated the exceptional possibilities of this space.
The glass pavilion is a relatively small portion of the overall building, serving as a symbolic architectural entry point and monumental gallery for temporary exhibits. A large podium building below the pavilion accommodates most of the museum's total built area with conventional white-walled art gallery spaces and support functions. A large window running along all the West facade opens these spaces up to the large sculpture garden which is part of the podium building.
Mies Building at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN
In 1952, a fraternity commissioned Mies to design a building on the Indiana University campus in Bloomington, Indiana. The plan was not realized during his lifetime, but the design was rediscovered in 2013, and in 2019 the university's Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design announced they would be constructing it with blessing of his grandchildren. The building is scheduled to open in September 2021.
Furniture
Mies, often in collaboration with Lilly Reich, designed modern furniture pieces using new industrial technologies that have become popular classics, such as the Barcelona chair and table, the Brno chair, and the Tugendhat chair. His furniture is known for fine craftsmanship, a mix of traditional luxurious fabrics like leather combined with modern chrome frames, and a distinct separation of the supporting structure and the supported surfaces, often employing cantilevers to enhance the feeling of lightness created by delicate structural frames.
Educator
Mies served as the last director of Berlin's Bauhaus, and then headed the department of architecture, Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, where he developed the Second Chicago School. He played a significant role as an educator, believing his architectural language could be learned, then applied to design any type of modern building. He set up a new education at the department of architecture of the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago replacing the traditional Ecole des Beaux-Art curriculum by a three-step-education beginning with crafts of drawing and construction leading to planning skills and finishing with theory of architecture (compare Vitruvius: firmitas, utilitas, venustas). He worked personally and intensively on prototype solutions, and then allowed his students, both in school and his office, to develop derivative solutions for specific projects under his guidance.
Some of Mies' curriculum is still put in practice in the first and second year programs at IIT, including the precise drafting of brick construction details so unpopular with aspiring student architects. When none was able to match the quality of his own work, he agonized about where his educational method had gone wrong. Nevertheless, his achievements in creating a teachable architecture language that can be used to express the modern technological era survives until today.
Mies placed great importance on education of architects who could carry on his design principles. He devoted a great deal of time and effort leading the architecture program at IIT. Mies served on the initial Advisory Board of the Graham Foundation in Chicago. His own practice was based on intensive personal involvement in design efforts to create prototype solutions for building types (860 Lake Shore Drive, the Farnsworth House, Seagram Building, S. R. Crown Hall, The New National Gallery), then allowing his studio designers to develop derivative buildings under his supervision.
In 1961, a program at Columbia University's School of Architecture celebrated the four great founders of contemporary architecture: Charles-Edouard Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright. It included addresses by Le Corbusier and Gropius as well as an interview with Mies van der Rohe. Discussion focused upon philosophies of design, aspects of their various architectural projects, and the juncture of architecture and city planning.
Mies's grandson Dirk Lohan and two partners led the firm after he died in 1969. Lohan, who had collaborated with Mies on the New National Gallery, continued with existing projects but soon led the firm on his own independent path. Other disciples continued Mies's architectural language for years, notably Gene Summers, David Haid, Myron Goldsmith, Y.C. Wong, Jacques Brownson, and other architects at the firms of C.F. Murphy and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
But while Mies' work had enormous influence and critical recognition, his approach failed to sustain a creative force as a style after his death and was eclipsed by the new wave of Post Modernism by the 1980s. Proponents of the Post Modern style attacked the Modernism with clever statements such as "less is a bore" and with captivating images such as Crown Hall sinking in Lake Michigan. Mies had hoped his architecture would serve as a universal model that could be easily imitated, but the aesthetic power of his best buildings proved impossible to match, instead resulting mostly in drab and uninspired structures rejected by the general public. The failure of his followers to meet his high standard may have contributed to demise of Modernism and the rise of new competing design theories following his death.
Later years and death
Over the last twenty years of his life, Mies developed and built his vision of a monumental "skin and bones" architecture that reflected his goal to provide the individual a place to fulfill himself in the modern era. Mies sought to create free and open spaces, enclosed within a structural order with minimal presence. In 1963, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Mies van der Rohe died on August 17, 1969, from esophageal cancer caused by his smoking habit. After cremation, his ashes were buried near Chicago's other famous architects in Chicago's Graceland Cemetery. His grave is marked by an intentionally unadorned, clean-line black slab of polished granite and a large honey locust tree.
Archives
The Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Archive, an administratively independent section of the Museum of Modern Art's department of architecture and design, was established in 1968 by the museum's trustees. It was founded in response to the architect's desire to bequeath his entire work to the museum. The archive consists of about nineteen thousand drawings and prints, one thousand of which are by the designer and architect Lilly Reich (1885–1947), Mies van der Rohe's close collaborator from 1927 to 1937; of written documents (primarily, the business correspondence) covering nearly the entire career of the architect; of photographs of buildings, models, and furniture; and of audiotapes, books, and periodicals.
Archival materials are also held by the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries at the Art Institute of Chicago. The Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Collection, 1929–1969 (bulk 1948–1960) includes correspondence, articles, and materials related to his association with the Illinois Institute of Technology. The Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Metropolitan Structures Collection, 1961–1969, includes scrapbooks and photographs documenting Chicago projects.
Other archives are held at the University of Illinois at Chicago (personal book collection), the Canadian Centre for Architecture (drawings and photos) in Montreal, the Newberry Library in Chicago (personal correspondence), and at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. (professional correspondence).
Gallery
List of works
Early career in Europe (1907–1938)
1908 Riehl House – Residential home, Potsdam, Germany
1911 Perls House – Residential home, Zehlendorf
1913 Werner House – Residential home, Zehlendorf
1917 Urbig House – Residential home, Potsdam
1922 Kempner House – Residential home, Charlottenburg
1922 Eichstaedt House – Residential home, Wannsee
1922 Feldmann House – Residential home, Wilmersdorf
1923 Ryder House – Residential home, Wiesbaden
1925 Villa Wolf – Residential home, Guben
1926 Mosler House – Residential home, Babelsberg
1926 – Monument dedicated to Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde, Berlin
1927 Afrikanische Straße Apartments – Multi-Family Residential, Berlin, Germany
1927 Weissenhof Estate – Housing Exhibition coordinated by Mies and with a contribution by him, Stuttgart
1928 Haus Lange and Haus Esters – Residential home and an art museum, Krefeld
1929 Barcelona Pavilion – World's Fair Pavilion, Barcelona, Spain
1930 Villa Tugendhat – Residential home, Brno, Czechia, designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2001
1930 Verseidag Factory – Dyeing and HE Silk Mill building Krefeld, Germany
1932 Lemke House – Residential home, Weissensee
Buildings after emigration to the United States (1939–1960)
1939–1958 – Illinois Institute of Technology Campus Master Plan, academic campus & buildings, Chicago, Illinois
1949 The Promontory Apartments – Residential apartment complex, Chicago, Illinois
1951 Sheridan-Oakdale Apartments (2933 N Sheridan Rd ) – Residential apartment complex, Chicago, Illinois
1951 Lake Shore Drive Apartments – Residential apartment towers, Chicago
1951 Algonquin Apartments – Residential apartments, Chicago, Illinois
1951 Farnsworth House – Vacation home, Plano, Illinois
1952 Arts Club of Chicago Interior Renovation – Art gallery, demolished in 1997, Chicago, Illinois
1952 Robert H. McCormick House – Residential home, relocated to the Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, Illinois
1954 Cullinan Hall – Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
1956 Crown Hall, Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture – Academic building, Chicago, Illinois
1956 900-910 North Lake Shore (Esplanade Apartments) – Residential apartment complex, Chicago, Illinois
1957 Commonwealth Promenade Apartments (330–330 W Diversey Parkway) – Residential apartment complex, Chicago (1957)
1958 Seagram Building – Office tower, New York City, New York
1958 Caroline Wiess Law Building, Museum of Fine Art, Houston
1959 Home Federal Savings and Loan Association Building – Office building, Des Moines, Iowa
1959 Lafayette Park – Residential development, Detroit, Michigan.
1960 Pavilion and Colonnade Apartments– Residential complex, Newark, New Jersey
Late career Worldwide (1961–69)
1961 Bacardi Office Building – Office Building, Mexico City
1962 Tourelle-Sur-Rive – Residential apartment complex of three towers, Nuns' Island, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
1962 Home Federal Savings and Loan Association of Des Moines Building – Office Building, Des Moines, Iowa
1962 One Charles Center – Office Tower, Baltimore, Maryland
1963 2400 North Lakeview Apartments – Residential Apartment Complex, Chicago, Illinois
1963 Morris Greenwald House – Vacation Home, Weston, Connecticut
1964 Chicago Federal Center – Civic Complex, Chicago, Illinois
1960–1964 Dirksen Federal Building – Office Tower, Chicago
Kluczynski Federal Building – Office Tower, Chicago
United States Post Office Loop Station – General Post Office, Chicago
1964 Highfield House, 4000 North Charles – Originally Rental Apartments, and now Condominium Apartments, Baltimore, Maryland
1965 University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration – Academic Building Chicago, Illinois
1965 Richard King Mellon Hall – Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA
1965 Meredith Hall – School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Drake University, Des Moines, IA
1967 Westmount Square – Office & Residential Tower Complex, Westmount, Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada
1968 Neue Nationalgalerie – Modern Art Museum, Berlin, Germany
1965–1968 Brown Pavilion, Museum of Fine Art, Houston
1967–1969 Toronto-Dominion Centre – Office Tower Complex, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
1969 Filling station – Nuns' Island, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (closed)
1970 One Illinois Center – Office Tower, Chicago, Illinois (completed post-mortem)
1972 Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library – District of Columbia Public Library, Washington, D.C. (completed post-mortem)
1973 American Life Building – Louisville, Kentucky (completed after Mies's death by Bruno Conterato)
1973 IBM Plaza – Office Tower, Chicago (completed post-mortem)
Buildings on the Illinois Institute of Technology Campus (1939–1958)
1943 Minerals & Metals Research Building – Research
1945 Engineering Research Building – Research
1946 Alumni Memorial Hall – Classroom
1946 Wishnick Hall – Classroom
1946 Perlstein Hall – Classroom
1950 I.I.T. Boiler Plant – Academic
1950 Institute of Gas Technology Building – Research
1950 American Association of Railroads Administration Building (now the College of Music Building) – Administration
1952 Mechanical Engineering Research Building I – Research
1952 Carr Memorial Chapel – Religious
1953 American Association of Railroads Mechanical Engineering Building – Research
1953 Carman Hall at IIT – Dormitory
1955 Cunningham Hall – Dormitory
1955 Bailey Hall – Dormitory
1955 I.I.T. Commons Building
1956 Crown Hall – Academic, College of Architecture
1957 Physics & Electrical Engineering Research Building – Research
1957 Siegel Hall – Classroom
1953 American Association of Railroads Laboratory Building – Research
1958 Metals Technology Building Extension – Research
See also
Online Architecture – lets the construction purpose of building online
International style (architecture)
References
Further reading
Lamster, Mark (2018). "The man in the Glass House: Philip Johnson, Architect of the Modern Century" (hardcover,528 pages) Little, Brown & Co. English; ;
Rovira, Josep M; Casais, Lluis (2002). Mies van der Rohe Pavilion: Reflections,71 pages. Publisher:Triangle Postal.
External links
Mies van der Rohe Society
Mies van der Rohe Foundation
Mies in Berlin-Mies in America
Great Buildings Architects
Mies van der Rohe Spotlight – ArchDaily
Elmhurst Art Museum, featuring McCormick House
Richard King Mellon Hall, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA
Mies, IIT, and the Second Chicago School
Mies in America exhibition
Travel guide to Mies Buildings
Construction underway to transform famed Nuns’ Island gas station
Mies' Lafayette Park in Detroit
Mies in IR
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe architectural and furniture drawings, 1946–1961, held by the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University
Finding aid for the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and his students collection , Canadian Centre for Architecture
Functionalist architects
1886 births
1969 deaths
19th-century Prussian people
20th-century American architects
Bauhaus teachers
Burials at Graceland Cemetery (Chicago)
20th-century German architects
German emigrants to the United States
German furniture designers
Illinois Institute of Technology faculty
Architecture educators
International style architects
Modernist architects from Germany
People from Aachen
Artists from Chicago
People from the Rhine Province
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)
Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Fellows of the American Institute of Architects
Recipients of the AIA Gold Medal | true | [
"The Association of Professional Design Firms (APDF) is a U.S. national professional association of firms working within the allied fields of design. Emphasis is on the mutual exchange of information towards the successful operation of a design firm. The organization was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Chicago. The executive director was Cathy Brownlee. The organization described itself as the business resource for design firms.\n\nMission statement\nThe Association of Professional Design Firms describes it mission as\n\nPublications\nThe Association of Professional Design Firms publishes an annual comparative financial performance survey titled APDF Financial Performance Survey, a metrics-based guide for financial systems called The Financial Handbook for Design Firms, and Contract Terms and Conditions Reference For Product Design Consultants, a guide of contractual terms and conditions. The APDF also publishes Biz Brief, a monthly magazine and Design Biz, a twice a year review of firm ownership and management issues, events, forum reports, interviews, and member profiles.\n\nDesign institutions\nProfessional associations based in the United States\nBusiness and industry organizations based in Chicago",
"A design studio or drawing office is a workplace for designers and artisans engaged in conceiving, designing and developing new products or objects. Facilities in a design studio include clothes, furniture art equipment best suited for design work and extending to work benches, small machines, computer equipment, paint shops and large presentation boards and screenshot. Arts Crafts backgrounds Life.\nAnimals Space cosmosNature Quotations. Humour Architecture. Landmarks.\n\nSize\nThe size and conveniences also depends upon the type of the studio. Freelance designers engaged in product design often have a small set-up of their own, the smallest being within private residences. The ambiance of a design studio is often noted for its informality. The number of designers working in a typical design studio may vary widely, from a single individual to up to 1000 members. In such large studios, apart from designers, the staff may also consist of other technicians and artisans engaged in prototyping and engineering detailing, in addition to administrative staff and designers.\n\nOwnership\nThe smallest studios are operated by individuals, while the medium to bigger ones may be owned and operated by manufacturers involved in consumer goods or by design firms engaged in design services catering to different firms and industries. Such independent design studios may also function as design studios as well as design firms.\n\nTypes\n\nAutomotive design studios\nAutomotive design studios are usually large, where space is required for multiple cars under development, in addition to clay modeling surface tables, large scanners and clay milling machines. Such studios also have a presentation area to accommodate at least 20 to 30 people for presentations and design briefings with clients. Automobile manufacturer studios are often treated as a separate entity and housed within a compound. Most of these design studios are often located in a different part of the city or country and are isolated from the manufacturing and engineering environment. Such studios are often high security areas, where even internal access to most areas is severely restricted.\n\nOKB\nOKB is a transliteration of the Russian initials of \"\" – , meaning 'experimental design bureau'. During the Soviet era, OKBs were closed institutions working on design and prototyping of advanced technology, usually for military applications.\n\nSee also\n Studio\n\nReferences\n\nDesign\nVehicle design\nAutomotive industry\nStudios\nIndustrial design firms"
] |
[
"Ludwig Mies van der Rohe",
"Early career",
"What did he do first in his career?",
"He worked in his father's stone carving shop and at several local design firms",
"What design firms did he work for?",
"He began his architectural career as an apprentice at the studio of Peter Behrens from 1908 to 1912,"
] | C_4312728096574796a6727ac2c366f99e_1 | What did he create there? | 3 | What did Ludwig create there? | Ludwig Mies van der Rohe | Mies was born March 27, 1886 in Aachen, Germany. He worked in his father's stone carving shop and at several local design firms before he moved to Berlin, where he joined the office of interior designer Bruno Paul. He began his architectural career as an apprentice at the studio of Peter Behrens from 1908 to 1912, where he was exposed to the current design theories and to progressive German culture, working alongside Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, who was later also involved in the development of the Bauhaus. Mies served as construction manager of the Embassy of the German Empire in Saint Petersburg under Behrens. His talent was quickly recognized and he soon began independent commissions, despite his lack of a formal college-level education. A physically imposing, deliberative, and reticent man, Ludwig Mies renamed himself as part of his rapid transformation from a tradesman's son to an architect working with Berlin's cultural elite, adding "van der" and his mother's surname "Rohe", using the Dutch "van der", because the German form "von" was a nobiliary particle legally restricted to those of genuine aristocratic lineage. He began his independent professional career designing upper-class homes, joining the movement seeking a return to the purity of early 19th-century Germanic domestic styles. He admired the broad proportions, regularity of rhythmic elements, attention to the relationship of the man-made to nature, and compositions using simple cubic forms of the early nineteenth century Prussian Neo-Classical architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel. He rejected the eclectic and cluttered classical styles so common at the turn of the 20th century as irrelevant to the modern times. CANNOTANSWER | Mies served as construction manager of the Embassy of the German Empire in Saint Petersburg under Behrens. | Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd Wright, he is regarded as one of the pioneers of modernist architecture.
In the 1930s, Mies was the last director of the Bauhaus, a ground-breaking school of modern art, design and architecture. After Nazism's rise to power, with its strong opposition to modernism (leading to the closing of the Bauhaus itself), Mies emigrated to the United States. He accepted the position to head the architecture school at what is today the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.
Mies sought to establish his own particular architectural style that could represent modern times just as Classical and Gothic did for their own eras. The style he created made a statement with its extreme clarity and simplicity. His mature buildings made use of modern materials such as industrial steel and plate glass to define interior spaces, as also conducted by other modernist architects in the 1920s and 1930s such as Richard Neutra. Mies strove toward an architecture with a minimal framework of structural order balanced against the implied freedom of unobstructed free-flowing open space. He called his buildings "skin and bones" architecture. He sought an objective approach that would guide the creative process of architectural design, but was always concerned with expressing the spirit of the modern era. He is often associated with his fondness for the aphorisms, "less is more" and "God is in the details".
Early career
Mies was born March 27, 1886, in Aachen, Germany. He worked in his father's stone carving shop and at several local design firms before he moved to Berlin, where he joined the office of interior designer Bruno Paul. He began his architectural career as an apprentice at the studio of Peter Behrens from 1908 to 1912, where he was exposed to the current design theories and to progressive German culture. He worked alongside Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, who was later also involved in the development of the Bauhaus. Mies served as construction manager of the Embassy of the German Empire in Saint Petersburg under Behrens.
Ludwig Mies renamed himself as part of his transformation from a tradesman's son to an architect working with Berlin's cultural elite, adding "van der" and his mother's maiden name "Rohe" (the word mies means "lousy" in German) and using the Dutch "van der", because the German form "von" was a nobiliary particle legally restricted to those of genuine aristocratic lineage. He began his independent professional career designing upper-class homes.
Personal life
In 1913, Mies married Adele Auguste (Ada) Bruhn (1885–1951), the daughter of a wealthy industrialist. The couple separated in 1918, after having three daughters: Dorothea (1914–2008), an actress and dancer who was known as Georgia, Marianne (1915–2003), and Waltraut (1917–1959), who was a research scholar and curator at the Art Institute of Chicago. During his military service in 1917, Mies fathered a son out of wedlock.
In 1925 Mies began a relationship with designer Lilly Reich that ended when he moved to the United States; from 1940 until his death, artist Lora Marx (1900–1989) was his primary companion. Mies carried on a romantic relationship with sculptor and art collector Mary Callery for whom he designed an artist's studio in Huntington, Long Island, New York. He had a brief romantic relationship with Nelly van Doesburg. After having met in Europe many years prior, they met again in New York in 1947 during a dinner with Josep Lluís Sert where he promised her he would help organize an exhibition in Chicago featuring the work of her late husband Theo van Doesburg. This exhibition took place from the 15th of October until the 8th of November 1947, with their romance officially ending not much later. Nevertheless they remained on good terms, spending Easter together in 1948 at a modern farmhouse renovated by Mies on Long Island, as well as meeting several more times that year. He also was rumored to have a brief relationship with Edith Farnsworth, who commissioned his work for the Farnsworth House. His daughter Marianne's son, Dirk Lohan (b. 1938), studied under, and later worked for, Mies.
Traditionalism to Modernism
After World War I, while still designing traditional neoclassical homes, Mies began a parallel experimental effort. He joined his avant-garde peers in the long-running search for a new style that would be suitable for the modern industrial age. The weak points of traditional styles had been under attack by progressive theorists since the mid-nineteenth century, primarily for the contradictions of hiding modern construction technology with a facade of ornamented traditional styles.
The mounting criticism of the historical styles gained substantial cultural credibility after World War I, a disaster widely seen as a failure of the old world order of imperial leadership of Europe. The aristocratic classical revival styles were particularly reviled by many as the architectural symbol of a now-discredited and outmoded social system. Progressive thinkers called for a completely new architectural design process guided by rational problem-solving and an exterior expression of modern materials and structure rather than what they considered the superficial application of classical facades.
While continuing his traditional neoclassical design practice, Mies began to develop visionary projects that, though mostly unbuilt, rocketed him to fame as an architect capable of giving form that was in harmony with the spirit of the emerging modern society. Boldly abandoning ornament altogether, Mies made a dramatic modernist debut in 1921 with his stunning competition proposal for the faceted all-glass Friedrichstraße skyscraper, followed by a taller curved version in 1922 named the Glass Skyscraper.
He constructed his first modernist house with the Villa Wolf in 1926 in Guben (today Gubin, Poland) for Erich and Elisabeth Wolf. This was shortly followed by Haus Lange and Haus Esters in 1928.
He continued with a series of pioneering projects, culminating in his two European masterworks: the temporary German Pavilion for the Barcelona exposition (often called the Barcelona Pavilion) in 1929 (a 1986 reconstruction is now built on the original site) and the elegant Villa Tugendhat in Brno, Czechoslovakia, completed in 1930.
He joined the German avant-garde, working with the progressive design magazine G, which started in July 1923. He developed prominence as architectural director of the Werkbund, organizing the influential Weissenhof Estate prototype modernist housing exhibition. He was also one of the founders of the architectural association Der Ring. He joined the avant-garde Bauhaus design school as their director of architecture, adopting and developing their functionalist application of simple geometric forms in the design of useful objects. He served as its last director.
Like many other avant-garde architects of the day, Mies based his architectural mission and principles on his understanding and interpretation of ideas developed by theorists and critics who pondered the declining relevance of the traditional design styles. He selectively adopted theoretical ideas such as the aesthetic credos of Russian Constructivism with their ideology of "efficient" sculptural assembly of modern industrial materials. Mies found appeal in the use of simple rectilinear and planar forms, clean lines, pure use of color, and the extension of space around and beyond interior walls expounded by the Dutch De Stijl group. In particular, the layering of functional sub-spaces within an overall space and the distinct articulation of parts as expressed by Gerrit Rietveld appealed to Mies.
The design theories of Adolf Loos found resonance with Mies, particularly the ideas of replacing elaborate applied artistic ornament with the straightforward display of innate visual qualities of materials and forms. Loos had proposed that art and crafts should be entirely independent of architecture, that the architect should no longer control those cultural elements as the Beaux Arts principles had dictated. Mies also admired his ideas about the nobility that could be found in the anonymity of modern life.
The bold work of leading American architects was admired by European architects. Like other architects who viewed the drawings in Frank Lloyd Wright's Wasmuth Portfolio, Mies was enthralled with the free-flowing spaces of inter-connected rooms that encompass their outdoor surroundings, as demonstrated by the open floor plans of the Wright's American Prairie Style. American engineering structures were also held up as exemplary of the beauty possible in functional construction, and American skyscrapers were greatly admired.
Emigration to the United States
Commission opportunities dwindled with the Great Depression after 1929. Starting in 1930, Mies served as the last director of the faltering Bauhaus, at the request of his colleague and competitor Walter Gropius. In 1932, Nazi political pressure forced the state-supported school to leave its campus in Dessau, and Mies moved it to an abandoned telephone factory in Berlin. By 1933, however, the continued operation of the school was untenable (it was raided by the Gestapo in April), and in July of that year, Mies and the faculty voted to close the Bauhaus. He built very little in these years (one built commission was Philip Johnson's New York apartment); the Nazis rejected his style as not "German" in character.
Frustrated and unhappy, he left his homeland reluctantly in 1937 as he saw his opportunity for any future building commissions vanish, accepting a residential commission in Wyoming and then an offer to head the department of architecture of the newly established Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chicago. There he introduced a new kind of education and attitude later known as Second Chicago School, which became very influential in the following decades in North America and Europe.
Career in the United States
Mies settled in Chicago, Illinois, where he was appointed head of the architecture school at Chicago's Armour Institute of Technology (later renamed Illinois Institute of Technology). One of the benefits of taking this position was that he would be commissioned to design the new buildings and master plan for the campus. All his buildings still stand there, including Alumni Hall, the chapel, and his masterpiece the S.R. Crown Hall, built as the home of IIT's School of Architecture. Crown Hall is widely regarded as Mies' finest work, the definition of Miesian architecture.
In 1944, he became an American citizen, completing his severance from his native Germany. His thirty years as an American architect reflect a more structural, pure approach toward achieving his goal of a new architecture for the twentieth century. He focused his efforts on enclosing open and adaptable "universal" spaces with clearly arranged structural frameworks, featuring prefabricated steel shapes filled in with large sheets of glass.
His early projects at the IIT campus, and for developer Herbert Greenwald, presented to Americans a style that seemed a natural progression of the almost forgotten nineteenth century Chicago School style. His architecture, with origins in the German Bauhaus and western European International Style, became an accepted mode of building for American cultural and educational institutions, developers, public agencies, and large corporations.
American work
Mies worked from his studio in downtown Chicago for his entire 31-year period in America. His significant projects in the U.S. include in Chicago and the area: the residential towers of 860–880 Lake Shore Dr, the Chicago Federal Center complex, the Farnsworth House, Crown Hall and other structures at IIT; and the Seagram Building in New York. These iconic works became the prototypes for his other projects. He also built homes for wealthy clients.
Chicago Federal Complex
Chicago Federal Center Plaza, also known as Chicago Federal Plaza, unified three buildings of varying scales: the mid-rise Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse, the high-rise John C. Kluczynski Building, and the single-story Post Office building. The complex's plot area extends over two blocks; a one-block site, bounded by Jackson, Clark, Adams, and Dearborn streets, contains the Kluczynski Federal Building and U.S. Post Office Loop Station, while a parcel on an adjacent block to the east contains the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse. The structural framing of the buildings is formed of high-tensile bolted steel and concrete. The exterior curtain walls are defined by projecting steel I-beam mullions covered with flat black graphite paint, characteristic of Mies's designs. The balance of the curtain walls are of bronze-tinted glass panes, framed in shiny aluminum, and separated by steel spandrels, also covered with flat black graphite paint. The entire complex is organized on a 28-foot grid pattern subdivided into six 4-foot, 8-inch modules. This pattern extends from the granite-paved plaza into the ground-floor lobbies of the two tower buildings with the grid lines continuing vertically up the buildings and integrating each component of the complex. Associated architects that have played a role in the complex's long history from 1959 to 1974 include Schmidt, Garden & Erickson; C.F. Murphy Associates; and A. Epstein & Sons.
Farnsworth House
Between 1946 and 1951, Mies van der Rohe designed and built the Farnsworth House, a weekend retreat outside Chicago for an independent professional woman, Dr. Edith Farnsworth. Here, Mies explored the relationship between people, shelter, and nature. The glass pavilion is raised six feet above a floodplain next to the Fox River, surrounded by forest and rural prairies.
The highly crafted pristine white structural frame and all-glass walls define a simple rectilinear interior space, allowing nature and light to envelop the interior space. A wood-paneled fireplace (also housing mechanical equipment, kitchen, and toilets) is positioned within the open space to suggest living, dining and sleeping spaces without using walls. No partitions touch the surrounding all-glass enclosure. Without solid exterior walls, full-height draperies on a perimeter track allow freedom to provide full or partial privacy when and where desired. The house has been described as sublime, a temple hovering between heaven and earth, a poem, a work of art.
The Farnsworth House and its wooded site was purchased at auction for US$7.5 million by preservation groups in 2004 and is now owned and operated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as a public museum. The building influenced the creation of hundreds of modernist glass houses, most notably the Glass House by Philip Johnson, located near New York City and also now owned by the National Trust.
The house is an embodiment of Mies' mature vision of modern architecture for the new technological age: a single unencumbered space within a minimal "skin and bones" framework, a clearly understandable arrangement of architectural parts. His ideas are stated with clarity and simplicity, using materials that are configured to express their own individual character.
The Promontory – Lake Shore Drive
The Promontory Apartments is a 22-story skyscraper in Hyde Park, Chicago, Illinois, that overlooks Promontory Point in Burnham Park and its Lake Michigan beaches. It is the first residential skyscraper Mies designed and the first of his buildings to feature concepts such as an exposed skeleton. An active community cooperative, the building which is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, has 122 units. Its building was initiated by developer Herbert Greenwald for wealthier occupants. Mies employed a Double T design with the horizontal cross-bars joined; the stems of the T's form wings to the rear. Each T is its own building with separate addresses, elevators, and interior stairways. This tripartite design would feature prominently in future Mies designs. Starting with the third story, each floor of each T has three apartments that share an elevator lobby. A solarium and party room on the roof provides excellent views of the park and beaches to the east, and the University of Chicago to the west.
860–880 Lake Shore Drive
Mies designed a series of four middle-income high-rise apartment buildings for developer Herbert Greenwald: the 860–880 (which was built between 1949 and 1951) and 900–910 Lake Shore Drive towers on Chicago's Lakefront. These towers, with façades of steel and glass, were radical departures from the typical residential brick apartment buildings of the time. Mies found their unit sizes too small for him, choosing instead to continue living in a spacious traditional luxury apartment a few blocks away. The towers were simple rectangular boxes with a non-hierarchical wall enclosure, raised on stilts above a glass-enclosed lobby.
The lobby is set back from the perimeter columns, which were exposed around the perimeter of the building above, creating a modern arcade not unlike those of the Greek temples. This configuration created a feeling of light, openness, and freedom of movement at the ground level that became the prototype for countless new towers designed both by Mies's office and his followers. Some historians argue that this new approach is an expression of the American spirit and the boundless open space of the frontier, which German culture so admired.
Once Mies had established his basic design concept for the general form and details of his tower buildings, he applied those solutions (with evolving refinements) to his later high-rise building projects. The architecture of his towers appears similar, but each project represents new ideas about the formation of highly sophisticated urban space at ground level. He delighted in the composition of multiple towers arranged in a seemingly casual non-hierarchical relation to each other.
Just as with his interiors, he created free flowing spaces and flat surfaces that represented the idea of an oasis of uncluttered clarity and calm within the chaos of the city. He included nature by leaving openings in the pavement, through which plants seem to grow unfettered by urbanization, just as in the pre-settlement environment.
Seagram Building
Although now acclaimed and widely influential as an urban design feature, Mies had to convince Bronfman's bankers that a taller tower with significant "unused" open space at ground level would enhance the presence and prestige of the building. Mies' design included a bronze curtain wall with external H-shaped mullions that were exaggerated in depth beyond what was structurally necessary. Detractors criticized it as having committed Adolf Loos's "crime of ornamentation". Philip Johnson had a role in interior materials selections, and he designed the sumptuous Four Seasons Restaurant. The Seagram Building is said to be an early example of the innovative "fast-track" construction process, where design documentation and construction are done concurrently.
During 1951–1952, Mies' designed the steel, glass, and brick McCormick House, located in Elmhurst, Illinois (15 miles west of the Chicago Loop), for real-estate developer Robert Hall McCormick, Jr. A one-story adaptation of the exterior curtain wall of his famous 860–880 Lake Shore Drive towers, it served as a prototype for an unbuilt series of speculative houses to be constructed in Melrose Park, Illinois. The house has been moved and reconfigured as a part of the public Elmhurst Art Museum. He also built a residence for John M. van Beuren on a family estate near Morristown, New Jersey.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Mies designed two buildings for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) as additions to the Caroline Wiess Law Building. In 1953, the MFAH commissioned Mies van der Rohe to create a master plan for the institution. He designed two additions to the building—Cullinan Hall, completed in 1958, and the Brown Pavilion, completed in 1974. A renowned example of the International Style, these portions of the Caroline Wiess Law Building comprise one of only two Mies-designed museums in the world.
Two buildings in Baltimore, MD
The One Charles Center, built in 1962, is a 23-story aluminum and glass building that heralded the beginning of Baltimore's downtown modern buildings. The Highfield House, just to the northeast of the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus, was built in 1964 as a rental apartment building. The 15-story concrete tower became a residential condominium building in 1979. Both buildings are now on the National Register of Historic Places.
National Gallery, Berlin
Mies's last work was the Neue Nationalgalerie art museum, the New National Gallery for the Berlin National Gallery. Considered one of the most perfect statements of his architectural approach, the upper pavilion is a precise composition of monumental steel columns and a cantilevered (overhanging) roof plane with a glass enclosure. The simple square glass pavilion is a powerful expression of his ideas about flexible interior space, defined by transparent walls and supported by an external structural frame. Art installations by Ulrich Rückriem (1998) or Jenny Holzer, as much as exhibitions on the work of Renzo Piano or Rem Koolhaas have demonstrated the exceptional possibilities of this space.
The glass pavilion is a relatively small portion of the overall building, serving as a symbolic architectural entry point and monumental gallery for temporary exhibits. A large podium building below the pavilion accommodates most of the museum's total built area with conventional white-walled art gallery spaces and support functions. A large window running along all the West facade opens these spaces up to the large sculpture garden which is part of the podium building.
Mies Building at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN
In 1952, a fraternity commissioned Mies to design a building on the Indiana University campus in Bloomington, Indiana. The plan was not realized during his lifetime, but the design was rediscovered in 2013, and in 2019 the university's Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design announced they would be constructing it with blessing of his grandchildren. The building is scheduled to open in September 2021.
Furniture
Mies, often in collaboration with Lilly Reich, designed modern furniture pieces using new industrial technologies that have become popular classics, such as the Barcelona chair and table, the Brno chair, and the Tugendhat chair. His furniture is known for fine craftsmanship, a mix of traditional luxurious fabrics like leather combined with modern chrome frames, and a distinct separation of the supporting structure and the supported surfaces, often employing cantilevers to enhance the feeling of lightness created by delicate structural frames.
Educator
Mies served as the last director of Berlin's Bauhaus, and then headed the department of architecture, Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, where he developed the Second Chicago School. He played a significant role as an educator, believing his architectural language could be learned, then applied to design any type of modern building. He set up a new education at the department of architecture of the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago replacing the traditional Ecole des Beaux-Art curriculum by a three-step-education beginning with crafts of drawing and construction leading to planning skills and finishing with theory of architecture (compare Vitruvius: firmitas, utilitas, venustas). He worked personally and intensively on prototype solutions, and then allowed his students, both in school and his office, to develop derivative solutions for specific projects under his guidance.
Some of Mies' curriculum is still put in practice in the first and second year programs at IIT, including the precise drafting of brick construction details so unpopular with aspiring student architects. When none was able to match the quality of his own work, he agonized about where his educational method had gone wrong. Nevertheless, his achievements in creating a teachable architecture language that can be used to express the modern technological era survives until today.
Mies placed great importance on education of architects who could carry on his design principles. He devoted a great deal of time and effort leading the architecture program at IIT. Mies served on the initial Advisory Board of the Graham Foundation in Chicago. His own practice was based on intensive personal involvement in design efforts to create prototype solutions for building types (860 Lake Shore Drive, the Farnsworth House, Seagram Building, S. R. Crown Hall, The New National Gallery), then allowing his studio designers to develop derivative buildings under his supervision.
In 1961, a program at Columbia University's School of Architecture celebrated the four great founders of contemporary architecture: Charles-Edouard Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright. It included addresses by Le Corbusier and Gropius as well as an interview with Mies van der Rohe. Discussion focused upon philosophies of design, aspects of their various architectural projects, and the juncture of architecture and city planning.
Mies's grandson Dirk Lohan and two partners led the firm after he died in 1969. Lohan, who had collaborated with Mies on the New National Gallery, continued with existing projects but soon led the firm on his own independent path. Other disciples continued Mies's architectural language for years, notably Gene Summers, David Haid, Myron Goldsmith, Y.C. Wong, Jacques Brownson, and other architects at the firms of C.F. Murphy and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
But while Mies' work had enormous influence and critical recognition, his approach failed to sustain a creative force as a style after his death and was eclipsed by the new wave of Post Modernism by the 1980s. Proponents of the Post Modern style attacked the Modernism with clever statements such as "less is a bore" and with captivating images such as Crown Hall sinking in Lake Michigan. Mies had hoped his architecture would serve as a universal model that could be easily imitated, but the aesthetic power of his best buildings proved impossible to match, instead resulting mostly in drab and uninspired structures rejected by the general public. The failure of his followers to meet his high standard may have contributed to demise of Modernism and the rise of new competing design theories following his death.
Later years and death
Over the last twenty years of his life, Mies developed and built his vision of a monumental "skin and bones" architecture that reflected his goal to provide the individual a place to fulfill himself in the modern era. Mies sought to create free and open spaces, enclosed within a structural order with minimal presence. In 1963, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Mies van der Rohe died on August 17, 1969, from esophageal cancer caused by his smoking habit. After cremation, his ashes were buried near Chicago's other famous architects in Chicago's Graceland Cemetery. His grave is marked by an intentionally unadorned, clean-line black slab of polished granite and a large honey locust tree.
Archives
The Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Archive, an administratively independent section of the Museum of Modern Art's department of architecture and design, was established in 1968 by the museum's trustees. It was founded in response to the architect's desire to bequeath his entire work to the museum. The archive consists of about nineteen thousand drawings and prints, one thousand of which are by the designer and architect Lilly Reich (1885–1947), Mies van der Rohe's close collaborator from 1927 to 1937; of written documents (primarily, the business correspondence) covering nearly the entire career of the architect; of photographs of buildings, models, and furniture; and of audiotapes, books, and periodicals.
Archival materials are also held by the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries at the Art Institute of Chicago. The Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Collection, 1929–1969 (bulk 1948–1960) includes correspondence, articles, and materials related to his association with the Illinois Institute of Technology. The Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Metropolitan Structures Collection, 1961–1969, includes scrapbooks and photographs documenting Chicago projects.
Other archives are held at the University of Illinois at Chicago (personal book collection), the Canadian Centre for Architecture (drawings and photos) in Montreal, the Newberry Library in Chicago (personal correspondence), and at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. (professional correspondence).
Gallery
List of works
Early career in Europe (1907–1938)
1908 Riehl House – Residential home, Potsdam, Germany
1911 Perls House – Residential home, Zehlendorf
1913 Werner House – Residential home, Zehlendorf
1917 Urbig House – Residential home, Potsdam
1922 Kempner House – Residential home, Charlottenburg
1922 Eichstaedt House – Residential home, Wannsee
1922 Feldmann House – Residential home, Wilmersdorf
1923 Ryder House – Residential home, Wiesbaden
1925 Villa Wolf – Residential home, Guben
1926 Mosler House – Residential home, Babelsberg
1926 – Monument dedicated to Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde, Berlin
1927 Afrikanische Straße Apartments – Multi-Family Residential, Berlin, Germany
1927 Weissenhof Estate – Housing Exhibition coordinated by Mies and with a contribution by him, Stuttgart
1928 Haus Lange and Haus Esters – Residential home and an art museum, Krefeld
1929 Barcelona Pavilion – World's Fair Pavilion, Barcelona, Spain
1930 Villa Tugendhat – Residential home, Brno, Czechia, designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2001
1930 Verseidag Factory – Dyeing and HE Silk Mill building Krefeld, Germany
1932 Lemke House – Residential home, Weissensee
Buildings after emigration to the United States (1939–1960)
1939–1958 – Illinois Institute of Technology Campus Master Plan, academic campus & buildings, Chicago, Illinois
1949 The Promontory Apartments – Residential apartment complex, Chicago, Illinois
1951 Sheridan-Oakdale Apartments (2933 N Sheridan Rd ) – Residential apartment complex, Chicago, Illinois
1951 Lake Shore Drive Apartments – Residential apartment towers, Chicago
1951 Algonquin Apartments – Residential apartments, Chicago, Illinois
1951 Farnsworth House – Vacation home, Plano, Illinois
1952 Arts Club of Chicago Interior Renovation – Art gallery, demolished in 1997, Chicago, Illinois
1952 Robert H. McCormick House – Residential home, relocated to the Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, Illinois
1954 Cullinan Hall – Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
1956 Crown Hall, Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture – Academic building, Chicago, Illinois
1956 900-910 North Lake Shore (Esplanade Apartments) – Residential apartment complex, Chicago, Illinois
1957 Commonwealth Promenade Apartments (330–330 W Diversey Parkway) – Residential apartment complex, Chicago (1957)
1958 Seagram Building – Office tower, New York City, New York
1958 Caroline Wiess Law Building, Museum of Fine Art, Houston
1959 Home Federal Savings and Loan Association Building – Office building, Des Moines, Iowa
1959 Lafayette Park – Residential development, Detroit, Michigan.
1960 Pavilion and Colonnade Apartments– Residential complex, Newark, New Jersey
Late career Worldwide (1961–69)
1961 Bacardi Office Building – Office Building, Mexico City
1962 Tourelle-Sur-Rive – Residential apartment complex of three towers, Nuns' Island, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
1962 Home Federal Savings and Loan Association of Des Moines Building – Office Building, Des Moines, Iowa
1962 One Charles Center – Office Tower, Baltimore, Maryland
1963 2400 North Lakeview Apartments – Residential Apartment Complex, Chicago, Illinois
1963 Morris Greenwald House – Vacation Home, Weston, Connecticut
1964 Chicago Federal Center – Civic Complex, Chicago, Illinois
1960–1964 Dirksen Federal Building – Office Tower, Chicago
Kluczynski Federal Building – Office Tower, Chicago
United States Post Office Loop Station – General Post Office, Chicago
1964 Highfield House, 4000 North Charles – Originally Rental Apartments, and now Condominium Apartments, Baltimore, Maryland
1965 University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration – Academic Building Chicago, Illinois
1965 Richard King Mellon Hall – Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA
1965 Meredith Hall – School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Drake University, Des Moines, IA
1967 Westmount Square – Office & Residential Tower Complex, Westmount, Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada
1968 Neue Nationalgalerie – Modern Art Museum, Berlin, Germany
1965–1968 Brown Pavilion, Museum of Fine Art, Houston
1967–1969 Toronto-Dominion Centre – Office Tower Complex, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
1969 Filling station – Nuns' Island, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (closed)
1970 One Illinois Center – Office Tower, Chicago, Illinois (completed post-mortem)
1972 Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library – District of Columbia Public Library, Washington, D.C. (completed post-mortem)
1973 American Life Building – Louisville, Kentucky (completed after Mies's death by Bruno Conterato)
1973 IBM Plaza – Office Tower, Chicago (completed post-mortem)
Buildings on the Illinois Institute of Technology Campus (1939–1958)
1943 Minerals & Metals Research Building – Research
1945 Engineering Research Building – Research
1946 Alumni Memorial Hall – Classroom
1946 Wishnick Hall – Classroom
1946 Perlstein Hall – Classroom
1950 I.I.T. Boiler Plant – Academic
1950 Institute of Gas Technology Building – Research
1950 American Association of Railroads Administration Building (now the College of Music Building) – Administration
1952 Mechanical Engineering Research Building I – Research
1952 Carr Memorial Chapel – Religious
1953 American Association of Railroads Mechanical Engineering Building – Research
1953 Carman Hall at IIT – Dormitory
1955 Cunningham Hall – Dormitory
1955 Bailey Hall – Dormitory
1955 I.I.T. Commons Building
1956 Crown Hall – Academic, College of Architecture
1957 Physics & Electrical Engineering Research Building – Research
1957 Siegel Hall – Classroom
1953 American Association of Railroads Laboratory Building – Research
1958 Metals Technology Building Extension – Research
See also
Online Architecture – lets the construction purpose of building online
International style (architecture)
References
Further reading
Lamster, Mark (2018). "The man in the Glass House: Philip Johnson, Architect of the Modern Century" (hardcover,528 pages) Little, Brown & Co. English; ;
Rovira, Josep M; Casais, Lluis (2002). Mies van der Rohe Pavilion: Reflections,71 pages. Publisher:Triangle Postal.
External links
Mies van der Rohe Society
Mies van der Rohe Foundation
Mies in Berlin-Mies in America
Great Buildings Architects
Mies van der Rohe Spotlight – ArchDaily
Elmhurst Art Museum, featuring McCormick House
Richard King Mellon Hall, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA
Mies, IIT, and the Second Chicago School
Mies in America exhibition
Travel guide to Mies Buildings
Construction underway to transform famed Nuns’ Island gas station
Mies' Lafayette Park in Detroit
Mies in IR
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe architectural and furniture drawings, 1946–1961, held by the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University
Finding aid for the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and his students collection , Canadian Centre for Architecture
Functionalist architects
1886 births
1969 deaths
19th-century Prussian people
20th-century American architects
Bauhaus teachers
Burials at Graceland Cemetery (Chicago)
20th-century German architects
German emigrants to the United States
German furniture designers
Illinois Institute of Technology faculty
Architecture educators
International style architects
Modernist architects from Germany
People from Aachen
Artists from Chicago
People from the Rhine Province
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)
Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Fellows of the American Institute of Architects
Recipients of the AIA Gold Medal | true | [
"is a real-time strategy game for the PlayStation Portable. The game centers on creating mazes and monsters to help defend a demon lord from heroes seeking to capture him.\n\nThe game was released in North America exclusively as a download game on the PlayStation Store, under the title Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Do To Deserve This?. However, on February 9, 2010, NIS America revealed it would be changing the game's name to avoid conflict with the Batman franchise. The game was re-released on April 22, 2010 on the PlayStation Network after it was removed to make the changes, while its sequel, What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord? 2, had been delayed to May 4, 2010.\n\nGameplay \nUsing a limited number of \"Dig Power\" and a pickaxe, the player must dig and create a dungeon, and populate it with monsters to defend the demon lord Badman from heroes. More steps are given when a stage is cleared, based on how well the player did. The \"Dig Power\" has another function, however: it is also used to upgrade monsters. The player is given some time to dig out the dungeon and create monsters before a hero comes to capture the demon lord. When the hero is about to enter the dungeon, the player must take Badman and change his location, preferably making it harder for the hero to find him. When the hero gets into the dungeon, he will navigate the dungeon until he finds and captures the demon lord. The hero will fight against any monster that gets in his way.\n\nWhen the hero captures the demon lord, he will retrace the same path, taking the demon lord with him. It is possible to create monsters to save the demon lord during this.\n\nMonsters are created depending on the number of nutrients or mana in the blocks of the dungeon. If the block is covered with moss, and the player uses his pickaxe on this block, a slime will be released. These slimes move around the dungeon, absorbing, and expelling the nutrients from adjacent blocks, creating blocks with more and more nutrients. Once a block obtains enough nutrients, it will change textures depending on just how much is in the block. Stronger, more powerful monsters will be released the more nutrients a block has. The death of monsters or heroes, along with some of the heroes' actions, has varied effects on the surrounding ground. For example, if a hero casts a spell, the surrounding blocks will be filled with mana, which can be used to create different monsters. More so, if that hero dies, the remainder of his mana is expelled onto surrounding blocks.\n\nDevelopment \nThis game is mostly unknown outside Japan and is considered to be a cult hit. A sequel was released entitled Yuusha no Kuse Ni Namaikida or2, which features almost identical gameplay with a few different additions and changes. In April 2009, it was announced that the game was released in North America under the name Holy Invasion Of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Do To Deserve This? On February 9, 2010, the name was changed again to What Did I Do To Deserve This, My Lord!?, to avoid infringing upon the Batman IP. A third game, No Heroes Allowed! was released in late 2010.\n\nReception \n\nWith the exception of Japan, Holy Invasion Of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Do To Deserve This? received average reviews. \"Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! is an extremely quirky, challenging title that has a few frustrating elements that keep it from being a stellar downloadable,\" IGN said about the game. Game Revolution gave the game a C-, stating, \"A weird and unique freak of nature amongst the mundane shooters and RPGs with their played out themes of morality, but it's trying too hard to be clever.\" The game currently holds 69/100 on Metacritic.\n\nSequels\nThere have been two sequels to What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord? released on PSP: What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord? 2 and No Heroes Allowed!. A third sequel, No Heroes Allowed: No Puzzles Either!, was released in 2014 for PlayStation Vita, with a fourth, No Heroes Allowed! VR, released on October 14 2017 for PlayStation VR.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOfficial website\n\n2007 video games\nGod games\nPlayStation Portable games\nPlayStation Portable-only games\nReal-time strategy video games\nSony Interactive Entertainment games\nVideo games developed in Japan",
"Fool on the Hill () is a 1988 comic fantasy novel by Matt Ruff, set at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.\n\nPlot summary\nThe novel is the story of two authors, the buffoonish Prof. Stephen Titus George and his artful adversary Mr. Sunshine. Both live in Ithaca, New York. \n\nDuring a particularly cold New York winter, George starts to suspect that he is not himself but the creation of someone else, someone he calls \"Mr. Sunshine.\" Sunshine and George enter into a battle of wits to determine who should be called \"creator.\" Did George create himself? Did Mr. Sunshine create George? What is the meaning of collaboration?\n\nThroughout the novel colorful characters on the campus of Cornell University appear. There is the mysterious Cornell student Aurora Borealis Smith with whom Stephen Titus George falls in love. There is the Norse God Ragnarok wielding his Pollaxe. There are the Bohemians, a dog named Luther, a cat named Blackjack, Puck, and Calliope, a fire-breathing paper dragon. And let's not forget evil forces like Rasferret the Grub, a mannequin called Rubbermaid, and an army of rats. \n\nAnd so the drama then unfolds as it tells the time-tested story of the battle between Good and Evil and the efforts of the two authors to write the story towards either a happy ending or a tragic Greek drama.\n\nExternal links\nMatt Ruff official website\nA 1998 review by David Soyka at sfsite.com\nA 1998 review by Sara Lipowitz at flowerfire.com\n\n1988 American novels\nAmerican fantasy novels\nCornell University\nNovels set in New York (state)\nCampus novels\nNovels by Matt Ruff\nAtlantic Monthly Press books"
] |
[
"Ludwig Mies van der Rohe",
"Early career",
"What did he do first in his career?",
"He worked in his father's stone carving shop and at several local design firms",
"What design firms did he work for?",
"He began his architectural career as an apprentice at the studio of Peter Behrens from 1908 to 1912,",
"What did he create there?",
"Mies served as construction manager of the Embassy of the German Empire in Saint Petersburg under Behrens."
] | C_4312728096574796a6727ac2c366f99e_1 | What was his biggest project? | 4 | What was Ludwig biggest project? | Ludwig Mies van der Rohe | Mies was born March 27, 1886 in Aachen, Germany. He worked in his father's stone carving shop and at several local design firms before he moved to Berlin, where he joined the office of interior designer Bruno Paul. He began his architectural career as an apprentice at the studio of Peter Behrens from 1908 to 1912, where he was exposed to the current design theories and to progressive German culture, working alongside Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, who was later also involved in the development of the Bauhaus. Mies served as construction manager of the Embassy of the German Empire in Saint Petersburg under Behrens. His talent was quickly recognized and he soon began independent commissions, despite his lack of a formal college-level education. A physically imposing, deliberative, and reticent man, Ludwig Mies renamed himself as part of his rapid transformation from a tradesman's son to an architect working with Berlin's cultural elite, adding "van der" and his mother's surname "Rohe", using the Dutch "van der", because the German form "von" was a nobiliary particle legally restricted to those of genuine aristocratic lineage. He began his independent professional career designing upper-class homes, joining the movement seeking a return to the purity of early 19th-century Germanic domestic styles. He admired the broad proportions, regularity of rhythmic elements, attention to the relationship of the man-made to nature, and compositions using simple cubic forms of the early nineteenth century Prussian Neo-Classical architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel. He rejected the eclectic and cluttered classical styles so common at the turn of the 20th century as irrelevant to the modern times. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd Wright, he is regarded as one of the pioneers of modernist architecture.
In the 1930s, Mies was the last director of the Bauhaus, a ground-breaking school of modern art, design and architecture. After Nazism's rise to power, with its strong opposition to modernism (leading to the closing of the Bauhaus itself), Mies emigrated to the United States. He accepted the position to head the architecture school at what is today the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.
Mies sought to establish his own particular architectural style that could represent modern times just as Classical and Gothic did for their own eras. The style he created made a statement with its extreme clarity and simplicity. His mature buildings made use of modern materials such as industrial steel and plate glass to define interior spaces, as also conducted by other modernist architects in the 1920s and 1930s such as Richard Neutra. Mies strove toward an architecture with a minimal framework of structural order balanced against the implied freedom of unobstructed free-flowing open space. He called his buildings "skin and bones" architecture. He sought an objective approach that would guide the creative process of architectural design, but was always concerned with expressing the spirit of the modern era. He is often associated with his fondness for the aphorisms, "less is more" and "God is in the details".
Early career
Mies was born March 27, 1886, in Aachen, Germany. He worked in his father's stone carving shop and at several local design firms before he moved to Berlin, where he joined the office of interior designer Bruno Paul. He began his architectural career as an apprentice at the studio of Peter Behrens from 1908 to 1912, where he was exposed to the current design theories and to progressive German culture. He worked alongside Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, who was later also involved in the development of the Bauhaus. Mies served as construction manager of the Embassy of the German Empire in Saint Petersburg under Behrens.
Ludwig Mies renamed himself as part of his transformation from a tradesman's son to an architect working with Berlin's cultural elite, adding "van der" and his mother's maiden name "Rohe" (the word mies means "lousy" in German) and using the Dutch "van der", because the German form "von" was a nobiliary particle legally restricted to those of genuine aristocratic lineage. He began his independent professional career designing upper-class homes.
Personal life
In 1913, Mies married Adele Auguste (Ada) Bruhn (1885–1951), the daughter of a wealthy industrialist. The couple separated in 1918, after having three daughters: Dorothea (1914–2008), an actress and dancer who was known as Georgia, Marianne (1915–2003), and Waltraut (1917–1959), who was a research scholar and curator at the Art Institute of Chicago. During his military service in 1917, Mies fathered a son out of wedlock.
In 1925 Mies began a relationship with designer Lilly Reich that ended when he moved to the United States; from 1940 until his death, artist Lora Marx (1900–1989) was his primary companion. Mies carried on a romantic relationship with sculptor and art collector Mary Callery for whom he designed an artist's studio in Huntington, Long Island, New York. He had a brief romantic relationship with Nelly van Doesburg. After having met in Europe many years prior, they met again in New York in 1947 during a dinner with Josep Lluís Sert where he promised her he would help organize an exhibition in Chicago featuring the work of her late husband Theo van Doesburg. This exhibition took place from the 15th of October until the 8th of November 1947, with their romance officially ending not much later. Nevertheless they remained on good terms, spending Easter together in 1948 at a modern farmhouse renovated by Mies on Long Island, as well as meeting several more times that year. He also was rumored to have a brief relationship with Edith Farnsworth, who commissioned his work for the Farnsworth House. His daughter Marianne's son, Dirk Lohan (b. 1938), studied under, and later worked for, Mies.
Traditionalism to Modernism
After World War I, while still designing traditional neoclassical homes, Mies began a parallel experimental effort. He joined his avant-garde peers in the long-running search for a new style that would be suitable for the modern industrial age. The weak points of traditional styles had been under attack by progressive theorists since the mid-nineteenth century, primarily for the contradictions of hiding modern construction technology with a facade of ornamented traditional styles.
The mounting criticism of the historical styles gained substantial cultural credibility after World War I, a disaster widely seen as a failure of the old world order of imperial leadership of Europe. The aristocratic classical revival styles were particularly reviled by many as the architectural symbol of a now-discredited and outmoded social system. Progressive thinkers called for a completely new architectural design process guided by rational problem-solving and an exterior expression of modern materials and structure rather than what they considered the superficial application of classical facades.
While continuing his traditional neoclassical design practice, Mies began to develop visionary projects that, though mostly unbuilt, rocketed him to fame as an architect capable of giving form that was in harmony with the spirit of the emerging modern society. Boldly abandoning ornament altogether, Mies made a dramatic modernist debut in 1921 with his stunning competition proposal for the faceted all-glass Friedrichstraße skyscraper, followed by a taller curved version in 1922 named the Glass Skyscraper.
He constructed his first modernist house with the Villa Wolf in 1926 in Guben (today Gubin, Poland) for Erich and Elisabeth Wolf. This was shortly followed by Haus Lange and Haus Esters in 1928.
He continued with a series of pioneering projects, culminating in his two European masterworks: the temporary German Pavilion for the Barcelona exposition (often called the Barcelona Pavilion) in 1929 (a 1986 reconstruction is now built on the original site) and the elegant Villa Tugendhat in Brno, Czechoslovakia, completed in 1930.
He joined the German avant-garde, working with the progressive design magazine G, which started in July 1923. He developed prominence as architectural director of the Werkbund, organizing the influential Weissenhof Estate prototype modernist housing exhibition. He was also one of the founders of the architectural association Der Ring. He joined the avant-garde Bauhaus design school as their director of architecture, adopting and developing their functionalist application of simple geometric forms in the design of useful objects. He served as its last director.
Like many other avant-garde architects of the day, Mies based his architectural mission and principles on his understanding and interpretation of ideas developed by theorists and critics who pondered the declining relevance of the traditional design styles. He selectively adopted theoretical ideas such as the aesthetic credos of Russian Constructivism with their ideology of "efficient" sculptural assembly of modern industrial materials. Mies found appeal in the use of simple rectilinear and planar forms, clean lines, pure use of color, and the extension of space around and beyond interior walls expounded by the Dutch De Stijl group. In particular, the layering of functional sub-spaces within an overall space and the distinct articulation of parts as expressed by Gerrit Rietveld appealed to Mies.
The design theories of Adolf Loos found resonance with Mies, particularly the ideas of replacing elaborate applied artistic ornament with the straightforward display of innate visual qualities of materials and forms. Loos had proposed that art and crafts should be entirely independent of architecture, that the architect should no longer control those cultural elements as the Beaux Arts principles had dictated. Mies also admired his ideas about the nobility that could be found in the anonymity of modern life.
The bold work of leading American architects was admired by European architects. Like other architects who viewed the drawings in Frank Lloyd Wright's Wasmuth Portfolio, Mies was enthralled with the free-flowing spaces of inter-connected rooms that encompass their outdoor surroundings, as demonstrated by the open floor plans of the Wright's American Prairie Style. American engineering structures were also held up as exemplary of the beauty possible in functional construction, and American skyscrapers were greatly admired.
Emigration to the United States
Commission opportunities dwindled with the Great Depression after 1929. Starting in 1930, Mies served as the last director of the faltering Bauhaus, at the request of his colleague and competitor Walter Gropius. In 1932, Nazi political pressure forced the state-supported school to leave its campus in Dessau, and Mies moved it to an abandoned telephone factory in Berlin. By 1933, however, the continued operation of the school was untenable (it was raided by the Gestapo in April), and in July of that year, Mies and the faculty voted to close the Bauhaus. He built very little in these years (one built commission was Philip Johnson's New York apartment); the Nazis rejected his style as not "German" in character.
Frustrated and unhappy, he left his homeland reluctantly in 1937 as he saw his opportunity for any future building commissions vanish, accepting a residential commission in Wyoming and then an offer to head the department of architecture of the newly established Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chicago. There he introduced a new kind of education and attitude later known as Second Chicago School, which became very influential in the following decades in North America and Europe.
Career in the United States
Mies settled in Chicago, Illinois, where he was appointed head of the architecture school at Chicago's Armour Institute of Technology (later renamed Illinois Institute of Technology). One of the benefits of taking this position was that he would be commissioned to design the new buildings and master plan for the campus. All his buildings still stand there, including Alumni Hall, the chapel, and his masterpiece the S.R. Crown Hall, built as the home of IIT's School of Architecture. Crown Hall is widely regarded as Mies' finest work, the definition of Miesian architecture.
In 1944, he became an American citizen, completing his severance from his native Germany. His thirty years as an American architect reflect a more structural, pure approach toward achieving his goal of a new architecture for the twentieth century. He focused his efforts on enclosing open and adaptable "universal" spaces with clearly arranged structural frameworks, featuring prefabricated steel shapes filled in with large sheets of glass.
His early projects at the IIT campus, and for developer Herbert Greenwald, presented to Americans a style that seemed a natural progression of the almost forgotten nineteenth century Chicago School style. His architecture, with origins in the German Bauhaus and western European International Style, became an accepted mode of building for American cultural and educational institutions, developers, public agencies, and large corporations.
American work
Mies worked from his studio in downtown Chicago for his entire 31-year period in America. His significant projects in the U.S. include in Chicago and the area: the residential towers of 860–880 Lake Shore Dr, the Chicago Federal Center complex, the Farnsworth House, Crown Hall and other structures at IIT; and the Seagram Building in New York. These iconic works became the prototypes for his other projects. He also built homes for wealthy clients.
Chicago Federal Complex
Chicago Federal Center Plaza, also known as Chicago Federal Plaza, unified three buildings of varying scales: the mid-rise Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse, the high-rise John C. Kluczynski Building, and the single-story Post Office building. The complex's plot area extends over two blocks; a one-block site, bounded by Jackson, Clark, Adams, and Dearborn streets, contains the Kluczynski Federal Building and U.S. Post Office Loop Station, while a parcel on an adjacent block to the east contains the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse. The structural framing of the buildings is formed of high-tensile bolted steel and concrete. The exterior curtain walls are defined by projecting steel I-beam mullions covered with flat black graphite paint, characteristic of Mies's designs. The balance of the curtain walls are of bronze-tinted glass panes, framed in shiny aluminum, and separated by steel spandrels, also covered with flat black graphite paint. The entire complex is organized on a 28-foot grid pattern subdivided into six 4-foot, 8-inch modules. This pattern extends from the granite-paved plaza into the ground-floor lobbies of the two tower buildings with the grid lines continuing vertically up the buildings and integrating each component of the complex. Associated architects that have played a role in the complex's long history from 1959 to 1974 include Schmidt, Garden & Erickson; C.F. Murphy Associates; and A. Epstein & Sons.
Farnsworth House
Between 1946 and 1951, Mies van der Rohe designed and built the Farnsworth House, a weekend retreat outside Chicago for an independent professional woman, Dr. Edith Farnsworth. Here, Mies explored the relationship between people, shelter, and nature. The glass pavilion is raised six feet above a floodplain next to the Fox River, surrounded by forest and rural prairies.
The highly crafted pristine white structural frame and all-glass walls define a simple rectilinear interior space, allowing nature and light to envelop the interior space. A wood-paneled fireplace (also housing mechanical equipment, kitchen, and toilets) is positioned within the open space to suggest living, dining and sleeping spaces without using walls. No partitions touch the surrounding all-glass enclosure. Without solid exterior walls, full-height draperies on a perimeter track allow freedom to provide full or partial privacy when and where desired. The house has been described as sublime, a temple hovering between heaven and earth, a poem, a work of art.
The Farnsworth House and its wooded site was purchased at auction for US$7.5 million by preservation groups in 2004 and is now owned and operated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as a public museum. The building influenced the creation of hundreds of modernist glass houses, most notably the Glass House by Philip Johnson, located near New York City and also now owned by the National Trust.
The house is an embodiment of Mies' mature vision of modern architecture for the new technological age: a single unencumbered space within a minimal "skin and bones" framework, a clearly understandable arrangement of architectural parts. His ideas are stated with clarity and simplicity, using materials that are configured to express their own individual character.
The Promontory – Lake Shore Drive
The Promontory Apartments is a 22-story skyscraper in Hyde Park, Chicago, Illinois, that overlooks Promontory Point in Burnham Park and its Lake Michigan beaches. It is the first residential skyscraper Mies designed and the first of his buildings to feature concepts such as an exposed skeleton. An active community cooperative, the building which is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, has 122 units. Its building was initiated by developer Herbert Greenwald for wealthier occupants. Mies employed a Double T design with the horizontal cross-bars joined; the stems of the T's form wings to the rear. Each T is its own building with separate addresses, elevators, and interior stairways. This tripartite design would feature prominently in future Mies designs. Starting with the third story, each floor of each T has three apartments that share an elevator lobby. A solarium and party room on the roof provides excellent views of the park and beaches to the east, and the University of Chicago to the west.
860–880 Lake Shore Drive
Mies designed a series of four middle-income high-rise apartment buildings for developer Herbert Greenwald: the 860–880 (which was built between 1949 and 1951) and 900–910 Lake Shore Drive towers on Chicago's Lakefront. These towers, with façades of steel and glass, were radical departures from the typical residential brick apartment buildings of the time. Mies found their unit sizes too small for him, choosing instead to continue living in a spacious traditional luxury apartment a few blocks away. The towers were simple rectangular boxes with a non-hierarchical wall enclosure, raised on stilts above a glass-enclosed lobby.
The lobby is set back from the perimeter columns, which were exposed around the perimeter of the building above, creating a modern arcade not unlike those of the Greek temples. This configuration created a feeling of light, openness, and freedom of movement at the ground level that became the prototype for countless new towers designed both by Mies's office and his followers. Some historians argue that this new approach is an expression of the American spirit and the boundless open space of the frontier, which German culture so admired.
Once Mies had established his basic design concept for the general form and details of his tower buildings, he applied those solutions (with evolving refinements) to his later high-rise building projects. The architecture of his towers appears similar, but each project represents new ideas about the formation of highly sophisticated urban space at ground level. He delighted in the composition of multiple towers arranged in a seemingly casual non-hierarchical relation to each other.
Just as with his interiors, he created free flowing spaces and flat surfaces that represented the idea of an oasis of uncluttered clarity and calm within the chaos of the city. He included nature by leaving openings in the pavement, through which plants seem to grow unfettered by urbanization, just as in the pre-settlement environment.
Seagram Building
Although now acclaimed and widely influential as an urban design feature, Mies had to convince Bronfman's bankers that a taller tower with significant "unused" open space at ground level would enhance the presence and prestige of the building. Mies' design included a bronze curtain wall with external H-shaped mullions that were exaggerated in depth beyond what was structurally necessary. Detractors criticized it as having committed Adolf Loos's "crime of ornamentation". Philip Johnson had a role in interior materials selections, and he designed the sumptuous Four Seasons Restaurant. The Seagram Building is said to be an early example of the innovative "fast-track" construction process, where design documentation and construction are done concurrently.
During 1951–1952, Mies' designed the steel, glass, and brick McCormick House, located in Elmhurst, Illinois (15 miles west of the Chicago Loop), for real-estate developer Robert Hall McCormick, Jr. A one-story adaptation of the exterior curtain wall of his famous 860–880 Lake Shore Drive towers, it served as a prototype for an unbuilt series of speculative houses to be constructed in Melrose Park, Illinois. The house has been moved and reconfigured as a part of the public Elmhurst Art Museum. He also built a residence for John M. van Beuren on a family estate near Morristown, New Jersey.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Mies designed two buildings for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) as additions to the Caroline Wiess Law Building. In 1953, the MFAH commissioned Mies van der Rohe to create a master plan for the institution. He designed two additions to the building—Cullinan Hall, completed in 1958, and the Brown Pavilion, completed in 1974. A renowned example of the International Style, these portions of the Caroline Wiess Law Building comprise one of only two Mies-designed museums in the world.
Two buildings in Baltimore, MD
The One Charles Center, built in 1962, is a 23-story aluminum and glass building that heralded the beginning of Baltimore's downtown modern buildings. The Highfield House, just to the northeast of the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus, was built in 1964 as a rental apartment building. The 15-story concrete tower became a residential condominium building in 1979. Both buildings are now on the National Register of Historic Places.
National Gallery, Berlin
Mies's last work was the Neue Nationalgalerie art museum, the New National Gallery for the Berlin National Gallery. Considered one of the most perfect statements of his architectural approach, the upper pavilion is a precise composition of monumental steel columns and a cantilevered (overhanging) roof plane with a glass enclosure. The simple square glass pavilion is a powerful expression of his ideas about flexible interior space, defined by transparent walls and supported by an external structural frame. Art installations by Ulrich Rückriem (1998) or Jenny Holzer, as much as exhibitions on the work of Renzo Piano or Rem Koolhaas have demonstrated the exceptional possibilities of this space.
The glass pavilion is a relatively small portion of the overall building, serving as a symbolic architectural entry point and monumental gallery for temporary exhibits. A large podium building below the pavilion accommodates most of the museum's total built area with conventional white-walled art gallery spaces and support functions. A large window running along all the West facade opens these spaces up to the large sculpture garden which is part of the podium building.
Mies Building at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN
In 1952, a fraternity commissioned Mies to design a building on the Indiana University campus in Bloomington, Indiana. The plan was not realized during his lifetime, but the design was rediscovered in 2013, and in 2019 the university's Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design announced they would be constructing it with blessing of his grandchildren. The building is scheduled to open in September 2021.
Furniture
Mies, often in collaboration with Lilly Reich, designed modern furniture pieces using new industrial technologies that have become popular classics, such as the Barcelona chair and table, the Brno chair, and the Tugendhat chair. His furniture is known for fine craftsmanship, a mix of traditional luxurious fabrics like leather combined with modern chrome frames, and a distinct separation of the supporting structure and the supported surfaces, often employing cantilevers to enhance the feeling of lightness created by delicate structural frames.
Educator
Mies served as the last director of Berlin's Bauhaus, and then headed the department of architecture, Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, where he developed the Second Chicago School. He played a significant role as an educator, believing his architectural language could be learned, then applied to design any type of modern building. He set up a new education at the department of architecture of the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago replacing the traditional Ecole des Beaux-Art curriculum by a three-step-education beginning with crafts of drawing and construction leading to planning skills and finishing with theory of architecture (compare Vitruvius: firmitas, utilitas, venustas). He worked personally and intensively on prototype solutions, and then allowed his students, both in school and his office, to develop derivative solutions for specific projects under his guidance.
Some of Mies' curriculum is still put in practice in the first and second year programs at IIT, including the precise drafting of brick construction details so unpopular with aspiring student architects. When none was able to match the quality of his own work, he agonized about where his educational method had gone wrong. Nevertheless, his achievements in creating a teachable architecture language that can be used to express the modern technological era survives until today.
Mies placed great importance on education of architects who could carry on his design principles. He devoted a great deal of time and effort leading the architecture program at IIT. Mies served on the initial Advisory Board of the Graham Foundation in Chicago. His own practice was based on intensive personal involvement in design efforts to create prototype solutions for building types (860 Lake Shore Drive, the Farnsworth House, Seagram Building, S. R. Crown Hall, The New National Gallery), then allowing his studio designers to develop derivative buildings under his supervision.
In 1961, a program at Columbia University's School of Architecture celebrated the four great founders of contemporary architecture: Charles-Edouard Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright. It included addresses by Le Corbusier and Gropius as well as an interview with Mies van der Rohe. Discussion focused upon philosophies of design, aspects of their various architectural projects, and the juncture of architecture and city planning.
Mies's grandson Dirk Lohan and two partners led the firm after he died in 1969. Lohan, who had collaborated with Mies on the New National Gallery, continued with existing projects but soon led the firm on his own independent path. Other disciples continued Mies's architectural language for years, notably Gene Summers, David Haid, Myron Goldsmith, Y.C. Wong, Jacques Brownson, and other architects at the firms of C.F. Murphy and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
But while Mies' work had enormous influence and critical recognition, his approach failed to sustain a creative force as a style after his death and was eclipsed by the new wave of Post Modernism by the 1980s. Proponents of the Post Modern style attacked the Modernism with clever statements such as "less is a bore" and with captivating images such as Crown Hall sinking in Lake Michigan. Mies had hoped his architecture would serve as a universal model that could be easily imitated, but the aesthetic power of his best buildings proved impossible to match, instead resulting mostly in drab and uninspired structures rejected by the general public. The failure of his followers to meet his high standard may have contributed to demise of Modernism and the rise of new competing design theories following his death.
Later years and death
Over the last twenty years of his life, Mies developed and built his vision of a monumental "skin and bones" architecture that reflected his goal to provide the individual a place to fulfill himself in the modern era. Mies sought to create free and open spaces, enclosed within a structural order with minimal presence. In 1963, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Mies van der Rohe died on August 17, 1969, from esophageal cancer caused by his smoking habit. After cremation, his ashes were buried near Chicago's other famous architects in Chicago's Graceland Cemetery. His grave is marked by an intentionally unadorned, clean-line black slab of polished granite and a large honey locust tree.
Archives
The Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Archive, an administratively independent section of the Museum of Modern Art's department of architecture and design, was established in 1968 by the museum's trustees. It was founded in response to the architect's desire to bequeath his entire work to the museum. The archive consists of about nineteen thousand drawings and prints, one thousand of which are by the designer and architect Lilly Reich (1885–1947), Mies van der Rohe's close collaborator from 1927 to 1937; of written documents (primarily, the business correspondence) covering nearly the entire career of the architect; of photographs of buildings, models, and furniture; and of audiotapes, books, and periodicals.
Archival materials are also held by the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries at the Art Institute of Chicago. The Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Collection, 1929–1969 (bulk 1948–1960) includes correspondence, articles, and materials related to his association with the Illinois Institute of Technology. The Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Metropolitan Structures Collection, 1961–1969, includes scrapbooks and photographs documenting Chicago projects.
Other archives are held at the University of Illinois at Chicago (personal book collection), the Canadian Centre for Architecture (drawings and photos) in Montreal, the Newberry Library in Chicago (personal correspondence), and at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. (professional correspondence).
Gallery
List of works
Early career in Europe (1907–1938)
1908 Riehl House – Residential home, Potsdam, Germany
1911 Perls House – Residential home, Zehlendorf
1913 Werner House – Residential home, Zehlendorf
1917 Urbig House – Residential home, Potsdam
1922 Kempner House – Residential home, Charlottenburg
1922 Eichstaedt House – Residential home, Wannsee
1922 Feldmann House – Residential home, Wilmersdorf
1923 Ryder House – Residential home, Wiesbaden
1925 Villa Wolf – Residential home, Guben
1926 Mosler House – Residential home, Babelsberg
1926 – Monument dedicated to Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde, Berlin
1927 Afrikanische Straße Apartments – Multi-Family Residential, Berlin, Germany
1927 Weissenhof Estate – Housing Exhibition coordinated by Mies and with a contribution by him, Stuttgart
1928 Haus Lange and Haus Esters – Residential home and an art museum, Krefeld
1929 Barcelona Pavilion – World's Fair Pavilion, Barcelona, Spain
1930 Villa Tugendhat – Residential home, Brno, Czechia, designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2001
1930 Verseidag Factory – Dyeing and HE Silk Mill building Krefeld, Germany
1932 Lemke House – Residential home, Weissensee
Buildings after emigration to the United States (1939–1960)
1939–1958 – Illinois Institute of Technology Campus Master Plan, academic campus & buildings, Chicago, Illinois
1949 The Promontory Apartments – Residential apartment complex, Chicago, Illinois
1951 Sheridan-Oakdale Apartments (2933 N Sheridan Rd ) – Residential apartment complex, Chicago, Illinois
1951 Lake Shore Drive Apartments – Residential apartment towers, Chicago
1951 Algonquin Apartments – Residential apartments, Chicago, Illinois
1951 Farnsworth House – Vacation home, Plano, Illinois
1952 Arts Club of Chicago Interior Renovation – Art gallery, demolished in 1997, Chicago, Illinois
1952 Robert H. McCormick House – Residential home, relocated to the Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, Illinois
1954 Cullinan Hall – Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
1956 Crown Hall, Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture – Academic building, Chicago, Illinois
1956 900-910 North Lake Shore (Esplanade Apartments) – Residential apartment complex, Chicago, Illinois
1957 Commonwealth Promenade Apartments (330–330 W Diversey Parkway) – Residential apartment complex, Chicago (1957)
1958 Seagram Building – Office tower, New York City, New York
1958 Caroline Wiess Law Building, Museum of Fine Art, Houston
1959 Home Federal Savings and Loan Association Building – Office building, Des Moines, Iowa
1959 Lafayette Park – Residential development, Detroit, Michigan.
1960 Pavilion and Colonnade Apartments– Residential complex, Newark, New Jersey
Late career Worldwide (1961–69)
1961 Bacardi Office Building – Office Building, Mexico City
1962 Tourelle-Sur-Rive – Residential apartment complex of three towers, Nuns' Island, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
1962 Home Federal Savings and Loan Association of Des Moines Building – Office Building, Des Moines, Iowa
1962 One Charles Center – Office Tower, Baltimore, Maryland
1963 2400 North Lakeview Apartments – Residential Apartment Complex, Chicago, Illinois
1963 Morris Greenwald House – Vacation Home, Weston, Connecticut
1964 Chicago Federal Center – Civic Complex, Chicago, Illinois
1960–1964 Dirksen Federal Building – Office Tower, Chicago
Kluczynski Federal Building – Office Tower, Chicago
United States Post Office Loop Station – General Post Office, Chicago
1964 Highfield House, 4000 North Charles – Originally Rental Apartments, and now Condominium Apartments, Baltimore, Maryland
1965 University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration – Academic Building Chicago, Illinois
1965 Richard King Mellon Hall – Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA
1965 Meredith Hall – School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Drake University, Des Moines, IA
1967 Westmount Square – Office & Residential Tower Complex, Westmount, Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada
1968 Neue Nationalgalerie – Modern Art Museum, Berlin, Germany
1965–1968 Brown Pavilion, Museum of Fine Art, Houston
1967–1969 Toronto-Dominion Centre – Office Tower Complex, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
1969 Filling station – Nuns' Island, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (closed)
1970 One Illinois Center – Office Tower, Chicago, Illinois (completed post-mortem)
1972 Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library – District of Columbia Public Library, Washington, D.C. (completed post-mortem)
1973 American Life Building – Louisville, Kentucky (completed after Mies's death by Bruno Conterato)
1973 IBM Plaza – Office Tower, Chicago (completed post-mortem)
Buildings on the Illinois Institute of Technology Campus (1939–1958)
1943 Minerals & Metals Research Building – Research
1945 Engineering Research Building – Research
1946 Alumni Memorial Hall – Classroom
1946 Wishnick Hall – Classroom
1946 Perlstein Hall – Classroom
1950 I.I.T. Boiler Plant – Academic
1950 Institute of Gas Technology Building – Research
1950 American Association of Railroads Administration Building (now the College of Music Building) – Administration
1952 Mechanical Engineering Research Building I – Research
1952 Carr Memorial Chapel – Religious
1953 American Association of Railroads Mechanical Engineering Building – Research
1953 Carman Hall at IIT – Dormitory
1955 Cunningham Hall – Dormitory
1955 Bailey Hall – Dormitory
1955 I.I.T. Commons Building
1956 Crown Hall – Academic, College of Architecture
1957 Physics & Electrical Engineering Research Building – Research
1957 Siegel Hall – Classroom
1953 American Association of Railroads Laboratory Building – Research
1958 Metals Technology Building Extension – Research
See also
Online Architecture – lets the construction purpose of building online
International style (architecture)
References
Further reading
Lamster, Mark (2018). "The man in the Glass House: Philip Johnson, Architect of the Modern Century" (hardcover,528 pages) Little, Brown & Co. English; ;
Rovira, Josep M; Casais, Lluis (2002). Mies van der Rohe Pavilion: Reflections,71 pages. Publisher:Triangle Postal.
External links
Mies van der Rohe Society
Mies van der Rohe Foundation
Mies in Berlin-Mies in America
Great Buildings Architects
Mies van der Rohe Spotlight – ArchDaily
Elmhurst Art Museum, featuring McCormick House
Richard King Mellon Hall, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA
Mies, IIT, and the Second Chicago School
Mies in America exhibition
Travel guide to Mies Buildings
Construction underway to transform famed Nuns’ Island gas station
Mies' Lafayette Park in Detroit
Mies in IR
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe architectural and furniture drawings, 1946–1961, held by the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University
Finding aid for the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and his students collection , Canadian Centre for Architecture
Functionalist architects
1886 births
1969 deaths
19th-century Prussian people
20th-century American architects
Bauhaus teachers
Burials at Graceland Cemetery (Chicago)
20th-century German architects
German emigrants to the United States
German furniture designers
Illinois Institute of Technology faculty
Architecture educators
International style architects
Modernist architects from Germany
People from Aachen
Artists from Chicago
People from the Rhine Province
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)
Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Fellows of the American Institute of Architects
Recipients of the AIA Gold Medal | false | [
"The Rath Packing Company Administration Building, also known as Adams Store Inc., is a historic Late Gothic Revival building in Waterloo, Iowa.\n\nIt is a surviving remnant of what was the largest meat-packing plant in the United States in 1941. The plant started in 1891 with hogs, and was \"massive\". The company was the 5th biggest at the end of World War II, in 1945. In 1966 it was the ninth largest, and it was also the 249th biggest industrial company of any kind in the United States. It closed in 1985.\n\nPreservation of the larger complex as a historic district was sought, but was not obtained, as the specialized industrial buildings rapidly deteriorated.\n\nThe administration building, completed in 1925, is unlike all other buildings in the plant, in that it was designed by a local architect, who was John S. Hartley (1891/92–1985). It was built by the John G. Miller Construction Company, which had submitted the low bid, $78,496, for the project. An extension was later added by contractor Tom McDonald.\n\nIt was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.\n\nSee also\nRath Packing Company\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nNational Register of Historic Places in Black Hawk County, Iowa\nGothic Revival architecture in Iowa\nHistoric American Engineering Record in Iowa\nBuildings and structures completed in 1925\nBuildings and structures in Waterloo, Iowa\nOffice buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa\n1925 establishments in Iowa",
"Under is an underwater restaurant in Lindesnes, Norway. Its dining room is found 5.5 meter below sea level. The eating floor is 495 square metres, making it the biggest underwater restaurant in the world, with a capacity of 40 people. It is the only underwater restaurant in Europe, and only the third to be found worldwide. The restaurant was designed by Norwegian architecture-firm Snøhetta.\n\nThe head chef is Danish Nicolai Ellitsgaard and the restaurant's culinary focus is to showcase the diversity of what the ocean and land has to offer from the southern part of Norway. The restaurant operates with a tasting menu consisting of around 18 to 22 dishes.\nThe creations by Chef Ellitsgaard and his team was awarded with one star in the Michelin Guide after being open for less than one year.\n\nBackground \nThe idea for the restaurant was created by entrepreneur-brothers Stig and Gaute Ubostad. The project became official in autumn 2016. The restaurant opened the 20th of March 2019. The total price for the project was 70 million Norwegian kroner, equal to 7 million Euros or around 8.5 million USD.\n\nThe project has received widespread media attention. The day of opening, 7.500 people had already booked a table. Journalists from over 30 countries were present.\n\n\"Under\" in Norwegian carries a double meaning, meaning both under and wonder.\n\nReferences \n\nRestaurants in Norway"
] |
[
"Ludwig Mies van der Rohe",
"Early career",
"What did he do first in his career?",
"He worked in his father's stone carving shop and at several local design firms",
"What design firms did he work for?",
"He began his architectural career as an apprentice at the studio of Peter Behrens from 1908 to 1912,",
"What did he create there?",
"Mies served as construction manager of the Embassy of the German Empire in Saint Petersburg under Behrens.",
"What was his biggest project?",
"I don't know."
] | C_4312728096574796a6727ac2c366f99e_1 | Did he do anything aside from work for the firms and his father? | 5 | Did Ludwig do anything aside from work for the firms and his father? | Ludwig Mies van der Rohe | Mies was born March 27, 1886 in Aachen, Germany. He worked in his father's stone carving shop and at several local design firms before he moved to Berlin, where he joined the office of interior designer Bruno Paul. He began his architectural career as an apprentice at the studio of Peter Behrens from 1908 to 1912, where he was exposed to the current design theories and to progressive German culture, working alongside Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, who was later also involved in the development of the Bauhaus. Mies served as construction manager of the Embassy of the German Empire in Saint Petersburg under Behrens. His talent was quickly recognized and he soon began independent commissions, despite his lack of a formal college-level education. A physically imposing, deliberative, and reticent man, Ludwig Mies renamed himself as part of his rapid transformation from a tradesman's son to an architect working with Berlin's cultural elite, adding "van der" and his mother's surname "Rohe", using the Dutch "van der", because the German form "von" was a nobiliary particle legally restricted to those of genuine aristocratic lineage. He began his independent professional career designing upper-class homes, joining the movement seeking a return to the purity of early 19th-century Germanic domestic styles. He admired the broad proportions, regularity of rhythmic elements, attention to the relationship of the man-made to nature, and compositions using simple cubic forms of the early nineteenth century Prussian Neo-Classical architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel. He rejected the eclectic and cluttered classical styles so common at the turn of the 20th century as irrelevant to the modern times. CANNOTANSWER | He began his independent professional career designing upper-class homes, joining the movement seeking a return to the purity of early 19th-century Germanic domestic styles. | Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd Wright, he is regarded as one of the pioneers of modernist architecture.
In the 1930s, Mies was the last director of the Bauhaus, a ground-breaking school of modern art, design and architecture. After Nazism's rise to power, with its strong opposition to modernism (leading to the closing of the Bauhaus itself), Mies emigrated to the United States. He accepted the position to head the architecture school at what is today the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.
Mies sought to establish his own particular architectural style that could represent modern times just as Classical and Gothic did for their own eras. The style he created made a statement with its extreme clarity and simplicity. His mature buildings made use of modern materials such as industrial steel and plate glass to define interior spaces, as also conducted by other modernist architects in the 1920s and 1930s such as Richard Neutra. Mies strove toward an architecture with a minimal framework of structural order balanced against the implied freedom of unobstructed free-flowing open space. He called his buildings "skin and bones" architecture. He sought an objective approach that would guide the creative process of architectural design, but was always concerned with expressing the spirit of the modern era. He is often associated with his fondness for the aphorisms, "less is more" and "God is in the details".
Early career
Mies was born March 27, 1886, in Aachen, Germany. He worked in his father's stone carving shop and at several local design firms before he moved to Berlin, where he joined the office of interior designer Bruno Paul. He began his architectural career as an apprentice at the studio of Peter Behrens from 1908 to 1912, where he was exposed to the current design theories and to progressive German culture. He worked alongside Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, who was later also involved in the development of the Bauhaus. Mies served as construction manager of the Embassy of the German Empire in Saint Petersburg under Behrens.
Ludwig Mies renamed himself as part of his transformation from a tradesman's son to an architect working with Berlin's cultural elite, adding "van der" and his mother's maiden name "Rohe" (the word mies means "lousy" in German) and using the Dutch "van der", because the German form "von" was a nobiliary particle legally restricted to those of genuine aristocratic lineage. He began his independent professional career designing upper-class homes.
Personal life
In 1913, Mies married Adele Auguste (Ada) Bruhn (1885–1951), the daughter of a wealthy industrialist. The couple separated in 1918, after having three daughters: Dorothea (1914–2008), an actress and dancer who was known as Georgia, Marianne (1915–2003), and Waltraut (1917–1959), who was a research scholar and curator at the Art Institute of Chicago. During his military service in 1917, Mies fathered a son out of wedlock.
In 1925 Mies began a relationship with designer Lilly Reich that ended when he moved to the United States; from 1940 until his death, artist Lora Marx (1900–1989) was his primary companion. Mies carried on a romantic relationship with sculptor and art collector Mary Callery for whom he designed an artist's studio in Huntington, Long Island, New York. He had a brief romantic relationship with Nelly van Doesburg. After having met in Europe many years prior, they met again in New York in 1947 during a dinner with Josep Lluís Sert where he promised her he would help organize an exhibition in Chicago featuring the work of her late husband Theo van Doesburg. This exhibition took place from the 15th of October until the 8th of November 1947, with their romance officially ending not much later. Nevertheless they remained on good terms, spending Easter together in 1948 at a modern farmhouse renovated by Mies on Long Island, as well as meeting several more times that year. He also was rumored to have a brief relationship with Edith Farnsworth, who commissioned his work for the Farnsworth House. His daughter Marianne's son, Dirk Lohan (b. 1938), studied under, and later worked for, Mies.
Traditionalism to Modernism
After World War I, while still designing traditional neoclassical homes, Mies began a parallel experimental effort. He joined his avant-garde peers in the long-running search for a new style that would be suitable for the modern industrial age. The weak points of traditional styles had been under attack by progressive theorists since the mid-nineteenth century, primarily for the contradictions of hiding modern construction technology with a facade of ornamented traditional styles.
The mounting criticism of the historical styles gained substantial cultural credibility after World War I, a disaster widely seen as a failure of the old world order of imperial leadership of Europe. The aristocratic classical revival styles were particularly reviled by many as the architectural symbol of a now-discredited and outmoded social system. Progressive thinkers called for a completely new architectural design process guided by rational problem-solving and an exterior expression of modern materials and structure rather than what they considered the superficial application of classical facades.
While continuing his traditional neoclassical design practice, Mies began to develop visionary projects that, though mostly unbuilt, rocketed him to fame as an architect capable of giving form that was in harmony with the spirit of the emerging modern society. Boldly abandoning ornament altogether, Mies made a dramatic modernist debut in 1921 with his stunning competition proposal for the faceted all-glass Friedrichstraße skyscraper, followed by a taller curved version in 1922 named the Glass Skyscraper.
He constructed his first modernist house with the Villa Wolf in 1926 in Guben (today Gubin, Poland) for Erich and Elisabeth Wolf. This was shortly followed by Haus Lange and Haus Esters in 1928.
He continued with a series of pioneering projects, culminating in his two European masterworks: the temporary German Pavilion for the Barcelona exposition (often called the Barcelona Pavilion) in 1929 (a 1986 reconstruction is now built on the original site) and the elegant Villa Tugendhat in Brno, Czechoslovakia, completed in 1930.
He joined the German avant-garde, working with the progressive design magazine G, which started in July 1923. He developed prominence as architectural director of the Werkbund, organizing the influential Weissenhof Estate prototype modernist housing exhibition. He was also one of the founders of the architectural association Der Ring. He joined the avant-garde Bauhaus design school as their director of architecture, adopting and developing their functionalist application of simple geometric forms in the design of useful objects. He served as its last director.
Like many other avant-garde architects of the day, Mies based his architectural mission and principles on his understanding and interpretation of ideas developed by theorists and critics who pondered the declining relevance of the traditional design styles. He selectively adopted theoretical ideas such as the aesthetic credos of Russian Constructivism with their ideology of "efficient" sculptural assembly of modern industrial materials. Mies found appeal in the use of simple rectilinear and planar forms, clean lines, pure use of color, and the extension of space around and beyond interior walls expounded by the Dutch De Stijl group. In particular, the layering of functional sub-spaces within an overall space and the distinct articulation of parts as expressed by Gerrit Rietveld appealed to Mies.
The design theories of Adolf Loos found resonance with Mies, particularly the ideas of replacing elaborate applied artistic ornament with the straightforward display of innate visual qualities of materials and forms. Loos had proposed that art and crafts should be entirely independent of architecture, that the architect should no longer control those cultural elements as the Beaux Arts principles had dictated. Mies also admired his ideas about the nobility that could be found in the anonymity of modern life.
The bold work of leading American architects was admired by European architects. Like other architects who viewed the drawings in Frank Lloyd Wright's Wasmuth Portfolio, Mies was enthralled with the free-flowing spaces of inter-connected rooms that encompass their outdoor surroundings, as demonstrated by the open floor plans of the Wright's American Prairie Style. American engineering structures were also held up as exemplary of the beauty possible in functional construction, and American skyscrapers were greatly admired.
Emigration to the United States
Commission opportunities dwindled with the Great Depression after 1929. Starting in 1930, Mies served as the last director of the faltering Bauhaus, at the request of his colleague and competitor Walter Gropius. In 1932, Nazi political pressure forced the state-supported school to leave its campus in Dessau, and Mies moved it to an abandoned telephone factory in Berlin. By 1933, however, the continued operation of the school was untenable (it was raided by the Gestapo in April), and in July of that year, Mies and the faculty voted to close the Bauhaus. He built very little in these years (one built commission was Philip Johnson's New York apartment); the Nazis rejected his style as not "German" in character.
Frustrated and unhappy, he left his homeland reluctantly in 1937 as he saw his opportunity for any future building commissions vanish, accepting a residential commission in Wyoming and then an offer to head the department of architecture of the newly established Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chicago. There he introduced a new kind of education and attitude later known as Second Chicago School, which became very influential in the following decades in North America and Europe.
Career in the United States
Mies settled in Chicago, Illinois, where he was appointed head of the architecture school at Chicago's Armour Institute of Technology (later renamed Illinois Institute of Technology). One of the benefits of taking this position was that he would be commissioned to design the new buildings and master plan for the campus. All his buildings still stand there, including Alumni Hall, the chapel, and his masterpiece the S.R. Crown Hall, built as the home of IIT's School of Architecture. Crown Hall is widely regarded as Mies' finest work, the definition of Miesian architecture.
In 1944, he became an American citizen, completing his severance from his native Germany. His thirty years as an American architect reflect a more structural, pure approach toward achieving his goal of a new architecture for the twentieth century. He focused his efforts on enclosing open and adaptable "universal" spaces with clearly arranged structural frameworks, featuring prefabricated steel shapes filled in with large sheets of glass.
His early projects at the IIT campus, and for developer Herbert Greenwald, presented to Americans a style that seemed a natural progression of the almost forgotten nineteenth century Chicago School style. His architecture, with origins in the German Bauhaus and western European International Style, became an accepted mode of building for American cultural and educational institutions, developers, public agencies, and large corporations.
American work
Mies worked from his studio in downtown Chicago for his entire 31-year period in America. His significant projects in the U.S. include in Chicago and the area: the residential towers of 860–880 Lake Shore Dr, the Chicago Federal Center complex, the Farnsworth House, Crown Hall and other structures at IIT; and the Seagram Building in New York. These iconic works became the prototypes for his other projects. He also built homes for wealthy clients.
Chicago Federal Complex
Chicago Federal Center Plaza, also known as Chicago Federal Plaza, unified three buildings of varying scales: the mid-rise Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse, the high-rise John C. Kluczynski Building, and the single-story Post Office building. The complex's plot area extends over two blocks; a one-block site, bounded by Jackson, Clark, Adams, and Dearborn streets, contains the Kluczynski Federal Building and U.S. Post Office Loop Station, while a parcel on an adjacent block to the east contains the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse. The structural framing of the buildings is formed of high-tensile bolted steel and concrete. The exterior curtain walls are defined by projecting steel I-beam mullions covered with flat black graphite paint, characteristic of Mies's designs. The balance of the curtain walls are of bronze-tinted glass panes, framed in shiny aluminum, and separated by steel spandrels, also covered with flat black graphite paint. The entire complex is organized on a 28-foot grid pattern subdivided into six 4-foot, 8-inch modules. This pattern extends from the granite-paved plaza into the ground-floor lobbies of the two tower buildings with the grid lines continuing vertically up the buildings and integrating each component of the complex. Associated architects that have played a role in the complex's long history from 1959 to 1974 include Schmidt, Garden & Erickson; C.F. Murphy Associates; and A. Epstein & Sons.
Farnsworth House
Between 1946 and 1951, Mies van der Rohe designed and built the Farnsworth House, a weekend retreat outside Chicago for an independent professional woman, Dr. Edith Farnsworth. Here, Mies explored the relationship between people, shelter, and nature. The glass pavilion is raised six feet above a floodplain next to the Fox River, surrounded by forest and rural prairies.
The highly crafted pristine white structural frame and all-glass walls define a simple rectilinear interior space, allowing nature and light to envelop the interior space. A wood-paneled fireplace (also housing mechanical equipment, kitchen, and toilets) is positioned within the open space to suggest living, dining and sleeping spaces without using walls. No partitions touch the surrounding all-glass enclosure. Without solid exterior walls, full-height draperies on a perimeter track allow freedom to provide full or partial privacy when and where desired. The house has been described as sublime, a temple hovering between heaven and earth, a poem, a work of art.
The Farnsworth House and its wooded site was purchased at auction for US$7.5 million by preservation groups in 2004 and is now owned and operated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as a public museum. The building influenced the creation of hundreds of modernist glass houses, most notably the Glass House by Philip Johnson, located near New York City and also now owned by the National Trust.
The house is an embodiment of Mies' mature vision of modern architecture for the new technological age: a single unencumbered space within a minimal "skin and bones" framework, a clearly understandable arrangement of architectural parts. His ideas are stated with clarity and simplicity, using materials that are configured to express their own individual character.
The Promontory – Lake Shore Drive
The Promontory Apartments is a 22-story skyscraper in Hyde Park, Chicago, Illinois, that overlooks Promontory Point in Burnham Park and its Lake Michigan beaches. It is the first residential skyscraper Mies designed and the first of his buildings to feature concepts such as an exposed skeleton. An active community cooperative, the building which is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, has 122 units. Its building was initiated by developer Herbert Greenwald for wealthier occupants. Mies employed a Double T design with the horizontal cross-bars joined; the stems of the T's form wings to the rear. Each T is its own building with separate addresses, elevators, and interior stairways. This tripartite design would feature prominently in future Mies designs. Starting with the third story, each floor of each T has three apartments that share an elevator lobby. A solarium and party room on the roof provides excellent views of the park and beaches to the east, and the University of Chicago to the west.
860–880 Lake Shore Drive
Mies designed a series of four middle-income high-rise apartment buildings for developer Herbert Greenwald: the 860–880 (which was built between 1949 and 1951) and 900–910 Lake Shore Drive towers on Chicago's Lakefront. These towers, with façades of steel and glass, were radical departures from the typical residential brick apartment buildings of the time. Mies found their unit sizes too small for him, choosing instead to continue living in a spacious traditional luxury apartment a few blocks away. The towers were simple rectangular boxes with a non-hierarchical wall enclosure, raised on stilts above a glass-enclosed lobby.
The lobby is set back from the perimeter columns, which were exposed around the perimeter of the building above, creating a modern arcade not unlike those of the Greek temples. This configuration created a feeling of light, openness, and freedom of movement at the ground level that became the prototype for countless new towers designed both by Mies's office and his followers. Some historians argue that this new approach is an expression of the American spirit and the boundless open space of the frontier, which German culture so admired.
Once Mies had established his basic design concept for the general form and details of his tower buildings, he applied those solutions (with evolving refinements) to his later high-rise building projects. The architecture of his towers appears similar, but each project represents new ideas about the formation of highly sophisticated urban space at ground level. He delighted in the composition of multiple towers arranged in a seemingly casual non-hierarchical relation to each other.
Just as with his interiors, he created free flowing spaces and flat surfaces that represented the idea of an oasis of uncluttered clarity and calm within the chaos of the city. He included nature by leaving openings in the pavement, through which plants seem to grow unfettered by urbanization, just as in the pre-settlement environment.
Seagram Building
Although now acclaimed and widely influential as an urban design feature, Mies had to convince Bronfman's bankers that a taller tower with significant "unused" open space at ground level would enhance the presence and prestige of the building. Mies' design included a bronze curtain wall with external H-shaped mullions that were exaggerated in depth beyond what was structurally necessary. Detractors criticized it as having committed Adolf Loos's "crime of ornamentation". Philip Johnson had a role in interior materials selections, and he designed the sumptuous Four Seasons Restaurant. The Seagram Building is said to be an early example of the innovative "fast-track" construction process, where design documentation and construction are done concurrently.
During 1951–1952, Mies' designed the steel, glass, and brick McCormick House, located in Elmhurst, Illinois (15 miles west of the Chicago Loop), for real-estate developer Robert Hall McCormick, Jr. A one-story adaptation of the exterior curtain wall of his famous 860–880 Lake Shore Drive towers, it served as a prototype for an unbuilt series of speculative houses to be constructed in Melrose Park, Illinois. The house has been moved and reconfigured as a part of the public Elmhurst Art Museum. He also built a residence for John M. van Beuren on a family estate near Morristown, New Jersey.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Mies designed two buildings for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) as additions to the Caroline Wiess Law Building. In 1953, the MFAH commissioned Mies van der Rohe to create a master plan for the institution. He designed two additions to the building—Cullinan Hall, completed in 1958, and the Brown Pavilion, completed in 1974. A renowned example of the International Style, these portions of the Caroline Wiess Law Building comprise one of only two Mies-designed museums in the world.
Two buildings in Baltimore, MD
The One Charles Center, built in 1962, is a 23-story aluminum and glass building that heralded the beginning of Baltimore's downtown modern buildings. The Highfield House, just to the northeast of the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus, was built in 1964 as a rental apartment building. The 15-story concrete tower became a residential condominium building in 1979. Both buildings are now on the National Register of Historic Places.
National Gallery, Berlin
Mies's last work was the Neue Nationalgalerie art museum, the New National Gallery for the Berlin National Gallery. Considered one of the most perfect statements of his architectural approach, the upper pavilion is a precise composition of monumental steel columns and a cantilevered (overhanging) roof plane with a glass enclosure. The simple square glass pavilion is a powerful expression of his ideas about flexible interior space, defined by transparent walls and supported by an external structural frame. Art installations by Ulrich Rückriem (1998) or Jenny Holzer, as much as exhibitions on the work of Renzo Piano or Rem Koolhaas have demonstrated the exceptional possibilities of this space.
The glass pavilion is a relatively small portion of the overall building, serving as a symbolic architectural entry point and monumental gallery for temporary exhibits. A large podium building below the pavilion accommodates most of the museum's total built area with conventional white-walled art gallery spaces and support functions. A large window running along all the West facade opens these spaces up to the large sculpture garden which is part of the podium building.
Mies Building at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN
In 1952, a fraternity commissioned Mies to design a building on the Indiana University campus in Bloomington, Indiana. The plan was not realized during his lifetime, but the design was rediscovered in 2013, and in 2019 the university's Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design announced they would be constructing it with blessing of his grandchildren. The building is scheduled to open in September 2021.
Furniture
Mies, often in collaboration with Lilly Reich, designed modern furniture pieces using new industrial technologies that have become popular classics, such as the Barcelona chair and table, the Brno chair, and the Tugendhat chair. His furniture is known for fine craftsmanship, a mix of traditional luxurious fabrics like leather combined with modern chrome frames, and a distinct separation of the supporting structure and the supported surfaces, often employing cantilevers to enhance the feeling of lightness created by delicate structural frames.
Educator
Mies served as the last director of Berlin's Bauhaus, and then headed the department of architecture, Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, where he developed the Second Chicago School. He played a significant role as an educator, believing his architectural language could be learned, then applied to design any type of modern building. He set up a new education at the department of architecture of the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago replacing the traditional Ecole des Beaux-Art curriculum by a three-step-education beginning with crafts of drawing and construction leading to planning skills and finishing with theory of architecture (compare Vitruvius: firmitas, utilitas, venustas). He worked personally and intensively on prototype solutions, and then allowed his students, both in school and his office, to develop derivative solutions for specific projects under his guidance.
Some of Mies' curriculum is still put in practice in the first and second year programs at IIT, including the precise drafting of brick construction details so unpopular with aspiring student architects. When none was able to match the quality of his own work, he agonized about where his educational method had gone wrong. Nevertheless, his achievements in creating a teachable architecture language that can be used to express the modern technological era survives until today.
Mies placed great importance on education of architects who could carry on his design principles. He devoted a great deal of time and effort leading the architecture program at IIT. Mies served on the initial Advisory Board of the Graham Foundation in Chicago. His own practice was based on intensive personal involvement in design efforts to create prototype solutions for building types (860 Lake Shore Drive, the Farnsworth House, Seagram Building, S. R. Crown Hall, The New National Gallery), then allowing his studio designers to develop derivative buildings under his supervision.
In 1961, a program at Columbia University's School of Architecture celebrated the four great founders of contemporary architecture: Charles-Edouard Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright. It included addresses by Le Corbusier and Gropius as well as an interview with Mies van der Rohe. Discussion focused upon philosophies of design, aspects of their various architectural projects, and the juncture of architecture and city planning.
Mies's grandson Dirk Lohan and two partners led the firm after he died in 1969. Lohan, who had collaborated with Mies on the New National Gallery, continued with existing projects but soon led the firm on his own independent path. Other disciples continued Mies's architectural language for years, notably Gene Summers, David Haid, Myron Goldsmith, Y.C. Wong, Jacques Brownson, and other architects at the firms of C.F. Murphy and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
But while Mies' work had enormous influence and critical recognition, his approach failed to sustain a creative force as a style after his death and was eclipsed by the new wave of Post Modernism by the 1980s. Proponents of the Post Modern style attacked the Modernism with clever statements such as "less is a bore" and with captivating images such as Crown Hall sinking in Lake Michigan. Mies had hoped his architecture would serve as a universal model that could be easily imitated, but the aesthetic power of his best buildings proved impossible to match, instead resulting mostly in drab and uninspired structures rejected by the general public. The failure of his followers to meet his high standard may have contributed to demise of Modernism and the rise of new competing design theories following his death.
Later years and death
Over the last twenty years of his life, Mies developed and built his vision of a monumental "skin and bones" architecture that reflected his goal to provide the individual a place to fulfill himself in the modern era. Mies sought to create free and open spaces, enclosed within a structural order with minimal presence. In 1963, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Mies van der Rohe died on August 17, 1969, from esophageal cancer caused by his smoking habit. After cremation, his ashes were buried near Chicago's other famous architects in Chicago's Graceland Cemetery. His grave is marked by an intentionally unadorned, clean-line black slab of polished granite and a large honey locust tree.
Archives
The Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Archive, an administratively independent section of the Museum of Modern Art's department of architecture and design, was established in 1968 by the museum's trustees. It was founded in response to the architect's desire to bequeath his entire work to the museum. The archive consists of about nineteen thousand drawings and prints, one thousand of which are by the designer and architect Lilly Reich (1885–1947), Mies van der Rohe's close collaborator from 1927 to 1937; of written documents (primarily, the business correspondence) covering nearly the entire career of the architect; of photographs of buildings, models, and furniture; and of audiotapes, books, and periodicals.
Archival materials are also held by the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries at the Art Institute of Chicago. The Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Collection, 1929–1969 (bulk 1948–1960) includes correspondence, articles, and materials related to his association with the Illinois Institute of Technology. The Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Metropolitan Structures Collection, 1961–1969, includes scrapbooks and photographs documenting Chicago projects.
Other archives are held at the University of Illinois at Chicago (personal book collection), the Canadian Centre for Architecture (drawings and photos) in Montreal, the Newberry Library in Chicago (personal correspondence), and at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. (professional correspondence).
Gallery
List of works
Early career in Europe (1907–1938)
1908 Riehl House – Residential home, Potsdam, Germany
1911 Perls House – Residential home, Zehlendorf
1913 Werner House – Residential home, Zehlendorf
1917 Urbig House – Residential home, Potsdam
1922 Kempner House – Residential home, Charlottenburg
1922 Eichstaedt House – Residential home, Wannsee
1922 Feldmann House – Residential home, Wilmersdorf
1923 Ryder House – Residential home, Wiesbaden
1925 Villa Wolf – Residential home, Guben
1926 Mosler House – Residential home, Babelsberg
1926 – Monument dedicated to Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde, Berlin
1927 Afrikanische Straße Apartments – Multi-Family Residential, Berlin, Germany
1927 Weissenhof Estate – Housing Exhibition coordinated by Mies and with a contribution by him, Stuttgart
1928 Haus Lange and Haus Esters – Residential home and an art museum, Krefeld
1929 Barcelona Pavilion – World's Fair Pavilion, Barcelona, Spain
1930 Villa Tugendhat – Residential home, Brno, Czechia, designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2001
1930 Verseidag Factory – Dyeing and HE Silk Mill building Krefeld, Germany
1932 Lemke House – Residential home, Weissensee
Buildings after emigration to the United States (1939–1960)
1939–1958 – Illinois Institute of Technology Campus Master Plan, academic campus & buildings, Chicago, Illinois
1949 The Promontory Apartments – Residential apartment complex, Chicago, Illinois
1951 Sheridan-Oakdale Apartments (2933 N Sheridan Rd ) – Residential apartment complex, Chicago, Illinois
1951 Lake Shore Drive Apartments – Residential apartment towers, Chicago
1951 Algonquin Apartments – Residential apartments, Chicago, Illinois
1951 Farnsworth House – Vacation home, Plano, Illinois
1952 Arts Club of Chicago Interior Renovation – Art gallery, demolished in 1997, Chicago, Illinois
1952 Robert H. McCormick House – Residential home, relocated to the Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, Illinois
1954 Cullinan Hall – Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
1956 Crown Hall, Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture – Academic building, Chicago, Illinois
1956 900-910 North Lake Shore (Esplanade Apartments) – Residential apartment complex, Chicago, Illinois
1957 Commonwealth Promenade Apartments (330–330 W Diversey Parkway) – Residential apartment complex, Chicago (1957)
1958 Seagram Building – Office tower, New York City, New York
1958 Caroline Wiess Law Building, Museum of Fine Art, Houston
1959 Home Federal Savings and Loan Association Building – Office building, Des Moines, Iowa
1959 Lafayette Park – Residential development, Detroit, Michigan.
1960 Pavilion and Colonnade Apartments– Residential complex, Newark, New Jersey
Late career Worldwide (1961–69)
1961 Bacardi Office Building – Office Building, Mexico City
1962 Tourelle-Sur-Rive – Residential apartment complex of three towers, Nuns' Island, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
1962 Home Federal Savings and Loan Association of Des Moines Building – Office Building, Des Moines, Iowa
1962 One Charles Center – Office Tower, Baltimore, Maryland
1963 2400 North Lakeview Apartments – Residential Apartment Complex, Chicago, Illinois
1963 Morris Greenwald House – Vacation Home, Weston, Connecticut
1964 Chicago Federal Center – Civic Complex, Chicago, Illinois
1960–1964 Dirksen Federal Building – Office Tower, Chicago
Kluczynski Federal Building – Office Tower, Chicago
United States Post Office Loop Station – General Post Office, Chicago
1964 Highfield House, 4000 North Charles – Originally Rental Apartments, and now Condominium Apartments, Baltimore, Maryland
1965 University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration – Academic Building Chicago, Illinois
1965 Richard King Mellon Hall – Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA
1965 Meredith Hall – School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Drake University, Des Moines, IA
1967 Westmount Square – Office & Residential Tower Complex, Westmount, Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada
1968 Neue Nationalgalerie – Modern Art Museum, Berlin, Germany
1965–1968 Brown Pavilion, Museum of Fine Art, Houston
1967–1969 Toronto-Dominion Centre – Office Tower Complex, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
1969 Filling station – Nuns' Island, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (closed)
1970 One Illinois Center – Office Tower, Chicago, Illinois (completed post-mortem)
1972 Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library – District of Columbia Public Library, Washington, D.C. (completed post-mortem)
1973 American Life Building – Louisville, Kentucky (completed after Mies's death by Bruno Conterato)
1973 IBM Plaza – Office Tower, Chicago (completed post-mortem)
Buildings on the Illinois Institute of Technology Campus (1939–1958)
1943 Minerals & Metals Research Building – Research
1945 Engineering Research Building – Research
1946 Alumni Memorial Hall – Classroom
1946 Wishnick Hall – Classroom
1946 Perlstein Hall – Classroom
1950 I.I.T. Boiler Plant – Academic
1950 Institute of Gas Technology Building – Research
1950 American Association of Railroads Administration Building (now the College of Music Building) – Administration
1952 Mechanical Engineering Research Building I – Research
1952 Carr Memorial Chapel – Religious
1953 American Association of Railroads Mechanical Engineering Building – Research
1953 Carman Hall at IIT – Dormitory
1955 Cunningham Hall – Dormitory
1955 Bailey Hall – Dormitory
1955 I.I.T. Commons Building
1956 Crown Hall – Academic, College of Architecture
1957 Physics & Electrical Engineering Research Building – Research
1957 Siegel Hall – Classroom
1953 American Association of Railroads Laboratory Building – Research
1958 Metals Technology Building Extension – Research
See also
Online Architecture – lets the construction purpose of building online
International style (architecture)
References
Further reading
Lamster, Mark (2018). "The man in the Glass House: Philip Johnson, Architect of the Modern Century" (hardcover,528 pages) Little, Brown & Co. English; ;
Rovira, Josep M; Casais, Lluis (2002). Mies van der Rohe Pavilion: Reflections,71 pages. Publisher:Triangle Postal.
External links
Mies van der Rohe Society
Mies van der Rohe Foundation
Mies in Berlin-Mies in America
Great Buildings Architects
Mies van der Rohe Spotlight – ArchDaily
Elmhurst Art Museum, featuring McCormick House
Richard King Mellon Hall, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA
Mies, IIT, and the Second Chicago School
Mies in America exhibition
Travel guide to Mies Buildings
Construction underway to transform famed Nuns’ Island gas station
Mies' Lafayette Park in Detroit
Mies in IR
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe architectural and furniture drawings, 1946–1961, held by the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University
Finding aid for the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and his students collection , Canadian Centre for Architecture
Functionalist architects
1886 births
1969 deaths
19th-century Prussian people
20th-century American architects
Bauhaus teachers
Burials at Graceland Cemetery (Chicago)
20th-century German architects
German emigrants to the United States
German furniture designers
Illinois Institute of Technology faculty
Architecture educators
International style architects
Modernist architects from Germany
People from Aachen
Artists from Chicago
People from the Rhine Province
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)
Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Fellows of the American Institute of Architects
Recipients of the AIA Gold Medal | false | [
"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",
"Me One (born Eric Martin on 19 August 1970) is a Jamaican-Welsh musician, rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer, who rose to prominence for his work for the Belgian-based recording act Technotronic.\n\nEarly life\nBorn in Cardiff, Wales, Martin is the son of Jamaican parents; his mother an English teacher from Kingston and his father a Pentecostal Church minister from Saint Mary Parish. Martin was educated in Cardiff, London and New York City. He holds dual Jamaican and British citizenship.\n\nWork with Technotronic\nMartin (as MC Eric) was a member of techno/Eurodance act Technotronic, providing lead vocals on the 1990 hit single \"This Beat Is Technotronic\". At the height of their career, they toured with Madonna on her Blond Ambition World Tour in the 1990s.\n\nRecent career\nMartin's debut album under the name Me One was released in May 2000 on Universal-Island UK. The 12 track release was titled As Far as I'm Concerned and featured Guru (from Gang Starr) on \"Do You Know\" and Michelle Gayle on \"In My Room\" which interpolates the Beach Boys song of the same name. The latter was released as a single, along with \"Game Plan\" and \"Old Fashioned\".\n\nAside from his solo work, Martin has written with (or for) Jeff Beck, Maxi Priest, the Roots, Capleton, Lynden David Hall and the Sugababes.\n\nIn 2011, he signed a recording deal with Glasgow-based record label Innovation Music.\n\nReferences \n\n1970 births\nLiving people\nWelsh people of Jamaican descent\nWelsh male rappers\nWelsh male singers\nMusicians from Cardiff\n21st-century British singers\n21st-century British male singers"
] |
[
"Ludwig Mies van der Rohe",
"Early career",
"What did he do first in his career?",
"He worked in his father's stone carving shop and at several local design firms",
"What design firms did he work for?",
"He began his architectural career as an apprentice at the studio of Peter Behrens from 1908 to 1912,",
"What did he create there?",
"Mies served as construction manager of the Embassy of the German Empire in Saint Petersburg under Behrens.",
"What was his biggest project?",
"I don't know.",
"Did he do anything aside from work for the firms and his father?",
"He began his independent professional career designing upper-class homes, joining the movement seeking a return to the purity of early 19th-century Germanic domestic styles."
] | C_4312728096574796a6727ac2c366f99e_1 | What was his style like? | 6 | What was Ludwig style like? | Ludwig Mies van der Rohe | Mies was born March 27, 1886 in Aachen, Germany. He worked in his father's stone carving shop and at several local design firms before he moved to Berlin, where he joined the office of interior designer Bruno Paul. He began his architectural career as an apprentice at the studio of Peter Behrens from 1908 to 1912, where he was exposed to the current design theories and to progressive German culture, working alongside Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, who was later also involved in the development of the Bauhaus. Mies served as construction manager of the Embassy of the German Empire in Saint Petersburg under Behrens. His talent was quickly recognized and he soon began independent commissions, despite his lack of a formal college-level education. A physically imposing, deliberative, and reticent man, Ludwig Mies renamed himself as part of his rapid transformation from a tradesman's son to an architect working with Berlin's cultural elite, adding "van der" and his mother's surname "Rohe", using the Dutch "van der", because the German form "von" was a nobiliary particle legally restricted to those of genuine aristocratic lineage. He began his independent professional career designing upper-class homes, joining the movement seeking a return to the purity of early 19th-century Germanic domestic styles. He admired the broad proportions, regularity of rhythmic elements, attention to the relationship of the man-made to nature, and compositions using simple cubic forms of the early nineteenth century Prussian Neo-Classical architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel. He rejected the eclectic and cluttered classical styles so common at the turn of the 20th century as irrelevant to the modern times. CANNOTANSWER | the early nineteenth century Prussian Neo-Classical architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel. | Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd Wright, he is regarded as one of the pioneers of modernist architecture.
In the 1930s, Mies was the last director of the Bauhaus, a ground-breaking school of modern art, design and architecture. After Nazism's rise to power, with its strong opposition to modernism (leading to the closing of the Bauhaus itself), Mies emigrated to the United States. He accepted the position to head the architecture school at what is today the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.
Mies sought to establish his own particular architectural style that could represent modern times just as Classical and Gothic did for their own eras. The style he created made a statement with its extreme clarity and simplicity. His mature buildings made use of modern materials such as industrial steel and plate glass to define interior spaces, as also conducted by other modernist architects in the 1920s and 1930s such as Richard Neutra. Mies strove toward an architecture with a minimal framework of structural order balanced against the implied freedom of unobstructed free-flowing open space. He called his buildings "skin and bones" architecture. He sought an objective approach that would guide the creative process of architectural design, but was always concerned with expressing the spirit of the modern era. He is often associated with his fondness for the aphorisms, "less is more" and "God is in the details".
Early career
Mies was born March 27, 1886, in Aachen, Germany. He worked in his father's stone carving shop and at several local design firms before he moved to Berlin, where he joined the office of interior designer Bruno Paul. He began his architectural career as an apprentice at the studio of Peter Behrens from 1908 to 1912, where he was exposed to the current design theories and to progressive German culture. He worked alongside Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, who was later also involved in the development of the Bauhaus. Mies served as construction manager of the Embassy of the German Empire in Saint Petersburg under Behrens.
Ludwig Mies renamed himself as part of his transformation from a tradesman's son to an architect working with Berlin's cultural elite, adding "van der" and his mother's maiden name "Rohe" (the word mies means "lousy" in German) and using the Dutch "van der", because the German form "von" was a nobiliary particle legally restricted to those of genuine aristocratic lineage. He began his independent professional career designing upper-class homes.
Personal life
In 1913, Mies married Adele Auguste (Ada) Bruhn (1885–1951), the daughter of a wealthy industrialist. The couple separated in 1918, after having three daughters: Dorothea (1914–2008), an actress and dancer who was known as Georgia, Marianne (1915–2003), and Waltraut (1917–1959), who was a research scholar and curator at the Art Institute of Chicago. During his military service in 1917, Mies fathered a son out of wedlock.
In 1925 Mies began a relationship with designer Lilly Reich that ended when he moved to the United States; from 1940 until his death, artist Lora Marx (1900–1989) was his primary companion. Mies carried on a romantic relationship with sculptor and art collector Mary Callery for whom he designed an artist's studio in Huntington, Long Island, New York. He had a brief romantic relationship with Nelly van Doesburg. After having met in Europe many years prior, they met again in New York in 1947 during a dinner with Josep Lluís Sert where he promised her he would help organize an exhibition in Chicago featuring the work of her late husband Theo van Doesburg. This exhibition took place from the 15th of October until the 8th of November 1947, with their romance officially ending not much later. Nevertheless they remained on good terms, spending Easter together in 1948 at a modern farmhouse renovated by Mies on Long Island, as well as meeting several more times that year. He also was rumored to have a brief relationship with Edith Farnsworth, who commissioned his work for the Farnsworth House. His daughter Marianne's son, Dirk Lohan (b. 1938), studied under, and later worked for, Mies.
Traditionalism to Modernism
After World War I, while still designing traditional neoclassical homes, Mies began a parallel experimental effort. He joined his avant-garde peers in the long-running search for a new style that would be suitable for the modern industrial age. The weak points of traditional styles had been under attack by progressive theorists since the mid-nineteenth century, primarily for the contradictions of hiding modern construction technology with a facade of ornamented traditional styles.
The mounting criticism of the historical styles gained substantial cultural credibility after World War I, a disaster widely seen as a failure of the old world order of imperial leadership of Europe. The aristocratic classical revival styles were particularly reviled by many as the architectural symbol of a now-discredited and outmoded social system. Progressive thinkers called for a completely new architectural design process guided by rational problem-solving and an exterior expression of modern materials and structure rather than what they considered the superficial application of classical facades.
While continuing his traditional neoclassical design practice, Mies began to develop visionary projects that, though mostly unbuilt, rocketed him to fame as an architect capable of giving form that was in harmony with the spirit of the emerging modern society. Boldly abandoning ornament altogether, Mies made a dramatic modernist debut in 1921 with his stunning competition proposal for the faceted all-glass Friedrichstraße skyscraper, followed by a taller curved version in 1922 named the Glass Skyscraper.
He constructed his first modernist house with the Villa Wolf in 1926 in Guben (today Gubin, Poland) for Erich and Elisabeth Wolf. This was shortly followed by Haus Lange and Haus Esters in 1928.
He continued with a series of pioneering projects, culminating in his two European masterworks: the temporary German Pavilion for the Barcelona exposition (often called the Barcelona Pavilion) in 1929 (a 1986 reconstruction is now built on the original site) and the elegant Villa Tugendhat in Brno, Czechoslovakia, completed in 1930.
He joined the German avant-garde, working with the progressive design magazine G, which started in July 1923. He developed prominence as architectural director of the Werkbund, organizing the influential Weissenhof Estate prototype modernist housing exhibition. He was also one of the founders of the architectural association Der Ring. He joined the avant-garde Bauhaus design school as their director of architecture, adopting and developing their functionalist application of simple geometric forms in the design of useful objects. He served as its last director.
Like many other avant-garde architects of the day, Mies based his architectural mission and principles on his understanding and interpretation of ideas developed by theorists and critics who pondered the declining relevance of the traditional design styles. He selectively adopted theoretical ideas such as the aesthetic credos of Russian Constructivism with their ideology of "efficient" sculptural assembly of modern industrial materials. Mies found appeal in the use of simple rectilinear and planar forms, clean lines, pure use of color, and the extension of space around and beyond interior walls expounded by the Dutch De Stijl group. In particular, the layering of functional sub-spaces within an overall space and the distinct articulation of parts as expressed by Gerrit Rietveld appealed to Mies.
The design theories of Adolf Loos found resonance with Mies, particularly the ideas of replacing elaborate applied artistic ornament with the straightforward display of innate visual qualities of materials and forms. Loos had proposed that art and crafts should be entirely independent of architecture, that the architect should no longer control those cultural elements as the Beaux Arts principles had dictated. Mies also admired his ideas about the nobility that could be found in the anonymity of modern life.
The bold work of leading American architects was admired by European architects. Like other architects who viewed the drawings in Frank Lloyd Wright's Wasmuth Portfolio, Mies was enthralled with the free-flowing spaces of inter-connected rooms that encompass their outdoor surroundings, as demonstrated by the open floor plans of the Wright's American Prairie Style. American engineering structures were also held up as exemplary of the beauty possible in functional construction, and American skyscrapers were greatly admired.
Emigration to the United States
Commission opportunities dwindled with the Great Depression after 1929. Starting in 1930, Mies served as the last director of the faltering Bauhaus, at the request of his colleague and competitor Walter Gropius. In 1932, Nazi political pressure forced the state-supported school to leave its campus in Dessau, and Mies moved it to an abandoned telephone factory in Berlin. By 1933, however, the continued operation of the school was untenable (it was raided by the Gestapo in April), and in July of that year, Mies and the faculty voted to close the Bauhaus. He built very little in these years (one built commission was Philip Johnson's New York apartment); the Nazis rejected his style as not "German" in character.
Frustrated and unhappy, he left his homeland reluctantly in 1937 as he saw his opportunity for any future building commissions vanish, accepting a residential commission in Wyoming and then an offer to head the department of architecture of the newly established Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chicago. There he introduced a new kind of education and attitude later known as Second Chicago School, which became very influential in the following decades in North America and Europe.
Career in the United States
Mies settled in Chicago, Illinois, where he was appointed head of the architecture school at Chicago's Armour Institute of Technology (later renamed Illinois Institute of Technology). One of the benefits of taking this position was that he would be commissioned to design the new buildings and master plan for the campus. All his buildings still stand there, including Alumni Hall, the chapel, and his masterpiece the S.R. Crown Hall, built as the home of IIT's School of Architecture. Crown Hall is widely regarded as Mies' finest work, the definition of Miesian architecture.
In 1944, he became an American citizen, completing his severance from his native Germany. His thirty years as an American architect reflect a more structural, pure approach toward achieving his goal of a new architecture for the twentieth century. He focused his efforts on enclosing open and adaptable "universal" spaces with clearly arranged structural frameworks, featuring prefabricated steel shapes filled in with large sheets of glass.
His early projects at the IIT campus, and for developer Herbert Greenwald, presented to Americans a style that seemed a natural progression of the almost forgotten nineteenth century Chicago School style. His architecture, with origins in the German Bauhaus and western European International Style, became an accepted mode of building for American cultural and educational institutions, developers, public agencies, and large corporations.
American work
Mies worked from his studio in downtown Chicago for his entire 31-year period in America. His significant projects in the U.S. include in Chicago and the area: the residential towers of 860–880 Lake Shore Dr, the Chicago Federal Center complex, the Farnsworth House, Crown Hall and other structures at IIT; and the Seagram Building in New York. These iconic works became the prototypes for his other projects. He also built homes for wealthy clients.
Chicago Federal Complex
Chicago Federal Center Plaza, also known as Chicago Federal Plaza, unified three buildings of varying scales: the mid-rise Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse, the high-rise John C. Kluczynski Building, and the single-story Post Office building. The complex's plot area extends over two blocks; a one-block site, bounded by Jackson, Clark, Adams, and Dearborn streets, contains the Kluczynski Federal Building and U.S. Post Office Loop Station, while a parcel on an adjacent block to the east contains the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse. The structural framing of the buildings is formed of high-tensile bolted steel and concrete. The exterior curtain walls are defined by projecting steel I-beam mullions covered with flat black graphite paint, characteristic of Mies's designs. The balance of the curtain walls are of bronze-tinted glass panes, framed in shiny aluminum, and separated by steel spandrels, also covered with flat black graphite paint. The entire complex is organized on a 28-foot grid pattern subdivided into six 4-foot, 8-inch modules. This pattern extends from the granite-paved plaza into the ground-floor lobbies of the two tower buildings with the grid lines continuing vertically up the buildings and integrating each component of the complex. Associated architects that have played a role in the complex's long history from 1959 to 1974 include Schmidt, Garden & Erickson; C.F. Murphy Associates; and A. Epstein & Sons.
Farnsworth House
Between 1946 and 1951, Mies van der Rohe designed and built the Farnsworth House, a weekend retreat outside Chicago for an independent professional woman, Dr. Edith Farnsworth. Here, Mies explored the relationship between people, shelter, and nature. The glass pavilion is raised six feet above a floodplain next to the Fox River, surrounded by forest and rural prairies.
The highly crafted pristine white structural frame and all-glass walls define a simple rectilinear interior space, allowing nature and light to envelop the interior space. A wood-paneled fireplace (also housing mechanical equipment, kitchen, and toilets) is positioned within the open space to suggest living, dining and sleeping spaces without using walls. No partitions touch the surrounding all-glass enclosure. Without solid exterior walls, full-height draperies on a perimeter track allow freedom to provide full or partial privacy when and where desired. The house has been described as sublime, a temple hovering between heaven and earth, a poem, a work of art.
The Farnsworth House and its wooded site was purchased at auction for US$7.5 million by preservation groups in 2004 and is now owned and operated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as a public museum. The building influenced the creation of hundreds of modernist glass houses, most notably the Glass House by Philip Johnson, located near New York City and also now owned by the National Trust.
The house is an embodiment of Mies' mature vision of modern architecture for the new technological age: a single unencumbered space within a minimal "skin and bones" framework, a clearly understandable arrangement of architectural parts. His ideas are stated with clarity and simplicity, using materials that are configured to express their own individual character.
The Promontory – Lake Shore Drive
The Promontory Apartments is a 22-story skyscraper in Hyde Park, Chicago, Illinois, that overlooks Promontory Point in Burnham Park and its Lake Michigan beaches. It is the first residential skyscraper Mies designed and the first of his buildings to feature concepts such as an exposed skeleton. An active community cooperative, the building which is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, has 122 units. Its building was initiated by developer Herbert Greenwald for wealthier occupants. Mies employed a Double T design with the horizontal cross-bars joined; the stems of the T's form wings to the rear. Each T is its own building with separate addresses, elevators, and interior stairways. This tripartite design would feature prominently in future Mies designs. Starting with the third story, each floor of each T has three apartments that share an elevator lobby. A solarium and party room on the roof provides excellent views of the park and beaches to the east, and the University of Chicago to the west.
860–880 Lake Shore Drive
Mies designed a series of four middle-income high-rise apartment buildings for developer Herbert Greenwald: the 860–880 (which was built between 1949 and 1951) and 900–910 Lake Shore Drive towers on Chicago's Lakefront. These towers, with façades of steel and glass, were radical departures from the typical residential brick apartment buildings of the time. Mies found their unit sizes too small for him, choosing instead to continue living in a spacious traditional luxury apartment a few blocks away. The towers were simple rectangular boxes with a non-hierarchical wall enclosure, raised on stilts above a glass-enclosed lobby.
The lobby is set back from the perimeter columns, which were exposed around the perimeter of the building above, creating a modern arcade not unlike those of the Greek temples. This configuration created a feeling of light, openness, and freedom of movement at the ground level that became the prototype for countless new towers designed both by Mies's office and his followers. Some historians argue that this new approach is an expression of the American spirit and the boundless open space of the frontier, which German culture so admired.
Once Mies had established his basic design concept for the general form and details of his tower buildings, he applied those solutions (with evolving refinements) to his later high-rise building projects. The architecture of his towers appears similar, but each project represents new ideas about the formation of highly sophisticated urban space at ground level. He delighted in the composition of multiple towers arranged in a seemingly casual non-hierarchical relation to each other.
Just as with his interiors, he created free flowing spaces and flat surfaces that represented the idea of an oasis of uncluttered clarity and calm within the chaos of the city. He included nature by leaving openings in the pavement, through which plants seem to grow unfettered by urbanization, just as in the pre-settlement environment.
Seagram Building
Although now acclaimed and widely influential as an urban design feature, Mies had to convince Bronfman's bankers that a taller tower with significant "unused" open space at ground level would enhance the presence and prestige of the building. Mies' design included a bronze curtain wall with external H-shaped mullions that were exaggerated in depth beyond what was structurally necessary. Detractors criticized it as having committed Adolf Loos's "crime of ornamentation". Philip Johnson had a role in interior materials selections, and he designed the sumptuous Four Seasons Restaurant. The Seagram Building is said to be an early example of the innovative "fast-track" construction process, where design documentation and construction are done concurrently.
During 1951–1952, Mies' designed the steel, glass, and brick McCormick House, located in Elmhurst, Illinois (15 miles west of the Chicago Loop), for real-estate developer Robert Hall McCormick, Jr. A one-story adaptation of the exterior curtain wall of his famous 860–880 Lake Shore Drive towers, it served as a prototype for an unbuilt series of speculative houses to be constructed in Melrose Park, Illinois. The house has been moved and reconfigured as a part of the public Elmhurst Art Museum. He also built a residence for John M. van Beuren on a family estate near Morristown, New Jersey.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Mies designed two buildings for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) as additions to the Caroline Wiess Law Building. In 1953, the MFAH commissioned Mies van der Rohe to create a master plan for the institution. He designed two additions to the building—Cullinan Hall, completed in 1958, and the Brown Pavilion, completed in 1974. A renowned example of the International Style, these portions of the Caroline Wiess Law Building comprise one of only two Mies-designed museums in the world.
Two buildings in Baltimore, MD
The One Charles Center, built in 1962, is a 23-story aluminum and glass building that heralded the beginning of Baltimore's downtown modern buildings. The Highfield House, just to the northeast of the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus, was built in 1964 as a rental apartment building. The 15-story concrete tower became a residential condominium building in 1979. Both buildings are now on the National Register of Historic Places.
National Gallery, Berlin
Mies's last work was the Neue Nationalgalerie art museum, the New National Gallery for the Berlin National Gallery. Considered one of the most perfect statements of his architectural approach, the upper pavilion is a precise composition of monumental steel columns and a cantilevered (overhanging) roof plane with a glass enclosure. The simple square glass pavilion is a powerful expression of his ideas about flexible interior space, defined by transparent walls and supported by an external structural frame. Art installations by Ulrich Rückriem (1998) or Jenny Holzer, as much as exhibitions on the work of Renzo Piano or Rem Koolhaas have demonstrated the exceptional possibilities of this space.
The glass pavilion is a relatively small portion of the overall building, serving as a symbolic architectural entry point and monumental gallery for temporary exhibits. A large podium building below the pavilion accommodates most of the museum's total built area with conventional white-walled art gallery spaces and support functions. A large window running along all the West facade opens these spaces up to the large sculpture garden which is part of the podium building.
Mies Building at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN
In 1952, a fraternity commissioned Mies to design a building on the Indiana University campus in Bloomington, Indiana. The plan was not realized during his lifetime, but the design was rediscovered in 2013, and in 2019 the university's Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design announced they would be constructing it with blessing of his grandchildren. The building is scheduled to open in September 2021.
Furniture
Mies, often in collaboration with Lilly Reich, designed modern furniture pieces using new industrial technologies that have become popular classics, such as the Barcelona chair and table, the Brno chair, and the Tugendhat chair. His furniture is known for fine craftsmanship, a mix of traditional luxurious fabrics like leather combined with modern chrome frames, and a distinct separation of the supporting structure and the supported surfaces, often employing cantilevers to enhance the feeling of lightness created by delicate structural frames.
Educator
Mies served as the last director of Berlin's Bauhaus, and then headed the department of architecture, Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, where he developed the Second Chicago School. He played a significant role as an educator, believing his architectural language could be learned, then applied to design any type of modern building. He set up a new education at the department of architecture of the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago replacing the traditional Ecole des Beaux-Art curriculum by a three-step-education beginning with crafts of drawing and construction leading to planning skills and finishing with theory of architecture (compare Vitruvius: firmitas, utilitas, venustas). He worked personally and intensively on prototype solutions, and then allowed his students, both in school and his office, to develop derivative solutions for specific projects under his guidance.
Some of Mies' curriculum is still put in practice in the first and second year programs at IIT, including the precise drafting of brick construction details so unpopular with aspiring student architects. When none was able to match the quality of his own work, he agonized about where his educational method had gone wrong. Nevertheless, his achievements in creating a teachable architecture language that can be used to express the modern technological era survives until today.
Mies placed great importance on education of architects who could carry on his design principles. He devoted a great deal of time and effort leading the architecture program at IIT. Mies served on the initial Advisory Board of the Graham Foundation in Chicago. His own practice was based on intensive personal involvement in design efforts to create prototype solutions for building types (860 Lake Shore Drive, the Farnsworth House, Seagram Building, S. R. Crown Hall, The New National Gallery), then allowing his studio designers to develop derivative buildings under his supervision.
In 1961, a program at Columbia University's School of Architecture celebrated the four great founders of contemporary architecture: Charles-Edouard Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright. It included addresses by Le Corbusier and Gropius as well as an interview with Mies van der Rohe. Discussion focused upon philosophies of design, aspects of their various architectural projects, and the juncture of architecture and city planning.
Mies's grandson Dirk Lohan and two partners led the firm after he died in 1969. Lohan, who had collaborated with Mies on the New National Gallery, continued with existing projects but soon led the firm on his own independent path. Other disciples continued Mies's architectural language for years, notably Gene Summers, David Haid, Myron Goldsmith, Y.C. Wong, Jacques Brownson, and other architects at the firms of C.F. Murphy and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
But while Mies' work had enormous influence and critical recognition, his approach failed to sustain a creative force as a style after his death and was eclipsed by the new wave of Post Modernism by the 1980s. Proponents of the Post Modern style attacked the Modernism with clever statements such as "less is a bore" and with captivating images such as Crown Hall sinking in Lake Michigan. Mies had hoped his architecture would serve as a universal model that could be easily imitated, but the aesthetic power of his best buildings proved impossible to match, instead resulting mostly in drab and uninspired structures rejected by the general public. The failure of his followers to meet his high standard may have contributed to demise of Modernism and the rise of new competing design theories following his death.
Later years and death
Over the last twenty years of his life, Mies developed and built his vision of a monumental "skin and bones" architecture that reflected his goal to provide the individual a place to fulfill himself in the modern era. Mies sought to create free and open spaces, enclosed within a structural order with minimal presence. In 1963, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Mies van der Rohe died on August 17, 1969, from esophageal cancer caused by his smoking habit. After cremation, his ashes were buried near Chicago's other famous architects in Chicago's Graceland Cemetery. His grave is marked by an intentionally unadorned, clean-line black slab of polished granite and a large honey locust tree.
Archives
The Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Archive, an administratively independent section of the Museum of Modern Art's department of architecture and design, was established in 1968 by the museum's trustees. It was founded in response to the architect's desire to bequeath his entire work to the museum. The archive consists of about nineteen thousand drawings and prints, one thousand of which are by the designer and architect Lilly Reich (1885–1947), Mies van der Rohe's close collaborator from 1927 to 1937; of written documents (primarily, the business correspondence) covering nearly the entire career of the architect; of photographs of buildings, models, and furniture; and of audiotapes, books, and periodicals.
Archival materials are also held by the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries at the Art Institute of Chicago. The Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Collection, 1929–1969 (bulk 1948–1960) includes correspondence, articles, and materials related to his association with the Illinois Institute of Technology. The Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Metropolitan Structures Collection, 1961–1969, includes scrapbooks and photographs documenting Chicago projects.
Other archives are held at the University of Illinois at Chicago (personal book collection), the Canadian Centre for Architecture (drawings and photos) in Montreal, the Newberry Library in Chicago (personal correspondence), and at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. (professional correspondence).
Gallery
List of works
Early career in Europe (1907–1938)
1908 Riehl House – Residential home, Potsdam, Germany
1911 Perls House – Residential home, Zehlendorf
1913 Werner House – Residential home, Zehlendorf
1917 Urbig House – Residential home, Potsdam
1922 Kempner House – Residential home, Charlottenburg
1922 Eichstaedt House – Residential home, Wannsee
1922 Feldmann House – Residential home, Wilmersdorf
1923 Ryder House – Residential home, Wiesbaden
1925 Villa Wolf – Residential home, Guben
1926 Mosler House – Residential home, Babelsberg
1926 – Monument dedicated to Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde, Berlin
1927 Afrikanische Straße Apartments – Multi-Family Residential, Berlin, Germany
1927 Weissenhof Estate – Housing Exhibition coordinated by Mies and with a contribution by him, Stuttgart
1928 Haus Lange and Haus Esters – Residential home and an art museum, Krefeld
1929 Barcelona Pavilion – World's Fair Pavilion, Barcelona, Spain
1930 Villa Tugendhat – Residential home, Brno, Czechia, designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2001
1930 Verseidag Factory – Dyeing and HE Silk Mill building Krefeld, Germany
1932 Lemke House – Residential home, Weissensee
Buildings after emigration to the United States (1939–1960)
1939–1958 – Illinois Institute of Technology Campus Master Plan, academic campus & buildings, Chicago, Illinois
1949 The Promontory Apartments – Residential apartment complex, Chicago, Illinois
1951 Sheridan-Oakdale Apartments (2933 N Sheridan Rd ) – Residential apartment complex, Chicago, Illinois
1951 Lake Shore Drive Apartments – Residential apartment towers, Chicago
1951 Algonquin Apartments – Residential apartments, Chicago, Illinois
1951 Farnsworth House – Vacation home, Plano, Illinois
1952 Arts Club of Chicago Interior Renovation – Art gallery, demolished in 1997, Chicago, Illinois
1952 Robert H. McCormick House – Residential home, relocated to the Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, Illinois
1954 Cullinan Hall – Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
1956 Crown Hall, Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture – Academic building, Chicago, Illinois
1956 900-910 North Lake Shore (Esplanade Apartments) – Residential apartment complex, Chicago, Illinois
1957 Commonwealth Promenade Apartments (330–330 W Diversey Parkway) – Residential apartment complex, Chicago (1957)
1958 Seagram Building – Office tower, New York City, New York
1958 Caroline Wiess Law Building, Museum of Fine Art, Houston
1959 Home Federal Savings and Loan Association Building – Office building, Des Moines, Iowa
1959 Lafayette Park – Residential development, Detroit, Michigan.
1960 Pavilion and Colonnade Apartments– Residential complex, Newark, New Jersey
Late career Worldwide (1961–69)
1961 Bacardi Office Building – Office Building, Mexico City
1962 Tourelle-Sur-Rive – Residential apartment complex of three towers, Nuns' Island, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
1962 Home Federal Savings and Loan Association of Des Moines Building – Office Building, Des Moines, Iowa
1962 One Charles Center – Office Tower, Baltimore, Maryland
1963 2400 North Lakeview Apartments – Residential Apartment Complex, Chicago, Illinois
1963 Morris Greenwald House – Vacation Home, Weston, Connecticut
1964 Chicago Federal Center – Civic Complex, Chicago, Illinois
1960–1964 Dirksen Federal Building – Office Tower, Chicago
Kluczynski Federal Building – Office Tower, Chicago
United States Post Office Loop Station – General Post Office, Chicago
1964 Highfield House, 4000 North Charles – Originally Rental Apartments, and now Condominium Apartments, Baltimore, Maryland
1965 University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration – Academic Building Chicago, Illinois
1965 Richard King Mellon Hall – Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA
1965 Meredith Hall – School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Drake University, Des Moines, IA
1967 Westmount Square – Office & Residential Tower Complex, Westmount, Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada
1968 Neue Nationalgalerie – Modern Art Museum, Berlin, Germany
1965–1968 Brown Pavilion, Museum of Fine Art, Houston
1967–1969 Toronto-Dominion Centre – Office Tower Complex, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
1969 Filling station – Nuns' Island, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (closed)
1970 One Illinois Center – Office Tower, Chicago, Illinois (completed post-mortem)
1972 Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library – District of Columbia Public Library, Washington, D.C. (completed post-mortem)
1973 American Life Building – Louisville, Kentucky (completed after Mies's death by Bruno Conterato)
1973 IBM Plaza – Office Tower, Chicago (completed post-mortem)
Buildings on the Illinois Institute of Technology Campus (1939–1958)
1943 Minerals & Metals Research Building – Research
1945 Engineering Research Building – Research
1946 Alumni Memorial Hall – Classroom
1946 Wishnick Hall – Classroom
1946 Perlstein Hall – Classroom
1950 I.I.T. Boiler Plant – Academic
1950 Institute of Gas Technology Building – Research
1950 American Association of Railroads Administration Building (now the College of Music Building) – Administration
1952 Mechanical Engineering Research Building I – Research
1952 Carr Memorial Chapel – Religious
1953 American Association of Railroads Mechanical Engineering Building – Research
1953 Carman Hall at IIT – Dormitory
1955 Cunningham Hall – Dormitory
1955 Bailey Hall – Dormitory
1955 I.I.T. Commons Building
1956 Crown Hall – Academic, College of Architecture
1957 Physics & Electrical Engineering Research Building – Research
1957 Siegel Hall – Classroom
1953 American Association of Railroads Laboratory Building – Research
1958 Metals Technology Building Extension – Research
See also
Online Architecture – lets the construction purpose of building online
International style (architecture)
References
Further reading
Lamster, Mark (2018). "The man in the Glass House: Philip Johnson, Architect of the Modern Century" (hardcover,528 pages) Little, Brown & Co. English; ;
Rovira, Josep M; Casais, Lluis (2002). Mies van der Rohe Pavilion: Reflections,71 pages. Publisher:Triangle Postal.
External links
Mies van der Rohe Society
Mies van der Rohe Foundation
Mies in Berlin-Mies in America
Great Buildings Architects
Mies van der Rohe Spotlight – ArchDaily
Elmhurst Art Museum, featuring McCormick House
Richard King Mellon Hall, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA
Mies, IIT, and the Second Chicago School
Mies in America exhibition
Travel guide to Mies Buildings
Construction underway to transform famed Nuns’ Island gas station
Mies' Lafayette Park in Detroit
Mies in IR
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe architectural and furniture drawings, 1946–1961, held by the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University
Finding aid for the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and his students collection , Canadian Centre for Architecture
Functionalist architects
1886 births
1969 deaths
19th-century Prussian people
20th-century American architects
Bauhaus teachers
Burials at Graceland Cemetery (Chicago)
20th-century German architects
German emigrants to the United States
German furniture designers
Illinois Institute of Technology faculty
Architecture educators
International style architects
Modernist architects from Germany
People from Aachen
Artists from Chicago
People from the Rhine Province
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)
Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Fellows of the American Institute of Architects
Recipients of the AIA Gold Medal | false | [
"Gerry DeVeaux is a British songwriter/producer and style guru. DeVeaux is a contributing editor for UK style magazine Tatler. He was style consultant for MTV Networks co-hosting shows like MTV Style and contributing to shows like Who Wore What. He was Creative Director and Judge on the show Britain's Next Top Model and Style Director and judge for Scandinavia’s Next Top Model.\n\nHe also hosted Australia's Next Top Model sharing on-screen style tips with Elle Macpherson. DeVeaux also shared his fashion advice on the UK's Project Catwalk and in the Channel 4 series Slave to Fashion with June Sarpong. He served as style Ambassador for Sony Cybershot and co-hosted the Sony-sponsored Sydney Fashion week. His most recent projects include producing and presenting his own half-hour BBC programme Living Style with Gerry DeVeaux, shown globally on BBC World and an MTV special showing his behind the scenes perspective for the US launch of Topshop with Kate Moss. He was also Creative Director for the UK charity campaign Fashion Targets Breast Cancer. \n\nAmong his multi-platinum music hits were \"Be My Baby\" for French singer/actress Vanessa Paradis and international hits for Lenny Kravitz, including 'Heaven Help'. He wrote and produced hits for Kylie Minogue and Angie Stone whom he signed to his label/imprint DeVox Records. The DeVeaux co-produced Angie Stone album Black Diamond was voted Best Album of The Year in the U.S. by Billboard, and was an international platinum seller. He has written hits for Chaka Khan including \"Never Miss the Water\".\n\nReferences\n\nLiving people\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nPlace of birth missing (living people)\nBritish magazine editors\nBritish songwriters\nBritish television presenters\nBritish television producers",
"The Christian rock / pop group Superchick released their first album, Karaoke Superstars, in 2001 and they released a total of five full-length studio albums ending with the 2008's Rock What You Got with remix albums in 2003 and 2010. After the band broke up, they released a greatest hits album, Recollection, in 2013. The band released over a dozen singles from these albums, starting with \"Barlow Girls\". Eight of songs hit the Top 10 on at least one chart. Superchick's signature song, \"Stand in the Rain\", spend nine weeks at No. 1 on the R&R Christian CHR chart. Their final song was the 2013 remake of Plus One's \"One Breath\" under its subtitle \"Five Minutes at a Time\".\n\nAlbums\n\nStudio albums\n{|class=\"wikitable\"\n|-\n! rowspan=\"2\" style=\"width:33px;\"| Year\n! rowspan=\"2\" style=\"width:215px;\"| Album details\n!colspan=\"2\"| Peak chart positions\n|-\n! scope=\"col\" style=\"width:3em;font-size:85%;\"| US\n! scope=\"col\" style=\"width:3em;font-size:85%;\"| US Christ\n|-\n| 2001\n| Karaoke Superstars\n Released: May 22, 2001\n Label: Inpop\n Format: CD, DI\n| style=\"text-align:center;\"| —\n| style=\"text-align:center;\"| —\n|-\n| 2002\n| Last One Picked\n Released: October 8, 2002\n Label: Inpop\n Format: CD, DI\n| style=\"text-align:center;\"| —\n| style=\"text-align:center;\"| —\n|-\n| 2005\n| Beauty from Pain\n Released: March 29, 2005\n Label: Inpop\n Format: CD\n| style=\"text-align:center;\"| 126\n| style=\"text-align:center;\"| 6\n|-\n| 2006\n| Beauty from Pain 1.1\n Released: July 18, 2006\n Label: Columbia\n Format: CD\n| style=\"text-align:center;\"| —\n| style=\"text-align:center;\"| 1\n|-\n| 2008\n| Rock What You Got Released: June 24, 2008\n Label: Inpop\n Format: CD,DI\n| style=\"text-align:center;\"| 65\n| style=\"text-align:center;\"| 2\n|}\n\nRemix albums\n\nCompilation albums\n\nSingles\n\nOther songs\n \"Holy Moment\" (Matt Redman Cover) - Unshakeable \"Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree\" - Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree Tour 2007 \"Silent Night\" - Rockin Around The Christmas Tree Tour 2007 \"Love Is a Battlefield\" (Pat Benatar Cover) - Live Love Tour 2006 \"The Water Buffalo Song\" - Veggie Rocks!In popular media\nSuperchick's songs have made over 70 placements in films, television, and video games.\n\nFilms\n \"Get Up\" was a part of\n Ice PrincessHoliday in the Sun Bring It On: In It To Win It \"Not Done Yet\" was also in the films Holiday in the Sun and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen.\n \"One Girl Revolution\" was used in:\n Legally Blonde Cadet Kelly Holiday in the Sun Cloud 9 \"Na Na\" was used in the film Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen.\n \"It's On\" from the album Beauty From Pain appears on:\n Bring It On: In It To Win It Bring It On: Fight to the Finish the Cartoon Network movie Re-Animated Columbia Picture's movie Zoom Freaky Friday \"Pure\" was used in the Cartoon Network movie Re-Animated \"Rock What You Got (Fight Underdog Fight Mix!)\" was used in the movie Won't Back Down \"This Is the Time\" was used during the credits of God's Not Dead and the beginning of Invisible SisterTV shows\n \"Get Up\" was used in:\n the CBBC show \"Sadie J\" in the fourth episode titled \"Slumberlicious\"\n episode 20 \"Anonymous\" from Joan of Arcadia's first season\n \"One Girl Revolution\" was featured in season 1 episode \"An Unexpected Call\" of The Hills \"Alright\" was used at the start of Joan of Arcadia episode 19 Do The Math from season 1\n \"Anthem\" from the album Beauty From Pain was:\n used in the show Make It or Break It during season 1's fifth episode, \"Like Mother, Like Daughter, Like Supermodel\"\n selected to be the theme song for MTV's Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet 2.\n \"We Live\" is used as the theme song for the ABC series Brothers & Sisters.\n \"Rock What You Got\" was featured in:\n an episode of The Hills a radio commercial for E!'s reality show \"Denise Richards: It's complicated\"\n the show Make It or Break It during season 1's fifth episode, \"Like Mother, Like Daughter, Like Supermodel\"\n \"Stand In The Rain\" was featured as the trailer instrumental for the fifth season of The Hills.\n \"So Beautiful\" was featured:\n as the theme song for Running In Heels in a trailer of ABC's new show True Beauty.\n \"Hey Hey\" and \"Alive\" was used in the season finale of Make It Or Break It, 2010.\n \"Still Here\" was used in the Make It Or Break It episode titled 'Life or Death'.\n \"Hero\" was used as NBC's theme song in 2009.\n \"Cross The Line\" was featured in:\n the Make It Or Break It episode titled \"To Thine Own Self Be True\".\n an episode of The City.\n \"One More\" is featured in the hit drama \"Make It Or Break It\" season two finale episode titled \"Worlds Apart\", during Kaylie Cruz's floor routine. (SEAS2;EP20)\n Their music has been used as background music in the television show Making the Band''.\n\nVideo games\n\nSuperchick has a total of four songs which appear in the Dance Praise series. Two can be found in Dance Praise 2: The ReMix, while two more are in the Contemporary Hits expansion pack:\n\nAdditionally, several Superchick songs were used in the PlayStation 2 video game S.L.A.I.: Steel Lancer Arena International\n\nMusic videos\n\nReferences\n\nDiscographies of American artists\nPop music discographies\nChristian music discographies"
] |
[
"Ludwig Mies van der Rohe",
"Early career",
"What did he do first in his career?",
"He worked in his father's stone carving shop and at several local design firms",
"What design firms did he work for?",
"He began his architectural career as an apprentice at the studio of Peter Behrens from 1908 to 1912,",
"What did he create there?",
"Mies served as construction manager of the Embassy of the German Empire in Saint Petersburg under Behrens.",
"What was his biggest project?",
"I don't know.",
"Did he do anything aside from work for the firms and his father?",
"He began his independent professional career designing upper-class homes, joining the movement seeking a return to the purity of early 19th-century Germanic domestic styles.",
"What was his style like?",
"the early nineteenth century Prussian Neo-Classical architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel."
] | C_4312728096574796a6727ac2c366f99e_1 | Did he have any inspiration or influence? | 7 | Did Ludwig have any inspiration or influence? | Ludwig Mies van der Rohe | Mies was born March 27, 1886 in Aachen, Germany. He worked in his father's stone carving shop and at several local design firms before he moved to Berlin, where he joined the office of interior designer Bruno Paul. He began his architectural career as an apprentice at the studio of Peter Behrens from 1908 to 1912, where he was exposed to the current design theories and to progressive German culture, working alongside Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, who was later also involved in the development of the Bauhaus. Mies served as construction manager of the Embassy of the German Empire in Saint Petersburg under Behrens. His talent was quickly recognized and he soon began independent commissions, despite his lack of a formal college-level education. A physically imposing, deliberative, and reticent man, Ludwig Mies renamed himself as part of his rapid transformation from a tradesman's son to an architect working with Berlin's cultural elite, adding "van der" and his mother's surname "Rohe", using the Dutch "van der", because the German form "von" was a nobiliary particle legally restricted to those of genuine aristocratic lineage. He began his independent professional career designing upper-class homes, joining the movement seeking a return to the purity of early 19th-century Germanic domestic styles. He admired the broad proportions, regularity of rhythmic elements, attention to the relationship of the man-made to nature, and compositions using simple cubic forms of the early nineteenth century Prussian Neo-Classical architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel. He rejected the eclectic and cluttered classical styles so common at the turn of the 20th century as irrelevant to the modern times. CANNOTANSWER | He rejected the eclectic and cluttered classical styles so common at the turn of the 20th century as irrelevant to the modern times. | Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd Wright, he is regarded as one of the pioneers of modernist architecture.
In the 1930s, Mies was the last director of the Bauhaus, a ground-breaking school of modern art, design and architecture. After Nazism's rise to power, with its strong opposition to modernism (leading to the closing of the Bauhaus itself), Mies emigrated to the United States. He accepted the position to head the architecture school at what is today the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.
Mies sought to establish his own particular architectural style that could represent modern times just as Classical and Gothic did for their own eras. The style he created made a statement with its extreme clarity and simplicity. His mature buildings made use of modern materials such as industrial steel and plate glass to define interior spaces, as also conducted by other modernist architects in the 1920s and 1930s such as Richard Neutra. Mies strove toward an architecture with a minimal framework of structural order balanced against the implied freedom of unobstructed free-flowing open space. He called his buildings "skin and bones" architecture. He sought an objective approach that would guide the creative process of architectural design, but was always concerned with expressing the spirit of the modern era. He is often associated with his fondness for the aphorisms, "less is more" and "God is in the details".
Early career
Mies was born March 27, 1886, in Aachen, Germany. He worked in his father's stone carving shop and at several local design firms before he moved to Berlin, where he joined the office of interior designer Bruno Paul. He began his architectural career as an apprentice at the studio of Peter Behrens from 1908 to 1912, where he was exposed to the current design theories and to progressive German culture. He worked alongside Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, who was later also involved in the development of the Bauhaus. Mies served as construction manager of the Embassy of the German Empire in Saint Petersburg under Behrens.
Ludwig Mies renamed himself as part of his transformation from a tradesman's son to an architect working with Berlin's cultural elite, adding "van der" and his mother's maiden name "Rohe" (the word mies means "lousy" in German) and using the Dutch "van der", because the German form "von" was a nobiliary particle legally restricted to those of genuine aristocratic lineage. He began his independent professional career designing upper-class homes.
Personal life
In 1913, Mies married Adele Auguste (Ada) Bruhn (1885–1951), the daughter of a wealthy industrialist. The couple separated in 1918, after having three daughters: Dorothea (1914–2008), an actress and dancer who was known as Georgia, Marianne (1915–2003), and Waltraut (1917–1959), who was a research scholar and curator at the Art Institute of Chicago. During his military service in 1917, Mies fathered a son out of wedlock.
In 1925 Mies began a relationship with designer Lilly Reich that ended when he moved to the United States; from 1940 until his death, artist Lora Marx (1900–1989) was his primary companion. Mies carried on a romantic relationship with sculptor and art collector Mary Callery for whom he designed an artist's studio in Huntington, Long Island, New York. He had a brief romantic relationship with Nelly van Doesburg. After having met in Europe many years prior, they met again in New York in 1947 during a dinner with Josep Lluís Sert where he promised her he would help organize an exhibition in Chicago featuring the work of her late husband Theo van Doesburg. This exhibition took place from the 15th of October until the 8th of November 1947, with their romance officially ending not much later. Nevertheless they remained on good terms, spending Easter together in 1948 at a modern farmhouse renovated by Mies on Long Island, as well as meeting several more times that year. He also was rumored to have a brief relationship with Edith Farnsworth, who commissioned his work for the Farnsworth House. His daughter Marianne's son, Dirk Lohan (b. 1938), studied under, and later worked for, Mies.
Traditionalism to Modernism
After World War I, while still designing traditional neoclassical homes, Mies began a parallel experimental effort. He joined his avant-garde peers in the long-running search for a new style that would be suitable for the modern industrial age. The weak points of traditional styles had been under attack by progressive theorists since the mid-nineteenth century, primarily for the contradictions of hiding modern construction technology with a facade of ornamented traditional styles.
The mounting criticism of the historical styles gained substantial cultural credibility after World War I, a disaster widely seen as a failure of the old world order of imperial leadership of Europe. The aristocratic classical revival styles were particularly reviled by many as the architectural symbol of a now-discredited and outmoded social system. Progressive thinkers called for a completely new architectural design process guided by rational problem-solving and an exterior expression of modern materials and structure rather than what they considered the superficial application of classical facades.
While continuing his traditional neoclassical design practice, Mies began to develop visionary projects that, though mostly unbuilt, rocketed him to fame as an architect capable of giving form that was in harmony with the spirit of the emerging modern society. Boldly abandoning ornament altogether, Mies made a dramatic modernist debut in 1921 with his stunning competition proposal for the faceted all-glass Friedrichstraße skyscraper, followed by a taller curved version in 1922 named the Glass Skyscraper.
He constructed his first modernist house with the Villa Wolf in 1926 in Guben (today Gubin, Poland) for Erich and Elisabeth Wolf. This was shortly followed by Haus Lange and Haus Esters in 1928.
He continued with a series of pioneering projects, culminating in his two European masterworks: the temporary German Pavilion for the Barcelona exposition (often called the Barcelona Pavilion) in 1929 (a 1986 reconstruction is now built on the original site) and the elegant Villa Tugendhat in Brno, Czechoslovakia, completed in 1930.
He joined the German avant-garde, working with the progressive design magazine G, which started in July 1923. He developed prominence as architectural director of the Werkbund, organizing the influential Weissenhof Estate prototype modernist housing exhibition. He was also one of the founders of the architectural association Der Ring. He joined the avant-garde Bauhaus design school as their director of architecture, adopting and developing their functionalist application of simple geometric forms in the design of useful objects. He served as its last director.
Like many other avant-garde architects of the day, Mies based his architectural mission and principles on his understanding and interpretation of ideas developed by theorists and critics who pondered the declining relevance of the traditional design styles. He selectively adopted theoretical ideas such as the aesthetic credos of Russian Constructivism with their ideology of "efficient" sculptural assembly of modern industrial materials. Mies found appeal in the use of simple rectilinear and planar forms, clean lines, pure use of color, and the extension of space around and beyond interior walls expounded by the Dutch De Stijl group. In particular, the layering of functional sub-spaces within an overall space and the distinct articulation of parts as expressed by Gerrit Rietveld appealed to Mies.
The design theories of Adolf Loos found resonance with Mies, particularly the ideas of replacing elaborate applied artistic ornament with the straightforward display of innate visual qualities of materials and forms. Loos had proposed that art and crafts should be entirely independent of architecture, that the architect should no longer control those cultural elements as the Beaux Arts principles had dictated. Mies also admired his ideas about the nobility that could be found in the anonymity of modern life.
The bold work of leading American architects was admired by European architects. Like other architects who viewed the drawings in Frank Lloyd Wright's Wasmuth Portfolio, Mies was enthralled with the free-flowing spaces of inter-connected rooms that encompass their outdoor surroundings, as demonstrated by the open floor plans of the Wright's American Prairie Style. American engineering structures were also held up as exemplary of the beauty possible in functional construction, and American skyscrapers were greatly admired.
Emigration to the United States
Commission opportunities dwindled with the Great Depression after 1929. Starting in 1930, Mies served as the last director of the faltering Bauhaus, at the request of his colleague and competitor Walter Gropius. In 1932, Nazi political pressure forced the state-supported school to leave its campus in Dessau, and Mies moved it to an abandoned telephone factory in Berlin. By 1933, however, the continued operation of the school was untenable (it was raided by the Gestapo in April), and in July of that year, Mies and the faculty voted to close the Bauhaus. He built very little in these years (one built commission was Philip Johnson's New York apartment); the Nazis rejected his style as not "German" in character.
Frustrated and unhappy, he left his homeland reluctantly in 1937 as he saw his opportunity for any future building commissions vanish, accepting a residential commission in Wyoming and then an offer to head the department of architecture of the newly established Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chicago. There he introduced a new kind of education and attitude later known as Second Chicago School, which became very influential in the following decades in North America and Europe.
Career in the United States
Mies settled in Chicago, Illinois, where he was appointed head of the architecture school at Chicago's Armour Institute of Technology (later renamed Illinois Institute of Technology). One of the benefits of taking this position was that he would be commissioned to design the new buildings and master plan for the campus. All his buildings still stand there, including Alumni Hall, the chapel, and his masterpiece the S.R. Crown Hall, built as the home of IIT's School of Architecture. Crown Hall is widely regarded as Mies' finest work, the definition of Miesian architecture.
In 1944, he became an American citizen, completing his severance from his native Germany. His thirty years as an American architect reflect a more structural, pure approach toward achieving his goal of a new architecture for the twentieth century. He focused his efforts on enclosing open and adaptable "universal" spaces with clearly arranged structural frameworks, featuring prefabricated steel shapes filled in with large sheets of glass.
His early projects at the IIT campus, and for developer Herbert Greenwald, presented to Americans a style that seemed a natural progression of the almost forgotten nineteenth century Chicago School style. His architecture, with origins in the German Bauhaus and western European International Style, became an accepted mode of building for American cultural and educational institutions, developers, public agencies, and large corporations.
American work
Mies worked from his studio in downtown Chicago for his entire 31-year period in America. His significant projects in the U.S. include in Chicago and the area: the residential towers of 860–880 Lake Shore Dr, the Chicago Federal Center complex, the Farnsworth House, Crown Hall and other structures at IIT; and the Seagram Building in New York. These iconic works became the prototypes for his other projects. He also built homes for wealthy clients.
Chicago Federal Complex
Chicago Federal Center Plaza, also known as Chicago Federal Plaza, unified three buildings of varying scales: the mid-rise Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse, the high-rise John C. Kluczynski Building, and the single-story Post Office building. The complex's plot area extends over two blocks; a one-block site, bounded by Jackson, Clark, Adams, and Dearborn streets, contains the Kluczynski Federal Building and U.S. Post Office Loop Station, while a parcel on an adjacent block to the east contains the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse. The structural framing of the buildings is formed of high-tensile bolted steel and concrete. The exterior curtain walls are defined by projecting steel I-beam mullions covered with flat black graphite paint, characteristic of Mies's designs. The balance of the curtain walls are of bronze-tinted glass panes, framed in shiny aluminum, and separated by steel spandrels, also covered with flat black graphite paint. The entire complex is organized on a 28-foot grid pattern subdivided into six 4-foot, 8-inch modules. This pattern extends from the granite-paved plaza into the ground-floor lobbies of the two tower buildings with the grid lines continuing vertically up the buildings and integrating each component of the complex. Associated architects that have played a role in the complex's long history from 1959 to 1974 include Schmidt, Garden & Erickson; C.F. Murphy Associates; and A. Epstein & Sons.
Farnsworth House
Between 1946 and 1951, Mies van der Rohe designed and built the Farnsworth House, a weekend retreat outside Chicago for an independent professional woman, Dr. Edith Farnsworth. Here, Mies explored the relationship between people, shelter, and nature. The glass pavilion is raised six feet above a floodplain next to the Fox River, surrounded by forest and rural prairies.
The highly crafted pristine white structural frame and all-glass walls define a simple rectilinear interior space, allowing nature and light to envelop the interior space. A wood-paneled fireplace (also housing mechanical equipment, kitchen, and toilets) is positioned within the open space to suggest living, dining and sleeping spaces without using walls. No partitions touch the surrounding all-glass enclosure. Without solid exterior walls, full-height draperies on a perimeter track allow freedom to provide full or partial privacy when and where desired. The house has been described as sublime, a temple hovering between heaven and earth, a poem, a work of art.
The Farnsworth House and its wooded site was purchased at auction for US$7.5 million by preservation groups in 2004 and is now owned and operated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as a public museum. The building influenced the creation of hundreds of modernist glass houses, most notably the Glass House by Philip Johnson, located near New York City and also now owned by the National Trust.
The house is an embodiment of Mies' mature vision of modern architecture for the new technological age: a single unencumbered space within a minimal "skin and bones" framework, a clearly understandable arrangement of architectural parts. His ideas are stated with clarity and simplicity, using materials that are configured to express their own individual character.
The Promontory – Lake Shore Drive
The Promontory Apartments is a 22-story skyscraper in Hyde Park, Chicago, Illinois, that overlooks Promontory Point in Burnham Park and its Lake Michigan beaches. It is the first residential skyscraper Mies designed and the first of his buildings to feature concepts such as an exposed skeleton. An active community cooperative, the building which is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, has 122 units. Its building was initiated by developer Herbert Greenwald for wealthier occupants. Mies employed a Double T design with the horizontal cross-bars joined; the stems of the T's form wings to the rear. Each T is its own building with separate addresses, elevators, and interior stairways. This tripartite design would feature prominently in future Mies designs. Starting with the third story, each floor of each T has three apartments that share an elevator lobby. A solarium and party room on the roof provides excellent views of the park and beaches to the east, and the University of Chicago to the west.
860–880 Lake Shore Drive
Mies designed a series of four middle-income high-rise apartment buildings for developer Herbert Greenwald: the 860–880 (which was built between 1949 and 1951) and 900–910 Lake Shore Drive towers on Chicago's Lakefront. These towers, with façades of steel and glass, were radical departures from the typical residential brick apartment buildings of the time. Mies found their unit sizes too small for him, choosing instead to continue living in a spacious traditional luxury apartment a few blocks away. The towers were simple rectangular boxes with a non-hierarchical wall enclosure, raised on stilts above a glass-enclosed lobby.
The lobby is set back from the perimeter columns, which were exposed around the perimeter of the building above, creating a modern arcade not unlike those of the Greek temples. This configuration created a feeling of light, openness, and freedom of movement at the ground level that became the prototype for countless new towers designed both by Mies's office and his followers. Some historians argue that this new approach is an expression of the American spirit and the boundless open space of the frontier, which German culture so admired.
Once Mies had established his basic design concept for the general form and details of his tower buildings, he applied those solutions (with evolving refinements) to his later high-rise building projects. The architecture of his towers appears similar, but each project represents new ideas about the formation of highly sophisticated urban space at ground level. He delighted in the composition of multiple towers arranged in a seemingly casual non-hierarchical relation to each other.
Just as with his interiors, he created free flowing spaces and flat surfaces that represented the idea of an oasis of uncluttered clarity and calm within the chaos of the city. He included nature by leaving openings in the pavement, through which plants seem to grow unfettered by urbanization, just as in the pre-settlement environment.
Seagram Building
Although now acclaimed and widely influential as an urban design feature, Mies had to convince Bronfman's bankers that a taller tower with significant "unused" open space at ground level would enhance the presence and prestige of the building. Mies' design included a bronze curtain wall with external H-shaped mullions that were exaggerated in depth beyond what was structurally necessary. Detractors criticized it as having committed Adolf Loos's "crime of ornamentation". Philip Johnson had a role in interior materials selections, and he designed the sumptuous Four Seasons Restaurant. The Seagram Building is said to be an early example of the innovative "fast-track" construction process, where design documentation and construction are done concurrently.
During 1951–1952, Mies' designed the steel, glass, and brick McCormick House, located in Elmhurst, Illinois (15 miles west of the Chicago Loop), for real-estate developer Robert Hall McCormick, Jr. A one-story adaptation of the exterior curtain wall of his famous 860–880 Lake Shore Drive towers, it served as a prototype for an unbuilt series of speculative houses to be constructed in Melrose Park, Illinois. The house has been moved and reconfigured as a part of the public Elmhurst Art Museum. He also built a residence for John M. van Beuren on a family estate near Morristown, New Jersey.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Mies designed two buildings for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) as additions to the Caroline Wiess Law Building. In 1953, the MFAH commissioned Mies van der Rohe to create a master plan for the institution. He designed two additions to the building—Cullinan Hall, completed in 1958, and the Brown Pavilion, completed in 1974. A renowned example of the International Style, these portions of the Caroline Wiess Law Building comprise one of only two Mies-designed museums in the world.
Two buildings in Baltimore, MD
The One Charles Center, built in 1962, is a 23-story aluminum and glass building that heralded the beginning of Baltimore's downtown modern buildings. The Highfield House, just to the northeast of the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus, was built in 1964 as a rental apartment building. The 15-story concrete tower became a residential condominium building in 1979. Both buildings are now on the National Register of Historic Places.
National Gallery, Berlin
Mies's last work was the Neue Nationalgalerie art museum, the New National Gallery for the Berlin National Gallery. Considered one of the most perfect statements of his architectural approach, the upper pavilion is a precise composition of monumental steel columns and a cantilevered (overhanging) roof plane with a glass enclosure. The simple square glass pavilion is a powerful expression of his ideas about flexible interior space, defined by transparent walls and supported by an external structural frame. Art installations by Ulrich Rückriem (1998) or Jenny Holzer, as much as exhibitions on the work of Renzo Piano or Rem Koolhaas have demonstrated the exceptional possibilities of this space.
The glass pavilion is a relatively small portion of the overall building, serving as a symbolic architectural entry point and monumental gallery for temporary exhibits. A large podium building below the pavilion accommodates most of the museum's total built area with conventional white-walled art gallery spaces and support functions. A large window running along all the West facade opens these spaces up to the large sculpture garden which is part of the podium building.
Mies Building at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN
In 1952, a fraternity commissioned Mies to design a building on the Indiana University campus in Bloomington, Indiana. The plan was not realized during his lifetime, but the design was rediscovered in 2013, and in 2019 the university's Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design announced they would be constructing it with blessing of his grandchildren. The building is scheduled to open in September 2021.
Furniture
Mies, often in collaboration with Lilly Reich, designed modern furniture pieces using new industrial technologies that have become popular classics, such as the Barcelona chair and table, the Brno chair, and the Tugendhat chair. His furniture is known for fine craftsmanship, a mix of traditional luxurious fabrics like leather combined with modern chrome frames, and a distinct separation of the supporting structure and the supported surfaces, often employing cantilevers to enhance the feeling of lightness created by delicate structural frames.
Educator
Mies served as the last director of Berlin's Bauhaus, and then headed the department of architecture, Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, where he developed the Second Chicago School. He played a significant role as an educator, believing his architectural language could be learned, then applied to design any type of modern building. He set up a new education at the department of architecture of the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago replacing the traditional Ecole des Beaux-Art curriculum by a three-step-education beginning with crafts of drawing and construction leading to planning skills and finishing with theory of architecture (compare Vitruvius: firmitas, utilitas, venustas). He worked personally and intensively on prototype solutions, and then allowed his students, both in school and his office, to develop derivative solutions for specific projects under his guidance.
Some of Mies' curriculum is still put in practice in the first and second year programs at IIT, including the precise drafting of brick construction details so unpopular with aspiring student architects. When none was able to match the quality of his own work, he agonized about where his educational method had gone wrong. Nevertheless, his achievements in creating a teachable architecture language that can be used to express the modern technological era survives until today.
Mies placed great importance on education of architects who could carry on his design principles. He devoted a great deal of time and effort leading the architecture program at IIT. Mies served on the initial Advisory Board of the Graham Foundation in Chicago. His own practice was based on intensive personal involvement in design efforts to create prototype solutions for building types (860 Lake Shore Drive, the Farnsworth House, Seagram Building, S. R. Crown Hall, The New National Gallery), then allowing his studio designers to develop derivative buildings under his supervision.
In 1961, a program at Columbia University's School of Architecture celebrated the four great founders of contemporary architecture: Charles-Edouard Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright. It included addresses by Le Corbusier and Gropius as well as an interview with Mies van der Rohe. Discussion focused upon philosophies of design, aspects of their various architectural projects, and the juncture of architecture and city planning.
Mies's grandson Dirk Lohan and two partners led the firm after he died in 1969. Lohan, who had collaborated with Mies on the New National Gallery, continued with existing projects but soon led the firm on his own independent path. Other disciples continued Mies's architectural language for years, notably Gene Summers, David Haid, Myron Goldsmith, Y.C. Wong, Jacques Brownson, and other architects at the firms of C.F. Murphy and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
But while Mies' work had enormous influence and critical recognition, his approach failed to sustain a creative force as a style after his death and was eclipsed by the new wave of Post Modernism by the 1980s. Proponents of the Post Modern style attacked the Modernism with clever statements such as "less is a bore" and with captivating images such as Crown Hall sinking in Lake Michigan. Mies had hoped his architecture would serve as a universal model that could be easily imitated, but the aesthetic power of his best buildings proved impossible to match, instead resulting mostly in drab and uninspired structures rejected by the general public. The failure of his followers to meet his high standard may have contributed to demise of Modernism and the rise of new competing design theories following his death.
Later years and death
Over the last twenty years of his life, Mies developed and built his vision of a monumental "skin and bones" architecture that reflected his goal to provide the individual a place to fulfill himself in the modern era. Mies sought to create free and open spaces, enclosed within a structural order with minimal presence. In 1963, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Mies van der Rohe died on August 17, 1969, from esophageal cancer caused by his smoking habit. After cremation, his ashes were buried near Chicago's other famous architects in Chicago's Graceland Cemetery. His grave is marked by an intentionally unadorned, clean-line black slab of polished granite and a large honey locust tree.
Archives
The Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Archive, an administratively independent section of the Museum of Modern Art's department of architecture and design, was established in 1968 by the museum's trustees. It was founded in response to the architect's desire to bequeath his entire work to the museum. The archive consists of about nineteen thousand drawings and prints, one thousand of which are by the designer and architect Lilly Reich (1885–1947), Mies van der Rohe's close collaborator from 1927 to 1937; of written documents (primarily, the business correspondence) covering nearly the entire career of the architect; of photographs of buildings, models, and furniture; and of audiotapes, books, and periodicals.
Archival materials are also held by the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries at the Art Institute of Chicago. The Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Collection, 1929–1969 (bulk 1948–1960) includes correspondence, articles, and materials related to his association with the Illinois Institute of Technology. The Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Metropolitan Structures Collection, 1961–1969, includes scrapbooks and photographs documenting Chicago projects.
Other archives are held at the University of Illinois at Chicago (personal book collection), the Canadian Centre for Architecture (drawings and photos) in Montreal, the Newberry Library in Chicago (personal correspondence), and at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. (professional correspondence).
Gallery
List of works
Early career in Europe (1907–1938)
1908 Riehl House – Residential home, Potsdam, Germany
1911 Perls House – Residential home, Zehlendorf
1913 Werner House – Residential home, Zehlendorf
1917 Urbig House – Residential home, Potsdam
1922 Kempner House – Residential home, Charlottenburg
1922 Eichstaedt House – Residential home, Wannsee
1922 Feldmann House – Residential home, Wilmersdorf
1923 Ryder House – Residential home, Wiesbaden
1925 Villa Wolf – Residential home, Guben
1926 Mosler House – Residential home, Babelsberg
1926 – Monument dedicated to Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde, Berlin
1927 Afrikanische Straße Apartments – Multi-Family Residential, Berlin, Germany
1927 Weissenhof Estate – Housing Exhibition coordinated by Mies and with a contribution by him, Stuttgart
1928 Haus Lange and Haus Esters – Residential home and an art museum, Krefeld
1929 Barcelona Pavilion – World's Fair Pavilion, Barcelona, Spain
1930 Villa Tugendhat – Residential home, Brno, Czechia, designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2001
1930 Verseidag Factory – Dyeing and HE Silk Mill building Krefeld, Germany
1932 Lemke House – Residential home, Weissensee
Buildings after emigration to the United States (1939–1960)
1939–1958 – Illinois Institute of Technology Campus Master Plan, academic campus & buildings, Chicago, Illinois
1949 The Promontory Apartments – Residential apartment complex, Chicago, Illinois
1951 Sheridan-Oakdale Apartments (2933 N Sheridan Rd ) – Residential apartment complex, Chicago, Illinois
1951 Lake Shore Drive Apartments – Residential apartment towers, Chicago
1951 Algonquin Apartments – Residential apartments, Chicago, Illinois
1951 Farnsworth House – Vacation home, Plano, Illinois
1952 Arts Club of Chicago Interior Renovation – Art gallery, demolished in 1997, Chicago, Illinois
1952 Robert H. McCormick House – Residential home, relocated to the Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, Illinois
1954 Cullinan Hall – Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
1956 Crown Hall, Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture – Academic building, Chicago, Illinois
1956 900-910 North Lake Shore (Esplanade Apartments) – Residential apartment complex, Chicago, Illinois
1957 Commonwealth Promenade Apartments (330–330 W Diversey Parkway) – Residential apartment complex, Chicago (1957)
1958 Seagram Building – Office tower, New York City, New York
1958 Caroline Wiess Law Building, Museum of Fine Art, Houston
1959 Home Federal Savings and Loan Association Building – Office building, Des Moines, Iowa
1959 Lafayette Park – Residential development, Detroit, Michigan.
1960 Pavilion and Colonnade Apartments– Residential complex, Newark, New Jersey
Late career Worldwide (1961–69)
1961 Bacardi Office Building – Office Building, Mexico City
1962 Tourelle-Sur-Rive – Residential apartment complex of three towers, Nuns' Island, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
1962 Home Federal Savings and Loan Association of Des Moines Building – Office Building, Des Moines, Iowa
1962 One Charles Center – Office Tower, Baltimore, Maryland
1963 2400 North Lakeview Apartments – Residential Apartment Complex, Chicago, Illinois
1963 Morris Greenwald House – Vacation Home, Weston, Connecticut
1964 Chicago Federal Center – Civic Complex, Chicago, Illinois
1960–1964 Dirksen Federal Building – Office Tower, Chicago
Kluczynski Federal Building – Office Tower, Chicago
United States Post Office Loop Station – General Post Office, Chicago
1964 Highfield House, 4000 North Charles – Originally Rental Apartments, and now Condominium Apartments, Baltimore, Maryland
1965 University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration – Academic Building Chicago, Illinois
1965 Richard King Mellon Hall – Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA
1965 Meredith Hall – School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Drake University, Des Moines, IA
1967 Westmount Square – Office & Residential Tower Complex, Westmount, Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada
1968 Neue Nationalgalerie – Modern Art Museum, Berlin, Germany
1965–1968 Brown Pavilion, Museum of Fine Art, Houston
1967–1969 Toronto-Dominion Centre – Office Tower Complex, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
1969 Filling station – Nuns' Island, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (closed)
1970 One Illinois Center – Office Tower, Chicago, Illinois (completed post-mortem)
1972 Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library – District of Columbia Public Library, Washington, D.C. (completed post-mortem)
1973 American Life Building – Louisville, Kentucky (completed after Mies's death by Bruno Conterato)
1973 IBM Plaza – Office Tower, Chicago (completed post-mortem)
Buildings on the Illinois Institute of Technology Campus (1939–1958)
1943 Minerals & Metals Research Building – Research
1945 Engineering Research Building – Research
1946 Alumni Memorial Hall – Classroom
1946 Wishnick Hall – Classroom
1946 Perlstein Hall – Classroom
1950 I.I.T. Boiler Plant – Academic
1950 Institute of Gas Technology Building – Research
1950 American Association of Railroads Administration Building (now the College of Music Building) – Administration
1952 Mechanical Engineering Research Building I – Research
1952 Carr Memorial Chapel – Religious
1953 American Association of Railroads Mechanical Engineering Building – Research
1953 Carman Hall at IIT – Dormitory
1955 Cunningham Hall – Dormitory
1955 Bailey Hall – Dormitory
1955 I.I.T. Commons Building
1956 Crown Hall – Academic, College of Architecture
1957 Physics & Electrical Engineering Research Building – Research
1957 Siegel Hall – Classroom
1953 American Association of Railroads Laboratory Building – Research
1958 Metals Technology Building Extension – Research
See also
Online Architecture – lets the construction purpose of building online
International style (architecture)
References
Further reading
Lamster, Mark (2018). "The man in the Glass House: Philip Johnson, Architect of the Modern Century" (hardcover,528 pages) Little, Brown & Co. English; ;
Rovira, Josep M; Casais, Lluis (2002). Mies van der Rohe Pavilion: Reflections,71 pages. Publisher:Triangle Postal.
External links
Mies van der Rohe Society
Mies van der Rohe Foundation
Mies in Berlin-Mies in America
Great Buildings Architects
Mies van der Rohe Spotlight – ArchDaily
Elmhurst Art Museum, featuring McCormick House
Richard King Mellon Hall, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA
Mies, IIT, and the Second Chicago School
Mies in America exhibition
Travel guide to Mies Buildings
Construction underway to transform famed Nuns’ Island gas station
Mies' Lafayette Park in Detroit
Mies in IR
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe architectural and furniture drawings, 1946–1961, held by the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University
Finding aid for the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and his students collection , Canadian Centre for Architecture
Functionalist architects
1886 births
1969 deaths
19th-century Prussian people
20th-century American architects
Bauhaus teachers
Burials at Graceland Cemetery (Chicago)
20th-century German architects
German emigrants to the United States
German furniture designers
Illinois Institute of Technology faculty
Architecture educators
International style architects
Modernist architects from Germany
People from Aachen
Artists from Chicago
People from the Rhine Province
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)
Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Fellows of the American Institute of Architects
Recipients of the AIA Gold Medal | false | [
"Verbal dictation describes a theory about how the Holy Spirit was involved with the people who first physically inscribed the Bible. According to this theory, the human role was a purely mechanical one: their individuality was by-passed whilst they wrote, and neither did their cultural background have any influence on what they wrote, because these writers were under the control of God. This may have been the original understanding of inspiration for the people of the Bible.\n\nAccording to James Barr this theory of inspiration was popular among Protestant theologians during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. According to Frederic Farrar, Martin Luther did not understand inspiration to mean that scripture was dictated in a purely mechanical manner. Instead, Luther \"held that they were not dictated by the Holy Spirit, but that His illumination produced in the minds of their writers the knowledge of salvation, so that divine truth had been expressed in human form, and the knowledge of God had become a personal possession of man. The actual writing was a human not a supernatural act.\" Farrar says that John Calvin also rejected the verbal dictation theory. Today, according to T.D. Lea and H.P. Griffen, \"[n]o respected Evangelicals maintain that God dictated the words of Scripture.\"\n\nSee also\n Biblical inspiration\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n\nChristian theology of the Bible",
"is a decision of the House of Lords relating to undue influence. The decision confirmed that a person did not need to suffer \"manifest disadvantage\" under a transaction in order to challenge it for actual undue influence (as opposed to \"presumed\" undue influence).\n\nFacts\n\nIn 1986 Mr Pitt told Mrs Pitt that he would like to borrow some money on the security of the family home and to use the loan to buy shares on the stock market. Mrs Pitt was not happy about this suggestion and made her feelings known to her husband. As a result, he embarked on a course of conduct putting pressure on Mrs Pitt which the trial judge held amounted to actual undue influence. In consequence, Mrs Pitt eventually agreed to the suggestion. The Pitts had originally purchased the house 1970; they still lived in it, with their two adult daughters. In 1986 the property was valued at £270,000, the only encumbrance on it being a mortgage in favour of a building society for the modest sum of £16,700.\n\nMr Pitt made an application for a loan with CIBC Mortgages plc which was signed by both Mr and Mrs Pitt. The application form named both Mr and Mrs Pitt as the applicants for a loan of £150,000 for a period of 20 years, the purpose of the loan being expressed to be \"proposed purchase of holiday home.\" The transaction was said to be a remortgage, the intention being to pay off the existing mortgage. Immediately above the space for the applicants' signatures, the printed form contained a declaration, amongst other things, that the information given in the application was true to the best of the applicants' knowledge and belief. Mrs Pitt did not read any of the pages of the application which had been filled in by somebody else although she did see the first and last pages.\n\nOn 6 June 1986 a written offer of mortgage was made by the plaintiff addressed to Mr and Mrs Pitt. It offered a loan of £150,000 for 19 years secured on the family home and also on a policy of assurance to be effected by Mr Pitt on his life. The purpose of the loan was expressed to be \"remortgage.\" The offer also stated:\n\n\"It is understood that the proceeds of this advance are to be used to purchase a second property without the applicants resorting to any additional borrowing. Any more borrowing or change of use must be notified to the bank immediately.\"\n\nIt was not a condition that any property purchased with the borrowed moneys should be charged to the plaintiff. Mr and Mrs Pitt signed the mortgage offer to indicate their acceptance, but Mrs Pitt did not read it before signing. On 31 July 1986 the legal charge over the family home was executed. It was in standard form. Mrs Pitt signed the legal charge but did not read it. At no stage did Mrs Pitt receive any separate advice about the transaction nor did anyone suggest that she should do so. She did not know the amount that was being borrowed.\n\nMr Pitt applied the borrowed moneys to buy shares, apparently in his own name. On 9 October 1986 Mr Pitt charged any securities he had then deposited or thereafter deposited in favour of the Union Bank of Switzerland. It appears that he never liquidated any part of his holding and that he was charging securities he had bought with the moneys borrowed from the plaintiff in order to borrow more moneys to buy more shares. For a time, he was highly successful with his investments in that at one stage he was a millionaire on paper. In October 1987 the Stock Market crashed, his creditor banks sold the securities charged to them and Mr Pitt found himself in arrears in paying what was due under the charge. At the time of the trial in July 1992, the total sum owing under the legal charge was nearly £219,000, which exceeded the value of the family home.\n\nCounty Court and Court of Appeal\n\nAt the trial before Mr Recorder Davies, Mrs Pitt alleged, first, that she had been induced to enter into the legal charge by Mr Pitt falsely representing to her that the borrowed moneys were to be used to finance the purchase of shares to be held for capital appreciation and income, whereas his actual intention was to use the shares so acquired as collateral for further borrowings to purchase yet more shares. Mrs Pitt further alleged that she entered into the charge because of the undue influence of Mr Pitt, that she had not understood the nature of the obligation she was undertaking or the amount involved and that, since Mr Pitt had acted as the agent of the plaintiff, the charge should be set aside as against the plaintiff. CIBC, in addition to denying the claims made by Mrs Pitt, contended that the transaction was not manifestly disadvantageous to Mrs Pitt and that, following National Westminster Bank plc v Morgan [1985] AC 686, the claim based on undue influence could not succeed.\n\nThe trial judge held (1) that Mrs Pitt had not established any misrepresentation made to her by Mr Pitt; (2) that Mr Pitt had exercised actual undue influence on Mrs Pitt to procure her agreement; (3) that the transaction was manifestly disadvantageous to her and (4) that Mr Pitt had not acted as the agent of the plaintiff. On the law as he understood it Mrs Pitt could not set aside the transaction for either misrepresentation, or undue influence (actual or presumed).\n\nMrs Pitt appealed, and the Court of Appeal (Neill and Peter Gibson LJJ) dismissed Mrs Pitt's appeal\n\nJudgment\n\nThe sole reasoned judgment was delivered by Lord Browne-Wilkinson, with whom all the other law lords agreed. After reviewing the background, his Lordship focussed his analysis on two key points: (1) whether \"manifest disadvantage\" needed to be demonstrated, and (2) whether CIBC, as a third party, was on notice of any undue influence.\n\nManifest disadvantage requirement\n\nAfter reviewing all of the relevant case law, Lord Browne-Wilkinson concluded that there was no requirement to demonstrate manifest disadvantage where actual (as opposed to presumed) undue influence was established. He said\n\nNotice\nHaving made that determination Lord Browne-Wilkinson held that Mrs Pitt would have been entitled to set aside the transaction against her husband. However, in order to succeed she would need to be able to set aside the transaction against CIBC, who was an innocent third party. In order to do so, CIBC would need to be on notice of the undue influence.\n\nThe trial judge had found as a fact that Mr Pitt was not the agent of CIBC, and so his knowledge of the undue influence could not be imputed to the bank. Accordingly, Mrs Pitt needed to show that the facts known to the plaintiff should put it on inquiry so as to fix it with constructive notice. However, there was nothing in the fact pattern which did so:\n\nAccordingly, Mrs Pitt's claim failed. Even though she had been unduly influenced by her husband, the bank had no notice of this, and was accordingly its rights were not affected.\n\nTiming\n\nThe judgment was delivered on the same day as the House of Lords decision in . However, the decision in O'Brien was handed down first, and accordingly, in his speech Lord Browne-Wilkinson refers to his reasoning in the O'Brien case. The composition of the judges in the House of Lords was identical in both cases.\n\nCommentary\nThe case is less relevant after the decision at the same, final, level in reformulating relevant tests for undue influence in third party (and potentially disinterested spouse/co-owner) cases involving bank loans. Accordingly, the decision in Pitt is normally only cited today by textbooks as supplementary authority for more general propositions, such as the absence of any requirement for direct threats to establish undue influence, or the fact that a joint loan to husband and wife will not of itself put the bank on inquiry of potential undue influence.\n\nApplication\n\nApplied by\nDarjan Estate Co plc v Hurley [2012] Ch D\n\nBarclays Bank plc v Boulter [1997] CA (as to dicta/opinion of Lord Browne-Wilkinson)\n\nConsidered in\nBarclays Bank plc v Coleman [2000] CA\n\nDistinguished by\n''Dunbar Bank Plc v Nadeem;; [1997] Ch. D.\n\nSee also\n Undue influence in English law\n\nFootnotes\n\nEnglish banking case law\nEnglish contract case law\nEnglish unconscionability case law\nEnglish land case law\nHouse of Lords cases\n1993 in case law\n1993 in British law"
] |
[
"Fred Rogers",
"VCR"
] | C_4afd5375282049259a462c9d271a3e3c_0 | Did Fred Rogers have anything to do with the development of the VCR? | 1 | Did Fred Rogers have anything to do with the development of the VCR? | Fred Rogers | During the controversy surrounding the introduction of the household VCR, Rogers was involved in supporting the manufacturers of VCRs in court. His 1979 testimony, in the case Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc., noted that he did not object to home recordings of his television programs, for instance, by families in order to watch them together at a later time. This testimony contrasted with the views of others in the television industry who objected to home recordings or believed that devices to facilitate it should be taxed or regulated. When the case reached the Supreme Court in 1983, the majority decision considered the testimony of Rogers when it held that the Betamax video recorder did not infringe copyright. The Court stated that his views were a notable piece of evidence "that many [television] producers are willing to allow private time-shifting to continue" and even quoted his testimony in a footnote: Some public stations, as well as commercial stations, program the Neighborhood at hours when some children cannot use it ... I have always felt that with the advent of all of this new technology that allows people to tape the Neighborhood off-the-air, and I'm speaking for the Neighborhood because that's what I produce, that they then become much more active in the programming of their family's television life. Very frankly, I am opposed to people being programmed by others. My whole approach in broadcasting has always been "You are an important person just the way you are. You can make healthy decisions." Maybe I'm going on too long, but I just feel that anything that allows a person to be more active in the control of his or her life, in a healthy way, is important. CANNOTANSWER | Rogers was involved in supporting the manufacturers of VCRs in court. | Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003), also known as Mister Rogers, was an American television host, author, producer, and Presbyterian minister. He was the creator, showrunner, and host of the preschool television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which ran from 1968 to 2001.
Born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, Rogers earned a bachelor's degree in music from Rollins College in 1951. He began his television career at NBC in New York, returning to Pittsburgh in 1953 to work for children's programming at NET (later PBS) television station WQED. He graduated from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary with a bachelor's degree in divinity in 1962 and became a Presbyterian minister in 1963. He attended the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Child Development, where he began his 30-year collaboration with child psychologist Margaret McFarland. He also helped develop the children's shows The Children's Corner (1955) for WQED in Pittsburgh and Misterogers (1963) in Canada for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. In 1968, he returned to Pittsburgh and adapted the format of his Canadian series to create Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which ran for 33 years. The program was critically acclaimed for focusing on children's emotional and physical concerns, such as death, sibling rivalry, school enrollment, and divorce.
Rogers died of stomach cancer on February 27, 2003, at age 74. His work in children's television has been widely lauded, and he received more than 40 honorary degrees and several awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002 and a Lifetime Achievement Emmy in 1997. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1999. Rogers influenced many writers and producers of children's television shows, and his broadcasts have served as a source of comfort during tragic events, even after his death.
Early life
Rogers was born on March 20, 1928, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, about outside of Pittsburgh, at 705 Main Street to James and Nancy Rogers. James was "a very successful businessman" who was president of the McFeely Brick Company, one of Latrobe's largest businesses. Nancy's father, Fred Brooks McFeely, after whom Rogers was named, was an entrepreneur. Nancy knitted sweaters for American soldiers from western Pennsylvania who were fighting in Europe and regularly volunteered at the Latrobe Hospital. Initially, dreaming of becoming a doctor, she settled for a life of hospital volunteer work. Rogers grew up in a three-story brick mansion at 737 Weldon Street in Latrobe. He had a sister, Elaine, whom the Rogerses adopted when he was 11 years old. Rogers spent much of his childhood alone, playing with puppets, and also spent time with his grandfather. He began to play the piano when he was five years old. Through an ancestor who immigrated from Germany to the U.S., Johannes Meffert (born 1732), Rogers is the sixth cousin of American actor Tom Hanks, who portrays him in the film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019).
Rogers had a difficult childhood. He was shy, introverted, and overweight, and was frequently homebound after suffering bouts of asthma. He was bullied and taunted as a child for his weight, and called "Fat Freddy". According to Morgan Neville, director of the 2018 documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor?, Rogers had a "lonely childhood... I think he made friends with himself as much as he could. He had a ventriloquist dummy, he had [stuffed] animals, and he would create his own worlds in his childhood bedroom".
Rogers attended Latrobe High School, where he overcame his shyness. "It was tough for me at the beginning," Rogers told NPR's Terry Gross in 1984. "And then I made a couple friends who found out that the core of me was okay. And one of them was... the head of the football team". Rogers served as president of the student council, was a member of the National Honor Society, and was editor-in-chief of the school yearbook. He registered for the draft in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, in 1948 at age 20, where he was classified as “1-A”, available for military service. However, his status was changed to “4-F”, unfit for military service, following an Armed Forces physical on October 12, 1950. Rogers attended Dartmouth College for one year before transferring to Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida; he graduated magna cum laude in 1951 with a Bachelor of Music.
Rogers graduated magna cum laude from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 1962 with a Bachelor of Divinity. He was ordained a minister by the Pittsburgh Presbytery of the United Presbyterian Church in 1963. His mission as an ordained minister, instead of being a pastor of a church, was to minister to children and their families through television. He regularly appeared before church officials to keep up his ordination.
Career
Early work
Rogers wanted to enter seminary after college, but instead chose to go into the nascent medium of television after encountering a TV at his parents' home in 1951 during his senior year at Rollins College. In a CNN interview, he said, "I went into television because I hated it so, and I thought there's some way of using this fabulous instrument to nurture those who would watch and listen". After graduating in 1951, he worked at NBC in New York City as floor director of Your Hit Parade, The Kate Smith Hour, and Gabby Hayes's children's show, and as an assistant producer of The Voice of Firestone.
In 1953, Rogers returned to Pittsburgh to work as a program developer at public television station WQED. Josie Carey worked with him to develop the children's show The Children's Corner, which Carey hosted. Rogers worked off-camera to develop puppets, characters, and music for the show. He used many of the puppet characters developed during this time, such as Daniel the Striped Tiger (named after WQED's station manager, Dorothy Daniel, who gave Rogers a tiger puppet before the show's premiere), King Friday XIII, Queen Sara Saturday (named after Rogers's wife), X the Owl, Henrietta, and Lady Elaine, in his later work. Children's television entertainer Ernie Coombs was an assistant puppeteer. The Children's Corner won a Sylvania Award for best locally produced children's programming in 1955 and was broadcast nationally on NBC. While working on The Children's Corner, Rogers attended Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1963. He also attended the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Child Development, where he began working with child psychologist Margaret McFarland, who according to Rogers's biographer Maxwell King became his "key advisor and collaborator" and "child-education guru". Much of Rogers's "thinking about and appreciation for children was shaped and informed" by McFarland. She was his consultant for most of Mister Rogers' Neighborhoods scripts and songs for 30 years.
In 1963, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in Toronto contracted Rogers to develop and host the 15-minute black-and-white children's program Misterogers; it lasted from 1963 to 1967. It was the first time Rogers appeared on camera. CBC's children's programming head Fred Rainsberry insisted on it, telling Rogers, "Fred, I've seen you talk with kids. Let's put you yourself on the air". Coombs joined Rogers in Toronto as an assistant puppeteer. Rogers also worked with Coombs on the children's show Butternut Square from 1964 to 1967. He acquired the rights to Misterogers in 1967 and returned to Pittsburgh with his wife, two young sons, and the sets he developed, despite a potentially promising career with CBC and no job prospects in Pittsburgh. On Rogers' recommendation, Coombs remained in Toronto and became Rogers' Canadian equivalent of an iconic television personality, creating the long-running children's program, Mr. Dressup, which ran from 1967 to 1996. Rogers's work for CBC "helped shape and develop the concept and style of his later program for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the U.S."
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (also called the Neighborhood), a half-hour educational children's program starring Rogers, began airing nationally in 1968 and ran for 895 episodes. The program was videotaped at WQED in Pittsburgh and was broadcast by National Educational Television (NET), which later became the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Its first season had 180 black-and-white episodes. Each subsequent season, filmed in color and funded by PBS, the Sears-Roebuck Foundation, and other charities, consisted of 65 episodes. By the time the program ended production in December 2000, its average rating was about 0.7 percent of television households, or 680,000 homes, and it aired on 384 PBS stations. At its peak in 1985–1986, its ratings were at 2.1 percent, or 1.8 million homes. Production of the Neighborhood ended in December 2000, and the last original episode aired in 2001, but PBS continued to air reruns; by 2016 it was the third-longest running program in PBS history.
Many of the sets and props in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, like the trolley, the sneakers, and the castle, were created for Rogers's show in Toronto by CBC designers and producers. The program also "incorporated most of the highly imaginative elements that later became famous", such as its slow pace and its host's quiet manner. The format of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood "remained virtually unchanged" for the entire run of the program. Every episode begins with a camera's-eye view of a model of a neighborhood, then panning in closer to a representation of a house while a piano instrumental of the theme song, "Won't You be My Neighbor?", performed by music director Johnny Costa and inspired by a Beethoven sonata, is played. The camera zooms in to a model representing Mr. Rogers's house, then cuts to the house's interior and pans across the room to the front door, which Rogers opens as he sings the theme song to greet his visitors while changing his suit jacket to a cardigan (knitted by his mother) and his dress shoes to sneakers, "complete with a shoe tossed from one hand to another". The episode's theme is introduced, and Mr. Rogers leaves his home to visit another location, the camera panning back to the neighborhood model and zooming in to the new location as he enters it. Once this segment ends, Mr. Rogers leaves and returns to his home, indicating that it is time to visit the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. Mr. Rogers proceeds to the window seat by the trolley track and sets up the action there as the Trolley comes out. The camera follows it down a tunnel in the back wall of the house as it enters the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. The stories and lessons told take place over a series of a week's worth of episodes and involve puppet and human characters. The end of the visit occurs when the Trolley returns to the same tunnel from which it emerged, reappearing in Mr. Rogers's home. He then talks to the viewers before concluding the episode. He often feeds his fish, cleans up any props he has used, and returns to the front room, where he sings the closing song while changing back into his dress shoes and jacket. He exits the front door as he ends the song, and the camera zooms out of his home and pans across the neighborhood model as the episode ends.
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood emphasized young children's social and emotional needs, and unlike another PBS show, Sesame Street, which premiered in 1969, did not focus on cognitive learning. Writer Kathy Merlock Jackson said, "While both shows target the same preschool audience and prepare children for kindergarten, Sesame Street concentrates on school-readiness skills while Mister Rogers Neighborhood focuses on the child's developing psyche and feelings and sense of moral and ethical reasoning". The Neighborhood also spent fewer resources on research than Sesame Street, but Rogers used early childhood education concepts taught by his mentor Margaret McFarland, Benjamin Spock, Erik Erikson, and T. Berry Brazelton in his lessons. As the Washington Post noted, Rogers taught young children about civility, tolerance, sharing, and self-worth "in a reassuring tone and leisurely cadence". He tackled difficult topics such as the death of a family pet, sibling rivalry, the addition of a newborn into a family, moving and enrolling in a new school, and divorce. For example, he wrote a special segment that dealt with the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy that aired on June 7, 1968, days after the assassination occurred.
According to King, the process of putting each episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood together was "painstaking" and Rogers's contribution to the program was "astounding". Rogers wrote and edited all the episodes, played the piano and sang for most of the songs, wrote 200 songs and 13 operas, created all the characters (both puppet and human), played most of the major puppet roles, hosted every episode, and produced and approved every detail of the program. The puppets created for the Neighborhood of Make-Believe "included an extraordinary variety of personalities". They were simple puppets but "complex, complicated, and utterly honest beings". In 1971, Rogers formed Family Communications, Inc. (FCI, now The Fred Rogers Company), to produce the Neighborhood, other programs, and non-broadcast materials.
In 1975, Rogers stopped producing Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood to focus on adult programming. Reruns of the Neighborhood continued to air on PBS. King reports that the decision caught many of his coworkers and supporters "off guard". Rogers continued to confer with McFarland about child development and early childhood education, however. In 1979, after an almost five-year hiatus, Rogers returned to producing the Neighborhood; King calls the new version "stronger and more sophisticated than ever". King writes that by the program's second run in the 1980s, it was "such a cultural touchstone that it had inspired numerous parodies", most notably Eddie Murphy's parody on Saturday Night Live in the early 1980s.
Rogers retired from producing the Neighborhood in 2001 at age 73, although reruns continued to air. He and FCI had been making about two or three weeks of new programs per year for many years, "filling the rest of his time slots from a library of about 300 shows made since 1979". The final original episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood aired on August 31, 2001.
Other work and appearances
In 1969, Rogers testified before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Communications, which was chaired by Democratic Senator John Pastore of Rhode Island. U.S. President Lyndon Johnson had proposed a $20 million bill for the creation of PBS before he left office, but his successor, Richard Nixon, wanted to cut the funding to $10 million. Even though Rogers was not yet nationally known, he was chosen to testify because of his ability to make persuasive arguments and to connect emotionally with his audience. The clip of Rogers's testimony, which was televised and has since been viewed by millions of people on the internet, helped to secure funding for PBS for many years afterwards. According to King, Rogers's testimony was "considered one of the most powerful pieces of testimony ever offered before Congress, and one of the most powerful pieces of video presentation ever filmed". It brought Pastore to tears and also, according to King, has been studied by public relations experts and academics. Congressional funding for PBS increased from $9 million to $22 million. In 1970, Nixon appointed Rogers as chair of the White House Conference on Children and Youth.
In 1978, while on hiatus from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Rogers wrote, produced, and hosted a 30-minute interview program for adults on PBS called Old Friends... New Friends. It lasted 20 episodes. Rogers's guests included Hoagy Carmichael, Helen Hayes, Milton Berle, Lorin Hollander, poet Robert Frost's daughter Lesley, and Willie Stargell.
In September 1987, Rogers visited Moscow to appear as the first guest on the long-running Soviet children's TV show Good Night, Little Ones! with host Tatiana Vedeneyeva. The appearance was broadcast in the Soviet Union on December 7, coinciding with the Washington Summit meeting between Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Washington D.C. Vedeneyeva visited the set of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in November. Her visit was taped and later aired in March 1988 as part of Rogers's program. In 1994, Rogers wrote, produced, and hosted a special for PBS called Fred Rogers' Heroes, which featured interviews and portraits of four people from across the country who were having a positive impact on children and education. The first time Rogers appeared on television as an actor, and not himself, was in a 1996 episode of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, playing a preacher.
Rogers gave "scores of interviews". Though reluctant to appear on television talk shows, he would usually "charm the host with his quick wit and ability to ad-lib on a moment's notice". Rogers was "one of the country's most sought-after commencement speakers", making over 150 speeches. His friend and colleague David Newell reported that Rogers would "agonize over a speech", and King reported that Rogers was at his least guarded during his speeches, which were about children, television, education, his view of the world, how to make the world a better place, and his quest for self-knowledge. His tone was quiet and informal but "commanded attention". In many speeches, including the ones he made accepting a Lifetime Achievement Emmy in 1997, for his induction into the Television Hall of Fame in 1999, and his final commencement speech at Dartmouth College in 2002, he instructed his audiences to remain silent and think for a moment about someone who had a good influence on them.
Personal life
Rogers met Sara Joanne Byrd (called "Joanne") from Jacksonville, Florida, while attending Rollins College. They were married from 1952 until his death in 2003. They had two sons, James and John. Joanne was "an accomplished pianist", who like Fred earned a Bachelor of Music from Rollins, and went on to earn a Master of Music from Florida State University. She performed publicly with her college classmate, Jeannine Morrison, from 1976 to 2008. According to biographer Maxwell King, Rogers's close associates said he was "absolutely faithful to his marriage vows".
Rogers was red-green color-blind. He became a pescatarian in 1970, after the death of his father, and a vegetarian in the early 1980s, saying he "couldn't eat anything that had a mother". He became a co-owner of Vegetarian Times in the mid-1980s and said in one issue, "I love tofu burgers and beets". He told Vegetarian Times that he became a vegetarian for both ethical and health reasons. According to his biographer Maxwell King, Rogers also signed his name to a statement protesting wearing animal furs. Rogers was a registered Republican, but according to Joanne Rogers, he was "very independent in the way he voted", choosing not to talk about politics because he wanted to be impartial. Rogers was a Presbyterian, and many of the messages he expressed in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood were inspired by the core tenets of Christianity. Rogers rarely spoke about his faith on air; he believed that teaching through example was as powerful as preaching. He said, "You don't need to speak overtly about religion in order to get a message across". According to writer Shea Tuttle, Rogers considered his faith a fundamental part of his personality and "called the space between the viewer and the television set 'holy ground'". But despite his strong faith, Rogers struggled with anger, conflict, and self-doubt, especially at the end of his life. He also studied Catholic mysticism, Judaism, Buddhism, and other faiths and cultures. King called him "that unique television star with a real spiritual life", emphasizing the values of patience, reflection, and "silence in a noisy world". King reported that despite Rogers's family's wealth, he cared little about making money, and lived frugally, especially as he and his wife grew older. King reported that Rogers's relationship with his young audience was important to him. For example, since hosting Misterogers in Canada, he answered every letter sent to him by hand. After Mister Rogers' Neighborhood began airing in the U.S., the letters increased in volume and he hired staff member and producer Hedda Sharapan to answer them, but he read, edited, and signed each one. King wrote that Rogers saw responding to his viewers' letters as "a pastoral duty of sorts".
The New York Times called Rogers "a dedicated lap-swimmer", and Tom Junod, author of "Can You Say... Hero?", the 1998 Esquire profile of Rogers, said, "Nearly every morning of his life, Mister Rogers has gone swimming". Rogers began swimming when he was a child at his family's vacation home outside Latrobe, where they owned a pool, and during their winter trips to Florida. King wrote that swimming and playing the piano were "lifelong passions" and that "both gave him a chance to feel capable and in charge of his destiny", and that swimming became "an important part of the strong sense of self-discipline he cultivated". Rogers swam daily at the Pittsburgh Athletic Association, after waking every morning between 4:30 and 5:30 A.M. to pray and to "read the Bible and prepare himself for the day". He did not smoke or drink. According to Junod, he did nothing to change his weight from the he weighed for most of his adult life; by 1998, this also included napping daily, going to bed at 9:30 P.M., and sleeping eight hours per night without interruption. Junod said Rogers saw his weight "as a destiny fulfilled", telling Junod, "the number 143 means 'I love you.' It takes one letter to say 'I' and four letters to say 'love' and three letters to say 'you'".
Death and memorials
After Rogers's retirement in 2001, he remained busy working with FCI, studying religion and spirituality, making public appearances, traveling, and working on a children's media center named after him at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe with Archabbot Douglas Nowicki, chancellor of the college. By the summer of 2002, his chronic stomach pain became severe enough for him to see a doctor about it, and in October 2002, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He delayed treatment until after he served as Grand Marshal of the 2003 Rose Parade, with Art Linkletter and Bill Cosby in January. On January 6, Rogers underwent stomach surgery. He died less than two months later, on February 27, 2003, one month before his 75th birthday, at his home in Pittsburgh, with his wife of 50 years, Joanne, at his side. While comatose shortly before his death, he received the last rites of the Catholic Church from Archabbot Nowicki.
The following day, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette covered Rogers's death on the front page and dedicated an entire section to his death and impact. The newspaper also reported that by noon, the internet "was already full of appreciative pieces" by parents, viewers, producers, and writers. Rogers's death was widely lamented. Most U.S. metropolitan newspapers ran his obituary on their front page, and some dedicated entire sections to coverage of his death. WQED aired programs about Rogers the evening he died; the Post-Gazette reported that the ratings for their coverage were three times higher than their normal ratings. That same evening, Nightline on ABC broadcast a rerun of a recent interview with Rogers; the program got the highest ratings of the day, beating the February average ratings of Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. On March 4, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution honoring Rogers sponsored by Representative Mike Doyle from Pennsylvania.
On March 1, 2003, a private funeral was held for Rogers in Unity Chapel, which was restored by Rogers's father, at Unity Cemetery in Latrobe. About 80 relatives, co-workers, and close friends attended the service, which "was planned in great secrecy so that those closest to him could grieve in private". Reverend John McCall, pastor of the Rogers family's church, Sixth Presbyterian Church in Squirrel Hill, gave the homily, and Reverend William Barker, a retired Presbyterian minister who was a "close friend of Mr. Rogers and the voice of Mr. Platypus on his show", read Rogers's favorite Bible passages. Rogers was interred at Unity Cemetery in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, in a mausoleum owned by his mother's family.
On May 3, 2003, a public memorial was held at Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh. According to the Post-Gazette, 2,700 people attended. Violinist Itzhak Perlman, cellist Yo-Yo Ma (via video), and organist Alan Morrison performed in honor of Rogers. Barker officiated the service; also in attendance were Pittsburgh philanthropist Elsie Hillman, former Good Morning America host David Hartman, The Very Hungry Caterpillar author Eric Carle, and Arthur creator Marc Brown. Businesswoman and philanthropist Teresa Heinz, PBS President Pat Mitchell, and executive director of The Pittsburgh Project Saleem Ghubril gave remarks. Jeff Erlanger, who at age 10 appeared on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in 1981 to explain his electric wheelchair, also spoke. The memorial was broadcast several times on Pittsburgh television stations and websites throughout the day.
Legacy
Marc Brown, creator of another PBS children's show, Arthur, considered Rogers both a friend and "a terrific role model for how to use television and the media to be helpful to kids and families". Josh Selig, creator of Wonder Pets, credits Rogers with influencing his use of structure and predictability, and his use of music, opera, and originality.
Rogers inspired Angela Santomero, co-creator of the children's television show Blue's Clues, to earn a degree in developmental psychology and go into educational television. She and the other producers of Blue's Clues used many of Rogers's techniques, such as using child developmental and educational research, and having the host speak directly to the camera and transition to a make-believe world. In 2006, three years after Rogers's death and the end of production of Blue's Clues, the Fred Rogers Company contacted Santomero to create a show that would promote Rogers's legacy. In 2012, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, with characters from and based upon Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, premiered on PBS.
Rogers's style and approach to children's television and early childhood education also "begged to be parodied". Comedian Eddie Murphy parodied Mister Rogers' Neighborhood on Saturday Night Live during the 1980s. Rogers told interviewer David Letterman in 1982 that he believed parodies like Murphy's were done "with kindness in their hearts".
Video of Rogers's 1969 testimony in defense of public programming has experienced a resurgence since 2012, going viral at least twice. It first resurfaced after then presidential candidate Mitt Romney suggested cutting funding for PBS. In 2017, video of the testimony again went viral after President Donald Trump proposed defunding several arts-related government programs including PBS and the National Endowment for the Arts.
A roadside Pennsylvania Historical Marker dedicated to Rogers to be installed in Latrobe was approved by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission on March 4, 2014. It was installed on June 11, 2016, with the title "Fred McFeely Rogers (1928–2003)".
In 2018, Won't You Be My Neighbor?, director Morgan Neville's documentary about Rogers's life, grossed over $22 million and became the top-grossing biographical documentary ever produced, the highest-grossing documentary in five years, and the 12th largest-grossing documentary ever produced. The 2019 drama film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood tells the story of Rogers and his television series, with Tom Hanks portraying Rogers.
According to Caitlin Gibson of The Washington Post, Rogers became a source for parenting advice; she called him "a timeless oracle against a backdrop of ever-shifting parenting philosophies and cultural trends". Robert Thompson of Syracuse University noted that Rogers "took American childhood—and I think Americans in general—through some very turbulent and trying times", from the Vietnam War and the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968 to the 9/11 attacks in 2001. According to Asia Simone Burns of National Public Radio, in the years following the end of production on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in 2001, and his death in 2003, Rogers became "a source of comfort, sometimes in the wake of tragedy". Burns has said Rogers's words of comfort "began circulating on social media" following tragedies such as the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, the Manchester Arena bombing in Manchester, England, in 2017, and the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, in 2018.
Awards and honors
Museum exhibits
Smithsonian Institution permanent collection. In 1984, Rogers donated one of his sweaters to the Smithsonian.
Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. Exhibit created by Rogers and FCI in 1998. It attracted hundreds of thousand of visitors over 10 years, and included, from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, one of his sweaters, a pair of his sneakers, original puppets from the program, and photographs of Rogers. The exhibit traveled to children's museums throughout the country for eight years until it was given to the Louisiana Children's Museum in New Orleans as a permanent exhibit, to help them recover from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In 2007, the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh created a traveling exhibit based on the factory tours featured in episodes of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
Heinz History Center permanent collection (2018). In honor of the 50th anniversary of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and what would have been Rogers's 90th birthday.
Louisiana Children's Museum. The museum contains an exhibit of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which debuted in 2007. The exhibit was donated by the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh.
Fred Rogers Exhibit. The Exhibit displays the life, career and legacy of Rogers and includes photos, artifacts from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and clips of the program and interviews featuring Rogers. It is located at the Fred Rogers Center.
Art pieces
There are several pieces of art dedicated to Rogers throughout Pittsburgh, including a 7,000-pound, 11-foot high bronze statue of him in the North Shore neighborhood. In the Oakland neighborhood, his portrait is included in the Martin Luther King Jr. and "Interpretations of Oakland" murals. A statue of a dinosaur titled "Fredasaurus Rex Friday XIII" originally stood in front of the WQED building and as of 2014 stands in front of the building that contains the Fred Rogers Company offices. There is a "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood of Make-Believe" in Idlewild Park and a kiosk of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood artifacts at Pittsburgh International Airport. The Carnegie Science Center's Miniature Railroad and Village debuted a miniature recreation of Rogers's house from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in 2005.
Honorary degrees
Rogers has received honorary degrees from over 43 colleges and universities. After 1973, two commemorative quilts, created by two of Rogers's friends and archived at the Fred Rogers Center at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, were made out of the academic hoods he received during the graduation ceremonies.
Note: Much of the below list is taken from "Honorary Degrees Awarded to Fred Rogers", unless otherwise stated.
Thiel College, 1969. Thiel also awards a yearly scholarship named for Rogers.
Eastern Michigan University, 1973
Saint Vincent College, 1973
Christian Theological Seminary, 1973
Rollins College, 1974
Yale University, 1974
Chatham College, 1975
Carnegie Mellon University, 1976
Lafayette College, 1977
Waynesburg College, 1978
Linfield College, 1982
Slippery Rock State College, 1982
Duquesne University, 1982
Washington & Jefferson College, 1984
University of South Carolina, 1985
Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 1985
Drury College, 1986
MacMurray College, 1986
Bowling Green State University, 1987
Westminster College (Pennsylvania), 1987
University of Indianapolis, 1988
University of Connecticut, 1991
Boston University, 1992
Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 1992
Moravian College, 1992
Goucher College, 1993
University of Pittsburgh, 1993
West Virginia University, 1995
North Carolina State University, 1996
Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, 1998
Marist College, 1999
Westminster Choir College, 1999
Old Dominion University, 2000
Marquette University, 2001
Middlebury College, 2001
Dartmouth College, 2002
Seton Hill University, 2003 (posthumous)
Union College, 2003 (posthumous)
Roanoke College, 2003 (posthumous)
Filmography
Television
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
|-
| 1954–1961
| The Children's Corner
|-
| 1963–1966
| Misterogers
|-
| 1964–1967
| Butternut Square
|-
| 1968–2001
| Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
|-
| 1977–1982
| Christmastime with Mister Rogers
|-
| 1978–1981
| Old Friends... New Friends
|-
| 1981
| Sesame Street
|-
| 1988
| Good Night, Little Ones!
|-
| 1991
| Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?
|-
| 1994
|Mr. Dressup's 25th Anniversary|-
| 1994
| Fred Rogers' Heroes|-
| 1996
| Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman|-
| 1997
| Arthur|-
| 1998
| Wheel of Fortune|-
| 2003
| 114th Annual Tournament of Roses Parade|}
Published works
Children's books
Our Small World (with Josie Carey, illustrated by Norb Nathanson), 1954, Reed and Witting,
The Elves, the Shoemaker, & the Shoemaker's Wife (illustrated by Richard Hefter), 1973, Small World Enterprises,
The Matter of the Mittens, 1973, Small World Enterprises,
Speedy Delivery (illustrated by Richard Hefter), 1973, Hubbard,
Henrietta Meets Someone New (illustrated by Jason Art Studios), 1974, Golden Press,
Mister Rogers Talks About, 1974, Platt & Munk,
Time to Be Friends, 1974, Hallmark Cards,
Everyone is Special (illustrated by Jason Art Studios), 1975, Western Publishing,
Tell Me, Mister Rogers, 1975, Platt & Munk,
The Costume Party (illustrated by Jason Art Studios), 1976, Golden Press,
Planet Purple (illustrated by Dennis Hockerman), 1986, Texas Instruments,
If We Were All the Same (illustrated by Pat Sustendal), 1987, Random House,
A Trolley Visit to Make-Believe (illustrated by Pat Sustendal), 1987, Random House,
Wishes Don't Make Things Come True (illustrated Pat Sustendal), 1987, Random House,
No One Can Ever Take Your Place (illustrated by Pat Sustendal), 1988, Random House,
When Monsters Seem Real (illustrated by Pat Sustendal), 1988, Random House,
You Can Never Go Down the Drain (illustrated by Pat Sustendal), 1988, Random House,
The Giving Box (illustrated by Jennifer Herbert), 2000, Running Press,
Good Weather or Not (with Hedda Bluestone Sharapan, illustrated by James Mellet), 2005, Family Communications,
Josephine the Short Neck-Giraffe, 2006, Family Communications,
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: The Poetry of Mister Rogers Neighborhood (illustrated by Luke Flowers), 2009, Quirk Books,
First Experiences series illustrated by Jim Judkis
Going to Day Care, 1985, Putnam,
The New Baby, 1985, Putnam,
Going to the Potty, 1986, Putnam,
Going to the Doctor, 1986, Putnam,
Making Friends, 1987, Putnam,
Moving, 1987, Putnam,
Going to the Hospital, 1988, Putnam,
When a Pet Dies, 1988, Putnam,
Going on an Airplane, 1989, Putnam,
Going to the Dentist, 1989, Putnam,
Let's Talk About It series
Going to the Hospital, 1977, Family Communications,
Having an Operation, 1977, Family Communications,
So Many Things To See!, 1977, Family Communications,
Wearing a Cast, 1977, Family Communications,
Adoption, 1993, Putnam,
Divorce, 1994, Putnam,
Extraordinary Friends, 2000, Putnam,
Stepfamilies, 2001, Putnam,
Songbooks
Tomorrow on the Children's Corner (with Josie Carey, illustrated by Mal Wittman), 1960, Vernon Music Corporation,
Mister Rogers' Songbook (with Johnny Costa, illustrated by Steven Kellogg), 1970, Random House,
Books for adults
Mister Rogers Talks to Parents, 1983, Family Communications,
Mister Rogers' Playbook (with Barry Head, illustrated by Jamie Adams), 1986, Berkley Books,
Mister Rogers Talks with Families About Divorce (with Clare O'Brien), 1987, Berkley Books,
Mister Rogers' How Families Grow (with Barry Head and Jim Prokell), 1988, Berkley Books,
You Are Special: Words of Wisdom from America's Most Beloved Neighbor, 1994, Penguin Books,
Dear Mister Rogers, 1996, Penguin Books,
Mister Rogers' Playtime, 2001, Running Press,
The Mister Rogers Parenting Book, 2002, Running Press,
You are special: Neighborly Wisdom from Mister Rogers, 2002, Running Press,
The World According to Mister Rogers, 2003, Hyperion Books,
Life's Journeys According to Mister Rogers, 2005, Hyperion Books,
The Mister Rogers Parenting Resource Book, 2005, Courage Books,
Many Ways to Say I Love You: Wisdom For Parents And Children, 2019, Hachette Books,
Discography
Around the Children's Corner (with Josey Carey), 1958, Vernon Music Corporation,
Tomorrow on the Children's Corner (with Josie Carey), 1959
King Friday XIII Celebrates, 1964
Won't You Be My Neighbor?, 1967
Let's Be Together Today, 1968
Josephine the Short-Neck Giraffe, 1969
You Are Special, 1969
A Place of Our Own, 1970
Come On and Wake Up, 1972
Growing, 1992
Bedtime, 1992
Won't You Be My Neighbor? (cassette and book), 1994, Hal Leonard,
Coming and Going, 1997
It's Such A Good Feeling: The Best Of Mister Rogers, 2019, Omnivore Recordings, posthumous release
See also
Won't You Be My Neighbor?, 2018 documentary
Mister Rogers: It's You I Like, 2018 documentary
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, 2019 biographical drama film
List of vegetarians
Notes
References
Works cited
Gross, Terry (1984). "Terry Gross and Fred Rogers". Fresh Air. NPR.
King, Maxwell (2018). The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers. Abrams Press. .
Tiech, John (2012). Pittsburgh Film History: On Set in the Steel City''. Charleston, North Carolina: The History Press. .
External links
PBS Kids: Official Site
The Fred M. Rogers Center
The Fred Rogers Company (formerly known as Family Communications)
1984 interview with Fred Rogers.
The Music of Mister Rogers—Pittsburgh Music History
Fred Rogers at Voice Chasers
1928 births
2003 deaths
20th-century American composers
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American singers
20th-century Presbyterians
21st-century Presbyterians
American children's television presenters
American male composers
American male singers
American male songwriters
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American philanthropists
American Presbyterian ministers
American Presbyterians
American puppeteers
American television hosts
Burials in Pennsylvania
Christianity in Pittsburgh
Columbia Records artists
Dartmouth College alumni
Daytime Emmy Award winners
Deaths from cancer in Pennsylvania
Deaths from stomach cancer
Male actors from Pittsburgh
Omnivore Recordings artists
PBS people
Peabody Award winners
Pennsylvania Republicans
People from Latrobe, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary alumni
Presbyterians from Pennsylvania
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Rollins College alumni
Singers from Pennsylvania
Songwriters from Pennsylvania
Television personalities from Pittsburgh
Television producers from Pennsylvania
United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America ministers
Vegetarianism activists
Writers from Pittsburgh
Articles containing video clips | false | [
"A VCR/DVD combo, or more commonly, a DVD/VCR combo, is a multiplex or converged device, convenient for consumers who wish to use both VHS tapes and DVDs.\n\nHybrid VCR/DVD players were first introduced around the year 1999, and were sometimes criticized as being of poorer quality in terms of resolution than stand-alone units. The first VCR/DVD combo player released was by Go Video, model DVR5000. The product also has a disadvantage in that if one function (DVD or VHS) becomes unusable, the entire unit must be replaced or repaired, though later models of DVD/VCR which suffered from DVD playback lag still functioned with the VCR.\n\nNormally in a combo unit, it will have typical features such as recording a DVD onto VHS, on most, record a show to VHS with the built-in tuner (Now a digital to analog converter must be used.), LP recording for VHS, surround sound for Dolby Digital and DTS (DVD), component connections for DVD, although some may lack the connection, 480p progressive scan for the DVD side, VCR+, playback of tapes in a variety of playback speeds, and front A/V inputs (VCR only).\n\nTo help the consumer, they will have (a) button(s) for switching the output source for ease of use. Usually, the recording capabilities are VCR exclusive, while the better picture quality is DVD exclusive, but some include S-Video and Component (Or HDMI) for VCR too. \n\nThese devices were among the only VCRs alongside some VCR/Blu-ray combo to be equipped with an HDMI port for HDTV viewing upscaling to several different types of resolutions including 1080i\n\nShortly after the turn of the century, hybrids including DVD recorders (instead of players) also become available. These can be used for transferring VHS material onto recordable blank DVDs. Very rarely, will there be component inputs to record with the best connection possible.\n\nIn July 2016, Funai Electric, the last remaining manufacturer of VCR/DVD combos, due to manufacturing costs, announced they would cease production at the end of the month, causing the demise of the combo after 17 years of production, but they can still be found on store shelves.\n\nSee also\nCombo television unit\nVCR/Blu-ray combo\n\nReferences \n\nFilm and video technology\nVideo hardware",
"\"What Do You Do with the Mad That You Feel?\" is a song written and sung by PBS personality Fred Rogers in the PBS children's television program Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Rogers recited the song in testimony before the United States Senate in 1969, early in the funding process of PBS, during an exchange with Senator John Pastore. Footage of the hearing was included in the 2018 documentary about Rogers, Won't You Be My Neighbor?\n\nRogers gave several stories for the origin of the song, but when he testified to the Senate, he said that the title and first line came from a question Rogers received from a concerned boy, who asked \"What do you do with the mad that you feel when you feel so mad you could bite?\" \n\nThe song first appeared on his program in 1968.\n\nExternal links \n\n Lyrics (archived webpage from PBS Kids)\n\nReferences\n\nAmerican children's songs\nFred Rogers\nArticles containing video clips\n1968 songs"
] |
[
"Fred Rogers",
"VCR",
"Did Fred Rogers have anything to do with the development of the VCR?",
"Rogers was involved in supporting the manufacturers of VCRs in court."
] | C_4afd5375282049259a462c9d271a3e3c_0 | What was Roger's role in supporting the VCR | 2 | What was Fred Rogers role in supporting the VCR? | Fred Rogers | During the controversy surrounding the introduction of the household VCR, Rogers was involved in supporting the manufacturers of VCRs in court. His 1979 testimony, in the case Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc., noted that he did not object to home recordings of his television programs, for instance, by families in order to watch them together at a later time. This testimony contrasted with the views of others in the television industry who objected to home recordings or believed that devices to facilitate it should be taxed or regulated. When the case reached the Supreme Court in 1983, the majority decision considered the testimony of Rogers when it held that the Betamax video recorder did not infringe copyright. The Court stated that his views were a notable piece of evidence "that many [television] producers are willing to allow private time-shifting to continue" and even quoted his testimony in a footnote: Some public stations, as well as commercial stations, program the Neighborhood at hours when some children cannot use it ... I have always felt that with the advent of all of this new technology that allows people to tape the Neighborhood off-the-air, and I'm speaking for the Neighborhood because that's what I produce, that they then become much more active in the programming of their family's television life. Very frankly, I am opposed to people being programmed by others. My whole approach in broadcasting has always been "You are an important person just the way you are. You can make healthy decisions." Maybe I'm going on too long, but I just feel that anything that allows a person to be more active in the control of his or her life, in a healthy way, is important. CANNOTANSWER | His 1979 testimony, in the case Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc., | Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003), also known as Mister Rogers, was an American television host, author, producer, and Presbyterian minister. He was the creator, showrunner, and host of the preschool television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which ran from 1968 to 2001.
Born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, Rogers earned a bachelor's degree in music from Rollins College in 1951. He began his television career at NBC in New York, returning to Pittsburgh in 1953 to work for children's programming at NET (later PBS) television station WQED. He graduated from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary with a bachelor's degree in divinity in 1962 and became a Presbyterian minister in 1963. He attended the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Child Development, where he began his 30-year collaboration with child psychologist Margaret McFarland. He also helped develop the children's shows The Children's Corner (1955) for WQED in Pittsburgh and Misterogers (1963) in Canada for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. In 1968, he returned to Pittsburgh and adapted the format of his Canadian series to create Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which ran for 33 years. The program was critically acclaimed for focusing on children's emotional and physical concerns, such as death, sibling rivalry, school enrollment, and divorce.
Rogers died of stomach cancer on February 27, 2003, at age 74. His work in children's television has been widely lauded, and he received more than 40 honorary degrees and several awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002 and a Lifetime Achievement Emmy in 1997. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1999. Rogers influenced many writers and producers of children's television shows, and his broadcasts have served as a source of comfort during tragic events, even after his death.
Early life
Rogers was born on March 20, 1928, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, about outside of Pittsburgh, at 705 Main Street to James and Nancy Rogers. James was "a very successful businessman" who was president of the McFeely Brick Company, one of Latrobe's largest businesses. Nancy's father, Fred Brooks McFeely, after whom Rogers was named, was an entrepreneur. Nancy knitted sweaters for American soldiers from western Pennsylvania who were fighting in Europe and regularly volunteered at the Latrobe Hospital. Initially, dreaming of becoming a doctor, she settled for a life of hospital volunteer work. Rogers grew up in a three-story brick mansion at 737 Weldon Street in Latrobe. He had a sister, Elaine, whom the Rogerses adopted when he was 11 years old. Rogers spent much of his childhood alone, playing with puppets, and also spent time with his grandfather. He began to play the piano when he was five years old. Through an ancestor who immigrated from Germany to the U.S., Johannes Meffert (born 1732), Rogers is the sixth cousin of American actor Tom Hanks, who portrays him in the film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019).
Rogers had a difficult childhood. He was shy, introverted, and overweight, and was frequently homebound after suffering bouts of asthma. He was bullied and taunted as a child for his weight, and called "Fat Freddy". According to Morgan Neville, director of the 2018 documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor?, Rogers had a "lonely childhood... I think he made friends with himself as much as he could. He had a ventriloquist dummy, he had [stuffed] animals, and he would create his own worlds in his childhood bedroom".
Rogers attended Latrobe High School, where he overcame his shyness. "It was tough for me at the beginning," Rogers told NPR's Terry Gross in 1984. "And then I made a couple friends who found out that the core of me was okay. And one of them was... the head of the football team". Rogers served as president of the student council, was a member of the National Honor Society, and was editor-in-chief of the school yearbook. He registered for the draft in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, in 1948 at age 20, where he was classified as “1-A”, available for military service. However, his status was changed to “4-F”, unfit for military service, following an Armed Forces physical on October 12, 1950. Rogers attended Dartmouth College for one year before transferring to Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida; he graduated magna cum laude in 1951 with a Bachelor of Music.
Rogers graduated magna cum laude from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 1962 with a Bachelor of Divinity. He was ordained a minister by the Pittsburgh Presbytery of the United Presbyterian Church in 1963. His mission as an ordained minister, instead of being a pastor of a church, was to minister to children and their families through television. He regularly appeared before church officials to keep up his ordination.
Career
Early work
Rogers wanted to enter seminary after college, but instead chose to go into the nascent medium of television after encountering a TV at his parents' home in 1951 during his senior year at Rollins College. In a CNN interview, he said, "I went into television because I hated it so, and I thought there's some way of using this fabulous instrument to nurture those who would watch and listen". After graduating in 1951, he worked at NBC in New York City as floor director of Your Hit Parade, The Kate Smith Hour, and Gabby Hayes's children's show, and as an assistant producer of The Voice of Firestone.
In 1953, Rogers returned to Pittsburgh to work as a program developer at public television station WQED. Josie Carey worked with him to develop the children's show The Children's Corner, which Carey hosted. Rogers worked off-camera to develop puppets, characters, and music for the show. He used many of the puppet characters developed during this time, such as Daniel the Striped Tiger (named after WQED's station manager, Dorothy Daniel, who gave Rogers a tiger puppet before the show's premiere), King Friday XIII, Queen Sara Saturday (named after Rogers's wife), X the Owl, Henrietta, and Lady Elaine, in his later work. Children's television entertainer Ernie Coombs was an assistant puppeteer. The Children's Corner won a Sylvania Award for best locally produced children's programming in 1955 and was broadcast nationally on NBC. While working on The Children's Corner, Rogers attended Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1963. He also attended the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Child Development, where he began working with child psychologist Margaret McFarland, who according to Rogers's biographer Maxwell King became his "key advisor and collaborator" and "child-education guru". Much of Rogers's "thinking about and appreciation for children was shaped and informed" by McFarland. She was his consultant for most of Mister Rogers' Neighborhoods scripts and songs for 30 years.
In 1963, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in Toronto contracted Rogers to develop and host the 15-minute black-and-white children's program Misterogers; it lasted from 1963 to 1967. It was the first time Rogers appeared on camera. CBC's children's programming head Fred Rainsberry insisted on it, telling Rogers, "Fred, I've seen you talk with kids. Let's put you yourself on the air". Coombs joined Rogers in Toronto as an assistant puppeteer. Rogers also worked with Coombs on the children's show Butternut Square from 1964 to 1967. He acquired the rights to Misterogers in 1967 and returned to Pittsburgh with his wife, two young sons, and the sets he developed, despite a potentially promising career with CBC and no job prospects in Pittsburgh. On Rogers' recommendation, Coombs remained in Toronto and became Rogers' Canadian equivalent of an iconic television personality, creating the long-running children's program, Mr. Dressup, which ran from 1967 to 1996. Rogers's work for CBC "helped shape and develop the concept and style of his later program for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the U.S."
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (also called the Neighborhood), a half-hour educational children's program starring Rogers, began airing nationally in 1968 and ran for 895 episodes. The program was videotaped at WQED in Pittsburgh and was broadcast by National Educational Television (NET), which later became the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Its first season had 180 black-and-white episodes. Each subsequent season, filmed in color and funded by PBS, the Sears-Roebuck Foundation, and other charities, consisted of 65 episodes. By the time the program ended production in December 2000, its average rating was about 0.7 percent of television households, or 680,000 homes, and it aired on 384 PBS stations. At its peak in 1985–1986, its ratings were at 2.1 percent, or 1.8 million homes. Production of the Neighborhood ended in December 2000, and the last original episode aired in 2001, but PBS continued to air reruns; by 2016 it was the third-longest running program in PBS history.
Many of the sets and props in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, like the trolley, the sneakers, and the castle, were created for Rogers's show in Toronto by CBC designers and producers. The program also "incorporated most of the highly imaginative elements that later became famous", such as its slow pace and its host's quiet manner. The format of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood "remained virtually unchanged" for the entire run of the program. Every episode begins with a camera's-eye view of a model of a neighborhood, then panning in closer to a representation of a house while a piano instrumental of the theme song, "Won't You be My Neighbor?", performed by music director Johnny Costa and inspired by a Beethoven sonata, is played. The camera zooms in to a model representing Mr. Rogers's house, then cuts to the house's interior and pans across the room to the front door, which Rogers opens as he sings the theme song to greet his visitors while changing his suit jacket to a cardigan (knitted by his mother) and his dress shoes to sneakers, "complete with a shoe tossed from one hand to another". The episode's theme is introduced, and Mr. Rogers leaves his home to visit another location, the camera panning back to the neighborhood model and zooming in to the new location as he enters it. Once this segment ends, Mr. Rogers leaves and returns to his home, indicating that it is time to visit the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. Mr. Rogers proceeds to the window seat by the trolley track and sets up the action there as the Trolley comes out. The camera follows it down a tunnel in the back wall of the house as it enters the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. The stories and lessons told take place over a series of a week's worth of episodes and involve puppet and human characters. The end of the visit occurs when the Trolley returns to the same tunnel from which it emerged, reappearing in Mr. Rogers's home. He then talks to the viewers before concluding the episode. He often feeds his fish, cleans up any props he has used, and returns to the front room, where he sings the closing song while changing back into his dress shoes and jacket. He exits the front door as he ends the song, and the camera zooms out of his home and pans across the neighborhood model as the episode ends.
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood emphasized young children's social and emotional needs, and unlike another PBS show, Sesame Street, which premiered in 1969, did not focus on cognitive learning. Writer Kathy Merlock Jackson said, "While both shows target the same preschool audience and prepare children for kindergarten, Sesame Street concentrates on school-readiness skills while Mister Rogers Neighborhood focuses on the child's developing psyche and feelings and sense of moral and ethical reasoning". The Neighborhood also spent fewer resources on research than Sesame Street, but Rogers used early childhood education concepts taught by his mentor Margaret McFarland, Benjamin Spock, Erik Erikson, and T. Berry Brazelton in his lessons. As the Washington Post noted, Rogers taught young children about civility, tolerance, sharing, and self-worth "in a reassuring tone and leisurely cadence". He tackled difficult topics such as the death of a family pet, sibling rivalry, the addition of a newborn into a family, moving and enrolling in a new school, and divorce. For example, he wrote a special segment that dealt with the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy that aired on June 7, 1968, days after the assassination occurred.
According to King, the process of putting each episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood together was "painstaking" and Rogers's contribution to the program was "astounding". Rogers wrote and edited all the episodes, played the piano and sang for most of the songs, wrote 200 songs and 13 operas, created all the characters (both puppet and human), played most of the major puppet roles, hosted every episode, and produced and approved every detail of the program. The puppets created for the Neighborhood of Make-Believe "included an extraordinary variety of personalities". They were simple puppets but "complex, complicated, and utterly honest beings". In 1971, Rogers formed Family Communications, Inc. (FCI, now The Fred Rogers Company), to produce the Neighborhood, other programs, and non-broadcast materials.
In 1975, Rogers stopped producing Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood to focus on adult programming. Reruns of the Neighborhood continued to air on PBS. King reports that the decision caught many of his coworkers and supporters "off guard". Rogers continued to confer with McFarland about child development and early childhood education, however. In 1979, after an almost five-year hiatus, Rogers returned to producing the Neighborhood; King calls the new version "stronger and more sophisticated than ever". King writes that by the program's second run in the 1980s, it was "such a cultural touchstone that it had inspired numerous parodies", most notably Eddie Murphy's parody on Saturday Night Live in the early 1980s.
Rogers retired from producing the Neighborhood in 2001 at age 73, although reruns continued to air. He and FCI had been making about two or three weeks of new programs per year for many years, "filling the rest of his time slots from a library of about 300 shows made since 1979". The final original episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood aired on August 31, 2001.
Other work and appearances
In 1969, Rogers testified before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Communications, which was chaired by Democratic Senator John Pastore of Rhode Island. U.S. President Lyndon Johnson had proposed a $20 million bill for the creation of PBS before he left office, but his successor, Richard Nixon, wanted to cut the funding to $10 million. Even though Rogers was not yet nationally known, he was chosen to testify because of his ability to make persuasive arguments and to connect emotionally with his audience. The clip of Rogers's testimony, which was televised and has since been viewed by millions of people on the internet, helped to secure funding for PBS for many years afterwards. According to King, Rogers's testimony was "considered one of the most powerful pieces of testimony ever offered before Congress, and one of the most powerful pieces of video presentation ever filmed". It brought Pastore to tears and also, according to King, has been studied by public relations experts and academics. Congressional funding for PBS increased from $9 million to $22 million. In 1970, Nixon appointed Rogers as chair of the White House Conference on Children and Youth.
In 1978, while on hiatus from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Rogers wrote, produced, and hosted a 30-minute interview program for adults on PBS called Old Friends... New Friends. It lasted 20 episodes. Rogers's guests included Hoagy Carmichael, Helen Hayes, Milton Berle, Lorin Hollander, poet Robert Frost's daughter Lesley, and Willie Stargell.
In September 1987, Rogers visited Moscow to appear as the first guest on the long-running Soviet children's TV show Good Night, Little Ones! with host Tatiana Vedeneyeva. The appearance was broadcast in the Soviet Union on December 7, coinciding with the Washington Summit meeting between Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Washington D.C. Vedeneyeva visited the set of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in November. Her visit was taped and later aired in March 1988 as part of Rogers's program. In 1994, Rogers wrote, produced, and hosted a special for PBS called Fred Rogers' Heroes, which featured interviews and portraits of four people from across the country who were having a positive impact on children and education. The first time Rogers appeared on television as an actor, and not himself, was in a 1996 episode of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, playing a preacher.
Rogers gave "scores of interviews". Though reluctant to appear on television talk shows, he would usually "charm the host with his quick wit and ability to ad-lib on a moment's notice". Rogers was "one of the country's most sought-after commencement speakers", making over 150 speeches. His friend and colleague David Newell reported that Rogers would "agonize over a speech", and King reported that Rogers was at his least guarded during his speeches, which were about children, television, education, his view of the world, how to make the world a better place, and his quest for self-knowledge. His tone was quiet and informal but "commanded attention". In many speeches, including the ones he made accepting a Lifetime Achievement Emmy in 1997, for his induction into the Television Hall of Fame in 1999, and his final commencement speech at Dartmouth College in 2002, he instructed his audiences to remain silent and think for a moment about someone who had a good influence on them.
Personal life
Rogers met Sara Joanne Byrd (called "Joanne") from Jacksonville, Florida, while attending Rollins College. They were married from 1952 until his death in 2003. They had two sons, James and John. Joanne was "an accomplished pianist", who like Fred earned a Bachelor of Music from Rollins, and went on to earn a Master of Music from Florida State University. She performed publicly with her college classmate, Jeannine Morrison, from 1976 to 2008. According to biographer Maxwell King, Rogers's close associates said he was "absolutely faithful to his marriage vows".
Rogers was red-green color-blind. He became a pescatarian in 1970, after the death of his father, and a vegetarian in the early 1980s, saying he "couldn't eat anything that had a mother". He became a co-owner of Vegetarian Times in the mid-1980s and said in one issue, "I love tofu burgers and beets". He told Vegetarian Times that he became a vegetarian for both ethical and health reasons. According to his biographer Maxwell King, Rogers also signed his name to a statement protesting wearing animal furs. Rogers was a registered Republican, but according to Joanne Rogers, he was "very independent in the way he voted", choosing not to talk about politics because he wanted to be impartial. Rogers was a Presbyterian, and many of the messages he expressed in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood were inspired by the core tenets of Christianity. Rogers rarely spoke about his faith on air; he believed that teaching through example was as powerful as preaching. He said, "You don't need to speak overtly about religion in order to get a message across". According to writer Shea Tuttle, Rogers considered his faith a fundamental part of his personality and "called the space between the viewer and the television set 'holy ground'". But despite his strong faith, Rogers struggled with anger, conflict, and self-doubt, especially at the end of his life. He also studied Catholic mysticism, Judaism, Buddhism, and other faiths and cultures. King called him "that unique television star with a real spiritual life", emphasizing the values of patience, reflection, and "silence in a noisy world". King reported that despite Rogers's family's wealth, he cared little about making money, and lived frugally, especially as he and his wife grew older. King reported that Rogers's relationship with his young audience was important to him. For example, since hosting Misterogers in Canada, he answered every letter sent to him by hand. After Mister Rogers' Neighborhood began airing in the U.S., the letters increased in volume and he hired staff member and producer Hedda Sharapan to answer them, but he read, edited, and signed each one. King wrote that Rogers saw responding to his viewers' letters as "a pastoral duty of sorts".
The New York Times called Rogers "a dedicated lap-swimmer", and Tom Junod, author of "Can You Say... Hero?", the 1998 Esquire profile of Rogers, said, "Nearly every morning of his life, Mister Rogers has gone swimming". Rogers began swimming when he was a child at his family's vacation home outside Latrobe, where they owned a pool, and during their winter trips to Florida. King wrote that swimming and playing the piano were "lifelong passions" and that "both gave him a chance to feel capable and in charge of his destiny", and that swimming became "an important part of the strong sense of self-discipline he cultivated". Rogers swam daily at the Pittsburgh Athletic Association, after waking every morning between 4:30 and 5:30 A.M. to pray and to "read the Bible and prepare himself for the day". He did not smoke or drink. According to Junod, he did nothing to change his weight from the he weighed for most of his adult life; by 1998, this also included napping daily, going to bed at 9:30 P.M., and sleeping eight hours per night without interruption. Junod said Rogers saw his weight "as a destiny fulfilled", telling Junod, "the number 143 means 'I love you.' It takes one letter to say 'I' and four letters to say 'love' and three letters to say 'you'".
Death and memorials
After Rogers's retirement in 2001, he remained busy working with FCI, studying religion and spirituality, making public appearances, traveling, and working on a children's media center named after him at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe with Archabbot Douglas Nowicki, chancellor of the college. By the summer of 2002, his chronic stomach pain became severe enough for him to see a doctor about it, and in October 2002, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He delayed treatment until after he served as Grand Marshal of the 2003 Rose Parade, with Art Linkletter and Bill Cosby in January. On January 6, Rogers underwent stomach surgery. He died less than two months later, on February 27, 2003, one month before his 75th birthday, at his home in Pittsburgh, with his wife of 50 years, Joanne, at his side. While comatose shortly before his death, he received the last rites of the Catholic Church from Archabbot Nowicki.
The following day, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette covered Rogers's death on the front page and dedicated an entire section to his death and impact. The newspaper also reported that by noon, the internet "was already full of appreciative pieces" by parents, viewers, producers, and writers. Rogers's death was widely lamented. Most U.S. metropolitan newspapers ran his obituary on their front page, and some dedicated entire sections to coverage of his death. WQED aired programs about Rogers the evening he died; the Post-Gazette reported that the ratings for their coverage were three times higher than their normal ratings. That same evening, Nightline on ABC broadcast a rerun of a recent interview with Rogers; the program got the highest ratings of the day, beating the February average ratings of Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. On March 4, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution honoring Rogers sponsored by Representative Mike Doyle from Pennsylvania.
On March 1, 2003, a private funeral was held for Rogers in Unity Chapel, which was restored by Rogers's father, at Unity Cemetery in Latrobe. About 80 relatives, co-workers, and close friends attended the service, which "was planned in great secrecy so that those closest to him could grieve in private". Reverend John McCall, pastor of the Rogers family's church, Sixth Presbyterian Church in Squirrel Hill, gave the homily, and Reverend William Barker, a retired Presbyterian minister who was a "close friend of Mr. Rogers and the voice of Mr. Platypus on his show", read Rogers's favorite Bible passages. Rogers was interred at Unity Cemetery in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, in a mausoleum owned by his mother's family.
On May 3, 2003, a public memorial was held at Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh. According to the Post-Gazette, 2,700 people attended. Violinist Itzhak Perlman, cellist Yo-Yo Ma (via video), and organist Alan Morrison performed in honor of Rogers. Barker officiated the service; also in attendance were Pittsburgh philanthropist Elsie Hillman, former Good Morning America host David Hartman, The Very Hungry Caterpillar author Eric Carle, and Arthur creator Marc Brown. Businesswoman and philanthropist Teresa Heinz, PBS President Pat Mitchell, and executive director of The Pittsburgh Project Saleem Ghubril gave remarks. Jeff Erlanger, who at age 10 appeared on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in 1981 to explain his electric wheelchair, also spoke. The memorial was broadcast several times on Pittsburgh television stations and websites throughout the day.
Legacy
Marc Brown, creator of another PBS children's show, Arthur, considered Rogers both a friend and "a terrific role model for how to use television and the media to be helpful to kids and families". Josh Selig, creator of Wonder Pets, credits Rogers with influencing his use of structure and predictability, and his use of music, opera, and originality.
Rogers inspired Angela Santomero, co-creator of the children's television show Blue's Clues, to earn a degree in developmental psychology and go into educational television. She and the other producers of Blue's Clues used many of Rogers's techniques, such as using child developmental and educational research, and having the host speak directly to the camera and transition to a make-believe world. In 2006, three years after Rogers's death and the end of production of Blue's Clues, the Fred Rogers Company contacted Santomero to create a show that would promote Rogers's legacy. In 2012, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, with characters from and based upon Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, premiered on PBS.
Rogers's style and approach to children's television and early childhood education also "begged to be parodied". Comedian Eddie Murphy parodied Mister Rogers' Neighborhood on Saturday Night Live during the 1980s. Rogers told interviewer David Letterman in 1982 that he believed parodies like Murphy's were done "with kindness in their hearts".
Video of Rogers's 1969 testimony in defense of public programming has experienced a resurgence since 2012, going viral at least twice. It first resurfaced after then presidential candidate Mitt Romney suggested cutting funding for PBS. In 2017, video of the testimony again went viral after President Donald Trump proposed defunding several arts-related government programs including PBS and the National Endowment for the Arts.
A roadside Pennsylvania Historical Marker dedicated to Rogers to be installed in Latrobe was approved by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission on March 4, 2014. It was installed on June 11, 2016, with the title "Fred McFeely Rogers (1928–2003)".
In 2018, Won't You Be My Neighbor?, director Morgan Neville's documentary about Rogers's life, grossed over $22 million and became the top-grossing biographical documentary ever produced, the highest-grossing documentary in five years, and the 12th largest-grossing documentary ever produced. The 2019 drama film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood tells the story of Rogers and his television series, with Tom Hanks portraying Rogers.
According to Caitlin Gibson of The Washington Post, Rogers became a source for parenting advice; she called him "a timeless oracle against a backdrop of ever-shifting parenting philosophies and cultural trends". Robert Thompson of Syracuse University noted that Rogers "took American childhood—and I think Americans in general—through some very turbulent and trying times", from the Vietnam War and the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968 to the 9/11 attacks in 2001. According to Asia Simone Burns of National Public Radio, in the years following the end of production on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in 2001, and his death in 2003, Rogers became "a source of comfort, sometimes in the wake of tragedy". Burns has said Rogers's words of comfort "began circulating on social media" following tragedies such as the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, the Manchester Arena bombing in Manchester, England, in 2017, and the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, in 2018.
Awards and honors
Museum exhibits
Smithsonian Institution permanent collection. In 1984, Rogers donated one of his sweaters to the Smithsonian.
Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. Exhibit created by Rogers and FCI in 1998. It attracted hundreds of thousand of visitors over 10 years, and included, from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, one of his sweaters, a pair of his sneakers, original puppets from the program, and photographs of Rogers. The exhibit traveled to children's museums throughout the country for eight years until it was given to the Louisiana Children's Museum in New Orleans as a permanent exhibit, to help them recover from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In 2007, the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh created a traveling exhibit based on the factory tours featured in episodes of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
Heinz History Center permanent collection (2018). In honor of the 50th anniversary of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and what would have been Rogers's 90th birthday.
Louisiana Children's Museum. The museum contains an exhibit of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which debuted in 2007. The exhibit was donated by the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh.
Fred Rogers Exhibit. The Exhibit displays the life, career and legacy of Rogers and includes photos, artifacts from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and clips of the program and interviews featuring Rogers. It is located at the Fred Rogers Center.
Art pieces
There are several pieces of art dedicated to Rogers throughout Pittsburgh, including a 7,000-pound, 11-foot high bronze statue of him in the North Shore neighborhood. In the Oakland neighborhood, his portrait is included in the Martin Luther King Jr. and "Interpretations of Oakland" murals. A statue of a dinosaur titled "Fredasaurus Rex Friday XIII" originally stood in front of the WQED building and as of 2014 stands in front of the building that contains the Fred Rogers Company offices. There is a "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood of Make-Believe" in Idlewild Park and a kiosk of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood artifacts at Pittsburgh International Airport. The Carnegie Science Center's Miniature Railroad and Village debuted a miniature recreation of Rogers's house from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in 2005.
Honorary degrees
Rogers has received honorary degrees from over 43 colleges and universities. After 1973, two commemorative quilts, created by two of Rogers's friends and archived at the Fred Rogers Center at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, were made out of the academic hoods he received during the graduation ceremonies.
Note: Much of the below list is taken from "Honorary Degrees Awarded to Fred Rogers", unless otherwise stated.
Thiel College, 1969. Thiel also awards a yearly scholarship named for Rogers.
Eastern Michigan University, 1973
Saint Vincent College, 1973
Christian Theological Seminary, 1973
Rollins College, 1974
Yale University, 1974
Chatham College, 1975
Carnegie Mellon University, 1976
Lafayette College, 1977
Waynesburg College, 1978
Linfield College, 1982
Slippery Rock State College, 1982
Duquesne University, 1982
Washington & Jefferson College, 1984
University of South Carolina, 1985
Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 1985
Drury College, 1986
MacMurray College, 1986
Bowling Green State University, 1987
Westminster College (Pennsylvania), 1987
University of Indianapolis, 1988
University of Connecticut, 1991
Boston University, 1992
Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 1992
Moravian College, 1992
Goucher College, 1993
University of Pittsburgh, 1993
West Virginia University, 1995
North Carolina State University, 1996
Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, 1998
Marist College, 1999
Westminster Choir College, 1999
Old Dominion University, 2000
Marquette University, 2001
Middlebury College, 2001
Dartmouth College, 2002
Seton Hill University, 2003 (posthumous)
Union College, 2003 (posthumous)
Roanoke College, 2003 (posthumous)
Filmography
Television
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
|-
| 1954–1961
| The Children's Corner
|-
| 1963–1966
| Misterogers
|-
| 1964–1967
| Butternut Square
|-
| 1968–2001
| Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
|-
| 1977–1982
| Christmastime with Mister Rogers
|-
| 1978–1981
| Old Friends... New Friends
|-
| 1981
| Sesame Street
|-
| 1988
| Good Night, Little Ones!
|-
| 1991
| Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?
|-
| 1994
|Mr. Dressup's 25th Anniversary|-
| 1994
| Fred Rogers' Heroes|-
| 1996
| Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman|-
| 1997
| Arthur|-
| 1998
| Wheel of Fortune|-
| 2003
| 114th Annual Tournament of Roses Parade|}
Published works
Children's books
Our Small World (with Josie Carey, illustrated by Norb Nathanson), 1954, Reed and Witting,
The Elves, the Shoemaker, & the Shoemaker's Wife (illustrated by Richard Hefter), 1973, Small World Enterprises,
The Matter of the Mittens, 1973, Small World Enterprises,
Speedy Delivery (illustrated by Richard Hefter), 1973, Hubbard,
Henrietta Meets Someone New (illustrated by Jason Art Studios), 1974, Golden Press,
Mister Rogers Talks About, 1974, Platt & Munk,
Time to Be Friends, 1974, Hallmark Cards,
Everyone is Special (illustrated by Jason Art Studios), 1975, Western Publishing,
Tell Me, Mister Rogers, 1975, Platt & Munk,
The Costume Party (illustrated by Jason Art Studios), 1976, Golden Press,
Planet Purple (illustrated by Dennis Hockerman), 1986, Texas Instruments,
If We Were All the Same (illustrated by Pat Sustendal), 1987, Random House,
A Trolley Visit to Make-Believe (illustrated by Pat Sustendal), 1987, Random House,
Wishes Don't Make Things Come True (illustrated Pat Sustendal), 1987, Random House,
No One Can Ever Take Your Place (illustrated by Pat Sustendal), 1988, Random House,
When Monsters Seem Real (illustrated by Pat Sustendal), 1988, Random House,
You Can Never Go Down the Drain (illustrated by Pat Sustendal), 1988, Random House,
The Giving Box (illustrated by Jennifer Herbert), 2000, Running Press,
Good Weather or Not (with Hedda Bluestone Sharapan, illustrated by James Mellet), 2005, Family Communications,
Josephine the Short Neck-Giraffe, 2006, Family Communications,
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: The Poetry of Mister Rogers Neighborhood (illustrated by Luke Flowers), 2009, Quirk Books,
First Experiences series illustrated by Jim Judkis
Going to Day Care, 1985, Putnam,
The New Baby, 1985, Putnam,
Going to the Potty, 1986, Putnam,
Going to the Doctor, 1986, Putnam,
Making Friends, 1987, Putnam,
Moving, 1987, Putnam,
Going to the Hospital, 1988, Putnam,
When a Pet Dies, 1988, Putnam,
Going on an Airplane, 1989, Putnam,
Going to the Dentist, 1989, Putnam,
Let's Talk About It series
Going to the Hospital, 1977, Family Communications,
Having an Operation, 1977, Family Communications,
So Many Things To See!, 1977, Family Communications,
Wearing a Cast, 1977, Family Communications,
Adoption, 1993, Putnam,
Divorce, 1994, Putnam,
Extraordinary Friends, 2000, Putnam,
Stepfamilies, 2001, Putnam,
Songbooks
Tomorrow on the Children's Corner (with Josie Carey, illustrated by Mal Wittman), 1960, Vernon Music Corporation,
Mister Rogers' Songbook (with Johnny Costa, illustrated by Steven Kellogg), 1970, Random House,
Books for adults
Mister Rogers Talks to Parents, 1983, Family Communications,
Mister Rogers' Playbook (with Barry Head, illustrated by Jamie Adams), 1986, Berkley Books,
Mister Rogers Talks with Families About Divorce (with Clare O'Brien), 1987, Berkley Books,
Mister Rogers' How Families Grow (with Barry Head and Jim Prokell), 1988, Berkley Books,
You Are Special: Words of Wisdom from America's Most Beloved Neighbor, 1994, Penguin Books,
Dear Mister Rogers, 1996, Penguin Books,
Mister Rogers' Playtime, 2001, Running Press,
The Mister Rogers Parenting Book, 2002, Running Press,
You are special: Neighborly Wisdom from Mister Rogers, 2002, Running Press,
The World According to Mister Rogers, 2003, Hyperion Books,
Life's Journeys According to Mister Rogers, 2005, Hyperion Books,
The Mister Rogers Parenting Resource Book, 2005, Courage Books,
Many Ways to Say I Love You: Wisdom For Parents And Children, 2019, Hachette Books,
Discography
Around the Children's Corner (with Josey Carey), 1958, Vernon Music Corporation,
Tomorrow on the Children's Corner (with Josie Carey), 1959
King Friday XIII Celebrates, 1964
Won't You Be My Neighbor?, 1967
Let's Be Together Today, 1968
Josephine the Short-Neck Giraffe, 1969
You Are Special, 1969
A Place of Our Own, 1970
Come On and Wake Up, 1972
Growing, 1992
Bedtime, 1992
Won't You Be My Neighbor? (cassette and book), 1994, Hal Leonard,
Coming and Going, 1997
It's Such A Good Feeling: The Best Of Mister Rogers, 2019, Omnivore Recordings, posthumous release
See also
Won't You Be My Neighbor?, 2018 documentary
Mister Rogers: It's You I Like, 2018 documentary
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, 2019 biographical drama film
List of vegetarians
Notes
References
Works cited
Gross, Terry (1984). "Terry Gross and Fred Rogers". Fresh Air. NPR.
King, Maxwell (2018). The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers. Abrams Press. .
Tiech, John (2012). Pittsburgh Film History: On Set in the Steel City''. Charleston, North Carolina: The History Press. .
External links
PBS Kids: Official Site
The Fred M. Rogers Center
The Fred Rogers Company (formerly known as Family Communications)
1984 interview with Fred Rogers.
The Music of Mister Rogers—Pittsburgh Music History
Fred Rogers at Voice Chasers
1928 births
2003 deaths
20th-century American composers
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American singers
20th-century Presbyterians
21st-century Presbyterians
American children's television presenters
American male composers
American male singers
American male songwriters
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American philanthropists
American Presbyterian ministers
American Presbyterians
American puppeteers
American television hosts
Burials in Pennsylvania
Christianity in Pittsburgh
Columbia Records artists
Dartmouth College alumni
Daytime Emmy Award winners
Deaths from cancer in Pennsylvania
Deaths from stomach cancer
Male actors from Pittsburgh
Omnivore Recordings artists
PBS people
Peabody Award winners
Pennsylvania Republicans
People from Latrobe, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary alumni
Presbyterians from Pennsylvania
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Rollins College alumni
Singers from Pennsylvania
Songwriters from Pennsylvania
Television personalities from Pittsburgh
Television producers from Pennsylvania
United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America ministers
Vegetarianism activists
Writers from Pittsburgh
Articles containing video clips | false | [
"Video Cassette Recording (VCR) is an early domestic analog recording format designed by Philips. It was the first successful consumer-level home videocassette recorder (VCR) system. Later variants included the VCR-LP and Super Video (SVR) formats.\n\nThe VCR format was introduced in 1972, just after the Sony U-matic format in 1971. Although at first glance the two might appear to have been competing formats, they were aimed at very different markets. After failing as a consumer format, U-matic was marketed as a professional television production format, whilst VCR was targeted particularly at educational but also domestic users. Unlike some other early formats such as Cartrivision, the VCR format does record a high-quality video signal without resorting to Skip field.\n\nHome video systems had previously been available, but they were open-reel systems (such as the Sony CV-2000) and were expensive to both buy and operate. They were also unreliable and often only recorded in black and white such as the EIAJ-1. The VCR system was easy to use and recorded in colour but was still expensive: when it was introduced in 1972 the N1500 recorder cost nearly £600 (). By comparison, a small car (the Morris Mini) could be purchased for just over £600.\n\nThe VCR format used large square cassettes with 2 co-axial reels, one on top of the other, containing half inch (12.7 mm) wide chrome dioxide magnetic tape. Three playing times were available: 30, 45 and 60 minutes. The 60-minute videocassettes proved very unreliable, suffering numerous snags and breakages due to the very thin 17μm video tape. Tapes of 45 minutes or less contained 20 μm thickness tape. The mechanically complicated recorders themselves also proved somewhat unreliable. One particularly common failing occurred should tape slack develop within the cassette; the tape from the top (takeup) spool may droop into the path of the bottom (supply) spool and become entangled in it if rewind was selected. The cassette would then completely jam and require dismantling to clear the problem, and the tape would then be creased and damaged.\n\nThe system predated the development of the slant azimuth technique to prevent crosstalk between adjacent video tracks, so it had to use an unrecorded guard band between tracks. This required the system to run at a high tape speed of 11.26 inches per second.\n\nThe Philips VCR system brought together many advances in video recording technology to produce the first truly practical home video cassette system. The very first Philips N1500 model included all the essential elements of a domestic video cassette recorder:\n Simple loading of cassette and simple operation using \"Piano Key\" controls, with full auto-stop at tape ends.\n A tuner for recording off-air television programmes.\n A clock with timer for unattended recordings.\n A modulator to allow connection to a normal (for the time) television receiver without audio and video input connectors.\n\nThe Philips VCR system was marketed only in the U.K., mainland Europe, Australia and South Africa. In mid-1977, Philips announced they were considering distribution of the format in North America, and it was test marketed for several months. Because the format was initially designed only for use with the 625-line 50 Hz PAL system, VCR units had to be modified in order to work with the 60 Hz NTSC system. Unfortunately, for mechanical and electronic reasons, the tape speed had to be increased by 20%, which resulted in a 60-minute PAL tape running for 50 minutes in a NTSC machine. DuPont announced a thinner videotape formulation that would allow a 60-minute NTSC VCR tape (and roughly 70 minutes in PAL), but the tape was even less reliable than previous formulations. Ultimately, Philips abandoned any hope of trying to sell their VCR format in North America, partly because of the reliability issues, and partly because of the introduction of VHS that same year.\n\nVariants\n\nVCR later evolved into a related format known as VCR-LP. This exploited slant azimuth to greatly increase the recording time. Although both formats used identical VCR cassettes, the recordings were incompatible between the two systems, and few if any dual-format recorders existed. Philips N1700, released in 1977, supported the VCR-LP format.\n\nA later even longer-playing variant, Super Video (SVR) was manufactured by Grundig exclusively. SVR was designed to exclusively use BASF- and Agfa-manufactured chrome-dioxide tape in cassettes that were identical to the earlier Philips ones, with the exception of a small actuator added to the bottom of the cassette. This meant that only the BASF/Agfa tapes would work in SVR machines, but that such tapes could also be used in the older VCR and VCR-LP machines. Just as VCR-LP recordings are incompatible with VCR, so SVR recordings are incompatible with both VCR and VCR-LP. The only model to be built was the Grundig SVR4004, with a few detail variations such as optional audio/video connectors, plus a rebadged ITT 240.\n\nCassette playing times \n\nThis chart provides an overview of playing times (in minutes) for the most common cassettes released for standard VCR, VCR-LP and SVR.\n\nVC cassettes were originally developed for standard VCR. LVC cassettes were developed for VCR-LP, but are physically identical to VC cassettes. SVC cassettes were specifically developed for SVR.\n\n*) LVC 180 was not recommended for use in a standard VCR machine due to a thin tape base.\n\n**) VC and LVC cassettes do not work in a SVR machine. However, SVC cassettes may be used in VCR and VCR-LP machines.\n\nModels\n\nN1500 (1972) \nThe first Philips machine was model number N1500, after which the format is also known. This had \"first generation\" mechanics including magnetic braking servo systems applied to relatively large mains voltage induction motors. The outer edge of the cabinet was wooden. The power cable was detachable, but used an obscure connector for which replacements are not readily available.\nThe N1520 was a N1500 without TV tuner and timer, but with editing functions assemble and insert (using four video heads), 2 track linear audio (not stereo but independent mono channels) and direct AV in/out connections.\n\nN1460 (Released 1973)\nOften found in schools and colleges where a few master VCR recorders made off-air recordings and the cheaper N1460s were used for playback. In Poland, a slightly modified version was made under the name Unitra magnetowid kasetowy MTV-20.\n\nN1501 (Released 1974)\n\nAC Mains present all over the place inside: mains motors, mains clock etc. Slightly improved colour circuitry compared to the original N1500, also modified field blanking to reduce flyback interference on some televisions. Cosmetic variations on the N1500, with black replacing the silver frontage and black plastic surround rather than wood.\n\nN1502 (Released 1976)\nThe later model N1502 had a totally different mechanism using DC motors and more advanced electronics, and was somewhat more reliable. A later version again was still called N1502 but had further significant mechanical and electronic advances, and in particular had a worm drive for operation of the loading mechanism rather than a fragile plastic gearbox assembly. Earlier machines had a hardwired mains cable, later ones were fitted with a standard \"Figure-8\" C7 power socket.\n\nN1512 (Released 1976)\nThe N1512 model offered composite video input and output connectors, but was otherwise the same as the N1502. The VCR-LP model N1700 was closely related to the later N1502 variant. Other, rarer Philips models included stereo sound and editing capabilities.\nCircuitry and internal layout was much more modular than the first generation Philips VCRs. Used quiet DC motors (First generation VCR's used hefty synchronous AC mains motors). Basically this model was the same as the Philips N1502 with an extra board for video in / out. Channel button 8 selected video in.\n\nN1700 (Released 1977)\nSuperficially similar to the Philips N1502 both externally and internally. Some components were interchangeable between the two models. Slower tape-speed and a slant-azimuth recording technique (to almost eliminate cross-talk between video tracks without using tape-wasting guard-bands) made possible the longer playing time without a noticeable loss in picture quality. The mains lead was hard-wired into the machine however later releases of the N1700 had a removable lead - this would become standard on the N1702 model. Also on later models, presumably as the company had already started production of the N1702, the internal Video Head is also sometimes labelled as N1702 instead of N1700. The price in the UK was around £700 which would be over £4000 in 2017. A Skantic branded clone model VCR 1209281 had the silver top design of the later N1702 model. \n\nDenis Norden promoted this model in the industrial video \"The Philips Time Machine\".\n\nN1702 (Released 1979)\nSimilar to the Philips model N1700, the N1702 had a lighter coloured top cover (N1702 was silver and black whilst the N1700 was grey). A 4-digit counter, a 9-day timer, separate mains lead (not hardwired in), and a test-pattern generator to aid TV tuning. Tape transport legends in slightly different position on later N1702's.\n\nGrundig models\nGrundig built a VCR4000 VCR-LP model which had microprocessor control and so treated the tapes more gently than the purely mechanical decks, and the SVR4004 (longer running SVR format) model was very similar. Other Grundig models included the VCR3000 (believed to be VCR format) and VCR5000AV (believed to be the only dual format VCR and VCR-LP machine).\n\nReplacement\nIn the late 1970s, the VCR formats were superseded altogether by Video 2000 (also known as 'Video Compact Cassette' or VCC). Due to the similar initialisms, and the fact that both were designed by Philips, the 'VCC' and 'VCR' formats are often confused. However, the two systems are incompatible, and there are significant differences between them. Some Video 2000 machines carry a modified version of the \"VCR\" logo, (such as had appeared on the N1500 and N1700 machines), adding further to this confusion.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nTotal Rewind - The Virtual Museum of Vintage VCRs\nMikey's Vintage VTR Page - N1500/'VCR'\nYahoo group dedicated to N1500, N1700 and SVR format machines\nDetailed look at N1500, N1700 and SVR format tapes and machines on YouTube\nVideo Cassette Recording (VCR) and Video Cassette Recording Long-Play (VCR-LP) at the Museum of Obsolete Media\n\nVideotape\nDiscontinued media formats\nAudiovisual introductions in 1972\n1979 disestablishments in the Netherlands\n1972 establishments in the Netherlands",
"\"VCR\" is the fourth single by The xx, from their self-titled debut album. The single was first released in the UK on 24 January 2010. The song was also featured on the episode \"Black Friday\" from the television series Lie to Me. Music critic Robert Christgau named it the tenth best single of the year.\n\nTrack listing\nUK iTunes single\n\"VCR\" – 2:59\n\"Insects\" – 2:28\n\nUK vinyl\n\"VCR\" – 2:59\n\"Insects\" – 2:28\n\nVCR (Four Tet Remix) – Single\n\"VCR\" (Four Tet Remix) – 4:52\n\nDigital EP\n\"Insects\" – 2:28\n\"VCR\" (Four Tet Remix) – 8:40\n\"VCR\" (Matthew Dear Remix) – 4:52\n\"Shelter\" (John Talabot Feel It Too Remix) – 6:49\n\"Night Time\" (Greg Wilson Remix) – 8:33\n\nChart performance\n\"VCR'\" entered the UK Indie Chart on 31 October 2010 at number 15; as well as the UK Singles Chart at number 132, marking the band's second most successful single behind \"Islands\", which peaked at number 34 in September 2010.\n\nRelease history\n\nCover versions\n\"VCR\" was covered by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. Their version was published at SoundCloud on 18 November 2010 and released as a B-side to \"History of Modern (Part I)\" on 28 February 2011.\n\nThe Antlers released a cover of the song for their 2011 EP\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n\n2010 singles\nThe xx songs\n2009 songs\nYoung Turks (record label) singles\nSongs written by Romy Madley Croft\nSongs written by Oliver Sim\nSongs written by Jamie xx\nSongs written by Baria Qureshi"
] |
[
"Fred Rogers",
"VCR",
"Did Fred Rogers have anything to do with the development of the VCR?",
"Rogers was involved in supporting the manufacturers of VCRs in court.",
"What was Roger's role in supporting the VCR",
"His 1979 testimony, in the case Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc.,"
] | C_4afd5375282049259a462c9d271a3e3c_0 | Was Roger's in support of allowing recording TV programs at home? | 3 | Was Fred Rogers in support of allowing recording TV programs at home? | Fred Rogers | During the controversy surrounding the introduction of the household VCR, Rogers was involved in supporting the manufacturers of VCRs in court. His 1979 testimony, in the case Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc., noted that he did not object to home recordings of his television programs, for instance, by families in order to watch them together at a later time. This testimony contrasted with the views of others in the television industry who objected to home recordings or believed that devices to facilitate it should be taxed or regulated. When the case reached the Supreme Court in 1983, the majority decision considered the testimony of Rogers when it held that the Betamax video recorder did not infringe copyright. The Court stated that his views were a notable piece of evidence "that many [television] producers are willing to allow private time-shifting to continue" and even quoted his testimony in a footnote: Some public stations, as well as commercial stations, program the Neighborhood at hours when some children cannot use it ... I have always felt that with the advent of all of this new technology that allows people to tape the Neighborhood off-the-air, and I'm speaking for the Neighborhood because that's what I produce, that they then become much more active in the programming of their family's television life. Very frankly, I am opposed to people being programmed by others. My whole approach in broadcasting has always been "You are an important person just the way you are. You can make healthy decisions." Maybe I'm going on too long, but I just feel that anything that allows a person to be more active in the control of his or her life, in a healthy way, is important. CANNOTANSWER | did not object to home recordings of his television programs, | Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003), also known as Mister Rogers, was an American television host, author, producer, and Presbyterian minister. He was the creator, showrunner, and host of the preschool television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which ran from 1968 to 2001.
Born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, Rogers earned a bachelor's degree in music from Rollins College in 1951. He began his television career at NBC in New York, returning to Pittsburgh in 1953 to work for children's programming at NET (later PBS) television station WQED. He graduated from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary with a bachelor's degree in divinity in 1962 and became a Presbyterian minister in 1963. He attended the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Child Development, where he began his 30-year collaboration with child psychologist Margaret McFarland. He also helped develop the children's shows The Children's Corner (1955) for WQED in Pittsburgh and Misterogers (1963) in Canada for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. In 1968, he returned to Pittsburgh and adapted the format of his Canadian series to create Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which ran for 33 years. The program was critically acclaimed for focusing on children's emotional and physical concerns, such as death, sibling rivalry, school enrollment, and divorce.
Rogers died of stomach cancer on February 27, 2003, at age 74. His work in children's television has been widely lauded, and he received more than 40 honorary degrees and several awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002 and a Lifetime Achievement Emmy in 1997. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1999. Rogers influenced many writers and producers of children's television shows, and his broadcasts have served as a source of comfort during tragic events, even after his death.
Early life
Rogers was born on March 20, 1928, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, about outside of Pittsburgh, at 705 Main Street to James and Nancy Rogers. James was "a very successful businessman" who was president of the McFeely Brick Company, one of Latrobe's largest businesses. Nancy's father, Fred Brooks McFeely, after whom Rogers was named, was an entrepreneur. Nancy knitted sweaters for American soldiers from western Pennsylvania who were fighting in Europe and regularly volunteered at the Latrobe Hospital. Initially, dreaming of becoming a doctor, she settled for a life of hospital volunteer work. Rogers grew up in a three-story brick mansion at 737 Weldon Street in Latrobe. He had a sister, Elaine, whom the Rogerses adopted when he was 11 years old. Rogers spent much of his childhood alone, playing with puppets, and also spent time with his grandfather. He began to play the piano when he was five years old. Through an ancestor who immigrated from Germany to the U.S., Johannes Meffert (born 1732), Rogers is the sixth cousin of American actor Tom Hanks, who portrays him in the film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019).
Rogers had a difficult childhood. He was shy, introverted, and overweight, and was frequently homebound after suffering bouts of asthma. He was bullied and taunted as a child for his weight, and called "Fat Freddy". According to Morgan Neville, director of the 2018 documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor?, Rogers had a "lonely childhood... I think he made friends with himself as much as he could. He had a ventriloquist dummy, he had [stuffed] animals, and he would create his own worlds in his childhood bedroom".
Rogers attended Latrobe High School, where he overcame his shyness. "It was tough for me at the beginning," Rogers told NPR's Terry Gross in 1984. "And then I made a couple friends who found out that the core of me was okay. And one of them was... the head of the football team". Rogers served as president of the student council, was a member of the National Honor Society, and was editor-in-chief of the school yearbook. He registered for the draft in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, in 1948 at age 20, where he was classified as “1-A”, available for military service. However, his status was changed to “4-F”, unfit for military service, following an Armed Forces physical on October 12, 1950. Rogers attended Dartmouth College for one year before transferring to Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida; he graduated magna cum laude in 1951 with a Bachelor of Music.
Rogers graduated magna cum laude from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 1962 with a Bachelor of Divinity. He was ordained a minister by the Pittsburgh Presbytery of the United Presbyterian Church in 1963. His mission as an ordained minister, instead of being a pastor of a church, was to minister to children and their families through television. He regularly appeared before church officials to keep up his ordination.
Career
Early work
Rogers wanted to enter seminary after college, but instead chose to go into the nascent medium of television after encountering a TV at his parents' home in 1951 during his senior year at Rollins College. In a CNN interview, he said, "I went into television because I hated it so, and I thought there's some way of using this fabulous instrument to nurture those who would watch and listen". After graduating in 1951, he worked at NBC in New York City as floor director of Your Hit Parade, The Kate Smith Hour, and Gabby Hayes's children's show, and as an assistant producer of The Voice of Firestone.
In 1953, Rogers returned to Pittsburgh to work as a program developer at public television station WQED. Josie Carey worked with him to develop the children's show The Children's Corner, which Carey hosted. Rogers worked off-camera to develop puppets, characters, and music for the show. He used many of the puppet characters developed during this time, such as Daniel the Striped Tiger (named after WQED's station manager, Dorothy Daniel, who gave Rogers a tiger puppet before the show's premiere), King Friday XIII, Queen Sara Saturday (named after Rogers's wife), X the Owl, Henrietta, and Lady Elaine, in his later work. Children's television entertainer Ernie Coombs was an assistant puppeteer. The Children's Corner won a Sylvania Award for best locally produced children's programming in 1955 and was broadcast nationally on NBC. While working on The Children's Corner, Rogers attended Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1963. He also attended the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Child Development, where he began working with child psychologist Margaret McFarland, who according to Rogers's biographer Maxwell King became his "key advisor and collaborator" and "child-education guru". Much of Rogers's "thinking about and appreciation for children was shaped and informed" by McFarland. She was his consultant for most of Mister Rogers' Neighborhoods scripts and songs for 30 years.
In 1963, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in Toronto contracted Rogers to develop and host the 15-minute black-and-white children's program Misterogers; it lasted from 1963 to 1967. It was the first time Rogers appeared on camera. CBC's children's programming head Fred Rainsberry insisted on it, telling Rogers, "Fred, I've seen you talk with kids. Let's put you yourself on the air". Coombs joined Rogers in Toronto as an assistant puppeteer. Rogers also worked with Coombs on the children's show Butternut Square from 1964 to 1967. He acquired the rights to Misterogers in 1967 and returned to Pittsburgh with his wife, two young sons, and the sets he developed, despite a potentially promising career with CBC and no job prospects in Pittsburgh. On Rogers' recommendation, Coombs remained in Toronto and became Rogers' Canadian equivalent of an iconic television personality, creating the long-running children's program, Mr. Dressup, which ran from 1967 to 1996. Rogers's work for CBC "helped shape and develop the concept and style of his later program for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the U.S."
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (also called the Neighborhood), a half-hour educational children's program starring Rogers, began airing nationally in 1968 and ran for 895 episodes. The program was videotaped at WQED in Pittsburgh and was broadcast by National Educational Television (NET), which later became the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Its first season had 180 black-and-white episodes. Each subsequent season, filmed in color and funded by PBS, the Sears-Roebuck Foundation, and other charities, consisted of 65 episodes. By the time the program ended production in December 2000, its average rating was about 0.7 percent of television households, or 680,000 homes, and it aired on 384 PBS stations. At its peak in 1985–1986, its ratings were at 2.1 percent, or 1.8 million homes. Production of the Neighborhood ended in December 2000, and the last original episode aired in 2001, but PBS continued to air reruns; by 2016 it was the third-longest running program in PBS history.
Many of the sets and props in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, like the trolley, the sneakers, and the castle, were created for Rogers's show in Toronto by CBC designers and producers. The program also "incorporated most of the highly imaginative elements that later became famous", such as its slow pace and its host's quiet manner. The format of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood "remained virtually unchanged" for the entire run of the program. Every episode begins with a camera's-eye view of a model of a neighborhood, then panning in closer to a representation of a house while a piano instrumental of the theme song, "Won't You be My Neighbor?", performed by music director Johnny Costa and inspired by a Beethoven sonata, is played. The camera zooms in to a model representing Mr. Rogers's house, then cuts to the house's interior and pans across the room to the front door, which Rogers opens as he sings the theme song to greet his visitors while changing his suit jacket to a cardigan (knitted by his mother) and his dress shoes to sneakers, "complete with a shoe tossed from one hand to another". The episode's theme is introduced, and Mr. Rogers leaves his home to visit another location, the camera panning back to the neighborhood model and zooming in to the new location as he enters it. Once this segment ends, Mr. Rogers leaves and returns to his home, indicating that it is time to visit the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. Mr. Rogers proceeds to the window seat by the trolley track and sets up the action there as the Trolley comes out. The camera follows it down a tunnel in the back wall of the house as it enters the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. The stories and lessons told take place over a series of a week's worth of episodes and involve puppet and human characters. The end of the visit occurs when the Trolley returns to the same tunnel from which it emerged, reappearing in Mr. Rogers's home. He then talks to the viewers before concluding the episode. He often feeds his fish, cleans up any props he has used, and returns to the front room, where he sings the closing song while changing back into his dress shoes and jacket. He exits the front door as he ends the song, and the camera zooms out of his home and pans across the neighborhood model as the episode ends.
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood emphasized young children's social and emotional needs, and unlike another PBS show, Sesame Street, which premiered in 1969, did not focus on cognitive learning. Writer Kathy Merlock Jackson said, "While both shows target the same preschool audience and prepare children for kindergarten, Sesame Street concentrates on school-readiness skills while Mister Rogers Neighborhood focuses on the child's developing psyche and feelings and sense of moral and ethical reasoning". The Neighborhood also spent fewer resources on research than Sesame Street, but Rogers used early childhood education concepts taught by his mentor Margaret McFarland, Benjamin Spock, Erik Erikson, and T. Berry Brazelton in his lessons. As the Washington Post noted, Rogers taught young children about civility, tolerance, sharing, and self-worth "in a reassuring tone and leisurely cadence". He tackled difficult topics such as the death of a family pet, sibling rivalry, the addition of a newborn into a family, moving and enrolling in a new school, and divorce. For example, he wrote a special segment that dealt with the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy that aired on June 7, 1968, days after the assassination occurred.
According to King, the process of putting each episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood together was "painstaking" and Rogers's contribution to the program was "astounding". Rogers wrote and edited all the episodes, played the piano and sang for most of the songs, wrote 200 songs and 13 operas, created all the characters (both puppet and human), played most of the major puppet roles, hosted every episode, and produced and approved every detail of the program. The puppets created for the Neighborhood of Make-Believe "included an extraordinary variety of personalities". They were simple puppets but "complex, complicated, and utterly honest beings". In 1971, Rogers formed Family Communications, Inc. (FCI, now The Fred Rogers Company), to produce the Neighborhood, other programs, and non-broadcast materials.
In 1975, Rogers stopped producing Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood to focus on adult programming. Reruns of the Neighborhood continued to air on PBS. King reports that the decision caught many of his coworkers and supporters "off guard". Rogers continued to confer with McFarland about child development and early childhood education, however. In 1979, after an almost five-year hiatus, Rogers returned to producing the Neighborhood; King calls the new version "stronger and more sophisticated than ever". King writes that by the program's second run in the 1980s, it was "such a cultural touchstone that it had inspired numerous parodies", most notably Eddie Murphy's parody on Saturday Night Live in the early 1980s.
Rogers retired from producing the Neighborhood in 2001 at age 73, although reruns continued to air. He and FCI had been making about two or three weeks of new programs per year for many years, "filling the rest of his time slots from a library of about 300 shows made since 1979". The final original episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood aired on August 31, 2001.
Other work and appearances
In 1969, Rogers testified before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Communications, which was chaired by Democratic Senator John Pastore of Rhode Island. U.S. President Lyndon Johnson had proposed a $20 million bill for the creation of PBS before he left office, but his successor, Richard Nixon, wanted to cut the funding to $10 million. Even though Rogers was not yet nationally known, he was chosen to testify because of his ability to make persuasive arguments and to connect emotionally with his audience. The clip of Rogers's testimony, which was televised and has since been viewed by millions of people on the internet, helped to secure funding for PBS for many years afterwards. According to King, Rogers's testimony was "considered one of the most powerful pieces of testimony ever offered before Congress, and one of the most powerful pieces of video presentation ever filmed". It brought Pastore to tears and also, according to King, has been studied by public relations experts and academics. Congressional funding for PBS increased from $9 million to $22 million. In 1970, Nixon appointed Rogers as chair of the White House Conference on Children and Youth.
In 1978, while on hiatus from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Rogers wrote, produced, and hosted a 30-minute interview program for adults on PBS called Old Friends... New Friends. It lasted 20 episodes. Rogers's guests included Hoagy Carmichael, Helen Hayes, Milton Berle, Lorin Hollander, poet Robert Frost's daughter Lesley, and Willie Stargell.
In September 1987, Rogers visited Moscow to appear as the first guest on the long-running Soviet children's TV show Good Night, Little Ones! with host Tatiana Vedeneyeva. The appearance was broadcast in the Soviet Union on December 7, coinciding with the Washington Summit meeting between Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Washington D.C. Vedeneyeva visited the set of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in November. Her visit was taped and later aired in March 1988 as part of Rogers's program. In 1994, Rogers wrote, produced, and hosted a special for PBS called Fred Rogers' Heroes, which featured interviews and portraits of four people from across the country who were having a positive impact on children and education. The first time Rogers appeared on television as an actor, and not himself, was in a 1996 episode of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, playing a preacher.
Rogers gave "scores of interviews". Though reluctant to appear on television talk shows, he would usually "charm the host with his quick wit and ability to ad-lib on a moment's notice". Rogers was "one of the country's most sought-after commencement speakers", making over 150 speeches. His friend and colleague David Newell reported that Rogers would "agonize over a speech", and King reported that Rogers was at his least guarded during his speeches, which were about children, television, education, his view of the world, how to make the world a better place, and his quest for self-knowledge. His tone was quiet and informal but "commanded attention". In many speeches, including the ones he made accepting a Lifetime Achievement Emmy in 1997, for his induction into the Television Hall of Fame in 1999, and his final commencement speech at Dartmouth College in 2002, he instructed his audiences to remain silent and think for a moment about someone who had a good influence on them.
Personal life
Rogers met Sara Joanne Byrd (called "Joanne") from Jacksonville, Florida, while attending Rollins College. They were married from 1952 until his death in 2003. They had two sons, James and John. Joanne was "an accomplished pianist", who like Fred earned a Bachelor of Music from Rollins, and went on to earn a Master of Music from Florida State University. She performed publicly with her college classmate, Jeannine Morrison, from 1976 to 2008. According to biographer Maxwell King, Rogers's close associates said he was "absolutely faithful to his marriage vows".
Rogers was red-green color-blind. He became a pescatarian in 1970, after the death of his father, and a vegetarian in the early 1980s, saying he "couldn't eat anything that had a mother". He became a co-owner of Vegetarian Times in the mid-1980s and said in one issue, "I love tofu burgers and beets". He told Vegetarian Times that he became a vegetarian for both ethical and health reasons. According to his biographer Maxwell King, Rogers also signed his name to a statement protesting wearing animal furs. Rogers was a registered Republican, but according to Joanne Rogers, he was "very independent in the way he voted", choosing not to talk about politics because he wanted to be impartial. Rogers was a Presbyterian, and many of the messages he expressed in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood were inspired by the core tenets of Christianity. Rogers rarely spoke about his faith on air; he believed that teaching through example was as powerful as preaching. He said, "You don't need to speak overtly about religion in order to get a message across". According to writer Shea Tuttle, Rogers considered his faith a fundamental part of his personality and "called the space between the viewer and the television set 'holy ground'". But despite his strong faith, Rogers struggled with anger, conflict, and self-doubt, especially at the end of his life. He also studied Catholic mysticism, Judaism, Buddhism, and other faiths and cultures. King called him "that unique television star with a real spiritual life", emphasizing the values of patience, reflection, and "silence in a noisy world". King reported that despite Rogers's family's wealth, he cared little about making money, and lived frugally, especially as he and his wife grew older. King reported that Rogers's relationship with his young audience was important to him. For example, since hosting Misterogers in Canada, he answered every letter sent to him by hand. After Mister Rogers' Neighborhood began airing in the U.S., the letters increased in volume and he hired staff member and producer Hedda Sharapan to answer them, but he read, edited, and signed each one. King wrote that Rogers saw responding to his viewers' letters as "a pastoral duty of sorts".
The New York Times called Rogers "a dedicated lap-swimmer", and Tom Junod, author of "Can You Say... Hero?", the 1998 Esquire profile of Rogers, said, "Nearly every morning of his life, Mister Rogers has gone swimming". Rogers began swimming when he was a child at his family's vacation home outside Latrobe, where they owned a pool, and during their winter trips to Florida. King wrote that swimming and playing the piano were "lifelong passions" and that "both gave him a chance to feel capable and in charge of his destiny", and that swimming became "an important part of the strong sense of self-discipline he cultivated". Rogers swam daily at the Pittsburgh Athletic Association, after waking every morning between 4:30 and 5:30 A.M. to pray and to "read the Bible and prepare himself for the day". He did not smoke or drink. According to Junod, he did nothing to change his weight from the he weighed for most of his adult life; by 1998, this also included napping daily, going to bed at 9:30 P.M., and sleeping eight hours per night without interruption. Junod said Rogers saw his weight "as a destiny fulfilled", telling Junod, "the number 143 means 'I love you.' It takes one letter to say 'I' and four letters to say 'love' and three letters to say 'you'".
Death and memorials
After Rogers's retirement in 2001, he remained busy working with FCI, studying religion and spirituality, making public appearances, traveling, and working on a children's media center named after him at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe with Archabbot Douglas Nowicki, chancellor of the college. By the summer of 2002, his chronic stomach pain became severe enough for him to see a doctor about it, and in October 2002, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He delayed treatment until after he served as Grand Marshal of the 2003 Rose Parade, with Art Linkletter and Bill Cosby in January. On January 6, Rogers underwent stomach surgery. He died less than two months later, on February 27, 2003, one month before his 75th birthday, at his home in Pittsburgh, with his wife of 50 years, Joanne, at his side. While comatose shortly before his death, he received the last rites of the Catholic Church from Archabbot Nowicki.
The following day, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette covered Rogers's death on the front page and dedicated an entire section to his death and impact. The newspaper also reported that by noon, the internet "was already full of appreciative pieces" by parents, viewers, producers, and writers. Rogers's death was widely lamented. Most U.S. metropolitan newspapers ran his obituary on their front page, and some dedicated entire sections to coverage of his death. WQED aired programs about Rogers the evening he died; the Post-Gazette reported that the ratings for their coverage were three times higher than their normal ratings. That same evening, Nightline on ABC broadcast a rerun of a recent interview with Rogers; the program got the highest ratings of the day, beating the February average ratings of Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. On March 4, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution honoring Rogers sponsored by Representative Mike Doyle from Pennsylvania.
On March 1, 2003, a private funeral was held for Rogers in Unity Chapel, which was restored by Rogers's father, at Unity Cemetery in Latrobe. About 80 relatives, co-workers, and close friends attended the service, which "was planned in great secrecy so that those closest to him could grieve in private". Reverend John McCall, pastor of the Rogers family's church, Sixth Presbyterian Church in Squirrel Hill, gave the homily, and Reverend William Barker, a retired Presbyterian minister who was a "close friend of Mr. Rogers and the voice of Mr. Platypus on his show", read Rogers's favorite Bible passages. Rogers was interred at Unity Cemetery in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, in a mausoleum owned by his mother's family.
On May 3, 2003, a public memorial was held at Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh. According to the Post-Gazette, 2,700 people attended. Violinist Itzhak Perlman, cellist Yo-Yo Ma (via video), and organist Alan Morrison performed in honor of Rogers. Barker officiated the service; also in attendance were Pittsburgh philanthropist Elsie Hillman, former Good Morning America host David Hartman, The Very Hungry Caterpillar author Eric Carle, and Arthur creator Marc Brown. Businesswoman and philanthropist Teresa Heinz, PBS President Pat Mitchell, and executive director of The Pittsburgh Project Saleem Ghubril gave remarks. Jeff Erlanger, who at age 10 appeared on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in 1981 to explain his electric wheelchair, also spoke. The memorial was broadcast several times on Pittsburgh television stations and websites throughout the day.
Legacy
Marc Brown, creator of another PBS children's show, Arthur, considered Rogers both a friend and "a terrific role model for how to use television and the media to be helpful to kids and families". Josh Selig, creator of Wonder Pets, credits Rogers with influencing his use of structure and predictability, and his use of music, opera, and originality.
Rogers inspired Angela Santomero, co-creator of the children's television show Blue's Clues, to earn a degree in developmental psychology and go into educational television. She and the other producers of Blue's Clues used many of Rogers's techniques, such as using child developmental and educational research, and having the host speak directly to the camera and transition to a make-believe world. In 2006, three years after Rogers's death and the end of production of Blue's Clues, the Fred Rogers Company contacted Santomero to create a show that would promote Rogers's legacy. In 2012, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, with characters from and based upon Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, premiered on PBS.
Rogers's style and approach to children's television and early childhood education also "begged to be parodied". Comedian Eddie Murphy parodied Mister Rogers' Neighborhood on Saturday Night Live during the 1980s. Rogers told interviewer David Letterman in 1982 that he believed parodies like Murphy's were done "with kindness in their hearts".
Video of Rogers's 1969 testimony in defense of public programming has experienced a resurgence since 2012, going viral at least twice. It first resurfaced after then presidential candidate Mitt Romney suggested cutting funding for PBS. In 2017, video of the testimony again went viral after President Donald Trump proposed defunding several arts-related government programs including PBS and the National Endowment for the Arts.
A roadside Pennsylvania Historical Marker dedicated to Rogers to be installed in Latrobe was approved by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission on March 4, 2014. It was installed on June 11, 2016, with the title "Fred McFeely Rogers (1928–2003)".
In 2018, Won't You Be My Neighbor?, director Morgan Neville's documentary about Rogers's life, grossed over $22 million and became the top-grossing biographical documentary ever produced, the highest-grossing documentary in five years, and the 12th largest-grossing documentary ever produced. The 2019 drama film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood tells the story of Rogers and his television series, with Tom Hanks portraying Rogers.
According to Caitlin Gibson of The Washington Post, Rogers became a source for parenting advice; she called him "a timeless oracle against a backdrop of ever-shifting parenting philosophies and cultural trends". Robert Thompson of Syracuse University noted that Rogers "took American childhood—and I think Americans in general—through some very turbulent and trying times", from the Vietnam War and the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968 to the 9/11 attacks in 2001. According to Asia Simone Burns of National Public Radio, in the years following the end of production on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in 2001, and his death in 2003, Rogers became "a source of comfort, sometimes in the wake of tragedy". Burns has said Rogers's words of comfort "began circulating on social media" following tragedies such as the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, the Manchester Arena bombing in Manchester, England, in 2017, and the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, in 2018.
Awards and honors
Museum exhibits
Smithsonian Institution permanent collection. In 1984, Rogers donated one of his sweaters to the Smithsonian.
Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. Exhibit created by Rogers and FCI in 1998. It attracted hundreds of thousand of visitors over 10 years, and included, from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, one of his sweaters, a pair of his sneakers, original puppets from the program, and photographs of Rogers. The exhibit traveled to children's museums throughout the country for eight years until it was given to the Louisiana Children's Museum in New Orleans as a permanent exhibit, to help them recover from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In 2007, the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh created a traveling exhibit based on the factory tours featured in episodes of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
Heinz History Center permanent collection (2018). In honor of the 50th anniversary of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and what would have been Rogers's 90th birthday.
Louisiana Children's Museum. The museum contains an exhibit of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which debuted in 2007. The exhibit was donated by the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh.
Fred Rogers Exhibit. The Exhibit displays the life, career and legacy of Rogers and includes photos, artifacts from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and clips of the program and interviews featuring Rogers. It is located at the Fred Rogers Center.
Art pieces
There are several pieces of art dedicated to Rogers throughout Pittsburgh, including a 7,000-pound, 11-foot high bronze statue of him in the North Shore neighborhood. In the Oakland neighborhood, his portrait is included in the Martin Luther King Jr. and "Interpretations of Oakland" murals. A statue of a dinosaur titled "Fredasaurus Rex Friday XIII" originally stood in front of the WQED building and as of 2014 stands in front of the building that contains the Fred Rogers Company offices. There is a "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood of Make-Believe" in Idlewild Park and a kiosk of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood artifacts at Pittsburgh International Airport. The Carnegie Science Center's Miniature Railroad and Village debuted a miniature recreation of Rogers's house from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in 2005.
Honorary degrees
Rogers has received honorary degrees from over 43 colleges and universities. After 1973, two commemorative quilts, created by two of Rogers's friends and archived at the Fred Rogers Center at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, were made out of the academic hoods he received during the graduation ceremonies.
Note: Much of the below list is taken from "Honorary Degrees Awarded to Fred Rogers", unless otherwise stated.
Thiel College, 1969. Thiel also awards a yearly scholarship named for Rogers.
Eastern Michigan University, 1973
Saint Vincent College, 1973
Christian Theological Seminary, 1973
Rollins College, 1974
Yale University, 1974
Chatham College, 1975
Carnegie Mellon University, 1976
Lafayette College, 1977
Waynesburg College, 1978
Linfield College, 1982
Slippery Rock State College, 1982
Duquesne University, 1982
Washington & Jefferson College, 1984
University of South Carolina, 1985
Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 1985
Drury College, 1986
MacMurray College, 1986
Bowling Green State University, 1987
Westminster College (Pennsylvania), 1987
University of Indianapolis, 1988
University of Connecticut, 1991
Boston University, 1992
Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 1992
Moravian College, 1992
Goucher College, 1993
University of Pittsburgh, 1993
West Virginia University, 1995
North Carolina State University, 1996
Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, 1998
Marist College, 1999
Westminster Choir College, 1999
Old Dominion University, 2000
Marquette University, 2001
Middlebury College, 2001
Dartmouth College, 2002
Seton Hill University, 2003 (posthumous)
Union College, 2003 (posthumous)
Roanoke College, 2003 (posthumous)
Filmography
Television
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
|-
| 1954–1961
| The Children's Corner
|-
| 1963–1966
| Misterogers
|-
| 1964–1967
| Butternut Square
|-
| 1968–2001
| Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
|-
| 1977–1982
| Christmastime with Mister Rogers
|-
| 1978–1981
| Old Friends... New Friends
|-
| 1981
| Sesame Street
|-
| 1988
| Good Night, Little Ones!
|-
| 1991
| Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?
|-
| 1994
|Mr. Dressup's 25th Anniversary|-
| 1994
| Fred Rogers' Heroes|-
| 1996
| Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman|-
| 1997
| Arthur|-
| 1998
| Wheel of Fortune|-
| 2003
| 114th Annual Tournament of Roses Parade|}
Published works
Children's books
Our Small World (with Josie Carey, illustrated by Norb Nathanson), 1954, Reed and Witting,
The Elves, the Shoemaker, & the Shoemaker's Wife (illustrated by Richard Hefter), 1973, Small World Enterprises,
The Matter of the Mittens, 1973, Small World Enterprises,
Speedy Delivery (illustrated by Richard Hefter), 1973, Hubbard,
Henrietta Meets Someone New (illustrated by Jason Art Studios), 1974, Golden Press,
Mister Rogers Talks About, 1974, Platt & Munk,
Time to Be Friends, 1974, Hallmark Cards,
Everyone is Special (illustrated by Jason Art Studios), 1975, Western Publishing,
Tell Me, Mister Rogers, 1975, Platt & Munk,
The Costume Party (illustrated by Jason Art Studios), 1976, Golden Press,
Planet Purple (illustrated by Dennis Hockerman), 1986, Texas Instruments,
If We Were All the Same (illustrated by Pat Sustendal), 1987, Random House,
A Trolley Visit to Make-Believe (illustrated by Pat Sustendal), 1987, Random House,
Wishes Don't Make Things Come True (illustrated Pat Sustendal), 1987, Random House,
No One Can Ever Take Your Place (illustrated by Pat Sustendal), 1988, Random House,
When Monsters Seem Real (illustrated by Pat Sustendal), 1988, Random House,
You Can Never Go Down the Drain (illustrated by Pat Sustendal), 1988, Random House,
The Giving Box (illustrated by Jennifer Herbert), 2000, Running Press,
Good Weather or Not (with Hedda Bluestone Sharapan, illustrated by James Mellet), 2005, Family Communications,
Josephine the Short Neck-Giraffe, 2006, Family Communications,
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: The Poetry of Mister Rogers Neighborhood (illustrated by Luke Flowers), 2009, Quirk Books,
First Experiences series illustrated by Jim Judkis
Going to Day Care, 1985, Putnam,
The New Baby, 1985, Putnam,
Going to the Potty, 1986, Putnam,
Going to the Doctor, 1986, Putnam,
Making Friends, 1987, Putnam,
Moving, 1987, Putnam,
Going to the Hospital, 1988, Putnam,
When a Pet Dies, 1988, Putnam,
Going on an Airplane, 1989, Putnam,
Going to the Dentist, 1989, Putnam,
Let's Talk About It series
Going to the Hospital, 1977, Family Communications,
Having an Operation, 1977, Family Communications,
So Many Things To See!, 1977, Family Communications,
Wearing a Cast, 1977, Family Communications,
Adoption, 1993, Putnam,
Divorce, 1994, Putnam,
Extraordinary Friends, 2000, Putnam,
Stepfamilies, 2001, Putnam,
Songbooks
Tomorrow on the Children's Corner (with Josie Carey, illustrated by Mal Wittman), 1960, Vernon Music Corporation,
Mister Rogers' Songbook (with Johnny Costa, illustrated by Steven Kellogg), 1970, Random House,
Books for adults
Mister Rogers Talks to Parents, 1983, Family Communications,
Mister Rogers' Playbook (with Barry Head, illustrated by Jamie Adams), 1986, Berkley Books,
Mister Rogers Talks with Families About Divorce (with Clare O'Brien), 1987, Berkley Books,
Mister Rogers' How Families Grow (with Barry Head and Jim Prokell), 1988, Berkley Books,
You Are Special: Words of Wisdom from America's Most Beloved Neighbor, 1994, Penguin Books,
Dear Mister Rogers, 1996, Penguin Books,
Mister Rogers' Playtime, 2001, Running Press,
The Mister Rogers Parenting Book, 2002, Running Press,
You are special: Neighborly Wisdom from Mister Rogers, 2002, Running Press,
The World According to Mister Rogers, 2003, Hyperion Books,
Life's Journeys According to Mister Rogers, 2005, Hyperion Books,
The Mister Rogers Parenting Resource Book, 2005, Courage Books,
Many Ways to Say I Love You: Wisdom For Parents And Children, 2019, Hachette Books,
Discography
Around the Children's Corner (with Josey Carey), 1958, Vernon Music Corporation,
Tomorrow on the Children's Corner (with Josie Carey), 1959
King Friday XIII Celebrates, 1964
Won't You Be My Neighbor?, 1967
Let's Be Together Today, 1968
Josephine the Short-Neck Giraffe, 1969
You Are Special, 1969
A Place of Our Own, 1970
Come On and Wake Up, 1972
Growing, 1992
Bedtime, 1992
Won't You Be My Neighbor? (cassette and book), 1994, Hal Leonard,
Coming and Going, 1997
It's Such A Good Feeling: The Best Of Mister Rogers, 2019, Omnivore Recordings, posthumous release
See also
Won't You Be My Neighbor?, 2018 documentary
Mister Rogers: It's You I Like, 2018 documentary
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, 2019 biographical drama film
List of vegetarians
Notes
References
Works cited
Gross, Terry (1984). "Terry Gross and Fred Rogers". Fresh Air. NPR.
King, Maxwell (2018). The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers. Abrams Press. .
Tiech, John (2012). Pittsburgh Film History: On Set in the Steel City''. Charleston, North Carolina: The History Press. .
External links
PBS Kids: Official Site
The Fred M. Rogers Center
The Fred Rogers Company (formerly known as Family Communications)
1984 interview with Fred Rogers.
The Music of Mister Rogers—Pittsburgh Music History
Fred Rogers at Voice Chasers
1928 births
2003 deaths
20th-century American composers
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American singers
20th-century Presbyterians
21st-century Presbyterians
American children's television presenters
American male composers
American male singers
American male songwriters
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American philanthropists
American Presbyterian ministers
American Presbyterians
American puppeteers
American television hosts
Burials in Pennsylvania
Christianity in Pittsburgh
Columbia Records artists
Dartmouth College alumni
Daytime Emmy Award winners
Deaths from cancer in Pennsylvania
Deaths from stomach cancer
Male actors from Pittsburgh
Omnivore Recordings artists
PBS people
Peabody Award winners
Pennsylvania Republicans
People from Latrobe, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary alumni
Presbyterians from Pennsylvania
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Rollins College alumni
Singers from Pennsylvania
Songwriters from Pennsylvania
Television personalities from Pittsburgh
Television producers from Pennsylvania
United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America ministers
Vegetarianism activists
Writers from Pittsburgh
Articles containing video clips | false | [
"Roger Monroe King (August 22, 1944 – December 8, 2007) was an American television and media executive for King World Productions and CBS.\n\nHe was a son of Charles King (died 1973), who acquired and marketed the Hal Roach produced comedy series of shorts films Our Gang (later renamed The Little Rascals) from the 1930s and established a company in 1964 to market and syndicate them, then known as King World Productions or Entertainment, which was acquired in 2000 by CBS Productions (a subsidiary of the CBS Corporation, formerly the Columbia Broadcasting System).\n\nHe was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame in 1992 and the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2004 and is credited with launching the careers of such top television stars as Oprah Winfrey, Phil McGraw and Alex Trebek.\n\nKing World Productions \nBorn in New Jersey, Roger King became chairman of the board of King World Productions in 1977, following the death of his father, Charles King, who had founded the company in 1964. \n\nIn what his old friends refer to as 'The Early Years' (1974–1977), Roger, as CEO with J&R Advertising, and his brothers, Michael and Bob, commandeered WKID TV; where they broadcast a Late Night TV Talk Show from Pirate's World in Hollywood, Florida. \n\nThe Show interviewed celebrities that were passing through South Florida such as actor Robert Conrad after he was involved a controversial fist fight in a local night club. Several of the programs were directed by Dale Richman. The interviews were followed by King World's Little Rascals. \n\nThe local commercials that were played were Produced by Bob King and narrated by musician/photographer Jessie Eastland, (aka Robert Demeo) a friend of the King Brothers during those years.\n\nUnder Roger's leadership, King World became the leading distributor of popular syndicated television programming. He put on the national scene daytime television's most popular programs of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, including Harpo Productions The Oprah Winfrey Show and Dr. Phil and is also credited with launching the syndicated news magazine, Inside Edition. \n\nHe also syndicated Merv Griffin's Wheel of Fortune (for Sony Pictures Television), starring Pat Sajak and Vanna White which, according to CBS, has been the top-rated syndicated TV show for the past 26 years. Another of his Griffin syndications, Jeopardy! (also by Sony Pictures Television), has remained among the top three for 25 years.\n\nTop executive at CBS \nRoger King joined CBS in 2000 following the merger of King World Productions with the broadcasting network, and served as chief executive officer of CBS Television Distribution from 2000 until his death. He was responsible for the syndicated sale of repeat episodes from CBS' top prime-time shows, including the CSI series, Survivor, The Amazing Race, Everybody Loves Raymond (ancillary rights to this series are owned by Time Warner via HBO) and UPN's America's Next Top Model.\n\nPersonal life \nRoger King had a reputation for throwing lavish industry parties. In January 1998, during the NATPE convention in New Orleans, Roger King rented out the Louisiana Superdome for the evening and hired Elton John to entertain his guests. Remembering his early struggles in his own career, Roger King was known for reaching out his hand to newcomers in the industry and often availing himself as a mentor and advisor.\n\nKing was a summer resident of Bay Head, New Jersey.\n\nDeath \nKing suffered a stroke at his home in Boca Raton, Florida and died the following day at Boca Raton Community Hospital at the age of 63.\n\nOprah Winfrey stated, \"I will never forget what he did for me. And this industry will never forget his legendary presence. He was truly a great guy\".\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n New York Times: Roger M. King, 63, TV Syndicator, Dies\n Hollywood Reporter: CBS TV Distribution's Roger King dies\n Hollywood Reporter: Colleagues remember Roger King\n Variety magazine: CBS exec Roger King dies at 63\n \"Broadcasting & Cable\" magazine: Syndication Legend Roger King Dies\n Steven Ameche: A Tribute To Roger King\n \n \n\nAmerican television executives\nPeople from Bay Head, New Jersey\n2007 deaths\n1944 births\nCBS executives",
"Recording Workshop (RECW) is a school that teaches the process of music recording and audio production. It is located seven miles south of Chillicothe, Ohio, USA.\n\nHistory\nFounded in 1977 as \"The Recording Workshop\", the school was associated with Appalachia Sound Recording Studio. Both entities originated with Joe Waters who had started the recording studio in 1971.\n\nIn 1987, Recording Workshop was recognized with a Mix magazine TEC Award Nomination as Outstanding Educational Institution.\n\nNotable lecturers at Recording Workshop include:\n Roger Nichols\n\nNotable graduates of Recording Workshop include:\n Jacquire King\n John Keane\n Thomas \"TJ\" Johnson\nHeba Kadry\n\nCurrent programs\nThe primary course offered by Recording Workshop is the \"Music Recording & Audio Production CORE Program\". This lasts five weeks and provides 180 hours of training. An extension course is the \"Music Recording & Audio Production ADVANCED Program\". This offers two additional weeks of training, adding 80 more hours of learning experience. Both programs are presented seven times per year.\n\nReferences \n\nAudio engineering schools\nSchools in Ohio"
] |
[
"Fred Rogers",
"VCR",
"Did Fred Rogers have anything to do with the development of the VCR?",
"Rogers was involved in supporting the manufacturers of VCRs in court.",
"What was Roger's role in supporting the VCR",
"His 1979 testimony, in the case Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc.,",
"Was Roger's in support of allowing recording TV programs at home?",
"did not object to home recordings of his television programs,"
] | C_4afd5375282049259a462c9d271a3e3c_0 | Besides testifying, did Roger's have any other role in the VCR's popularity? | 4 | Besides testifying, did Fred Rogers have any other role in the VCR's popularity? | Fred Rogers | During the controversy surrounding the introduction of the household VCR, Rogers was involved in supporting the manufacturers of VCRs in court. His 1979 testimony, in the case Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc., noted that he did not object to home recordings of his television programs, for instance, by families in order to watch them together at a later time. This testimony contrasted with the views of others in the television industry who objected to home recordings or believed that devices to facilitate it should be taxed or regulated. When the case reached the Supreme Court in 1983, the majority decision considered the testimony of Rogers when it held that the Betamax video recorder did not infringe copyright. The Court stated that his views were a notable piece of evidence "that many [television] producers are willing to allow private time-shifting to continue" and even quoted his testimony in a footnote: Some public stations, as well as commercial stations, program the Neighborhood at hours when some children cannot use it ... I have always felt that with the advent of all of this new technology that allows people to tape the Neighborhood off-the-air, and I'm speaking for the Neighborhood because that's what I produce, that they then become much more active in the programming of their family's television life. Very frankly, I am opposed to people being programmed by others. My whole approach in broadcasting has always been "You are an important person just the way you are. You can make healthy decisions." Maybe I'm going on too long, but I just feel that anything that allows a person to be more active in the control of his or her life, in a healthy way, is important. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003), also known as Mister Rogers, was an American television host, author, producer, and Presbyterian minister. He was the creator, showrunner, and host of the preschool television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which ran from 1968 to 2001.
Born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, Rogers earned a bachelor's degree in music from Rollins College in 1951. He began his television career at NBC in New York, returning to Pittsburgh in 1953 to work for children's programming at NET (later PBS) television station WQED. He graduated from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary with a bachelor's degree in divinity in 1962 and became a Presbyterian minister in 1963. He attended the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Child Development, where he began his 30-year collaboration with child psychologist Margaret McFarland. He also helped develop the children's shows The Children's Corner (1955) for WQED in Pittsburgh and Misterogers (1963) in Canada for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. In 1968, he returned to Pittsburgh and adapted the format of his Canadian series to create Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which ran for 33 years. The program was critically acclaimed for focusing on children's emotional and physical concerns, such as death, sibling rivalry, school enrollment, and divorce.
Rogers died of stomach cancer on February 27, 2003, at age 74. His work in children's television has been widely lauded, and he received more than 40 honorary degrees and several awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002 and a Lifetime Achievement Emmy in 1997. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1999. Rogers influenced many writers and producers of children's television shows, and his broadcasts have served as a source of comfort during tragic events, even after his death.
Early life
Rogers was born on March 20, 1928, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, about outside of Pittsburgh, at 705 Main Street to James and Nancy Rogers. James was "a very successful businessman" who was president of the McFeely Brick Company, one of Latrobe's largest businesses. Nancy's father, Fred Brooks McFeely, after whom Rogers was named, was an entrepreneur. Nancy knitted sweaters for American soldiers from western Pennsylvania who were fighting in Europe and regularly volunteered at the Latrobe Hospital. Initially, dreaming of becoming a doctor, she settled for a life of hospital volunteer work. Rogers grew up in a three-story brick mansion at 737 Weldon Street in Latrobe. He had a sister, Elaine, whom the Rogerses adopted when he was 11 years old. Rogers spent much of his childhood alone, playing with puppets, and also spent time with his grandfather. He began to play the piano when he was five years old. Through an ancestor who immigrated from Germany to the U.S., Johannes Meffert (born 1732), Rogers is the sixth cousin of American actor Tom Hanks, who portrays him in the film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019).
Rogers had a difficult childhood. He was shy, introverted, and overweight, and was frequently homebound after suffering bouts of asthma. He was bullied and taunted as a child for his weight, and called "Fat Freddy". According to Morgan Neville, director of the 2018 documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor?, Rogers had a "lonely childhood... I think he made friends with himself as much as he could. He had a ventriloquist dummy, he had [stuffed] animals, and he would create his own worlds in his childhood bedroom".
Rogers attended Latrobe High School, where he overcame his shyness. "It was tough for me at the beginning," Rogers told NPR's Terry Gross in 1984. "And then I made a couple friends who found out that the core of me was okay. And one of them was... the head of the football team". Rogers served as president of the student council, was a member of the National Honor Society, and was editor-in-chief of the school yearbook. He registered for the draft in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, in 1948 at age 20, where he was classified as “1-A”, available for military service. However, his status was changed to “4-F”, unfit for military service, following an Armed Forces physical on October 12, 1950. Rogers attended Dartmouth College for one year before transferring to Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida; he graduated magna cum laude in 1951 with a Bachelor of Music.
Rogers graduated magna cum laude from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 1962 with a Bachelor of Divinity. He was ordained a minister by the Pittsburgh Presbytery of the United Presbyterian Church in 1963. His mission as an ordained minister, instead of being a pastor of a church, was to minister to children and their families through television. He regularly appeared before church officials to keep up his ordination.
Career
Early work
Rogers wanted to enter seminary after college, but instead chose to go into the nascent medium of television after encountering a TV at his parents' home in 1951 during his senior year at Rollins College. In a CNN interview, he said, "I went into television because I hated it so, and I thought there's some way of using this fabulous instrument to nurture those who would watch and listen". After graduating in 1951, he worked at NBC in New York City as floor director of Your Hit Parade, The Kate Smith Hour, and Gabby Hayes's children's show, and as an assistant producer of The Voice of Firestone.
In 1953, Rogers returned to Pittsburgh to work as a program developer at public television station WQED. Josie Carey worked with him to develop the children's show The Children's Corner, which Carey hosted. Rogers worked off-camera to develop puppets, characters, and music for the show. He used many of the puppet characters developed during this time, such as Daniel the Striped Tiger (named after WQED's station manager, Dorothy Daniel, who gave Rogers a tiger puppet before the show's premiere), King Friday XIII, Queen Sara Saturday (named after Rogers's wife), X the Owl, Henrietta, and Lady Elaine, in his later work. Children's television entertainer Ernie Coombs was an assistant puppeteer. The Children's Corner won a Sylvania Award for best locally produced children's programming in 1955 and was broadcast nationally on NBC. While working on The Children's Corner, Rogers attended Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1963. He also attended the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Child Development, where he began working with child psychologist Margaret McFarland, who according to Rogers's biographer Maxwell King became his "key advisor and collaborator" and "child-education guru". Much of Rogers's "thinking about and appreciation for children was shaped and informed" by McFarland. She was his consultant for most of Mister Rogers' Neighborhoods scripts and songs for 30 years.
In 1963, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in Toronto contracted Rogers to develop and host the 15-minute black-and-white children's program Misterogers; it lasted from 1963 to 1967. It was the first time Rogers appeared on camera. CBC's children's programming head Fred Rainsberry insisted on it, telling Rogers, "Fred, I've seen you talk with kids. Let's put you yourself on the air". Coombs joined Rogers in Toronto as an assistant puppeteer. Rogers also worked with Coombs on the children's show Butternut Square from 1964 to 1967. He acquired the rights to Misterogers in 1967 and returned to Pittsburgh with his wife, two young sons, and the sets he developed, despite a potentially promising career with CBC and no job prospects in Pittsburgh. On Rogers' recommendation, Coombs remained in Toronto and became Rogers' Canadian equivalent of an iconic television personality, creating the long-running children's program, Mr. Dressup, which ran from 1967 to 1996. Rogers's work for CBC "helped shape and develop the concept and style of his later program for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the U.S."
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (also called the Neighborhood), a half-hour educational children's program starring Rogers, began airing nationally in 1968 and ran for 895 episodes. The program was videotaped at WQED in Pittsburgh and was broadcast by National Educational Television (NET), which later became the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Its first season had 180 black-and-white episodes. Each subsequent season, filmed in color and funded by PBS, the Sears-Roebuck Foundation, and other charities, consisted of 65 episodes. By the time the program ended production in December 2000, its average rating was about 0.7 percent of television households, or 680,000 homes, and it aired on 384 PBS stations. At its peak in 1985–1986, its ratings were at 2.1 percent, or 1.8 million homes. Production of the Neighborhood ended in December 2000, and the last original episode aired in 2001, but PBS continued to air reruns; by 2016 it was the third-longest running program in PBS history.
Many of the sets and props in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, like the trolley, the sneakers, and the castle, were created for Rogers's show in Toronto by CBC designers and producers. The program also "incorporated most of the highly imaginative elements that later became famous", such as its slow pace and its host's quiet manner. The format of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood "remained virtually unchanged" for the entire run of the program. Every episode begins with a camera's-eye view of a model of a neighborhood, then panning in closer to a representation of a house while a piano instrumental of the theme song, "Won't You be My Neighbor?", performed by music director Johnny Costa and inspired by a Beethoven sonata, is played. The camera zooms in to a model representing Mr. Rogers's house, then cuts to the house's interior and pans across the room to the front door, which Rogers opens as he sings the theme song to greet his visitors while changing his suit jacket to a cardigan (knitted by his mother) and his dress shoes to sneakers, "complete with a shoe tossed from one hand to another". The episode's theme is introduced, and Mr. Rogers leaves his home to visit another location, the camera panning back to the neighborhood model and zooming in to the new location as he enters it. Once this segment ends, Mr. Rogers leaves and returns to his home, indicating that it is time to visit the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. Mr. Rogers proceeds to the window seat by the trolley track and sets up the action there as the Trolley comes out. The camera follows it down a tunnel in the back wall of the house as it enters the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. The stories and lessons told take place over a series of a week's worth of episodes and involve puppet and human characters. The end of the visit occurs when the Trolley returns to the same tunnel from which it emerged, reappearing in Mr. Rogers's home. He then talks to the viewers before concluding the episode. He often feeds his fish, cleans up any props he has used, and returns to the front room, where he sings the closing song while changing back into his dress shoes and jacket. He exits the front door as he ends the song, and the camera zooms out of his home and pans across the neighborhood model as the episode ends.
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood emphasized young children's social and emotional needs, and unlike another PBS show, Sesame Street, which premiered in 1969, did not focus on cognitive learning. Writer Kathy Merlock Jackson said, "While both shows target the same preschool audience and prepare children for kindergarten, Sesame Street concentrates on school-readiness skills while Mister Rogers Neighborhood focuses on the child's developing psyche and feelings and sense of moral and ethical reasoning". The Neighborhood also spent fewer resources on research than Sesame Street, but Rogers used early childhood education concepts taught by his mentor Margaret McFarland, Benjamin Spock, Erik Erikson, and T. Berry Brazelton in his lessons. As the Washington Post noted, Rogers taught young children about civility, tolerance, sharing, and self-worth "in a reassuring tone and leisurely cadence". He tackled difficult topics such as the death of a family pet, sibling rivalry, the addition of a newborn into a family, moving and enrolling in a new school, and divorce. For example, he wrote a special segment that dealt with the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy that aired on June 7, 1968, days after the assassination occurred.
According to King, the process of putting each episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood together was "painstaking" and Rogers's contribution to the program was "astounding". Rogers wrote and edited all the episodes, played the piano and sang for most of the songs, wrote 200 songs and 13 operas, created all the characters (both puppet and human), played most of the major puppet roles, hosted every episode, and produced and approved every detail of the program. The puppets created for the Neighborhood of Make-Believe "included an extraordinary variety of personalities". They were simple puppets but "complex, complicated, and utterly honest beings". In 1971, Rogers formed Family Communications, Inc. (FCI, now The Fred Rogers Company), to produce the Neighborhood, other programs, and non-broadcast materials.
In 1975, Rogers stopped producing Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood to focus on adult programming. Reruns of the Neighborhood continued to air on PBS. King reports that the decision caught many of his coworkers and supporters "off guard". Rogers continued to confer with McFarland about child development and early childhood education, however. In 1979, after an almost five-year hiatus, Rogers returned to producing the Neighborhood; King calls the new version "stronger and more sophisticated than ever". King writes that by the program's second run in the 1980s, it was "such a cultural touchstone that it had inspired numerous parodies", most notably Eddie Murphy's parody on Saturday Night Live in the early 1980s.
Rogers retired from producing the Neighborhood in 2001 at age 73, although reruns continued to air. He and FCI had been making about two or three weeks of new programs per year for many years, "filling the rest of his time slots from a library of about 300 shows made since 1979". The final original episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood aired on August 31, 2001.
Other work and appearances
In 1969, Rogers testified before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Communications, which was chaired by Democratic Senator John Pastore of Rhode Island. U.S. President Lyndon Johnson had proposed a $20 million bill for the creation of PBS before he left office, but his successor, Richard Nixon, wanted to cut the funding to $10 million. Even though Rogers was not yet nationally known, he was chosen to testify because of his ability to make persuasive arguments and to connect emotionally with his audience. The clip of Rogers's testimony, which was televised and has since been viewed by millions of people on the internet, helped to secure funding for PBS for many years afterwards. According to King, Rogers's testimony was "considered one of the most powerful pieces of testimony ever offered before Congress, and one of the most powerful pieces of video presentation ever filmed". It brought Pastore to tears and also, according to King, has been studied by public relations experts and academics. Congressional funding for PBS increased from $9 million to $22 million. In 1970, Nixon appointed Rogers as chair of the White House Conference on Children and Youth.
In 1978, while on hiatus from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Rogers wrote, produced, and hosted a 30-minute interview program for adults on PBS called Old Friends... New Friends. It lasted 20 episodes. Rogers's guests included Hoagy Carmichael, Helen Hayes, Milton Berle, Lorin Hollander, poet Robert Frost's daughter Lesley, and Willie Stargell.
In September 1987, Rogers visited Moscow to appear as the first guest on the long-running Soviet children's TV show Good Night, Little Ones! with host Tatiana Vedeneyeva. The appearance was broadcast in the Soviet Union on December 7, coinciding with the Washington Summit meeting between Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Washington D.C. Vedeneyeva visited the set of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in November. Her visit was taped and later aired in March 1988 as part of Rogers's program. In 1994, Rogers wrote, produced, and hosted a special for PBS called Fred Rogers' Heroes, which featured interviews and portraits of four people from across the country who were having a positive impact on children and education. The first time Rogers appeared on television as an actor, and not himself, was in a 1996 episode of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, playing a preacher.
Rogers gave "scores of interviews". Though reluctant to appear on television talk shows, he would usually "charm the host with his quick wit and ability to ad-lib on a moment's notice". Rogers was "one of the country's most sought-after commencement speakers", making over 150 speeches. His friend and colleague David Newell reported that Rogers would "agonize over a speech", and King reported that Rogers was at his least guarded during his speeches, which were about children, television, education, his view of the world, how to make the world a better place, and his quest for self-knowledge. His tone was quiet and informal but "commanded attention". In many speeches, including the ones he made accepting a Lifetime Achievement Emmy in 1997, for his induction into the Television Hall of Fame in 1999, and his final commencement speech at Dartmouth College in 2002, he instructed his audiences to remain silent and think for a moment about someone who had a good influence on them.
Personal life
Rogers met Sara Joanne Byrd (called "Joanne") from Jacksonville, Florida, while attending Rollins College. They were married from 1952 until his death in 2003. They had two sons, James and John. Joanne was "an accomplished pianist", who like Fred earned a Bachelor of Music from Rollins, and went on to earn a Master of Music from Florida State University. She performed publicly with her college classmate, Jeannine Morrison, from 1976 to 2008. According to biographer Maxwell King, Rogers's close associates said he was "absolutely faithful to his marriage vows".
Rogers was red-green color-blind. He became a pescatarian in 1970, after the death of his father, and a vegetarian in the early 1980s, saying he "couldn't eat anything that had a mother". He became a co-owner of Vegetarian Times in the mid-1980s and said in one issue, "I love tofu burgers and beets". He told Vegetarian Times that he became a vegetarian for both ethical and health reasons. According to his biographer Maxwell King, Rogers also signed his name to a statement protesting wearing animal furs. Rogers was a registered Republican, but according to Joanne Rogers, he was "very independent in the way he voted", choosing not to talk about politics because he wanted to be impartial. Rogers was a Presbyterian, and many of the messages he expressed in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood were inspired by the core tenets of Christianity. Rogers rarely spoke about his faith on air; he believed that teaching through example was as powerful as preaching. He said, "You don't need to speak overtly about religion in order to get a message across". According to writer Shea Tuttle, Rogers considered his faith a fundamental part of his personality and "called the space between the viewer and the television set 'holy ground'". But despite his strong faith, Rogers struggled with anger, conflict, and self-doubt, especially at the end of his life. He also studied Catholic mysticism, Judaism, Buddhism, and other faiths and cultures. King called him "that unique television star with a real spiritual life", emphasizing the values of patience, reflection, and "silence in a noisy world". King reported that despite Rogers's family's wealth, he cared little about making money, and lived frugally, especially as he and his wife grew older. King reported that Rogers's relationship with his young audience was important to him. For example, since hosting Misterogers in Canada, he answered every letter sent to him by hand. After Mister Rogers' Neighborhood began airing in the U.S., the letters increased in volume and he hired staff member and producer Hedda Sharapan to answer them, but he read, edited, and signed each one. King wrote that Rogers saw responding to his viewers' letters as "a pastoral duty of sorts".
The New York Times called Rogers "a dedicated lap-swimmer", and Tom Junod, author of "Can You Say... Hero?", the 1998 Esquire profile of Rogers, said, "Nearly every morning of his life, Mister Rogers has gone swimming". Rogers began swimming when he was a child at his family's vacation home outside Latrobe, where they owned a pool, and during their winter trips to Florida. King wrote that swimming and playing the piano were "lifelong passions" and that "both gave him a chance to feel capable and in charge of his destiny", and that swimming became "an important part of the strong sense of self-discipline he cultivated". Rogers swam daily at the Pittsburgh Athletic Association, after waking every morning between 4:30 and 5:30 A.M. to pray and to "read the Bible and prepare himself for the day". He did not smoke or drink. According to Junod, he did nothing to change his weight from the he weighed for most of his adult life; by 1998, this also included napping daily, going to bed at 9:30 P.M., and sleeping eight hours per night without interruption. Junod said Rogers saw his weight "as a destiny fulfilled", telling Junod, "the number 143 means 'I love you.' It takes one letter to say 'I' and four letters to say 'love' and three letters to say 'you'".
Death and memorials
After Rogers's retirement in 2001, he remained busy working with FCI, studying religion and spirituality, making public appearances, traveling, and working on a children's media center named after him at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe with Archabbot Douglas Nowicki, chancellor of the college. By the summer of 2002, his chronic stomach pain became severe enough for him to see a doctor about it, and in October 2002, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He delayed treatment until after he served as Grand Marshal of the 2003 Rose Parade, with Art Linkletter and Bill Cosby in January. On January 6, Rogers underwent stomach surgery. He died less than two months later, on February 27, 2003, one month before his 75th birthday, at his home in Pittsburgh, with his wife of 50 years, Joanne, at his side. While comatose shortly before his death, he received the last rites of the Catholic Church from Archabbot Nowicki.
The following day, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette covered Rogers's death on the front page and dedicated an entire section to his death and impact. The newspaper also reported that by noon, the internet "was already full of appreciative pieces" by parents, viewers, producers, and writers. Rogers's death was widely lamented. Most U.S. metropolitan newspapers ran his obituary on their front page, and some dedicated entire sections to coverage of his death. WQED aired programs about Rogers the evening he died; the Post-Gazette reported that the ratings for their coverage were three times higher than their normal ratings. That same evening, Nightline on ABC broadcast a rerun of a recent interview with Rogers; the program got the highest ratings of the day, beating the February average ratings of Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. On March 4, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution honoring Rogers sponsored by Representative Mike Doyle from Pennsylvania.
On March 1, 2003, a private funeral was held for Rogers in Unity Chapel, which was restored by Rogers's father, at Unity Cemetery in Latrobe. About 80 relatives, co-workers, and close friends attended the service, which "was planned in great secrecy so that those closest to him could grieve in private". Reverend John McCall, pastor of the Rogers family's church, Sixth Presbyterian Church in Squirrel Hill, gave the homily, and Reverend William Barker, a retired Presbyterian minister who was a "close friend of Mr. Rogers and the voice of Mr. Platypus on his show", read Rogers's favorite Bible passages. Rogers was interred at Unity Cemetery in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, in a mausoleum owned by his mother's family.
On May 3, 2003, a public memorial was held at Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh. According to the Post-Gazette, 2,700 people attended. Violinist Itzhak Perlman, cellist Yo-Yo Ma (via video), and organist Alan Morrison performed in honor of Rogers. Barker officiated the service; also in attendance were Pittsburgh philanthropist Elsie Hillman, former Good Morning America host David Hartman, The Very Hungry Caterpillar author Eric Carle, and Arthur creator Marc Brown. Businesswoman and philanthropist Teresa Heinz, PBS President Pat Mitchell, and executive director of The Pittsburgh Project Saleem Ghubril gave remarks. Jeff Erlanger, who at age 10 appeared on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in 1981 to explain his electric wheelchair, also spoke. The memorial was broadcast several times on Pittsburgh television stations and websites throughout the day.
Legacy
Marc Brown, creator of another PBS children's show, Arthur, considered Rogers both a friend and "a terrific role model for how to use television and the media to be helpful to kids and families". Josh Selig, creator of Wonder Pets, credits Rogers with influencing his use of structure and predictability, and his use of music, opera, and originality.
Rogers inspired Angela Santomero, co-creator of the children's television show Blue's Clues, to earn a degree in developmental psychology and go into educational television. She and the other producers of Blue's Clues used many of Rogers's techniques, such as using child developmental and educational research, and having the host speak directly to the camera and transition to a make-believe world. In 2006, three years after Rogers's death and the end of production of Blue's Clues, the Fred Rogers Company contacted Santomero to create a show that would promote Rogers's legacy. In 2012, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, with characters from and based upon Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, premiered on PBS.
Rogers's style and approach to children's television and early childhood education also "begged to be parodied". Comedian Eddie Murphy parodied Mister Rogers' Neighborhood on Saturday Night Live during the 1980s. Rogers told interviewer David Letterman in 1982 that he believed parodies like Murphy's were done "with kindness in their hearts".
Video of Rogers's 1969 testimony in defense of public programming has experienced a resurgence since 2012, going viral at least twice. It first resurfaced after then presidential candidate Mitt Romney suggested cutting funding for PBS. In 2017, video of the testimony again went viral after President Donald Trump proposed defunding several arts-related government programs including PBS and the National Endowment for the Arts.
A roadside Pennsylvania Historical Marker dedicated to Rogers to be installed in Latrobe was approved by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission on March 4, 2014. It was installed on June 11, 2016, with the title "Fred McFeely Rogers (1928–2003)".
In 2018, Won't You Be My Neighbor?, director Morgan Neville's documentary about Rogers's life, grossed over $22 million and became the top-grossing biographical documentary ever produced, the highest-grossing documentary in five years, and the 12th largest-grossing documentary ever produced. The 2019 drama film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood tells the story of Rogers and his television series, with Tom Hanks portraying Rogers.
According to Caitlin Gibson of The Washington Post, Rogers became a source for parenting advice; she called him "a timeless oracle against a backdrop of ever-shifting parenting philosophies and cultural trends". Robert Thompson of Syracuse University noted that Rogers "took American childhood—and I think Americans in general—through some very turbulent and trying times", from the Vietnam War and the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968 to the 9/11 attacks in 2001. According to Asia Simone Burns of National Public Radio, in the years following the end of production on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in 2001, and his death in 2003, Rogers became "a source of comfort, sometimes in the wake of tragedy". Burns has said Rogers's words of comfort "began circulating on social media" following tragedies such as the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, the Manchester Arena bombing in Manchester, England, in 2017, and the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, in 2018.
Awards and honors
Museum exhibits
Smithsonian Institution permanent collection. In 1984, Rogers donated one of his sweaters to the Smithsonian.
Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. Exhibit created by Rogers and FCI in 1998. It attracted hundreds of thousand of visitors over 10 years, and included, from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, one of his sweaters, a pair of his sneakers, original puppets from the program, and photographs of Rogers. The exhibit traveled to children's museums throughout the country for eight years until it was given to the Louisiana Children's Museum in New Orleans as a permanent exhibit, to help them recover from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In 2007, the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh created a traveling exhibit based on the factory tours featured in episodes of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
Heinz History Center permanent collection (2018). In honor of the 50th anniversary of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and what would have been Rogers's 90th birthday.
Louisiana Children's Museum. The museum contains an exhibit of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which debuted in 2007. The exhibit was donated by the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh.
Fred Rogers Exhibit. The Exhibit displays the life, career and legacy of Rogers and includes photos, artifacts from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and clips of the program and interviews featuring Rogers. It is located at the Fred Rogers Center.
Art pieces
There are several pieces of art dedicated to Rogers throughout Pittsburgh, including a 7,000-pound, 11-foot high bronze statue of him in the North Shore neighborhood. In the Oakland neighborhood, his portrait is included in the Martin Luther King Jr. and "Interpretations of Oakland" murals. A statue of a dinosaur titled "Fredasaurus Rex Friday XIII" originally stood in front of the WQED building and as of 2014 stands in front of the building that contains the Fred Rogers Company offices. There is a "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood of Make-Believe" in Idlewild Park and a kiosk of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood artifacts at Pittsburgh International Airport. The Carnegie Science Center's Miniature Railroad and Village debuted a miniature recreation of Rogers's house from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in 2005.
Honorary degrees
Rogers has received honorary degrees from over 43 colleges and universities. After 1973, two commemorative quilts, created by two of Rogers's friends and archived at the Fred Rogers Center at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, were made out of the academic hoods he received during the graduation ceremonies.
Note: Much of the below list is taken from "Honorary Degrees Awarded to Fred Rogers", unless otherwise stated.
Thiel College, 1969. Thiel also awards a yearly scholarship named for Rogers.
Eastern Michigan University, 1973
Saint Vincent College, 1973
Christian Theological Seminary, 1973
Rollins College, 1974
Yale University, 1974
Chatham College, 1975
Carnegie Mellon University, 1976
Lafayette College, 1977
Waynesburg College, 1978
Linfield College, 1982
Slippery Rock State College, 1982
Duquesne University, 1982
Washington & Jefferson College, 1984
University of South Carolina, 1985
Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 1985
Drury College, 1986
MacMurray College, 1986
Bowling Green State University, 1987
Westminster College (Pennsylvania), 1987
University of Indianapolis, 1988
University of Connecticut, 1991
Boston University, 1992
Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 1992
Moravian College, 1992
Goucher College, 1993
University of Pittsburgh, 1993
West Virginia University, 1995
North Carolina State University, 1996
Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, 1998
Marist College, 1999
Westminster Choir College, 1999
Old Dominion University, 2000
Marquette University, 2001
Middlebury College, 2001
Dartmouth College, 2002
Seton Hill University, 2003 (posthumous)
Union College, 2003 (posthumous)
Roanoke College, 2003 (posthumous)
Filmography
Television
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
|-
| 1954–1961
| The Children's Corner
|-
| 1963–1966
| Misterogers
|-
| 1964–1967
| Butternut Square
|-
| 1968–2001
| Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
|-
| 1977–1982
| Christmastime with Mister Rogers
|-
| 1978–1981
| Old Friends... New Friends
|-
| 1981
| Sesame Street
|-
| 1988
| Good Night, Little Ones!
|-
| 1991
| Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?
|-
| 1994
|Mr. Dressup's 25th Anniversary|-
| 1994
| Fred Rogers' Heroes|-
| 1996
| Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman|-
| 1997
| Arthur|-
| 1998
| Wheel of Fortune|-
| 2003
| 114th Annual Tournament of Roses Parade|}
Published works
Children's books
Our Small World (with Josie Carey, illustrated by Norb Nathanson), 1954, Reed and Witting,
The Elves, the Shoemaker, & the Shoemaker's Wife (illustrated by Richard Hefter), 1973, Small World Enterprises,
The Matter of the Mittens, 1973, Small World Enterprises,
Speedy Delivery (illustrated by Richard Hefter), 1973, Hubbard,
Henrietta Meets Someone New (illustrated by Jason Art Studios), 1974, Golden Press,
Mister Rogers Talks About, 1974, Platt & Munk,
Time to Be Friends, 1974, Hallmark Cards,
Everyone is Special (illustrated by Jason Art Studios), 1975, Western Publishing,
Tell Me, Mister Rogers, 1975, Platt & Munk,
The Costume Party (illustrated by Jason Art Studios), 1976, Golden Press,
Planet Purple (illustrated by Dennis Hockerman), 1986, Texas Instruments,
If We Were All the Same (illustrated by Pat Sustendal), 1987, Random House,
A Trolley Visit to Make-Believe (illustrated by Pat Sustendal), 1987, Random House,
Wishes Don't Make Things Come True (illustrated Pat Sustendal), 1987, Random House,
No One Can Ever Take Your Place (illustrated by Pat Sustendal), 1988, Random House,
When Monsters Seem Real (illustrated by Pat Sustendal), 1988, Random House,
You Can Never Go Down the Drain (illustrated by Pat Sustendal), 1988, Random House,
The Giving Box (illustrated by Jennifer Herbert), 2000, Running Press,
Good Weather or Not (with Hedda Bluestone Sharapan, illustrated by James Mellet), 2005, Family Communications,
Josephine the Short Neck-Giraffe, 2006, Family Communications,
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: The Poetry of Mister Rogers Neighborhood (illustrated by Luke Flowers), 2009, Quirk Books,
First Experiences series illustrated by Jim Judkis
Going to Day Care, 1985, Putnam,
The New Baby, 1985, Putnam,
Going to the Potty, 1986, Putnam,
Going to the Doctor, 1986, Putnam,
Making Friends, 1987, Putnam,
Moving, 1987, Putnam,
Going to the Hospital, 1988, Putnam,
When a Pet Dies, 1988, Putnam,
Going on an Airplane, 1989, Putnam,
Going to the Dentist, 1989, Putnam,
Let's Talk About It series
Going to the Hospital, 1977, Family Communications,
Having an Operation, 1977, Family Communications,
So Many Things To See!, 1977, Family Communications,
Wearing a Cast, 1977, Family Communications,
Adoption, 1993, Putnam,
Divorce, 1994, Putnam,
Extraordinary Friends, 2000, Putnam,
Stepfamilies, 2001, Putnam,
Songbooks
Tomorrow on the Children's Corner (with Josie Carey, illustrated by Mal Wittman), 1960, Vernon Music Corporation,
Mister Rogers' Songbook (with Johnny Costa, illustrated by Steven Kellogg), 1970, Random House,
Books for adults
Mister Rogers Talks to Parents, 1983, Family Communications,
Mister Rogers' Playbook (with Barry Head, illustrated by Jamie Adams), 1986, Berkley Books,
Mister Rogers Talks with Families About Divorce (with Clare O'Brien), 1987, Berkley Books,
Mister Rogers' How Families Grow (with Barry Head and Jim Prokell), 1988, Berkley Books,
You Are Special: Words of Wisdom from America's Most Beloved Neighbor, 1994, Penguin Books,
Dear Mister Rogers, 1996, Penguin Books,
Mister Rogers' Playtime, 2001, Running Press,
The Mister Rogers Parenting Book, 2002, Running Press,
You are special: Neighborly Wisdom from Mister Rogers, 2002, Running Press,
The World According to Mister Rogers, 2003, Hyperion Books,
Life's Journeys According to Mister Rogers, 2005, Hyperion Books,
The Mister Rogers Parenting Resource Book, 2005, Courage Books,
Many Ways to Say I Love You: Wisdom For Parents And Children, 2019, Hachette Books,
Discography
Around the Children's Corner (with Josey Carey), 1958, Vernon Music Corporation,
Tomorrow on the Children's Corner (with Josie Carey), 1959
King Friday XIII Celebrates, 1964
Won't You Be My Neighbor?, 1967
Let's Be Together Today, 1968
Josephine the Short-Neck Giraffe, 1969
You Are Special, 1969
A Place of Our Own, 1970
Come On and Wake Up, 1972
Growing, 1992
Bedtime, 1992
Won't You Be My Neighbor? (cassette and book), 1994, Hal Leonard,
Coming and Going, 1997
It's Such A Good Feeling: The Best Of Mister Rogers, 2019, Omnivore Recordings, posthumous release
See also
Won't You Be My Neighbor?, 2018 documentary
Mister Rogers: It's You I Like, 2018 documentary
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, 2019 biographical drama film
List of vegetarians
Notes
References
Works cited
Gross, Terry (1984). "Terry Gross and Fred Rogers". Fresh Air. NPR.
King, Maxwell (2018). The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers. Abrams Press. .
Tiech, John (2012). Pittsburgh Film History: On Set in the Steel City''. Charleston, North Carolina: The History Press. .
External links
PBS Kids: Official Site
The Fred M. Rogers Center
The Fred Rogers Company (formerly known as Family Communications)
1984 interview with Fred Rogers.
The Music of Mister Rogers—Pittsburgh Music History
Fred Rogers at Voice Chasers
1928 births
2003 deaths
20th-century American composers
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American singers
20th-century Presbyterians
21st-century Presbyterians
American children's television presenters
American male composers
American male singers
American male songwriters
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American philanthropists
American Presbyterian ministers
American Presbyterians
American puppeteers
American television hosts
Burials in Pennsylvania
Christianity in Pittsburgh
Columbia Records artists
Dartmouth College alumni
Daytime Emmy Award winners
Deaths from cancer in Pennsylvania
Deaths from stomach cancer
Male actors from Pittsburgh
Omnivore Recordings artists
PBS people
Peabody Award winners
Pennsylvania Republicans
People from Latrobe, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary alumni
Presbyterians from Pennsylvania
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Rollins College alumni
Singers from Pennsylvania
Songwriters from Pennsylvania
Television personalities from Pittsburgh
Television producers from Pennsylvania
United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America ministers
Vegetarianism activists
Writers from Pittsburgh
Articles containing video clips | false | [
"The Panhard VCR (Véhicule de Combat à Roues, French for Wheeled Combat Vehicle) is a light armored personnel carrier (APC) designed by Panhard for the export market and later used by several countries. After Iraq ordered French turrets in September 1974 capable of launching antitank guided missiles (ATGM), the Panhard VCR was developed at the request of the Iraqis for vehicles with which to mate these ATGM-launcher turrets. This resulted in the largest order of VCRs, 100, for Iraq.\n\nDescription\nThe VCR is a 6×6 wheeled APC designed in the late 1970s and is based on the earlier 4×4 M-3 APC which had been a huge success for Panhard on the export market, with over 1,200 built. Production of the VCR began in 1979. The center pair of wheels can be raised when the vehicle is operated on roads (when down all six wheels drive). The engine is located in the front to the right, with the driver in the front-center of the vehicle. The VCR has 8 mm of steel armor on all sides except the front which has 12 mm. This gives protection against 12.7 mm AP rounds in the front and against 7.62 mm AP rounds on all other sides.\n\nThe basic VCR is the APC version, the VCR/TT (Transport de Troupes), designed such that various weapons can be mated with the basic vehicle in a series of variants. The basic weapons option was either a 7.62mm light machine gun or a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun, on a ring mount located on the left-front roof. The VCR can also be fitted with a ring mount with a one-man armored turret with a 7.62 mm machine gun or a one-man armored powered turret mounting a 20-mm automatic cannon located at the front-center of the vehicle roof. One option that led to the first large export order from Iraq for a hundred VCR vehicles was a tank-destroyer version of the VCR/TT fitted with an antitank missile turret for launching the HOT wire guided ATGM (antitank guided missile). The ATGM variant was known as the VCR/TH (Tourelle HOT). The VCR/TH mounts four HOT missiles on the turret ready to fire with ten reloads inside the vehicle. There was a less expensive version of the VCR/TH offered that mounted the MCT cupola which fires the shorter range MILAN antitank missile, but there were no orders for this version. Besides the three crew, the basic VCR/TT can transport nine infantrymen.\n\nOther versions included:\n\nVCR/AT\nA recovery vehicle, the VCR/AT, with a heavy duty crane mounted on the roof over the back side, tool chest for two mechanics, working bench, welding equipment, spare parts and a towing bar.\n\nVCR/IS\nAn ambulance version, the VCR/IS, which has provision for three stretchers (four in an emergency for quick transport) and a medic, heavy duty air conditioning system, water supply, a refrigerator, electric sterilizer, medical cupboards and a large tent that can be erected from the rear of the vehicle.\n\nVCR/PC\nA command post vehicle, the VCR/PC, with provisions for three radio operators, a long range transmitter and a short range transmitter, and four heavy duty storage batteries to provide power when the vehicle is stopped for long periods. There is also an electronic warfare vehicle based on the VCR/PC, fitted to customer requirements for intercepting and jamming enemy radio communications.\n\nVCR/TT \"Hydrojet\"\nThis unique modification of the VCR/TT is a 4x4 variant produced for Argentina. The VCR/TT \"Hydrojet\" 4x4 amphibious variant replaces the center wheel stations with powerful waterjets, doubling the water speed over the standard 6X6 VCR-TT which relies on its wheels for water propulsion. The waterjets are placed in the center wheel position to protect them against obstacles in the water.\n\nOperators\n\nCurrent operators\n : 24\n : 44 a gift from UAE in 2005\n : 46\n : 82\n\nGallery\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n (Foss) Foss, Christopher F., Jane's Tank Recognition Guide, London: HarperCollins, 2006.\n (JAA) Foss, Christopher F. (ed.), Jane's Armour and Artillery 2007–2008, London: Jane's Publishing Company Limited, 2008.\n\nExternal links\n warwheels.net\n\nArmoured fighting vehicles of the Cold War\nArmoured personnel carriers of France\nVCR\nSix-wheeled vehicles\nMilitary vehicles introduced in the 1970s",
"The blinking twelve problem is a term used in software design. It usually refers to features in software or computer systems which are rendered unusable to most users by the complexity of the interface to them.\n\nThe usage emanates from the 'clock' feature provided on many VCRs manufactured in the late 1980s or early 1990s. The clock could be set by using a combination of buttons provided on the VCR in a specific sequence that was found complicated by most users. As a result, VCR users were known to seldom set the time on the VCR clock. This resulted in the default time of '12:00' blinking on the VCR display at all times of the day, which is the origin of this term.\n\n\"In most surveys, the majority of people have never time-shifted just because they don't know how to program their machines,\" said Tom Adams, a television analyst for Paul Kagan Associates, a media research firm, in 1990.\n\nIn software, 'the blinking twelve problem' thus refers to any situation in which features or functions of a program go unused for reasons that the designers never anticipated, largely because developers were unable to anticipate the level of understanding the users would have of the technology. The term may also refer to the challenge faced by developers of addressing the real causes of users' difficulties, as well as the challenge of providing helpful documentation or technical support without knowing beforehand how well the user understands their own problem.\n\nIn other instances, it can be used to reference the lack of basic user-friendly features in complex systems; stemming from the lack of a backup battery to keep the clock setting in a $300 VCR during even the briefest power interruption, when a $10 clock would have one.\n\nThe term appears in the 1999 essay In the Beginning... Was the Command Line by Neal Stephenson.\n\nReferences \n\nSoftware design\nComputer jargon"
] |
[
"Yao Ming",
"Entering the NBA draft"
] | C_4150a50a54b545ae8a4b88b70315a298_1 | Who did he draft for? | 1 | Who did Yao Ming draft for? | Yao Ming | Yao was pressured to enter the NBA draft in 1999 by Li Yaomin, the deputy general manager of the Shanghai Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent. The agreement entitled Evergreen to 33% of Yao's earnings, but the contract was later determined to be invalid. When Yao decided to enter the 2002 NBA draft, a group of advisers was formed that came to be known as "Team Yao". The team consisted of Yao's negotiator, Erik Zhang; his NBA agent, Bill Duffy; his Chinese agent, Lu Hao; University of Chicago economics professor John Huizinga; and the vice president for marketing at BDA Sports Management, Bill Sanders. Yao was widely predicted to be picked number one overall. However, some teams were concerned about Yao's NBA eligibility because of uncertainty over whether the CBA would let Yao play in the United States. Shortly after Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China, the CBA stipulated that Yao would have to return to play for the national team. They also said they would not let him go to the United States unless the Houston Rockets would take him first overall. After assurances from Team Yao that the Rockets would draft Yao with their number one pick, the CBA gave permission on the morning of the draft for Yao to play in the U.S. When the Rockets selected Yao with the first pick of the draft, he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S. college basketball. CANNOTANSWER | NBA | Yao Ming (; born September 12, 1980) is a Chinese basketball executive and former professional player. He played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Yao was selected to start for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game eight times, and was named to the All-NBA Team five times. During his final season, he was the tallest active player in the NBA, at .
Yao, who was born in Shanghai, started playing for the Sharks as a teenager, and played on their senior team for five years in the CBA, winning a championship in his final year. After negotiating with the CBA and the Sharks to secure his release, Yao was selected by the Rockets as the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft. He reached the NBA playoffs four times, and the Rockets won the first-round series in the 2009 postseason, their first playoff series victory since 1997. In July 2011, Yao announced his retirement from professional basketball because of a series of foot and ankle injuries which forced him to miss 250 games in his last six seasons. In eight seasons with the Rockets, Yao ranks sixth among franchise leaders in total points and total rebounds, and second in total blocks.
Yao is one of China's best-known athletes, with sponsorships with several major companies. His rookie year in the NBA was the subject of a documentary film, The Year of the Yao, and he co-wrote, along with NBA analyst Ric Bucher, an autobiography titled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds. Known in China as the "Yao Ming Phenomenon" and in the United States as the "Ming Dynasty", Yao's success in the NBA, and his popularity among fans, made him a symbol of a new China that was both more modern and more confident.
In April 2016, Yao was elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame, alongside Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson. In February 2017, Yao was unanimously elected as chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association.
Early life
Yao is the only child of Yao Zhiyuan and Fang Fengdi, both of whom were former professional basketball players. At , Yao weighed more than twice as much as the average Chinese newborn. When Yao was nine years old, he began playing basketball and attended a junior sports school. The following year, Yao measured and was examined by sports doctors, who predicted he would grow to .
Professional career
Shanghai Sharks (1997–2002)
Yao first tried out for the Shanghai Sharks junior team of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) when he was 13 years old, and practiced ten hours a day for his acceptance. After playing with the junior team for four years, Yao joined the senior team of the Sharks, where he averaged 10 points and 8 rebounds a game in his rookie season. His next season was cut short when he broke his foot for the second time in his career, which Yao said decreased his jumping ability by four to six inches (10 to 15 cm). The Sharks made the finals of the CBA in Yao's third season and again the next year, but lost both times to the Bayi Rockets. When Wang Zhizhi left the Bayi Rockets to become the first NBA player from China the following year, the Sharks finally won their first CBA championship. During the playoffs in his final year with Shanghai, Yao averaged 38.9 points and 20.2 rebounds a game, while shooting 76.6% from the field, and made all 21 of his shots during one game in the finals.
Houston Rockets (2002–2011)
Yao was pressured to enter the NBA draft in 1999 by Li Yaomin, the deputy general manager of the Shanghai Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent. The agreement entitled Evergreen to 33% of Yao's earnings, but the contract was later determined to be invalid.
As American attention on Yao grew, Chinese authorities also took interest. In 2002, the Chinese government released new regulations that would require him and other Chinese players to turn over half of any NBA earnings to the government and China's national basketball association, including endorsements as well as salaries.
When Yao decided to enter the 2002 NBA draft, a group of advisers was formed that came to be known as "Team Yao". The team consisted of Yao's negotiator, Erik Zhang; his NBA agent, Bill Duffy; his Chinese agent, Lu Hao; University of Chicago economics professor John Huizinga; and the vice president for marketing at BDA Sports Management, Bill Sanders. Yao was widely predicted to be picked number one overall. However, some teams were concerned about Yao's NBA eligibility because of uncertainty over whether the CBA would let Yao play in the United States.
Shortly after Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China, the CBA stipulated that Yao would have to return to play for the national team. They also said they would not let him go to the United States unless the Houston Rockets would take him first overall. After assurances from Team Yao that the Rockets would draft Yao with their number one pick, the CBA gave permission on the morning of the draft for Yao to play in the U.S. When the Rockets selected Yao with the first pick of the draft, he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S. college basketball.
Beginning years (2002–2005)
Yao did not participate in the Rockets' pre-season training camp, instead playing for China in the 2002 FIBA World Championships. Before the season, several commentators, including Bill Simmons and Dick Vitale, predicted that Yao would fail in the NBA, and Charles Barkley said he would "kiss Kenny Smith's ass" if Yao scored more than 19 points in one of his rookie-season games. Yao played his first NBA game against the Indiana Pacers, scoring no points and grabbing two rebounds, and scored his first NBA basket against the Denver Nuggets. In his first seven games, he averaged only 14 minutes and 4 points, but on November 17, he scored 20 points on a perfect 9-of-9 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line against the Lakers. Barkley made good on his bet by kissing the buttock of a donkey purchased by Smith for the occasion (Smith's "ass").
In Yao's first game in Miami on December 16, 2002, the Heat passed out 8,000 fortune cookies, an East Asian cultural stereotype. Yao was not angry with the promotion because he was not familiar with American stereotypes of Chinese. In an earlier interview in 2000, Yao said he had never seen a fortune cookie in China and guessed it must have been an American invention.
Before Yao's first meeting with Shaquille O'Neal on January 17, 2003, O'Neal said, "Tell Yao Ming, ching chong-yang-wah-ah-soh", prompting accusations of racism. O'Neal denied that his comments were racist, and said he was only joking. Yao also said he believed O'Neal was joking, but he said a lot of Asians would not see the humor. In the game, Yao scored the Rockets' first six points of the game and blocked O'Neal twice in the opening minutes as well as altering two other shots by O'Neal, all 4 of those attempts coming right at the rim, and made a game-sealing dunk with 10 seconds left in overtime. Yao finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 blocks; O'Neal recorded 31 points, 13 rebounds, and 0 blocks. O'Neal later expressed regret for the way he treated Yao early in his career.
The NBA began offering All-Star ballots in three languages—English, Spanish and Chinese—for fan voting of the starters for the 2003 NBA All-Star Game. Yao was voted to start for the West over O'Neal, who was coming off three consecutive NBA Finals MVP Awards. Yao received nearly a quarter million more votes than O'Neal, and he became the first rookie to start in the All-Star Game since Grant Hill in 1995.
Yao finished his rookie season averaging 13.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, and was second in the NBA Rookie of the Year Award voting to Amar'e Stoudemire, and a unanimous pick for the NBA All-Rookie First Team selection. He was also voted the Sporting News Rookie of the Year, and won the Laureus Newcomer of the Year award.
Before the start of Yao's sophomore season, Rockets' head coach Rudy Tomjanovich resigned because of health issues, and long-time New York Knicks head coach Jeff Van Gundy was brought in. After Van Gundy began focusing the offense on Yao, Yao averaged career highs in points and rebounds for the season, and had a career-high 41 points and 7 assists in a triple-overtime win against the Atlanta Hawks in February 2004. He was also voted to be the starting center for the Western Conference in the 2004 NBA All-Star Game for the second straight year. Yao finished the season averaging 17.5 points and 9.0 rebounds a game. The Rockets made the playoffs for the first time in Yao's career, claiming the seventh seed in the Western Conference. In the first round, however, the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated Houston in five games. Yao averaged 15.0 points and 7.4 rebounds in his first playoff series.
In the summer of 2004, the Rockets acquired Tracy McGrady from the Orlando Magic in a seven-player trade that also sent Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley to Orlando. Although Yao said that Francis and Mobley had "helped [him] in every way [his] first two seasons", he added, "I'm excited about playing with Tracy McGrady. He can do some amazing things." After the trade, it was predicted that the Rockets would be title contenders. Both McGrady and Yao were voted to start in the 2005 NBA All-Star Game, and Yao broke the record previously held by Michael Jordan for most All-Star votes, with 2,558,278 total votes. The Rockets won 51 games and finished fifth in the West, and made the playoffs for the second consecutive year, where they faced the Dallas Mavericks. The Rockets won the first two games in Dallas, and Yao made 13 of 14 shots in the second game, the best shooting performance in the playoffs in Rockets history. However, the Rockets lost four of their last five games and lost Game 7 by 40 points, the largest Game 7 deficit in NBA history. Yao's final averages for the series were 21.4 points on 65% shooting and 7.7 rebounds.
Injury-plagued seasons (2005–2011)
After missing only two games out of 246 in his first three years of NBA play, Yao endured an extended period on the inactive list in his fourth season after developing osteomyelitis in the big toe on his left foot, and surgery was performed on the toe on December 18, 2005. Despite missing 21 games while recovering, Yao again had the most fan votes to start the 2006 NBA All-Star Game.
In 25 games after the All-Star break, Yao averaged 25.7 points and 11.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 53.7% from the field and 87.8% at the free-throw line. His final averages in 57 games were 22.3 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. It was the first time that he ended the season with a so-called "20/10" average. However, Tracy McGrady played only 47 games in the season, missing time because of back spasms. Yao and McGrady played only 31 games together, and the Rockets did not make the playoffs, winning only 34 games. With only four games left in the season, Yao suffered another injury in a game against the Utah Jazz on April 10, 2006, which left him with a broken bone in his left foot. The injury required six months of rest.
Early into his fifth season, Yao was injured again, this time breaking his right knee on December 23, 2006, while attempting to block a shot. Up to that point he had been averaging 26.8 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game, and had been mentioned as an MVP candidate. Yao was unable to play in what would have been his fifth All-Star game; he was medically cleared to play on March 4, 2007, after missing 32 games.
Despite Yao's absence, the Rockets made the playoffs with the home court advantage against the Utah Jazz in the first round. The Rockets won the first two games, but then lost four of five games and were eliminated in Game 7 at home; Yao scored 29 points—15 in the fourth quarter. Although he averaged 25.1 points and 10.3 rebounds for the series, Yao said afterwards "I didn't do my job". At the end of the season, Yao was selected to the All-NBA Second Team for the first time in his career, after being selected to the All-NBA Third Team twice.
On May 18, 2007, only weeks after the Rockets were eliminated from the playoffs, Jeff Van Gundy was dismissed as head coach. Three days later, the Rockets signed former Sacramento Kings coach Rick Adelman, who was thought to focus more on offense than the defensive-minded Van Gundy.
On November 9, 2007, Yao played against fellow Chinese NBA and Milwaukee Bucks player Yi Jianlian for the first time. The game, which the Rockets won 104–88, was broadcast on 19 networks in China, and was watched by over 200 million people in China alone, making it one of the most-watched NBA games in history. In the 2008 NBA All-Star Game, Yao was once again voted to start at center for the Western Conference. Before the All-Star weekend, the Rockets had won eight straight games, and after the break, they took their win streak to 12 games. On February 26, 2008, however, it was reported that Yao would miss the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his left foot. He missed the 2008 NBA playoffs, but he did not miss the 2008 Summer Olympics at Beijing, China in August. After Yao's injury, the Rockets stretched their winning streak to 22 games, at the time the second-longest such streak in NBA history. Yao underwent a successful operation on March 3, which placed screws in his foot to strengthen the bone, and recovery time was estimated at four months. Yao's final averages in 55 games were 22.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks a game.
The next season, Yao played 77 games, his first full season since the 2004–05 season, and averaged 19.7 points and 9.9 rebounds, while shooting 54.8% from the field, and a career-high 86.6% from the free throw line. Despite McGrady suffering a season-ending injury in February, the Rockets finished with 53 wins and the fifth seed in the Western Conference. Facing the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round, Yao finished with 24 points on 9-of-9 shooting in the first game, and the Rockets won 108–81, in Portland. The Rockets won all their games in Houston, and advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1997, and the first time in Yao's career.
The Rockets faced the Lakers in the second round, and Yao scored 28 points, with 8 points in the final four minutes, to lead the Rockets to a 100–92 win in Los Angeles. However, the Rockets lost their next two games, and Yao was diagnosed with a sprained ankle after Game 3. A follow-up test revealed a hairline fracture in his left foot, and he was ruled out for the remainder of the playoffs. In reaction, Yao said the injury, which did not require surgery, was "better than last year". However, follow-up analysis indicated that the injury could be career threatening. The Yao-less Rockets went on to win Game 4 against the Lakers to even the series 2–2. The Rockets eventually lost the series in seven games.
In July 2009, Yao discussed the injury with his doctors, and the Rockets applied for a disabled player exception, an exception to the NBA salary cap which grants the injured player's team money to sign a free agent. The Rockets were granted the exception, and used approximately $5.7 million on free agent Trevor Ariza. After weeks of consulting, it was decided that Yao would undergo surgery in order to repair the broken bone in his left foot. He did not play the entire 2009–10 season.
For the 2010–11 season, the Rockets said they would limit Yao to 24 minutes a game, with no plan to play him on back-to-back nights. Their goal was to keep Yao healthy in the long term. On December 16, 2010, it was announced that Yao had developed a stress fracture in his left ankle, related to an older injury, and would miss the rest of the season. In January 2011, he was voted as the Western Conference starting center for the 2011 All-Star Game for the eighth time in nine seasons. Injured All-Stars are usually required to attend the All-Star functions and to be introduced at the game, but Yao was not in Los Angeles because of his rehabilitation schedule after his surgery. Yao's contract with the Rockets expired at the end of the season, and he became a free agent.
Retirement
On July 20, 2011, Yao announced his retirement from basketball in a press conference in Shanghai. He cited injuries to his foot and ankle, including the third fracture to his left foot sustained near the end of 2010. His retirement sparked over 1.2 million comments on the Chinese social-networking site Sina Weibo. Reacting to Yao's retirement, NBA commissioner David Stern said Yao was a "bridge between Chinese and American fans" and that he had "a wonderful mixture of talent, dedication, humanitarian aspirations and a sense of humor." Shaquille O'Neal said Yao "was very agile. He could play inside, he could play outside, and if he didn't have those injuries he could've been up there in the top five centers to ever play the game."
Yao was nominated by a member of the Chinese media for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor to the game. He would have been eligible for induction as early as 2012, but Yao felt it was too soon and requested that the Hall of Fame delay consideration of the nomination. The Hall granted Yao's request, and said it was Yao's decision when the process would be restarted.
On September 9, 2016, Yao was inducted into the Hall of Fame along with 4-time NBA champion Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson. Continuing with the honours, on February 3, 2017, Yao's Number 11 jersey was retired by the Houston Rockets.
National team career
2000 and 2004 Olympics
Yao first played for China in the 2000 Summer Olympics, and he was dubbed, together with teammates Wang Zhizhi and Mengke Bateer, "The Walking Great Wall". During the 2004 Athens Olympics, Yao carried the Chinese flag during the opening ceremony, which he said was a "long dream come true". He then vowed to abstain from shaving his beard for half a year unless the Chinese national team made it into the quarter-finals of the 2004 Olympics. After Yao scored 39 points in a win against New Zealand, China lost 58–83, 57–82, and 52–89 against Spain, Argentina and Italy respectively. In the final group game, however, a 67–66 win over the reigning 2002 FIBA World Champions Serbia and Montenegro moved them into the quarterfinals. Yao scored 27 points and had 13 rebounds, and he hit two free throws with 28 seconds left that proved to be the winning margin. He averaged 20.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game while shooting 55.9% from the field.
Asian Cup
Yao led the Chinese national team to three consecutive FIBA Asia Cup gold medals, winning the 2001 FIBA Asian Championship, the 2003 FIBA Asian Championship, and the 2005 FIBA Asian Championship. He was also named the MVP of all three tournaments.
2006 World Championship
Yao's injury at the end of the 2005–06 NBA season required a full six months of rest, threatening his participation in the 2006 FIBA World Championship. However, he recovered before the start of the tournament, and in the last game of the preliminary round, he had 36 points and 10 rebounds in a win against Slovenia to lead China into the Round of 16. In the first knockout round, however, China was defeated by eventual finalist Greece. Yao's final averages were 25.3 points, the most in the tournament, and 9.0 rebounds a game, which was fourth overall.
2008 Olympics
After having surgery to repair his fractured foot, Yao stated if he could not play in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, "It would be the biggest loss in my career to right now." He returned to play with the Chinese national team on July 17, 2008. On August 6, Yao carried the Olympic flame into Tiananmen Square, as part of the Olympic torch relay. He also carried the Chinese flag and led his country's delegation during the opening ceremony. Yao scored the first basket of the game, a three-pointer, in China's opening 2008 Olympics Basketball Tournament game against the eventual gold medal-winning United States.
"I was just really happy to make that shot", Yao said after the Americans' 101–70 victory. "It was the first score in our Olympic campaign here at home and I'll always remember it. It represents that we can keep our heads up in the face of really tough odds."
Following an overtime defeat to Spain, Yao scored 30 points in a win over Angola, and 25 points in a three-point win against Germany, which clinched China's place in the quarterfinals. However, China lost to Lithuania in the quarterfinals by 26 points, eliminating them from the tournament. Yao's 19 points a game were the second-highest in the Olympics, and his averages of 8.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game were third overall.
Career statistics
CBA statistics
NBA statistics
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* ||72||29.0||.498||.500||.811||8.2||1.7||.4||1.8||13.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| style="background:#cfecec;"| 82*|| style="background:#cfecec;"|82*||32.8||.522||.000||.809||9.0||1.5||.3||1.9||17.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 80||80||30.6||.552||.000||.783||8.4||.8||.4||2.0||18.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 57||57||34.2||.519||.000||.853||10.2||1.5||.5||1.6||22.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 48||48||33.8||.516||.000||.862||9.4||2.0||.4||2.0||25.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 55||55||37.2||.507||.000||.850||10.8||2.3||.5||2.0||22.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 77||77||33.6||.548||1.000||.866||9.9||1.8||.4||1.9||19.7
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 5||5||18.2||.486||.000||.938||5.4||.8||.0||1.6||10.2
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career
| 486||476||32.5||.524||.200||.833||9.2||1.6||.4||1.9||19.0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| All-Star
| 6||6||17.0||.500||.000||.667||4.0||1.3||.2||.3||7.0
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2004
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 5||5||37.0||.456||.000||.765||7.4||1.8||.4||1.4||15.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2005
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 7||7||31.4||.655||.000||.727||7.7||.7||.3||2.7||21.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2007
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 7||7||37.1||.440||.000||.880||10.3||.9||.1||.7||25.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2009
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 9||9||35.9||.545||.000||.902||10.9||1.0||.4||1.2||17.1
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career
| 28||28||35.3||.519||.000||.833||9.3||1.0||.3||1.5||19.8
Awards and achievements
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: Class of 2016
8× NBA All-Star: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011
5× All-NBA Team:
Second Team: 2007, 2009
Third Team: 2004, 2006, 2008
NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2003
NBA Rookie All-Star Game: 2004
Gold medal winner with Team China at the 2001, 2003, and 2005 FIBA Asia Cups
MVP of the 2001, 2003, 2005 FIBA Asia Cups
FIBA Diamond Ball Top Scorer: 2004
All-Tournament Team, FIBA World Cup: 2002
Chinese Basketball Association Champion: 2001–02
Rebounding leader in CBA in 2001–02
2003 Sporting News Rookie of the Year
2003 Laureus Newcomer of the Year
2005 Proletarian Award, issued by the Chinese Communist Party
Personal life
After Yao announced that he would enter the 2002 NBA draft, he told one American journalist that he had been studying English for two years, and that he liked the movie Star Wars but disliked hip hop. He was sometimes accompanied during interviews in Shanghai by one of his parents, whose basketball careers were derailed by the 1966–76 Cultural Revolution, and who came to his Shanghai Sharks games on bicycles.
Yao met Chinese female basketball player Ye Li when he was 17 years old. Ye was not fond of Yao at first, but finally accepted him after he gave her the team pins he had collected during the 2000 Summer Olympics. She is the only woman he has ever dated. Their relationship became public when they appeared together during the 2004 Olympics closing ceremony. On August 6, 2007, Yao and Ye married in a ceremony attended by close friends and family and closed to the media. On May 21, 2010, the couple's daughter Yao Qinlei (whose English name is Amy) was born in Houston, Texas.
In 2004, Yao co-wrote an autobiography with ESPN sportswriter Ric Bucher, entitled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds. In the same year, he was also the subject of a documentary film, The Year of the Yao, which focuses on his NBA rookie year. The film is narrated by his friend and interpreter, Colin Pine. In 2005, former Newsweek writer Brook Larmer published a book entitled Operation Yao Ming, in which he said that Yao's parents were convinced to marry each other so that they would produce a dominant athlete, and that during Yao's childhood, he was given special treatment to help him become a great basketball player. In a 2015 AMA post on Reddit, Yao stated that this was not true and that he started playing basketball for fun at age 9. In 2009, Yao provided the voice for a character of a Chinese animated film, The Magic Aster, released on June 19.
Yao enrolled at the Antai College of Economics & Management of Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2011. He took a tailored degree program with mostly one-on-one lectures to avoid being a distraction on campus. Yao completed his studies in July 2018, graduating with a degree in economics after 7 years of study.
In 2016, Yao opened a winery called Yao Family Wines in Napa Valley, California, which serves Cabernet Sauvignon blends and "the kind of rich-but-balanced luxury reds he'd come to enjoy in Houston steakhouses." American wine critic Robert M. Parker Jr. of The Wine Advocate gave Yao's wine a ranking of 96 points and wrote: "I am aware of all the arguments that major celebrities lending their names to wines is generally a formula for mediocrity, but... the two Cabernets are actually brilliant, and the reserve bottling ranks alongside just about anything made in Napa."
Other activities
Commercial engagements
Yao is one of China's most recognizable athletes, along with Liu Xiang. As of 2009, he had led Forbes' Chinese celebrities list in income and popularity for six straight years, earning US$51 million (CN¥357 million) in 2008. A major part of his income comes from his sponsorship deals, as he is under contract with several major companies to endorse their products. He was signed by Nike until the end of his rookie season. When Nike decided not to renew his contract, he signed with Reebok. He also had a deal with Pepsi, and he successfully sued Coca-Cola in 2003 when they used his image on their bottles while promoting the national team. He eventually signed with Coca-Cola for the 2008 Olympics. His other deals include partnerships with Visa, Apple, Garmin, and McDonald's.
On July 16, 2009, Yao bought his former club team, the Shanghai Sharks, which were on the verge of not being able to play the next season of the Chinese Basketball Association because of financial troubles.
Philanthropy
Yao has also participated in many charity events during his career, including the NBA's Basketball Without Borders program. In the NBA's offseason in 2003, Yao hosted a telethon, which raised US$300,000 to help stop the spread of SARS. In September 2007, he held an auction that raised US$965,000 (CN¥6.75 million), and competed in a charity basketball match to raise money for underprivileged children in China. He was joined by fellow NBA stars Steve Nash, Carmelo Anthony, and Baron Davis, and Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan. After the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Yao donated $2 million to relief work and created the Yao Ming Foundation to help rebuild schools destroyed in the earthquake.
Yao has also been a dedicated supporter of Special Olympics. He serves as Global Ambassador and member of the International Board of Directors.
Conservation work
In August 2012, Yao started filming a documentary about the northern white rhinoceros. He is also an ambassador for elephant conservation. In 2014, he was also part of the documentary The End of the Wild about elephant conservation. Yao has filmed a number of public service announcements for elephant and rhino conservation for the "Say No" campaign with partners African Wildlife Foundation and WildAid.
Politics
On March 3, 2013, Yao attended the First Session of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference as one of its 2,200 members. He was a member of the CPPCC from 2013 to 2018. While he is involved in Chinese politics, he is not a member of the Chinese Communist Party, although he has been awarded the Proletarian Award by the party for his spreading of literacy and socialist ideologies.
See also
List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
List of tallest players in National Basketball Association history
References
External links
The Yao Ming Foundation official website
1980 births
Living people
2002 FIBA World Championship players
2006 FIBA World Championship players
Asian Games medalists in basketball
Asian Games silver medalists for China
Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2002 Asian Games
Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Basketball players from Shanghai
Centers (basketball)
Chinese Basketball Association executives
Chinese expatriate basketball people in the United States
Chinese men's basketball players
Chinese philanthropists
Houston Rockets draft picks
Houston Rockets players
Laureus World Sports Awards winners
Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games
Members of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
National Basketball Association All-Stars
National Basketball Association players from China
Olympic basketball players of China
Shanghai Jiao Tong University alumni
Shanghai Sharks players | true | [
"The 2020 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft took place on June 10 and 11, 2020. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2019 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks were distributed for players who did not sign from the 2019 MLB draft and for teams who lost qualifying free agents. On March 26, 2020, MLB and the MLBPA reached a deal that included the option to shorten the draft to five rounds, and also shorten the 2021 draft to 20 rounds due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a plan to allow teams to sign an unlimited number of undrafted players for $20,000 each, MLB ultimately opted to shorten the 2020 draft to five rounds. The draft was originally planned to be hosted live for the first time in Omaha, Nebraska, to accompany the since-cancelled 2020 College World Series. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the draft was instead held remotely from MLB Network's studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. With sponsorship from T-Mobile, the event was officially the 2020 MLB Draft Presented by T-Mobile, with ESPN providing live coverage for the first time since 2008, alongside MLB Network.\n\nThe Detroit Tigers, who had the worst record of the 2019 MLB season, selected Spencer Torkelson with the first overall pick in the draft. As punishment for their role in the sign stealing scandal, the Houston Astros forfeited their first- and second-round picks in the draft. The Boston Red Sox also forfeited their second-round pick in the draft as punishment for their own sign-stealing violations. Among the selected players, there were 41 who had played for the United States national baseball team and 2 who had played for the Canada national baseball team.\n\nOn September 18, 2020, the Chicago White Sox promoted Garrett Crochet to the major leagues, becoming the first MLB player in six years to reach the big leagues in the same year in which he was drafted.\n\nDraft selections\n\nFirst round\n\nCompetitive Balance Round A\n\nSecond round\n\nCompetitive Balance Round B\n\nCompensatory round\n\nThird round\n\nFourth round\n\nFifth round\n\nSummary\n\nSelections by school and conference or state/province\n\nSelections by position\n\nSchools with multiple draft selections\n\nNotes\nCompensation picks\n\nTrades\n\nFurther reading\n\nReferences\n\nMajor League Baseball draft\nDraft\nMajor League Baseball draft\nMajor League Baseball draft\nMLB draft",
"Gary Edwin Wimmer (born March 9, 1961) is a former American football linebacker who played in the National Football League for one season. He played college football at Stanford.\n\nProfessional career\nWimmer was selected by the Oakland Invaders as a territorial selection in the 1983 USFL Draft, but did not play for the team.\n\nWimmer signed with the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent following the 1983 NFL Draft. He played three games for the Seahawks in the 1983 season. He played primarily on special teams and did not record a statistic.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Pro Football Archives bio\n\n1961 births\nLiving people\nSportspeople from Idaho\nPlayers of American football from Idaho\nAmerican football linebackers\nStanford Cardinal football players\nSeattle Seahawks players\nPeople from Pocatello, Idaho"
] |
[
"Yao Ming",
"Entering the NBA draft",
"Who did he draft for?",
"NBA"
] | C_4150a50a54b545ae8a4b88b70315a298_1 | What team was he part of? | 2 | What team was Yao Ming part of? | Yao Ming | Yao was pressured to enter the NBA draft in 1999 by Li Yaomin, the deputy general manager of the Shanghai Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent. The agreement entitled Evergreen to 33% of Yao's earnings, but the contract was later determined to be invalid. When Yao decided to enter the 2002 NBA draft, a group of advisers was formed that came to be known as "Team Yao". The team consisted of Yao's negotiator, Erik Zhang; his NBA agent, Bill Duffy; his Chinese agent, Lu Hao; University of Chicago economics professor John Huizinga; and the vice president for marketing at BDA Sports Management, Bill Sanders. Yao was widely predicted to be picked number one overall. However, some teams were concerned about Yao's NBA eligibility because of uncertainty over whether the CBA would let Yao play in the United States. Shortly after Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China, the CBA stipulated that Yao would have to return to play for the national team. They also said they would not let him go to the United States unless the Houston Rockets would take him first overall. After assurances from Team Yao that the Rockets would draft Yao with their number one pick, the CBA gave permission on the morning of the draft for Yao to play in the U.S. When the Rockets selected Yao with the first pick of the draft, he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S. college basketball. CANNOTANSWER | Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent. | Yao Ming (; born September 12, 1980) is a Chinese basketball executive and former professional player. He played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Yao was selected to start for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game eight times, and was named to the All-NBA Team five times. During his final season, he was the tallest active player in the NBA, at .
Yao, who was born in Shanghai, started playing for the Sharks as a teenager, and played on their senior team for five years in the CBA, winning a championship in his final year. After negotiating with the CBA and the Sharks to secure his release, Yao was selected by the Rockets as the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft. He reached the NBA playoffs four times, and the Rockets won the first-round series in the 2009 postseason, their first playoff series victory since 1997. In July 2011, Yao announced his retirement from professional basketball because of a series of foot and ankle injuries which forced him to miss 250 games in his last six seasons. In eight seasons with the Rockets, Yao ranks sixth among franchise leaders in total points and total rebounds, and second in total blocks.
Yao is one of China's best-known athletes, with sponsorships with several major companies. His rookie year in the NBA was the subject of a documentary film, The Year of the Yao, and he co-wrote, along with NBA analyst Ric Bucher, an autobiography titled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds. Known in China as the "Yao Ming Phenomenon" and in the United States as the "Ming Dynasty", Yao's success in the NBA, and his popularity among fans, made him a symbol of a new China that was both more modern and more confident.
In April 2016, Yao was elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame, alongside Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson. In February 2017, Yao was unanimously elected as chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association.
Early life
Yao is the only child of Yao Zhiyuan and Fang Fengdi, both of whom were former professional basketball players. At , Yao weighed more than twice as much as the average Chinese newborn. When Yao was nine years old, he began playing basketball and attended a junior sports school. The following year, Yao measured and was examined by sports doctors, who predicted he would grow to .
Professional career
Shanghai Sharks (1997–2002)
Yao first tried out for the Shanghai Sharks junior team of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) when he was 13 years old, and practiced ten hours a day for his acceptance. After playing with the junior team for four years, Yao joined the senior team of the Sharks, where he averaged 10 points and 8 rebounds a game in his rookie season. His next season was cut short when he broke his foot for the second time in his career, which Yao said decreased his jumping ability by four to six inches (10 to 15 cm). The Sharks made the finals of the CBA in Yao's third season and again the next year, but lost both times to the Bayi Rockets. When Wang Zhizhi left the Bayi Rockets to become the first NBA player from China the following year, the Sharks finally won their first CBA championship. During the playoffs in his final year with Shanghai, Yao averaged 38.9 points and 20.2 rebounds a game, while shooting 76.6% from the field, and made all 21 of his shots during one game in the finals.
Houston Rockets (2002–2011)
Yao was pressured to enter the NBA draft in 1999 by Li Yaomin, the deputy general manager of the Shanghai Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent. The agreement entitled Evergreen to 33% of Yao's earnings, but the contract was later determined to be invalid.
As American attention on Yao grew, Chinese authorities also took interest. In 2002, the Chinese government released new regulations that would require him and other Chinese players to turn over half of any NBA earnings to the government and China's national basketball association, including endorsements as well as salaries.
When Yao decided to enter the 2002 NBA draft, a group of advisers was formed that came to be known as "Team Yao". The team consisted of Yao's negotiator, Erik Zhang; his NBA agent, Bill Duffy; his Chinese agent, Lu Hao; University of Chicago economics professor John Huizinga; and the vice president for marketing at BDA Sports Management, Bill Sanders. Yao was widely predicted to be picked number one overall. However, some teams were concerned about Yao's NBA eligibility because of uncertainty over whether the CBA would let Yao play in the United States.
Shortly after Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China, the CBA stipulated that Yao would have to return to play for the national team. They also said they would not let him go to the United States unless the Houston Rockets would take him first overall. After assurances from Team Yao that the Rockets would draft Yao with their number one pick, the CBA gave permission on the morning of the draft for Yao to play in the U.S. When the Rockets selected Yao with the first pick of the draft, he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S. college basketball.
Beginning years (2002–2005)
Yao did not participate in the Rockets' pre-season training camp, instead playing for China in the 2002 FIBA World Championships. Before the season, several commentators, including Bill Simmons and Dick Vitale, predicted that Yao would fail in the NBA, and Charles Barkley said he would "kiss Kenny Smith's ass" if Yao scored more than 19 points in one of his rookie-season games. Yao played his first NBA game against the Indiana Pacers, scoring no points and grabbing two rebounds, and scored his first NBA basket against the Denver Nuggets. In his first seven games, he averaged only 14 minutes and 4 points, but on November 17, he scored 20 points on a perfect 9-of-9 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line against the Lakers. Barkley made good on his bet by kissing the buttock of a donkey purchased by Smith for the occasion (Smith's "ass").
In Yao's first game in Miami on December 16, 2002, the Heat passed out 8,000 fortune cookies, an East Asian cultural stereotype. Yao was not angry with the promotion because he was not familiar with American stereotypes of Chinese. In an earlier interview in 2000, Yao said he had never seen a fortune cookie in China and guessed it must have been an American invention.
Before Yao's first meeting with Shaquille O'Neal on January 17, 2003, O'Neal said, "Tell Yao Ming, ching chong-yang-wah-ah-soh", prompting accusations of racism. O'Neal denied that his comments were racist, and said he was only joking. Yao also said he believed O'Neal was joking, but he said a lot of Asians would not see the humor. In the game, Yao scored the Rockets' first six points of the game and blocked O'Neal twice in the opening minutes as well as altering two other shots by O'Neal, all 4 of those attempts coming right at the rim, and made a game-sealing dunk with 10 seconds left in overtime. Yao finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 blocks; O'Neal recorded 31 points, 13 rebounds, and 0 blocks. O'Neal later expressed regret for the way he treated Yao early in his career.
The NBA began offering All-Star ballots in three languages—English, Spanish and Chinese—for fan voting of the starters for the 2003 NBA All-Star Game. Yao was voted to start for the West over O'Neal, who was coming off three consecutive NBA Finals MVP Awards. Yao received nearly a quarter million more votes than O'Neal, and he became the first rookie to start in the All-Star Game since Grant Hill in 1995.
Yao finished his rookie season averaging 13.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, and was second in the NBA Rookie of the Year Award voting to Amar'e Stoudemire, and a unanimous pick for the NBA All-Rookie First Team selection. He was also voted the Sporting News Rookie of the Year, and won the Laureus Newcomer of the Year award.
Before the start of Yao's sophomore season, Rockets' head coach Rudy Tomjanovich resigned because of health issues, and long-time New York Knicks head coach Jeff Van Gundy was brought in. After Van Gundy began focusing the offense on Yao, Yao averaged career highs in points and rebounds for the season, and had a career-high 41 points and 7 assists in a triple-overtime win against the Atlanta Hawks in February 2004. He was also voted to be the starting center for the Western Conference in the 2004 NBA All-Star Game for the second straight year. Yao finished the season averaging 17.5 points and 9.0 rebounds a game. The Rockets made the playoffs for the first time in Yao's career, claiming the seventh seed in the Western Conference. In the first round, however, the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated Houston in five games. Yao averaged 15.0 points and 7.4 rebounds in his first playoff series.
In the summer of 2004, the Rockets acquired Tracy McGrady from the Orlando Magic in a seven-player trade that also sent Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley to Orlando. Although Yao said that Francis and Mobley had "helped [him] in every way [his] first two seasons", he added, "I'm excited about playing with Tracy McGrady. He can do some amazing things." After the trade, it was predicted that the Rockets would be title contenders. Both McGrady and Yao were voted to start in the 2005 NBA All-Star Game, and Yao broke the record previously held by Michael Jordan for most All-Star votes, with 2,558,278 total votes. The Rockets won 51 games and finished fifth in the West, and made the playoffs for the second consecutive year, where they faced the Dallas Mavericks. The Rockets won the first two games in Dallas, and Yao made 13 of 14 shots in the second game, the best shooting performance in the playoffs in Rockets history. However, the Rockets lost four of their last five games and lost Game 7 by 40 points, the largest Game 7 deficit in NBA history. Yao's final averages for the series were 21.4 points on 65% shooting and 7.7 rebounds.
Injury-plagued seasons (2005–2011)
After missing only two games out of 246 in his first three years of NBA play, Yao endured an extended period on the inactive list in his fourth season after developing osteomyelitis in the big toe on his left foot, and surgery was performed on the toe on December 18, 2005. Despite missing 21 games while recovering, Yao again had the most fan votes to start the 2006 NBA All-Star Game.
In 25 games after the All-Star break, Yao averaged 25.7 points and 11.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 53.7% from the field and 87.8% at the free-throw line. His final averages in 57 games were 22.3 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. It was the first time that he ended the season with a so-called "20/10" average. However, Tracy McGrady played only 47 games in the season, missing time because of back spasms. Yao and McGrady played only 31 games together, and the Rockets did not make the playoffs, winning only 34 games. With only four games left in the season, Yao suffered another injury in a game against the Utah Jazz on April 10, 2006, which left him with a broken bone in his left foot. The injury required six months of rest.
Early into his fifth season, Yao was injured again, this time breaking his right knee on December 23, 2006, while attempting to block a shot. Up to that point he had been averaging 26.8 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game, and had been mentioned as an MVP candidate. Yao was unable to play in what would have been his fifth All-Star game; he was medically cleared to play on March 4, 2007, after missing 32 games.
Despite Yao's absence, the Rockets made the playoffs with the home court advantage against the Utah Jazz in the first round. The Rockets won the first two games, but then lost four of five games and were eliminated in Game 7 at home; Yao scored 29 points—15 in the fourth quarter. Although he averaged 25.1 points and 10.3 rebounds for the series, Yao said afterwards "I didn't do my job". At the end of the season, Yao was selected to the All-NBA Second Team for the first time in his career, after being selected to the All-NBA Third Team twice.
On May 18, 2007, only weeks after the Rockets were eliminated from the playoffs, Jeff Van Gundy was dismissed as head coach. Three days later, the Rockets signed former Sacramento Kings coach Rick Adelman, who was thought to focus more on offense than the defensive-minded Van Gundy.
On November 9, 2007, Yao played against fellow Chinese NBA and Milwaukee Bucks player Yi Jianlian for the first time. The game, which the Rockets won 104–88, was broadcast on 19 networks in China, and was watched by over 200 million people in China alone, making it one of the most-watched NBA games in history. In the 2008 NBA All-Star Game, Yao was once again voted to start at center for the Western Conference. Before the All-Star weekend, the Rockets had won eight straight games, and after the break, they took their win streak to 12 games. On February 26, 2008, however, it was reported that Yao would miss the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his left foot. He missed the 2008 NBA playoffs, but he did not miss the 2008 Summer Olympics at Beijing, China in August. After Yao's injury, the Rockets stretched their winning streak to 22 games, at the time the second-longest such streak in NBA history. Yao underwent a successful operation on March 3, which placed screws in his foot to strengthen the bone, and recovery time was estimated at four months. Yao's final averages in 55 games were 22.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks a game.
The next season, Yao played 77 games, his first full season since the 2004–05 season, and averaged 19.7 points and 9.9 rebounds, while shooting 54.8% from the field, and a career-high 86.6% from the free throw line. Despite McGrady suffering a season-ending injury in February, the Rockets finished with 53 wins and the fifth seed in the Western Conference. Facing the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round, Yao finished with 24 points on 9-of-9 shooting in the first game, and the Rockets won 108–81, in Portland. The Rockets won all their games in Houston, and advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1997, and the first time in Yao's career.
The Rockets faced the Lakers in the second round, and Yao scored 28 points, with 8 points in the final four minutes, to lead the Rockets to a 100–92 win in Los Angeles. However, the Rockets lost their next two games, and Yao was diagnosed with a sprained ankle after Game 3. A follow-up test revealed a hairline fracture in his left foot, and he was ruled out for the remainder of the playoffs. In reaction, Yao said the injury, which did not require surgery, was "better than last year". However, follow-up analysis indicated that the injury could be career threatening. The Yao-less Rockets went on to win Game 4 against the Lakers to even the series 2–2. The Rockets eventually lost the series in seven games.
In July 2009, Yao discussed the injury with his doctors, and the Rockets applied for a disabled player exception, an exception to the NBA salary cap which grants the injured player's team money to sign a free agent. The Rockets were granted the exception, and used approximately $5.7 million on free agent Trevor Ariza. After weeks of consulting, it was decided that Yao would undergo surgery in order to repair the broken bone in his left foot. He did not play the entire 2009–10 season.
For the 2010–11 season, the Rockets said they would limit Yao to 24 minutes a game, with no plan to play him on back-to-back nights. Their goal was to keep Yao healthy in the long term. On December 16, 2010, it was announced that Yao had developed a stress fracture in his left ankle, related to an older injury, and would miss the rest of the season. In January 2011, he was voted as the Western Conference starting center for the 2011 All-Star Game for the eighth time in nine seasons. Injured All-Stars are usually required to attend the All-Star functions and to be introduced at the game, but Yao was not in Los Angeles because of his rehabilitation schedule after his surgery. Yao's contract with the Rockets expired at the end of the season, and he became a free agent.
Retirement
On July 20, 2011, Yao announced his retirement from basketball in a press conference in Shanghai. He cited injuries to his foot and ankle, including the third fracture to his left foot sustained near the end of 2010. His retirement sparked over 1.2 million comments on the Chinese social-networking site Sina Weibo. Reacting to Yao's retirement, NBA commissioner David Stern said Yao was a "bridge between Chinese and American fans" and that he had "a wonderful mixture of talent, dedication, humanitarian aspirations and a sense of humor." Shaquille O'Neal said Yao "was very agile. He could play inside, he could play outside, and if he didn't have those injuries he could've been up there in the top five centers to ever play the game."
Yao was nominated by a member of the Chinese media for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor to the game. He would have been eligible for induction as early as 2012, but Yao felt it was too soon and requested that the Hall of Fame delay consideration of the nomination. The Hall granted Yao's request, and said it was Yao's decision when the process would be restarted.
On September 9, 2016, Yao was inducted into the Hall of Fame along with 4-time NBA champion Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson. Continuing with the honours, on February 3, 2017, Yao's Number 11 jersey was retired by the Houston Rockets.
National team career
2000 and 2004 Olympics
Yao first played for China in the 2000 Summer Olympics, and he was dubbed, together with teammates Wang Zhizhi and Mengke Bateer, "The Walking Great Wall". During the 2004 Athens Olympics, Yao carried the Chinese flag during the opening ceremony, which he said was a "long dream come true". He then vowed to abstain from shaving his beard for half a year unless the Chinese national team made it into the quarter-finals of the 2004 Olympics. After Yao scored 39 points in a win against New Zealand, China lost 58–83, 57–82, and 52–89 against Spain, Argentina and Italy respectively. In the final group game, however, a 67–66 win over the reigning 2002 FIBA World Champions Serbia and Montenegro moved them into the quarterfinals. Yao scored 27 points and had 13 rebounds, and he hit two free throws with 28 seconds left that proved to be the winning margin. He averaged 20.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game while shooting 55.9% from the field.
Asian Cup
Yao led the Chinese national team to three consecutive FIBA Asia Cup gold medals, winning the 2001 FIBA Asian Championship, the 2003 FIBA Asian Championship, and the 2005 FIBA Asian Championship. He was also named the MVP of all three tournaments.
2006 World Championship
Yao's injury at the end of the 2005–06 NBA season required a full six months of rest, threatening his participation in the 2006 FIBA World Championship. However, he recovered before the start of the tournament, and in the last game of the preliminary round, he had 36 points and 10 rebounds in a win against Slovenia to lead China into the Round of 16. In the first knockout round, however, China was defeated by eventual finalist Greece. Yao's final averages were 25.3 points, the most in the tournament, and 9.0 rebounds a game, which was fourth overall.
2008 Olympics
After having surgery to repair his fractured foot, Yao stated if he could not play in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, "It would be the biggest loss in my career to right now." He returned to play with the Chinese national team on July 17, 2008. On August 6, Yao carried the Olympic flame into Tiananmen Square, as part of the Olympic torch relay. He also carried the Chinese flag and led his country's delegation during the opening ceremony. Yao scored the first basket of the game, a three-pointer, in China's opening 2008 Olympics Basketball Tournament game against the eventual gold medal-winning United States.
"I was just really happy to make that shot", Yao said after the Americans' 101–70 victory. "It was the first score in our Olympic campaign here at home and I'll always remember it. It represents that we can keep our heads up in the face of really tough odds."
Following an overtime defeat to Spain, Yao scored 30 points in a win over Angola, and 25 points in a three-point win against Germany, which clinched China's place in the quarterfinals. However, China lost to Lithuania in the quarterfinals by 26 points, eliminating them from the tournament. Yao's 19 points a game were the second-highest in the Olympics, and his averages of 8.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game were third overall.
Career statistics
CBA statistics
NBA statistics
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* ||72||29.0||.498||.500||.811||8.2||1.7||.4||1.8||13.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| style="background:#cfecec;"| 82*|| style="background:#cfecec;"|82*||32.8||.522||.000||.809||9.0||1.5||.3||1.9||17.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 80||80||30.6||.552||.000||.783||8.4||.8||.4||2.0||18.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 57||57||34.2||.519||.000||.853||10.2||1.5||.5||1.6||22.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 48||48||33.8||.516||.000||.862||9.4||2.0||.4||2.0||25.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 55||55||37.2||.507||.000||.850||10.8||2.3||.5||2.0||22.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 77||77||33.6||.548||1.000||.866||9.9||1.8||.4||1.9||19.7
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 5||5||18.2||.486||.000||.938||5.4||.8||.0||1.6||10.2
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career
| 486||476||32.5||.524||.200||.833||9.2||1.6||.4||1.9||19.0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| All-Star
| 6||6||17.0||.500||.000||.667||4.0||1.3||.2||.3||7.0
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2004
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 5||5||37.0||.456||.000||.765||7.4||1.8||.4||1.4||15.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2005
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 7||7||31.4||.655||.000||.727||7.7||.7||.3||2.7||21.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2007
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 7||7||37.1||.440||.000||.880||10.3||.9||.1||.7||25.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2009
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 9||9||35.9||.545||.000||.902||10.9||1.0||.4||1.2||17.1
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career
| 28||28||35.3||.519||.000||.833||9.3||1.0||.3||1.5||19.8
Awards and achievements
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: Class of 2016
8× NBA All-Star: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011
5× All-NBA Team:
Second Team: 2007, 2009
Third Team: 2004, 2006, 2008
NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2003
NBA Rookie All-Star Game: 2004
Gold medal winner with Team China at the 2001, 2003, and 2005 FIBA Asia Cups
MVP of the 2001, 2003, 2005 FIBA Asia Cups
FIBA Diamond Ball Top Scorer: 2004
All-Tournament Team, FIBA World Cup: 2002
Chinese Basketball Association Champion: 2001–02
Rebounding leader in CBA in 2001–02
2003 Sporting News Rookie of the Year
2003 Laureus Newcomer of the Year
2005 Proletarian Award, issued by the Chinese Communist Party
Personal life
After Yao announced that he would enter the 2002 NBA draft, he told one American journalist that he had been studying English for two years, and that he liked the movie Star Wars but disliked hip hop. He was sometimes accompanied during interviews in Shanghai by one of his parents, whose basketball careers were derailed by the 1966–76 Cultural Revolution, and who came to his Shanghai Sharks games on bicycles.
Yao met Chinese female basketball player Ye Li when he was 17 years old. Ye was not fond of Yao at first, but finally accepted him after he gave her the team pins he had collected during the 2000 Summer Olympics. She is the only woman he has ever dated. Their relationship became public when they appeared together during the 2004 Olympics closing ceremony. On August 6, 2007, Yao and Ye married in a ceremony attended by close friends and family and closed to the media. On May 21, 2010, the couple's daughter Yao Qinlei (whose English name is Amy) was born in Houston, Texas.
In 2004, Yao co-wrote an autobiography with ESPN sportswriter Ric Bucher, entitled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds. In the same year, he was also the subject of a documentary film, The Year of the Yao, which focuses on his NBA rookie year. The film is narrated by his friend and interpreter, Colin Pine. In 2005, former Newsweek writer Brook Larmer published a book entitled Operation Yao Ming, in which he said that Yao's parents were convinced to marry each other so that they would produce a dominant athlete, and that during Yao's childhood, he was given special treatment to help him become a great basketball player. In a 2015 AMA post on Reddit, Yao stated that this was not true and that he started playing basketball for fun at age 9. In 2009, Yao provided the voice for a character of a Chinese animated film, The Magic Aster, released on June 19.
Yao enrolled at the Antai College of Economics & Management of Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2011. He took a tailored degree program with mostly one-on-one lectures to avoid being a distraction on campus. Yao completed his studies in July 2018, graduating with a degree in economics after 7 years of study.
In 2016, Yao opened a winery called Yao Family Wines in Napa Valley, California, which serves Cabernet Sauvignon blends and "the kind of rich-but-balanced luxury reds he'd come to enjoy in Houston steakhouses." American wine critic Robert M. Parker Jr. of The Wine Advocate gave Yao's wine a ranking of 96 points and wrote: "I am aware of all the arguments that major celebrities lending their names to wines is generally a formula for mediocrity, but... the two Cabernets are actually brilliant, and the reserve bottling ranks alongside just about anything made in Napa."
Other activities
Commercial engagements
Yao is one of China's most recognizable athletes, along with Liu Xiang. As of 2009, he had led Forbes' Chinese celebrities list in income and popularity for six straight years, earning US$51 million (CN¥357 million) in 2008. A major part of his income comes from his sponsorship deals, as he is under contract with several major companies to endorse their products. He was signed by Nike until the end of his rookie season. When Nike decided not to renew his contract, he signed with Reebok. He also had a deal with Pepsi, and he successfully sued Coca-Cola in 2003 when they used his image on their bottles while promoting the national team. He eventually signed with Coca-Cola for the 2008 Olympics. His other deals include partnerships with Visa, Apple, Garmin, and McDonald's.
On July 16, 2009, Yao bought his former club team, the Shanghai Sharks, which were on the verge of not being able to play the next season of the Chinese Basketball Association because of financial troubles.
Philanthropy
Yao has also participated in many charity events during his career, including the NBA's Basketball Without Borders program. In the NBA's offseason in 2003, Yao hosted a telethon, which raised US$300,000 to help stop the spread of SARS. In September 2007, he held an auction that raised US$965,000 (CN¥6.75 million), and competed in a charity basketball match to raise money for underprivileged children in China. He was joined by fellow NBA stars Steve Nash, Carmelo Anthony, and Baron Davis, and Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan. After the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Yao donated $2 million to relief work and created the Yao Ming Foundation to help rebuild schools destroyed in the earthquake.
Yao has also been a dedicated supporter of Special Olympics. He serves as Global Ambassador and member of the International Board of Directors.
Conservation work
In August 2012, Yao started filming a documentary about the northern white rhinoceros. He is also an ambassador for elephant conservation. In 2014, he was also part of the documentary The End of the Wild about elephant conservation. Yao has filmed a number of public service announcements for elephant and rhino conservation for the "Say No" campaign with partners African Wildlife Foundation and WildAid.
Politics
On March 3, 2013, Yao attended the First Session of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference as one of its 2,200 members. He was a member of the CPPCC from 2013 to 2018. While he is involved in Chinese politics, he is not a member of the Chinese Communist Party, although he has been awarded the Proletarian Award by the party for his spreading of literacy and socialist ideologies.
See also
List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
List of tallest players in National Basketball Association history
References
External links
The Yao Ming Foundation official website
1980 births
Living people
2002 FIBA World Championship players
2006 FIBA World Championship players
Asian Games medalists in basketball
Asian Games silver medalists for China
Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2002 Asian Games
Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Basketball players from Shanghai
Centers (basketball)
Chinese Basketball Association executives
Chinese expatriate basketball people in the United States
Chinese men's basketball players
Chinese philanthropists
Houston Rockets draft picks
Houston Rockets players
Laureus World Sports Awards winners
Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games
Members of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
National Basketball Association All-Stars
National Basketball Association players from China
Olympic basketball players of China
Shanghai Jiao Tong University alumni
Shanghai Sharks players | true | [
"Stephen Edward Hotton is a former Otago rugby player who played 146 games for Otago between 1983 and 1993. He played in the front row as a prop. He played seven games for the New Zealand Maori rugby team in 1988. He was a cult hero at home games at Carisbrook with the Steve Hotton Fan Club cheering him on. He was a member of the 1991 Otago team which won the first division championship. Mike Brewer said that he was a \"very important player to Otago...he was crucial in letting me know what was really happening up front\" and that he \"was regarded as the team clown...it was in his nature to crack a joke when things were getting too tense\". \n\nSteve Hotton has a proud memory of being part of the Otago team that beat Manawatu. The Manawatu team contained Gary Knight, Mark Shaw, Frank Oliver and Mark Donaldson. He said of the game: \"We were pretty young and inexperienced and they had those All Blacks. Those are the sort of things you remember.\"\n\nAfter retiring from rugby, Hotton moved to Kurow where he ran a cafe and a butchery.\n\nReferences\n\nOtago rugby union players\nLiving people\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nDate of birth missing (living people)",
"Jean Hervé was a French rugby union player. He competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics and won gold as part of the French team in what was the first rugby union competition at an Olympic Games.\n\nReferences\n\nYear of birth missing\nYear of death missing\nOlympic rugby union players of France\nFrench rugby union players\nOlympic gold medalists for France\nRugby union players at the 1900 Summer Olympics"
] |
[
"Yao Ming",
"Entering the NBA draft",
"Who did he draft for?",
"NBA",
"What team was he part of?",
"Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent."
] | C_4150a50a54b545ae8a4b88b70315a298_1 | What else did he do outside of the NBA? | 3 | What else did Yao Ming do outside of the NBA besides playing basketball? | Yao Ming | Yao was pressured to enter the NBA draft in 1999 by Li Yaomin, the deputy general manager of the Shanghai Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent. The agreement entitled Evergreen to 33% of Yao's earnings, but the contract was later determined to be invalid. When Yao decided to enter the 2002 NBA draft, a group of advisers was formed that came to be known as "Team Yao". The team consisted of Yao's negotiator, Erik Zhang; his NBA agent, Bill Duffy; his Chinese agent, Lu Hao; University of Chicago economics professor John Huizinga; and the vice president for marketing at BDA Sports Management, Bill Sanders. Yao was widely predicted to be picked number one overall. However, some teams were concerned about Yao's NBA eligibility because of uncertainty over whether the CBA would let Yao play in the United States. Shortly after Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China, the CBA stipulated that Yao would have to return to play for the national team. They also said they would not let him go to the United States unless the Houston Rockets would take him first overall. After assurances from Team Yao that the Rockets would draft Yao with their number one pick, the CBA gave permission on the morning of the draft for Yao to play in the U.S. When the Rockets selected Yao with the first pick of the draft, he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S. college basketball. CANNOTANSWER | Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China, | Yao Ming (; born September 12, 1980) is a Chinese basketball executive and former professional player. He played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Yao was selected to start for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game eight times, and was named to the All-NBA Team five times. During his final season, he was the tallest active player in the NBA, at .
Yao, who was born in Shanghai, started playing for the Sharks as a teenager, and played on their senior team for five years in the CBA, winning a championship in his final year. After negotiating with the CBA and the Sharks to secure his release, Yao was selected by the Rockets as the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft. He reached the NBA playoffs four times, and the Rockets won the first-round series in the 2009 postseason, their first playoff series victory since 1997. In July 2011, Yao announced his retirement from professional basketball because of a series of foot and ankle injuries which forced him to miss 250 games in his last six seasons. In eight seasons with the Rockets, Yao ranks sixth among franchise leaders in total points and total rebounds, and second in total blocks.
Yao is one of China's best-known athletes, with sponsorships with several major companies. His rookie year in the NBA was the subject of a documentary film, The Year of the Yao, and he co-wrote, along with NBA analyst Ric Bucher, an autobiography titled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds. Known in China as the "Yao Ming Phenomenon" and in the United States as the "Ming Dynasty", Yao's success in the NBA, and his popularity among fans, made him a symbol of a new China that was both more modern and more confident.
In April 2016, Yao was elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame, alongside Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson. In February 2017, Yao was unanimously elected as chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association.
Early life
Yao is the only child of Yao Zhiyuan and Fang Fengdi, both of whom were former professional basketball players. At , Yao weighed more than twice as much as the average Chinese newborn. When Yao was nine years old, he began playing basketball and attended a junior sports school. The following year, Yao measured and was examined by sports doctors, who predicted he would grow to .
Professional career
Shanghai Sharks (1997–2002)
Yao first tried out for the Shanghai Sharks junior team of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) when he was 13 years old, and practiced ten hours a day for his acceptance. After playing with the junior team for four years, Yao joined the senior team of the Sharks, where he averaged 10 points and 8 rebounds a game in his rookie season. His next season was cut short when he broke his foot for the second time in his career, which Yao said decreased his jumping ability by four to six inches (10 to 15 cm). The Sharks made the finals of the CBA in Yao's third season and again the next year, but lost both times to the Bayi Rockets. When Wang Zhizhi left the Bayi Rockets to become the first NBA player from China the following year, the Sharks finally won their first CBA championship. During the playoffs in his final year with Shanghai, Yao averaged 38.9 points and 20.2 rebounds a game, while shooting 76.6% from the field, and made all 21 of his shots during one game in the finals.
Houston Rockets (2002–2011)
Yao was pressured to enter the NBA draft in 1999 by Li Yaomin, the deputy general manager of the Shanghai Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent. The agreement entitled Evergreen to 33% of Yao's earnings, but the contract was later determined to be invalid.
As American attention on Yao grew, Chinese authorities also took interest. In 2002, the Chinese government released new regulations that would require him and other Chinese players to turn over half of any NBA earnings to the government and China's national basketball association, including endorsements as well as salaries.
When Yao decided to enter the 2002 NBA draft, a group of advisers was formed that came to be known as "Team Yao". The team consisted of Yao's negotiator, Erik Zhang; his NBA agent, Bill Duffy; his Chinese agent, Lu Hao; University of Chicago economics professor John Huizinga; and the vice president for marketing at BDA Sports Management, Bill Sanders. Yao was widely predicted to be picked number one overall. However, some teams were concerned about Yao's NBA eligibility because of uncertainty over whether the CBA would let Yao play in the United States.
Shortly after Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China, the CBA stipulated that Yao would have to return to play for the national team. They also said they would not let him go to the United States unless the Houston Rockets would take him first overall. After assurances from Team Yao that the Rockets would draft Yao with their number one pick, the CBA gave permission on the morning of the draft for Yao to play in the U.S. When the Rockets selected Yao with the first pick of the draft, he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S. college basketball.
Beginning years (2002–2005)
Yao did not participate in the Rockets' pre-season training camp, instead playing for China in the 2002 FIBA World Championships. Before the season, several commentators, including Bill Simmons and Dick Vitale, predicted that Yao would fail in the NBA, and Charles Barkley said he would "kiss Kenny Smith's ass" if Yao scored more than 19 points in one of his rookie-season games. Yao played his first NBA game against the Indiana Pacers, scoring no points and grabbing two rebounds, and scored his first NBA basket against the Denver Nuggets. In his first seven games, he averaged only 14 minutes and 4 points, but on November 17, he scored 20 points on a perfect 9-of-9 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line against the Lakers. Barkley made good on his bet by kissing the buttock of a donkey purchased by Smith for the occasion (Smith's "ass").
In Yao's first game in Miami on December 16, 2002, the Heat passed out 8,000 fortune cookies, an East Asian cultural stereotype. Yao was not angry with the promotion because he was not familiar with American stereotypes of Chinese. In an earlier interview in 2000, Yao said he had never seen a fortune cookie in China and guessed it must have been an American invention.
Before Yao's first meeting with Shaquille O'Neal on January 17, 2003, O'Neal said, "Tell Yao Ming, ching chong-yang-wah-ah-soh", prompting accusations of racism. O'Neal denied that his comments were racist, and said he was only joking. Yao also said he believed O'Neal was joking, but he said a lot of Asians would not see the humor. In the game, Yao scored the Rockets' first six points of the game and blocked O'Neal twice in the opening minutes as well as altering two other shots by O'Neal, all 4 of those attempts coming right at the rim, and made a game-sealing dunk with 10 seconds left in overtime. Yao finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 blocks; O'Neal recorded 31 points, 13 rebounds, and 0 blocks. O'Neal later expressed regret for the way he treated Yao early in his career.
The NBA began offering All-Star ballots in three languages—English, Spanish and Chinese—for fan voting of the starters for the 2003 NBA All-Star Game. Yao was voted to start for the West over O'Neal, who was coming off three consecutive NBA Finals MVP Awards. Yao received nearly a quarter million more votes than O'Neal, and he became the first rookie to start in the All-Star Game since Grant Hill in 1995.
Yao finished his rookie season averaging 13.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, and was second in the NBA Rookie of the Year Award voting to Amar'e Stoudemire, and a unanimous pick for the NBA All-Rookie First Team selection. He was also voted the Sporting News Rookie of the Year, and won the Laureus Newcomer of the Year award.
Before the start of Yao's sophomore season, Rockets' head coach Rudy Tomjanovich resigned because of health issues, and long-time New York Knicks head coach Jeff Van Gundy was brought in. After Van Gundy began focusing the offense on Yao, Yao averaged career highs in points and rebounds for the season, and had a career-high 41 points and 7 assists in a triple-overtime win against the Atlanta Hawks in February 2004. He was also voted to be the starting center for the Western Conference in the 2004 NBA All-Star Game for the second straight year. Yao finished the season averaging 17.5 points and 9.0 rebounds a game. The Rockets made the playoffs for the first time in Yao's career, claiming the seventh seed in the Western Conference. In the first round, however, the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated Houston in five games. Yao averaged 15.0 points and 7.4 rebounds in his first playoff series.
In the summer of 2004, the Rockets acquired Tracy McGrady from the Orlando Magic in a seven-player trade that also sent Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley to Orlando. Although Yao said that Francis and Mobley had "helped [him] in every way [his] first two seasons", he added, "I'm excited about playing with Tracy McGrady. He can do some amazing things." After the trade, it was predicted that the Rockets would be title contenders. Both McGrady and Yao were voted to start in the 2005 NBA All-Star Game, and Yao broke the record previously held by Michael Jordan for most All-Star votes, with 2,558,278 total votes. The Rockets won 51 games and finished fifth in the West, and made the playoffs for the second consecutive year, where they faced the Dallas Mavericks. The Rockets won the first two games in Dallas, and Yao made 13 of 14 shots in the second game, the best shooting performance in the playoffs in Rockets history. However, the Rockets lost four of their last five games and lost Game 7 by 40 points, the largest Game 7 deficit in NBA history. Yao's final averages for the series were 21.4 points on 65% shooting and 7.7 rebounds.
Injury-plagued seasons (2005–2011)
After missing only two games out of 246 in his first three years of NBA play, Yao endured an extended period on the inactive list in his fourth season after developing osteomyelitis in the big toe on his left foot, and surgery was performed on the toe on December 18, 2005. Despite missing 21 games while recovering, Yao again had the most fan votes to start the 2006 NBA All-Star Game.
In 25 games after the All-Star break, Yao averaged 25.7 points and 11.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 53.7% from the field and 87.8% at the free-throw line. His final averages in 57 games were 22.3 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. It was the first time that he ended the season with a so-called "20/10" average. However, Tracy McGrady played only 47 games in the season, missing time because of back spasms. Yao and McGrady played only 31 games together, and the Rockets did not make the playoffs, winning only 34 games. With only four games left in the season, Yao suffered another injury in a game against the Utah Jazz on April 10, 2006, which left him with a broken bone in his left foot. The injury required six months of rest.
Early into his fifth season, Yao was injured again, this time breaking his right knee on December 23, 2006, while attempting to block a shot. Up to that point he had been averaging 26.8 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game, and had been mentioned as an MVP candidate. Yao was unable to play in what would have been his fifth All-Star game; he was medically cleared to play on March 4, 2007, after missing 32 games.
Despite Yao's absence, the Rockets made the playoffs with the home court advantage against the Utah Jazz in the first round. The Rockets won the first two games, but then lost four of five games and were eliminated in Game 7 at home; Yao scored 29 points—15 in the fourth quarter. Although he averaged 25.1 points and 10.3 rebounds for the series, Yao said afterwards "I didn't do my job". At the end of the season, Yao was selected to the All-NBA Second Team for the first time in his career, after being selected to the All-NBA Third Team twice.
On May 18, 2007, only weeks after the Rockets were eliminated from the playoffs, Jeff Van Gundy was dismissed as head coach. Three days later, the Rockets signed former Sacramento Kings coach Rick Adelman, who was thought to focus more on offense than the defensive-minded Van Gundy.
On November 9, 2007, Yao played against fellow Chinese NBA and Milwaukee Bucks player Yi Jianlian for the first time. The game, which the Rockets won 104–88, was broadcast on 19 networks in China, and was watched by over 200 million people in China alone, making it one of the most-watched NBA games in history. In the 2008 NBA All-Star Game, Yao was once again voted to start at center for the Western Conference. Before the All-Star weekend, the Rockets had won eight straight games, and after the break, they took their win streak to 12 games. On February 26, 2008, however, it was reported that Yao would miss the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his left foot. He missed the 2008 NBA playoffs, but he did not miss the 2008 Summer Olympics at Beijing, China in August. After Yao's injury, the Rockets stretched their winning streak to 22 games, at the time the second-longest such streak in NBA history. Yao underwent a successful operation on March 3, which placed screws in his foot to strengthen the bone, and recovery time was estimated at four months. Yao's final averages in 55 games were 22.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks a game.
The next season, Yao played 77 games, his first full season since the 2004–05 season, and averaged 19.7 points and 9.9 rebounds, while shooting 54.8% from the field, and a career-high 86.6% from the free throw line. Despite McGrady suffering a season-ending injury in February, the Rockets finished with 53 wins and the fifth seed in the Western Conference. Facing the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round, Yao finished with 24 points on 9-of-9 shooting in the first game, and the Rockets won 108–81, in Portland. The Rockets won all their games in Houston, and advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1997, and the first time in Yao's career.
The Rockets faced the Lakers in the second round, and Yao scored 28 points, with 8 points in the final four minutes, to lead the Rockets to a 100–92 win in Los Angeles. However, the Rockets lost their next two games, and Yao was diagnosed with a sprained ankle after Game 3. A follow-up test revealed a hairline fracture in his left foot, and he was ruled out for the remainder of the playoffs. In reaction, Yao said the injury, which did not require surgery, was "better than last year". However, follow-up analysis indicated that the injury could be career threatening. The Yao-less Rockets went on to win Game 4 against the Lakers to even the series 2–2. The Rockets eventually lost the series in seven games.
In July 2009, Yao discussed the injury with his doctors, and the Rockets applied for a disabled player exception, an exception to the NBA salary cap which grants the injured player's team money to sign a free agent. The Rockets were granted the exception, and used approximately $5.7 million on free agent Trevor Ariza. After weeks of consulting, it was decided that Yao would undergo surgery in order to repair the broken bone in his left foot. He did not play the entire 2009–10 season.
For the 2010–11 season, the Rockets said they would limit Yao to 24 minutes a game, with no plan to play him on back-to-back nights. Their goal was to keep Yao healthy in the long term. On December 16, 2010, it was announced that Yao had developed a stress fracture in his left ankle, related to an older injury, and would miss the rest of the season. In January 2011, he was voted as the Western Conference starting center for the 2011 All-Star Game for the eighth time in nine seasons. Injured All-Stars are usually required to attend the All-Star functions and to be introduced at the game, but Yao was not in Los Angeles because of his rehabilitation schedule after his surgery. Yao's contract with the Rockets expired at the end of the season, and he became a free agent.
Retirement
On July 20, 2011, Yao announced his retirement from basketball in a press conference in Shanghai. He cited injuries to his foot and ankle, including the third fracture to his left foot sustained near the end of 2010. His retirement sparked over 1.2 million comments on the Chinese social-networking site Sina Weibo. Reacting to Yao's retirement, NBA commissioner David Stern said Yao was a "bridge between Chinese and American fans" and that he had "a wonderful mixture of talent, dedication, humanitarian aspirations and a sense of humor." Shaquille O'Neal said Yao "was very agile. He could play inside, he could play outside, and if he didn't have those injuries he could've been up there in the top five centers to ever play the game."
Yao was nominated by a member of the Chinese media for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor to the game. He would have been eligible for induction as early as 2012, but Yao felt it was too soon and requested that the Hall of Fame delay consideration of the nomination. The Hall granted Yao's request, and said it was Yao's decision when the process would be restarted.
On September 9, 2016, Yao was inducted into the Hall of Fame along with 4-time NBA champion Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson. Continuing with the honours, on February 3, 2017, Yao's Number 11 jersey was retired by the Houston Rockets.
National team career
2000 and 2004 Olympics
Yao first played for China in the 2000 Summer Olympics, and he was dubbed, together with teammates Wang Zhizhi and Mengke Bateer, "The Walking Great Wall". During the 2004 Athens Olympics, Yao carried the Chinese flag during the opening ceremony, which he said was a "long dream come true". He then vowed to abstain from shaving his beard for half a year unless the Chinese national team made it into the quarter-finals of the 2004 Olympics. After Yao scored 39 points in a win against New Zealand, China lost 58–83, 57–82, and 52–89 against Spain, Argentina and Italy respectively. In the final group game, however, a 67–66 win over the reigning 2002 FIBA World Champions Serbia and Montenegro moved them into the quarterfinals. Yao scored 27 points and had 13 rebounds, and he hit two free throws with 28 seconds left that proved to be the winning margin. He averaged 20.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game while shooting 55.9% from the field.
Asian Cup
Yao led the Chinese national team to three consecutive FIBA Asia Cup gold medals, winning the 2001 FIBA Asian Championship, the 2003 FIBA Asian Championship, and the 2005 FIBA Asian Championship. He was also named the MVP of all three tournaments.
2006 World Championship
Yao's injury at the end of the 2005–06 NBA season required a full six months of rest, threatening his participation in the 2006 FIBA World Championship. However, he recovered before the start of the tournament, and in the last game of the preliminary round, he had 36 points and 10 rebounds in a win against Slovenia to lead China into the Round of 16. In the first knockout round, however, China was defeated by eventual finalist Greece. Yao's final averages were 25.3 points, the most in the tournament, and 9.0 rebounds a game, which was fourth overall.
2008 Olympics
After having surgery to repair his fractured foot, Yao stated if he could not play in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, "It would be the biggest loss in my career to right now." He returned to play with the Chinese national team on July 17, 2008. On August 6, Yao carried the Olympic flame into Tiananmen Square, as part of the Olympic torch relay. He also carried the Chinese flag and led his country's delegation during the opening ceremony. Yao scored the first basket of the game, a three-pointer, in China's opening 2008 Olympics Basketball Tournament game against the eventual gold medal-winning United States.
"I was just really happy to make that shot", Yao said after the Americans' 101–70 victory. "It was the first score in our Olympic campaign here at home and I'll always remember it. It represents that we can keep our heads up in the face of really tough odds."
Following an overtime defeat to Spain, Yao scored 30 points in a win over Angola, and 25 points in a three-point win against Germany, which clinched China's place in the quarterfinals. However, China lost to Lithuania in the quarterfinals by 26 points, eliminating them from the tournament. Yao's 19 points a game were the second-highest in the Olympics, and his averages of 8.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game were third overall.
Career statistics
CBA statistics
NBA statistics
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* ||72||29.0||.498||.500||.811||8.2||1.7||.4||1.8||13.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| style="background:#cfecec;"| 82*|| style="background:#cfecec;"|82*||32.8||.522||.000||.809||9.0||1.5||.3||1.9||17.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 80||80||30.6||.552||.000||.783||8.4||.8||.4||2.0||18.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 57||57||34.2||.519||.000||.853||10.2||1.5||.5||1.6||22.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 48||48||33.8||.516||.000||.862||9.4||2.0||.4||2.0||25.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 55||55||37.2||.507||.000||.850||10.8||2.3||.5||2.0||22.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 77||77||33.6||.548||1.000||.866||9.9||1.8||.4||1.9||19.7
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 5||5||18.2||.486||.000||.938||5.4||.8||.0||1.6||10.2
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career
| 486||476||32.5||.524||.200||.833||9.2||1.6||.4||1.9||19.0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| All-Star
| 6||6||17.0||.500||.000||.667||4.0||1.3||.2||.3||7.0
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2004
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 5||5||37.0||.456||.000||.765||7.4||1.8||.4||1.4||15.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2005
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 7||7||31.4||.655||.000||.727||7.7||.7||.3||2.7||21.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2007
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 7||7||37.1||.440||.000||.880||10.3||.9||.1||.7||25.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2009
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 9||9||35.9||.545||.000||.902||10.9||1.0||.4||1.2||17.1
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career
| 28||28||35.3||.519||.000||.833||9.3||1.0||.3||1.5||19.8
Awards and achievements
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: Class of 2016
8× NBA All-Star: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011
5× All-NBA Team:
Second Team: 2007, 2009
Third Team: 2004, 2006, 2008
NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2003
NBA Rookie All-Star Game: 2004
Gold medal winner with Team China at the 2001, 2003, and 2005 FIBA Asia Cups
MVP of the 2001, 2003, 2005 FIBA Asia Cups
FIBA Diamond Ball Top Scorer: 2004
All-Tournament Team, FIBA World Cup: 2002
Chinese Basketball Association Champion: 2001–02
Rebounding leader in CBA in 2001–02
2003 Sporting News Rookie of the Year
2003 Laureus Newcomer of the Year
2005 Proletarian Award, issued by the Chinese Communist Party
Personal life
After Yao announced that he would enter the 2002 NBA draft, he told one American journalist that he had been studying English for two years, and that he liked the movie Star Wars but disliked hip hop. He was sometimes accompanied during interviews in Shanghai by one of his parents, whose basketball careers were derailed by the 1966–76 Cultural Revolution, and who came to his Shanghai Sharks games on bicycles.
Yao met Chinese female basketball player Ye Li when he was 17 years old. Ye was not fond of Yao at first, but finally accepted him after he gave her the team pins he had collected during the 2000 Summer Olympics. She is the only woman he has ever dated. Their relationship became public when they appeared together during the 2004 Olympics closing ceremony. On August 6, 2007, Yao and Ye married in a ceremony attended by close friends and family and closed to the media. On May 21, 2010, the couple's daughter Yao Qinlei (whose English name is Amy) was born in Houston, Texas.
In 2004, Yao co-wrote an autobiography with ESPN sportswriter Ric Bucher, entitled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds. In the same year, he was also the subject of a documentary film, The Year of the Yao, which focuses on his NBA rookie year. The film is narrated by his friend and interpreter, Colin Pine. In 2005, former Newsweek writer Brook Larmer published a book entitled Operation Yao Ming, in which he said that Yao's parents were convinced to marry each other so that they would produce a dominant athlete, and that during Yao's childhood, he was given special treatment to help him become a great basketball player. In a 2015 AMA post on Reddit, Yao stated that this was not true and that he started playing basketball for fun at age 9. In 2009, Yao provided the voice for a character of a Chinese animated film, The Magic Aster, released on June 19.
Yao enrolled at the Antai College of Economics & Management of Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2011. He took a tailored degree program with mostly one-on-one lectures to avoid being a distraction on campus. Yao completed his studies in July 2018, graduating with a degree in economics after 7 years of study.
In 2016, Yao opened a winery called Yao Family Wines in Napa Valley, California, which serves Cabernet Sauvignon blends and "the kind of rich-but-balanced luxury reds he'd come to enjoy in Houston steakhouses." American wine critic Robert M. Parker Jr. of The Wine Advocate gave Yao's wine a ranking of 96 points and wrote: "I am aware of all the arguments that major celebrities lending their names to wines is generally a formula for mediocrity, but... the two Cabernets are actually brilliant, and the reserve bottling ranks alongside just about anything made in Napa."
Other activities
Commercial engagements
Yao is one of China's most recognizable athletes, along with Liu Xiang. As of 2009, he had led Forbes' Chinese celebrities list in income and popularity for six straight years, earning US$51 million (CN¥357 million) in 2008. A major part of his income comes from his sponsorship deals, as he is under contract with several major companies to endorse their products. He was signed by Nike until the end of his rookie season. When Nike decided not to renew his contract, he signed with Reebok. He also had a deal with Pepsi, and he successfully sued Coca-Cola in 2003 when they used his image on their bottles while promoting the national team. He eventually signed with Coca-Cola for the 2008 Olympics. His other deals include partnerships with Visa, Apple, Garmin, and McDonald's.
On July 16, 2009, Yao bought his former club team, the Shanghai Sharks, which were on the verge of not being able to play the next season of the Chinese Basketball Association because of financial troubles.
Philanthropy
Yao has also participated in many charity events during his career, including the NBA's Basketball Without Borders program. In the NBA's offseason in 2003, Yao hosted a telethon, which raised US$300,000 to help stop the spread of SARS. In September 2007, he held an auction that raised US$965,000 (CN¥6.75 million), and competed in a charity basketball match to raise money for underprivileged children in China. He was joined by fellow NBA stars Steve Nash, Carmelo Anthony, and Baron Davis, and Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan. After the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Yao donated $2 million to relief work and created the Yao Ming Foundation to help rebuild schools destroyed in the earthquake.
Yao has also been a dedicated supporter of Special Olympics. He serves as Global Ambassador and member of the International Board of Directors.
Conservation work
In August 2012, Yao started filming a documentary about the northern white rhinoceros. He is also an ambassador for elephant conservation. In 2014, he was also part of the documentary The End of the Wild about elephant conservation. Yao has filmed a number of public service announcements for elephant and rhino conservation for the "Say No" campaign with partners African Wildlife Foundation and WildAid.
Politics
On March 3, 2013, Yao attended the First Session of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference as one of its 2,200 members. He was a member of the CPPCC from 2013 to 2018. While he is involved in Chinese politics, he is not a member of the Chinese Communist Party, although he has been awarded the Proletarian Award by the party for his spreading of literacy and socialist ideologies.
See also
List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
List of tallest players in National Basketball Association history
References
External links
The Yao Ming Foundation official website
1980 births
Living people
2002 FIBA World Championship players
2006 FIBA World Championship players
Asian Games medalists in basketball
Asian Games silver medalists for China
Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2002 Asian Games
Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Basketball players from Shanghai
Centers (basketball)
Chinese Basketball Association executives
Chinese expatriate basketball people in the United States
Chinese men's basketball players
Chinese philanthropists
Houston Rockets draft picks
Houston Rockets players
Laureus World Sports Awards winners
Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games
Members of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
National Basketball Association All-Stars
National Basketball Association players from China
Olympic basketball players of China
Shanghai Jiao Tong University alumni
Shanghai Sharks players | true | [
"One & Done is a documentary film about Australian basketball player Ben Simmons and his journey from high school to being selected as the number one pick in the 2016 NBA draft. In the film Simmons is critical of the NCAA and how it treats its athletes and how it looks down on so-called \"one and done\" athletes. The film premiered on Showtime on November 4, 2016.\n\nSummary\nThe film chronicles the journey of number one NBA draft pick Ben Simmons, from a relatively anonymous Australian upbringing to high school and college in the United States, to the top of the top of the rookie class in the NBA. It captures Simmons and his inner circle as they realize a lifelong dream, while revealing a college life at Louisiana State University no one outside of Simmons' inner circle and the university had previously known about. Simmons discusses how he really didn't have any friends at LSU, aside from only a few of the basketball team, and being bombarded with requests for photos and signatures from his classmates at the university. Simmons was also extremely critical on the NCAA and paying athletes, which he strongly believes they should do. He says, \"[LSU] can't expect me to act like everyone else if they don't treat me like everyone else.\" Simmons disagrees with the NCAA and the colleges with branding him and other student athletes and making money off of them while the athletes themselves do not receive any compensation. The film chronicles the team's struggles on the court, and culminates with the Philadelphia 76ers' selection of Simmons as the first overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft.\n\nReception\nForbes called Simmons half right and said the one and done rule is not the main problem.\n\nSee also\n Ben Simmons\n Eligibility for the NBA draft\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n2010s sports films\nAmerican basketball films\nAmerican films\nAustralian sports films\nDocumentary films about basketball\nShowtime (TV network) films",
"This is a complete list of National Basketball Association players who have blocked 10 or more shots in a game.\n\n44 players have blocked 10 or more shots in a game. It has occurred 160 times (including the playoffs) in NBA history. Mark Eaton accomplished the feat more times than anyone else in league history (19), followed by Manute Bol (18). Eaton, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Andrew Bynum are the only players to block 10 or more shots in a playoff game, with Bynum being the only player to do so with a victory.\n\nThe NBA did not record blocked shots until the 1973–74 season.\n\nSee also\nNBA regular season records\nList of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 13 or more blocks in a game\n\nReferences\n\nSporting News, The (2005). 2005–06 Official NBA Guide.\n\nBlocks"
] |
[
"Yao Ming",
"Entering the NBA draft",
"Who did he draft for?",
"NBA",
"What team was he part of?",
"Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent.",
"What else did he do outside of the NBA?",
"Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China,"
] | C_4150a50a54b545ae8a4b88b70315a298_1 | Did he compete in the olympics? | 4 | Did Yao Ming compete in the olympics? | Yao Ming | Yao was pressured to enter the NBA draft in 1999 by Li Yaomin, the deputy general manager of the Shanghai Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent. The agreement entitled Evergreen to 33% of Yao's earnings, but the contract was later determined to be invalid. When Yao decided to enter the 2002 NBA draft, a group of advisers was formed that came to be known as "Team Yao". The team consisted of Yao's negotiator, Erik Zhang; his NBA agent, Bill Duffy; his Chinese agent, Lu Hao; University of Chicago economics professor John Huizinga; and the vice president for marketing at BDA Sports Management, Bill Sanders. Yao was widely predicted to be picked number one overall. However, some teams were concerned about Yao's NBA eligibility because of uncertainty over whether the CBA would let Yao play in the United States. Shortly after Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China, the CBA stipulated that Yao would have to return to play for the national team. They also said they would not let him go to the United States unless the Houston Rockets would take him first overall. After assurances from Team Yao that the Rockets would draft Yao with their number one pick, the CBA gave permission on the morning of the draft for Yao to play in the U.S. When the Rockets selected Yao with the first pick of the draft, he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S. college basketball. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Yao Ming (; born September 12, 1980) is a Chinese basketball executive and former professional player. He played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Yao was selected to start for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game eight times, and was named to the All-NBA Team five times. During his final season, he was the tallest active player in the NBA, at .
Yao, who was born in Shanghai, started playing for the Sharks as a teenager, and played on their senior team for five years in the CBA, winning a championship in his final year. After negotiating with the CBA and the Sharks to secure his release, Yao was selected by the Rockets as the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft. He reached the NBA playoffs four times, and the Rockets won the first-round series in the 2009 postseason, their first playoff series victory since 1997. In July 2011, Yao announced his retirement from professional basketball because of a series of foot and ankle injuries which forced him to miss 250 games in his last six seasons. In eight seasons with the Rockets, Yao ranks sixth among franchise leaders in total points and total rebounds, and second in total blocks.
Yao is one of China's best-known athletes, with sponsorships with several major companies. His rookie year in the NBA was the subject of a documentary film, The Year of the Yao, and he co-wrote, along with NBA analyst Ric Bucher, an autobiography titled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds. Known in China as the "Yao Ming Phenomenon" and in the United States as the "Ming Dynasty", Yao's success in the NBA, and his popularity among fans, made him a symbol of a new China that was both more modern and more confident.
In April 2016, Yao was elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame, alongside Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson. In February 2017, Yao was unanimously elected as chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association.
Early life
Yao is the only child of Yao Zhiyuan and Fang Fengdi, both of whom were former professional basketball players. At , Yao weighed more than twice as much as the average Chinese newborn. When Yao was nine years old, he began playing basketball and attended a junior sports school. The following year, Yao measured and was examined by sports doctors, who predicted he would grow to .
Professional career
Shanghai Sharks (1997–2002)
Yao first tried out for the Shanghai Sharks junior team of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) when he was 13 years old, and practiced ten hours a day for his acceptance. After playing with the junior team for four years, Yao joined the senior team of the Sharks, where he averaged 10 points and 8 rebounds a game in his rookie season. His next season was cut short when he broke his foot for the second time in his career, which Yao said decreased his jumping ability by four to six inches (10 to 15 cm). The Sharks made the finals of the CBA in Yao's third season and again the next year, but lost both times to the Bayi Rockets. When Wang Zhizhi left the Bayi Rockets to become the first NBA player from China the following year, the Sharks finally won their first CBA championship. During the playoffs in his final year with Shanghai, Yao averaged 38.9 points and 20.2 rebounds a game, while shooting 76.6% from the field, and made all 21 of his shots during one game in the finals.
Houston Rockets (2002–2011)
Yao was pressured to enter the NBA draft in 1999 by Li Yaomin, the deputy general manager of the Shanghai Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent. The agreement entitled Evergreen to 33% of Yao's earnings, but the contract was later determined to be invalid.
As American attention on Yao grew, Chinese authorities also took interest. In 2002, the Chinese government released new regulations that would require him and other Chinese players to turn over half of any NBA earnings to the government and China's national basketball association, including endorsements as well as salaries.
When Yao decided to enter the 2002 NBA draft, a group of advisers was formed that came to be known as "Team Yao". The team consisted of Yao's negotiator, Erik Zhang; his NBA agent, Bill Duffy; his Chinese agent, Lu Hao; University of Chicago economics professor John Huizinga; and the vice president for marketing at BDA Sports Management, Bill Sanders. Yao was widely predicted to be picked number one overall. However, some teams were concerned about Yao's NBA eligibility because of uncertainty over whether the CBA would let Yao play in the United States.
Shortly after Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China, the CBA stipulated that Yao would have to return to play for the national team. They also said they would not let him go to the United States unless the Houston Rockets would take him first overall. After assurances from Team Yao that the Rockets would draft Yao with their number one pick, the CBA gave permission on the morning of the draft for Yao to play in the U.S. When the Rockets selected Yao with the first pick of the draft, he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S. college basketball.
Beginning years (2002–2005)
Yao did not participate in the Rockets' pre-season training camp, instead playing for China in the 2002 FIBA World Championships. Before the season, several commentators, including Bill Simmons and Dick Vitale, predicted that Yao would fail in the NBA, and Charles Barkley said he would "kiss Kenny Smith's ass" if Yao scored more than 19 points in one of his rookie-season games. Yao played his first NBA game against the Indiana Pacers, scoring no points and grabbing two rebounds, and scored his first NBA basket against the Denver Nuggets. In his first seven games, he averaged only 14 minutes and 4 points, but on November 17, he scored 20 points on a perfect 9-of-9 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line against the Lakers. Barkley made good on his bet by kissing the buttock of a donkey purchased by Smith for the occasion (Smith's "ass").
In Yao's first game in Miami on December 16, 2002, the Heat passed out 8,000 fortune cookies, an East Asian cultural stereotype. Yao was not angry with the promotion because he was not familiar with American stereotypes of Chinese. In an earlier interview in 2000, Yao said he had never seen a fortune cookie in China and guessed it must have been an American invention.
Before Yao's first meeting with Shaquille O'Neal on January 17, 2003, O'Neal said, "Tell Yao Ming, ching chong-yang-wah-ah-soh", prompting accusations of racism. O'Neal denied that his comments were racist, and said he was only joking. Yao also said he believed O'Neal was joking, but he said a lot of Asians would not see the humor. In the game, Yao scored the Rockets' first six points of the game and blocked O'Neal twice in the opening minutes as well as altering two other shots by O'Neal, all 4 of those attempts coming right at the rim, and made a game-sealing dunk with 10 seconds left in overtime. Yao finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 blocks; O'Neal recorded 31 points, 13 rebounds, and 0 blocks. O'Neal later expressed regret for the way he treated Yao early in his career.
The NBA began offering All-Star ballots in three languages—English, Spanish and Chinese—for fan voting of the starters for the 2003 NBA All-Star Game. Yao was voted to start for the West over O'Neal, who was coming off three consecutive NBA Finals MVP Awards. Yao received nearly a quarter million more votes than O'Neal, and he became the first rookie to start in the All-Star Game since Grant Hill in 1995.
Yao finished his rookie season averaging 13.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, and was second in the NBA Rookie of the Year Award voting to Amar'e Stoudemire, and a unanimous pick for the NBA All-Rookie First Team selection. He was also voted the Sporting News Rookie of the Year, and won the Laureus Newcomer of the Year award.
Before the start of Yao's sophomore season, Rockets' head coach Rudy Tomjanovich resigned because of health issues, and long-time New York Knicks head coach Jeff Van Gundy was brought in. After Van Gundy began focusing the offense on Yao, Yao averaged career highs in points and rebounds for the season, and had a career-high 41 points and 7 assists in a triple-overtime win against the Atlanta Hawks in February 2004. He was also voted to be the starting center for the Western Conference in the 2004 NBA All-Star Game for the second straight year. Yao finished the season averaging 17.5 points and 9.0 rebounds a game. The Rockets made the playoffs for the first time in Yao's career, claiming the seventh seed in the Western Conference. In the first round, however, the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated Houston in five games. Yao averaged 15.0 points and 7.4 rebounds in his first playoff series.
In the summer of 2004, the Rockets acquired Tracy McGrady from the Orlando Magic in a seven-player trade that also sent Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley to Orlando. Although Yao said that Francis and Mobley had "helped [him] in every way [his] first two seasons", he added, "I'm excited about playing with Tracy McGrady. He can do some amazing things." After the trade, it was predicted that the Rockets would be title contenders. Both McGrady and Yao were voted to start in the 2005 NBA All-Star Game, and Yao broke the record previously held by Michael Jordan for most All-Star votes, with 2,558,278 total votes. The Rockets won 51 games and finished fifth in the West, and made the playoffs for the second consecutive year, where they faced the Dallas Mavericks. The Rockets won the first two games in Dallas, and Yao made 13 of 14 shots in the second game, the best shooting performance in the playoffs in Rockets history. However, the Rockets lost four of their last five games and lost Game 7 by 40 points, the largest Game 7 deficit in NBA history. Yao's final averages for the series were 21.4 points on 65% shooting and 7.7 rebounds.
Injury-plagued seasons (2005–2011)
After missing only two games out of 246 in his first three years of NBA play, Yao endured an extended period on the inactive list in his fourth season after developing osteomyelitis in the big toe on his left foot, and surgery was performed on the toe on December 18, 2005. Despite missing 21 games while recovering, Yao again had the most fan votes to start the 2006 NBA All-Star Game.
In 25 games after the All-Star break, Yao averaged 25.7 points and 11.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 53.7% from the field and 87.8% at the free-throw line. His final averages in 57 games were 22.3 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. It was the first time that he ended the season with a so-called "20/10" average. However, Tracy McGrady played only 47 games in the season, missing time because of back spasms. Yao and McGrady played only 31 games together, and the Rockets did not make the playoffs, winning only 34 games. With only four games left in the season, Yao suffered another injury in a game against the Utah Jazz on April 10, 2006, which left him with a broken bone in his left foot. The injury required six months of rest.
Early into his fifth season, Yao was injured again, this time breaking his right knee on December 23, 2006, while attempting to block a shot. Up to that point he had been averaging 26.8 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game, and had been mentioned as an MVP candidate. Yao was unable to play in what would have been his fifth All-Star game; he was medically cleared to play on March 4, 2007, after missing 32 games.
Despite Yao's absence, the Rockets made the playoffs with the home court advantage against the Utah Jazz in the first round. The Rockets won the first two games, but then lost four of five games and were eliminated in Game 7 at home; Yao scored 29 points—15 in the fourth quarter. Although he averaged 25.1 points and 10.3 rebounds for the series, Yao said afterwards "I didn't do my job". At the end of the season, Yao was selected to the All-NBA Second Team for the first time in his career, after being selected to the All-NBA Third Team twice.
On May 18, 2007, only weeks after the Rockets were eliminated from the playoffs, Jeff Van Gundy was dismissed as head coach. Three days later, the Rockets signed former Sacramento Kings coach Rick Adelman, who was thought to focus more on offense than the defensive-minded Van Gundy.
On November 9, 2007, Yao played against fellow Chinese NBA and Milwaukee Bucks player Yi Jianlian for the first time. The game, which the Rockets won 104–88, was broadcast on 19 networks in China, and was watched by over 200 million people in China alone, making it one of the most-watched NBA games in history. In the 2008 NBA All-Star Game, Yao was once again voted to start at center for the Western Conference. Before the All-Star weekend, the Rockets had won eight straight games, and after the break, they took their win streak to 12 games. On February 26, 2008, however, it was reported that Yao would miss the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his left foot. He missed the 2008 NBA playoffs, but he did not miss the 2008 Summer Olympics at Beijing, China in August. After Yao's injury, the Rockets stretched their winning streak to 22 games, at the time the second-longest such streak in NBA history. Yao underwent a successful operation on March 3, which placed screws in his foot to strengthen the bone, and recovery time was estimated at four months. Yao's final averages in 55 games were 22.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks a game.
The next season, Yao played 77 games, his first full season since the 2004–05 season, and averaged 19.7 points and 9.9 rebounds, while shooting 54.8% from the field, and a career-high 86.6% from the free throw line. Despite McGrady suffering a season-ending injury in February, the Rockets finished with 53 wins and the fifth seed in the Western Conference. Facing the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round, Yao finished with 24 points on 9-of-9 shooting in the first game, and the Rockets won 108–81, in Portland. The Rockets won all their games in Houston, and advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1997, and the first time in Yao's career.
The Rockets faced the Lakers in the second round, and Yao scored 28 points, with 8 points in the final four minutes, to lead the Rockets to a 100–92 win in Los Angeles. However, the Rockets lost their next two games, and Yao was diagnosed with a sprained ankle after Game 3. A follow-up test revealed a hairline fracture in his left foot, and he was ruled out for the remainder of the playoffs. In reaction, Yao said the injury, which did not require surgery, was "better than last year". However, follow-up analysis indicated that the injury could be career threatening. The Yao-less Rockets went on to win Game 4 against the Lakers to even the series 2–2. The Rockets eventually lost the series in seven games.
In July 2009, Yao discussed the injury with his doctors, and the Rockets applied for a disabled player exception, an exception to the NBA salary cap which grants the injured player's team money to sign a free agent. The Rockets were granted the exception, and used approximately $5.7 million on free agent Trevor Ariza. After weeks of consulting, it was decided that Yao would undergo surgery in order to repair the broken bone in his left foot. He did not play the entire 2009–10 season.
For the 2010–11 season, the Rockets said they would limit Yao to 24 minutes a game, with no plan to play him on back-to-back nights. Their goal was to keep Yao healthy in the long term. On December 16, 2010, it was announced that Yao had developed a stress fracture in his left ankle, related to an older injury, and would miss the rest of the season. In January 2011, he was voted as the Western Conference starting center for the 2011 All-Star Game for the eighth time in nine seasons. Injured All-Stars are usually required to attend the All-Star functions and to be introduced at the game, but Yao was not in Los Angeles because of his rehabilitation schedule after his surgery. Yao's contract with the Rockets expired at the end of the season, and he became a free agent.
Retirement
On July 20, 2011, Yao announced his retirement from basketball in a press conference in Shanghai. He cited injuries to his foot and ankle, including the third fracture to his left foot sustained near the end of 2010. His retirement sparked over 1.2 million comments on the Chinese social-networking site Sina Weibo. Reacting to Yao's retirement, NBA commissioner David Stern said Yao was a "bridge between Chinese and American fans" and that he had "a wonderful mixture of talent, dedication, humanitarian aspirations and a sense of humor." Shaquille O'Neal said Yao "was very agile. He could play inside, he could play outside, and if he didn't have those injuries he could've been up there in the top five centers to ever play the game."
Yao was nominated by a member of the Chinese media for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor to the game. He would have been eligible for induction as early as 2012, but Yao felt it was too soon and requested that the Hall of Fame delay consideration of the nomination. The Hall granted Yao's request, and said it was Yao's decision when the process would be restarted.
On September 9, 2016, Yao was inducted into the Hall of Fame along with 4-time NBA champion Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson. Continuing with the honours, on February 3, 2017, Yao's Number 11 jersey was retired by the Houston Rockets.
National team career
2000 and 2004 Olympics
Yao first played for China in the 2000 Summer Olympics, and he was dubbed, together with teammates Wang Zhizhi and Mengke Bateer, "The Walking Great Wall". During the 2004 Athens Olympics, Yao carried the Chinese flag during the opening ceremony, which he said was a "long dream come true". He then vowed to abstain from shaving his beard for half a year unless the Chinese national team made it into the quarter-finals of the 2004 Olympics. After Yao scored 39 points in a win against New Zealand, China lost 58–83, 57–82, and 52–89 against Spain, Argentina and Italy respectively. In the final group game, however, a 67–66 win over the reigning 2002 FIBA World Champions Serbia and Montenegro moved them into the quarterfinals. Yao scored 27 points and had 13 rebounds, and he hit two free throws with 28 seconds left that proved to be the winning margin. He averaged 20.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game while shooting 55.9% from the field.
Asian Cup
Yao led the Chinese national team to three consecutive FIBA Asia Cup gold medals, winning the 2001 FIBA Asian Championship, the 2003 FIBA Asian Championship, and the 2005 FIBA Asian Championship. He was also named the MVP of all three tournaments.
2006 World Championship
Yao's injury at the end of the 2005–06 NBA season required a full six months of rest, threatening his participation in the 2006 FIBA World Championship. However, he recovered before the start of the tournament, and in the last game of the preliminary round, he had 36 points and 10 rebounds in a win against Slovenia to lead China into the Round of 16. In the first knockout round, however, China was defeated by eventual finalist Greece. Yao's final averages were 25.3 points, the most in the tournament, and 9.0 rebounds a game, which was fourth overall.
2008 Olympics
After having surgery to repair his fractured foot, Yao stated if he could not play in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, "It would be the biggest loss in my career to right now." He returned to play with the Chinese national team on July 17, 2008. On August 6, Yao carried the Olympic flame into Tiananmen Square, as part of the Olympic torch relay. He also carried the Chinese flag and led his country's delegation during the opening ceremony. Yao scored the first basket of the game, a three-pointer, in China's opening 2008 Olympics Basketball Tournament game against the eventual gold medal-winning United States.
"I was just really happy to make that shot", Yao said after the Americans' 101–70 victory. "It was the first score in our Olympic campaign here at home and I'll always remember it. It represents that we can keep our heads up in the face of really tough odds."
Following an overtime defeat to Spain, Yao scored 30 points in a win over Angola, and 25 points in a three-point win against Germany, which clinched China's place in the quarterfinals. However, China lost to Lithuania in the quarterfinals by 26 points, eliminating them from the tournament. Yao's 19 points a game were the second-highest in the Olympics, and his averages of 8.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game were third overall.
Career statistics
CBA statistics
NBA statistics
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* ||72||29.0||.498||.500||.811||8.2||1.7||.4||1.8||13.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| style="background:#cfecec;"| 82*|| style="background:#cfecec;"|82*||32.8||.522||.000||.809||9.0||1.5||.3||1.9||17.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 80||80||30.6||.552||.000||.783||8.4||.8||.4||2.0||18.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 57||57||34.2||.519||.000||.853||10.2||1.5||.5||1.6||22.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 48||48||33.8||.516||.000||.862||9.4||2.0||.4||2.0||25.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 55||55||37.2||.507||.000||.850||10.8||2.3||.5||2.0||22.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 77||77||33.6||.548||1.000||.866||9.9||1.8||.4||1.9||19.7
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 5||5||18.2||.486||.000||.938||5.4||.8||.0||1.6||10.2
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career
| 486||476||32.5||.524||.200||.833||9.2||1.6||.4||1.9||19.0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| All-Star
| 6||6||17.0||.500||.000||.667||4.0||1.3||.2||.3||7.0
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2004
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 5||5||37.0||.456||.000||.765||7.4||1.8||.4||1.4||15.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2005
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 7||7||31.4||.655||.000||.727||7.7||.7||.3||2.7||21.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2007
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 7||7||37.1||.440||.000||.880||10.3||.9||.1||.7||25.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2009
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 9||9||35.9||.545||.000||.902||10.9||1.0||.4||1.2||17.1
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career
| 28||28||35.3||.519||.000||.833||9.3||1.0||.3||1.5||19.8
Awards and achievements
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: Class of 2016
8× NBA All-Star: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011
5× All-NBA Team:
Second Team: 2007, 2009
Third Team: 2004, 2006, 2008
NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2003
NBA Rookie All-Star Game: 2004
Gold medal winner with Team China at the 2001, 2003, and 2005 FIBA Asia Cups
MVP of the 2001, 2003, 2005 FIBA Asia Cups
FIBA Diamond Ball Top Scorer: 2004
All-Tournament Team, FIBA World Cup: 2002
Chinese Basketball Association Champion: 2001–02
Rebounding leader in CBA in 2001–02
2003 Sporting News Rookie of the Year
2003 Laureus Newcomer of the Year
2005 Proletarian Award, issued by the Chinese Communist Party
Personal life
After Yao announced that he would enter the 2002 NBA draft, he told one American journalist that he had been studying English for two years, and that he liked the movie Star Wars but disliked hip hop. He was sometimes accompanied during interviews in Shanghai by one of his parents, whose basketball careers were derailed by the 1966–76 Cultural Revolution, and who came to his Shanghai Sharks games on bicycles.
Yao met Chinese female basketball player Ye Li when he was 17 years old. Ye was not fond of Yao at first, but finally accepted him after he gave her the team pins he had collected during the 2000 Summer Olympics. She is the only woman he has ever dated. Their relationship became public when they appeared together during the 2004 Olympics closing ceremony. On August 6, 2007, Yao and Ye married in a ceremony attended by close friends and family and closed to the media. On May 21, 2010, the couple's daughter Yao Qinlei (whose English name is Amy) was born in Houston, Texas.
In 2004, Yao co-wrote an autobiography with ESPN sportswriter Ric Bucher, entitled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds. In the same year, he was also the subject of a documentary film, The Year of the Yao, which focuses on his NBA rookie year. The film is narrated by his friend and interpreter, Colin Pine. In 2005, former Newsweek writer Brook Larmer published a book entitled Operation Yao Ming, in which he said that Yao's parents were convinced to marry each other so that they would produce a dominant athlete, and that during Yao's childhood, he was given special treatment to help him become a great basketball player. In a 2015 AMA post on Reddit, Yao stated that this was not true and that he started playing basketball for fun at age 9. In 2009, Yao provided the voice for a character of a Chinese animated film, The Magic Aster, released on June 19.
Yao enrolled at the Antai College of Economics & Management of Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2011. He took a tailored degree program with mostly one-on-one lectures to avoid being a distraction on campus. Yao completed his studies in July 2018, graduating with a degree in economics after 7 years of study.
In 2016, Yao opened a winery called Yao Family Wines in Napa Valley, California, which serves Cabernet Sauvignon blends and "the kind of rich-but-balanced luxury reds he'd come to enjoy in Houston steakhouses." American wine critic Robert M. Parker Jr. of The Wine Advocate gave Yao's wine a ranking of 96 points and wrote: "I am aware of all the arguments that major celebrities lending their names to wines is generally a formula for mediocrity, but... the two Cabernets are actually brilliant, and the reserve bottling ranks alongside just about anything made in Napa."
Other activities
Commercial engagements
Yao is one of China's most recognizable athletes, along with Liu Xiang. As of 2009, he had led Forbes' Chinese celebrities list in income and popularity for six straight years, earning US$51 million (CN¥357 million) in 2008. A major part of his income comes from his sponsorship deals, as he is under contract with several major companies to endorse their products. He was signed by Nike until the end of his rookie season. When Nike decided not to renew his contract, he signed with Reebok. He also had a deal with Pepsi, and he successfully sued Coca-Cola in 2003 when they used his image on their bottles while promoting the national team. He eventually signed with Coca-Cola for the 2008 Olympics. His other deals include partnerships with Visa, Apple, Garmin, and McDonald's.
On July 16, 2009, Yao bought his former club team, the Shanghai Sharks, which were on the verge of not being able to play the next season of the Chinese Basketball Association because of financial troubles.
Philanthropy
Yao has also participated in many charity events during his career, including the NBA's Basketball Without Borders program. In the NBA's offseason in 2003, Yao hosted a telethon, which raised US$300,000 to help stop the spread of SARS. In September 2007, he held an auction that raised US$965,000 (CN¥6.75 million), and competed in a charity basketball match to raise money for underprivileged children in China. He was joined by fellow NBA stars Steve Nash, Carmelo Anthony, and Baron Davis, and Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan. After the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Yao donated $2 million to relief work and created the Yao Ming Foundation to help rebuild schools destroyed in the earthquake.
Yao has also been a dedicated supporter of Special Olympics. He serves as Global Ambassador and member of the International Board of Directors.
Conservation work
In August 2012, Yao started filming a documentary about the northern white rhinoceros. He is also an ambassador for elephant conservation. In 2014, he was also part of the documentary The End of the Wild about elephant conservation. Yao has filmed a number of public service announcements for elephant and rhino conservation for the "Say No" campaign with partners African Wildlife Foundation and WildAid.
Politics
On March 3, 2013, Yao attended the First Session of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference as one of its 2,200 members. He was a member of the CPPCC from 2013 to 2018. While he is involved in Chinese politics, he is not a member of the Chinese Communist Party, although he has been awarded the Proletarian Award by the party for his spreading of literacy and socialist ideologies.
See also
List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
List of tallest players in National Basketball Association history
References
External links
The Yao Ming Foundation official website
1980 births
Living people
2002 FIBA World Championship players
2006 FIBA World Championship players
Asian Games medalists in basketball
Asian Games silver medalists for China
Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2002 Asian Games
Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Basketball players from Shanghai
Centers (basketball)
Chinese Basketball Association executives
Chinese expatriate basketball people in the United States
Chinese men's basketball players
Chinese philanthropists
Houston Rockets draft picks
Houston Rockets players
Laureus World Sports Awards winners
Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games
Members of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
National Basketball Association All-Stars
National Basketball Association players from China
Olympic basketball players of China
Shanghai Jiao Tong University alumni
Shanghai Sharks players | false | [
"Lee Yoo-yeon (; born September 4, 2000) is a South Korean swimmer specialized in freestyle.\n\nCareer\nIn October 2018, he represented South Korea at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He competed in 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle and mixed 4 × 100m freestyle relay events. In the 50m freestyle heats event, he completed at rank 9, allowing him to advance to compete in the semifinal. In the 50m freestyle semifinal event, he completed at rank 8 with Robin Hanson. In semifinal swim-off against Robin, he completed at rank 2 hence did not advance to compete in the final. In the 100m freestyle heats event, he completed at rank 1, allowing him to advance to compete in the semifinal. In the 100m freestyle semifinal event, he completed at rank 3, allowing him to compete in the final which he completed at rank 5. In the 200m freestyle heats event, he completed at rank 7, allowing him to compete in the final which he completed at rank 8. In the freestyle relay event, the team did not advance to compete in the final.\n\nIn July 2019, he represented South Korea at the 2019 Summer Universiade held in Naples, Italy. He competed in the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 4 × 100m freestyle relay, 4 × 200m freestyle relay and 4 × 100m medley relay at the . In the same month, he represented South Korea at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships. He competed in 4 × 200m freestyle relay, the team did not advance to compete in the final and qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics which are awarded to top 12 teams in the standings.\n\nIn July 2021, he represented South Korea at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. He competed in 4 × 200m freestyle relay event. The team did not advance to compete in the final.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n ()\n\n2000 births\nLiving people\nSouth Korean male freestyle swimmers\nSwimmers at the 2020 Summer Olympics\nOlympic swimmers of South Korea\nPeople from Anyang, Gyeonggi\nSwimmers at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics",
"Lee Ho-joon (; born February 14, 2001) is a South Korean swimmer.\n\nCareer\nIn July 2021, he represented South Korea at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. He competed in the 400m freestyle and 4 × 200m freestyle relay events. In the freestyle event, he did not advance to compete in the semifinal. In the freestyle relay event, the team did not advance to compete in the final.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n\n2001 births\nLiving people\nSwimmers from Seoul\nSportspeople from Daegu\nSwimmers at the 2020 Summer Olympics\nSouth Korean male freestyle swimmers\nOlympic swimmers of South Korea"
] |
[
"Yao Ming",
"Entering the NBA draft",
"Who did he draft for?",
"NBA",
"What team was he part of?",
"Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent.",
"What else did he do outside of the NBA?",
"Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China,",
"Did he compete in the olympics?",
"I don't know."
] | C_4150a50a54b545ae8a4b88b70315a298_1 | What else did he do during this article? | 5 | What else did Yao Ming do during this article besides playing NBA? | Yao Ming | Yao was pressured to enter the NBA draft in 1999 by Li Yaomin, the deputy general manager of the Shanghai Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent. The agreement entitled Evergreen to 33% of Yao's earnings, but the contract was later determined to be invalid. When Yao decided to enter the 2002 NBA draft, a group of advisers was formed that came to be known as "Team Yao". The team consisted of Yao's negotiator, Erik Zhang; his NBA agent, Bill Duffy; his Chinese agent, Lu Hao; University of Chicago economics professor John Huizinga; and the vice president for marketing at BDA Sports Management, Bill Sanders. Yao was widely predicted to be picked number one overall. However, some teams were concerned about Yao's NBA eligibility because of uncertainty over whether the CBA would let Yao play in the United States. Shortly after Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China, the CBA stipulated that Yao would have to return to play for the national team. They also said they would not let him go to the United States unless the Houston Rockets would take him first overall. After assurances from Team Yao that the Rockets would draft Yao with their number one pick, the CBA gave permission on the morning of the draft for Yao to play in the U.S. When the Rockets selected Yao with the first pick of the draft, he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S. college basketball. CANNOTANSWER | Yao with the first pick of the draft, he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S. college basketball. | Yao Ming (; born September 12, 1980) is a Chinese basketball executive and former professional player. He played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Yao was selected to start for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game eight times, and was named to the All-NBA Team five times. During his final season, he was the tallest active player in the NBA, at .
Yao, who was born in Shanghai, started playing for the Sharks as a teenager, and played on their senior team for five years in the CBA, winning a championship in his final year. After negotiating with the CBA and the Sharks to secure his release, Yao was selected by the Rockets as the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft. He reached the NBA playoffs four times, and the Rockets won the first-round series in the 2009 postseason, their first playoff series victory since 1997. In July 2011, Yao announced his retirement from professional basketball because of a series of foot and ankle injuries which forced him to miss 250 games in his last six seasons. In eight seasons with the Rockets, Yao ranks sixth among franchise leaders in total points and total rebounds, and second in total blocks.
Yao is one of China's best-known athletes, with sponsorships with several major companies. His rookie year in the NBA was the subject of a documentary film, The Year of the Yao, and he co-wrote, along with NBA analyst Ric Bucher, an autobiography titled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds. Known in China as the "Yao Ming Phenomenon" and in the United States as the "Ming Dynasty", Yao's success in the NBA, and his popularity among fans, made him a symbol of a new China that was both more modern and more confident.
In April 2016, Yao was elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame, alongside Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson. In February 2017, Yao was unanimously elected as chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association.
Early life
Yao is the only child of Yao Zhiyuan and Fang Fengdi, both of whom were former professional basketball players. At , Yao weighed more than twice as much as the average Chinese newborn. When Yao was nine years old, he began playing basketball and attended a junior sports school. The following year, Yao measured and was examined by sports doctors, who predicted he would grow to .
Professional career
Shanghai Sharks (1997–2002)
Yao first tried out for the Shanghai Sharks junior team of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) when he was 13 years old, and practiced ten hours a day for his acceptance. After playing with the junior team for four years, Yao joined the senior team of the Sharks, where he averaged 10 points and 8 rebounds a game in his rookie season. His next season was cut short when he broke his foot for the second time in his career, which Yao said decreased his jumping ability by four to six inches (10 to 15 cm). The Sharks made the finals of the CBA in Yao's third season and again the next year, but lost both times to the Bayi Rockets. When Wang Zhizhi left the Bayi Rockets to become the first NBA player from China the following year, the Sharks finally won their first CBA championship. During the playoffs in his final year with Shanghai, Yao averaged 38.9 points and 20.2 rebounds a game, while shooting 76.6% from the field, and made all 21 of his shots during one game in the finals.
Houston Rockets (2002–2011)
Yao was pressured to enter the NBA draft in 1999 by Li Yaomin, the deputy general manager of the Shanghai Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent. The agreement entitled Evergreen to 33% of Yao's earnings, but the contract was later determined to be invalid.
As American attention on Yao grew, Chinese authorities also took interest. In 2002, the Chinese government released new regulations that would require him and other Chinese players to turn over half of any NBA earnings to the government and China's national basketball association, including endorsements as well as salaries.
When Yao decided to enter the 2002 NBA draft, a group of advisers was formed that came to be known as "Team Yao". The team consisted of Yao's negotiator, Erik Zhang; his NBA agent, Bill Duffy; his Chinese agent, Lu Hao; University of Chicago economics professor John Huizinga; and the vice president for marketing at BDA Sports Management, Bill Sanders. Yao was widely predicted to be picked number one overall. However, some teams were concerned about Yao's NBA eligibility because of uncertainty over whether the CBA would let Yao play in the United States.
Shortly after Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China, the CBA stipulated that Yao would have to return to play for the national team. They also said they would not let him go to the United States unless the Houston Rockets would take him first overall. After assurances from Team Yao that the Rockets would draft Yao with their number one pick, the CBA gave permission on the morning of the draft for Yao to play in the U.S. When the Rockets selected Yao with the first pick of the draft, he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S. college basketball.
Beginning years (2002–2005)
Yao did not participate in the Rockets' pre-season training camp, instead playing for China in the 2002 FIBA World Championships. Before the season, several commentators, including Bill Simmons and Dick Vitale, predicted that Yao would fail in the NBA, and Charles Barkley said he would "kiss Kenny Smith's ass" if Yao scored more than 19 points in one of his rookie-season games. Yao played his first NBA game against the Indiana Pacers, scoring no points and grabbing two rebounds, and scored his first NBA basket against the Denver Nuggets. In his first seven games, he averaged only 14 minutes and 4 points, but on November 17, he scored 20 points on a perfect 9-of-9 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line against the Lakers. Barkley made good on his bet by kissing the buttock of a donkey purchased by Smith for the occasion (Smith's "ass").
In Yao's first game in Miami on December 16, 2002, the Heat passed out 8,000 fortune cookies, an East Asian cultural stereotype. Yao was not angry with the promotion because he was not familiar with American stereotypes of Chinese. In an earlier interview in 2000, Yao said he had never seen a fortune cookie in China and guessed it must have been an American invention.
Before Yao's first meeting with Shaquille O'Neal on January 17, 2003, O'Neal said, "Tell Yao Ming, ching chong-yang-wah-ah-soh", prompting accusations of racism. O'Neal denied that his comments were racist, and said he was only joking. Yao also said he believed O'Neal was joking, but he said a lot of Asians would not see the humor. In the game, Yao scored the Rockets' first six points of the game and blocked O'Neal twice in the opening minutes as well as altering two other shots by O'Neal, all 4 of those attempts coming right at the rim, and made a game-sealing dunk with 10 seconds left in overtime. Yao finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 blocks; O'Neal recorded 31 points, 13 rebounds, and 0 blocks. O'Neal later expressed regret for the way he treated Yao early in his career.
The NBA began offering All-Star ballots in three languages—English, Spanish and Chinese—for fan voting of the starters for the 2003 NBA All-Star Game. Yao was voted to start for the West over O'Neal, who was coming off three consecutive NBA Finals MVP Awards. Yao received nearly a quarter million more votes than O'Neal, and he became the first rookie to start in the All-Star Game since Grant Hill in 1995.
Yao finished his rookie season averaging 13.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, and was second in the NBA Rookie of the Year Award voting to Amar'e Stoudemire, and a unanimous pick for the NBA All-Rookie First Team selection. He was also voted the Sporting News Rookie of the Year, and won the Laureus Newcomer of the Year award.
Before the start of Yao's sophomore season, Rockets' head coach Rudy Tomjanovich resigned because of health issues, and long-time New York Knicks head coach Jeff Van Gundy was brought in. After Van Gundy began focusing the offense on Yao, Yao averaged career highs in points and rebounds for the season, and had a career-high 41 points and 7 assists in a triple-overtime win against the Atlanta Hawks in February 2004. He was also voted to be the starting center for the Western Conference in the 2004 NBA All-Star Game for the second straight year. Yao finished the season averaging 17.5 points and 9.0 rebounds a game. The Rockets made the playoffs for the first time in Yao's career, claiming the seventh seed in the Western Conference. In the first round, however, the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated Houston in five games. Yao averaged 15.0 points and 7.4 rebounds in his first playoff series.
In the summer of 2004, the Rockets acquired Tracy McGrady from the Orlando Magic in a seven-player trade that also sent Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley to Orlando. Although Yao said that Francis and Mobley had "helped [him] in every way [his] first two seasons", he added, "I'm excited about playing with Tracy McGrady. He can do some amazing things." After the trade, it was predicted that the Rockets would be title contenders. Both McGrady and Yao were voted to start in the 2005 NBA All-Star Game, and Yao broke the record previously held by Michael Jordan for most All-Star votes, with 2,558,278 total votes. The Rockets won 51 games and finished fifth in the West, and made the playoffs for the second consecutive year, where they faced the Dallas Mavericks. The Rockets won the first two games in Dallas, and Yao made 13 of 14 shots in the second game, the best shooting performance in the playoffs in Rockets history. However, the Rockets lost four of their last five games and lost Game 7 by 40 points, the largest Game 7 deficit in NBA history. Yao's final averages for the series were 21.4 points on 65% shooting and 7.7 rebounds.
Injury-plagued seasons (2005–2011)
After missing only two games out of 246 in his first three years of NBA play, Yao endured an extended period on the inactive list in his fourth season after developing osteomyelitis in the big toe on his left foot, and surgery was performed on the toe on December 18, 2005. Despite missing 21 games while recovering, Yao again had the most fan votes to start the 2006 NBA All-Star Game.
In 25 games after the All-Star break, Yao averaged 25.7 points and 11.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 53.7% from the field and 87.8% at the free-throw line. His final averages in 57 games were 22.3 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. It was the first time that he ended the season with a so-called "20/10" average. However, Tracy McGrady played only 47 games in the season, missing time because of back spasms. Yao and McGrady played only 31 games together, and the Rockets did not make the playoffs, winning only 34 games. With only four games left in the season, Yao suffered another injury in a game against the Utah Jazz on April 10, 2006, which left him with a broken bone in his left foot. The injury required six months of rest.
Early into his fifth season, Yao was injured again, this time breaking his right knee on December 23, 2006, while attempting to block a shot. Up to that point he had been averaging 26.8 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game, and had been mentioned as an MVP candidate. Yao was unable to play in what would have been his fifth All-Star game; he was medically cleared to play on March 4, 2007, after missing 32 games.
Despite Yao's absence, the Rockets made the playoffs with the home court advantage against the Utah Jazz in the first round. The Rockets won the first two games, but then lost four of five games and were eliminated in Game 7 at home; Yao scored 29 points—15 in the fourth quarter. Although he averaged 25.1 points and 10.3 rebounds for the series, Yao said afterwards "I didn't do my job". At the end of the season, Yao was selected to the All-NBA Second Team for the first time in his career, after being selected to the All-NBA Third Team twice.
On May 18, 2007, only weeks after the Rockets were eliminated from the playoffs, Jeff Van Gundy was dismissed as head coach. Three days later, the Rockets signed former Sacramento Kings coach Rick Adelman, who was thought to focus more on offense than the defensive-minded Van Gundy.
On November 9, 2007, Yao played against fellow Chinese NBA and Milwaukee Bucks player Yi Jianlian for the first time. The game, which the Rockets won 104–88, was broadcast on 19 networks in China, and was watched by over 200 million people in China alone, making it one of the most-watched NBA games in history. In the 2008 NBA All-Star Game, Yao was once again voted to start at center for the Western Conference. Before the All-Star weekend, the Rockets had won eight straight games, and after the break, they took their win streak to 12 games. On February 26, 2008, however, it was reported that Yao would miss the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his left foot. He missed the 2008 NBA playoffs, but he did not miss the 2008 Summer Olympics at Beijing, China in August. After Yao's injury, the Rockets stretched their winning streak to 22 games, at the time the second-longest such streak in NBA history. Yao underwent a successful operation on March 3, which placed screws in his foot to strengthen the bone, and recovery time was estimated at four months. Yao's final averages in 55 games were 22.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks a game.
The next season, Yao played 77 games, his first full season since the 2004–05 season, and averaged 19.7 points and 9.9 rebounds, while shooting 54.8% from the field, and a career-high 86.6% from the free throw line. Despite McGrady suffering a season-ending injury in February, the Rockets finished with 53 wins and the fifth seed in the Western Conference. Facing the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round, Yao finished with 24 points on 9-of-9 shooting in the first game, and the Rockets won 108–81, in Portland. The Rockets won all their games in Houston, and advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1997, and the first time in Yao's career.
The Rockets faced the Lakers in the second round, and Yao scored 28 points, with 8 points in the final four minutes, to lead the Rockets to a 100–92 win in Los Angeles. However, the Rockets lost their next two games, and Yao was diagnosed with a sprained ankle after Game 3. A follow-up test revealed a hairline fracture in his left foot, and he was ruled out for the remainder of the playoffs. In reaction, Yao said the injury, which did not require surgery, was "better than last year". However, follow-up analysis indicated that the injury could be career threatening. The Yao-less Rockets went on to win Game 4 against the Lakers to even the series 2–2. The Rockets eventually lost the series in seven games.
In July 2009, Yao discussed the injury with his doctors, and the Rockets applied for a disabled player exception, an exception to the NBA salary cap which grants the injured player's team money to sign a free agent. The Rockets were granted the exception, and used approximately $5.7 million on free agent Trevor Ariza. After weeks of consulting, it was decided that Yao would undergo surgery in order to repair the broken bone in his left foot. He did not play the entire 2009–10 season.
For the 2010–11 season, the Rockets said they would limit Yao to 24 minutes a game, with no plan to play him on back-to-back nights. Their goal was to keep Yao healthy in the long term. On December 16, 2010, it was announced that Yao had developed a stress fracture in his left ankle, related to an older injury, and would miss the rest of the season. In January 2011, he was voted as the Western Conference starting center for the 2011 All-Star Game for the eighth time in nine seasons. Injured All-Stars are usually required to attend the All-Star functions and to be introduced at the game, but Yao was not in Los Angeles because of his rehabilitation schedule after his surgery. Yao's contract with the Rockets expired at the end of the season, and he became a free agent.
Retirement
On July 20, 2011, Yao announced his retirement from basketball in a press conference in Shanghai. He cited injuries to his foot and ankle, including the third fracture to his left foot sustained near the end of 2010. His retirement sparked over 1.2 million comments on the Chinese social-networking site Sina Weibo. Reacting to Yao's retirement, NBA commissioner David Stern said Yao was a "bridge between Chinese and American fans" and that he had "a wonderful mixture of talent, dedication, humanitarian aspirations and a sense of humor." Shaquille O'Neal said Yao "was very agile. He could play inside, he could play outside, and if he didn't have those injuries he could've been up there in the top five centers to ever play the game."
Yao was nominated by a member of the Chinese media for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor to the game. He would have been eligible for induction as early as 2012, but Yao felt it was too soon and requested that the Hall of Fame delay consideration of the nomination. The Hall granted Yao's request, and said it was Yao's decision when the process would be restarted.
On September 9, 2016, Yao was inducted into the Hall of Fame along with 4-time NBA champion Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson. Continuing with the honours, on February 3, 2017, Yao's Number 11 jersey was retired by the Houston Rockets.
National team career
2000 and 2004 Olympics
Yao first played for China in the 2000 Summer Olympics, and he was dubbed, together with teammates Wang Zhizhi and Mengke Bateer, "The Walking Great Wall". During the 2004 Athens Olympics, Yao carried the Chinese flag during the opening ceremony, which he said was a "long dream come true". He then vowed to abstain from shaving his beard for half a year unless the Chinese national team made it into the quarter-finals of the 2004 Olympics. After Yao scored 39 points in a win against New Zealand, China lost 58–83, 57–82, and 52–89 against Spain, Argentina and Italy respectively. In the final group game, however, a 67–66 win over the reigning 2002 FIBA World Champions Serbia and Montenegro moved them into the quarterfinals. Yao scored 27 points and had 13 rebounds, and he hit two free throws with 28 seconds left that proved to be the winning margin. He averaged 20.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game while shooting 55.9% from the field.
Asian Cup
Yao led the Chinese national team to three consecutive FIBA Asia Cup gold medals, winning the 2001 FIBA Asian Championship, the 2003 FIBA Asian Championship, and the 2005 FIBA Asian Championship. He was also named the MVP of all three tournaments.
2006 World Championship
Yao's injury at the end of the 2005–06 NBA season required a full six months of rest, threatening his participation in the 2006 FIBA World Championship. However, he recovered before the start of the tournament, and in the last game of the preliminary round, he had 36 points and 10 rebounds in a win against Slovenia to lead China into the Round of 16. In the first knockout round, however, China was defeated by eventual finalist Greece. Yao's final averages were 25.3 points, the most in the tournament, and 9.0 rebounds a game, which was fourth overall.
2008 Olympics
After having surgery to repair his fractured foot, Yao stated if he could not play in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, "It would be the biggest loss in my career to right now." He returned to play with the Chinese national team on July 17, 2008. On August 6, Yao carried the Olympic flame into Tiananmen Square, as part of the Olympic torch relay. He also carried the Chinese flag and led his country's delegation during the opening ceremony. Yao scored the first basket of the game, a three-pointer, in China's opening 2008 Olympics Basketball Tournament game against the eventual gold medal-winning United States.
"I was just really happy to make that shot", Yao said after the Americans' 101–70 victory. "It was the first score in our Olympic campaign here at home and I'll always remember it. It represents that we can keep our heads up in the face of really tough odds."
Following an overtime defeat to Spain, Yao scored 30 points in a win over Angola, and 25 points in a three-point win against Germany, which clinched China's place in the quarterfinals. However, China lost to Lithuania in the quarterfinals by 26 points, eliminating them from the tournament. Yao's 19 points a game were the second-highest in the Olympics, and his averages of 8.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game were third overall.
Career statistics
CBA statistics
NBA statistics
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* ||72||29.0||.498||.500||.811||8.2||1.7||.4||1.8||13.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| style="background:#cfecec;"| 82*|| style="background:#cfecec;"|82*||32.8||.522||.000||.809||9.0||1.5||.3||1.9||17.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 80||80||30.6||.552||.000||.783||8.4||.8||.4||2.0||18.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 57||57||34.2||.519||.000||.853||10.2||1.5||.5||1.6||22.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 48||48||33.8||.516||.000||.862||9.4||2.0||.4||2.0||25.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 55||55||37.2||.507||.000||.850||10.8||2.3||.5||2.0||22.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 77||77||33.6||.548||1.000||.866||9.9||1.8||.4||1.9||19.7
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 5||5||18.2||.486||.000||.938||5.4||.8||.0||1.6||10.2
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career
| 486||476||32.5||.524||.200||.833||9.2||1.6||.4||1.9||19.0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| All-Star
| 6||6||17.0||.500||.000||.667||4.0||1.3||.2||.3||7.0
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2004
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 5||5||37.0||.456||.000||.765||7.4||1.8||.4||1.4||15.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2005
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 7||7||31.4||.655||.000||.727||7.7||.7||.3||2.7||21.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2007
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 7||7||37.1||.440||.000||.880||10.3||.9||.1||.7||25.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2009
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 9||9||35.9||.545||.000||.902||10.9||1.0||.4||1.2||17.1
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career
| 28||28||35.3||.519||.000||.833||9.3||1.0||.3||1.5||19.8
Awards and achievements
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: Class of 2016
8× NBA All-Star: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011
5× All-NBA Team:
Second Team: 2007, 2009
Third Team: 2004, 2006, 2008
NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2003
NBA Rookie All-Star Game: 2004
Gold medal winner with Team China at the 2001, 2003, and 2005 FIBA Asia Cups
MVP of the 2001, 2003, 2005 FIBA Asia Cups
FIBA Diamond Ball Top Scorer: 2004
All-Tournament Team, FIBA World Cup: 2002
Chinese Basketball Association Champion: 2001–02
Rebounding leader in CBA in 2001–02
2003 Sporting News Rookie of the Year
2003 Laureus Newcomer of the Year
2005 Proletarian Award, issued by the Chinese Communist Party
Personal life
After Yao announced that he would enter the 2002 NBA draft, he told one American journalist that he had been studying English for two years, and that he liked the movie Star Wars but disliked hip hop. He was sometimes accompanied during interviews in Shanghai by one of his parents, whose basketball careers were derailed by the 1966–76 Cultural Revolution, and who came to his Shanghai Sharks games on bicycles.
Yao met Chinese female basketball player Ye Li when he was 17 years old. Ye was not fond of Yao at first, but finally accepted him after he gave her the team pins he had collected during the 2000 Summer Olympics. She is the only woman he has ever dated. Their relationship became public when they appeared together during the 2004 Olympics closing ceremony. On August 6, 2007, Yao and Ye married in a ceremony attended by close friends and family and closed to the media. On May 21, 2010, the couple's daughter Yao Qinlei (whose English name is Amy) was born in Houston, Texas.
In 2004, Yao co-wrote an autobiography with ESPN sportswriter Ric Bucher, entitled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds. In the same year, he was also the subject of a documentary film, The Year of the Yao, which focuses on his NBA rookie year. The film is narrated by his friend and interpreter, Colin Pine. In 2005, former Newsweek writer Brook Larmer published a book entitled Operation Yao Ming, in which he said that Yao's parents were convinced to marry each other so that they would produce a dominant athlete, and that during Yao's childhood, he was given special treatment to help him become a great basketball player. In a 2015 AMA post on Reddit, Yao stated that this was not true and that he started playing basketball for fun at age 9. In 2009, Yao provided the voice for a character of a Chinese animated film, The Magic Aster, released on June 19.
Yao enrolled at the Antai College of Economics & Management of Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2011. He took a tailored degree program with mostly one-on-one lectures to avoid being a distraction on campus. Yao completed his studies in July 2018, graduating with a degree in economics after 7 years of study.
In 2016, Yao opened a winery called Yao Family Wines in Napa Valley, California, which serves Cabernet Sauvignon blends and "the kind of rich-but-balanced luxury reds he'd come to enjoy in Houston steakhouses." American wine critic Robert M. Parker Jr. of The Wine Advocate gave Yao's wine a ranking of 96 points and wrote: "I am aware of all the arguments that major celebrities lending their names to wines is generally a formula for mediocrity, but... the two Cabernets are actually brilliant, and the reserve bottling ranks alongside just about anything made in Napa."
Other activities
Commercial engagements
Yao is one of China's most recognizable athletes, along with Liu Xiang. As of 2009, he had led Forbes' Chinese celebrities list in income and popularity for six straight years, earning US$51 million (CN¥357 million) in 2008. A major part of his income comes from his sponsorship deals, as he is under contract with several major companies to endorse their products. He was signed by Nike until the end of his rookie season. When Nike decided not to renew his contract, he signed with Reebok. He also had a deal with Pepsi, and he successfully sued Coca-Cola in 2003 when they used his image on their bottles while promoting the national team. He eventually signed with Coca-Cola for the 2008 Olympics. His other deals include partnerships with Visa, Apple, Garmin, and McDonald's.
On July 16, 2009, Yao bought his former club team, the Shanghai Sharks, which were on the verge of not being able to play the next season of the Chinese Basketball Association because of financial troubles.
Philanthropy
Yao has also participated in many charity events during his career, including the NBA's Basketball Without Borders program. In the NBA's offseason in 2003, Yao hosted a telethon, which raised US$300,000 to help stop the spread of SARS. In September 2007, he held an auction that raised US$965,000 (CN¥6.75 million), and competed in a charity basketball match to raise money for underprivileged children in China. He was joined by fellow NBA stars Steve Nash, Carmelo Anthony, and Baron Davis, and Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan. After the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Yao donated $2 million to relief work and created the Yao Ming Foundation to help rebuild schools destroyed in the earthquake.
Yao has also been a dedicated supporter of Special Olympics. He serves as Global Ambassador and member of the International Board of Directors.
Conservation work
In August 2012, Yao started filming a documentary about the northern white rhinoceros. He is also an ambassador for elephant conservation. In 2014, he was also part of the documentary The End of the Wild about elephant conservation. Yao has filmed a number of public service announcements for elephant and rhino conservation for the "Say No" campaign with partners African Wildlife Foundation and WildAid.
Politics
On March 3, 2013, Yao attended the First Session of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference as one of its 2,200 members. He was a member of the CPPCC from 2013 to 2018. While he is involved in Chinese politics, he is not a member of the Chinese Communist Party, although he has been awarded the Proletarian Award by the party for his spreading of literacy and socialist ideologies.
See also
List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
List of tallest players in National Basketball Association history
References
External links
The Yao Ming Foundation official website
1980 births
Living people
2002 FIBA World Championship players
2006 FIBA World Championship players
Asian Games medalists in basketball
Asian Games silver medalists for China
Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2002 Asian Games
Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Basketball players from Shanghai
Centers (basketball)
Chinese Basketball Association executives
Chinese expatriate basketball people in the United States
Chinese men's basketball players
Chinese philanthropists
Houston Rockets draft picks
Houston Rockets players
Laureus World Sports Awards winners
Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games
Members of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
National Basketball Association All-Stars
National Basketball Association players from China
Olympic basketball players of China
Shanghai Jiao Tong University alumni
Shanghai Sharks players | true | [
"What Else Do You Do? (A Compilation of Quiet Music) is a various artists compilation album, released in 1990 by Shimmy Disc.\n\nTrack listing\n\nPersonnel \nAdapted from the What Else Do You Do? (A Compilation of Quiet Music) liner notes.\n Kramer – production, engineering\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n\n1990 compilation albums\nAlbums produced by Kramer (musician)\nShimmy Disc compilation albums",
"Oil and Vinegar is a screenplay that was written but never filmed. It is a screenplay that John Hughes wrote and that Howard Deutch planned to direct. It would have starred Molly Ringwald and Matthew Broderick.\n\nPlot\nA soon-to-be-married man and a hitchhiking girl end up talking about their lives during the length of the car ride.\n\nProduction\n\nCasting\nThe film was set to have Molly Ringwald and Matthew Broderick as the two main characters.\n\nDevelopment\nThe screenplay was written by Hughes, with Howard Deutch set to direct. Its style was said to be similar to The Breakfast Club (1985) but instead of taking place in detention, it would have taken place in a car with Ringwald's and Broderick's characters both discussing their lives to each other.\n\nFuture\nWhen asked about Oil and Vinegar Howard Deutch said,\n\nYes. That was John's favorite script and he was saving it for himself, and I convinced him to let me do it. It was the story of a traveling salesman that Matthew Broderick was going to play, and a rock-and-roll girl, a real rocker. Polar opposites. Molly [Ringwald] was going to play that. And I had to make a personal decision about whether to go forward or not. We had rehearsals in a couple weeks, and I was exhausted, and my girlfriend Lea Thompson, who became my wife, said, \"You're going to die. You can't do this. I'm not going to stick around and watch that.\" And I think it was also sprinkled with the fact that I wanted to do one movie that was my movie, not necessarily in service to John, even though I loved John. So between the two things, I didn't... It could still happen. I would do it. Not with Matthew and Molly anymore, but the script is still there. It doesn't need anything. It's one of his great scripts. He had so many great scripts. For instance, he would stay up all night, music blasting, and at like 5:30 or 6 a.m., he'd hand me what was supposed to be a rewrite on Some Kind of Wonderful. We needed five pages, and it was 50 pages. I said, \"What did you do?! What is this?\" and he said, \"Oh, I didn't do that. I did something else. Tell me what you think?\" And it was Ferris Bueller's Day Off. He wrote the first half of the movie in, like, eight hours, and then finished it a couple days later. That was John. I never knew a writer who could do that. No one else had that ability. Even the stuff I fished out of the garbage was gold.\n\nReferences\n\nUnproduced screenplays\nFilms with screenplays by John Hughes (filmmaker)"
] |
[
"Yao Ming",
"Entering the NBA draft",
"Who did he draft for?",
"NBA",
"What team was he part of?",
"Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent.",
"What else did he do outside of the NBA?",
"Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China,",
"Did he compete in the olympics?",
"I don't know.",
"What else did he do during this article?",
"Yao with the first pick of the draft, he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S. college basketball."
] | C_4150a50a54b545ae8a4b88b70315a298_1 | What position did he play? | 6 | What position did Yao Ming play? | Yao Ming | Yao was pressured to enter the NBA draft in 1999 by Li Yaomin, the deputy general manager of the Shanghai Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent. The agreement entitled Evergreen to 33% of Yao's earnings, but the contract was later determined to be invalid. When Yao decided to enter the 2002 NBA draft, a group of advisers was formed that came to be known as "Team Yao". The team consisted of Yao's negotiator, Erik Zhang; his NBA agent, Bill Duffy; his Chinese agent, Lu Hao; University of Chicago economics professor John Huizinga; and the vice president for marketing at BDA Sports Management, Bill Sanders. Yao was widely predicted to be picked number one overall. However, some teams were concerned about Yao's NBA eligibility because of uncertainty over whether the CBA would let Yao play in the United States. Shortly after Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China, the CBA stipulated that Yao would have to return to play for the national team. They also said they would not let him go to the United States unless the Houston Rockets would take him first overall. After assurances from Team Yao that the Rockets would draft Yao with their number one pick, the CBA gave permission on the morning of the draft for Yao to play in the U.S. When the Rockets selected Yao with the first pick of the draft, he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S. college basketball. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Yao Ming (; born September 12, 1980) is a Chinese basketball executive and former professional player. He played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Yao was selected to start for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game eight times, and was named to the All-NBA Team five times. During his final season, he was the tallest active player in the NBA, at .
Yao, who was born in Shanghai, started playing for the Sharks as a teenager, and played on their senior team for five years in the CBA, winning a championship in his final year. After negotiating with the CBA and the Sharks to secure his release, Yao was selected by the Rockets as the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft. He reached the NBA playoffs four times, and the Rockets won the first-round series in the 2009 postseason, their first playoff series victory since 1997. In July 2011, Yao announced his retirement from professional basketball because of a series of foot and ankle injuries which forced him to miss 250 games in his last six seasons. In eight seasons with the Rockets, Yao ranks sixth among franchise leaders in total points and total rebounds, and second in total blocks.
Yao is one of China's best-known athletes, with sponsorships with several major companies. His rookie year in the NBA was the subject of a documentary film, The Year of the Yao, and he co-wrote, along with NBA analyst Ric Bucher, an autobiography titled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds. Known in China as the "Yao Ming Phenomenon" and in the United States as the "Ming Dynasty", Yao's success in the NBA, and his popularity among fans, made him a symbol of a new China that was both more modern and more confident.
In April 2016, Yao was elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame, alongside Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson. In February 2017, Yao was unanimously elected as chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association.
Early life
Yao is the only child of Yao Zhiyuan and Fang Fengdi, both of whom were former professional basketball players. At , Yao weighed more than twice as much as the average Chinese newborn. When Yao was nine years old, he began playing basketball and attended a junior sports school. The following year, Yao measured and was examined by sports doctors, who predicted he would grow to .
Professional career
Shanghai Sharks (1997–2002)
Yao first tried out for the Shanghai Sharks junior team of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) when he was 13 years old, and practiced ten hours a day for his acceptance. After playing with the junior team for four years, Yao joined the senior team of the Sharks, where he averaged 10 points and 8 rebounds a game in his rookie season. His next season was cut short when he broke his foot for the second time in his career, which Yao said decreased his jumping ability by four to six inches (10 to 15 cm). The Sharks made the finals of the CBA in Yao's third season and again the next year, but lost both times to the Bayi Rockets. When Wang Zhizhi left the Bayi Rockets to become the first NBA player from China the following year, the Sharks finally won their first CBA championship. During the playoffs in his final year with Shanghai, Yao averaged 38.9 points and 20.2 rebounds a game, while shooting 76.6% from the field, and made all 21 of his shots during one game in the finals.
Houston Rockets (2002–2011)
Yao was pressured to enter the NBA draft in 1999 by Li Yaomin, the deputy general manager of the Shanghai Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent. The agreement entitled Evergreen to 33% of Yao's earnings, but the contract was later determined to be invalid.
As American attention on Yao grew, Chinese authorities also took interest. In 2002, the Chinese government released new regulations that would require him and other Chinese players to turn over half of any NBA earnings to the government and China's national basketball association, including endorsements as well as salaries.
When Yao decided to enter the 2002 NBA draft, a group of advisers was formed that came to be known as "Team Yao". The team consisted of Yao's negotiator, Erik Zhang; his NBA agent, Bill Duffy; his Chinese agent, Lu Hao; University of Chicago economics professor John Huizinga; and the vice president for marketing at BDA Sports Management, Bill Sanders. Yao was widely predicted to be picked number one overall. However, some teams were concerned about Yao's NBA eligibility because of uncertainty over whether the CBA would let Yao play in the United States.
Shortly after Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China, the CBA stipulated that Yao would have to return to play for the national team. They also said they would not let him go to the United States unless the Houston Rockets would take him first overall. After assurances from Team Yao that the Rockets would draft Yao with their number one pick, the CBA gave permission on the morning of the draft for Yao to play in the U.S. When the Rockets selected Yao with the first pick of the draft, he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S. college basketball.
Beginning years (2002–2005)
Yao did not participate in the Rockets' pre-season training camp, instead playing for China in the 2002 FIBA World Championships. Before the season, several commentators, including Bill Simmons and Dick Vitale, predicted that Yao would fail in the NBA, and Charles Barkley said he would "kiss Kenny Smith's ass" if Yao scored more than 19 points in one of his rookie-season games. Yao played his first NBA game against the Indiana Pacers, scoring no points and grabbing two rebounds, and scored his first NBA basket against the Denver Nuggets. In his first seven games, he averaged only 14 minutes and 4 points, but on November 17, he scored 20 points on a perfect 9-of-9 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line against the Lakers. Barkley made good on his bet by kissing the buttock of a donkey purchased by Smith for the occasion (Smith's "ass").
In Yao's first game in Miami on December 16, 2002, the Heat passed out 8,000 fortune cookies, an East Asian cultural stereotype. Yao was not angry with the promotion because he was not familiar with American stereotypes of Chinese. In an earlier interview in 2000, Yao said he had never seen a fortune cookie in China and guessed it must have been an American invention.
Before Yao's first meeting with Shaquille O'Neal on January 17, 2003, O'Neal said, "Tell Yao Ming, ching chong-yang-wah-ah-soh", prompting accusations of racism. O'Neal denied that his comments were racist, and said he was only joking. Yao also said he believed O'Neal was joking, but he said a lot of Asians would not see the humor. In the game, Yao scored the Rockets' first six points of the game and blocked O'Neal twice in the opening minutes as well as altering two other shots by O'Neal, all 4 of those attempts coming right at the rim, and made a game-sealing dunk with 10 seconds left in overtime. Yao finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 blocks; O'Neal recorded 31 points, 13 rebounds, and 0 blocks. O'Neal later expressed regret for the way he treated Yao early in his career.
The NBA began offering All-Star ballots in three languages—English, Spanish and Chinese—for fan voting of the starters for the 2003 NBA All-Star Game. Yao was voted to start for the West over O'Neal, who was coming off three consecutive NBA Finals MVP Awards. Yao received nearly a quarter million more votes than O'Neal, and he became the first rookie to start in the All-Star Game since Grant Hill in 1995.
Yao finished his rookie season averaging 13.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, and was second in the NBA Rookie of the Year Award voting to Amar'e Stoudemire, and a unanimous pick for the NBA All-Rookie First Team selection. He was also voted the Sporting News Rookie of the Year, and won the Laureus Newcomer of the Year award.
Before the start of Yao's sophomore season, Rockets' head coach Rudy Tomjanovich resigned because of health issues, and long-time New York Knicks head coach Jeff Van Gundy was brought in. After Van Gundy began focusing the offense on Yao, Yao averaged career highs in points and rebounds for the season, and had a career-high 41 points and 7 assists in a triple-overtime win against the Atlanta Hawks in February 2004. He was also voted to be the starting center for the Western Conference in the 2004 NBA All-Star Game for the second straight year. Yao finished the season averaging 17.5 points and 9.0 rebounds a game. The Rockets made the playoffs for the first time in Yao's career, claiming the seventh seed in the Western Conference. In the first round, however, the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated Houston in five games. Yao averaged 15.0 points and 7.4 rebounds in his first playoff series.
In the summer of 2004, the Rockets acquired Tracy McGrady from the Orlando Magic in a seven-player trade that also sent Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley to Orlando. Although Yao said that Francis and Mobley had "helped [him] in every way [his] first two seasons", he added, "I'm excited about playing with Tracy McGrady. He can do some amazing things." After the trade, it was predicted that the Rockets would be title contenders. Both McGrady and Yao were voted to start in the 2005 NBA All-Star Game, and Yao broke the record previously held by Michael Jordan for most All-Star votes, with 2,558,278 total votes. The Rockets won 51 games and finished fifth in the West, and made the playoffs for the second consecutive year, where they faced the Dallas Mavericks. The Rockets won the first two games in Dallas, and Yao made 13 of 14 shots in the second game, the best shooting performance in the playoffs in Rockets history. However, the Rockets lost four of their last five games and lost Game 7 by 40 points, the largest Game 7 deficit in NBA history. Yao's final averages for the series were 21.4 points on 65% shooting and 7.7 rebounds.
Injury-plagued seasons (2005–2011)
After missing only two games out of 246 in his first three years of NBA play, Yao endured an extended period on the inactive list in his fourth season after developing osteomyelitis in the big toe on his left foot, and surgery was performed on the toe on December 18, 2005. Despite missing 21 games while recovering, Yao again had the most fan votes to start the 2006 NBA All-Star Game.
In 25 games after the All-Star break, Yao averaged 25.7 points and 11.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 53.7% from the field and 87.8% at the free-throw line. His final averages in 57 games were 22.3 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. It was the first time that he ended the season with a so-called "20/10" average. However, Tracy McGrady played only 47 games in the season, missing time because of back spasms. Yao and McGrady played only 31 games together, and the Rockets did not make the playoffs, winning only 34 games. With only four games left in the season, Yao suffered another injury in a game against the Utah Jazz on April 10, 2006, which left him with a broken bone in his left foot. The injury required six months of rest.
Early into his fifth season, Yao was injured again, this time breaking his right knee on December 23, 2006, while attempting to block a shot. Up to that point he had been averaging 26.8 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game, and had been mentioned as an MVP candidate. Yao was unable to play in what would have been his fifth All-Star game; he was medically cleared to play on March 4, 2007, after missing 32 games.
Despite Yao's absence, the Rockets made the playoffs with the home court advantage against the Utah Jazz in the first round. The Rockets won the first two games, but then lost four of five games and were eliminated in Game 7 at home; Yao scored 29 points—15 in the fourth quarter. Although he averaged 25.1 points and 10.3 rebounds for the series, Yao said afterwards "I didn't do my job". At the end of the season, Yao was selected to the All-NBA Second Team for the first time in his career, after being selected to the All-NBA Third Team twice.
On May 18, 2007, only weeks after the Rockets were eliminated from the playoffs, Jeff Van Gundy was dismissed as head coach. Three days later, the Rockets signed former Sacramento Kings coach Rick Adelman, who was thought to focus more on offense than the defensive-minded Van Gundy.
On November 9, 2007, Yao played against fellow Chinese NBA and Milwaukee Bucks player Yi Jianlian for the first time. The game, which the Rockets won 104–88, was broadcast on 19 networks in China, and was watched by over 200 million people in China alone, making it one of the most-watched NBA games in history. In the 2008 NBA All-Star Game, Yao was once again voted to start at center for the Western Conference. Before the All-Star weekend, the Rockets had won eight straight games, and after the break, they took their win streak to 12 games. On February 26, 2008, however, it was reported that Yao would miss the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his left foot. He missed the 2008 NBA playoffs, but he did not miss the 2008 Summer Olympics at Beijing, China in August. After Yao's injury, the Rockets stretched their winning streak to 22 games, at the time the second-longest such streak in NBA history. Yao underwent a successful operation on March 3, which placed screws in his foot to strengthen the bone, and recovery time was estimated at four months. Yao's final averages in 55 games were 22.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks a game.
The next season, Yao played 77 games, his first full season since the 2004–05 season, and averaged 19.7 points and 9.9 rebounds, while shooting 54.8% from the field, and a career-high 86.6% from the free throw line. Despite McGrady suffering a season-ending injury in February, the Rockets finished with 53 wins and the fifth seed in the Western Conference. Facing the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round, Yao finished with 24 points on 9-of-9 shooting in the first game, and the Rockets won 108–81, in Portland. The Rockets won all their games in Houston, and advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1997, and the first time in Yao's career.
The Rockets faced the Lakers in the second round, and Yao scored 28 points, with 8 points in the final four minutes, to lead the Rockets to a 100–92 win in Los Angeles. However, the Rockets lost their next two games, and Yao was diagnosed with a sprained ankle after Game 3. A follow-up test revealed a hairline fracture in his left foot, and he was ruled out for the remainder of the playoffs. In reaction, Yao said the injury, which did not require surgery, was "better than last year". However, follow-up analysis indicated that the injury could be career threatening. The Yao-less Rockets went on to win Game 4 against the Lakers to even the series 2–2. The Rockets eventually lost the series in seven games.
In July 2009, Yao discussed the injury with his doctors, and the Rockets applied for a disabled player exception, an exception to the NBA salary cap which grants the injured player's team money to sign a free agent. The Rockets were granted the exception, and used approximately $5.7 million on free agent Trevor Ariza. After weeks of consulting, it was decided that Yao would undergo surgery in order to repair the broken bone in his left foot. He did not play the entire 2009–10 season.
For the 2010–11 season, the Rockets said they would limit Yao to 24 minutes a game, with no plan to play him on back-to-back nights. Their goal was to keep Yao healthy in the long term. On December 16, 2010, it was announced that Yao had developed a stress fracture in his left ankle, related to an older injury, and would miss the rest of the season. In January 2011, he was voted as the Western Conference starting center for the 2011 All-Star Game for the eighth time in nine seasons. Injured All-Stars are usually required to attend the All-Star functions and to be introduced at the game, but Yao was not in Los Angeles because of his rehabilitation schedule after his surgery. Yao's contract with the Rockets expired at the end of the season, and he became a free agent.
Retirement
On July 20, 2011, Yao announced his retirement from basketball in a press conference in Shanghai. He cited injuries to his foot and ankle, including the third fracture to his left foot sustained near the end of 2010. His retirement sparked over 1.2 million comments on the Chinese social-networking site Sina Weibo. Reacting to Yao's retirement, NBA commissioner David Stern said Yao was a "bridge between Chinese and American fans" and that he had "a wonderful mixture of talent, dedication, humanitarian aspirations and a sense of humor." Shaquille O'Neal said Yao "was very agile. He could play inside, he could play outside, and if he didn't have those injuries he could've been up there in the top five centers to ever play the game."
Yao was nominated by a member of the Chinese media for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor to the game. He would have been eligible for induction as early as 2012, but Yao felt it was too soon and requested that the Hall of Fame delay consideration of the nomination. The Hall granted Yao's request, and said it was Yao's decision when the process would be restarted.
On September 9, 2016, Yao was inducted into the Hall of Fame along with 4-time NBA champion Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson. Continuing with the honours, on February 3, 2017, Yao's Number 11 jersey was retired by the Houston Rockets.
National team career
2000 and 2004 Olympics
Yao first played for China in the 2000 Summer Olympics, and he was dubbed, together with teammates Wang Zhizhi and Mengke Bateer, "The Walking Great Wall". During the 2004 Athens Olympics, Yao carried the Chinese flag during the opening ceremony, which he said was a "long dream come true". He then vowed to abstain from shaving his beard for half a year unless the Chinese national team made it into the quarter-finals of the 2004 Olympics. After Yao scored 39 points in a win against New Zealand, China lost 58–83, 57–82, and 52–89 against Spain, Argentina and Italy respectively. In the final group game, however, a 67–66 win over the reigning 2002 FIBA World Champions Serbia and Montenegro moved them into the quarterfinals. Yao scored 27 points and had 13 rebounds, and he hit two free throws with 28 seconds left that proved to be the winning margin. He averaged 20.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game while shooting 55.9% from the field.
Asian Cup
Yao led the Chinese national team to three consecutive FIBA Asia Cup gold medals, winning the 2001 FIBA Asian Championship, the 2003 FIBA Asian Championship, and the 2005 FIBA Asian Championship. He was also named the MVP of all three tournaments.
2006 World Championship
Yao's injury at the end of the 2005–06 NBA season required a full six months of rest, threatening his participation in the 2006 FIBA World Championship. However, he recovered before the start of the tournament, and in the last game of the preliminary round, he had 36 points and 10 rebounds in a win against Slovenia to lead China into the Round of 16. In the first knockout round, however, China was defeated by eventual finalist Greece. Yao's final averages were 25.3 points, the most in the tournament, and 9.0 rebounds a game, which was fourth overall.
2008 Olympics
After having surgery to repair his fractured foot, Yao stated if he could not play in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, "It would be the biggest loss in my career to right now." He returned to play with the Chinese national team on July 17, 2008. On August 6, Yao carried the Olympic flame into Tiananmen Square, as part of the Olympic torch relay. He also carried the Chinese flag and led his country's delegation during the opening ceremony. Yao scored the first basket of the game, a three-pointer, in China's opening 2008 Olympics Basketball Tournament game against the eventual gold medal-winning United States.
"I was just really happy to make that shot", Yao said after the Americans' 101–70 victory. "It was the first score in our Olympic campaign here at home and I'll always remember it. It represents that we can keep our heads up in the face of really tough odds."
Following an overtime defeat to Spain, Yao scored 30 points in a win over Angola, and 25 points in a three-point win against Germany, which clinched China's place in the quarterfinals. However, China lost to Lithuania in the quarterfinals by 26 points, eliminating them from the tournament. Yao's 19 points a game were the second-highest in the Olympics, and his averages of 8.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game were third overall.
Career statistics
CBA statistics
NBA statistics
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* ||72||29.0||.498||.500||.811||8.2||1.7||.4||1.8||13.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| style="background:#cfecec;"| 82*|| style="background:#cfecec;"|82*||32.8||.522||.000||.809||9.0||1.5||.3||1.9||17.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 80||80||30.6||.552||.000||.783||8.4||.8||.4||2.0||18.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 57||57||34.2||.519||.000||.853||10.2||1.5||.5||1.6||22.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 48||48||33.8||.516||.000||.862||9.4||2.0||.4||2.0||25.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 55||55||37.2||.507||.000||.850||10.8||2.3||.5||2.0||22.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 77||77||33.6||.548||1.000||.866||9.9||1.8||.4||1.9||19.7
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 5||5||18.2||.486||.000||.938||5.4||.8||.0||1.6||10.2
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career
| 486||476||32.5||.524||.200||.833||9.2||1.6||.4||1.9||19.0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| All-Star
| 6||6||17.0||.500||.000||.667||4.0||1.3||.2||.3||7.0
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2004
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 5||5||37.0||.456||.000||.765||7.4||1.8||.4||1.4||15.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2005
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 7||7||31.4||.655||.000||.727||7.7||.7||.3||2.7||21.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2007
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 7||7||37.1||.440||.000||.880||10.3||.9||.1||.7||25.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2009
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 9||9||35.9||.545||.000||.902||10.9||1.0||.4||1.2||17.1
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career
| 28||28||35.3||.519||.000||.833||9.3||1.0||.3||1.5||19.8
Awards and achievements
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: Class of 2016
8× NBA All-Star: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011
5× All-NBA Team:
Second Team: 2007, 2009
Third Team: 2004, 2006, 2008
NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2003
NBA Rookie All-Star Game: 2004
Gold medal winner with Team China at the 2001, 2003, and 2005 FIBA Asia Cups
MVP of the 2001, 2003, 2005 FIBA Asia Cups
FIBA Diamond Ball Top Scorer: 2004
All-Tournament Team, FIBA World Cup: 2002
Chinese Basketball Association Champion: 2001–02
Rebounding leader in CBA in 2001–02
2003 Sporting News Rookie of the Year
2003 Laureus Newcomer of the Year
2005 Proletarian Award, issued by the Chinese Communist Party
Personal life
After Yao announced that he would enter the 2002 NBA draft, he told one American journalist that he had been studying English for two years, and that he liked the movie Star Wars but disliked hip hop. He was sometimes accompanied during interviews in Shanghai by one of his parents, whose basketball careers were derailed by the 1966–76 Cultural Revolution, and who came to his Shanghai Sharks games on bicycles.
Yao met Chinese female basketball player Ye Li when he was 17 years old. Ye was not fond of Yao at first, but finally accepted him after he gave her the team pins he had collected during the 2000 Summer Olympics. She is the only woman he has ever dated. Their relationship became public when they appeared together during the 2004 Olympics closing ceremony. On August 6, 2007, Yao and Ye married in a ceremony attended by close friends and family and closed to the media. On May 21, 2010, the couple's daughter Yao Qinlei (whose English name is Amy) was born in Houston, Texas.
In 2004, Yao co-wrote an autobiography with ESPN sportswriter Ric Bucher, entitled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds. In the same year, he was also the subject of a documentary film, The Year of the Yao, which focuses on his NBA rookie year. The film is narrated by his friend and interpreter, Colin Pine. In 2005, former Newsweek writer Brook Larmer published a book entitled Operation Yao Ming, in which he said that Yao's parents were convinced to marry each other so that they would produce a dominant athlete, and that during Yao's childhood, he was given special treatment to help him become a great basketball player. In a 2015 AMA post on Reddit, Yao stated that this was not true and that he started playing basketball for fun at age 9. In 2009, Yao provided the voice for a character of a Chinese animated film, The Magic Aster, released on June 19.
Yao enrolled at the Antai College of Economics & Management of Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2011. He took a tailored degree program with mostly one-on-one lectures to avoid being a distraction on campus. Yao completed his studies in July 2018, graduating with a degree in economics after 7 years of study.
In 2016, Yao opened a winery called Yao Family Wines in Napa Valley, California, which serves Cabernet Sauvignon blends and "the kind of rich-but-balanced luxury reds he'd come to enjoy in Houston steakhouses." American wine critic Robert M. Parker Jr. of The Wine Advocate gave Yao's wine a ranking of 96 points and wrote: "I am aware of all the arguments that major celebrities lending their names to wines is generally a formula for mediocrity, but... the two Cabernets are actually brilliant, and the reserve bottling ranks alongside just about anything made in Napa."
Other activities
Commercial engagements
Yao is one of China's most recognizable athletes, along with Liu Xiang. As of 2009, he had led Forbes' Chinese celebrities list in income and popularity for six straight years, earning US$51 million (CN¥357 million) in 2008. A major part of his income comes from his sponsorship deals, as he is under contract with several major companies to endorse their products. He was signed by Nike until the end of his rookie season. When Nike decided not to renew his contract, he signed with Reebok. He also had a deal with Pepsi, and he successfully sued Coca-Cola in 2003 when they used his image on their bottles while promoting the national team. He eventually signed with Coca-Cola for the 2008 Olympics. His other deals include partnerships with Visa, Apple, Garmin, and McDonald's.
On July 16, 2009, Yao bought his former club team, the Shanghai Sharks, which were on the verge of not being able to play the next season of the Chinese Basketball Association because of financial troubles.
Philanthropy
Yao has also participated in many charity events during his career, including the NBA's Basketball Without Borders program. In the NBA's offseason in 2003, Yao hosted a telethon, which raised US$300,000 to help stop the spread of SARS. In September 2007, he held an auction that raised US$965,000 (CN¥6.75 million), and competed in a charity basketball match to raise money for underprivileged children in China. He was joined by fellow NBA stars Steve Nash, Carmelo Anthony, and Baron Davis, and Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan. After the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Yao donated $2 million to relief work and created the Yao Ming Foundation to help rebuild schools destroyed in the earthquake.
Yao has also been a dedicated supporter of Special Olympics. He serves as Global Ambassador and member of the International Board of Directors.
Conservation work
In August 2012, Yao started filming a documentary about the northern white rhinoceros. He is also an ambassador for elephant conservation. In 2014, he was also part of the documentary The End of the Wild about elephant conservation. Yao has filmed a number of public service announcements for elephant and rhino conservation for the "Say No" campaign with partners African Wildlife Foundation and WildAid.
Politics
On March 3, 2013, Yao attended the First Session of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference as one of its 2,200 members. He was a member of the CPPCC from 2013 to 2018. While he is involved in Chinese politics, he is not a member of the Chinese Communist Party, although he has been awarded the Proletarian Award by the party for his spreading of literacy and socialist ideologies.
See also
List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
List of tallest players in National Basketball Association history
References
External links
The Yao Ming Foundation official website
1980 births
Living people
2002 FIBA World Championship players
2006 FIBA World Championship players
Asian Games medalists in basketball
Asian Games silver medalists for China
Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2002 Asian Games
Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Basketball players from Shanghai
Centers (basketball)
Chinese Basketball Association executives
Chinese expatriate basketball people in the United States
Chinese men's basketball players
Chinese philanthropists
Houston Rockets draft picks
Houston Rockets players
Laureus World Sports Awards winners
Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games
Members of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
National Basketball Association All-Stars
National Basketball Association players from China
Olympic basketball players of China
Shanghai Jiao Tong University alumni
Shanghai Sharks players | false | [
"is a former Japanese football player.\n\nPlaying career\nIwamaru was born in Fujioka on December 4, 1981. After graduating from high school, he joined the J1 League club Vissel Kobe in 2000. However he did not play as much as Makoto Kakegawa until 2003. In 2004, he played more often, after Kakegawa got hurt. In September 2004, he moved to Júbilo Iwata. In late 2004, he played often, after regular goalkeeper Yohei Sato got hurt. In 2005, he moved to the newly promoted J2 League club, Thespa Kusatsu (later Thespakusatsu Gunma), based in his home region. He competed with Nobuyuki Kojima for the position and played often. \n\nIn 2006, he moved to the newly promoted J1 club, Avispa Fukuoka. However he did not play as much as Yuichi Mizutani. In 2007, he moved to the newly promoted J1 club, Yokohama FC. However he did not play as much as Takanori Sugeno and the club was relegated to J2 within a year. Although he did not play as much as Kenji Koyama in 2008, he played often in 2009. He did not play at all in 2010. \n\nIn 2011, he moved to the J2 club Roasso Kumamoto. He did not play as much as Yuta Minami. In 2013, he moved to the newly promoted J2 club, V-Varen Nagasaki. Although he played in the first three matches, he did play at all after the fourth match, when Junki Kanayama played in his place. In 2014, he moved to the J2 club Thespakusatsu Gunma based in his local region. However he did not play at all, and retired at the end of the 2014 season.\n\nClub statistics\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\n \n\n1981 births\nLiving people\nAssociation football people from Gunma Prefecture\nJapanese footballers\nJ1 League players\nJ2 League players\nVissel Kobe players\nJúbilo Iwata players\nThespakusatsu Gunma players\nAvispa Fukuoka players\nYokohama FC players\nRoasso Kumamoto players\nV-Varen Nagasaki players\nAssociation football goalkeepers",
"John Stirk (born 5 September 1955) is an English former footballer. His primary position was as a right back. During his career he played for Ipswich Town, Watford, Chesterfield and North Shields. He also made two appearances for England at youth level.\n\nCareer \n\nBorn in Consett, Stirk played youth football for local non-league team Consett A.F.C. He joined Ipswich Town on schoolboy terms in 1971, and after making two appearances for the England youth team, turned professional in 1973. During his time at Ipswich he was largely a reserve. He made his first-team debut on 5 November 1977, in a Football League First Division match against Manchester City at Portman Road. His manager at the time was Bobby Robson, who later went on to manage the England national football team. Ipswich won the FA Cup in 1978, in what proved to be Stirk's final season at the club. However, Stirk himself did not play in the final, nor did he play in any of the rounds en route to the final.\n\nAnother future England manager, Watford's Graham Taylor, signed Stirk for a transfer fee of £30,000 at the end of the 1977–78 season. Stirk went on to play every Watford league game in the 1978–79 season, as Watford gained promotion to the Second Division. However, Stirk did not play for Watford in the Second Division. Two months before the end of the 1979–80 season, Stirk was sold to Third Division side Chesterfield, at a profit to Watford of £10,000. After making 56 league appearances over two and a half seasons, Stirk left Chesterfield in 1983 moving on to Blyth Spartans then Tow Law Town, and finished his career at non-league North Shields.\n\nReferences \n\n1955 births\nLiving people\nConsett A.F.C. players\nIpswich Town F.C. players\nWatford F.C. players\nChesterfield F.C. players\nEnglish Football League players\nNorth Shields F.C. players\nSportspeople from Consett\nAssociation football fullbacks\nEnglish footballers"
] |
[
"Yao Ming",
"Entering the NBA draft",
"Who did he draft for?",
"NBA",
"What team was he part of?",
"Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent.",
"What else did he do outside of the NBA?",
"Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China,",
"Did he compete in the olympics?",
"I don't know.",
"What else did he do during this article?",
"Yao with the first pick of the draft, he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S. college basketball.",
"What position did he play?",
"I don't know."
] | C_4150a50a54b545ae8a4b88b70315a298_1 | What else did he do in this article? | 7 | What else did Yao Ming do in this article besides playing NBA? | Yao Ming | Yao was pressured to enter the NBA draft in 1999 by Li Yaomin, the deputy general manager of the Shanghai Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent. The agreement entitled Evergreen to 33% of Yao's earnings, but the contract was later determined to be invalid. When Yao decided to enter the 2002 NBA draft, a group of advisers was formed that came to be known as "Team Yao". The team consisted of Yao's negotiator, Erik Zhang; his NBA agent, Bill Duffy; his Chinese agent, Lu Hao; University of Chicago economics professor John Huizinga; and the vice president for marketing at BDA Sports Management, Bill Sanders. Yao was widely predicted to be picked number one overall. However, some teams were concerned about Yao's NBA eligibility because of uncertainty over whether the CBA would let Yao play in the United States. Shortly after Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China, the CBA stipulated that Yao would have to return to play for the national team. They also said they would not let him go to the United States unless the Houston Rockets would take him first overall. After assurances from Team Yao that the Rockets would draft Yao with their number one pick, the CBA gave permission on the morning of the draft for Yao to play in the U.S. When the Rockets selected Yao with the first pick of the draft, he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S. college basketball. CANNOTANSWER | When Yao decided to enter the 2002 NBA draft, a group of advisers was formed that came to be known as "Team Yao". | Yao Ming (; born September 12, 1980) is a Chinese basketball executive and former professional player. He played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Yao was selected to start for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game eight times, and was named to the All-NBA Team five times. During his final season, he was the tallest active player in the NBA, at .
Yao, who was born in Shanghai, started playing for the Sharks as a teenager, and played on their senior team for five years in the CBA, winning a championship in his final year. After negotiating with the CBA and the Sharks to secure his release, Yao was selected by the Rockets as the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft. He reached the NBA playoffs four times, and the Rockets won the first-round series in the 2009 postseason, their first playoff series victory since 1997. In July 2011, Yao announced his retirement from professional basketball because of a series of foot and ankle injuries which forced him to miss 250 games in his last six seasons. In eight seasons with the Rockets, Yao ranks sixth among franchise leaders in total points and total rebounds, and second in total blocks.
Yao is one of China's best-known athletes, with sponsorships with several major companies. His rookie year in the NBA was the subject of a documentary film, The Year of the Yao, and he co-wrote, along with NBA analyst Ric Bucher, an autobiography titled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds. Known in China as the "Yao Ming Phenomenon" and in the United States as the "Ming Dynasty", Yao's success in the NBA, and his popularity among fans, made him a symbol of a new China that was both more modern and more confident.
In April 2016, Yao was elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame, alongside Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson. In February 2017, Yao was unanimously elected as chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association.
Early life
Yao is the only child of Yao Zhiyuan and Fang Fengdi, both of whom were former professional basketball players. At , Yao weighed more than twice as much as the average Chinese newborn. When Yao was nine years old, he began playing basketball and attended a junior sports school. The following year, Yao measured and was examined by sports doctors, who predicted he would grow to .
Professional career
Shanghai Sharks (1997–2002)
Yao first tried out for the Shanghai Sharks junior team of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) when he was 13 years old, and practiced ten hours a day for his acceptance. After playing with the junior team for four years, Yao joined the senior team of the Sharks, where he averaged 10 points and 8 rebounds a game in his rookie season. His next season was cut short when he broke his foot for the second time in his career, which Yao said decreased his jumping ability by four to six inches (10 to 15 cm). The Sharks made the finals of the CBA in Yao's third season and again the next year, but lost both times to the Bayi Rockets. When Wang Zhizhi left the Bayi Rockets to become the first NBA player from China the following year, the Sharks finally won their first CBA championship. During the playoffs in his final year with Shanghai, Yao averaged 38.9 points and 20.2 rebounds a game, while shooting 76.6% from the field, and made all 21 of his shots during one game in the finals.
Houston Rockets (2002–2011)
Yao was pressured to enter the NBA draft in 1999 by Li Yaomin, the deputy general manager of the Shanghai Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent. The agreement entitled Evergreen to 33% of Yao's earnings, but the contract was later determined to be invalid.
As American attention on Yao grew, Chinese authorities also took interest. In 2002, the Chinese government released new regulations that would require him and other Chinese players to turn over half of any NBA earnings to the government and China's national basketball association, including endorsements as well as salaries.
When Yao decided to enter the 2002 NBA draft, a group of advisers was formed that came to be known as "Team Yao". The team consisted of Yao's negotiator, Erik Zhang; his NBA agent, Bill Duffy; his Chinese agent, Lu Hao; University of Chicago economics professor John Huizinga; and the vice president for marketing at BDA Sports Management, Bill Sanders. Yao was widely predicted to be picked number one overall. However, some teams were concerned about Yao's NBA eligibility because of uncertainty over whether the CBA would let Yao play in the United States.
Shortly after Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China, the CBA stipulated that Yao would have to return to play for the national team. They also said they would not let him go to the United States unless the Houston Rockets would take him first overall. After assurances from Team Yao that the Rockets would draft Yao with their number one pick, the CBA gave permission on the morning of the draft for Yao to play in the U.S. When the Rockets selected Yao with the first pick of the draft, he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S. college basketball.
Beginning years (2002–2005)
Yao did not participate in the Rockets' pre-season training camp, instead playing for China in the 2002 FIBA World Championships. Before the season, several commentators, including Bill Simmons and Dick Vitale, predicted that Yao would fail in the NBA, and Charles Barkley said he would "kiss Kenny Smith's ass" if Yao scored more than 19 points in one of his rookie-season games. Yao played his first NBA game against the Indiana Pacers, scoring no points and grabbing two rebounds, and scored his first NBA basket against the Denver Nuggets. In his first seven games, he averaged only 14 minutes and 4 points, but on November 17, he scored 20 points on a perfect 9-of-9 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line against the Lakers. Barkley made good on his bet by kissing the buttock of a donkey purchased by Smith for the occasion (Smith's "ass").
In Yao's first game in Miami on December 16, 2002, the Heat passed out 8,000 fortune cookies, an East Asian cultural stereotype. Yao was not angry with the promotion because he was not familiar with American stereotypes of Chinese. In an earlier interview in 2000, Yao said he had never seen a fortune cookie in China and guessed it must have been an American invention.
Before Yao's first meeting with Shaquille O'Neal on January 17, 2003, O'Neal said, "Tell Yao Ming, ching chong-yang-wah-ah-soh", prompting accusations of racism. O'Neal denied that his comments were racist, and said he was only joking. Yao also said he believed O'Neal was joking, but he said a lot of Asians would not see the humor. In the game, Yao scored the Rockets' first six points of the game and blocked O'Neal twice in the opening minutes as well as altering two other shots by O'Neal, all 4 of those attempts coming right at the rim, and made a game-sealing dunk with 10 seconds left in overtime. Yao finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 blocks; O'Neal recorded 31 points, 13 rebounds, and 0 blocks. O'Neal later expressed regret for the way he treated Yao early in his career.
The NBA began offering All-Star ballots in three languages—English, Spanish and Chinese—for fan voting of the starters for the 2003 NBA All-Star Game. Yao was voted to start for the West over O'Neal, who was coming off three consecutive NBA Finals MVP Awards. Yao received nearly a quarter million more votes than O'Neal, and he became the first rookie to start in the All-Star Game since Grant Hill in 1995.
Yao finished his rookie season averaging 13.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, and was second in the NBA Rookie of the Year Award voting to Amar'e Stoudemire, and a unanimous pick for the NBA All-Rookie First Team selection. He was also voted the Sporting News Rookie of the Year, and won the Laureus Newcomer of the Year award.
Before the start of Yao's sophomore season, Rockets' head coach Rudy Tomjanovich resigned because of health issues, and long-time New York Knicks head coach Jeff Van Gundy was brought in. After Van Gundy began focusing the offense on Yao, Yao averaged career highs in points and rebounds for the season, and had a career-high 41 points and 7 assists in a triple-overtime win against the Atlanta Hawks in February 2004. He was also voted to be the starting center for the Western Conference in the 2004 NBA All-Star Game for the second straight year. Yao finished the season averaging 17.5 points and 9.0 rebounds a game. The Rockets made the playoffs for the first time in Yao's career, claiming the seventh seed in the Western Conference. In the first round, however, the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated Houston in five games. Yao averaged 15.0 points and 7.4 rebounds in his first playoff series.
In the summer of 2004, the Rockets acquired Tracy McGrady from the Orlando Magic in a seven-player trade that also sent Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley to Orlando. Although Yao said that Francis and Mobley had "helped [him] in every way [his] first two seasons", he added, "I'm excited about playing with Tracy McGrady. He can do some amazing things." After the trade, it was predicted that the Rockets would be title contenders. Both McGrady and Yao were voted to start in the 2005 NBA All-Star Game, and Yao broke the record previously held by Michael Jordan for most All-Star votes, with 2,558,278 total votes. The Rockets won 51 games and finished fifth in the West, and made the playoffs for the second consecutive year, where they faced the Dallas Mavericks. The Rockets won the first two games in Dallas, and Yao made 13 of 14 shots in the second game, the best shooting performance in the playoffs in Rockets history. However, the Rockets lost four of their last five games and lost Game 7 by 40 points, the largest Game 7 deficit in NBA history. Yao's final averages for the series were 21.4 points on 65% shooting and 7.7 rebounds.
Injury-plagued seasons (2005–2011)
After missing only two games out of 246 in his first three years of NBA play, Yao endured an extended period on the inactive list in his fourth season after developing osteomyelitis in the big toe on his left foot, and surgery was performed on the toe on December 18, 2005. Despite missing 21 games while recovering, Yao again had the most fan votes to start the 2006 NBA All-Star Game.
In 25 games after the All-Star break, Yao averaged 25.7 points and 11.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 53.7% from the field and 87.8% at the free-throw line. His final averages in 57 games were 22.3 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. It was the first time that he ended the season with a so-called "20/10" average. However, Tracy McGrady played only 47 games in the season, missing time because of back spasms. Yao and McGrady played only 31 games together, and the Rockets did not make the playoffs, winning only 34 games. With only four games left in the season, Yao suffered another injury in a game against the Utah Jazz on April 10, 2006, which left him with a broken bone in his left foot. The injury required six months of rest.
Early into his fifth season, Yao was injured again, this time breaking his right knee on December 23, 2006, while attempting to block a shot. Up to that point he had been averaging 26.8 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game, and had been mentioned as an MVP candidate. Yao was unable to play in what would have been his fifth All-Star game; he was medically cleared to play on March 4, 2007, after missing 32 games.
Despite Yao's absence, the Rockets made the playoffs with the home court advantage against the Utah Jazz in the first round. The Rockets won the first two games, but then lost four of five games and were eliminated in Game 7 at home; Yao scored 29 points—15 in the fourth quarter. Although he averaged 25.1 points and 10.3 rebounds for the series, Yao said afterwards "I didn't do my job". At the end of the season, Yao was selected to the All-NBA Second Team for the first time in his career, after being selected to the All-NBA Third Team twice.
On May 18, 2007, only weeks after the Rockets were eliminated from the playoffs, Jeff Van Gundy was dismissed as head coach. Three days later, the Rockets signed former Sacramento Kings coach Rick Adelman, who was thought to focus more on offense than the defensive-minded Van Gundy.
On November 9, 2007, Yao played against fellow Chinese NBA and Milwaukee Bucks player Yi Jianlian for the first time. The game, which the Rockets won 104–88, was broadcast on 19 networks in China, and was watched by over 200 million people in China alone, making it one of the most-watched NBA games in history. In the 2008 NBA All-Star Game, Yao was once again voted to start at center for the Western Conference. Before the All-Star weekend, the Rockets had won eight straight games, and after the break, they took their win streak to 12 games. On February 26, 2008, however, it was reported that Yao would miss the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his left foot. He missed the 2008 NBA playoffs, but he did not miss the 2008 Summer Olympics at Beijing, China in August. After Yao's injury, the Rockets stretched their winning streak to 22 games, at the time the second-longest such streak in NBA history. Yao underwent a successful operation on March 3, which placed screws in his foot to strengthen the bone, and recovery time was estimated at four months. Yao's final averages in 55 games were 22.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks a game.
The next season, Yao played 77 games, his first full season since the 2004–05 season, and averaged 19.7 points and 9.9 rebounds, while shooting 54.8% from the field, and a career-high 86.6% from the free throw line. Despite McGrady suffering a season-ending injury in February, the Rockets finished with 53 wins and the fifth seed in the Western Conference. Facing the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round, Yao finished with 24 points on 9-of-9 shooting in the first game, and the Rockets won 108–81, in Portland. The Rockets won all their games in Houston, and advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1997, and the first time in Yao's career.
The Rockets faced the Lakers in the second round, and Yao scored 28 points, with 8 points in the final four minutes, to lead the Rockets to a 100–92 win in Los Angeles. However, the Rockets lost their next two games, and Yao was diagnosed with a sprained ankle after Game 3. A follow-up test revealed a hairline fracture in his left foot, and he was ruled out for the remainder of the playoffs. In reaction, Yao said the injury, which did not require surgery, was "better than last year". However, follow-up analysis indicated that the injury could be career threatening. The Yao-less Rockets went on to win Game 4 against the Lakers to even the series 2–2. The Rockets eventually lost the series in seven games.
In July 2009, Yao discussed the injury with his doctors, and the Rockets applied for a disabled player exception, an exception to the NBA salary cap which grants the injured player's team money to sign a free agent. The Rockets were granted the exception, and used approximately $5.7 million on free agent Trevor Ariza. After weeks of consulting, it was decided that Yao would undergo surgery in order to repair the broken bone in his left foot. He did not play the entire 2009–10 season.
For the 2010–11 season, the Rockets said they would limit Yao to 24 minutes a game, with no plan to play him on back-to-back nights. Their goal was to keep Yao healthy in the long term. On December 16, 2010, it was announced that Yao had developed a stress fracture in his left ankle, related to an older injury, and would miss the rest of the season. In January 2011, he was voted as the Western Conference starting center for the 2011 All-Star Game for the eighth time in nine seasons. Injured All-Stars are usually required to attend the All-Star functions and to be introduced at the game, but Yao was not in Los Angeles because of his rehabilitation schedule after his surgery. Yao's contract with the Rockets expired at the end of the season, and he became a free agent.
Retirement
On July 20, 2011, Yao announced his retirement from basketball in a press conference in Shanghai. He cited injuries to his foot and ankle, including the third fracture to his left foot sustained near the end of 2010. His retirement sparked over 1.2 million comments on the Chinese social-networking site Sina Weibo. Reacting to Yao's retirement, NBA commissioner David Stern said Yao was a "bridge between Chinese and American fans" and that he had "a wonderful mixture of talent, dedication, humanitarian aspirations and a sense of humor." Shaquille O'Neal said Yao "was very agile. He could play inside, he could play outside, and if he didn't have those injuries he could've been up there in the top five centers to ever play the game."
Yao was nominated by a member of the Chinese media for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor to the game. He would have been eligible for induction as early as 2012, but Yao felt it was too soon and requested that the Hall of Fame delay consideration of the nomination. The Hall granted Yao's request, and said it was Yao's decision when the process would be restarted.
On September 9, 2016, Yao was inducted into the Hall of Fame along with 4-time NBA champion Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson. Continuing with the honours, on February 3, 2017, Yao's Number 11 jersey was retired by the Houston Rockets.
National team career
2000 and 2004 Olympics
Yao first played for China in the 2000 Summer Olympics, and he was dubbed, together with teammates Wang Zhizhi and Mengke Bateer, "The Walking Great Wall". During the 2004 Athens Olympics, Yao carried the Chinese flag during the opening ceremony, which he said was a "long dream come true". He then vowed to abstain from shaving his beard for half a year unless the Chinese national team made it into the quarter-finals of the 2004 Olympics. After Yao scored 39 points in a win against New Zealand, China lost 58–83, 57–82, and 52–89 against Spain, Argentina and Italy respectively. In the final group game, however, a 67–66 win over the reigning 2002 FIBA World Champions Serbia and Montenegro moved them into the quarterfinals. Yao scored 27 points and had 13 rebounds, and he hit two free throws with 28 seconds left that proved to be the winning margin. He averaged 20.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game while shooting 55.9% from the field.
Asian Cup
Yao led the Chinese national team to three consecutive FIBA Asia Cup gold medals, winning the 2001 FIBA Asian Championship, the 2003 FIBA Asian Championship, and the 2005 FIBA Asian Championship. He was also named the MVP of all three tournaments.
2006 World Championship
Yao's injury at the end of the 2005–06 NBA season required a full six months of rest, threatening his participation in the 2006 FIBA World Championship. However, he recovered before the start of the tournament, and in the last game of the preliminary round, he had 36 points and 10 rebounds in a win against Slovenia to lead China into the Round of 16. In the first knockout round, however, China was defeated by eventual finalist Greece. Yao's final averages were 25.3 points, the most in the tournament, and 9.0 rebounds a game, which was fourth overall.
2008 Olympics
After having surgery to repair his fractured foot, Yao stated if he could not play in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, "It would be the biggest loss in my career to right now." He returned to play with the Chinese national team on July 17, 2008. On August 6, Yao carried the Olympic flame into Tiananmen Square, as part of the Olympic torch relay. He also carried the Chinese flag and led his country's delegation during the opening ceremony. Yao scored the first basket of the game, a three-pointer, in China's opening 2008 Olympics Basketball Tournament game against the eventual gold medal-winning United States.
"I was just really happy to make that shot", Yao said after the Americans' 101–70 victory. "It was the first score in our Olympic campaign here at home and I'll always remember it. It represents that we can keep our heads up in the face of really tough odds."
Following an overtime defeat to Spain, Yao scored 30 points in a win over Angola, and 25 points in a three-point win against Germany, which clinched China's place in the quarterfinals. However, China lost to Lithuania in the quarterfinals by 26 points, eliminating them from the tournament. Yao's 19 points a game were the second-highest in the Olympics, and his averages of 8.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game were third overall.
Career statistics
CBA statistics
NBA statistics
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* ||72||29.0||.498||.500||.811||8.2||1.7||.4||1.8||13.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| style="background:#cfecec;"| 82*|| style="background:#cfecec;"|82*||32.8||.522||.000||.809||9.0||1.5||.3||1.9||17.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 80||80||30.6||.552||.000||.783||8.4||.8||.4||2.0||18.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 57||57||34.2||.519||.000||.853||10.2||1.5||.5||1.6||22.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 48||48||33.8||.516||.000||.862||9.4||2.0||.4||2.0||25.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 55||55||37.2||.507||.000||.850||10.8||2.3||.5||2.0||22.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 77||77||33.6||.548||1.000||.866||9.9||1.8||.4||1.9||19.7
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 5||5||18.2||.486||.000||.938||5.4||.8||.0||1.6||10.2
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career
| 486||476||32.5||.524||.200||.833||9.2||1.6||.4||1.9||19.0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| All-Star
| 6||6||17.0||.500||.000||.667||4.0||1.3||.2||.3||7.0
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2004
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 5||5||37.0||.456||.000||.765||7.4||1.8||.4||1.4||15.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2005
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 7||7||31.4||.655||.000||.727||7.7||.7||.3||2.7||21.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2007
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 7||7||37.1||.440||.000||.880||10.3||.9||.1||.7||25.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2009
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 9||9||35.9||.545||.000||.902||10.9||1.0||.4||1.2||17.1
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career
| 28||28||35.3||.519||.000||.833||9.3||1.0||.3||1.5||19.8
Awards and achievements
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: Class of 2016
8× NBA All-Star: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011
5× All-NBA Team:
Second Team: 2007, 2009
Third Team: 2004, 2006, 2008
NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2003
NBA Rookie All-Star Game: 2004
Gold medal winner with Team China at the 2001, 2003, and 2005 FIBA Asia Cups
MVP of the 2001, 2003, 2005 FIBA Asia Cups
FIBA Diamond Ball Top Scorer: 2004
All-Tournament Team, FIBA World Cup: 2002
Chinese Basketball Association Champion: 2001–02
Rebounding leader in CBA in 2001–02
2003 Sporting News Rookie of the Year
2003 Laureus Newcomer of the Year
2005 Proletarian Award, issued by the Chinese Communist Party
Personal life
After Yao announced that he would enter the 2002 NBA draft, he told one American journalist that he had been studying English for two years, and that he liked the movie Star Wars but disliked hip hop. He was sometimes accompanied during interviews in Shanghai by one of his parents, whose basketball careers were derailed by the 1966–76 Cultural Revolution, and who came to his Shanghai Sharks games on bicycles.
Yao met Chinese female basketball player Ye Li when he was 17 years old. Ye was not fond of Yao at first, but finally accepted him after he gave her the team pins he had collected during the 2000 Summer Olympics. She is the only woman he has ever dated. Their relationship became public when they appeared together during the 2004 Olympics closing ceremony. On August 6, 2007, Yao and Ye married in a ceremony attended by close friends and family and closed to the media. On May 21, 2010, the couple's daughter Yao Qinlei (whose English name is Amy) was born in Houston, Texas.
In 2004, Yao co-wrote an autobiography with ESPN sportswriter Ric Bucher, entitled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds. In the same year, he was also the subject of a documentary film, The Year of the Yao, which focuses on his NBA rookie year. The film is narrated by his friend and interpreter, Colin Pine. In 2005, former Newsweek writer Brook Larmer published a book entitled Operation Yao Ming, in which he said that Yao's parents were convinced to marry each other so that they would produce a dominant athlete, and that during Yao's childhood, he was given special treatment to help him become a great basketball player. In a 2015 AMA post on Reddit, Yao stated that this was not true and that he started playing basketball for fun at age 9. In 2009, Yao provided the voice for a character of a Chinese animated film, The Magic Aster, released on June 19.
Yao enrolled at the Antai College of Economics & Management of Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2011. He took a tailored degree program with mostly one-on-one lectures to avoid being a distraction on campus. Yao completed his studies in July 2018, graduating with a degree in economics after 7 years of study.
In 2016, Yao opened a winery called Yao Family Wines in Napa Valley, California, which serves Cabernet Sauvignon blends and "the kind of rich-but-balanced luxury reds he'd come to enjoy in Houston steakhouses." American wine critic Robert M. Parker Jr. of The Wine Advocate gave Yao's wine a ranking of 96 points and wrote: "I am aware of all the arguments that major celebrities lending their names to wines is generally a formula for mediocrity, but... the two Cabernets are actually brilliant, and the reserve bottling ranks alongside just about anything made in Napa."
Other activities
Commercial engagements
Yao is one of China's most recognizable athletes, along with Liu Xiang. As of 2009, he had led Forbes' Chinese celebrities list in income and popularity for six straight years, earning US$51 million (CN¥357 million) in 2008. A major part of his income comes from his sponsorship deals, as he is under contract with several major companies to endorse their products. He was signed by Nike until the end of his rookie season. When Nike decided not to renew his contract, he signed with Reebok. He also had a deal with Pepsi, and he successfully sued Coca-Cola in 2003 when they used his image on their bottles while promoting the national team. He eventually signed with Coca-Cola for the 2008 Olympics. His other deals include partnerships with Visa, Apple, Garmin, and McDonald's.
On July 16, 2009, Yao bought his former club team, the Shanghai Sharks, which were on the verge of not being able to play the next season of the Chinese Basketball Association because of financial troubles.
Philanthropy
Yao has also participated in many charity events during his career, including the NBA's Basketball Without Borders program. In the NBA's offseason in 2003, Yao hosted a telethon, which raised US$300,000 to help stop the spread of SARS. In September 2007, he held an auction that raised US$965,000 (CN¥6.75 million), and competed in a charity basketball match to raise money for underprivileged children in China. He was joined by fellow NBA stars Steve Nash, Carmelo Anthony, and Baron Davis, and Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan. After the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Yao donated $2 million to relief work and created the Yao Ming Foundation to help rebuild schools destroyed in the earthquake.
Yao has also been a dedicated supporter of Special Olympics. He serves as Global Ambassador and member of the International Board of Directors.
Conservation work
In August 2012, Yao started filming a documentary about the northern white rhinoceros. He is also an ambassador for elephant conservation. In 2014, he was also part of the documentary The End of the Wild about elephant conservation. Yao has filmed a number of public service announcements for elephant and rhino conservation for the "Say No" campaign with partners African Wildlife Foundation and WildAid.
Politics
On March 3, 2013, Yao attended the First Session of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference as one of its 2,200 members. He was a member of the CPPCC from 2013 to 2018. While he is involved in Chinese politics, he is not a member of the Chinese Communist Party, although he has been awarded the Proletarian Award by the party for his spreading of literacy and socialist ideologies.
See also
List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
List of tallest players in National Basketball Association history
References
External links
The Yao Ming Foundation official website
1980 births
Living people
2002 FIBA World Championship players
2006 FIBA World Championship players
Asian Games medalists in basketball
Asian Games silver medalists for China
Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2002 Asian Games
Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Basketball players from Shanghai
Centers (basketball)
Chinese Basketball Association executives
Chinese expatriate basketball people in the United States
Chinese men's basketball players
Chinese philanthropists
Houston Rockets draft picks
Houston Rockets players
Laureus World Sports Awards winners
Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games
Members of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
National Basketball Association All-Stars
National Basketball Association players from China
Olympic basketball players of China
Shanghai Jiao Tong University alumni
Shanghai Sharks players | true | [
"What Else Do You Do? (A Compilation of Quiet Music) is a various artists compilation album, released in 1990 by Shimmy Disc.\n\nTrack listing\n\nPersonnel \nAdapted from the What Else Do You Do? (A Compilation of Quiet Music) liner notes.\n Kramer – production, engineering\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n\n1990 compilation albums\nAlbums produced by Kramer (musician)\nShimmy Disc compilation albums",
"Oil and Vinegar is a screenplay that was written but never filmed. It is a screenplay that John Hughes wrote and that Howard Deutch planned to direct. It would have starred Molly Ringwald and Matthew Broderick.\n\nPlot\nA soon-to-be-married man and a hitchhiking girl end up talking about their lives during the length of the car ride.\n\nProduction\n\nCasting\nThe film was set to have Molly Ringwald and Matthew Broderick as the two main characters.\n\nDevelopment\nThe screenplay was written by Hughes, with Howard Deutch set to direct. Its style was said to be similar to The Breakfast Club (1985) but instead of taking place in detention, it would have taken place in a car with Ringwald's and Broderick's characters both discussing their lives to each other.\n\nFuture\nWhen asked about Oil and Vinegar Howard Deutch said,\n\nYes. That was John's favorite script and he was saving it for himself, and I convinced him to let me do it. It was the story of a traveling salesman that Matthew Broderick was going to play, and a rock-and-roll girl, a real rocker. Polar opposites. Molly [Ringwald] was going to play that. And I had to make a personal decision about whether to go forward or not. We had rehearsals in a couple weeks, and I was exhausted, and my girlfriend Lea Thompson, who became my wife, said, \"You're going to die. You can't do this. I'm not going to stick around and watch that.\" And I think it was also sprinkled with the fact that I wanted to do one movie that was my movie, not necessarily in service to John, even though I loved John. So between the two things, I didn't... It could still happen. I would do it. Not with Matthew and Molly anymore, but the script is still there. It doesn't need anything. It's one of his great scripts. He had so many great scripts. For instance, he would stay up all night, music blasting, and at like 5:30 or 6 a.m., he'd hand me what was supposed to be a rewrite on Some Kind of Wonderful. We needed five pages, and it was 50 pages. I said, \"What did you do?! What is this?\" and he said, \"Oh, I didn't do that. I did something else. Tell me what you think?\" And it was Ferris Bueller's Day Off. He wrote the first half of the movie in, like, eight hours, and then finished it a couple days later. That was John. I never knew a writer who could do that. No one else had that ability. Even the stuff I fished out of the garbage was gold.\n\nReferences\n\nUnproduced screenplays\nFilms with screenplays by John Hughes (filmmaker)"
] |
[
"Yao Ming",
"Entering the NBA draft",
"Who did he draft for?",
"NBA",
"What team was he part of?",
"Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent.",
"What else did he do outside of the NBA?",
"Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China,",
"Did he compete in the olympics?",
"I don't know.",
"What else did he do during this article?",
"Yao with the first pick of the draft, he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S. college basketball.",
"What position did he play?",
"I don't know.",
"What else did he do in this article?",
"When Yao decided to enter the 2002 NBA draft, a group of advisers was formed that came to be known as \"Team Yao\"."
] | C_4150a50a54b545ae8a4b88b70315a298_1 | Are any of the advisers named in the article? | 8 | Are any of the advisers named in the article? | Yao Ming | Yao was pressured to enter the NBA draft in 1999 by Li Yaomin, the deputy general manager of the Shanghai Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent. The agreement entitled Evergreen to 33% of Yao's earnings, but the contract was later determined to be invalid. When Yao decided to enter the 2002 NBA draft, a group of advisers was formed that came to be known as "Team Yao". The team consisted of Yao's negotiator, Erik Zhang; his NBA agent, Bill Duffy; his Chinese agent, Lu Hao; University of Chicago economics professor John Huizinga; and the vice president for marketing at BDA Sports Management, Bill Sanders. Yao was widely predicted to be picked number one overall. However, some teams were concerned about Yao's NBA eligibility because of uncertainty over whether the CBA would let Yao play in the United States. Shortly after Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China, the CBA stipulated that Yao would have to return to play for the national team. They also said they would not let him go to the United States unless the Houston Rockets would take him first overall. After assurances from Team Yao that the Rockets would draft Yao with their number one pick, the CBA gave permission on the morning of the draft for Yao to play in the U.S. When the Rockets selected Yao with the first pick of the draft, he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S. college basketball. CANNOTANSWER | Erik Zhang; his NBA agent, Bill Duffy; his Chinese agent, Lu Hao; | Yao Ming (; born September 12, 1980) is a Chinese basketball executive and former professional player. He played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Yao was selected to start for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game eight times, and was named to the All-NBA Team five times. During his final season, he was the tallest active player in the NBA, at .
Yao, who was born in Shanghai, started playing for the Sharks as a teenager, and played on their senior team for five years in the CBA, winning a championship in his final year. After negotiating with the CBA and the Sharks to secure his release, Yao was selected by the Rockets as the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft. He reached the NBA playoffs four times, and the Rockets won the first-round series in the 2009 postseason, their first playoff series victory since 1997. In July 2011, Yao announced his retirement from professional basketball because of a series of foot and ankle injuries which forced him to miss 250 games in his last six seasons. In eight seasons with the Rockets, Yao ranks sixth among franchise leaders in total points and total rebounds, and second in total blocks.
Yao is one of China's best-known athletes, with sponsorships with several major companies. His rookie year in the NBA was the subject of a documentary film, The Year of the Yao, and he co-wrote, along with NBA analyst Ric Bucher, an autobiography titled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds. Known in China as the "Yao Ming Phenomenon" and in the United States as the "Ming Dynasty", Yao's success in the NBA, and his popularity among fans, made him a symbol of a new China that was both more modern and more confident.
In April 2016, Yao was elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame, alongside Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson. In February 2017, Yao was unanimously elected as chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association.
Early life
Yao is the only child of Yao Zhiyuan and Fang Fengdi, both of whom were former professional basketball players. At , Yao weighed more than twice as much as the average Chinese newborn. When Yao was nine years old, he began playing basketball and attended a junior sports school. The following year, Yao measured and was examined by sports doctors, who predicted he would grow to .
Professional career
Shanghai Sharks (1997–2002)
Yao first tried out for the Shanghai Sharks junior team of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) when he was 13 years old, and practiced ten hours a day for his acceptance. After playing with the junior team for four years, Yao joined the senior team of the Sharks, where he averaged 10 points and 8 rebounds a game in his rookie season. His next season was cut short when he broke his foot for the second time in his career, which Yao said decreased his jumping ability by four to six inches (10 to 15 cm). The Sharks made the finals of the CBA in Yao's third season and again the next year, but lost both times to the Bayi Rockets. When Wang Zhizhi left the Bayi Rockets to become the first NBA player from China the following year, the Sharks finally won their first CBA championship. During the playoffs in his final year with Shanghai, Yao averaged 38.9 points and 20.2 rebounds a game, while shooting 76.6% from the field, and made all 21 of his shots during one game in the finals.
Houston Rockets (2002–2011)
Yao was pressured to enter the NBA draft in 1999 by Li Yaomin, the deputy general manager of the Shanghai Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent. The agreement entitled Evergreen to 33% of Yao's earnings, but the contract was later determined to be invalid.
As American attention on Yao grew, Chinese authorities also took interest. In 2002, the Chinese government released new regulations that would require him and other Chinese players to turn over half of any NBA earnings to the government and China's national basketball association, including endorsements as well as salaries.
When Yao decided to enter the 2002 NBA draft, a group of advisers was formed that came to be known as "Team Yao". The team consisted of Yao's negotiator, Erik Zhang; his NBA agent, Bill Duffy; his Chinese agent, Lu Hao; University of Chicago economics professor John Huizinga; and the vice president for marketing at BDA Sports Management, Bill Sanders. Yao was widely predicted to be picked number one overall. However, some teams were concerned about Yao's NBA eligibility because of uncertainty over whether the CBA would let Yao play in the United States.
Shortly after Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China, the CBA stipulated that Yao would have to return to play for the national team. They also said they would not let him go to the United States unless the Houston Rockets would take him first overall. After assurances from Team Yao that the Rockets would draft Yao with their number one pick, the CBA gave permission on the morning of the draft for Yao to play in the U.S. When the Rockets selected Yao with the first pick of the draft, he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S. college basketball.
Beginning years (2002–2005)
Yao did not participate in the Rockets' pre-season training camp, instead playing for China in the 2002 FIBA World Championships. Before the season, several commentators, including Bill Simmons and Dick Vitale, predicted that Yao would fail in the NBA, and Charles Barkley said he would "kiss Kenny Smith's ass" if Yao scored more than 19 points in one of his rookie-season games. Yao played his first NBA game against the Indiana Pacers, scoring no points and grabbing two rebounds, and scored his first NBA basket against the Denver Nuggets. In his first seven games, he averaged only 14 minutes and 4 points, but on November 17, he scored 20 points on a perfect 9-of-9 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line against the Lakers. Barkley made good on his bet by kissing the buttock of a donkey purchased by Smith for the occasion (Smith's "ass").
In Yao's first game in Miami on December 16, 2002, the Heat passed out 8,000 fortune cookies, an East Asian cultural stereotype. Yao was not angry with the promotion because he was not familiar with American stereotypes of Chinese. In an earlier interview in 2000, Yao said he had never seen a fortune cookie in China and guessed it must have been an American invention.
Before Yao's first meeting with Shaquille O'Neal on January 17, 2003, O'Neal said, "Tell Yao Ming, ching chong-yang-wah-ah-soh", prompting accusations of racism. O'Neal denied that his comments were racist, and said he was only joking. Yao also said he believed O'Neal was joking, but he said a lot of Asians would not see the humor. In the game, Yao scored the Rockets' first six points of the game and blocked O'Neal twice in the opening minutes as well as altering two other shots by O'Neal, all 4 of those attempts coming right at the rim, and made a game-sealing dunk with 10 seconds left in overtime. Yao finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 blocks; O'Neal recorded 31 points, 13 rebounds, and 0 blocks. O'Neal later expressed regret for the way he treated Yao early in his career.
The NBA began offering All-Star ballots in three languages—English, Spanish and Chinese—for fan voting of the starters for the 2003 NBA All-Star Game. Yao was voted to start for the West over O'Neal, who was coming off three consecutive NBA Finals MVP Awards. Yao received nearly a quarter million more votes than O'Neal, and he became the first rookie to start in the All-Star Game since Grant Hill in 1995.
Yao finished his rookie season averaging 13.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, and was second in the NBA Rookie of the Year Award voting to Amar'e Stoudemire, and a unanimous pick for the NBA All-Rookie First Team selection. He was also voted the Sporting News Rookie of the Year, and won the Laureus Newcomer of the Year award.
Before the start of Yao's sophomore season, Rockets' head coach Rudy Tomjanovich resigned because of health issues, and long-time New York Knicks head coach Jeff Van Gundy was brought in. After Van Gundy began focusing the offense on Yao, Yao averaged career highs in points and rebounds for the season, and had a career-high 41 points and 7 assists in a triple-overtime win against the Atlanta Hawks in February 2004. He was also voted to be the starting center for the Western Conference in the 2004 NBA All-Star Game for the second straight year. Yao finished the season averaging 17.5 points and 9.0 rebounds a game. The Rockets made the playoffs for the first time in Yao's career, claiming the seventh seed in the Western Conference. In the first round, however, the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated Houston in five games. Yao averaged 15.0 points and 7.4 rebounds in his first playoff series.
In the summer of 2004, the Rockets acquired Tracy McGrady from the Orlando Magic in a seven-player trade that also sent Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley to Orlando. Although Yao said that Francis and Mobley had "helped [him] in every way [his] first two seasons", he added, "I'm excited about playing with Tracy McGrady. He can do some amazing things." After the trade, it was predicted that the Rockets would be title contenders. Both McGrady and Yao were voted to start in the 2005 NBA All-Star Game, and Yao broke the record previously held by Michael Jordan for most All-Star votes, with 2,558,278 total votes. The Rockets won 51 games and finished fifth in the West, and made the playoffs for the second consecutive year, where they faced the Dallas Mavericks. The Rockets won the first two games in Dallas, and Yao made 13 of 14 shots in the second game, the best shooting performance in the playoffs in Rockets history. However, the Rockets lost four of their last five games and lost Game 7 by 40 points, the largest Game 7 deficit in NBA history. Yao's final averages for the series were 21.4 points on 65% shooting and 7.7 rebounds.
Injury-plagued seasons (2005–2011)
After missing only two games out of 246 in his first three years of NBA play, Yao endured an extended period on the inactive list in his fourth season after developing osteomyelitis in the big toe on his left foot, and surgery was performed on the toe on December 18, 2005. Despite missing 21 games while recovering, Yao again had the most fan votes to start the 2006 NBA All-Star Game.
In 25 games after the All-Star break, Yao averaged 25.7 points and 11.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 53.7% from the field and 87.8% at the free-throw line. His final averages in 57 games were 22.3 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. It was the first time that he ended the season with a so-called "20/10" average. However, Tracy McGrady played only 47 games in the season, missing time because of back spasms. Yao and McGrady played only 31 games together, and the Rockets did not make the playoffs, winning only 34 games. With only four games left in the season, Yao suffered another injury in a game against the Utah Jazz on April 10, 2006, which left him with a broken bone in his left foot. The injury required six months of rest.
Early into his fifth season, Yao was injured again, this time breaking his right knee on December 23, 2006, while attempting to block a shot. Up to that point he had been averaging 26.8 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game, and had been mentioned as an MVP candidate. Yao was unable to play in what would have been his fifth All-Star game; he was medically cleared to play on March 4, 2007, after missing 32 games.
Despite Yao's absence, the Rockets made the playoffs with the home court advantage against the Utah Jazz in the first round. The Rockets won the first two games, but then lost four of five games and were eliminated in Game 7 at home; Yao scored 29 points—15 in the fourth quarter. Although he averaged 25.1 points and 10.3 rebounds for the series, Yao said afterwards "I didn't do my job". At the end of the season, Yao was selected to the All-NBA Second Team for the first time in his career, after being selected to the All-NBA Third Team twice.
On May 18, 2007, only weeks after the Rockets were eliminated from the playoffs, Jeff Van Gundy was dismissed as head coach. Three days later, the Rockets signed former Sacramento Kings coach Rick Adelman, who was thought to focus more on offense than the defensive-minded Van Gundy.
On November 9, 2007, Yao played against fellow Chinese NBA and Milwaukee Bucks player Yi Jianlian for the first time. The game, which the Rockets won 104–88, was broadcast on 19 networks in China, and was watched by over 200 million people in China alone, making it one of the most-watched NBA games in history. In the 2008 NBA All-Star Game, Yao was once again voted to start at center for the Western Conference. Before the All-Star weekend, the Rockets had won eight straight games, and after the break, they took their win streak to 12 games. On February 26, 2008, however, it was reported that Yao would miss the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his left foot. He missed the 2008 NBA playoffs, but he did not miss the 2008 Summer Olympics at Beijing, China in August. After Yao's injury, the Rockets stretched their winning streak to 22 games, at the time the second-longest such streak in NBA history. Yao underwent a successful operation on March 3, which placed screws in his foot to strengthen the bone, and recovery time was estimated at four months. Yao's final averages in 55 games were 22.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks a game.
The next season, Yao played 77 games, his first full season since the 2004–05 season, and averaged 19.7 points and 9.9 rebounds, while shooting 54.8% from the field, and a career-high 86.6% from the free throw line. Despite McGrady suffering a season-ending injury in February, the Rockets finished with 53 wins and the fifth seed in the Western Conference. Facing the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round, Yao finished with 24 points on 9-of-9 shooting in the first game, and the Rockets won 108–81, in Portland. The Rockets won all their games in Houston, and advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1997, and the first time in Yao's career.
The Rockets faced the Lakers in the second round, and Yao scored 28 points, with 8 points in the final four minutes, to lead the Rockets to a 100–92 win in Los Angeles. However, the Rockets lost their next two games, and Yao was diagnosed with a sprained ankle after Game 3. A follow-up test revealed a hairline fracture in his left foot, and he was ruled out for the remainder of the playoffs. In reaction, Yao said the injury, which did not require surgery, was "better than last year". However, follow-up analysis indicated that the injury could be career threatening. The Yao-less Rockets went on to win Game 4 against the Lakers to even the series 2–2. The Rockets eventually lost the series in seven games.
In July 2009, Yao discussed the injury with his doctors, and the Rockets applied for a disabled player exception, an exception to the NBA salary cap which grants the injured player's team money to sign a free agent. The Rockets were granted the exception, and used approximately $5.7 million on free agent Trevor Ariza. After weeks of consulting, it was decided that Yao would undergo surgery in order to repair the broken bone in his left foot. He did not play the entire 2009–10 season.
For the 2010–11 season, the Rockets said they would limit Yao to 24 minutes a game, with no plan to play him on back-to-back nights. Their goal was to keep Yao healthy in the long term. On December 16, 2010, it was announced that Yao had developed a stress fracture in his left ankle, related to an older injury, and would miss the rest of the season. In January 2011, he was voted as the Western Conference starting center for the 2011 All-Star Game for the eighth time in nine seasons. Injured All-Stars are usually required to attend the All-Star functions and to be introduced at the game, but Yao was not in Los Angeles because of his rehabilitation schedule after his surgery. Yao's contract with the Rockets expired at the end of the season, and he became a free agent.
Retirement
On July 20, 2011, Yao announced his retirement from basketball in a press conference in Shanghai. He cited injuries to his foot and ankle, including the third fracture to his left foot sustained near the end of 2010. His retirement sparked over 1.2 million comments on the Chinese social-networking site Sina Weibo. Reacting to Yao's retirement, NBA commissioner David Stern said Yao was a "bridge between Chinese and American fans" and that he had "a wonderful mixture of talent, dedication, humanitarian aspirations and a sense of humor." Shaquille O'Neal said Yao "was very agile. He could play inside, he could play outside, and if he didn't have those injuries he could've been up there in the top five centers to ever play the game."
Yao was nominated by a member of the Chinese media for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor to the game. He would have been eligible for induction as early as 2012, but Yao felt it was too soon and requested that the Hall of Fame delay consideration of the nomination. The Hall granted Yao's request, and said it was Yao's decision when the process would be restarted.
On September 9, 2016, Yao was inducted into the Hall of Fame along with 4-time NBA champion Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson. Continuing with the honours, on February 3, 2017, Yao's Number 11 jersey was retired by the Houston Rockets.
National team career
2000 and 2004 Olympics
Yao first played for China in the 2000 Summer Olympics, and he was dubbed, together with teammates Wang Zhizhi and Mengke Bateer, "The Walking Great Wall". During the 2004 Athens Olympics, Yao carried the Chinese flag during the opening ceremony, which he said was a "long dream come true". He then vowed to abstain from shaving his beard for half a year unless the Chinese national team made it into the quarter-finals of the 2004 Olympics. After Yao scored 39 points in a win against New Zealand, China lost 58–83, 57–82, and 52–89 against Spain, Argentina and Italy respectively. In the final group game, however, a 67–66 win over the reigning 2002 FIBA World Champions Serbia and Montenegro moved them into the quarterfinals. Yao scored 27 points and had 13 rebounds, and he hit two free throws with 28 seconds left that proved to be the winning margin. He averaged 20.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game while shooting 55.9% from the field.
Asian Cup
Yao led the Chinese national team to three consecutive FIBA Asia Cup gold medals, winning the 2001 FIBA Asian Championship, the 2003 FIBA Asian Championship, and the 2005 FIBA Asian Championship. He was also named the MVP of all three tournaments.
2006 World Championship
Yao's injury at the end of the 2005–06 NBA season required a full six months of rest, threatening his participation in the 2006 FIBA World Championship. However, he recovered before the start of the tournament, and in the last game of the preliminary round, he had 36 points and 10 rebounds in a win against Slovenia to lead China into the Round of 16. In the first knockout round, however, China was defeated by eventual finalist Greece. Yao's final averages were 25.3 points, the most in the tournament, and 9.0 rebounds a game, which was fourth overall.
2008 Olympics
After having surgery to repair his fractured foot, Yao stated if he could not play in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, "It would be the biggest loss in my career to right now." He returned to play with the Chinese national team on July 17, 2008. On August 6, Yao carried the Olympic flame into Tiananmen Square, as part of the Olympic torch relay. He also carried the Chinese flag and led his country's delegation during the opening ceremony. Yao scored the first basket of the game, a three-pointer, in China's opening 2008 Olympics Basketball Tournament game against the eventual gold medal-winning United States.
"I was just really happy to make that shot", Yao said after the Americans' 101–70 victory. "It was the first score in our Olympic campaign here at home and I'll always remember it. It represents that we can keep our heads up in the face of really tough odds."
Following an overtime defeat to Spain, Yao scored 30 points in a win over Angola, and 25 points in a three-point win against Germany, which clinched China's place in the quarterfinals. However, China lost to Lithuania in the quarterfinals by 26 points, eliminating them from the tournament. Yao's 19 points a game were the second-highest in the Olympics, and his averages of 8.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game were third overall.
Career statistics
CBA statistics
NBA statistics
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* ||72||29.0||.498||.500||.811||8.2||1.7||.4||1.8||13.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| style="background:#cfecec;"| 82*|| style="background:#cfecec;"|82*||32.8||.522||.000||.809||9.0||1.5||.3||1.9||17.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 80||80||30.6||.552||.000||.783||8.4||.8||.4||2.0||18.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 57||57||34.2||.519||.000||.853||10.2||1.5||.5||1.6||22.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 48||48||33.8||.516||.000||.862||9.4||2.0||.4||2.0||25.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 55||55||37.2||.507||.000||.850||10.8||2.3||.5||2.0||22.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 77||77||33.6||.548||1.000||.866||9.9||1.8||.4||1.9||19.7
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 5||5||18.2||.486||.000||.938||5.4||.8||.0||1.6||10.2
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career
| 486||476||32.5||.524||.200||.833||9.2||1.6||.4||1.9||19.0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| All-Star
| 6||6||17.0||.500||.000||.667||4.0||1.3||.2||.3||7.0
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2004
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 5||5||37.0||.456||.000||.765||7.4||1.8||.4||1.4||15.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2005
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 7||7||31.4||.655||.000||.727||7.7||.7||.3||2.7||21.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2007
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 7||7||37.1||.440||.000||.880||10.3||.9||.1||.7||25.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2009
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 9||9||35.9||.545||.000||.902||10.9||1.0||.4||1.2||17.1
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career
| 28||28||35.3||.519||.000||.833||9.3||1.0||.3||1.5||19.8
Awards and achievements
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: Class of 2016
8× NBA All-Star: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011
5× All-NBA Team:
Second Team: 2007, 2009
Third Team: 2004, 2006, 2008
NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2003
NBA Rookie All-Star Game: 2004
Gold medal winner with Team China at the 2001, 2003, and 2005 FIBA Asia Cups
MVP of the 2001, 2003, 2005 FIBA Asia Cups
FIBA Diamond Ball Top Scorer: 2004
All-Tournament Team, FIBA World Cup: 2002
Chinese Basketball Association Champion: 2001–02
Rebounding leader in CBA in 2001–02
2003 Sporting News Rookie of the Year
2003 Laureus Newcomer of the Year
2005 Proletarian Award, issued by the Chinese Communist Party
Personal life
After Yao announced that he would enter the 2002 NBA draft, he told one American journalist that he had been studying English for two years, and that he liked the movie Star Wars but disliked hip hop. He was sometimes accompanied during interviews in Shanghai by one of his parents, whose basketball careers were derailed by the 1966–76 Cultural Revolution, and who came to his Shanghai Sharks games on bicycles.
Yao met Chinese female basketball player Ye Li when he was 17 years old. Ye was not fond of Yao at first, but finally accepted him after he gave her the team pins he had collected during the 2000 Summer Olympics. She is the only woman he has ever dated. Their relationship became public when they appeared together during the 2004 Olympics closing ceremony. On August 6, 2007, Yao and Ye married in a ceremony attended by close friends and family and closed to the media. On May 21, 2010, the couple's daughter Yao Qinlei (whose English name is Amy) was born in Houston, Texas.
In 2004, Yao co-wrote an autobiography with ESPN sportswriter Ric Bucher, entitled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds. In the same year, he was also the subject of a documentary film, The Year of the Yao, which focuses on his NBA rookie year. The film is narrated by his friend and interpreter, Colin Pine. In 2005, former Newsweek writer Brook Larmer published a book entitled Operation Yao Ming, in which he said that Yao's parents were convinced to marry each other so that they would produce a dominant athlete, and that during Yao's childhood, he was given special treatment to help him become a great basketball player. In a 2015 AMA post on Reddit, Yao stated that this was not true and that he started playing basketball for fun at age 9. In 2009, Yao provided the voice for a character of a Chinese animated film, The Magic Aster, released on June 19.
Yao enrolled at the Antai College of Economics & Management of Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2011. He took a tailored degree program with mostly one-on-one lectures to avoid being a distraction on campus. Yao completed his studies in July 2018, graduating with a degree in economics after 7 years of study.
In 2016, Yao opened a winery called Yao Family Wines in Napa Valley, California, which serves Cabernet Sauvignon blends and "the kind of rich-but-balanced luxury reds he'd come to enjoy in Houston steakhouses." American wine critic Robert M. Parker Jr. of The Wine Advocate gave Yao's wine a ranking of 96 points and wrote: "I am aware of all the arguments that major celebrities lending their names to wines is generally a formula for mediocrity, but... the two Cabernets are actually brilliant, and the reserve bottling ranks alongside just about anything made in Napa."
Other activities
Commercial engagements
Yao is one of China's most recognizable athletes, along with Liu Xiang. As of 2009, he had led Forbes' Chinese celebrities list in income and popularity for six straight years, earning US$51 million (CN¥357 million) in 2008. A major part of his income comes from his sponsorship deals, as he is under contract with several major companies to endorse their products. He was signed by Nike until the end of his rookie season. When Nike decided not to renew his contract, he signed with Reebok. He also had a deal with Pepsi, and he successfully sued Coca-Cola in 2003 when they used his image on their bottles while promoting the national team. He eventually signed with Coca-Cola for the 2008 Olympics. His other deals include partnerships with Visa, Apple, Garmin, and McDonald's.
On July 16, 2009, Yao bought his former club team, the Shanghai Sharks, which were on the verge of not being able to play the next season of the Chinese Basketball Association because of financial troubles.
Philanthropy
Yao has also participated in many charity events during his career, including the NBA's Basketball Without Borders program. In the NBA's offseason in 2003, Yao hosted a telethon, which raised US$300,000 to help stop the spread of SARS. In September 2007, he held an auction that raised US$965,000 (CN¥6.75 million), and competed in a charity basketball match to raise money for underprivileged children in China. He was joined by fellow NBA stars Steve Nash, Carmelo Anthony, and Baron Davis, and Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan. After the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Yao donated $2 million to relief work and created the Yao Ming Foundation to help rebuild schools destroyed in the earthquake.
Yao has also been a dedicated supporter of Special Olympics. He serves as Global Ambassador and member of the International Board of Directors.
Conservation work
In August 2012, Yao started filming a documentary about the northern white rhinoceros. He is also an ambassador for elephant conservation. In 2014, he was also part of the documentary The End of the Wild about elephant conservation. Yao has filmed a number of public service announcements for elephant and rhino conservation for the "Say No" campaign with partners African Wildlife Foundation and WildAid.
Politics
On March 3, 2013, Yao attended the First Session of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference as one of its 2,200 members. He was a member of the CPPCC from 2013 to 2018. While he is involved in Chinese politics, he is not a member of the Chinese Communist Party, although he has been awarded the Proletarian Award by the party for his spreading of literacy and socialist ideologies.
See also
List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
List of tallest players in National Basketball Association history
References
External links
The Yao Ming Foundation official website
1980 births
Living people
2002 FIBA World Championship players
2006 FIBA World Championship players
Asian Games medalists in basketball
Asian Games silver medalists for China
Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2002 Asian Games
Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Basketball players from Shanghai
Centers (basketball)
Chinese Basketball Association executives
Chinese expatriate basketball people in the United States
Chinese men's basketball players
Chinese philanthropists
Houston Rockets draft picks
Houston Rockets players
Laureus World Sports Awards winners
Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games
Members of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
National Basketball Association All-Stars
National Basketball Association players from China
Olympic basketball players of China
Shanghai Jiao Tong University alumni
Shanghai Sharks players | true | [
"A special adviser or special advisor (; ) is a high-ranking civil servant in the Norwegian civil service with rank code (stillingskode) 1220 in the Norwegian state. The Ministry of Finance has stated that special advisers belong to the \"highest career level\" in government departments. Special advisers may be highly qualified experts or people with high-level experience from the government service, including former top executives of government agencies. The title is used in government departments, where special advisers are the single most highly paid category. The rank is also used in other parts of the civil service, including directorates and health trusts. In the Basic Collective Agreement (hovedtariffavtalen) for the Norwegian state special advisers have the second highest minimum pay grade, above all the director ranks and second only to a rarely used rank for the most senior attorneys with the Office of the Attorney General of Norway.\n\nIn government departments\n\nSpecial advisers are high-ranking advisers, generally without managerial responsibilities. The Ministry of Finance has stated that special advisers belong to the \"highest career level\" in government departments. They tend to have a particularly independent role within their organization. They may be highly qualified experts or people with high-level experience from the government service, including former top executives of government agencies who go on to work in a government ministry. There is only a small number of special advisers. As of 2021, there were 81 special advisers, 310 policy directors (fagdirektør) og 2,114 senior advisers among the three highest classes of advisers across the government departments. Special advisers are the single most highly paid category in the government administration and some earn more than the Prime Minister. For example, Jonas Gahr Støre, Kai Eide, Bjørn Tore Godal, Erik Solheim, Georg Fredrik Rieber-Mohn, Ann-Marit Sæbønes, Harald Rensvik, Anne Kari Lande Hasle, Janne Kristiansen, Tore Eriksen, Hans Brattskar, and Joakim Lystad are or have been special advisers in the Norwegian central government.\n\nIn some respects, they are similar to special advisers in the UK government, with the exception that they are permanent civil servants rather than political appointees.\n\nReferences\n\nGovernment of Norway",
"The Investment Advisers Act of 1940, codified at through , is a United States federal law that was created to monitor and regulate the activities of investment advisers (also spelled \"advisors\") as defined by the law. It is the primary source of regulation of investment advisers and is administered by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.\n\nOverview\nThe law provides in part:\n\nContents\n\nSection 201 Findings\nSection 202(a) Definitions\nSection 202(b) Governments Excepted\nSection 203 Registration of Investment Advisers\nSection 203A State and Federal Responsibilities\nSection 204 Annual and Other Reports\nSection 204A Prevention of Misuse of Nonpublic Information\nSection 205 Investment Advisory Contracts\nSection 206 Prohibited Transactions by Investment Advisers\nSection 206A Exemptions\nSection 207 Material Misstatements\nSection 208 General Prohibitions\nSection 209 Enforcement of Title\nSection 210 Publicity\nRules, Regulations and Orders (Section 211)\nHearings (Section 212)\nCourt Review of Orders (Section 213)\nJurisdiction of Offenses and Suits (Section 214)\nValidity of Contracts (Section 215)\nAnnual Reports of Commission (Section 216)\nPenalties (Section 217)\nHiring and Leasing Authority of the Commission (Section 218)\nSeparability of Provisions (Section 219)\nShort Title (Section 220)\nEffective Date (Section 221)\nState Regulation of Investment Advisers (Section 222)\n\nSummary\n\nThe Investment Advisers Act (IAA) was passed in 1940 to monitor those who, for a fee, advise people, pension funds, and institutions on investment matters. Impetus for passage of the act began with the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, which authorized the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to study investment trusts. The thrust of the study, which led to the passage of the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the Investment Advisers Act, was to provide a closer look at investment trusts and investment companies. The study, however, found many instances of investment adviser abuse, such as unfounded \"hot tips\" and questionable performance fees.\n\nThe IAA sought less to regulate investment advisers than to keep track of who was in the industry and their methods of operation. The IAA does not mandate qualifications for becoming an investment adviser but requires registration for those using the mails to conduct investment counseling business.\n\nThe IAA mandated all persons and firms receiving compensation for serving as investment advisers to register with the SEC. The requirement has been revised on several occasions since then, most notably with the passage of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. There are, however, several exceptions and exemptions to the registration requirement: investment advisers whose clients all reside in the same state as the adviser's business office and who do not provide advice on securities listed on national exchanges; investment advisers whose clients are solely insurance companies; and certain investment advisers who manage solely private funds holding less than $100 million from US investors.\n\nInvestment advisers covered\nA hallmark of the IAA is the required registration of virtually all investment advisers. Much verbiage, however, has gone into exactly what constitutes an investment adviser and corollary—investment advice. The act defines an investment adviser as \"any person who, for compensation, engages in the business of advising others, either directly or through publications or writings, as to the value of securities or as to the advisability of investing in, purchasing, or selling securities, or who for compensation and as part of a regular business, issues or promulgates analyses or reports concerning securities.\" The SEC further refined its definition of an adviser in its Release 1092, which stated that the \"giving of advice need not constitute the principal business activity or any particular portion of the business activities in order for a person to be an investment adviser.\" Release 1092 went on to state that the \"giving of advice need only be done on such a basis that it constitutes a business activity occurring with some regularity. The frequency of the activity is a factor, but is not determinative.\"\n\nWhether or not a person is considered to be an investment adviser under the IAA generally depends on three criteria: the type of advice offered, the method of compensation, and whether or not a significant portion of the \"adviser's\" income comes from proffering investment advice. Related to the last criterion is the consideration of whether or not a person leads others to believe that he or she is an investment adviser, such as by through advertising.\n\nUnder the Act, a person is generally considered to be an investment adviser by the offering of advice or the making of recommendations on securities as opposed to other types of investments. Securities may be defined under the act as including but not necessarily limited to notes, bonds, stocks (both common and preferred), mutual funds, money market funds, and certificates of deposit. The term \"securities\" does not generally include commodity contracts, real estate, insurance contracts, or collectibles such as works of art or rare stamps and coins. Even those who receive finder's fees for referring potential clients to investment advisers are considered to be investment advisers themselves.\n\nGenerally excluded from coverage under the act are those professionals whose investment advice to clients is incidental to the professional relationship. The IAA exempts \"any lawyer, accountant, engineer, or teacher whose performance of such services is solely incidental to the practice of his profession.\" The key phrase is \"solely incidental.\" An accountant, for instance, who acts as an investment adviser is in fact considered to be an investment adviser under the Act. If professionals are not to be considered investment advisers under the IAA, they must not present themselves to the public as investment advisers, any investment advice given must be reasonably related to their primary professional function, and fees for the \"investment advice\" must be based on the same criteria as fees for the primary professional function.\n\nThe IAA, however, excludes from its definition of an investment adviser \"any broker or dealer whose performance of such [advisory] services is solely incidental to the conduct of his business as a broker or dealer and who receives no special compensation thereof.\" Banks, publishers, and government security advisers are also excepted from the Act. Those who call themselves \"financial planners\" may, under certain circumstances, be considered investment advisers under the Act. The difference between a financial planner and an investment adviser, as it relates to the IAA, is also addressed in the aforementioned Release 1092.\n\nRegistration\n\nUnder the Act, investment advisers must register using Form ADV accompanied by a relatively modest fee. Form ADV asks for such information as educational background, experience, exact type of business engaged in, assets, information on clients, history of a legal and/or criminal nature, and type of investment advice to be offered. Registration under the Act does not constitute an endorsement of the investment adviser, and the person or firm may not advertise as such. Part 2A of Form ADV forms the basis of the \"brochure\" that registered advisers must provide to clients.\n\nRegistered investment advisers are required to update their Form ADV at least annually. Advisers may receive compensation based on the performance of their advice only under prescribed circumstances, and they may not engage in excessive trading or profit from market activity resulting from their advice to clients. Investment advisers must also act in the best interest of their clients at all times and take into consideration their clients' financial positions and financial sophistication.\n\nThere are also many provisions in the Act dealing with fraud in terms of advertising, control of client assets, soliciting clients, and information disclosure.\n\nSee also\n \n Securities regulation in the United States\n Commodity Futures Trading Commission\n Securities Commission\n Chicago Stock Exchange\n Financial regulation\n List of financial regulatory authorities by country\n NASDAQ\n New York Stock Exchange\n Stock exchange\n Regulation D (SEC)\nRelated legislation\n 1933 - Securities Act of 1933\n 1934 – Securities Exchange Act of 1934\n 1938 – Temporary National Economic Committee (establishment)\n 1939 - Trust Indenture Act of 1939\n 1940 - Investment Company Act of 1940\n 1968 – Williams Act (Securities Disclosure Act)\n 1975 – Securities Acts Amendments of 1975 \n 1982 – Garn–St. Germain Depository Institutions Act\n 1999 – Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act \n 2000 – Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000\n 2002 – Sarbanes–Oxley Act\n 2006 - Credit Rating Agency Reform Act of 2006\n 2010 – Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nFull text of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940\nVillanova Journal of Law & Investment Management a scholarly publication addressing the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.\nIntroduction to the Federal Securities Laws\n\n1940 in American law\nUnited States federal securities legislation\n76th United States Congress\nUnited States federal legislation articles without infoboxes\nInvestment in the United States\nFinancial history of the United States"
] |
[
"Yao Ming",
"Entering the NBA draft",
"Who did he draft for?",
"NBA",
"What team was he part of?",
"Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent.",
"What else did he do outside of the NBA?",
"Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China,",
"Did he compete in the olympics?",
"I don't know.",
"What else did he do during this article?",
"Yao with the first pick of the draft, he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S. college basketball.",
"What position did he play?",
"I don't know.",
"What else did he do in this article?",
"When Yao decided to enter the 2002 NBA draft, a group of advisers was formed that came to be known as \"Team Yao\".",
"Are any of the advisers named in the article?",
"Erik Zhang; his NBA agent, Bill Duffy; his Chinese agent, Lu Hao;"
] | C_4150a50a54b545ae8a4b88b70315a298_1 | What did the advisers advise him to do? | 9 | What did Erik Zhang, Bill Duffy and Lu Hao advise Yao Ming to do? | Yao Ming | Yao was pressured to enter the NBA draft in 1999 by Li Yaomin, the deputy general manager of the Shanghai Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent. The agreement entitled Evergreen to 33% of Yao's earnings, but the contract was later determined to be invalid. When Yao decided to enter the 2002 NBA draft, a group of advisers was formed that came to be known as "Team Yao". The team consisted of Yao's negotiator, Erik Zhang; his NBA agent, Bill Duffy; his Chinese agent, Lu Hao; University of Chicago economics professor John Huizinga; and the vice president for marketing at BDA Sports Management, Bill Sanders. Yao was widely predicted to be picked number one overall. However, some teams were concerned about Yao's NBA eligibility because of uncertainty over whether the CBA would let Yao play in the United States. Shortly after Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China, the CBA stipulated that Yao would have to return to play for the national team. They also said they would not let him go to the United States unless the Houston Rockets would take him first overall. After assurances from Team Yao that the Rockets would draft Yao with their number one pick, the CBA gave permission on the morning of the draft for Yao to play in the U.S. When the Rockets selected Yao with the first pick of the draft, he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S. college basketball. CANNOTANSWER | Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent. The | Yao Ming (; born September 12, 1980) is a Chinese basketball executive and former professional player. He played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Yao was selected to start for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game eight times, and was named to the All-NBA Team five times. During his final season, he was the tallest active player in the NBA, at .
Yao, who was born in Shanghai, started playing for the Sharks as a teenager, and played on their senior team for five years in the CBA, winning a championship in his final year. After negotiating with the CBA and the Sharks to secure his release, Yao was selected by the Rockets as the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft. He reached the NBA playoffs four times, and the Rockets won the first-round series in the 2009 postseason, their first playoff series victory since 1997. In July 2011, Yao announced his retirement from professional basketball because of a series of foot and ankle injuries which forced him to miss 250 games in his last six seasons. In eight seasons with the Rockets, Yao ranks sixth among franchise leaders in total points and total rebounds, and second in total blocks.
Yao is one of China's best-known athletes, with sponsorships with several major companies. His rookie year in the NBA was the subject of a documentary film, The Year of the Yao, and he co-wrote, along with NBA analyst Ric Bucher, an autobiography titled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds. Known in China as the "Yao Ming Phenomenon" and in the United States as the "Ming Dynasty", Yao's success in the NBA, and his popularity among fans, made him a symbol of a new China that was both more modern and more confident.
In April 2016, Yao was elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame, alongside Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson. In February 2017, Yao was unanimously elected as chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association.
Early life
Yao is the only child of Yao Zhiyuan and Fang Fengdi, both of whom were former professional basketball players. At , Yao weighed more than twice as much as the average Chinese newborn. When Yao was nine years old, he began playing basketball and attended a junior sports school. The following year, Yao measured and was examined by sports doctors, who predicted he would grow to .
Professional career
Shanghai Sharks (1997–2002)
Yao first tried out for the Shanghai Sharks junior team of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) when he was 13 years old, and practiced ten hours a day for his acceptance. After playing with the junior team for four years, Yao joined the senior team of the Sharks, where he averaged 10 points and 8 rebounds a game in his rookie season. His next season was cut short when he broke his foot for the second time in his career, which Yao said decreased his jumping ability by four to six inches (10 to 15 cm). The Sharks made the finals of the CBA in Yao's third season and again the next year, but lost both times to the Bayi Rockets. When Wang Zhizhi left the Bayi Rockets to become the first NBA player from China the following year, the Sharks finally won their first CBA championship. During the playoffs in his final year with Shanghai, Yao averaged 38.9 points and 20.2 rebounds a game, while shooting 76.6% from the field, and made all 21 of his shots during one game in the finals.
Houston Rockets (2002–2011)
Yao was pressured to enter the NBA draft in 1999 by Li Yaomin, the deputy general manager of the Shanghai Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent. The agreement entitled Evergreen to 33% of Yao's earnings, but the contract was later determined to be invalid.
As American attention on Yao grew, Chinese authorities also took interest. In 2002, the Chinese government released new regulations that would require him and other Chinese players to turn over half of any NBA earnings to the government and China's national basketball association, including endorsements as well as salaries.
When Yao decided to enter the 2002 NBA draft, a group of advisers was formed that came to be known as "Team Yao". The team consisted of Yao's negotiator, Erik Zhang; his NBA agent, Bill Duffy; his Chinese agent, Lu Hao; University of Chicago economics professor John Huizinga; and the vice president for marketing at BDA Sports Management, Bill Sanders. Yao was widely predicted to be picked number one overall. However, some teams were concerned about Yao's NBA eligibility because of uncertainty over whether the CBA would let Yao play in the United States.
Shortly after Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China, the CBA stipulated that Yao would have to return to play for the national team. They also said they would not let him go to the United States unless the Houston Rockets would take him first overall. After assurances from Team Yao that the Rockets would draft Yao with their number one pick, the CBA gave permission on the morning of the draft for Yao to play in the U.S. When the Rockets selected Yao with the first pick of the draft, he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S. college basketball.
Beginning years (2002–2005)
Yao did not participate in the Rockets' pre-season training camp, instead playing for China in the 2002 FIBA World Championships. Before the season, several commentators, including Bill Simmons and Dick Vitale, predicted that Yao would fail in the NBA, and Charles Barkley said he would "kiss Kenny Smith's ass" if Yao scored more than 19 points in one of his rookie-season games. Yao played his first NBA game against the Indiana Pacers, scoring no points and grabbing two rebounds, and scored his first NBA basket against the Denver Nuggets. In his first seven games, he averaged only 14 minutes and 4 points, but on November 17, he scored 20 points on a perfect 9-of-9 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line against the Lakers. Barkley made good on his bet by kissing the buttock of a donkey purchased by Smith for the occasion (Smith's "ass").
In Yao's first game in Miami on December 16, 2002, the Heat passed out 8,000 fortune cookies, an East Asian cultural stereotype. Yao was not angry with the promotion because he was not familiar with American stereotypes of Chinese. In an earlier interview in 2000, Yao said he had never seen a fortune cookie in China and guessed it must have been an American invention.
Before Yao's first meeting with Shaquille O'Neal on January 17, 2003, O'Neal said, "Tell Yao Ming, ching chong-yang-wah-ah-soh", prompting accusations of racism. O'Neal denied that his comments were racist, and said he was only joking. Yao also said he believed O'Neal was joking, but he said a lot of Asians would not see the humor. In the game, Yao scored the Rockets' first six points of the game and blocked O'Neal twice in the opening minutes as well as altering two other shots by O'Neal, all 4 of those attempts coming right at the rim, and made a game-sealing dunk with 10 seconds left in overtime. Yao finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 blocks; O'Neal recorded 31 points, 13 rebounds, and 0 blocks. O'Neal later expressed regret for the way he treated Yao early in his career.
The NBA began offering All-Star ballots in three languages—English, Spanish and Chinese—for fan voting of the starters for the 2003 NBA All-Star Game. Yao was voted to start for the West over O'Neal, who was coming off three consecutive NBA Finals MVP Awards. Yao received nearly a quarter million more votes than O'Neal, and he became the first rookie to start in the All-Star Game since Grant Hill in 1995.
Yao finished his rookie season averaging 13.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, and was second in the NBA Rookie of the Year Award voting to Amar'e Stoudemire, and a unanimous pick for the NBA All-Rookie First Team selection. He was also voted the Sporting News Rookie of the Year, and won the Laureus Newcomer of the Year award.
Before the start of Yao's sophomore season, Rockets' head coach Rudy Tomjanovich resigned because of health issues, and long-time New York Knicks head coach Jeff Van Gundy was brought in. After Van Gundy began focusing the offense on Yao, Yao averaged career highs in points and rebounds for the season, and had a career-high 41 points and 7 assists in a triple-overtime win against the Atlanta Hawks in February 2004. He was also voted to be the starting center for the Western Conference in the 2004 NBA All-Star Game for the second straight year. Yao finished the season averaging 17.5 points and 9.0 rebounds a game. The Rockets made the playoffs for the first time in Yao's career, claiming the seventh seed in the Western Conference. In the first round, however, the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated Houston in five games. Yao averaged 15.0 points and 7.4 rebounds in his first playoff series.
In the summer of 2004, the Rockets acquired Tracy McGrady from the Orlando Magic in a seven-player trade that also sent Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley to Orlando. Although Yao said that Francis and Mobley had "helped [him] in every way [his] first two seasons", he added, "I'm excited about playing with Tracy McGrady. He can do some amazing things." After the trade, it was predicted that the Rockets would be title contenders. Both McGrady and Yao were voted to start in the 2005 NBA All-Star Game, and Yao broke the record previously held by Michael Jordan for most All-Star votes, with 2,558,278 total votes. The Rockets won 51 games and finished fifth in the West, and made the playoffs for the second consecutive year, where they faced the Dallas Mavericks. The Rockets won the first two games in Dallas, and Yao made 13 of 14 shots in the second game, the best shooting performance in the playoffs in Rockets history. However, the Rockets lost four of their last five games and lost Game 7 by 40 points, the largest Game 7 deficit in NBA history. Yao's final averages for the series were 21.4 points on 65% shooting and 7.7 rebounds.
Injury-plagued seasons (2005–2011)
After missing only two games out of 246 in his first three years of NBA play, Yao endured an extended period on the inactive list in his fourth season after developing osteomyelitis in the big toe on his left foot, and surgery was performed on the toe on December 18, 2005. Despite missing 21 games while recovering, Yao again had the most fan votes to start the 2006 NBA All-Star Game.
In 25 games after the All-Star break, Yao averaged 25.7 points and 11.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 53.7% from the field and 87.8% at the free-throw line. His final averages in 57 games were 22.3 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. It was the first time that he ended the season with a so-called "20/10" average. However, Tracy McGrady played only 47 games in the season, missing time because of back spasms. Yao and McGrady played only 31 games together, and the Rockets did not make the playoffs, winning only 34 games. With only four games left in the season, Yao suffered another injury in a game against the Utah Jazz on April 10, 2006, which left him with a broken bone in his left foot. The injury required six months of rest.
Early into his fifth season, Yao was injured again, this time breaking his right knee on December 23, 2006, while attempting to block a shot. Up to that point he had been averaging 26.8 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game, and had been mentioned as an MVP candidate. Yao was unable to play in what would have been his fifth All-Star game; he was medically cleared to play on March 4, 2007, after missing 32 games.
Despite Yao's absence, the Rockets made the playoffs with the home court advantage against the Utah Jazz in the first round. The Rockets won the first two games, but then lost four of five games and were eliminated in Game 7 at home; Yao scored 29 points—15 in the fourth quarter. Although he averaged 25.1 points and 10.3 rebounds for the series, Yao said afterwards "I didn't do my job". At the end of the season, Yao was selected to the All-NBA Second Team for the first time in his career, after being selected to the All-NBA Third Team twice.
On May 18, 2007, only weeks after the Rockets were eliminated from the playoffs, Jeff Van Gundy was dismissed as head coach. Three days later, the Rockets signed former Sacramento Kings coach Rick Adelman, who was thought to focus more on offense than the defensive-minded Van Gundy.
On November 9, 2007, Yao played against fellow Chinese NBA and Milwaukee Bucks player Yi Jianlian for the first time. The game, which the Rockets won 104–88, was broadcast on 19 networks in China, and was watched by over 200 million people in China alone, making it one of the most-watched NBA games in history. In the 2008 NBA All-Star Game, Yao was once again voted to start at center for the Western Conference. Before the All-Star weekend, the Rockets had won eight straight games, and after the break, they took their win streak to 12 games. On February 26, 2008, however, it was reported that Yao would miss the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his left foot. He missed the 2008 NBA playoffs, but he did not miss the 2008 Summer Olympics at Beijing, China in August. After Yao's injury, the Rockets stretched their winning streak to 22 games, at the time the second-longest such streak in NBA history. Yao underwent a successful operation on March 3, which placed screws in his foot to strengthen the bone, and recovery time was estimated at four months. Yao's final averages in 55 games were 22.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks a game.
The next season, Yao played 77 games, his first full season since the 2004–05 season, and averaged 19.7 points and 9.9 rebounds, while shooting 54.8% from the field, and a career-high 86.6% from the free throw line. Despite McGrady suffering a season-ending injury in February, the Rockets finished with 53 wins and the fifth seed in the Western Conference. Facing the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round, Yao finished with 24 points on 9-of-9 shooting in the first game, and the Rockets won 108–81, in Portland. The Rockets won all their games in Houston, and advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1997, and the first time in Yao's career.
The Rockets faced the Lakers in the second round, and Yao scored 28 points, with 8 points in the final four minutes, to lead the Rockets to a 100–92 win in Los Angeles. However, the Rockets lost their next two games, and Yao was diagnosed with a sprained ankle after Game 3. A follow-up test revealed a hairline fracture in his left foot, and he was ruled out for the remainder of the playoffs. In reaction, Yao said the injury, which did not require surgery, was "better than last year". However, follow-up analysis indicated that the injury could be career threatening. The Yao-less Rockets went on to win Game 4 against the Lakers to even the series 2–2. The Rockets eventually lost the series in seven games.
In July 2009, Yao discussed the injury with his doctors, and the Rockets applied for a disabled player exception, an exception to the NBA salary cap which grants the injured player's team money to sign a free agent. The Rockets were granted the exception, and used approximately $5.7 million on free agent Trevor Ariza. After weeks of consulting, it was decided that Yao would undergo surgery in order to repair the broken bone in his left foot. He did not play the entire 2009–10 season.
For the 2010–11 season, the Rockets said they would limit Yao to 24 minutes a game, with no plan to play him on back-to-back nights. Their goal was to keep Yao healthy in the long term. On December 16, 2010, it was announced that Yao had developed a stress fracture in his left ankle, related to an older injury, and would miss the rest of the season. In January 2011, he was voted as the Western Conference starting center for the 2011 All-Star Game for the eighth time in nine seasons. Injured All-Stars are usually required to attend the All-Star functions and to be introduced at the game, but Yao was not in Los Angeles because of his rehabilitation schedule after his surgery. Yao's contract with the Rockets expired at the end of the season, and he became a free agent.
Retirement
On July 20, 2011, Yao announced his retirement from basketball in a press conference in Shanghai. He cited injuries to his foot and ankle, including the third fracture to his left foot sustained near the end of 2010. His retirement sparked over 1.2 million comments on the Chinese social-networking site Sina Weibo. Reacting to Yao's retirement, NBA commissioner David Stern said Yao was a "bridge between Chinese and American fans" and that he had "a wonderful mixture of talent, dedication, humanitarian aspirations and a sense of humor." Shaquille O'Neal said Yao "was very agile. He could play inside, he could play outside, and if he didn't have those injuries he could've been up there in the top five centers to ever play the game."
Yao was nominated by a member of the Chinese media for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor to the game. He would have been eligible for induction as early as 2012, but Yao felt it was too soon and requested that the Hall of Fame delay consideration of the nomination. The Hall granted Yao's request, and said it was Yao's decision when the process would be restarted.
On September 9, 2016, Yao was inducted into the Hall of Fame along with 4-time NBA champion Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson. Continuing with the honours, on February 3, 2017, Yao's Number 11 jersey was retired by the Houston Rockets.
National team career
2000 and 2004 Olympics
Yao first played for China in the 2000 Summer Olympics, and he was dubbed, together with teammates Wang Zhizhi and Mengke Bateer, "The Walking Great Wall". During the 2004 Athens Olympics, Yao carried the Chinese flag during the opening ceremony, which he said was a "long dream come true". He then vowed to abstain from shaving his beard for half a year unless the Chinese national team made it into the quarter-finals of the 2004 Olympics. After Yao scored 39 points in a win against New Zealand, China lost 58–83, 57–82, and 52–89 against Spain, Argentina and Italy respectively. In the final group game, however, a 67–66 win over the reigning 2002 FIBA World Champions Serbia and Montenegro moved them into the quarterfinals. Yao scored 27 points and had 13 rebounds, and he hit two free throws with 28 seconds left that proved to be the winning margin. He averaged 20.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game while shooting 55.9% from the field.
Asian Cup
Yao led the Chinese national team to three consecutive FIBA Asia Cup gold medals, winning the 2001 FIBA Asian Championship, the 2003 FIBA Asian Championship, and the 2005 FIBA Asian Championship. He was also named the MVP of all three tournaments.
2006 World Championship
Yao's injury at the end of the 2005–06 NBA season required a full six months of rest, threatening his participation in the 2006 FIBA World Championship. However, he recovered before the start of the tournament, and in the last game of the preliminary round, he had 36 points and 10 rebounds in a win against Slovenia to lead China into the Round of 16. In the first knockout round, however, China was defeated by eventual finalist Greece. Yao's final averages were 25.3 points, the most in the tournament, and 9.0 rebounds a game, which was fourth overall.
2008 Olympics
After having surgery to repair his fractured foot, Yao stated if he could not play in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, "It would be the biggest loss in my career to right now." He returned to play with the Chinese national team on July 17, 2008. On August 6, Yao carried the Olympic flame into Tiananmen Square, as part of the Olympic torch relay. He also carried the Chinese flag and led his country's delegation during the opening ceremony. Yao scored the first basket of the game, a three-pointer, in China's opening 2008 Olympics Basketball Tournament game against the eventual gold medal-winning United States.
"I was just really happy to make that shot", Yao said after the Americans' 101–70 victory. "It was the first score in our Olympic campaign here at home and I'll always remember it. It represents that we can keep our heads up in the face of really tough odds."
Following an overtime defeat to Spain, Yao scored 30 points in a win over Angola, and 25 points in a three-point win against Germany, which clinched China's place in the quarterfinals. However, China lost to Lithuania in the quarterfinals by 26 points, eliminating them from the tournament. Yao's 19 points a game were the second-highest in the Olympics, and his averages of 8.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game were third overall.
Career statistics
CBA statistics
NBA statistics
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* ||72||29.0||.498||.500||.811||8.2||1.7||.4||1.8||13.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| style="background:#cfecec;"| 82*|| style="background:#cfecec;"|82*||32.8||.522||.000||.809||9.0||1.5||.3||1.9||17.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 80||80||30.6||.552||.000||.783||8.4||.8||.4||2.0||18.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 57||57||34.2||.519||.000||.853||10.2||1.5||.5||1.6||22.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 48||48||33.8||.516||.000||.862||9.4||2.0||.4||2.0||25.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 55||55||37.2||.507||.000||.850||10.8||2.3||.5||2.0||22.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 77||77||33.6||.548||1.000||.866||9.9||1.8||.4||1.9||19.7
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 5||5||18.2||.486||.000||.938||5.4||.8||.0||1.6||10.2
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career
| 486||476||32.5||.524||.200||.833||9.2||1.6||.4||1.9||19.0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| All-Star
| 6||6||17.0||.500||.000||.667||4.0||1.3||.2||.3||7.0
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2004
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 5||5||37.0||.456||.000||.765||7.4||1.8||.4||1.4||15.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2005
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 7||7||31.4||.655||.000||.727||7.7||.7||.3||2.7||21.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2007
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 7||7||37.1||.440||.000||.880||10.3||.9||.1||.7||25.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2009
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 9||9||35.9||.545||.000||.902||10.9||1.0||.4||1.2||17.1
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career
| 28||28||35.3||.519||.000||.833||9.3||1.0||.3||1.5||19.8
Awards and achievements
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: Class of 2016
8× NBA All-Star: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011
5× All-NBA Team:
Second Team: 2007, 2009
Third Team: 2004, 2006, 2008
NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2003
NBA Rookie All-Star Game: 2004
Gold medal winner with Team China at the 2001, 2003, and 2005 FIBA Asia Cups
MVP of the 2001, 2003, 2005 FIBA Asia Cups
FIBA Diamond Ball Top Scorer: 2004
All-Tournament Team, FIBA World Cup: 2002
Chinese Basketball Association Champion: 2001–02
Rebounding leader in CBA in 2001–02
2003 Sporting News Rookie of the Year
2003 Laureus Newcomer of the Year
2005 Proletarian Award, issued by the Chinese Communist Party
Personal life
After Yao announced that he would enter the 2002 NBA draft, he told one American journalist that he had been studying English for two years, and that he liked the movie Star Wars but disliked hip hop. He was sometimes accompanied during interviews in Shanghai by one of his parents, whose basketball careers were derailed by the 1966–76 Cultural Revolution, and who came to his Shanghai Sharks games on bicycles.
Yao met Chinese female basketball player Ye Li when he was 17 years old. Ye was not fond of Yao at first, but finally accepted him after he gave her the team pins he had collected during the 2000 Summer Olympics. She is the only woman he has ever dated. Their relationship became public when they appeared together during the 2004 Olympics closing ceremony. On August 6, 2007, Yao and Ye married in a ceremony attended by close friends and family and closed to the media. On May 21, 2010, the couple's daughter Yao Qinlei (whose English name is Amy) was born in Houston, Texas.
In 2004, Yao co-wrote an autobiography with ESPN sportswriter Ric Bucher, entitled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds. In the same year, he was also the subject of a documentary film, The Year of the Yao, which focuses on his NBA rookie year. The film is narrated by his friend and interpreter, Colin Pine. In 2005, former Newsweek writer Brook Larmer published a book entitled Operation Yao Ming, in which he said that Yao's parents were convinced to marry each other so that they would produce a dominant athlete, and that during Yao's childhood, he was given special treatment to help him become a great basketball player. In a 2015 AMA post on Reddit, Yao stated that this was not true and that he started playing basketball for fun at age 9. In 2009, Yao provided the voice for a character of a Chinese animated film, The Magic Aster, released on June 19.
Yao enrolled at the Antai College of Economics & Management of Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2011. He took a tailored degree program with mostly one-on-one lectures to avoid being a distraction on campus. Yao completed his studies in July 2018, graduating with a degree in economics after 7 years of study.
In 2016, Yao opened a winery called Yao Family Wines in Napa Valley, California, which serves Cabernet Sauvignon blends and "the kind of rich-but-balanced luxury reds he'd come to enjoy in Houston steakhouses." American wine critic Robert M. Parker Jr. of The Wine Advocate gave Yao's wine a ranking of 96 points and wrote: "I am aware of all the arguments that major celebrities lending their names to wines is generally a formula for mediocrity, but... the two Cabernets are actually brilliant, and the reserve bottling ranks alongside just about anything made in Napa."
Other activities
Commercial engagements
Yao is one of China's most recognizable athletes, along with Liu Xiang. As of 2009, he had led Forbes' Chinese celebrities list in income and popularity for six straight years, earning US$51 million (CN¥357 million) in 2008. A major part of his income comes from his sponsorship deals, as he is under contract with several major companies to endorse their products. He was signed by Nike until the end of his rookie season. When Nike decided not to renew his contract, he signed with Reebok. He also had a deal with Pepsi, and he successfully sued Coca-Cola in 2003 when they used his image on their bottles while promoting the national team. He eventually signed with Coca-Cola for the 2008 Olympics. His other deals include partnerships with Visa, Apple, Garmin, and McDonald's.
On July 16, 2009, Yao bought his former club team, the Shanghai Sharks, which were on the verge of not being able to play the next season of the Chinese Basketball Association because of financial troubles.
Philanthropy
Yao has also participated in many charity events during his career, including the NBA's Basketball Without Borders program. In the NBA's offseason in 2003, Yao hosted a telethon, which raised US$300,000 to help stop the spread of SARS. In September 2007, he held an auction that raised US$965,000 (CN¥6.75 million), and competed in a charity basketball match to raise money for underprivileged children in China. He was joined by fellow NBA stars Steve Nash, Carmelo Anthony, and Baron Davis, and Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan. After the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Yao donated $2 million to relief work and created the Yao Ming Foundation to help rebuild schools destroyed in the earthquake.
Yao has also been a dedicated supporter of Special Olympics. He serves as Global Ambassador and member of the International Board of Directors.
Conservation work
In August 2012, Yao started filming a documentary about the northern white rhinoceros. He is also an ambassador for elephant conservation. In 2014, he was also part of the documentary The End of the Wild about elephant conservation. Yao has filmed a number of public service announcements for elephant and rhino conservation for the "Say No" campaign with partners African Wildlife Foundation and WildAid.
Politics
On March 3, 2013, Yao attended the First Session of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference as one of its 2,200 members. He was a member of the CPPCC from 2013 to 2018. While he is involved in Chinese politics, he is not a member of the Chinese Communist Party, although he has been awarded the Proletarian Award by the party for his spreading of literacy and socialist ideologies.
See also
List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
List of tallest players in National Basketball Association history
References
External links
The Yao Ming Foundation official website
1980 births
Living people
2002 FIBA World Championship players
2006 FIBA World Championship players
Asian Games medalists in basketball
Asian Games silver medalists for China
Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2002 Asian Games
Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Basketball players from Shanghai
Centers (basketball)
Chinese Basketball Association executives
Chinese expatriate basketball people in the United States
Chinese men's basketball players
Chinese philanthropists
Houston Rockets draft picks
Houston Rockets players
Laureus World Sports Awards winners
Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games
Members of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
National Basketball Association All-Stars
National Basketball Association players from China
Olympic basketball players of China
Shanghai Jiao Tong University alumni
Shanghai Sharks players | true | [
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"The Kwara State Executive Council (also known as the Cabinet of Kwara State) is the highest formal governmental body that plays important roles in the Government of Kwara State headed by the Governor of Kwara State. It consists of the Deputy Governor, Secretary to the State Government, Chief of Staff, Commissioners who preside over ministerial departments, and the Governor's special aides.\n\nFunctions\nThe Executive Council exists to advise and direct the Governor. Their appointment as members of the Executive Council gives them the authority to execute power over their fields.\n\nCurrent cabinet\nThe current Executive Council is serving under the AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq administration.\n\nPrincipal Officers\n\nCommissioners\nIn January 2021, AbdulRazaq dismissed all commissioners and ordered the outgoing appointees to hand over to the top civil service officer in their ministries.\n\nSpecial Advisers\n\nSpecial Advisers\n\nSenior Special Assistants\n\nPermanent Secretaries\n\nPermanent Secretaries for Ministerial Departments\n\nPermanent Secretaries for Extra-Ministerial Departments\n\nReferences\n\nKwara\nKwara State\n|}"
] |
[
"Yao Ming",
"Entering the NBA draft",
"Who did he draft for?",
"NBA",
"What team was he part of?",
"Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent.",
"What else did he do outside of the NBA?",
"Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China,",
"Did he compete in the olympics?",
"I don't know.",
"What else did he do during this article?",
"Yao with the first pick of the draft, he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S. college basketball.",
"What position did he play?",
"I don't know.",
"What else did he do in this article?",
"When Yao decided to enter the 2002 NBA draft, a group of advisers was formed that came to be known as \"Team Yao\".",
"Are any of the advisers named in the article?",
"Erik Zhang; his NBA agent, Bill Duffy; his Chinese agent, Lu Hao;",
"What did the advisers advise him to do?",
"Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent. The"
] | C_4150a50a54b545ae8a4b88b70315a298_1 | What else did he do during this time? | 10 | What else did Yao Ming do during 2002 NBA draft besides signing a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc.? | Yao Ming | Yao was pressured to enter the NBA draft in 1999 by Li Yaomin, the deputy general manager of the Shanghai Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent. The agreement entitled Evergreen to 33% of Yao's earnings, but the contract was later determined to be invalid. When Yao decided to enter the 2002 NBA draft, a group of advisers was formed that came to be known as "Team Yao". The team consisted of Yao's negotiator, Erik Zhang; his NBA agent, Bill Duffy; his Chinese agent, Lu Hao; University of Chicago economics professor John Huizinga; and the vice president for marketing at BDA Sports Management, Bill Sanders. Yao was widely predicted to be picked number one overall. However, some teams were concerned about Yao's NBA eligibility because of uncertainty over whether the CBA would let Yao play in the United States. Shortly after Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China, the CBA stipulated that Yao would have to return to play for the national team. They also said they would not let him go to the United States unless the Houston Rockets would take him first overall. After assurances from Team Yao that the Rockets would draft Yao with their number one pick, the CBA gave permission on the morning of the draft for Yao to play in the U.S. When the Rockets selected Yao with the first pick of the draft, he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S. college basketball. CANNOTANSWER | the CBA gave permission on the morning of the draft for Yao to play in the U.S. | Yao Ming (; born September 12, 1980) is a Chinese basketball executive and former professional player. He played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Yao was selected to start for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game eight times, and was named to the All-NBA Team five times. During his final season, he was the tallest active player in the NBA, at .
Yao, who was born in Shanghai, started playing for the Sharks as a teenager, and played on their senior team for five years in the CBA, winning a championship in his final year. After negotiating with the CBA and the Sharks to secure his release, Yao was selected by the Rockets as the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft. He reached the NBA playoffs four times, and the Rockets won the first-round series in the 2009 postseason, their first playoff series victory since 1997. In July 2011, Yao announced his retirement from professional basketball because of a series of foot and ankle injuries which forced him to miss 250 games in his last six seasons. In eight seasons with the Rockets, Yao ranks sixth among franchise leaders in total points and total rebounds, and second in total blocks.
Yao is one of China's best-known athletes, with sponsorships with several major companies. His rookie year in the NBA was the subject of a documentary film, The Year of the Yao, and he co-wrote, along with NBA analyst Ric Bucher, an autobiography titled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds. Known in China as the "Yao Ming Phenomenon" and in the United States as the "Ming Dynasty", Yao's success in the NBA, and his popularity among fans, made him a symbol of a new China that was both more modern and more confident.
In April 2016, Yao was elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame, alongside Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson. In February 2017, Yao was unanimously elected as chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association.
Early life
Yao is the only child of Yao Zhiyuan and Fang Fengdi, both of whom were former professional basketball players. At , Yao weighed more than twice as much as the average Chinese newborn. When Yao was nine years old, he began playing basketball and attended a junior sports school. The following year, Yao measured and was examined by sports doctors, who predicted he would grow to .
Professional career
Shanghai Sharks (1997–2002)
Yao first tried out for the Shanghai Sharks junior team of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) when he was 13 years old, and practiced ten hours a day for his acceptance. After playing with the junior team for four years, Yao joined the senior team of the Sharks, where he averaged 10 points and 8 rebounds a game in his rookie season. His next season was cut short when he broke his foot for the second time in his career, which Yao said decreased his jumping ability by four to six inches (10 to 15 cm). The Sharks made the finals of the CBA in Yao's third season and again the next year, but lost both times to the Bayi Rockets. When Wang Zhizhi left the Bayi Rockets to become the first NBA player from China the following year, the Sharks finally won their first CBA championship. During the playoffs in his final year with Shanghai, Yao averaged 38.9 points and 20.2 rebounds a game, while shooting 76.6% from the field, and made all 21 of his shots during one game in the finals.
Houston Rockets (2002–2011)
Yao was pressured to enter the NBA draft in 1999 by Li Yaomin, the deputy general manager of the Shanghai Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent. The agreement entitled Evergreen to 33% of Yao's earnings, but the contract was later determined to be invalid.
As American attention on Yao grew, Chinese authorities also took interest. In 2002, the Chinese government released new regulations that would require him and other Chinese players to turn over half of any NBA earnings to the government and China's national basketball association, including endorsements as well as salaries.
When Yao decided to enter the 2002 NBA draft, a group of advisers was formed that came to be known as "Team Yao". The team consisted of Yao's negotiator, Erik Zhang; his NBA agent, Bill Duffy; his Chinese agent, Lu Hao; University of Chicago economics professor John Huizinga; and the vice president for marketing at BDA Sports Management, Bill Sanders. Yao was widely predicted to be picked number one overall. However, some teams were concerned about Yao's NBA eligibility because of uncertainty over whether the CBA would let Yao play in the United States.
Shortly after Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China, the CBA stipulated that Yao would have to return to play for the national team. They also said they would not let him go to the United States unless the Houston Rockets would take him first overall. After assurances from Team Yao that the Rockets would draft Yao with their number one pick, the CBA gave permission on the morning of the draft for Yao to play in the U.S. When the Rockets selected Yao with the first pick of the draft, he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S. college basketball.
Beginning years (2002–2005)
Yao did not participate in the Rockets' pre-season training camp, instead playing for China in the 2002 FIBA World Championships. Before the season, several commentators, including Bill Simmons and Dick Vitale, predicted that Yao would fail in the NBA, and Charles Barkley said he would "kiss Kenny Smith's ass" if Yao scored more than 19 points in one of his rookie-season games. Yao played his first NBA game against the Indiana Pacers, scoring no points and grabbing two rebounds, and scored his first NBA basket against the Denver Nuggets. In his first seven games, he averaged only 14 minutes and 4 points, but on November 17, he scored 20 points on a perfect 9-of-9 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line against the Lakers. Barkley made good on his bet by kissing the buttock of a donkey purchased by Smith for the occasion (Smith's "ass").
In Yao's first game in Miami on December 16, 2002, the Heat passed out 8,000 fortune cookies, an East Asian cultural stereotype. Yao was not angry with the promotion because he was not familiar with American stereotypes of Chinese. In an earlier interview in 2000, Yao said he had never seen a fortune cookie in China and guessed it must have been an American invention.
Before Yao's first meeting with Shaquille O'Neal on January 17, 2003, O'Neal said, "Tell Yao Ming, ching chong-yang-wah-ah-soh", prompting accusations of racism. O'Neal denied that his comments were racist, and said he was only joking. Yao also said he believed O'Neal was joking, but he said a lot of Asians would not see the humor. In the game, Yao scored the Rockets' first six points of the game and blocked O'Neal twice in the opening minutes as well as altering two other shots by O'Neal, all 4 of those attempts coming right at the rim, and made a game-sealing dunk with 10 seconds left in overtime. Yao finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 blocks; O'Neal recorded 31 points, 13 rebounds, and 0 blocks. O'Neal later expressed regret for the way he treated Yao early in his career.
The NBA began offering All-Star ballots in three languages—English, Spanish and Chinese—for fan voting of the starters for the 2003 NBA All-Star Game. Yao was voted to start for the West over O'Neal, who was coming off three consecutive NBA Finals MVP Awards. Yao received nearly a quarter million more votes than O'Neal, and he became the first rookie to start in the All-Star Game since Grant Hill in 1995.
Yao finished his rookie season averaging 13.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, and was second in the NBA Rookie of the Year Award voting to Amar'e Stoudemire, and a unanimous pick for the NBA All-Rookie First Team selection. He was also voted the Sporting News Rookie of the Year, and won the Laureus Newcomer of the Year award.
Before the start of Yao's sophomore season, Rockets' head coach Rudy Tomjanovich resigned because of health issues, and long-time New York Knicks head coach Jeff Van Gundy was brought in. After Van Gundy began focusing the offense on Yao, Yao averaged career highs in points and rebounds for the season, and had a career-high 41 points and 7 assists in a triple-overtime win against the Atlanta Hawks in February 2004. He was also voted to be the starting center for the Western Conference in the 2004 NBA All-Star Game for the second straight year. Yao finished the season averaging 17.5 points and 9.0 rebounds a game. The Rockets made the playoffs for the first time in Yao's career, claiming the seventh seed in the Western Conference. In the first round, however, the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated Houston in five games. Yao averaged 15.0 points and 7.4 rebounds in his first playoff series.
In the summer of 2004, the Rockets acquired Tracy McGrady from the Orlando Magic in a seven-player trade that also sent Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley to Orlando. Although Yao said that Francis and Mobley had "helped [him] in every way [his] first two seasons", he added, "I'm excited about playing with Tracy McGrady. He can do some amazing things." After the trade, it was predicted that the Rockets would be title contenders. Both McGrady and Yao were voted to start in the 2005 NBA All-Star Game, and Yao broke the record previously held by Michael Jordan for most All-Star votes, with 2,558,278 total votes. The Rockets won 51 games and finished fifth in the West, and made the playoffs for the second consecutive year, where they faced the Dallas Mavericks. The Rockets won the first two games in Dallas, and Yao made 13 of 14 shots in the second game, the best shooting performance in the playoffs in Rockets history. However, the Rockets lost four of their last five games and lost Game 7 by 40 points, the largest Game 7 deficit in NBA history. Yao's final averages for the series were 21.4 points on 65% shooting and 7.7 rebounds.
Injury-plagued seasons (2005–2011)
After missing only two games out of 246 in his first three years of NBA play, Yao endured an extended period on the inactive list in his fourth season after developing osteomyelitis in the big toe on his left foot, and surgery was performed on the toe on December 18, 2005. Despite missing 21 games while recovering, Yao again had the most fan votes to start the 2006 NBA All-Star Game.
In 25 games after the All-Star break, Yao averaged 25.7 points and 11.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 53.7% from the field and 87.8% at the free-throw line. His final averages in 57 games were 22.3 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. It was the first time that he ended the season with a so-called "20/10" average. However, Tracy McGrady played only 47 games in the season, missing time because of back spasms. Yao and McGrady played only 31 games together, and the Rockets did not make the playoffs, winning only 34 games. With only four games left in the season, Yao suffered another injury in a game against the Utah Jazz on April 10, 2006, which left him with a broken bone in his left foot. The injury required six months of rest.
Early into his fifth season, Yao was injured again, this time breaking his right knee on December 23, 2006, while attempting to block a shot. Up to that point he had been averaging 26.8 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game, and had been mentioned as an MVP candidate. Yao was unable to play in what would have been his fifth All-Star game; he was medically cleared to play on March 4, 2007, after missing 32 games.
Despite Yao's absence, the Rockets made the playoffs with the home court advantage against the Utah Jazz in the first round. The Rockets won the first two games, but then lost four of five games and were eliminated in Game 7 at home; Yao scored 29 points—15 in the fourth quarter. Although he averaged 25.1 points and 10.3 rebounds for the series, Yao said afterwards "I didn't do my job". At the end of the season, Yao was selected to the All-NBA Second Team for the first time in his career, after being selected to the All-NBA Third Team twice.
On May 18, 2007, only weeks after the Rockets were eliminated from the playoffs, Jeff Van Gundy was dismissed as head coach. Three days later, the Rockets signed former Sacramento Kings coach Rick Adelman, who was thought to focus more on offense than the defensive-minded Van Gundy.
On November 9, 2007, Yao played against fellow Chinese NBA and Milwaukee Bucks player Yi Jianlian for the first time. The game, which the Rockets won 104–88, was broadcast on 19 networks in China, and was watched by over 200 million people in China alone, making it one of the most-watched NBA games in history. In the 2008 NBA All-Star Game, Yao was once again voted to start at center for the Western Conference. Before the All-Star weekend, the Rockets had won eight straight games, and after the break, they took their win streak to 12 games. On February 26, 2008, however, it was reported that Yao would miss the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his left foot. He missed the 2008 NBA playoffs, but he did not miss the 2008 Summer Olympics at Beijing, China in August. After Yao's injury, the Rockets stretched their winning streak to 22 games, at the time the second-longest such streak in NBA history. Yao underwent a successful operation on March 3, which placed screws in his foot to strengthen the bone, and recovery time was estimated at four months. Yao's final averages in 55 games were 22.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks a game.
The next season, Yao played 77 games, his first full season since the 2004–05 season, and averaged 19.7 points and 9.9 rebounds, while shooting 54.8% from the field, and a career-high 86.6% from the free throw line. Despite McGrady suffering a season-ending injury in February, the Rockets finished with 53 wins and the fifth seed in the Western Conference. Facing the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round, Yao finished with 24 points on 9-of-9 shooting in the first game, and the Rockets won 108–81, in Portland. The Rockets won all their games in Houston, and advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1997, and the first time in Yao's career.
The Rockets faced the Lakers in the second round, and Yao scored 28 points, with 8 points in the final four minutes, to lead the Rockets to a 100–92 win in Los Angeles. However, the Rockets lost their next two games, and Yao was diagnosed with a sprained ankle after Game 3. A follow-up test revealed a hairline fracture in his left foot, and he was ruled out for the remainder of the playoffs. In reaction, Yao said the injury, which did not require surgery, was "better than last year". However, follow-up analysis indicated that the injury could be career threatening. The Yao-less Rockets went on to win Game 4 against the Lakers to even the series 2–2. The Rockets eventually lost the series in seven games.
In July 2009, Yao discussed the injury with his doctors, and the Rockets applied for a disabled player exception, an exception to the NBA salary cap which grants the injured player's team money to sign a free agent. The Rockets were granted the exception, and used approximately $5.7 million on free agent Trevor Ariza. After weeks of consulting, it was decided that Yao would undergo surgery in order to repair the broken bone in his left foot. He did not play the entire 2009–10 season.
For the 2010–11 season, the Rockets said they would limit Yao to 24 minutes a game, with no plan to play him on back-to-back nights. Their goal was to keep Yao healthy in the long term. On December 16, 2010, it was announced that Yao had developed a stress fracture in his left ankle, related to an older injury, and would miss the rest of the season. In January 2011, he was voted as the Western Conference starting center for the 2011 All-Star Game for the eighth time in nine seasons. Injured All-Stars are usually required to attend the All-Star functions and to be introduced at the game, but Yao was not in Los Angeles because of his rehabilitation schedule after his surgery. Yao's contract with the Rockets expired at the end of the season, and he became a free agent.
Retirement
On July 20, 2011, Yao announced his retirement from basketball in a press conference in Shanghai. He cited injuries to his foot and ankle, including the third fracture to his left foot sustained near the end of 2010. His retirement sparked over 1.2 million comments on the Chinese social-networking site Sina Weibo. Reacting to Yao's retirement, NBA commissioner David Stern said Yao was a "bridge between Chinese and American fans" and that he had "a wonderful mixture of talent, dedication, humanitarian aspirations and a sense of humor." Shaquille O'Neal said Yao "was very agile. He could play inside, he could play outside, and if he didn't have those injuries he could've been up there in the top five centers to ever play the game."
Yao was nominated by a member of the Chinese media for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor to the game. He would have been eligible for induction as early as 2012, but Yao felt it was too soon and requested that the Hall of Fame delay consideration of the nomination. The Hall granted Yao's request, and said it was Yao's decision when the process would be restarted.
On September 9, 2016, Yao was inducted into the Hall of Fame along with 4-time NBA champion Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson. Continuing with the honours, on February 3, 2017, Yao's Number 11 jersey was retired by the Houston Rockets.
National team career
2000 and 2004 Olympics
Yao first played for China in the 2000 Summer Olympics, and he was dubbed, together with teammates Wang Zhizhi and Mengke Bateer, "The Walking Great Wall". During the 2004 Athens Olympics, Yao carried the Chinese flag during the opening ceremony, which he said was a "long dream come true". He then vowed to abstain from shaving his beard for half a year unless the Chinese national team made it into the quarter-finals of the 2004 Olympics. After Yao scored 39 points in a win against New Zealand, China lost 58–83, 57–82, and 52–89 against Spain, Argentina and Italy respectively. In the final group game, however, a 67–66 win over the reigning 2002 FIBA World Champions Serbia and Montenegro moved them into the quarterfinals. Yao scored 27 points and had 13 rebounds, and he hit two free throws with 28 seconds left that proved to be the winning margin. He averaged 20.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game while shooting 55.9% from the field.
Asian Cup
Yao led the Chinese national team to three consecutive FIBA Asia Cup gold medals, winning the 2001 FIBA Asian Championship, the 2003 FIBA Asian Championship, and the 2005 FIBA Asian Championship. He was also named the MVP of all three tournaments.
2006 World Championship
Yao's injury at the end of the 2005–06 NBA season required a full six months of rest, threatening his participation in the 2006 FIBA World Championship. However, he recovered before the start of the tournament, and in the last game of the preliminary round, he had 36 points and 10 rebounds in a win against Slovenia to lead China into the Round of 16. In the first knockout round, however, China was defeated by eventual finalist Greece. Yao's final averages were 25.3 points, the most in the tournament, and 9.0 rebounds a game, which was fourth overall.
2008 Olympics
After having surgery to repair his fractured foot, Yao stated if he could not play in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, "It would be the biggest loss in my career to right now." He returned to play with the Chinese national team on July 17, 2008. On August 6, Yao carried the Olympic flame into Tiananmen Square, as part of the Olympic torch relay. He also carried the Chinese flag and led his country's delegation during the opening ceremony. Yao scored the first basket of the game, a three-pointer, in China's opening 2008 Olympics Basketball Tournament game against the eventual gold medal-winning United States.
"I was just really happy to make that shot", Yao said after the Americans' 101–70 victory. "It was the first score in our Olympic campaign here at home and I'll always remember it. It represents that we can keep our heads up in the face of really tough odds."
Following an overtime defeat to Spain, Yao scored 30 points in a win over Angola, and 25 points in a three-point win against Germany, which clinched China's place in the quarterfinals. However, China lost to Lithuania in the quarterfinals by 26 points, eliminating them from the tournament. Yao's 19 points a game were the second-highest in the Olympics, and his averages of 8.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game were third overall.
Career statistics
CBA statistics
NBA statistics
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* ||72||29.0||.498||.500||.811||8.2||1.7||.4||1.8||13.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| style="background:#cfecec;"| 82*|| style="background:#cfecec;"|82*||32.8||.522||.000||.809||9.0||1.5||.3||1.9||17.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 80||80||30.6||.552||.000||.783||8.4||.8||.4||2.0||18.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 57||57||34.2||.519||.000||.853||10.2||1.5||.5||1.6||22.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 48||48||33.8||.516||.000||.862||9.4||2.0||.4||2.0||25.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 55||55||37.2||.507||.000||.850||10.8||2.3||.5||2.0||22.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 77||77||33.6||.548||1.000||.866||9.9||1.8||.4||1.9||19.7
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 5||5||18.2||.486||.000||.938||5.4||.8||.0||1.6||10.2
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career
| 486||476||32.5||.524||.200||.833||9.2||1.6||.4||1.9||19.0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| All-Star
| 6||6||17.0||.500||.000||.667||4.0||1.3||.2||.3||7.0
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2004
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 5||5||37.0||.456||.000||.765||7.4||1.8||.4||1.4||15.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2005
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 7||7||31.4||.655||.000||.727||7.7||.7||.3||2.7||21.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2007
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 7||7||37.1||.440||.000||.880||10.3||.9||.1||.7||25.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2009
| style="text-align:left;"| Houston
| 9||9||35.9||.545||.000||.902||10.9||1.0||.4||1.2||17.1
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career
| 28||28||35.3||.519||.000||.833||9.3||1.0||.3||1.5||19.8
Awards and achievements
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: Class of 2016
8× NBA All-Star: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011
5× All-NBA Team:
Second Team: 2007, 2009
Third Team: 2004, 2006, 2008
NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2003
NBA Rookie All-Star Game: 2004
Gold medal winner with Team China at the 2001, 2003, and 2005 FIBA Asia Cups
MVP of the 2001, 2003, 2005 FIBA Asia Cups
FIBA Diamond Ball Top Scorer: 2004
All-Tournament Team, FIBA World Cup: 2002
Chinese Basketball Association Champion: 2001–02
Rebounding leader in CBA in 2001–02
2003 Sporting News Rookie of the Year
2003 Laureus Newcomer of the Year
2005 Proletarian Award, issued by the Chinese Communist Party
Personal life
After Yao announced that he would enter the 2002 NBA draft, he told one American journalist that he had been studying English for two years, and that he liked the movie Star Wars but disliked hip hop. He was sometimes accompanied during interviews in Shanghai by one of his parents, whose basketball careers were derailed by the 1966–76 Cultural Revolution, and who came to his Shanghai Sharks games on bicycles.
Yao met Chinese female basketball player Ye Li when he was 17 years old. Ye was not fond of Yao at first, but finally accepted him after he gave her the team pins he had collected during the 2000 Summer Olympics. She is the only woman he has ever dated. Their relationship became public when they appeared together during the 2004 Olympics closing ceremony. On August 6, 2007, Yao and Ye married in a ceremony attended by close friends and family and closed to the media. On May 21, 2010, the couple's daughter Yao Qinlei (whose English name is Amy) was born in Houston, Texas.
In 2004, Yao co-wrote an autobiography with ESPN sportswriter Ric Bucher, entitled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds. In the same year, he was also the subject of a documentary film, The Year of the Yao, which focuses on his NBA rookie year. The film is narrated by his friend and interpreter, Colin Pine. In 2005, former Newsweek writer Brook Larmer published a book entitled Operation Yao Ming, in which he said that Yao's parents were convinced to marry each other so that they would produce a dominant athlete, and that during Yao's childhood, he was given special treatment to help him become a great basketball player. In a 2015 AMA post on Reddit, Yao stated that this was not true and that he started playing basketball for fun at age 9. In 2009, Yao provided the voice for a character of a Chinese animated film, The Magic Aster, released on June 19.
Yao enrolled at the Antai College of Economics & Management of Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2011. He took a tailored degree program with mostly one-on-one lectures to avoid being a distraction on campus. Yao completed his studies in July 2018, graduating with a degree in economics after 7 years of study.
In 2016, Yao opened a winery called Yao Family Wines in Napa Valley, California, which serves Cabernet Sauvignon blends and "the kind of rich-but-balanced luxury reds he'd come to enjoy in Houston steakhouses." American wine critic Robert M. Parker Jr. of The Wine Advocate gave Yao's wine a ranking of 96 points and wrote: "I am aware of all the arguments that major celebrities lending their names to wines is generally a formula for mediocrity, but... the two Cabernets are actually brilliant, and the reserve bottling ranks alongside just about anything made in Napa."
Other activities
Commercial engagements
Yao is one of China's most recognizable athletes, along with Liu Xiang. As of 2009, he had led Forbes' Chinese celebrities list in income and popularity for six straight years, earning US$51 million (CN¥357 million) in 2008. A major part of his income comes from his sponsorship deals, as he is under contract with several major companies to endorse their products. He was signed by Nike until the end of his rookie season. When Nike decided not to renew his contract, he signed with Reebok. He also had a deal with Pepsi, and he successfully sued Coca-Cola in 2003 when they used his image on their bottles while promoting the national team. He eventually signed with Coca-Cola for the 2008 Olympics. His other deals include partnerships with Visa, Apple, Garmin, and McDonald's.
On July 16, 2009, Yao bought his former club team, the Shanghai Sharks, which were on the verge of not being able to play the next season of the Chinese Basketball Association because of financial troubles.
Philanthropy
Yao has also participated in many charity events during his career, including the NBA's Basketball Without Borders program. In the NBA's offseason in 2003, Yao hosted a telethon, which raised US$300,000 to help stop the spread of SARS. In September 2007, he held an auction that raised US$965,000 (CN¥6.75 million), and competed in a charity basketball match to raise money for underprivileged children in China. He was joined by fellow NBA stars Steve Nash, Carmelo Anthony, and Baron Davis, and Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan. After the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Yao donated $2 million to relief work and created the Yao Ming Foundation to help rebuild schools destroyed in the earthquake.
Yao has also been a dedicated supporter of Special Olympics. He serves as Global Ambassador and member of the International Board of Directors.
Conservation work
In August 2012, Yao started filming a documentary about the northern white rhinoceros. He is also an ambassador for elephant conservation. In 2014, he was also part of the documentary The End of the Wild about elephant conservation. Yao has filmed a number of public service announcements for elephant and rhino conservation for the "Say No" campaign with partners African Wildlife Foundation and WildAid.
Politics
On March 3, 2013, Yao attended the First Session of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference as one of its 2,200 members. He was a member of the CPPCC from 2013 to 2018. While he is involved in Chinese politics, he is not a member of the Chinese Communist Party, although he has been awarded the Proletarian Award by the party for his spreading of literacy and socialist ideologies.
See also
List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
List of tallest players in National Basketball Association history
References
External links
The Yao Ming Foundation official website
1980 births
Living people
2002 FIBA World Championship players
2006 FIBA World Championship players
Asian Games medalists in basketball
Asian Games silver medalists for China
Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2002 Asian Games
Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Basketball players from Shanghai
Centers (basketball)
Chinese Basketball Association executives
Chinese expatriate basketball people in the United States
Chinese men's basketball players
Chinese philanthropists
Houston Rockets draft picks
Houston Rockets players
Laureus World Sports Awards winners
Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games
Members of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
National Basketball Association All-Stars
National Basketball Association players from China
Olympic basketball players of China
Shanghai Jiao Tong University alumni
Shanghai Sharks players | true | [
"This is the discography of R&B/Hip hop soul trio, Total.\n\nAlbums\n\nStudio albums\n\nSingles\n\n Notes\n Did not chart on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart (Billboard rules at the time prevented album cuts from charting). Chart peak listed represents the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart.\n\nFeatured singles\n\nGuest appearances\n\nSoundtracks\n\nVideography\n From Total (1996)\n No One Else\n No One Else (Puff Daddy Remix)\n Kissin' You\n Kissin' You / Oh Honey\n Can't You See\n Can't You See (Bad Boy Remix)\n Do You Think About Us\n From Kima, Keisha, and Pam (1998)\n Trippin'\n Sitting Home\n From Soul Food (soundtrack) (1997)\n What About Us? (1997)\n As Guest Artists\n LL Cool J - Loungin' (Who Do U Love?) (1995)\nNotorious B.I.G. \"Hypnotize\" (Pam)\nNotorious B.I.G \"Juicy\" (Keisha & Kima)\n Mase - What You Want (1997)\n Foxy Brown - I Can't (1998)\n Tony Touch - I Wonder Why (He's The Greatest DJ) (2000)\n Cameos\n Craig Mack - Flava In Ya Ear (Remix) (Keisha from Total) (1994)\n The Notorious B.I.G. - One More Chance/Stay With Me (1994)\nSoul For Real - Every Little Thing I Do (1995)\n 112 - Only You - Bad Boy Remix (Keisha from Total) (1996)\n Missy Elliott - The Rain (Supa Supa Fly) (1997)\n Jerome - Too Old For Me (Keisha from Total) (1997)\nLil' Kim - Not Tonight (Remix) (1997)\nThe Lox - We'll Always Love Big Poppa (1998)\nThe Bad Boy Family - You (2001) [Featuring Pam & Keisha]\n\nReferences\n\nTotal discography\nHip hop discographies\nRhythm and blues discographies",
"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"
] |
[
"Bernard Hinault",
"1978-1983: Renault"
] | C_86d5e12f20eb457ca39364108c484eed_1 | What happened in 1978? | 1 | What happened to Bernard Hinault in 1978? | Bernard Hinault | To prepare for the 1978 Tour de France, Hinault rode his first grand tour, the Vuelta a Espana. He won and felt ready for his first Tour de France. Before the Tour, he won the national championship, which allowed him to wear the tricolour. This tour became a battle with Joop Zoetemelk, Hinault taking the yellow jersey after the final time trial. He was hailed as the next great French cyclist and won the Tour again in 1979. Once again this Tour proved to be a two man battle between Hinault and Zoetemelk as amazingly they finished nearly a half hour ahead of the rest of the field. In fact the 79 Tour is the only time the Yellow Jersey was challenged on the final stage into Paris as Zoetemelk, trailing Hinault by about three minutes launched an attack early in the stage. Hinault answered and the two riders stayed away from the main field all the way to the finish. In the end Hinault won the stage and the Tour while Zoetemelk was given a ten minute doping penalty. At the start of the 1980 season Hinault and Guimard's aim for the season was to win cycling's Triple Crown - the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France and the world championships, which had previously only been won in the same year by Eddy Merckx. Hinault won that year's Giro, clinching the race with an attack on the Stelvio Pass. In the 1980 Tour de France he abandoned the race while wearing the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification because of a knee injury but he returned to win the world championship in Sallanches that year. The following year, 1981, wearing the rainbow jersey, he won Paris-Roubaix and returned to victory in the 1981 Tour and then again in 1982. He missed the Tour in 1983, again because of knee problems. The organiser, Jacques Goddet, said in his autobiography L'Equipee Belle that Hinault's problems came from pushing gears that were too high. During Hinault's absence, his teammate Laurent Fignon rose to prominence by winning the Tour in 1983. CANNOTANSWER | To prepare for the 1978 Tour de France, Hinault rode his first grand tour, the Vuelta a Espana. | Bernard Hinault (; born 14 November 1954) is a French former professional road cyclist. With 147 professional victories, including five in the Tour de France, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time.
Hinault started cycling as an amateur in his native Brittany. After a successful amateur career, he signed with the Gitane–Campagnolo team to turn professional in 1975. He took breakthrough victories at both the Liège–Bastogne–Liège classic and the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré stage race in 1977. In 1978, he won his first two Grand Tours: the Vuelta a España and the Tour de France. In the following years, he was the most successful professional cyclist, adding another Tour victory in 1979 and a win at the 1980 Giro d'Italia. Although a knee injury forced him to quit the 1980 Tour de France while in the lead, he returned to win the World Championship road race later in the year. He added another Tour victory in 1981, before completing his first Giro-Tour double in 1982.
After winning the 1983 Vuelta a España, a return of his knee problems forced him to miss that year's Tour de France, won by his teammate Laurent Fignon. Conflict within the Renault team led to his leaving and joining La Vie Claire. With his new team, he raced the 1984 Tour de France, but lost to Fignon by over ten minutes. He recovered the following year, winning another Giro-Tour double with the help of teammate Greg LeMond. This gave him ten grand tour wins in his career, one behind Merckx for the all time record. No rider since Hinault has achieved more than seven.
In the 1986 Tour de France, he engaged in an intra-team rivalry with LeMond, who won his first of three Tours. Hinault retired shortly thereafter. he is the most recent French winner of the Tour de France. After his cycling career, Hinault turned to farming, while fulfilling enforcement duties for the organisers of the Tour de France until 2016.
All through his career, Hinault was known by the nickname le blaireau ("the badger"); he associated himself with the animal due to its aggressive nature, a trait he embodied on the bike. Within the peloton, Hinault assumed the role of patron, exercising authority over races he took part in.
Early life and family
Hinault was born on 14 November 1954 in the Breton village of Yffiniac, the second oldest of four children to Joseph and Lucie Hinault. The family lived in a cottage named La Clôture, built shortly after Hinault was born. His parents were farmers, and the children often had to help out at harvest time. His father later worked as a platelayer for the national rail company SNCF. Hinault was described as a "hyperactive" child, with his mother nicknaming him "little hooligan". Hinault was not a good student, but visited the technical college in Saint-Brieuc for an engineering apprenticeship. He started athletics there, becoming a runner and finishing tenth in the French junior cross-country championship in 1971.
In December 1974, just before turning professional, Hinault married Martine, who he had met at a family wedding the year before. Their first son, Mickael, was born in 1975, with a second, Alexandre, in 1981. Hinault and his family lived in Quessoy, close to Yffiniac, while he was a professional cyclist. After his retirement, they moved to a farm away in Brittany. Hinault had bought the property near Calorguen in 1983. Martine later served as mayor of Calorguen.
Amateur career
Hinault came to cycling through his cousin René, who rode weekend races. At first he had to use the shared family bike, which he rode devotedly. He received his own bike when he was 15 as a reward for passing his school examinations, and used it to travel to college. During the summer of 1971 he made training rides with René, who had problems keeping up with the sixteen-year old Bernard, even though he was an experienced amateur rider. Hinault received his racing licence from Club Olympique Briochin in late April1971 and entered his first race on 2May in Planguenoual. Advised only to try to stay with the other riders, Hinault won the event. Hinault won his first five races, amassing twelve wins from twenty races by the end of the year. Also during the summer of 1971, Hinault was at odds with his father about his choice to pursue cycling as a career. Joseph Hinault relented only after his son ran away from home for three days to stay with his cousins, sleeping on straw in the barn.
For 1972, Hinault was allowed to race with the over-18s. At a race in Hillion, he and René escaped from the field and reached the finish alone. They crossed the line together to share the victory, to the dismay of the race organisers. The young Hinault was heavily influenced by his trainer at the Club Olympique Briochin, Robert Le Roux, who had earlier worked with 1965 World Champion Tom Simpson. Hinault won nineteen races in his second season as an amateur, including the national junior championship against opposition a year older than him, such as future professional Bernard Vallet. He was conscripted into the military at age 18, and did not race throughout 1973. He was unable to join the army's training centre for young athletes and instead served in Sissonne with the 21st Marine Infantry Regiment. Returning to competition overweight, Hinault managed to win his first race of 1974. This was his last season as an amateur and again was highly successful, including a victory in his home town of Yffiniac towards the end of the year, where an alliance formed by four other riders was unable to hold him back. He also competed in track cycling, winning the national pursuit championship. On the road, he took part in the Étoile des Espoirs, a race open to amateurs and young professionals. Hinault finished fifth overall, and second on the time trial stage behind reigning pursuit world champion Roy Schuiten. Towards the end of the season, Hinault turned down an offer to race with the prestigious Athletic Club de Boulogne-Billancourt, instead deciding to turn professional in 1975.
Professional career
1975–1977: Gitane
In January 1975, Hinault turned professional with the Gitane–Campagnolo team, run by former World Champion Jean Stablinski, on a lean wage of 2,500francs per month. The decision to turn professional relatively early was in part taken as, had Hinault raced the 1975 season as an amateur, he would have likely been prevented by the French cycling federation from turning professional before the 1976 Summer Olympics to be part of the French team there. Early on, he showed no interest in adhering to the unwritten rules of the peloton, whereby younger riders were expected to show respect towards older ones. At a criterium race in August1975 he went up against a coalition of senior riders, who had decided to divide the prize money between them. Hinault won all the intermediate cash prizes until five-time Tour de France winner Eddy Merckx declared that Hinault was included in the pact. His results in his first season were impressive, with a seventh place at Paris–Nice and a victory at the Circuit de la Sarthe, earning him the Promotion Pernod, the prize for the best new professional in France. However, Hinault showed little willingness to learn the basic trades of cycling from Stablinski, often escaping early in the race instead of learning how to ride inside the peloton. Together with Stablinski entering Hinault into too many races, this led to conflicts between them.
For 1976, Hinault stayed with Gitane, as former professional Cyrille Guimard, who had just retired from cycling, took over the team and became directeur sportif. Guimard and Hinault got along well, and the latter was kept out of the high-profile races for 1976, instead focussing on a steady improvement in lesser known races such as Paris–Camembert, which he won. That year, Guimard spurred Lucien Van Impe to his only win in the Tour de France. Hinault's progress was visible, with a second consecutive victory at the Circuit de la Sarthe, a third place at the Grand Prix du Midi Libre and a win at the Tour de l'Aude, ensuring him the Prestige Pernod, the award for the best French rider of the season. In total, Hinault won 15 races in 1976. At the end of the year, he came sixth at the World Championship Road Race, being beaten to the line for fifth by Eddy Merckx.
During the spring classics season of 1977, Hinault left the Tour of Flanders before it had even started, not wanting to risk his health in a rain- and cold-affected race on cobbled roads. This drew him a formal warning by Guimard for his conduct. Three weeks later, Hinault won Gent–Wevelgem in a solo effort after an attack from the finish. Five days later, at Liège–Bastogne–Liège, Hinault followed an attack by favourite André Dierickx, and beat him in the two-man sprint to take his first victory in one of cycling's "monuments". In accordance with Guimard's plan to build Hinault up slowly, he did not enter the Tour de France. He did however start the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, seen as the most important preparation event for the Tour. While in the leader's jersey on the penultimate stage to Grenoble, Hinault attacked up the Col de Porte, leading Van Impe and Bernard Thévenet by 1:30 minutes when crossing the summit. On the descent, he misjudged a hairpin corner and crashed down the mountainside. A tree saved him from falling far down, while his bike was lost. Hinault then climbed back onto the road, took a new bike and without showing any hesitation, continued on. Up the finishing climb in Grenoble, he briefly dismounted, still shocked from the near-death experience and pushed his bike for about , before remounting and winning the stage eighty seconds ahead of Van Impe. This also secured him the overall victory ahead of eventual Tour winner Thévenet.
This incident was mentioned from a semi-pro rider's perspective in the Tim Krabbé book De Renner (The Rider) when the main character is about to descend a Col in the Tour de Mont Aigoual:
At the end of the season, Hinault won the Grand Prix des Nations, an individual time trial, with a substantial margin of 3:15 minutes ahead of favourite Joop Zoetemelk.
1978–1983: Renault
1978: Grand Tour breakthrough
At the beginning of 1978, the Gitane team was taken over by its parent company, the state-owned car manufacturer Renault, becoming . Hinault started the season with second place at Paris–Nice. He then competed in the Critérium National de la Route. Trailing Raymond Martin by more than two minutes before the final time trial, he made up his significant deficit and won the event.
Hinault then competed in his first three-week Grand Tour, at the Vuelta a España, then held at the end of April. He won the opening prologue time trial in Gijón, but then let the leadership switch to Ferdi Van Den Haute. He won stage 11b, a mountain time trial in Barcelona, and regained the race lead the next day, when he won the stage to La Tossa de Montbui after an escape with teammate Jean-René Bernaudeau. He ensured his overall victory by winning stage 18 to Amurrio. On that stage, he bridged over to escapee Andrés Gandarias, who had earlier asked for Hinault's permission to attack. Hinault claimed to have been annoyed into attacking by one of Gandarias's teammates and offered to carry him to the finish. However, the Spaniard was unable to follow his wheel, saying: "This guy has made me suffer like a dog, he's tougher than Eddy Merckx!" In all, Hinault won five stages of the Vuelta. A sixth win was prevented on the final day of the Grand Tour, on which a short time trial was raced in the afternoon, held at San Sebastián in the Basque Country. The stage was marred by protests and obstructions by supporters of the Basque separatist group ETA. Hinault himself had sand thrown into his eyes, but won the stage nonetheless, only to find that the results would not count due to the surrounding circumstances.
Ahead of his first Tour de France, Hinault raced in the Tour de Suisse, where he did not feature prominently. He then travelled to the French Road Race Championship, held at Sarrebourg. He launched an escape, on which he rode solo, leading the rest of his competitors by more than six minutes by the start of the last lap. However, he had forgotten to eat enough and suffered from hypoglycemia during the last part of the race, crossing the finish line to take the title severely weakened. His victory allowed him to wear the French tricolore jersey for the following year.
In the Tour de France, Hinault fell behind early to challenger Zoetemelk when Renault lost two minutes to Mercier during the team time trial. On stage 8, the first longer individual time trial, Hinault gained back 59 seconds on Zoetemelk, while the previous two Tour winners, Van Impe and Thévenet, lost so much time that they were now counted out from chances of an overall win. Hinault rode conservatively in the Pyrenees to stay within striking distance of Zoetemelk. On stage 12a, from Tarbes to Valence-d'Agen, he firmly imprinted his authority on the race, although not by riding. The riders had been complaining about split stages, where more than one would be held on one day, as was the case on 12July. When they reached the finishing town, they dismounted their bikes and walked to the finish line in protest. Hinault was chosen by his fellow competitors to be the spokesperson of the strike. Journalist Felix Magowan wrote: "Before today's strike, people were asking if the Tour had a boss. Today that was answered. His name is Hinault." Following the strike, Hinault had trouble sleeping and was caught out the next day, a stage in the Massif Central, forcing his team into a long chase. Thus weakened and slowed by spectator interference at a bike change, he lost 1:40 minutes to Zoetemelk on the following day's uphill time trial. Hinault countered the next day en route to Saint-Étienne during stage 15, breaking away with Hennie Kuiper. By the finish, the two had been reeled back, but Hinault contested the finishing sprint, winning the stage. The following day, stage 16 to Alpe d'Huez, ended with Zoetemelk, Hinault and the temporary leader of the general classification and thus yellow jersey wearer Michel Pollentier separated by only 18 seconds. However, Pollentier was disqualified for trying to cheat his doping test, leaving Hinault and Zoetemelk to fight out the overall victory. On the final mountain stage, Hinault put his rival under pressure, but was unable to make up any time. He then clinched the yellow jersey in the final time trial, gaining more than four minutes to win his first Tour de France with an advantage of 3:56 minutes. Following his Tour win, he finished fifth at the World Championships, before once more winning the Grand Prix des Nations, this time ahead of Francesco Moser.
1979: Second Tour victory and Classics success
The 1979 season started slowly for an off-form Hinault. He bounced back at the La Flèche Wallonne classic in April, when he caught up to a breakaway by Giuseppe Saronni and Bernt Johansson, outsprinting the former to win the race. He then beat Zoetemelk to victory at the Dauphiné Libéré, winning four stages. He won the race by over ten minutes, also taking the points and mountain classifications. In the coming weeks ahead of the Tour, he proved his willingness to assist his teammates to ensure their loyalty, helping Lucien Didier win the Tour de Luxembourg and finishing second behind Roland Berland in the National Championship race.
The Tour de France was again a two-way battle between Hinault and Zoetemelk. In the prologue, Hinault was fourth, on the same time as the Dutchman. The mountain stages started immediately thereafter, with Hinault winning the mountain time trial on stage 2, taking over the yellow jersey. He also won the next stage into Pau. The team time trial on stage4 again went Zoetemelk's way, as his Mercier team took back 41 seconds on Hinault's Renault squad. Zoetemelk now was only 12 seconds behind Hinault. On stage 8, in another team time trial, Renault fared much better, and Hinault extended his advantage to 1:18 minutes. The next day however, on a stage containing cobbled sections, Hinault suffered two punctures, losing almost four minutes and the race lead to Zoetemelk. He took back 36 seconds on the time trial in Brussels on stage 11 before regaining the race lead after another time trial, uphill to Avoriaz on stage 15. At this stage, he led Zoetemelk by 1:48 minutes, with third-placed Kuiper already more than 12 minutes behind. Hinault gained another minute on stage 16, before Zoetemelk regained 47 seconds up Alpe d'Huez three days later. The final time trial of the Tour went Hinault's way once again, extending his advantage by a further 69 seconds. He also took the next stage in a slightly uphill sprint finish. On the final stage towards the Champs-Élysées in Paris, traditionally a ceremonious affair without attacks, Zoetemelk and Hinault broke away, with both gapping the field and Hinault taking another stage victory. Zoetemelk finished 3:07 minutes behind Hinault, but then had ten minutes added to his time for failing a doping test. The next finisher, Joaquim Agostinho, was almost half an hour behind the winner.
Towards the end of the season, Hinault won his second cycling monument, the Giro di Lombardia. He had escaped from the field from the finish, but was later joined by some other riders. Only Silvano Contini finished with him, with the next group more than three minutes behind. The victory also secured that Hinault won his first of four consecutive Super Prestige Pernod International competitions, the award handed to the best rider of the season.
1980: Attempt at the Triple Crown
As was often the case, Hinault started the season slowly in 1980, withdrawing from Paris–Nice. He then entered Paris–Roubaix, partly to prepare for the cobbled sections in the upcoming Tour de France, and finished fourth. A week later, he scored one of his most memorable wins at Liège–Bastogne–Liège. As soon as the riders left Liège, snow began to fall, soon turning into a blizzard. Hinault wanted to abandon, as had many others, including all but one of his teammates. He was convinced to carry on until the feeding station at Bastogne, where the snow had turned into rain. Only 21 riders were left by this point. Hinault removed his rain cape and attacked, catching up to the leaders and carried on by himself, winning with a margin of almost ten minutes ahead of Kuiper. The victory came at a price, as his right index and middle fingers took weeks to recover from frostbite, and caused him pain for several years.
Hinault and Guimard then turned their attention to the only Grand Tour he had not won yet: the Giro d'Italia. They hoped that Hinault would be able to reproduce a feat Eddy Merckx had achieved in 1974, winning the Giro, the Tour and the World Championship in the same year. This is commonly referred to as the Triple Crown of Cycling.
Hinault started the Giro d'Italia as odds-on favourite, pitted against local riders Francesco Moser and Giuseppe Saronni, who had the home crowd on their side. Following a fourth place at the prologue in Genoa, Hinault made a spontaneous visit to Fausto Coppi's home of Castellania, paying respect to the first rider ever to have won Giro and Tour in the same year. On stage 5, a time trial to Pisa, Hinault took over the race leader's pink jersey. He then relinquished his lead to Roberto Visentini, who was not considered to be a contender for the final victory. On stage 14, he attacked when the peloton relaxed after an intermediate sprint, winning the stage ahead of Wladimiro Panizza, who took the race lead. Hinault then made the decisive move of the race on stage 20, when he attacked on the tough climb of the Stelvio Pass. He caught up with his teammate Bernaudeau, and both carried on for the remaining of the stage together. Hinault gifted the stage victory to his teammate, while he clinched the overall victory almost six minutes ahead of Panizza.
In the Tour de France, Hinault was once again set to duel with Joop Zoetemelk, who had moved to the dominant squad. Hinault won the prologue in Frankfurt, Germany, five seconds ahead of Gerrie Knetemann. On stage5 from Liège to Lille, which contained cobbled sections used in Paris–Roubaix, conditions were poor with rain and heavy winds. Hinault called for the field to take a slow tempo, but when Zoetemelk's teammate Jan Raas attacked, he went after him. He eventually found himself in a group with several other riders, while Zoetemelk was distanced. At from the finish, he followed another attack from Kuiper and won the sprint at the line. The next stage was set to contain more cobbled roads, but on Hinault's protest, most of the worst parts were taken out. Hinault had however suffered damage to his left knee on the stage to Lille. Hinault finished only fifth on stage 11's individual time trial, won by Zoetemelk. While he regained the yellow jersey, Zoetemelk was second, only 21 seconds behind. With his tendinitis worsening, he carried on until the end of stage 12, just before the race was headed for the first high mountains in the Pyrenees. That night, Hinault and Guimard told the race organisers, Jacques Goddet and Félix Lévitan, that he would abandon the race, while still in the lead. He left the race at night, not informing the press, which led to a fallout with the media that took years to recover. In Hinault's absence, Zoetemelk duly won his only Tour de France. Insinuations that Zoetemelk's victory had been a gift through Hinault's absence were countered by Hinault himself: "My problems were of my own making. It is always the absent rider who is at fault. I was absent and he took my place."
Hinault returned from the disappointment of the Tour to start at the World Championship road race, held on a very tough parcours in Sallanches, France, often named the hardest course in the history of the event. Hinault had broken away about from the finish with several riders. On the last lap, he dropped his last companion, Gianbattista Baronchelli, on the steepest part of a climb and soloed to victory. It had been a race of attrition with only 15 out of 107 riders reaching the finish.
1981: Winning a third Tour de France
Hinault had never made his dislike for riding on cobbled roads a secret. The most prominent race of this character, Paris–Roubaix, was met with particular disdain, even though he never finished lower than thirteenth. After the 1980 edition, he had said to organiser Goddet: "You will never see me in this circus again." However, he returned for 1981, saying that he did so out of respect for his stature as World Champion. He suffered seven crashes and tyre punctures, but reached the finish at the velodrome with the lead group, where he outsprinted favourites Roger De Vlaeminck and Moser. One-and-a-half weeks earlier, he had already added a victory at the Amstel Gold Race. Furthermore, he also won the Critérium International and again dominated the Dauphiné Libéré, winning by twelve minutes ahead of Agostinho.
At the Tour de France, Hinault took an early lead by winning the prologue, then relinquished the yellow jersey to Knetemann and later to Phil Anderson. On the time trial to Pau on stage 7, he regained the lead and never lost the jersey, beating Van Impe by almost a quarter of an hour. He won five stages, including all four individual time trials. Amidst media criticism that he was riding too defensively in the mountains, he also took victory in the Alps on a stage to Le Pleynet.
At the World Championship in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Hinault failed to defend his title. Having bridged a two-and-a-half-minute gap to a strong lead group on his own, he came third in the final sprint, behind Freddy Maertens and Saronni.
1982: Achieving the Giro-Tour double
Hinault returned to the Giro in 1982. He looked set for victory after the first two weeks, having taken a significant lead after wins in the stage3 time trial and stage 12 to Campitello Matese. However, on stage 17 to Boario Terme, Guimard and the Renault team misjudged the toughness of the climb and Hinault lost the lead to Silvano Contini. He hit back the next day, winning the stage to Montecampione, turning the race in his favour.
In "his most uneventful Tour", Hinault never looked in trouble on his way to completing the Giro-Tour double at the Tour de France. He won the prologue in Basel, Switzerland, before the lead briefly turned to Ludo Peeters and Phil Anderson. Hinault regained the yellow jersey after the first time trial and won the overall classification easily. He took four stages, including again the final one on the Champs-Élysées, this time from a bunch sprint. His participation in the final-stage sprint was seen as an answer to critics, who had once again lamented that Hinault had ridden the Tour without panache. Zoetemelk was again the runner-up, more than six minutes behind Hinault. Later in the season, Hinault added another victory at the Grand Prix des Nations.
1983: Second Vuelta and the ascent of Fignon
Since 1981, Hinault had been joined at Renault by two young talents, Laurent Fignon and the American Greg LeMond. Both joined Hinault for the Vuelta a España, where he faced stiff competition from local riders like Marino Lejarreta, Julián Gorospe, and Alberto Fernández. Six days before the race started, he had won La Flèche Wallonne for a second time. On stage4 of the Vuelta, Fignon attacked and won, but Lejarreta, the defending champion, had followed him and gained time on Hinault. Hinault came back and took the lead the following day on the mountain stage to Castellar de n'Hug. However, a day later, the Spanish teams jointly attacked and Lejarreta moved ahead of Hinault, who was 22 seconds down. At the uphill time trial at Balneario de Panticosa, he suffered and finished more than two minutes behind Lejarreta. Hinault joined forces with Kuiper and Saronni to attack on stage 10 to Soria, affected by crosswinds. He was in trouble again on stage 14, affected by returning pain in his knee; at one point he trailed his rivals by more than five minutes, but regained contact. In the time trial around Valladolid on stage 15b, Hinault won, now just ten seconds behind Gorospe, the new leader in the general classification. The following day brought the last mountain stage and Renault put pressure on Gorospe from early on. Hinault, joined by Lejarreta and Vicente Belda, escaped for , distancing Gorospe by over twenty minutes with Hinault taking victory in Ávila, sealing his second Vuelta victory. Due to the tightly fought battle between Hinault and his Spanish competitors, the 1983 race is described on the Vuelta's website as "one of the most beautiful and spectacular" editions.
During the Vuelta, Hinault's tendinitis returned. After the race, he made two failed attempts to get back into racing, but eventually announced that he would miss the Tour de France. In his absence, teammate Fignon won the event on his first attempt. Hinault tried another comeback at a post-Tour criterium, but the pain returned and he did not race for the remainder of the season.
1984–1986: La Vie Claire
1984: Defeat at Fignon's hands
By 1983, the relationship between Hinault and Guimard had deteriorated to a point where the former described their relationship as "war". Hinault forced a choice on the Renault team to either release him or oust Guimard. The team decided to stick with their directeur sportif, leading Hinault to search for a new team. He joined forces with businessman Bernard Tapie to form the new squad. Their directeur sportif became Swiss coach Paul Köchli, who had made a name for himself with innovative and effective training methods, leaving Hinault a lot of freedom while at the same time scientifically measuring his progress. As part of his connection with Tapie, Hinault also contributed to the development of the clipless pedal, created by Look, another company owned by Tapie.
Hinault returned to racing at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, where he won the final stage. He then took victory at the Four Days of Dunkirk. But his spring campaign lacked major successes. At the Dauphiné Libéré, he came second to Martín Ramírez, who later claimed that Hinault and his team had tried to intimidate him during the final stage of the race. A memorable episode occurred during the Paris–Nice, a race he finished third overall. During stage5 to La Seyne-sur-Mer, Hinault was descending in a lead group with several other favourites. As they reached the valley, the road was blocked by protesters, unhappy with the announced closure of a dockyard at La Ciotat. While the other riders stopped, he drove into the group head-on, dismounted, and punched the protester closest to him. In the ensuing fist fight, Hinault suffered a broken rib.
The Tour de France was made out to be the big duel between Hinault and Fignon, who had just won the French National Championship. Hinault won the prologue, but Renault took the team time trial, 55 seconds ahead of La Vie Claire. He lost another 49 seconds to Fignon in the first long individual time trial, a discipline he had previously dominated. Following the second time trial, Hinault was only seventh on general classification, two minutes behind his adversary. The next stage led to Alpe d'Huez. Hinault attacked on the Rampe de Laffrey, but Fignon was able to respond. The two exchanged attacks on the way up the climb, but it was in the valley that Hinault was able to draw out a gap of about a minute. On Alpe d'Huez itself, he was first passed by eventual stage winner Luis Herrera. When he started to slow, Fignon caught up to him and eventually dropped Hinault, who lost a further three minutes. He ultimately finished the Tour in second place, a significant ten minutes behind Fignon.
Hinault managed to bounce back from his Tour defeat in the fall. In late September, he took his fifth and final victory at the Grand Prix des Nations, riding the time trial at a then record speed of . Fignon could only manage fourth, more than two minutes behind. Next, he won the Trofeo Baracchi, a two-man time trial, in which he competed with Moser. He then won the Giro di Lombardia for a second time, breaking away from the group of favourites from the finish.
1985: The second Giro-Tour double
For 1985, Greg LeMond switched teams from Renault to join Hinault at La Vie Claire. Together, they entered the Giro d'Italia. During the race, Hinault was met with hostility from the home crowd, who supported local rider Francesco Moser. On the stage 12 time trial, Hinault took the pink jersey and opened the decisive gap to Moser, who would eventually finish second. During the stage however, Hinault was spat at by spectators and almost knocked over, even though his team car rode behind him with the door opened the entire time to ensure that bystanders would have a harder time impeding him. Hinault won his third Giro with a margin of just over a minute.
In the Tour de France, Fignon did not take part due to an Achilles heel injury. Hinault therefore entered the race as the favourite. He took victory in the prologue in his native Brittany. La Vie Claire won the stage3 team time trial by over a minute. The next day, Hinault's teammate Kim Andersen took over the yellow jersey. Hinault supported him over the next days, even going so far as dropping back when Andersen punctured to lead him back into the peloton, showing his loyalty to riders who would later have to assist him. On stage 8, a time trial to Strasbourg, Hinault took back the race lead, winning the stage by more than two minutes ahead of Stephen Roche. While the race travelled through the Alps and in a second time trial, he consolidated his lead, building an advantage of five-and-a-half minutes on LeMond, who was now second overall.
On stage 14 to Saint-Étienne, LeMond finished two minutes ahead of a group containing Hinault. Involved in a crash with other riders, Hinault crossed the finish line with a broken nose. Around the same time, he started to experience symptoms of bronchitis. On stage 17, he showed signs of weakness and was unable to stay with the other leaders on the Col du Tourmalet. LeMond meanwhile followed an attack by Roche, but was forbidden by the team to cooperate to distance Hinault. LeMond would later claim that the team had deceived him by telling him that Hinault was closer behind than he actually was. Hinault eventually finished the stage just over a minute behind LeMond. The time LeMond waited may have been enough so that the two teammates would have contested the Maillot Jaune in the penultimate time trial. In the penultimate day's time trial, LeMond won the stage, but only five seconds ahead of Hinault, not enough to surpass him. This secured Hinault a record-equalling fifth Tour victory, by just under two minutes over his younger teammate. After the finish, he publicly pledged that he would support LeMond's bid for a first Tour victory the following year.
1986: The final season
In January 1986, Hinault was given the Legion of Honour by French president François Mitterrand. He had, already in 1982, announced that he would retire from cycling on his 32nd birthday, in November 1986.
Even though Hinault had pledged support for LeMond for the Tour de France, a lot of public attention was given to the possibility of him winning a record sixth Tour. Their La Vie Claire team was seen as dominant, with Laurent Fignon as the most likely challenger. Hinault finished third in the prologue, two seconds ahead of LeMond and Fignon. In the team time trial on stage 2, Fignon and gained almost two minutes on La Vie Claire, partly due to Hinault deciding that the squad would wait for two struggling riders, Niki Rüttimann and Guido Winterberg. Hinault then won the time trial on stage 9, gaining an additional 44 seconds on LeMond, who suffered a broken wheel and had to change his bike. Meanwhile, Fignon fell behind and later abandoned the race. On stage 12, from Bayonne to Pau, Hinault attacked with Pedro Delgado. The pair gained more than four-and-a-half minutes on LeMond, with Delgado taking the stage win. Hinault was now in the lead of the general classification, 5:25 minutes ahead of LeMond. Even though his lead was significant, he attacked again the following day, on the descent of the Col du Tourmalet, the first climb of the day. By the top of the next climb, the Col d'Aspin, he led the rest of the field by two minutes. However, joint effort behind brought him back before the final ascent up to the ski station of Superbagnères. Hinault then cracked, coming in ninth, 4:39 minutes behind stage winner LeMond. He now led his teammate by only forty seconds in the general classification.
The race then moved over to the Alps. On stage 17, Hinault got left behind on the Col d'Izoard and lost the yellow jersey to LeMond, falling to third in the overall rankings, 2:47 minutes behind his teammate. Stage 18 featured three major climbs, the Col du Galibier, the Croix de Fer and the final ascent up to Alpe d'Huez. Hinault attacked repeatedly, but reached the bottom of Alpe d'Huez with LeMond. He led the way up the climb, lined by approximately 300,000 spectators and crossed the finish line hand in hand with LeMond, in an apparent display of comradery. Urs Zimmermann, who had been second overall at the start of the day, lost more than five minutes. Any signs of appeasement between the rivalling teammates was shattered by Hinault in a television interview shortly after the stage finish, when he declared that the race was not yet over, even though he trailed LeMond by 2:45 minutes.
Stage 20 saw the final time trial and the last chance for Hinault to overcome LeMond's advantage. Aided by a crash from LeMond, Hinault won the stage, but gained back only 25 seconds, conceding defeat after the stage. He lost an additional 52 seconds on stage 21. In his last Tour de France stage into Paris, he took part in the final sprint, taking fourth place. He ended his final Tour de France second overall, 3:10 minutes behind LeMond. He won the mountains classification and was also given the super-combativity award. Hinault's repeated attacks during the race and refusal to concede defeat irritated LeMond, who felt betrayed by Hinault's lack of loyalty.
After the Tour, Hinault won the Coors Classic race in the United States, ahead of LeMond. He rode the World Championships Road Race, held in Colorado Springs. He aimed to win, showing a lot of effort in his preparation. However, he finished the race in 59th place. On 19 September, he won his last competitive race, a criterium in Angers, France. Hinault's retirement from professional cycling on 14 November 1986 was celebrated in Quessoy with a symbolic race of 3,600 riders, a concert and fireworks. A total of 15,000 people attended the event.
Retirement
After his retirement from professional cycling, Hinault moved to his farm and bred dairy cows, assisted by his cousin René, who had become an agricultural engineer. Just two weeks after he ended his career, the Tour de France organisers, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), approached Hinault and invited him to join the race management team. He held several positions, including race regulator and route advisor. After Jean-Marie Leblanc took over the role as general director, Hinault was named the Tour's ambassador. Included in his duties was being present during podium ceremonies. During the podium for stage3 of the 2008 Tour de France, a protester jumped on stage and disturbed proceedings. Hinault leapt forward and shoved him off. He stepped down from the role after the 2016 Tour de France. His role as ASO's brand ambassador was taken over by Stephen Roche, winner of the 1987 Tour de France.
Unlike many of his competitors, Hinault never became a directeur sportif (team manager) after his cycling career. Offers from Bouygues Télécom and a Chinese investor in the mid-2000s fell through. He was the selector of the French national team from 1988 to 1993. Hinault took a role as "patron" with the British squad for the 2014 season. In June 2020, Hinault became part of a group of businessmen investing into saving the cycling equipment company Mavic, who are a long-time sponsor of the Tour de France. Mavic was put into receivership earlier in the year due to the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Public image and riding style
Riding style and legacy
During his active career, Hinault was known as the patron of the field, meaning the rider with the highest authority. His biographer William Fotheringham has described him as "the last of the sport's patrons". In this role, Hinault would use his influence with race organisers, control the pace of the peloton, and allow or refuse other riders the chance to attack. The riders' strike at Valence d'Agen in the 1978 Tour is cited as the first instance in which Hinault assumed this role. His fellow riders stated that he, even though he did not talk much, was able to exert a high amount of certainty and therefore strength, which brought him respect and sometimes fear from his competitors. To signal his authority, Hinault often symbolically rode at the front of the field, instead of in the slipstream of his teammates. His riding style has been described as "fighting, full of aggression", and he stated that when he did not feel good in a race, his reaction would be to attack. Hinault described his own role as follows:
Hinault was however not always successful in his endeavours. During the 1980 Tour de France, he sought to remove the rule which excluded riders outside the time limit on each stage. He urged the riders to protest and ride slowly, but some did not follow his example, forcing Hinault to chase them down before he eventually left the race. His enigmatic exit from the 1980 Tour created tensions with the press that would persist during the rest of his active career. By 1982, debates about his personality started to appear more and more in the media. Particular interest was given to an alleged lack of panache during his Tour wins and his behaviour towards fans and officials, whom he treated with open disgust. Fotheringham suggests that Hinault only regained popularity with the French public after his knee problems and his Tour defeat in 1984. Fellow racer Robert Millar suggested that in 1986 in particular, Hinault attempted to win over the French public by riding aggressively.
Hinault was not known to particularly enjoy going on training rides, unless he was specifically preparing for an event. He would often greet his training partners in a night gown when they arrived on time for training or have an easy day of training that included stops at a bakery for cake. His distaste for training became even more evident in the winter, when he would gain a lot of weight. Laurent Fignon described the first training camps of the year as follows: "He looked as if he had been inflated. If you didn't know the Badger you would wonder how long it would take for him to get back to what he had been. You would be making a huge mistake." Hinault was capable of suffering through the training camp and returning to winning form within a month. Unlike a rider like Eddy Merckx, Hinault would not aim to win every race he entered. Millar described his approach as such: "Hinault either cared or he didn't. When he didn't care about winning he'd bumble round and hurt you now and again just to remind you he was there."
With a résumé of victories that includes all three Grand Tours (all of them more than once), the World Road Championships and a number of classics, Hinault has often been cited among the greatest cyclists of all time. The Historical Dictionary of Cycling describes him as "one of the best riders ever". Comparisons are often drawn with Eddy Merckx, against whom Hinault rode at the beginning of his career. Lucien Van Impe commented: "Merckx was the greatest, but Bernard [Hinault] was the most impressive." A study conducted in 2006, ranking Tour de France riders from 1953 to 2004 by different performance indicators, put Hinault as the top Tour rider of that period, ahead of Merckx and Lance Armstrong.
Nickname
Hinault was nicknamed le blaireau in French, a term that can be translated into English as either "the shaving brush" or "the badger". According to Fotheringham, the nickname originates from Hinault's early training partners, Maurice Le Guilloux and Georges Talbourdet, who would use the term to tease the young rider. Le Guilloux used it once in front of Pierre Chany, a writer for L'Équipe, and the name stuck. According to Hinault himself, the term in the first place was supposed to mean no more than "mate" or "buddy". However, Hinault later embraced the association with the wild animal. In 2003, he commented: "A badger is a beautiful thing. When it's hunted it goes into its sett and waits. When it comes out again, it attacks. That's the reason for my nickname. When I'm annoyed I go home, you don't see me for a month. When I come out again, I win." Hinault, as early as 1983, owned a stuffed badger to demonstrate his association with the animal.
Stance on doping
Hinault never tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs during his professional career and was never implicated in any doping practices. He did, however, lead a riders' protest during a criterium race in Callac in 1982 against the sudden introduction of doping controls. He was handed a one-month suspended ban and fined CHF 1,110, though the penalty was never enforced.
Hinault has been outspoken about several prominent doping cases in the past years. In 2013, he heavily criticised French senators for revealing the results of tests conducted in 2004 on samples from the 1998 Tour de France. He called the initiative "bullshit" and urged lawmakers "to stop bringing out the dead", claiming they "want to kill the Tour". In the same year, he reacted to comments made by Lance Armstrong, a rider stripped of seven Tour victories due to doping offences. Armstrong suggested that it would be impossible to win the Tour de France without performance-enhancing substances. To counter this claim, Hinault replied: "He must not know what it was like to ride without doping." Armstrong later clarified that he had spoken about the time when he was riding (1999–2005). In early 2018, Hinault also spoke out about the adverse analytical result for salbutamol of four-time Tour winner Chris Froome at the 2017 Vuelta a España. He criticised Froome for taking part in the 2018 Giro d'Italia while the investigation was still ongoing. In addition, he commented that Froome could not be "listed among the cycling greats". Froome would win the Giro and become the first rider since Hinault to hold all three Grand Tour Jerseys at once. Before the 2018 Tour de France, with Froome's case still ongoing, he urged the other riders to strike in protest if Froome competed. Froome was later cleared of the charges and started the Tour where he finished third behind teammate Geraint Thomas and Tom Dumoulin.
Career achievements
Major results
Source:
1972
1st Road race, National Junior Road Championships
1974
5th Overall Étoile des Espoirs
1975
1st Individual pursuit, National Track Championships
1st Overall Circuit de la Sarthe
6th Overall Tour de l'Oise
6th Grand Prix des Nations
7th Overall Paris–Nice
1976
1st Individual pursuit, National Track Championships
1st Overall Circuit de la Sarthe
1st Stage 3a (ITT)
1st Overall Tour du Limousin
1st Stage 1
1st Overall Tour de l'Aude
1st Stage 1
1st Overall Tour d'Indre-et-Loire
1st Stage 2b (ITT)
1st Paris–Camembert
1st Stage 2 Étoile des Espoirs
2nd Overall À travers Lausanne
3rd Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre
4th Grand Prix Pino Cerami
6th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
6th Grand Prix des Nations
10th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
1977
1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Stages 1 & 5
1st Overall Tour du Limousin
1st Stage 1
1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège
1st Gent–Wevelgem
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Stage 2b (ITT) Étoile des Espoirs
2nd Overall Tour Cycliste du Tarn
1st Mountains classification
2nd Overall Tour d'Indre-et-Loire
1st Stage 2b
3rd Paris–Brussels
4th Overall Tour de l'Aude
6th Overall Paris–Nice
6th GP Ouest–France
7th Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre
8th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
10th Grand Prix d'Isbergues
1978
1st Road race, National Road Championships
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Stages 8 (ITT), 15 & 20 (ITT)
1st Overall Vuelta a España
1st Prologue, Stages 11b (ITT), 12, 14 & 18
1st Overall Critérium International
1st Stage 3 (ITT)
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Boucles de l'Aulne
2nd Overall Paris–Nice
2nd Overall À travers Lausanne
3rd Giro di Lombardia
5th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
9th Overall Tour Cycliste du Tarn
1979
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Points classification
1st Stages 2 (ITT), 3, 11 (ITT), 15 (ITT), 21 (ITT), 23 & 24
1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Stages 3, 5b (ITT), 6 & 7b (ITT)
1st Overall Tour de l'Oise
1st Prologue
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Giro di Lombardia
1st La Flèche Wallonne
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Boucles de l'Aulne
1st
Étoile des Espoirs
1st Stages 3b (ITT) & 4
2nd Overall Critérium International
1st Stage 3 (ITT)
2nd Overall Tour de Luxembourg
1st Stage 3
2nd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
3rd Overall Tour Cycliste du Tarn
3rd Overall À travers Lausanne
3rd Critérium des As
6th Overall Paris–Nice
6th Paris–Tours
7th Milan–San Remo
8th Gent–Wevelgem
8th Grand Prix de Wallonie
1980
1st Road race, UCI Road World Championships
1st Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Stage 14
Tour de France
1st Prologue, Stages 4 (ITT) & 5
Held after Prologue, Stage 1a & Stages 11–12
1st Overall Tour de Romandie
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
3rd La Flèche Wallonne
4th Paris–Roubaix
5th Amstel Gold Race
1981
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Combination classification
1st Prologue, Stages 6 (ITT), 14 (ITT), 18 & 20 (ITT)
Overall Combativity award
1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Overall Critérium International
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Paris–Roubaix
1st Amstel Gold Race
3rd Road race, UCI Road World Championships
1982
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Combination classification
1st Prologue, Stages 14 (ITT), 19 (ITT) & 21
1st Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Prologue (TTT), Stages 3 (ITT), 12, 18, & 22 (ITT)
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Overall Tour de Luxembourg
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise
1st Critérium des As
9th Paris–Roubaix
1983
1st Overall Vuelta a España
1st Stages 15b (ITT) & 17
1st La Flèche Wallonne
1st Grand Prix Pino Cerami
1984
1st Giro di Lombardia
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
1st Trofeo Baracchi (with Francesco Moser)
2nd Overall Tour de France
1st Prologue
Held after Prologue
Overall Combativity award
2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
3rd Overall Paris–Nice
4th Züri-Metzgete
1985
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Prologue, Stages 3 (TTT) & 8 (ITT)
1st Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Stage 12 (ITT)
1986
1st Overall Coors Classic
1st Stages 7a & 11a
1st Overall Vuelta Ciclista a la Comunidad Valenciana
1st Trofeo Luis Puig
2nd Overall Tour de France
1st Mountains classification
1st Stages 9 (ITT), 18 & 20 (ITT)
Held after Stages 12–16
Overall Combativity award
General classification results timeline
Source:
Monuments results timeline
Source:
See also
Giro d'Italia records and statistics
List of cycling records
List of French people
List of Giro d'Italia general classification winners
List of Grand Tour general classification winners
List of Tour de France general classification winners
List of Tour de France secondary classification winners
List of Vuelta a España classification winners
List of Vuelta a España general classification winners
Yellow jersey statistics
Notes
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
1954 births
Breton people
French farmers
French Giro d'Italia stage winners
French male cyclists
French Tour de France stage winners
French Vuelta a España stage winners
Giro d'Italia winners
Living people
People from Saint-Brieuc
Tour de France Champs Elysées stage winners
Tour de France prologue winners
Tour de France winners
UCI Road World Champions (elite men)
Vuelta a España winners
Sportspeople from Côtes-d'Armor | false | [
"Don Juan Manuel's Tales of Count Lucanor, in Spanish Libro de los ejemplos del conde Lucanor y de Patronio (Book of the Examples of Count Lucanor and of Patronio), also commonly known as El Conde Lucanor, Libro de Patronio, or Libro de los ejemplos (original Old Castilian: Libro de los enxiemplos del Conde Lucanor et de Patronio), is one of the earliest works of prose in Castilian Spanish. It was first written in 1335.\n\nThe book is divided into four parts. The first and most well-known part is a series of 51 short stories (some no more than a page or two) drawn from various sources, such as Aesop and other classical writers, and Arabic folktales.\n\nTales of Count Lucanor was first printed in 1575 when it was published at Seville under the auspices of Argote de Molina. It was again printed at Madrid in 1642, after which it lay forgotten for nearly two centuries.\n\nPurpose and structure\n\nA didactic, moralistic purpose, which would color so much of the Spanish literature to follow (see Novela picaresca), is the mark of this book. Count Lucanor engages in conversation with his advisor Patronio, putting to him a problem (\"Some man has made me a proposition...\" or \"I fear that such and such person intends to...\") and asking for advice. Patronio responds always with the greatest humility, claiming not to wish to offer advice to so illustrious a person as the Count, but offering to tell him a story of which the Count's problem reminds him. (Thus, the stories are \"examples\" [ejemplos] of wise action.) At the end he advises the Count to do as the protagonist of his story did.\n\nEach chapter ends in more or less the same way, with slight variations on: \"And this pleased the Count greatly and he did just so, and found it well. And Don Johán (Juan) saw that this example was very good, and had it written in this book, and composed the following verses.\" A rhymed couplet closes, giving the moral of the story.\n\nOrigin of stories and influence on later literature\nMany of the stories written in the book are the first examples written in a modern European language of various stories, which many other writers would use in the proceeding centuries. Many of the stories he included were themselves derived from other stories, coming from western and Arab sources.\n\nShakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew has the basic elements of Tale 35, \"What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\".\n\nTale 32, \"What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth\" tells the story that Hans Christian Andersen made popular as The Emperor's New Clothes.\n\nStory 7, \"What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana\", a version of Aesop's The Milkmaid and Her Pail, was claimed by Max Müller to originate in the Hindu cycle Panchatantra.\n\nTale 2, \"What happened to a good Man and his Son, leading a beast to market,\" is the familiar fable The miller, his son and the donkey.\n\nIn 2016, Baroque Decay released a game under the name \"The Count Lucanor\". As well as some protagonists' names, certain events from the books inspired past events in the game.\n\nThe stories\n\nThe book opens with a prologue which introduces the characters of the Count and Patronio. The titles in the following list are those given in Keller and Keating's 1977 translation into English. James York's 1868 translation into English gives a significantly different ordering of the stories and omits the fifty-first.\n\n What Happened to a King and His Favorite \n What Happened to a Good Man and His Son \n How King Richard of England Leapt into the Sea against the Moors\n What a Genoese Said to His Soul When He Was about to Die \n What Happened to a Fox and a Crow Who Had a Piece of Cheese in His Beak\n How the Swallow Warned the Other Birds When She Saw Flax Being Sown \n What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana \n What Happened to a Man Whose Liver Had to Be Washed \n What Happened to Two Horses Which Were Thrown to the Lion \n What Happened to a Man Who on Account of Poverty and Lack of Other Food Was Eating Bitter Lentils \n What Happened to a Dean of Santiago de Compostela and Don Yllán, the Grand Master of Toledo\n What Happened to the Fox and the Rooster \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Hunting Partridges \n The Miracle of Saint Dominick When He Preached against the Usurer \n What Happened to Lorenzo Suárez at the Siege of Seville \n The Reply that count Fernán González Gave to His Relative Núño Laynes \n What Happened to a Very Hungry Man Who Was Half-heartedly Invited to Dinner \n What Happened to Pero Meléndez de Valdés When He Broke His Leg \n What Happened to the Crows and the Owls \n What Happened to a King for Whom a Man Promised to Perform Alchemy \n What Happened to a Young King and a Philosopher to Whom his Father Commended Him \n What Happened to the Lion and the Bull \n How the Ants Provide for Themselves \n What Happened to the King Who Wanted to Test His Three Sons \n What Happened to the Count of Provence and How He Was Freed from Prison by the Advice of Saladin\n What Happened to the Tree of Lies \n What Happened to an Emperor and to Don Alvarfáñez Minaya and Their Wives \n What Happened in Granada to Don Lorenzo Suárez Gallinato When He Beheaded the Renegade Chaplain \n What Happened to a Fox Who Lay down in the Street to Play Dead \n What Happened to King Abenabet of Seville and Ramayquía His Wife \n How a Cardinal Judged between the Canons of Paris and the Friars Minor \n What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth \n What Happened to Don Juan Manuel's Saker Falcon and an Eagle and a Heron \n What Happened to a Blind Man Who Was Leading Another \n What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\n What Happened to a Merchant When He Found His Son and His Wife Sleeping Together \n What Happened to Count Fernán González with His Men after He Had Won the Battle of Hacinas \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Loaded down with Precious Stones and Drowned in the River \n What Happened to a Man and a Swallow and a Sparrow \n Why the Seneschal of Carcassonne Lost His Soul \n What Happened to a King of Córdova Named Al-Haquem \n What Happened to a Woman of Sham Piety \n What Happened to Good and Evil and the Wise Man and the Madman \n What Happened to Don Pero Núñez the Loyal, to Don Ruy González de Zavallos, and to Don Gutier Roiz de Blaguiello with Don Rodrigo the Generous \n What Happened to a Man Who Became the Devil's Friend and Vassal \n What Happened to a Philosopher who by Accident Went down a Street Where Prostitutes Lived \n What Befell a Moor and His Sister Who Pretended That She Was Timid \n What Happened to a Man Who Tested His Friends \n What Happened to the Man Whom They Cast out Naked on an Island When They Took away from Him the Kingdom He Ruled \n What Happened to Saladin and a Lady, the Wife of a Knight Who Was His Vassal \n What Happened to a Christian King Who Was Very Powerful and Haughty\n\nReferences\n\nNotes\n\nBibliography\n\n Sturm, Harlan\n\n Wacks, David\n\nExternal links\n\nThe Internet Archive provides free access to the 1868 translation by James York.\nJSTOR has the to the 1977 translation by Keller and Keating.\nSelections in English and Spanish (pedagogical edition) with introduction, notes, and bibliography in Open Iberia/América (open access teaching anthology)\n\n14th-century books\nSpanish literature\n1335 books",
"\"What Happened to Us\" is a song by Australian recording artist Jessica Mauboy, featuring English recording artist Jay Sean. It was written by Sean, Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim and Israel Cruz. \"What Happened to Us\" was leaked online in October 2010, and was released on 10 March 2011, as the third single from Mauboy's second studio album, Get 'Em Girls (2010). The song received positive reviews from critics.\n\nA remix of \"What Happened to Us\" made by production team OFM, was released on 11 April 2011. A different version of the song which features Stan Walker, was released on 29 May 2011. \"What Happened to Us\" charted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number 14 and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). An accompanying music video was directed by Mark Alston, and reminisces on a former relationship between Mauboy and Sean.\n\nProduction and release\n\n\"What Happened to Us\" was written by Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim, Israel Cruz and Jay Sean. It was produced by Skaller, Cruz, Rohaim and Bobby Bass. The song uses C, D, and B minor chords in the chorus. \"What Happened to Us\" was sent to contemporary hit radio in Australia on 14 February 2011. The cover art for the song was revealed on 22 February on Mauboy's official Facebook page. A CD release was available for purchase via her official website on 10 March, for one week only. It was released digitally the following day.\n\nReception\nMajhid Heath from ABC Online Indigenous called the song a \"Jordin Sparks-esque duet\", and wrote that it \"has a nice innocence to it that rings true to the experience of losing a first love.\" Chris Urankar from Nine to Five wrote that it as a \"mid-tempo duet ballad\" which signifies Mauboy's strength as a global player. On 21 March 2011, \"What Happened to Us\" debuted at number 30 on the ARIA Singles Chart, and peaked at number 14 the following week. The song was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), for selling 70,000 copies. \"What Happened to Us\" spent a total of ten weeks in the ARIA top fifty.\n\nMusic video\n\nBackground\nThe music video for the song was shot in the Elizabeth Bay House in Sydney on 26 November 2010. The video was shot during Sean's visit to Australia for the Summerbeatz tour. During an interview with The Daily Telegraph while on the set of the video, Sean said \"the song is sick! ... Jessica's voice is amazing and we're shooting [the video] in this ridiculously beautiful mansion overlooking the harbour.\" The video was directed by Mark Alston, who had previously directed the video for Mauboy's single \"Let Me Be Me\" (2009). It premiered on YouTube on 10 February 2011.\n\nSynopsis and reception\nThe video begins showing Mauboy who appears to be sitting on a yellow antique couch in a mansion, wearing a purple dress. As the video progresses, scenes of memories are displayed of Mauboy and her love interest, played by Sean, spending time there previously. It then cuts to the scenes where Sean appears in the main entrance room of the mansion. The final scene shows Mauboy outdoors in a gold dress, surrounded by green grass and trees. She is later joined by Sean who appears in a black suit and a white shirt, and together they sing the chorus of the song to each other. David Lim of Feed Limmy wrote that the video is \"easily the best thing our R&B princess has committed to film – ever\" and praised the \"mansion and wondrous interior décor\". He also commended Mauboy for choosing Australian talent to direct the video instead of American directors, which she had used for her previous two music videos. Since its release, the video has received over two million views on Vevo.\n\nLive performances\nMauboy performed \"What Happened to Us\" live for the first time during her YouTube Live Sessions program on 4 December 2010. She also appeared on Adam Hills in Gordon Street Tonight on 23 February 2011 for an interview and later performed the song. On 15 March 2011, Mauboy performed \"What Happened to Us\" on Sunrise. She also performed the song with Stan Walker during the Australian leg of Chris Brown's F.A.M.E. Tour in April 2011. Mauboy and Walker later performed \"What Happened to Us\" on Dancing with the Stars Australia on 29 May 2011. From November 2013 to February 2014, \"What Happened to Us\" was part of the set list of the To the End of the Earth Tour, Mauboy's second headlining tour of Australia, with Nathaniel Willemse singing Sean's part.\n\nTrack listing\n\nDigital download\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean – 3:19\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Sgt Slick Remix) – 6:33\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Just Witness Remix) – 3:45\n\nCD single\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Album Version) – 3:19\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Sgt Slick Remix) – 6:33\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (OFM Remix) – 3:39\n\nDigital download – Remix\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (OFM Remix) – 3:38\n\nDigital download\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Stan Walker – 3:20\n\nPersonnel\nSongwriting – Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim, Israel Cruz, Jay Sean\nProduction – Jeremy Skaller, Bobby Bass\nAdditional production – Israel Cruz, Khaled Rohaim\nLead vocals – Jessica Mauboy, Jay Sean\nMixing – Phil Tan\nAdditional mixing – Damien Lewis\nMastering – Tom Coyne \nSource:\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly chart\n\nYear-end chart\n\nCertification\n\nRadio dates and release history\n\nReferences\n\n2010 songs\n2011 singles\nJessica Mauboy songs\nJay Sean songs\nSongs written by Billy Steinberg\nSongs written by Jay Sean\nSongs written by Josh Alexander\nSongs written by Israel Cruz\nVocal duets\nSony Music Australia singles\nSongs written by Khaled Rohaim"
] |
[
"Bernard Hinault",
"1978-1983: Renault",
"What happened in 1978?",
"To prepare for the 1978 Tour de France, Hinault rode his first grand tour, the Vuelta a Espana."
] | C_86d5e12f20eb457ca39364108c484eed_1 | What happened during the Tour de France? | 2 | What happened to Bernard Hinault during the 1978 Tour de France? | Bernard Hinault | To prepare for the 1978 Tour de France, Hinault rode his first grand tour, the Vuelta a Espana. He won and felt ready for his first Tour de France. Before the Tour, he won the national championship, which allowed him to wear the tricolour. This tour became a battle with Joop Zoetemelk, Hinault taking the yellow jersey after the final time trial. He was hailed as the next great French cyclist and won the Tour again in 1979. Once again this Tour proved to be a two man battle between Hinault and Zoetemelk as amazingly they finished nearly a half hour ahead of the rest of the field. In fact the 79 Tour is the only time the Yellow Jersey was challenged on the final stage into Paris as Zoetemelk, trailing Hinault by about three minutes launched an attack early in the stage. Hinault answered and the two riders stayed away from the main field all the way to the finish. In the end Hinault won the stage and the Tour while Zoetemelk was given a ten minute doping penalty. At the start of the 1980 season Hinault and Guimard's aim for the season was to win cycling's Triple Crown - the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France and the world championships, which had previously only been won in the same year by Eddy Merckx. Hinault won that year's Giro, clinching the race with an attack on the Stelvio Pass. In the 1980 Tour de France he abandoned the race while wearing the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification because of a knee injury but he returned to win the world championship in Sallanches that year. The following year, 1981, wearing the rainbow jersey, he won Paris-Roubaix and returned to victory in the 1981 Tour and then again in 1982. He missed the Tour in 1983, again because of knee problems. The organiser, Jacques Goddet, said in his autobiography L'Equipee Belle that Hinault's problems came from pushing gears that were too high. During Hinault's absence, his teammate Laurent Fignon rose to prominence by winning the Tour in 1983. CANNOTANSWER | This tour became a battle with Joop Zoetemelk, Hinault taking the yellow jersey after the final time trial. He was hailed as the next great French cyclist and won | Bernard Hinault (; born 14 November 1954) is a French former professional road cyclist. With 147 professional victories, including five in the Tour de France, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time.
Hinault started cycling as an amateur in his native Brittany. After a successful amateur career, he signed with the Gitane–Campagnolo team to turn professional in 1975. He took breakthrough victories at both the Liège–Bastogne–Liège classic and the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré stage race in 1977. In 1978, he won his first two Grand Tours: the Vuelta a España and the Tour de France. In the following years, he was the most successful professional cyclist, adding another Tour victory in 1979 and a win at the 1980 Giro d'Italia. Although a knee injury forced him to quit the 1980 Tour de France while in the lead, he returned to win the World Championship road race later in the year. He added another Tour victory in 1981, before completing his first Giro-Tour double in 1982.
After winning the 1983 Vuelta a España, a return of his knee problems forced him to miss that year's Tour de France, won by his teammate Laurent Fignon. Conflict within the Renault team led to his leaving and joining La Vie Claire. With his new team, he raced the 1984 Tour de France, but lost to Fignon by over ten minutes. He recovered the following year, winning another Giro-Tour double with the help of teammate Greg LeMond. This gave him ten grand tour wins in his career, one behind Merckx for the all time record. No rider since Hinault has achieved more than seven.
In the 1986 Tour de France, he engaged in an intra-team rivalry with LeMond, who won his first of three Tours. Hinault retired shortly thereafter. he is the most recent French winner of the Tour de France. After his cycling career, Hinault turned to farming, while fulfilling enforcement duties for the organisers of the Tour de France until 2016.
All through his career, Hinault was known by the nickname le blaireau ("the badger"); he associated himself with the animal due to its aggressive nature, a trait he embodied on the bike. Within the peloton, Hinault assumed the role of patron, exercising authority over races he took part in.
Early life and family
Hinault was born on 14 November 1954 in the Breton village of Yffiniac, the second oldest of four children to Joseph and Lucie Hinault. The family lived in a cottage named La Clôture, built shortly after Hinault was born. His parents were farmers, and the children often had to help out at harvest time. His father later worked as a platelayer for the national rail company SNCF. Hinault was described as a "hyperactive" child, with his mother nicknaming him "little hooligan". Hinault was not a good student, but visited the technical college in Saint-Brieuc for an engineering apprenticeship. He started athletics there, becoming a runner and finishing tenth in the French junior cross-country championship in 1971.
In December 1974, just before turning professional, Hinault married Martine, who he had met at a family wedding the year before. Their first son, Mickael, was born in 1975, with a second, Alexandre, in 1981. Hinault and his family lived in Quessoy, close to Yffiniac, while he was a professional cyclist. After his retirement, they moved to a farm away in Brittany. Hinault had bought the property near Calorguen in 1983. Martine later served as mayor of Calorguen.
Amateur career
Hinault came to cycling through his cousin René, who rode weekend races. At first he had to use the shared family bike, which he rode devotedly. He received his own bike when he was 15 as a reward for passing his school examinations, and used it to travel to college. During the summer of 1971 he made training rides with René, who had problems keeping up with the sixteen-year old Bernard, even though he was an experienced amateur rider. Hinault received his racing licence from Club Olympique Briochin in late April1971 and entered his first race on 2May in Planguenoual. Advised only to try to stay with the other riders, Hinault won the event. Hinault won his first five races, amassing twelve wins from twenty races by the end of the year. Also during the summer of 1971, Hinault was at odds with his father about his choice to pursue cycling as a career. Joseph Hinault relented only after his son ran away from home for three days to stay with his cousins, sleeping on straw in the barn.
For 1972, Hinault was allowed to race with the over-18s. At a race in Hillion, he and René escaped from the field and reached the finish alone. They crossed the line together to share the victory, to the dismay of the race organisers. The young Hinault was heavily influenced by his trainer at the Club Olympique Briochin, Robert Le Roux, who had earlier worked with 1965 World Champion Tom Simpson. Hinault won nineteen races in his second season as an amateur, including the national junior championship against opposition a year older than him, such as future professional Bernard Vallet. He was conscripted into the military at age 18, and did not race throughout 1973. He was unable to join the army's training centre for young athletes and instead served in Sissonne with the 21st Marine Infantry Regiment. Returning to competition overweight, Hinault managed to win his first race of 1974. This was his last season as an amateur and again was highly successful, including a victory in his home town of Yffiniac towards the end of the year, where an alliance formed by four other riders was unable to hold him back. He also competed in track cycling, winning the national pursuit championship. On the road, he took part in the Étoile des Espoirs, a race open to amateurs and young professionals. Hinault finished fifth overall, and second on the time trial stage behind reigning pursuit world champion Roy Schuiten. Towards the end of the season, Hinault turned down an offer to race with the prestigious Athletic Club de Boulogne-Billancourt, instead deciding to turn professional in 1975.
Professional career
1975–1977: Gitane
In January 1975, Hinault turned professional with the Gitane–Campagnolo team, run by former World Champion Jean Stablinski, on a lean wage of 2,500francs per month. The decision to turn professional relatively early was in part taken as, had Hinault raced the 1975 season as an amateur, he would have likely been prevented by the French cycling federation from turning professional before the 1976 Summer Olympics to be part of the French team there. Early on, he showed no interest in adhering to the unwritten rules of the peloton, whereby younger riders were expected to show respect towards older ones. At a criterium race in August1975 he went up against a coalition of senior riders, who had decided to divide the prize money between them. Hinault won all the intermediate cash prizes until five-time Tour de France winner Eddy Merckx declared that Hinault was included in the pact. His results in his first season were impressive, with a seventh place at Paris–Nice and a victory at the Circuit de la Sarthe, earning him the Promotion Pernod, the prize for the best new professional in France. However, Hinault showed little willingness to learn the basic trades of cycling from Stablinski, often escaping early in the race instead of learning how to ride inside the peloton. Together with Stablinski entering Hinault into too many races, this led to conflicts between them.
For 1976, Hinault stayed with Gitane, as former professional Cyrille Guimard, who had just retired from cycling, took over the team and became directeur sportif. Guimard and Hinault got along well, and the latter was kept out of the high-profile races for 1976, instead focussing on a steady improvement in lesser known races such as Paris–Camembert, which he won. That year, Guimard spurred Lucien Van Impe to his only win in the Tour de France. Hinault's progress was visible, with a second consecutive victory at the Circuit de la Sarthe, a third place at the Grand Prix du Midi Libre and a win at the Tour de l'Aude, ensuring him the Prestige Pernod, the award for the best French rider of the season. In total, Hinault won 15 races in 1976. At the end of the year, he came sixth at the World Championship Road Race, being beaten to the line for fifth by Eddy Merckx.
During the spring classics season of 1977, Hinault left the Tour of Flanders before it had even started, not wanting to risk his health in a rain- and cold-affected race on cobbled roads. This drew him a formal warning by Guimard for his conduct. Three weeks later, Hinault won Gent–Wevelgem in a solo effort after an attack from the finish. Five days later, at Liège–Bastogne–Liège, Hinault followed an attack by favourite André Dierickx, and beat him in the two-man sprint to take his first victory in one of cycling's "monuments". In accordance with Guimard's plan to build Hinault up slowly, he did not enter the Tour de France. He did however start the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, seen as the most important preparation event for the Tour. While in the leader's jersey on the penultimate stage to Grenoble, Hinault attacked up the Col de Porte, leading Van Impe and Bernard Thévenet by 1:30 minutes when crossing the summit. On the descent, he misjudged a hairpin corner and crashed down the mountainside. A tree saved him from falling far down, while his bike was lost. Hinault then climbed back onto the road, took a new bike and without showing any hesitation, continued on. Up the finishing climb in Grenoble, he briefly dismounted, still shocked from the near-death experience and pushed his bike for about , before remounting and winning the stage eighty seconds ahead of Van Impe. This also secured him the overall victory ahead of eventual Tour winner Thévenet.
This incident was mentioned from a semi-pro rider's perspective in the Tim Krabbé book De Renner (The Rider) when the main character is about to descend a Col in the Tour de Mont Aigoual:
At the end of the season, Hinault won the Grand Prix des Nations, an individual time trial, with a substantial margin of 3:15 minutes ahead of favourite Joop Zoetemelk.
1978–1983: Renault
1978: Grand Tour breakthrough
At the beginning of 1978, the Gitane team was taken over by its parent company, the state-owned car manufacturer Renault, becoming . Hinault started the season with second place at Paris–Nice. He then competed in the Critérium National de la Route. Trailing Raymond Martin by more than two minutes before the final time trial, he made up his significant deficit and won the event.
Hinault then competed in his first three-week Grand Tour, at the Vuelta a España, then held at the end of April. He won the opening prologue time trial in Gijón, but then let the leadership switch to Ferdi Van Den Haute. He won stage 11b, a mountain time trial in Barcelona, and regained the race lead the next day, when he won the stage to La Tossa de Montbui after an escape with teammate Jean-René Bernaudeau. He ensured his overall victory by winning stage 18 to Amurrio. On that stage, he bridged over to escapee Andrés Gandarias, who had earlier asked for Hinault's permission to attack. Hinault claimed to have been annoyed into attacking by one of Gandarias's teammates and offered to carry him to the finish. However, the Spaniard was unable to follow his wheel, saying: "This guy has made me suffer like a dog, he's tougher than Eddy Merckx!" In all, Hinault won five stages of the Vuelta. A sixth win was prevented on the final day of the Grand Tour, on which a short time trial was raced in the afternoon, held at San Sebastián in the Basque Country. The stage was marred by protests and obstructions by supporters of the Basque separatist group ETA. Hinault himself had sand thrown into his eyes, but won the stage nonetheless, only to find that the results would not count due to the surrounding circumstances.
Ahead of his first Tour de France, Hinault raced in the Tour de Suisse, where he did not feature prominently. He then travelled to the French Road Race Championship, held at Sarrebourg. He launched an escape, on which he rode solo, leading the rest of his competitors by more than six minutes by the start of the last lap. However, he had forgotten to eat enough and suffered from hypoglycemia during the last part of the race, crossing the finish line to take the title severely weakened. His victory allowed him to wear the French tricolore jersey for the following year.
In the Tour de France, Hinault fell behind early to challenger Zoetemelk when Renault lost two minutes to Mercier during the team time trial. On stage 8, the first longer individual time trial, Hinault gained back 59 seconds on Zoetemelk, while the previous two Tour winners, Van Impe and Thévenet, lost so much time that they were now counted out from chances of an overall win. Hinault rode conservatively in the Pyrenees to stay within striking distance of Zoetemelk. On stage 12a, from Tarbes to Valence-d'Agen, he firmly imprinted his authority on the race, although not by riding. The riders had been complaining about split stages, where more than one would be held on one day, as was the case on 12July. When they reached the finishing town, they dismounted their bikes and walked to the finish line in protest. Hinault was chosen by his fellow competitors to be the spokesperson of the strike. Journalist Felix Magowan wrote: "Before today's strike, people were asking if the Tour had a boss. Today that was answered. His name is Hinault." Following the strike, Hinault had trouble sleeping and was caught out the next day, a stage in the Massif Central, forcing his team into a long chase. Thus weakened and slowed by spectator interference at a bike change, he lost 1:40 minutes to Zoetemelk on the following day's uphill time trial. Hinault countered the next day en route to Saint-Étienne during stage 15, breaking away with Hennie Kuiper. By the finish, the two had been reeled back, but Hinault contested the finishing sprint, winning the stage. The following day, stage 16 to Alpe d'Huez, ended with Zoetemelk, Hinault and the temporary leader of the general classification and thus yellow jersey wearer Michel Pollentier separated by only 18 seconds. However, Pollentier was disqualified for trying to cheat his doping test, leaving Hinault and Zoetemelk to fight out the overall victory. On the final mountain stage, Hinault put his rival under pressure, but was unable to make up any time. He then clinched the yellow jersey in the final time trial, gaining more than four minutes to win his first Tour de France with an advantage of 3:56 minutes. Following his Tour win, he finished fifth at the World Championships, before once more winning the Grand Prix des Nations, this time ahead of Francesco Moser.
1979: Second Tour victory and Classics success
The 1979 season started slowly for an off-form Hinault. He bounced back at the La Flèche Wallonne classic in April, when he caught up to a breakaway by Giuseppe Saronni and Bernt Johansson, outsprinting the former to win the race. He then beat Zoetemelk to victory at the Dauphiné Libéré, winning four stages. He won the race by over ten minutes, also taking the points and mountain classifications. In the coming weeks ahead of the Tour, he proved his willingness to assist his teammates to ensure their loyalty, helping Lucien Didier win the Tour de Luxembourg and finishing second behind Roland Berland in the National Championship race.
The Tour de France was again a two-way battle between Hinault and Zoetemelk. In the prologue, Hinault was fourth, on the same time as the Dutchman. The mountain stages started immediately thereafter, with Hinault winning the mountain time trial on stage 2, taking over the yellow jersey. He also won the next stage into Pau. The team time trial on stage4 again went Zoetemelk's way, as his Mercier team took back 41 seconds on Hinault's Renault squad. Zoetemelk now was only 12 seconds behind Hinault. On stage 8, in another team time trial, Renault fared much better, and Hinault extended his advantage to 1:18 minutes. The next day however, on a stage containing cobbled sections, Hinault suffered two punctures, losing almost four minutes and the race lead to Zoetemelk. He took back 36 seconds on the time trial in Brussels on stage 11 before regaining the race lead after another time trial, uphill to Avoriaz on stage 15. At this stage, he led Zoetemelk by 1:48 minutes, with third-placed Kuiper already more than 12 minutes behind. Hinault gained another minute on stage 16, before Zoetemelk regained 47 seconds up Alpe d'Huez three days later. The final time trial of the Tour went Hinault's way once again, extending his advantage by a further 69 seconds. He also took the next stage in a slightly uphill sprint finish. On the final stage towards the Champs-Élysées in Paris, traditionally a ceremonious affair without attacks, Zoetemelk and Hinault broke away, with both gapping the field and Hinault taking another stage victory. Zoetemelk finished 3:07 minutes behind Hinault, but then had ten minutes added to his time for failing a doping test. The next finisher, Joaquim Agostinho, was almost half an hour behind the winner.
Towards the end of the season, Hinault won his second cycling monument, the Giro di Lombardia. He had escaped from the field from the finish, but was later joined by some other riders. Only Silvano Contini finished with him, with the next group more than three minutes behind. The victory also secured that Hinault won his first of four consecutive Super Prestige Pernod International competitions, the award handed to the best rider of the season.
1980: Attempt at the Triple Crown
As was often the case, Hinault started the season slowly in 1980, withdrawing from Paris–Nice. He then entered Paris–Roubaix, partly to prepare for the cobbled sections in the upcoming Tour de France, and finished fourth. A week later, he scored one of his most memorable wins at Liège–Bastogne–Liège. As soon as the riders left Liège, snow began to fall, soon turning into a blizzard. Hinault wanted to abandon, as had many others, including all but one of his teammates. He was convinced to carry on until the feeding station at Bastogne, where the snow had turned into rain. Only 21 riders were left by this point. Hinault removed his rain cape and attacked, catching up to the leaders and carried on by himself, winning with a margin of almost ten minutes ahead of Kuiper. The victory came at a price, as his right index and middle fingers took weeks to recover from frostbite, and caused him pain for several years.
Hinault and Guimard then turned their attention to the only Grand Tour he had not won yet: the Giro d'Italia. They hoped that Hinault would be able to reproduce a feat Eddy Merckx had achieved in 1974, winning the Giro, the Tour and the World Championship in the same year. This is commonly referred to as the Triple Crown of Cycling.
Hinault started the Giro d'Italia as odds-on favourite, pitted against local riders Francesco Moser and Giuseppe Saronni, who had the home crowd on their side. Following a fourth place at the prologue in Genoa, Hinault made a spontaneous visit to Fausto Coppi's home of Castellania, paying respect to the first rider ever to have won Giro and Tour in the same year. On stage 5, a time trial to Pisa, Hinault took over the race leader's pink jersey. He then relinquished his lead to Roberto Visentini, who was not considered to be a contender for the final victory. On stage 14, he attacked when the peloton relaxed after an intermediate sprint, winning the stage ahead of Wladimiro Panizza, who took the race lead. Hinault then made the decisive move of the race on stage 20, when he attacked on the tough climb of the Stelvio Pass. He caught up with his teammate Bernaudeau, and both carried on for the remaining of the stage together. Hinault gifted the stage victory to his teammate, while he clinched the overall victory almost six minutes ahead of Panizza.
In the Tour de France, Hinault was once again set to duel with Joop Zoetemelk, who had moved to the dominant squad. Hinault won the prologue in Frankfurt, Germany, five seconds ahead of Gerrie Knetemann. On stage5 from Liège to Lille, which contained cobbled sections used in Paris–Roubaix, conditions were poor with rain and heavy winds. Hinault called for the field to take a slow tempo, but when Zoetemelk's teammate Jan Raas attacked, he went after him. He eventually found himself in a group with several other riders, while Zoetemelk was distanced. At from the finish, he followed another attack from Kuiper and won the sprint at the line. The next stage was set to contain more cobbled roads, but on Hinault's protest, most of the worst parts were taken out. Hinault had however suffered damage to his left knee on the stage to Lille. Hinault finished only fifth on stage 11's individual time trial, won by Zoetemelk. While he regained the yellow jersey, Zoetemelk was second, only 21 seconds behind. With his tendinitis worsening, he carried on until the end of stage 12, just before the race was headed for the first high mountains in the Pyrenees. That night, Hinault and Guimard told the race organisers, Jacques Goddet and Félix Lévitan, that he would abandon the race, while still in the lead. He left the race at night, not informing the press, which led to a fallout with the media that took years to recover. In Hinault's absence, Zoetemelk duly won his only Tour de France. Insinuations that Zoetemelk's victory had been a gift through Hinault's absence were countered by Hinault himself: "My problems were of my own making. It is always the absent rider who is at fault. I was absent and he took my place."
Hinault returned from the disappointment of the Tour to start at the World Championship road race, held on a very tough parcours in Sallanches, France, often named the hardest course in the history of the event. Hinault had broken away about from the finish with several riders. On the last lap, he dropped his last companion, Gianbattista Baronchelli, on the steepest part of a climb and soloed to victory. It had been a race of attrition with only 15 out of 107 riders reaching the finish.
1981: Winning a third Tour de France
Hinault had never made his dislike for riding on cobbled roads a secret. The most prominent race of this character, Paris–Roubaix, was met with particular disdain, even though he never finished lower than thirteenth. After the 1980 edition, he had said to organiser Goddet: "You will never see me in this circus again." However, he returned for 1981, saying that he did so out of respect for his stature as World Champion. He suffered seven crashes and tyre punctures, but reached the finish at the velodrome with the lead group, where he outsprinted favourites Roger De Vlaeminck and Moser. One-and-a-half weeks earlier, he had already added a victory at the Amstel Gold Race. Furthermore, he also won the Critérium International and again dominated the Dauphiné Libéré, winning by twelve minutes ahead of Agostinho.
At the Tour de France, Hinault took an early lead by winning the prologue, then relinquished the yellow jersey to Knetemann and later to Phil Anderson. On the time trial to Pau on stage 7, he regained the lead and never lost the jersey, beating Van Impe by almost a quarter of an hour. He won five stages, including all four individual time trials. Amidst media criticism that he was riding too defensively in the mountains, he also took victory in the Alps on a stage to Le Pleynet.
At the World Championship in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Hinault failed to defend his title. Having bridged a two-and-a-half-minute gap to a strong lead group on his own, he came third in the final sprint, behind Freddy Maertens and Saronni.
1982: Achieving the Giro-Tour double
Hinault returned to the Giro in 1982. He looked set for victory after the first two weeks, having taken a significant lead after wins in the stage3 time trial and stage 12 to Campitello Matese. However, on stage 17 to Boario Terme, Guimard and the Renault team misjudged the toughness of the climb and Hinault lost the lead to Silvano Contini. He hit back the next day, winning the stage to Montecampione, turning the race in his favour.
In "his most uneventful Tour", Hinault never looked in trouble on his way to completing the Giro-Tour double at the Tour de France. He won the prologue in Basel, Switzerland, before the lead briefly turned to Ludo Peeters and Phil Anderson. Hinault regained the yellow jersey after the first time trial and won the overall classification easily. He took four stages, including again the final one on the Champs-Élysées, this time from a bunch sprint. His participation in the final-stage sprint was seen as an answer to critics, who had once again lamented that Hinault had ridden the Tour without panache. Zoetemelk was again the runner-up, more than six minutes behind Hinault. Later in the season, Hinault added another victory at the Grand Prix des Nations.
1983: Second Vuelta and the ascent of Fignon
Since 1981, Hinault had been joined at Renault by two young talents, Laurent Fignon and the American Greg LeMond. Both joined Hinault for the Vuelta a España, where he faced stiff competition from local riders like Marino Lejarreta, Julián Gorospe, and Alberto Fernández. Six days before the race started, he had won La Flèche Wallonne for a second time. On stage4 of the Vuelta, Fignon attacked and won, but Lejarreta, the defending champion, had followed him and gained time on Hinault. Hinault came back and took the lead the following day on the mountain stage to Castellar de n'Hug. However, a day later, the Spanish teams jointly attacked and Lejarreta moved ahead of Hinault, who was 22 seconds down. At the uphill time trial at Balneario de Panticosa, he suffered and finished more than two minutes behind Lejarreta. Hinault joined forces with Kuiper and Saronni to attack on stage 10 to Soria, affected by crosswinds. He was in trouble again on stage 14, affected by returning pain in his knee; at one point he trailed his rivals by more than five minutes, but regained contact. In the time trial around Valladolid on stage 15b, Hinault won, now just ten seconds behind Gorospe, the new leader in the general classification. The following day brought the last mountain stage and Renault put pressure on Gorospe from early on. Hinault, joined by Lejarreta and Vicente Belda, escaped for , distancing Gorospe by over twenty minutes with Hinault taking victory in Ávila, sealing his second Vuelta victory. Due to the tightly fought battle between Hinault and his Spanish competitors, the 1983 race is described on the Vuelta's website as "one of the most beautiful and spectacular" editions.
During the Vuelta, Hinault's tendinitis returned. After the race, he made two failed attempts to get back into racing, but eventually announced that he would miss the Tour de France. In his absence, teammate Fignon won the event on his first attempt. Hinault tried another comeback at a post-Tour criterium, but the pain returned and he did not race for the remainder of the season.
1984–1986: La Vie Claire
1984: Defeat at Fignon's hands
By 1983, the relationship between Hinault and Guimard had deteriorated to a point where the former described their relationship as "war". Hinault forced a choice on the Renault team to either release him or oust Guimard. The team decided to stick with their directeur sportif, leading Hinault to search for a new team. He joined forces with businessman Bernard Tapie to form the new squad. Their directeur sportif became Swiss coach Paul Köchli, who had made a name for himself with innovative and effective training methods, leaving Hinault a lot of freedom while at the same time scientifically measuring his progress. As part of his connection with Tapie, Hinault also contributed to the development of the clipless pedal, created by Look, another company owned by Tapie.
Hinault returned to racing at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, where he won the final stage. He then took victory at the Four Days of Dunkirk. But his spring campaign lacked major successes. At the Dauphiné Libéré, he came second to Martín Ramírez, who later claimed that Hinault and his team had tried to intimidate him during the final stage of the race. A memorable episode occurred during the Paris–Nice, a race he finished third overall. During stage5 to La Seyne-sur-Mer, Hinault was descending in a lead group with several other favourites. As they reached the valley, the road was blocked by protesters, unhappy with the announced closure of a dockyard at La Ciotat. While the other riders stopped, he drove into the group head-on, dismounted, and punched the protester closest to him. In the ensuing fist fight, Hinault suffered a broken rib.
The Tour de France was made out to be the big duel between Hinault and Fignon, who had just won the French National Championship. Hinault won the prologue, but Renault took the team time trial, 55 seconds ahead of La Vie Claire. He lost another 49 seconds to Fignon in the first long individual time trial, a discipline he had previously dominated. Following the second time trial, Hinault was only seventh on general classification, two minutes behind his adversary. The next stage led to Alpe d'Huez. Hinault attacked on the Rampe de Laffrey, but Fignon was able to respond. The two exchanged attacks on the way up the climb, but it was in the valley that Hinault was able to draw out a gap of about a minute. On Alpe d'Huez itself, he was first passed by eventual stage winner Luis Herrera. When he started to slow, Fignon caught up to him and eventually dropped Hinault, who lost a further three minutes. He ultimately finished the Tour in second place, a significant ten minutes behind Fignon.
Hinault managed to bounce back from his Tour defeat in the fall. In late September, he took his fifth and final victory at the Grand Prix des Nations, riding the time trial at a then record speed of . Fignon could only manage fourth, more than two minutes behind. Next, he won the Trofeo Baracchi, a two-man time trial, in which he competed with Moser. He then won the Giro di Lombardia for a second time, breaking away from the group of favourites from the finish.
1985: The second Giro-Tour double
For 1985, Greg LeMond switched teams from Renault to join Hinault at La Vie Claire. Together, they entered the Giro d'Italia. During the race, Hinault was met with hostility from the home crowd, who supported local rider Francesco Moser. On the stage 12 time trial, Hinault took the pink jersey and opened the decisive gap to Moser, who would eventually finish second. During the stage however, Hinault was spat at by spectators and almost knocked over, even though his team car rode behind him with the door opened the entire time to ensure that bystanders would have a harder time impeding him. Hinault won his third Giro with a margin of just over a minute.
In the Tour de France, Fignon did not take part due to an Achilles heel injury. Hinault therefore entered the race as the favourite. He took victory in the prologue in his native Brittany. La Vie Claire won the stage3 team time trial by over a minute. The next day, Hinault's teammate Kim Andersen took over the yellow jersey. Hinault supported him over the next days, even going so far as dropping back when Andersen punctured to lead him back into the peloton, showing his loyalty to riders who would later have to assist him. On stage 8, a time trial to Strasbourg, Hinault took back the race lead, winning the stage by more than two minutes ahead of Stephen Roche. While the race travelled through the Alps and in a second time trial, he consolidated his lead, building an advantage of five-and-a-half minutes on LeMond, who was now second overall.
On stage 14 to Saint-Étienne, LeMond finished two minutes ahead of a group containing Hinault. Involved in a crash with other riders, Hinault crossed the finish line with a broken nose. Around the same time, he started to experience symptoms of bronchitis. On stage 17, he showed signs of weakness and was unable to stay with the other leaders on the Col du Tourmalet. LeMond meanwhile followed an attack by Roche, but was forbidden by the team to cooperate to distance Hinault. LeMond would later claim that the team had deceived him by telling him that Hinault was closer behind than he actually was. Hinault eventually finished the stage just over a minute behind LeMond. The time LeMond waited may have been enough so that the two teammates would have contested the Maillot Jaune in the penultimate time trial. In the penultimate day's time trial, LeMond won the stage, but only five seconds ahead of Hinault, not enough to surpass him. This secured Hinault a record-equalling fifth Tour victory, by just under two minutes over his younger teammate. After the finish, he publicly pledged that he would support LeMond's bid for a first Tour victory the following year.
1986: The final season
In January 1986, Hinault was given the Legion of Honour by French president François Mitterrand. He had, already in 1982, announced that he would retire from cycling on his 32nd birthday, in November 1986.
Even though Hinault had pledged support for LeMond for the Tour de France, a lot of public attention was given to the possibility of him winning a record sixth Tour. Their La Vie Claire team was seen as dominant, with Laurent Fignon as the most likely challenger. Hinault finished third in the prologue, two seconds ahead of LeMond and Fignon. In the team time trial on stage 2, Fignon and gained almost two minutes on La Vie Claire, partly due to Hinault deciding that the squad would wait for two struggling riders, Niki Rüttimann and Guido Winterberg. Hinault then won the time trial on stage 9, gaining an additional 44 seconds on LeMond, who suffered a broken wheel and had to change his bike. Meanwhile, Fignon fell behind and later abandoned the race. On stage 12, from Bayonne to Pau, Hinault attacked with Pedro Delgado. The pair gained more than four-and-a-half minutes on LeMond, with Delgado taking the stage win. Hinault was now in the lead of the general classification, 5:25 minutes ahead of LeMond. Even though his lead was significant, he attacked again the following day, on the descent of the Col du Tourmalet, the first climb of the day. By the top of the next climb, the Col d'Aspin, he led the rest of the field by two minutes. However, joint effort behind brought him back before the final ascent up to the ski station of Superbagnères. Hinault then cracked, coming in ninth, 4:39 minutes behind stage winner LeMond. He now led his teammate by only forty seconds in the general classification.
The race then moved over to the Alps. On stage 17, Hinault got left behind on the Col d'Izoard and lost the yellow jersey to LeMond, falling to third in the overall rankings, 2:47 minutes behind his teammate. Stage 18 featured three major climbs, the Col du Galibier, the Croix de Fer and the final ascent up to Alpe d'Huez. Hinault attacked repeatedly, but reached the bottom of Alpe d'Huez with LeMond. He led the way up the climb, lined by approximately 300,000 spectators and crossed the finish line hand in hand with LeMond, in an apparent display of comradery. Urs Zimmermann, who had been second overall at the start of the day, lost more than five minutes. Any signs of appeasement between the rivalling teammates was shattered by Hinault in a television interview shortly after the stage finish, when he declared that the race was not yet over, even though he trailed LeMond by 2:45 minutes.
Stage 20 saw the final time trial and the last chance for Hinault to overcome LeMond's advantage. Aided by a crash from LeMond, Hinault won the stage, but gained back only 25 seconds, conceding defeat after the stage. He lost an additional 52 seconds on stage 21. In his last Tour de France stage into Paris, he took part in the final sprint, taking fourth place. He ended his final Tour de France second overall, 3:10 minutes behind LeMond. He won the mountains classification and was also given the super-combativity award. Hinault's repeated attacks during the race and refusal to concede defeat irritated LeMond, who felt betrayed by Hinault's lack of loyalty.
After the Tour, Hinault won the Coors Classic race in the United States, ahead of LeMond. He rode the World Championships Road Race, held in Colorado Springs. He aimed to win, showing a lot of effort in his preparation. However, he finished the race in 59th place. On 19 September, he won his last competitive race, a criterium in Angers, France. Hinault's retirement from professional cycling on 14 November 1986 was celebrated in Quessoy with a symbolic race of 3,600 riders, a concert and fireworks. A total of 15,000 people attended the event.
Retirement
After his retirement from professional cycling, Hinault moved to his farm and bred dairy cows, assisted by his cousin René, who had become an agricultural engineer. Just two weeks after he ended his career, the Tour de France organisers, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), approached Hinault and invited him to join the race management team. He held several positions, including race regulator and route advisor. After Jean-Marie Leblanc took over the role as general director, Hinault was named the Tour's ambassador. Included in his duties was being present during podium ceremonies. During the podium for stage3 of the 2008 Tour de France, a protester jumped on stage and disturbed proceedings. Hinault leapt forward and shoved him off. He stepped down from the role after the 2016 Tour de France. His role as ASO's brand ambassador was taken over by Stephen Roche, winner of the 1987 Tour de France.
Unlike many of his competitors, Hinault never became a directeur sportif (team manager) after his cycling career. Offers from Bouygues Télécom and a Chinese investor in the mid-2000s fell through. He was the selector of the French national team from 1988 to 1993. Hinault took a role as "patron" with the British squad for the 2014 season. In June 2020, Hinault became part of a group of businessmen investing into saving the cycling equipment company Mavic, who are a long-time sponsor of the Tour de France. Mavic was put into receivership earlier in the year due to the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Public image and riding style
Riding style and legacy
During his active career, Hinault was known as the patron of the field, meaning the rider with the highest authority. His biographer William Fotheringham has described him as "the last of the sport's patrons". In this role, Hinault would use his influence with race organisers, control the pace of the peloton, and allow or refuse other riders the chance to attack. The riders' strike at Valence d'Agen in the 1978 Tour is cited as the first instance in which Hinault assumed this role. His fellow riders stated that he, even though he did not talk much, was able to exert a high amount of certainty and therefore strength, which brought him respect and sometimes fear from his competitors. To signal his authority, Hinault often symbolically rode at the front of the field, instead of in the slipstream of his teammates. His riding style has been described as "fighting, full of aggression", and he stated that when he did not feel good in a race, his reaction would be to attack. Hinault described his own role as follows:
Hinault was however not always successful in his endeavours. During the 1980 Tour de France, he sought to remove the rule which excluded riders outside the time limit on each stage. He urged the riders to protest and ride slowly, but some did not follow his example, forcing Hinault to chase them down before he eventually left the race. His enigmatic exit from the 1980 Tour created tensions with the press that would persist during the rest of his active career. By 1982, debates about his personality started to appear more and more in the media. Particular interest was given to an alleged lack of panache during his Tour wins and his behaviour towards fans and officials, whom he treated with open disgust. Fotheringham suggests that Hinault only regained popularity with the French public after his knee problems and his Tour defeat in 1984. Fellow racer Robert Millar suggested that in 1986 in particular, Hinault attempted to win over the French public by riding aggressively.
Hinault was not known to particularly enjoy going on training rides, unless he was specifically preparing for an event. He would often greet his training partners in a night gown when they arrived on time for training or have an easy day of training that included stops at a bakery for cake. His distaste for training became even more evident in the winter, when he would gain a lot of weight. Laurent Fignon described the first training camps of the year as follows: "He looked as if he had been inflated. If you didn't know the Badger you would wonder how long it would take for him to get back to what he had been. You would be making a huge mistake." Hinault was capable of suffering through the training camp and returning to winning form within a month. Unlike a rider like Eddy Merckx, Hinault would not aim to win every race he entered. Millar described his approach as such: "Hinault either cared or he didn't. When he didn't care about winning he'd bumble round and hurt you now and again just to remind you he was there."
With a résumé of victories that includes all three Grand Tours (all of them more than once), the World Road Championships and a number of classics, Hinault has often been cited among the greatest cyclists of all time. The Historical Dictionary of Cycling describes him as "one of the best riders ever". Comparisons are often drawn with Eddy Merckx, against whom Hinault rode at the beginning of his career. Lucien Van Impe commented: "Merckx was the greatest, but Bernard [Hinault] was the most impressive." A study conducted in 2006, ranking Tour de France riders from 1953 to 2004 by different performance indicators, put Hinault as the top Tour rider of that period, ahead of Merckx and Lance Armstrong.
Nickname
Hinault was nicknamed le blaireau in French, a term that can be translated into English as either "the shaving brush" or "the badger". According to Fotheringham, the nickname originates from Hinault's early training partners, Maurice Le Guilloux and Georges Talbourdet, who would use the term to tease the young rider. Le Guilloux used it once in front of Pierre Chany, a writer for L'Équipe, and the name stuck. According to Hinault himself, the term in the first place was supposed to mean no more than "mate" or "buddy". However, Hinault later embraced the association with the wild animal. In 2003, he commented: "A badger is a beautiful thing. When it's hunted it goes into its sett and waits. When it comes out again, it attacks. That's the reason for my nickname. When I'm annoyed I go home, you don't see me for a month. When I come out again, I win." Hinault, as early as 1983, owned a stuffed badger to demonstrate his association with the animal.
Stance on doping
Hinault never tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs during his professional career and was never implicated in any doping practices. He did, however, lead a riders' protest during a criterium race in Callac in 1982 against the sudden introduction of doping controls. He was handed a one-month suspended ban and fined CHF 1,110, though the penalty was never enforced.
Hinault has been outspoken about several prominent doping cases in the past years. In 2013, he heavily criticised French senators for revealing the results of tests conducted in 2004 on samples from the 1998 Tour de France. He called the initiative "bullshit" and urged lawmakers "to stop bringing out the dead", claiming they "want to kill the Tour". In the same year, he reacted to comments made by Lance Armstrong, a rider stripped of seven Tour victories due to doping offences. Armstrong suggested that it would be impossible to win the Tour de France without performance-enhancing substances. To counter this claim, Hinault replied: "He must not know what it was like to ride without doping." Armstrong later clarified that he had spoken about the time when he was riding (1999–2005). In early 2018, Hinault also spoke out about the adverse analytical result for salbutamol of four-time Tour winner Chris Froome at the 2017 Vuelta a España. He criticised Froome for taking part in the 2018 Giro d'Italia while the investigation was still ongoing. In addition, he commented that Froome could not be "listed among the cycling greats". Froome would win the Giro and become the first rider since Hinault to hold all three Grand Tour Jerseys at once. Before the 2018 Tour de France, with Froome's case still ongoing, he urged the other riders to strike in protest if Froome competed. Froome was later cleared of the charges and started the Tour where he finished third behind teammate Geraint Thomas and Tom Dumoulin.
Career achievements
Major results
Source:
1972
1st Road race, National Junior Road Championships
1974
5th Overall Étoile des Espoirs
1975
1st Individual pursuit, National Track Championships
1st Overall Circuit de la Sarthe
6th Overall Tour de l'Oise
6th Grand Prix des Nations
7th Overall Paris–Nice
1976
1st Individual pursuit, National Track Championships
1st Overall Circuit de la Sarthe
1st Stage 3a (ITT)
1st Overall Tour du Limousin
1st Stage 1
1st Overall Tour de l'Aude
1st Stage 1
1st Overall Tour d'Indre-et-Loire
1st Stage 2b (ITT)
1st Paris–Camembert
1st Stage 2 Étoile des Espoirs
2nd Overall À travers Lausanne
3rd Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre
4th Grand Prix Pino Cerami
6th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
6th Grand Prix des Nations
10th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
1977
1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Stages 1 & 5
1st Overall Tour du Limousin
1st Stage 1
1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège
1st Gent–Wevelgem
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Stage 2b (ITT) Étoile des Espoirs
2nd Overall Tour Cycliste du Tarn
1st Mountains classification
2nd Overall Tour d'Indre-et-Loire
1st Stage 2b
3rd Paris–Brussels
4th Overall Tour de l'Aude
6th Overall Paris–Nice
6th GP Ouest–France
7th Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre
8th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
10th Grand Prix d'Isbergues
1978
1st Road race, National Road Championships
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Stages 8 (ITT), 15 & 20 (ITT)
1st Overall Vuelta a España
1st Prologue, Stages 11b (ITT), 12, 14 & 18
1st Overall Critérium International
1st Stage 3 (ITT)
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Boucles de l'Aulne
2nd Overall Paris–Nice
2nd Overall À travers Lausanne
3rd Giro di Lombardia
5th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
9th Overall Tour Cycliste du Tarn
1979
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Points classification
1st Stages 2 (ITT), 3, 11 (ITT), 15 (ITT), 21 (ITT), 23 & 24
1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Stages 3, 5b (ITT), 6 & 7b (ITT)
1st Overall Tour de l'Oise
1st Prologue
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Giro di Lombardia
1st La Flèche Wallonne
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Boucles de l'Aulne
1st
Étoile des Espoirs
1st Stages 3b (ITT) & 4
2nd Overall Critérium International
1st Stage 3 (ITT)
2nd Overall Tour de Luxembourg
1st Stage 3
2nd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
3rd Overall Tour Cycliste du Tarn
3rd Overall À travers Lausanne
3rd Critérium des As
6th Overall Paris–Nice
6th Paris–Tours
7th Milan–San Remo
8th Gent–Wevelgem
8th Grand Prix de Wallonie
1980
1st Road race, UCI Road World Championships
1st Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Stage 14
Tour de France
1st Prologue, Stages 4 (ITT) & 5
Held after Prologue, Stage 1a & Stages 11–12
1st Overall Tour de Romandie
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
3rd La Flèche Wallonne
4th Paris–Roubaix
5th Amstel Gold Race
1981
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Combination classification
1st Prologue, Stages 6 (ITT), 14 (ITT), 18 & 20 (ITT)
Overall Combativity award
1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Overall Critérium International
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Paris–Roubaix
1st Amstel Gold Race
3rd Road race, UCI Road World Championships
1982
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Combination classification
1st Prologue, Stages 14 (ITT), 19 (ITT) & 21
1st Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Prologue (TTT), Stages 3 (ITT), 12, 18, & 22 (ITT)
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Overall Tour de Luxembourg
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise
1st Critérium des As
9th Paris–Roubaix
1983
1st Overall Vuelta a España
1st Stages 15b (ITT) & 17
1st La Flèche Wallonne
1st Grand Prix Pino Cerami
1984
1st Giro di Lombardia
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
1st Trofeo Baracchi (with Francesco Moser)
2nd Overall Tour de France
1st Prologue
Held after Prologue
Overall Combativity award
2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
3rd Overall Paris–Nice
4th Züri-Metzgete
1985
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Prologue, Stages 3 (TTT) & 8 (ITT)
1st Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Stage 12 (ITT)
1986
1st Overall Coors Classic
1st Stages 7a & 11a
1st Overall Vuelta Ciclista a la Comunidad Valenciana
1st Trofeo Luis Puig
2nd Overall Tour de France
1st Mountains classification
1st Stages 9 (ITT), 18 & 20 (ITT)
Held after Stages 12–16
Overall Combativity award
General classification results timeline
Source:
Monuments results timeline
Source:
See also
Giro d'Italia records and statistics
List of cycling records
List of French people
List of Giro d'Italia general classification winners
List of Grand Tour general classification winners
List of Tour de France general classification winners
List of Tour de France secondary classification winners
List of Vuelta a España classification winners
List of Vuelta a España general classification winners
Yellow jersey statistics
Notes
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
1954 births
Breton people
French farmers
French Giro d'Italia stage winners
French male cyclists
French Tour de France stage winners
French Vuelta a España stage winners
Giro d'Italia winners
Living people
People from Saint-Brieuc
Tour de France Champs Elysées stage winners
Tour de France prologue winners
Tour de France winners
UCI Road World Champions (elite men)
Vuelta a España winners
Sportspeople from Côtes-d'Armor | false | [
"The 1914 Tour de France was the 12th edition of Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Tour began in Paris on 28 June and Stage 8 occurred on 12 July with a flat stage to Marseille. The race finished in Paris on 26 July.\n\nStage 1\n28 June 1914 — Paris to Le Havre, \n\nThis stage happened on the same day as the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.\n\nStage 2\n30 June 1914 — Le Havre to Cherbourg,\n\nStage 3\n2 July 1914 — Cherbourg to Brest,\n\nStage 4\n4 July 1914 — Brest to La Rochelle,\n\nStage 5\n6 July 1914 — La Rochelle to Bayonne,\n\nStage 6\n7 July 1914 — Bayonne to Luchon,\n\nStage 7\n10 July 1914 — Luchon to Perpignan,\n\nStage 8\n12 July 1914 — Perpignan to Marseille,\n\nReferences\n\n1914 Tour de France\nTour de France stages",
"Since the first Tour de France in 1903, there have been 2,163 stages, up to and including the final stage of the 2019 Tour de France. Since 1919, the race leader following each stage has been awarded the yellow jersey ().\n\nAlthough the leader of the classification after a stage gets a yellow jersey, he is not considered the winner of the yellow jersey, only the wearer. Only after the final stage, the wearer of the yellow jersey is considered the winner of the yellow jersey, and thereby the winner of the Tour de France.\n\nIn this article first-place-classifications before 1919 are also counted as if a yellow jersey was awarded. There have been more yellow jerseys given than there were stages: In 1914, 1929, and 1931, there were multiple cyclists with the same leading time, and the 1988 Tour de France had a \"prelude\", an extra stage for a select group of cyclists. As of 2020 a total of 2,187 yellow jerseys have been awarded in the Tour de France to 294 different riders.\n\nIndividual records\n\nIn previous tours, sometimes a stage was broken in two (or three). On such occasions, only the cyclist leading at the end of the day is counted. The \"Jerseys\" column lists the number of days that the cyclist wore the yellow jersey; the \"Tour wins\" column gives the number of times the cyclist won the general classification. The next four columns indicate the number of times the rider won the points classification, the King of the Mountains classification, and the young rider competition, and the years in which the yellow jersey was worn, with bold years indicating an overall Tour win. For example: Eddy Merckx has spent 96 days in the yellow jersey, won the general classification five times, won the points classification three times, won the mountains classification two times, and never won the young rider classification. He wore the yellow jersey in the Tours of 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974 (which he all won) and 1975 (which he did not win). Three cyclists (Jean Robic in 1947, Charly Gaul in 1958 and Jan Janssen in 1968) have won the Tour de France with only two yellow jerseys in their career.\n\nFabian Cancellara is, as of 2020, the rider with the most yellow jerseys for someone who has not won the Tour with twenty-nine days in yellow. The five active Tour de France winners Chris Froome, Vincenzo Nibali, Geraint Thomas, Egan Bernal and Tadej Pogačar rank, as of 2021, 4th, 22nd, 35th, 146th and 32nd with fifty-nine, nineteen, fifteen, three and sixteen days in yellow respectively. Alberto Contador was stripped of the yellow jersey and 6 days of wearing it in 2010 Tour de France because he tested positive for doping. Until the results of Lance Armstrong were annulled for cheating in 2012, he was ranked second in this list, leading the Tour for 83 stages from 1999 to 2005.\n\nThis table is updated until the twenty-first stage of the 2021 Tour de France.\n\nNumber of wearers per year \n\nThe largest number of different riders wearing the yellow jersey in any year is 8. The smallest is 1.\n\nNotes\n\nPer country\nThe yellow jersey has been awarded to 23 different countries since 1903. In the table below, \"Jerseys\" indicates the number of yellow jerseys that were given to cyclists of each country. \"Tour wins\" stands for the number of tour wins by cyclists of that country, \"Points\" for the number of times the points classification was won by cyclist of that country, \"Mountains\" for the number of times the mountains classification in the Tour de France was won by a cyclist of that country, and \"Young rider\" for the number of times the young rider classification was won by a cyclist of that country.\nThe \"Most recent\" column shows the cyclist of the country that wore the yellow jersey most recently. The \"Different holders\" column gives the number of different cyclists of the country that wore the yellow jersey.\n\nYellow jersey retirees\nSixteen riders have quit the Tour while wearing the yellow jersey.\n\nYellow jersey winners without winning any stage\n\nUsually the winner of the Tour de France also wins a stage, but that is not necessary. It is possible to be the winner of the Tour de France without winning a stage, because the Tour de France is decided by the total raced time. This has happened eight times so far:\n 1922\n 1956\n 1960\n 1966\n 1990\n 2006 \n 2017\n 2019\n\nOf these eight cyclists, Walkowiak and Bernal are the only ones never to win a Tour stage at all, although Bernal is still active. Firmin Lambot won stages in the 1913, 1914, 1919, 1920 and 1921 Tours, Gastone Nencini won stages in the 1956, 1957 and 1958 Tours, Aimar won a stage in the 1967 Tour, LeMond won stages in the 1985, 1986 and 1989 Tours, Pereiro won a stage in the 2005 Tour, and Froome won stages in the 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016 Tours. Alberto Contador initially also belonged to this group, when he won the 2010 Tour de France; however, he was later stripped of this title.\n\nNumber of Tour winners in a single race\nEvery Tour de France only has one winner. But a cyclist that has won the Tour de France previously can enter the race again, and a cyclist not winning the race can win the race in a later year. In almost every Tour de France, there were multiple 'former or future' Tour de France-winners in the race.\nOnly seven times, the Tour started without any former Tour de France winner. This happened in 1903, 1927, 1947, 1956, 1966, 1999 and 2006. Only in 1903, apart from the cyclist that won the race, was there no other former or future Tour de France winner.\n\nIn 1914, a record of seven former Tour de France winners started that year's Tour:\n (1905 winner)\n (1907 and 1908 winner)\n (1909 winner)\n (1910 winner)\n (1911 winner)\n (1912 winner)\n (1913 winner, who would also win the 1914 and the 1920 editions)\nIn addition to these seven cyclists, four cyclists in that year's Tour would go on to win a Tour later:\n (1919 and 1922 winner)\n (1921 winner)\n (1923 winner)\n (1926 winner)\n\nWinning Tour de France on first occasion\nTwelve cyclists won the general classification the first time they entered the competition.\n1903 – in the first ever Tour de France\n1904 – \n1905 – \n1947 – , first Tour de France after World War II\n1949 – , first of 2 victories\n1951 – \n1957 – , first of 5 victories\n1965 – \n1969 – , first of 5 victories\n1978 – , first of 5 victories\n1983 – , first of 2 victories\n2020 – , first of 2 victories\n\nFinishing Tour de France career with victory\nFive cyclists won the Tour de France the last time they entered the competition:\n\n1906 – , (died before next race)\n1937 – \n1939 – , last race before World War II\n1952 – \n2012 – \nFausto Coppi is the only cyclist who won the Tour de France in both the first and the last Tour he entered.\n\nSee also\n List of Australian cyclists who have led the Tour de France general classification\n List of Belgian cyclists who have led the Tour de France general classification\n List of British cyclists who have led the Tour de France general classification\n List of Dutch cyclists who have led the Tour de France general classification\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nTour de France database: Official Tour de France history\n\nTour de France classifications and awards\nCycling records and statistics"
] |
[
"Bernard Hinault",
"1978-1983: Renault",
"What happened in 1978?",
"To prepare for the 1978 Tour de France, Hinault rode his first grand tour, the Vuelta a Espana.",
"What happened during the Tour de France?",
"This tour became a battle with Joop Zoetemelk, Hinault taking the yellow jersey after the final time trial. He was hailed as the next great French cyclist and won"
] | C_86d5e12f20eb457ca39364108c484eed_1 | What happened after that? | 3 | What happened after Bernard Hinault took the yellow jersey after the final time trial and was hailed as the next great French cyclist and won? | Bernard Hinault | To prepare for the 1978 Tour de France, Hinault rode his first grand tour, the Vuelta a Espana. He won and felt ready for his first Tour de France. Before the Tour, he won the national championship, which allowed him to wear the tricolour. This tour became a battle with Joop Zoetemelk, Hinault taking the yellow jersey after the final time trial. He was hailed as the next great French cyclist and won the Tour again in 1979. Once again this Tour proved to be a two man battle between Hinault and Zoetemelk as amazingly they finished nearly a half hour ahead of the rest of the field. In fact the 79 Tour is the only time the Yellow Jersey was challenged on the final stage into Paris as Zoetemelk, trailing Hinault by about three minutes launched an attack early in the stage. Hinault answered and the two riders stayed away from the main field all the way to the finish. In the end Hinault won the stage and the Tour while Zoetemelk was given a ten minute doping penalty. At the start of the 1980 season Hinault and Guimard's aim for the season was to win cycling's Triple Crown - the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France and the world championships, which had previously only been won in the same year by Eddy Merckx. Hinault won that year's Giro, clinching the race with an attack on the Stelvio Pass. In the 1980 Tour de France he abandoned the race while wearing the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification because of a knee injury but he returned to win the world championship in Sallanches that year. The following year, 1981, wearing the rainbow jersey, he won Paris-Roubaix and returned to victory in the 1981 Tour and then again in 1982. He missed the Tour in 1983, again because of knee problems. The organiser, Jacques Goddet, said in his autobiography L'Equipee Belle that Hinault's problems came from pushing gears that were too high. During Hinault's absence, his teammate Laurent Fignon rose to prominence by winning the Tour in 1983. CANNOTANSWER | At the start of the 1980 season Hinault and Guimard's aim for the season was to win cycling's Triple Crown | Bernard Hinault (; born 14 November 1954) is a French former professional road cyclist. With 147 professional victories, including five in the Tour de France, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time.
Hinault started cycling as an amateur in his native Brittany. After a successful amateur career, he signed with the Gitane–Campagnolo team to turn professional in 1975. He took breakthrough victories at both the Liège–Bastogne–Liège classic and the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré stage race in 1977. In 1978, he won his first two Grand Tours: the Vuelta a España and the Tour de France. In the following years, he was the most successful professional cyclist, adding another Tour victory in 1979 and a win at the 1980 Giro d'Italia. Although a knee injury forced him to quit the 1980 Tour de France while in the lead, he returned to win the World Championship road race later in the year. He added another Tour victory in 1981, before completing his first Giro-Tour double in 1982.
After winning the 1983 Vuelta a España, a return of his knee problems forced him to miss that year's Tour de France, won by his teammate Laurent Fignon. Conflict within the Renault team led to his leaving and joining La Vie Claire. With his new team, he raced the 1984 Tour de France, but lost to Fignon by over ten minutes. He recovered the following year, winning another Giro-Tour double with the help of teammate Greg LeMond. This gave him ten grand tour wins in his career, one behind Merckx for the all time record. No rider since Hinault has achieved more than seven.
In the 1986 Tour de France, he engaged in an intra-team rivalry with LeMond, who won his first of three Tours. Hinault retired shortly thereafter. he is the most recent French winner of the Tour de France. After his cycling career, Hinault turned to farming, while fulfilling enforcement duties for the organisers of the Tour de France until 2016.
All through his career, Hinault was known by the nickname le blaireau ("the badger"); he associated himself with the animal due to its aggressive nature, a trait he embodied on the bike. Within the peloton, Hinault assumed the role of patron, exercising authority over races he took part in.
Early life and family
Hinault was born on 14 November 1954 in the Breton village of Yffiniac, the second oldest of four children to Joseph and Lucie Hinault. The family lived in a cottage named La Clôture, built shortly after Hinault was born. His parents were farmers, and the children often had to help out at harvest time. His father later worked as a platelayer for the national rail company SNCF. Hinault was described as a "hyperactive" child, with his mother nicknaming him "little hooligan". Hinault was not a good student, but visited the technical college in Saint-Brieuc for an engineering apprenticeship. He started athletics there, becoming a runner and finishing tenth in the French junior cross-country championship in 1971.
In December 1974, just before turning professional, Hinault married Martine, who he had met at a family wedding the year before. Their first son, Mickael, was born in 1975, with a second, Alexandre, in 1981. Hinault and his family lived in Quessoy, close to Yffiniac, while he was a professional cyclist. After his retirement, they moved to a farm away in Brittany. Hinault had bought the property near Calorguen in 1983. Martine later served as mayor of Calorguen.
Amateur career
Hinault came to cycling through his cousin René, who rode weekend races. At first he had to use the shared family bike, which he rode devotedly. He received his own bike when he was 15 as a reward for passing his school examinations, and used it to travel to college. During the summer of 1971 he made training rides with René, who had problems keeping up with the sixteen-year old Bernard, even though he was an experienced amateur rider. Hinault received his racing licence from Club Olympique Briochin in late April1971 and entered his first race on 2May in Planguenoual. Advised only to try to stay with the other riders, Hinault won the event. Hinault won his first five races, amassing twelve wins from twenty races by the end of the year. Also during the summer of 1971, Hinault was at odds with his father about his choice to pursue cycling as a career. Joseph Hinault relented only after his son ran away from home for three days to stay with his cousins, sleeping on straw in the barn.
For 1972, Hinault was allowed to race with the over-18s. At a race in Hillion, he and René escaped from the field and reached the finish alone. They crossed the line together to share the victory, to the dismay of the race organisers. The young Hinault was heavily influenced by his trainer at the Club Olympique Briochin, Robert Le Roux, who had earlier worked with 1965 World Champion Tom Simpson. Hinault won nineteen races in his second season as an amateur, including the national junior championship against opposition a year older than him, such as future professional Bernard Vallet. He was conscripted into the military at age 18, and did not race throughout 1973. He was unable to join the army's training centre for young athletes and instead served in Sissonne with the 21st Marine Infantry Regiment. Returning to competition overweight, Hinault managed to win his first race of 1974. This was his last season as an amateur and again was highly successful, including a victory in his home town of Yffiniac towards the end of the year, where an alliance formed by four other riders was unable to hold him back. He also competed in track cycling, winning the national pursuit championship. On the road, he took part in the Étoile des Espoirs, a race open to amateurs and young professionals. Hinault finished fifth overall, and second on the time trial stage behind reigning pursuit world champion Roy Schuiten. Towards the end of the season, Hinault turned down an offer to race with the prestigious Athletic Club de Boulogne-Billancourt, instead deciding to turn professional in 1975.
Professional career
1975–1977: Gitane
In January 1975, Hinault turned professional with the Gitane–Campagnolo team, run by former World Champion Jean Stablinski, on a lean wage of 2,500francs per month. The decision to turn professional relatively early was in part taken as, had Hinault raced the 1975 season as an amateur, he would have likely been prevented by the French cycling federation from turning professional before the 1976 Summer Olympics to be part of the French team there. Early on, he showed no interest in adhering to the unwritten rules of the peloton, whereby younger riders were expected to show respect towards older ones. At a criterium race in August1975 he went up against a coalition of senior riders, who had decided to divide the prize money between them. Hinault won all the intermediate cash prizes until five-time Tour de France winner Eddy Merckx declared that Hinault was included in the pact. His results in his first season were impressive, with a seventh place at Paris–Nice and a victory at the Circuit de la Sarthe, earning him the Promotion Pernod, the prize for the best new professional in France. However, Hinault showed little willingness to learn the basic trades of cycling from Stablinski, often escaping early in the race instead of learning how to ride inside the peloton. Together with Stablinski entering Hinault into too many races, this led to conflicts between them.
For 1976, Hinault stayed with Gitane, as former professional Cyrille Guimard, who had just retired from cycling, took over the team and became directeur sportif. Guimard and Hinault got along well, and the latter was kept out of the high-profile races for 1976, instead focussing on a steady improvement in lesser known races such as Paris–Camembert, which he won. That year, Guimard spurred Lucien Van Impe to his only win in the Tour de France. Hinault's progress was visible, with a second consecutive victory at the Circuit de la Sarthe, a third place at the Grand Prix du Midi Libre and a win at the Tour de l'Aude, ensuring him the Prestige Pernod, the award for the best French rider of the season. In total, Hinault won 15 races in 1976. At the end of the year, he came sixth at the World Championship Road Race, being beaten to the line for fifth by Eddy Merckx.
During the spring classics season of 1977, Hinault left the Tour of Flanders before it had even started, not wanting to risk his health in a rain- and cold-affected race on cobbled roads. This drew him a formal warning by Guimard for his conduct. Three weeks later, Hinault won Gent–Wevelgem in a solo effort after an attack from the finish. Five days later, at Liège–Bastogne–Liège, Hinault followed an attack by favourite André Dierickx, and beat him in the two-man sprint to take his first victory in one of cycling's "monuments". In accordance with Guimard's plan to build Hinault up slowly, he did not enter the Tour de France. He did however start the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, seen as the most important preparation event for the Tour. While in the leader's jersey on the penultimate stage to Grenoble, Hinault attacked up the Col de Porte, leading Van Impe and Bernard Thévenet by 1:30 minutes when crossing the summit. On the descent, he misjudged a hairpin corner and crashed down the mountainside. A tree saved him from falling far down, while his bike was lost. Hinault then climbed back onto the road, took a new bike and without showing any hesitation, continued on. Up the finishing climb in Grenoble, he briefly dismounted, still shocked from the near-death experience and pushed his bike for about , before remounting and winning the stage eighty seconds ahead of Van Impe. This also secured him the overall victory ahead of eventual Tour winner Thévenet.
This incident was mentioned from a semi-pro rider's perspective in the Tim Krabbé book De Renner (The Rider) when the main character is about to descend a Col in the Tour de Mont Aigoual:
At the end of the season, Hinault won the Grand Prix des Nations, an individual time trial, with a substantial margin of 3:15 minutes ahead of favourite Joop Zoetemelk.
1978–1983: Renault
1978: Grand Tour breakthrough
At the beginning of 1978, the Gitane team was taken over by its parent company, the state-owned car manufacturer Renault, becoming . Hinault started the season with second place at Paris–Nice. He then competed in the Critérium National de la Route. Trailing Raymond Martin by more than two minutes before the final time trial, he made up his significant deficit and won the event.
Hinault then competed in his first three-week Grand Tour, at the Vuelta a España, then held at the end of April. He won the opening prologue time trial in Gijón, but then let the leadership switch to Ferdi Van Den Haute. He won stage 11b, a mountain time trial in Barcelona, and regained the race lead the next day, when he won the stage to La Tossa de Montbui after an escape with teammate Jean-René Bernaudeau. He ensured his overall victory by winning stage 18 to Amurrio. On that stage, he bridged over to escapee Andrés Gandarias, who had earlier asked for Hinault's permission to attack. Hinault claimed to have been annoyed into attacking by one of Gandarias's teammates and offered to carry him to the finish. However, the Spaniard was unable to follow his wheel, saying: "This guy has made me suffer like a dog, he's tougher than Eddy Merckx!" In all, Hinault won five stages of the Vuelta. A sixth win was prevented on the final day of the Grand Tour, on which a short time trial was raced in the afternoon, held at San Sebastián in the Basque Country. The stage was marred by protests and obstructions by supporters of the Basque separatist group ETA. Hinault himself had sand thrown into his eyes, but won the stage nonetheless, only to find that the results would not count due to the surrounding circumstances.
Ahead of his first Tour de France, Hinault raced in the Tour de Suisse, where he did not feature prominently. He then travelled to the French Road Race Championship, held at Sarrebourg. He launched an escape, on which he rode solo, leading the rest of his competitors by more than six minutes by the start of the last lap. However, he had forgotten to eat enough and suffered from hypoglycemia during the last part of the race, crossing the finish line to take the title severely weakened. His victory allowed him to wear the French tricolore jersey for the following year.
In the Tour de France, Hinault fell behind early to challenger Zoetemelk when Renault lost two minutes to Mercier during the team time trial. On stage 8, the first longer individual time trial, Hinault gained back 59 seconds on Zoetemelk, while the previous two Tour winners, Van Impe and Thévenet, lost so much time that they were now counted out from chances of an overall win. Hinault rode conservatively in the Pyrenees to stay within striking distance of Zoetemelk. On stage 12a, from Tarbes to Valence-d'Agen, he firmly imprinted his authority on the race, although not by riding. The riders had been complaining about split stages, where more than one would be held on one day, as was the case on 12July. When they reached the finishing town, they dismounted their bikes and walked to the finish line in protest. Hinault was chosen by his fellow competitors to be the spokesperson of the strike. Journalist Felix Magowan wrote: "Before today's strike, people were asking if the Tour had a boss. Today that was answered. His name is Hinault." Following the strike, Hinault had trouble sleeping and was caught out the next day, a stage in the Massif Central, forcing his team into a long chase. Thus weakened and slowed by spectator interference at a bike change, he lost 1:40 minutes to Zoetemelk on the following day's uphill time trial. Hinault countered the next day en route to Saint-Étienne during stage 15, breaking away with Hennie Kuiper. By the finish, the two had been reeled back, but Hinault contested the finishing sprint, winning the stage. The following day, stage 16 to Alpe d'Huez, ended with Zoetemelk, Hinault and the temporary leader of the general classification and thus yellow jersey wearer Michel Pollentier separated by only 18 seconds. However, Pollentier was disqualified for trying to cheat his doping test, leaving Hinault and Zoetemelk to fight out the overall victory. On the final mountain stage, Hinault put his rival under pressure, but was unable to make up any time. He then clinched the yellow jersey in the final time trial, gaining more than four minutes to win his first Tour de France with an advantage of 3:56 minutes. Following his Tour win, he finished fifth at the World Championships, before once more winning the Grand Prix des Nations, this time ahead of Francesco Moser.
1979: Second Tour victory and Classics success
The 1979 season started slowly for an off-form Hinault. He bounced back at the La Flèche Wallonne classic in April, when he caught up to a breakaway by Giuseppe Saronni and Bernt Johansson, outsprinting the former to win the race. He then beat Zoetemelk to victory at the Dauphiné Libéré, winning four stages. He won the race by over ten minutes, also taking the points and mountain classifications. In the coming weeks ahead of the Tour, he proved his willingness to assist his teammates to ensure their loyalty, helping Lucien Didier win the Tour de Luxembourg and finishing second behind Roland Berland in the National Championship race.
The Tour de France was again a two-way battle between Hinault and Zoetemelk. In the prologue, Hinault was fourth, on the same time as the Dutchman. The mountain stages started immediately thereafter, with Hinault winning the mountain time trial on stage 2, taking over the yellow jersey. He also won the next stage into Pau. The team time trial on stage4 again went Zoetemelk's way, as his Mercier team took back 41 seconds on Hinault's Renault squad. Zoetemelk now was only 12 seconds behind Hinault. On stage 8, in another team time trial, Renault fared much better, and Hinault extended his advantage to 1:18 minutes. The next day however, on a stage containing cobbled sections, Hinault suffered two punctures, losing almost four minutes and the race lead to Zoetemelk. He took back 36 seconds on the time trial in Brussels on stage 11 before regaining the race lead after another time trial, uphill to Avoriaz on stage 15. At this stage, he led Zoetemelk by 1:48 minutes, with third-placed Kuiper already more than 12 minutes behind. Hinault gained another minute on stage 16, before Zoetemelk regained 47 seconds up Alpe d'Huez three days later. The final time trial of the Tour went Hinault's way once again, extending his advantage by a further 69 seconds. He also took the next stage in a slightly uphill sprint finish. On the final stage towards the Champs-Élysées in Paris, traditionally a ceremonious affair without attacks, Zoetemelk and Hinault broke away, with both gapping the field and Hinault taking another stage victory. Zoetemelk finished 3:07 minutes behind Hinault, but then had ten minutes added to his time for failing a doping test. The next finisher, Joaquim Agostinho, was almost half an hour behind the winner.
Towards the end of the season, Hinault won his second cycling monument, the Giro di Lombardia. He had escaped from the field from the finish, but was later joined by some other riders. Only Silvano Contini finished with him, with the next group more than three minutes behind. The victory also secured that Hinault won his first of four consecutive Super Prestige Pernod International competitions, the award handed to the best rider of the season.
1980: Attempt at the Triple Crown
As was often the case, Hinault started the season slowly in 1980, withdrawing from Paris–Nice. He then entered Paris–Roubaix, partly to prepare for the cobbled sections in the upcoming Tour de France, and finished fourth. A week later, he scored one of his most memorable wins at Liège–Bastogne–Liège. As soon as the riders left Liège, snow began to fall, soon turning into a blizzard. Hinault wanted to abandon, as had many others, including all but one of his teammates. He was convinced to carry on until the feeding station at Bastogne, where the snow had turned into rain. Only 21 riders were left by this point. Hinault removed his rain cape and attacked, catching up to the leaders and carried on by himself, winning with a margin of almost ten minutes ahead of Kuiper. The victory came at a price, as his right index and middle fingers took weeks to recover from frostbite, and caused him pain for several years.
Hinault and Guimard then turned their attention to the only Grand Tour he had not won yet: the Giro d'Italia. They hoped that Hinault would be able to reproduce a feat Eddy Merckx had achieved in 1974, winning the Giro, the Tour and the World Championship in the same year. This is commonly referred to as the Triple Crown of Cycling.
Hinault started the Giro d'Italia as odds-on favourite, pitted against local riders Francesco Moser and Giuseppe Saronni, who had the home crowd on their side. Following a fourth place at the prologue in Genoa, Hinault made a spontaneous visit to Fausto Coppi's home of Castellania, paying respect to the first rider ever to have won Giro and Tour in the same year. On stage 5, a time trial to Pisa, Hinault took over the race leader's pink jersey. He then relinquished his lead to Roberto Visentini, who was not considered to be a contender for the final victory. On stage 14, he attacked when the peloton relaxed after an intermediate sprint, winning the stage ahead of Wladimiro Panizza, who took the race lead. Hinault then made the decisive move of the race on stage 20, when he attacked on the tough climb of the Stelvio Pass. He caught up with his teammate Bernaudeau, and both carried on for the remaining of the stage together. Hinault gifted the stage victory to his teammate, while he clinched the overall victory almost six minutes ahead of Panizza.
In the Tour de France, Hinault was once again set to duel with Joop Zoetemelk, who had moved to the dominant squad. Hinault won the prologue in Frankfurt, Germany, five seconds ahead of Gerrie Knetemann. On stage5 from Liège to Lille, which contained cobbled sections used in Paris–Roubaix, conditions were poor with rain and heavy winds. Hinault called for the field to take a slow tempo, but when Zoetemelk's teammate Jan Raas attacked, he went after him. He eventually found himself in a group with several other riders, while Zoetemelk was distanced. At from the finish, he followed another attack from Kuiper and won the sprint at the line. The next stage was set to contain more cobbled roads, but on Hinault's protest, most of the worst parts were taken out. Hinault had however suffered damage to his left knee on the stage to Lille. Hinault finished only fifth on stage 11's individual time trial, won by Zoetemelk. While he regained the yellow jersey, Zoetemelk was second, only 21 seconds behind. With his tendinitis worsening, he carried on until the end of stage 12, just before the race was headed for the first high mountains in the Pyrenees. That night, Hinault and Guimard told the race organisers, Jacques Goddet and Félix Lévitan, that he would abandon the race, while still in the lead. He left the race at night, not informing the press, which led to a fallout with the media that took years to recover. In Hinault's absence, Zoetemelk duly won his only Tour de France. Insinuations that Zoetemelk's victory had been a gift through Hinault's absence were countered by Hinault himself: "My problems were of my own making. It is always the absent rider who is at fault. I was absent and he took my place."
Hinault returned from the disappointment of the Tour to start at the World Championship road race, held on a very tough parcours in Sallanches, France, often named the hardest course in the history of the event. Hinault had broken away about from the finish with several riders. On the last lap, he dropped his last companion, Gianbattista Baronchelli, on the steepest part of a climb and soloed to victory. It had been a race of attrition with only 15 out of 107 riders reaching the finish.
1981: Winning a third Tour de France
Hinault had never made his dislike for riding on cobbled roads a secret. The most prominent race of this character, Paris–Roubaix, was met with particular disdain, even though he never finished lower than thirteenth. After the 1980 edition, he had said to organiser Goddet: "You will never see me in this circus again." However, he returned for 1981, saying that he did so out of respect for his stature as World Champion. He suffered seven crashes and tyre punctures, but reached the finish at the velodrome with the lead group, where he outsprinted favourites Roger De Vlaeminck and Moser. One-and-a-half weeks earlier, he had already added a victory at the Amstel Gold Race. Furthermore, he also won the Critérium International and again dominated the Dauphiné Libéré, winning by twelve minutes ahead of Agostinho.
At the Tour de France, Hinault took an early lead by winning the prologue, then relinquished the yellow jersey to Knetemann and later to Phil Anderson. On the time trial to Pau on stage 7, he regained the lead and never lost the jersey, beating Van Impe by almost a quarter of an hour. He won five stages, including all four individual time trials. Amidst media criticism that he was riding too defensively in the mountains, he also took victory in the Alps on a stage to Le Pleynet.
At the World Championship in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Hinault failed to defend his title. Having bridged a two-and-a-half-minute gap to a strong lead group on his own, he came third in the final sprint, behind Freddy Maertens and Saronni.
1982: Achieving the Giro-Tour double
Hinault returned to the Giro in 1982. He looked set for victory after the first two weeks, having taken a significant lead after wins in the stage3 time trial and stage 12 to Campitello Matese. However, on stage 17 to Boario Terme, Guimard and the Renault team misjudged the toughness of the climb and Hinault lost the lead to Silvano Contini. He hit back the next day, winning the stage to Montecampione, turning the race in his favour.
In "his most uneventful Tour", Hinault never looked in trouble on his way to completing the Giro-Tour double at the Tour de France. He won the prologue in Basel, Switzerland, before the lead briefly turned to Ludo Peeters and Phil Anderson. Hinault regained the yellow jersey after the first time trial and won the overall classification easily. He took four stages, including again the final one on the Champs-Élysées, this time from a bunch sprint. His participation in the final-stage sprint was seen as an answer to critics, who had once again lamented that Hinault had ridden the Tour without panache. Zoetemelk was again the runner-up, more than six minutes behind Hinault. Later in the season, Hinault added another victory at the Grand Prix des Nations.
1983: Second Vuelta and the ascent of Fignon
Since 1981, Hinault had been joined at Renault by two young talents, Laurent Fignon and the American Greg LeMond. Both joined Hinault for the Vuelta a España, where he faced stiff competition from local riders like Marino Lejarreta, Julián Gorospe, and Alberto Fernández. Six days before the race started, he had won La Flèche Wallonne for a second time. On stage4 of the Vuelta, Fignon attacked and won, but Lejarreta, the defending champion, had followed him and gained time on Hinault. Hinault came back and took the lead the following day on the mountain stage to Castellar de n'Hug. However, a day later, the Spanish teams jointly attacked and Lejarreta moved ahead of Hinault, who was 22 seconds down. At the uphill time trial at Balneario de Panticosa, he suffered and finished more than two minutes behind Lejarreta. Hinault joined forces with Kuiper and Saronni to attack on stage 10 to Soria, affected by crosswinds. He was in trouble again on stage 14, affected by returning pain in his knee; at one point he trailed his rivals by more than five minutes, but regained contact. In the time trial around Valladolid on stage 15b, Hinault won, now just ten seconds behind Gorospe, the new leader in the general classification. The following day brought the last mountain stage and Renault put pressure on Gorospe from early on. Hinault, joined by Lejarreta and Vicente Belda, escaped for , distancing Gorospe by over twenty minutes with Hinault taking victory in Ávila, sealing his second Vuelta victory. Due to the tightly fought battle between Hinault and his Spanish competitors, the 1983 race is described on the Vuelta's website as "one of the most beautiful and spectacular" editions.
During the Vuelta, Hinault's tendinitis returned. After the race, he made two failed attempts to get back into racing, but eventually announced that he would miss the Tour de France. In his absence, teammate Fignon won the event on his first attempt. Hinault tried another comeback at a post-Tour criterium, but the pain returned and he did not race for the remainder of the season.
1984–1986: La Vie Claire
1984: Defeat at Fignon's hands
By 1983, the relationship between Hinault and Guimard had deteriorated to a point where the former described their relationship as "war". Hinault forced a choice on the Renault team to either release him or oust Guimard. The team decided to stick with their directeur sportif, leading Hinault to search for a new team. He joined forces with businessman Bernard Tapie to form the new squad. Their directeur sportif became Swiss coach Paul Köchli, who had made a name for himself with innovative and effective training methods, leaving Hinault a lot of freedom while at the same time scientifically measuring his progress. As part of his connection with Tapie, Hinault also contributed to the development of the clipless pedal, created by Look, another company owned by Tapie.
Hinault returned to racing at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, where he won the final stage. He then took victory at the Four Days of Dunkirk. But his spring campaign lacked major successes. At the Dauphiné Libéré, he came second to Martín Ramírez, who later claimed that Hinault and his team had tried to intimidate him during the final stage of the race. A memorable episode occurred during the Paris–Nice, a race he finished third overall. During stage5 to La Seyne-sur-Mer, Hinault was descending in a lead group with several other favourites. As they reached the valley, the road was blocked by protesters, unhappy with the announced closure of a dockyard at La Ciotat. While the other riders stopped, he drove into the group head-on, dismounted, and punched the protester closest to him. In the ensuing fist fight, Hinault suffered a broken rib.
The Tour de France was made out to be the big duel between Hinault and Fignon, who had just won the French National Championship. Hinault won the prologue, but Renault took the team time trial, 55 seconds ahead of La Vie Claire. He lost another 49 seconds to Fignon in the first long individual time trial, a discipline he had previously dominated. Following the second time trial, Hinault was only seventh on general classification, two minutes behind his adversary. The next stage led to Alpe d'Huez. Hinault attacked on the Rampe de Laffrey, but Fignon was able to respond. The two exchanged attacks on the way up the climb, but it was in the valley that Hinault was able to draw out a gap of about a minute. On Alpe d'Huez itself, he was first passed by eventual stage winner Luis Herrera. When he started to slow, Fignon caught up to him and eventually dropped Hinault, who lost a further three minutes. He ultimately finished the Tour in second place, a significant ten minutes behind Fignon.
Hinault managed to bounce back from his Tour defeat in the fall. In late September, he took his fifth and final victory at the Grand Prix des Nations, riding the time trial at a then record speed of . Fignon could only manage fourth, more than two minutes behind. Next, he won the Trofeo Baracchi, a two-man time trial, in which he competed with Moser. He then won the Giro di Lombardia for a second time, breaking away from the group of favourites from the finish.
1985: The second Giro-Tour double
For 1985, Greg LeMond switched teams from Renault to join Hinault at La Vie Claire. Together, they entered the Giro d'Italia. During the race, Hinault was met with hostility from the home crowd, who supported local rider Francesco Moser. On the stage 12 time trial, Hinault took the pink jersey and opened the decisive gap to Moser, who would eventually finish second. During the stage however, Hinault was spat at by spectators and almost knocked over, even though his team car rode behind him with the door opened the entire time to ensure that bystanders would have a harder time impeding him. Hinault won his third Giro with a margin of just over a minute.
In the Tour de France, Fignon did not take part due to an Achilles heel injury. Hinault therefore entered the race as the favourite. He took victory in the prologue in his native Brittany. La Vie Claire won the stage3 team time trial by over a minute. The next day, Hinault's teammate Kim Andersen took over the yellow jersey. Hinault supported him over the next days, even going so far as dropping back when Andersen punctured to lead him back into the peloton, showing his loyalty to riders who would later have to assist him. On stage 8, a time trial to Strasbourg, Hinault took back the race lead, winning the stage by more than two minutes ahead of Stephen Roche. While the race travelled through the Alps and in a second time trial, he consolidated his lead, building an advantage of five-and-a-half minutes on LeMond, who was now second overall.
On stage 14 to Saint-Étienne, LeMond finished two minutes ahead of a group containing Hinault. Involved in a crash with other riders, Hinault crossed the finish line with a broken nose. Around the same time, he started to experience symptoms of bronchitis. On stage 17, he showed signs of weakness and was unable to stay with the other leaders on the Col du Tourmalet. LeMond meanwhile followed an attack by Roche, but was forbidden by the team to cooperate to distance Hinault. LeMond would later claim that the team had deceived him by telling him that Hinault was closer behind than he actually was. Hinault eventually finished the stage just over a minute behind LeMond. The time LeMond waited may have been enough so that the two teammates would have contested the Maillot Jaune in the penultimate time trial. In the penultimate day's time trial, LeMond won the stage, but only five seconds ahead of Hinault, not enough to surpass him. This secured Hinault a record-equalling fifth Tour victory, by just under two minutes over his younger teammate. After the finish, he publicly pledged that he would support LeMond's bid for a first Tour victory the following year.
1986: The final season
In January 1986, Hinault was given the Legion of Honour by French president François Mitterrand. He had, already in 1982, announced that he would retire from cycling on his 32nd birthday, in November 1986.
Even though Hinault had pledged support for LeMond for the Tour de France, a lot of public attention was given to the possibility of him winning a record sixth Tour. Their La Vie Claire team was seen as dominant, with Laurent Fignon as the most likely challenger. Hinault finished third in the prologue, two seconds ahead of LeMond and Fignon. In the team time trial on stage 2, Fignon and gained almost two minutes on La Vie Claire, partly due to Hinault deciding that the squad would wait for two struggling riders, Niki Rüttimann and Guido Winterberg. Hinault then won the time trial on stage 9, gaining an additional 44 seconds on LeMond, who suffered a broken wheel and had to change his bike. Meanwhile, Fignon fell behind and later abandoned the race. On stage 12, from Bayonne to Pau, Hinault attacked with Pedro Delgado. The pair gained more than four-and-a-half minutes on LeMond, with Delgado taking the stage win. Hinault was now in the lead of the general classification, 5:25 minutes ahead of LeMond. Even though his lead was significant, he attacked again the following day, on the descent of the Col du Tourmalet, the first climb of the day. By the top of the next climb, the Col d'Aspin, he led the rest of the field by two minutes. However, joint effort behind brought him back before the final ascent up to the ski station of Superbagnères. Hinault then cracked, coming in ninth, 4:39 minutes behind stage winner LeMond. He now led his teammate by only forty seconds in the general classification.
The race then moved over to the Alps. On stage 17, Hinault got left behind on the Col d'Izoard and lost the yellow jersey to LeMond, falling to third in the overall rankings, 2:47 minutes behind his teammate. Stage 18 featured three major climbs, the Col du Galibier, the Croix de Fer and the final ascent up to Alpe d'Huez. Hinault attacked repeatedly, but reached the bottom of Alpe d'Huez with LeMond. He led the way up the climb, lined by approximately 300,000 spectators and crossed the finish line hand in hand with LeMond, in an apparent display of comradery. Urs Zimmermann, who had been second overall at the start of the day, lost more than five minutes. Any signs of appeasement between the rivalling teammates was shattered by Hinault in a television interview shortly after the stage finish, when he declared that the race was not yet over, even though he trailed LeMond by 2:45 minutes.
Stage 20 saw the final time trial and the last chance for Hinault to overcome LeMond's advantage. Aided by a crash from LeMond, Hinault won the stage, but gained back only 25 seconds, conceding defeat after the stage. He lost an additional 52 seconds on stage 21. In his last Tour de France stage into Paris, he took part in the final sprint, taking fourth place. He ended his final Tour de France second overall, 3:10 minutes behind LeMond. He won the mountains classification and was also given the super-combativity award. Hinault's repeated attacks during the race and refusal to concede defeat irritated LeMond, who felt betrayed by Hinault's lack of loyalty.
After the Tour, Hinault won the Coors Classic race in the United States, ahead of LeMond. He rode the World Championships Road Race, held in Colorado Springs. He aimed to win, showing a lot of effort in his preparation. However, he finished the race in 59th place. On 19 September, he won his last competitive race, a criterium in Angers, France. Hinault's retirement from professional cycling on 14 November 1986 was celebrated in Quessoy with a symbolic race of 3,600 riders, a concert and fireworks. A total of 15,000 people attended the event.
Retirement
After his retirement from professional cycling, Hinault moved to his farm and bred dairy cows, assisted by his cousin René, who had become an agricultural engineer. Just two weeks after he ended his career, the Tour de France organisers, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), approached Hinault and invited him to join the race management team. He held several positions, including race regulator and route advisor. After Jean-Marie Leblanc took over the role as general director, Hinault was named the Tour's ambassador. Included in his duties was being present during podium ceremonies. During the podium for stage3 of the 2008 Tour de France, a protester jumped on stage and disturbed proceedings. Hinault leapt forward and shoved him off. He stepped down from the role after the 2016 Tour de France. His role as ASO's brand ambassador was taken over by Stephen Roche, winner of the 1987 Tour de France.
Unlike many of his competitors, Hinault never became a directeur sportif (team manager) after his cycling career. Offers from Bouygues Télécom and a Chinese investor in the mid-2000s fell through. He was the selector of the French national team from 1988 to 1993. Hinault took a role as "patron" with the British squad for the 2014 season. In June 2020, Hinault became part of a group of businessmen investing into saving the cycling equipment company Mavic, who are a long-time sponsor of the Tour de France. Mavic was put into receivership earlier in the year due to the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Public image and riding style
Riding style and legacy
During his active career, Hinault was known as the patron of the field, meaning the rider with the highest authority. His biographer William Fotheringham has described him as "the last of the sport's patrons". In this role, Hinault would use his influence with race organisers, control the pace of the peloton, and allow or refuse other riders the chance to attack. The riders' strike at Valence d'Agen in the 1978 Tour is cited as the first instance in which Hinault assumed this role. His fellow riders stated that he, even though he did not talk much, was able to exert a high amount of certainty and therefore strength, which brought him respect and sometimes fear from his competitors. To signal his authority, Hinault often symbolically rode at the front of the field, instead of in the slipstream of his teammates. His riding style has been described as "fighting, full of aggression", and he stated that when he did not feel good in a race, his reaction would be to attack. Hinault described his own role as follows:
Hinault was however not always successful in his endeavours. During the 1980 Tour de France, he sought to remove the rule which excluded riders outside the time limit on each stage. He urged the riders to protest and ride slowly, but some did not follow his example, forcing Hinault to chase them down before he eventually left the race. His enigmatic exit from the 1980 Tour created tensions with the press that would persist during the rest of his active career. By 1982, debates about his personality started to appear more and more in the media. Particular interest was given to an alleged lack of panache during his Tour wins and his behaviour towards fans and officials, whom he treated with open disgust. Fotheringham suggests that Hinault only regained popularity with the French public after his knee problems and his Tour defeat in 1984. Fellow racer Robert Millar suggested that in 1986 in particular, Hinault attempted to win over the French public by riding aggressively.
Hinault was not known to particularly enjoy going on training rides, unless he was specifically preparing for an event. He would often greet his training partners in a night gown when they arrived on time for training or have an easy day of training that included stops at a bakery for cake. His distaste for training became even more evident in the winter, when he would gain a lot of weight. Laurent Fignon described the first training camps of the year as follows: "He looked as if he had been inflated. If you didn't know the Badger you would wonder how long it would take for him to get back to what he had been. You would be making a huge mistake." Hinault was capable of suffering through the training camp and returning to winning form within a month. Unlike a rider like Eddy Merckx, Hinault would not aim to win every race he entered. Millar described his approach as such: "Hinault either cared or he didn't. When he didn't care about winning he'd bumble round and hurt you now and again just to remind you he was there."
With a résumé of victories that includes all three Grand Tours (all of them more than once), the World Road Championships and a number of classics, Hinault has often been cited among the greatest cyclists of all time. The Historical Dictionary of Cycling describes him as "one of the best riders ever". Comparisons are often drawn with Eddy Merckx, against whom Hinault rode at the beginning of his career. Lucien Van Impe commented: "Merckx was the greatest, but Bernard [Hinault] was the most impressive." A study conducted in 2006, ranking Tour de France riders from 1953 to 2004 by different performance indicators, put Hinault as the top Tour rider of that period, ahead of Merckx and Lance Armstrong.
Nickname
Hinault was nicknamed le blaireau in French, a term that can be translated into English as either "the shaving brush" or "the badger". According to Fotheringham, the nickname originates from Hinault's early training partners, Maurice Le Guilloux and Georges Talbourdet, who would use the term to tease the young rider. Le Guilloux used it once in front of Pierre Chany, a writer for L'Équipe, and the name stuck. According to Hinault himself, the term in the first place was supposed to mean no more than "mate" or "buddy". However, Hinault later embraced the association with the wild animal. In 2003, he commented: "A badger is a beautiful thing. When it's hunted it goes into its sett and waits. When it comes out again, it attacks. That's the reason for my nickname. When I'm annoyed I go home, you don't see me for a month. When I come out again, I win." Hinault, as early as 1983, owned a stuffed badger to demonstrate his association with the animal.
Stance on doping
Hinault never tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs during his professional career and was never implicated in any doping practices. He did, however, lead a riders' protest during a criterium race in Callac in 1982 against the sudden introduction of doping controls. He was handed a one-month suspended ban and fined CHF 1,110, though the penalty was never enforced.
Hinault has been outspoken about several prominent doping cases in the past years. In 2013, he heavily criticised French senators for revealing the results of tests conducted in 2004 on samples from the 1998 Tour de France. He called the initiative "bullshit" and urged lawmakers "to stop bringing out the dead", claiming they "want to kill the Tour". In the same year, he reacted to comments made by Lance Armstrong, a rider stripped of seven Tour victories due to doping offences. Armstrong suggested that it would be impossible to win the Tour de France without performance-enhancing substances. To counter this claim, Hinault replied: "He must not know what it was like to ride without doping." Armstrong later clarified that he had spoken about the time when he was riding (1999–2005). In early 2018, Hinault also spoke out about the adverse analytical result for salbutamol of four-time Tour winner Chris Froome at the 2017 Vuelta a España. He criticised Froome for taking part in the 2018 Giro d'Italia while the investigation was still ongoing. In addition, he commented that Froome could not be "listed among the cycling greats". Froome would win the Giro and become the first rider since Hinault to hold all three Grand Tour Jerseys at once. Before the 2018 Tour de France, with Froome's case still ongoing, he urged the other riders to strike in protest if Froome competed. Froome was later cleared of the charges and started the Tour where he finished third behind teammate Geraint Thomas and Tom Dumoulin.
Career achievements
Major results
Source:
1972
1st Road race, National Junior Road Championships
1974
5th Overall Étoile des Espoirs
1975
1st Individual pursuit, National Track Championships
1st Overall Circuit de la Sarthe
6th Overall Tour de l'Oise
6th Grand Prix des Nations
7th Overall Paris–Nice
1976
1st Individual pursuit, National Track Championships
1st Overall Circuit de la Sarthe
1st Stage 3a (ITT)
1st Overall Tour du Limousin
1st Stage 1
1st Overall Tour de l'Aude
1st Stage 1
1st Overall Tour d'Indre-et-Loire
1st Stage 2b (ITT)
1st Paris–Camembert
1st Stage 2 Étoile des Espoirs
2nd Overall À travers Lausanne
3rd Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre
4th Grand Prix Pino Cerami
6th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
6th Grand Prix des Nations
10th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
1977
1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Stages 1 & 5
1st Overall Tour du Limousin
1st Stage 1
1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège
1st Gent–Wevelgem
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Stage 2b (ITT) Étoile des Espoirs
2nd Overall Tour Cycliste du Tarn
1st Mountains classification
2nd Overall Tour d'Indre-et-Loire
1st Stage 2b
3rd Paris–Brussels
4th Overall Tour de l'Aude
6th Overall Paris–Nice
6th GP Ouest–France
7th Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre
8th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
10th Grand Prix d'Isbergues
1978
1st Road race, National Road Championships
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Stages 8 (ITT), 15 & 20 (ITT)
1st Overall Vuelta a España
1st Prologue, Stages 11b (ITT), 12, 14 & 18
1st Overall Critérium International
1st Stage 3 (ITT)
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Boucles de l'Aulne
2nd Overall Paris–Nice
2nd Overall À travers Lausanne
3rd Giro di Lombardia
5th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
9th Overall Tour Cycliste du Tarn
1979
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Points classification
1st Stages 2 (ITT), 3, 11 (ITT), 15 (ITT), 21 (ITT), 23 & 24
1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Stages 3, 5b (ITT), 6 & 7b (ITT)
1st Overall Tour de l'Oise
1st Prologue
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Giro di Lombardia
1st La Flèche Wallonne
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Boucles de l'Aulne
1st
Étoile des Espoirs
1st Stages 3b (ITT) & 4
2nd Overall Critérium International
1st Stage 3 (ITT)
2nd Overall Tour de Luxembourg
1st Stage 3
2nd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
3rd Overall Tour Cycliste du Tarn
3rd Overall À travers Lausanne
3rd Critérium des As
6th Overall Paris–Nice
6th Paris–Tours
7th Milan–San Remo
8th Gent–Wevelgem
8th Grand Prix de Wallonie
1980
1st Road race, UCI Road World Championships
1st Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Stage 14
Tour de France
1st Prologue, Stages 4 (ITT) & 5
Held after Prologue, Stage 1a & Stages 11–12
1st Overall Tour de Romandie
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
3rd La Flèche Wallonne
4th Paris–Roubaix
5th Amstel Gold Race
1981
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Combination classification
1st Prologue, Stages 6 (ITT), 14 (ITT), 18 & 20 (ITT)
Overall Combativity award
1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Overall Critérium International
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Paris–Roubaix
1st Amstel Gold Race
3rd Road race, UCI Road World Championships
1982
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Combination classification
1st Prologue, Stages 14 (ITT), 19 (ITT) & 21
1st Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Prologue (TTT), Stages 3 (ITT), 12, 18, & 22 (ITT)
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Overall Tour de Luxembourg
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise
1st Critérium des As
9th Paris–Roubaix
1983
1st Overall Vuelta a España
1st Stages 15b (ITT) & 17
1st La Flèche Wallonne
1st Grand Prix Pino Cerami
1984
1st Giro di Lombardia
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
1st Trofeo Baracchi (with Francesco Moser)
2nd Overall Tour de France
1st Prologue
Held after Prologue
Overall Combativity award
2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
3rd Overall Paris–Nice
4th Züri-Metzgete
1985
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Prologue, Stages 3 (TTT) & 8 (ITT)
1st Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Stage 12 (ITT)
1986
1st Overall Coors Classic
1st Stages 7a & 11a
1st Overall Vuelta Ciclista a la Comunidad Valenciana
1st Trofeo Luis Puig
2nd Overall Tour de France
1st Mountains classification
1st Stages 9 (ITT), 18 & 20 (ITT)
Held after Stages 12–16
Overall Combativity award
General classification results timeline
Source:
Monuments results timeline
Source:
See also
Giro d'Italia records and statistics
List of cycling records
List of French people
List of Giro d'Italia general classification winners
List of Grand Tour general classification winners
List of Tour de France general classification winners
List of Tour de France secondary classification winners
List of Vuelta a España classification winners
List of Vuelta a España general classification winners
Yellow jersey statistics
Notes
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
1954 births
Breton people
French farmers
French Giro d'Italia stage winners
French male cyclists
French Tour de France stage winners
French Vuelta a España stage winners
Giro d'Italia winners
Living people
People from Saint-Brieuc
Tour de France Champs Elysées stage winners
Tour de France prologue winners
Tour de France winners
UCI Road World Champions (elite men)
Vuelta a España winners
Sportspeople from Côtes-d'Armor | false | [
"Don Juan Manuel's Tales of Count Lucanor, in Spanish Libro de los ejemplos del conde Lucanor y de Patronio (Book of the Examples of Count Lucanor and of Patronio), also commonly known as El Conde Lucanor, Libro de Patronio, or Libro de los ejemplos (original Old Castilian: Libro de los enxiemplos del Conde Lucanor et de Patronio), is one of the earliest works of prose in Castilian Spanish. It was first written in 1335.\n\nThe book is divided into four parts. The first and most well-known part is a series of 51 short stories (some no more than a page or two) drawn from various sources, such as Aesop and other classical writers, and Arabic folktales.\n\nTales of Count Lucanor was first printed in 1575 when it was published at Seville under the auspices of Argote de Molina. It was again printed at Madrid in 1642, after which it lay forgotten for nearly two centuries.\n\nPurpose and structure\n\nA didactic, moralistic purpose, which would color so much of the Spanish literature to follow (see Novela picaresca), is the mark of this book. Count Lucanor engages in conversation with his advisor Patronio, putting to him a problem (\"Some man has made me a proposition...\" or \"I fear that such and such person intends to...\") and asking for advice. Patronio responds always with the greatest humility, claiming not to wish to offer advice to so illustrious a person as the Count, but offering to tell him a story of which the Count's problem reminds him. (Thus, the stories are \"examples\" [ejemplos] of wise action.) At the end he advises the Count to do as the protagonist of his story did.\n\nEach chapter ends in more or less the same way, with slight variations on: \"And this pleased the Count greatly and he did just so, and found it well. And Don Johán (Juan) saw that this example was very good, and had it written in this book, and composed the following verses.\" A rhymed couplet closes, giving the moral of the story.\n\nOrigin of stories and influence on later literature\nMany of the stories written in the book are the first examples written in a modern European language of various stories, which many other writers would use in the proceeding centuries. Many of the stories he included were themselves derived from other stories, coming from western and Arab sources.\n\nShakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew has the basic elements of Tale 35, \"What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\".\n\nTale 32, \"What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth\" tells the story that Hans Christian Andersen made popular as The Emperor's New Clothes.\n\nStory 7, \"What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana\", a version of Aesop's The Milkmaid and Her Pail, was claimed by Max Müller to originate in the Hindu cycle Panchatantra.\n\nTale 2, \"What happened to a good Man and his Son, leading a beast to market,\" is the familiar fable The miller, his son and the donkey.\n\nIn 2016, Baroque Decay released a game under the name \"The Count Lucanor\". As well as some protagonists' names, certain events from the books inspired past events in the game.\n\nThe stories\n\nThe book opens with a prologue which introduces the characters of the Count and Patronio. The titles in the following list are those given in Keller and Keating's 1977 translation into English. James York's 1868 translation into English gives a significantly different ordering of the stories and omits the fifty-first.\n\n What Happened to a King and His Favorite \n What Happened to a Good Man and His Son \n How King Richard of England Leapt into the Sea against the Moors\n What a Genoese Said to His Soul When He Was about to Die \n What Happened to a Fox and a Crow Who Had a Piece of Cheese in His Beak\n How the Swallow Warned the Other Birds When She Saw Flax Being Sown \n What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana \n What Happened to a Man Whose Liver Had to Be Washed \n What Happened to Two Horses Which Were Thrown to the Lion \n What Happened to a Man Who on Account of Poverty and Lack of Other Food Was Eating Bitter Lentils \n What Happened to a Dean of Santiago de Compostela and Don Yllán, the Grand Master of Toledo\n What Happened to the Fox and the Rooster \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Hunting Partridges \n The Miracle of Saint Dominick When He Preached against the Usurer \n What Happened to Lorenzo Suárez at the Siege of Seville \n The Reply that count Fernán González Gave to His Relative Núño Laynes \n What Happened to a Very Hungry Man Who Was Half-heartedly Invited to Dinner \n What Happened to Pero Meléndez de Valdés When He Broke His Leg \n What Happened to the Crows and the Owls \n What Happened to a King for Whom a Man Promised to Perform Alchemy \n What Happened to a Young King and a Philosopher to Whom his Father Commended Him \n What Happened to the Lion and the Bull \n How the Ants Provide for Themselves \n What Happened to the King Who Wanted to Test His Three Sons \n What Happened to the Count of Provence and How He Was Freed from Prison by the Advice of Saladin\n What Happened to the Tree of Lies \n What Happened to an Emperor and to Don Alvarfáñez Minaya and Their Wives \n What Happened in Granada to Don Lorenzo Suárez Gallinato When He Beheaded the Renegade Chaplain \n What Happened to a Fox Who Lay down in the Street to Play Dead \n What Happened to King Abenabet of Seville and Ramayquía His Wife \n How a Cardinal Judged between the Canons of Paris and the Friars Minor \n What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth \n What Happened to Don Juan Manuel's Saker Falcon and an Eagle and a Heron \n What Happened to a Blind Man Who Was Leading Another \n What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\n What Happened to a Merchant When He Found His Son and His Wife Sleeping Together \n What Happened to Count Fernán González with His Men after He Had Won the Battle of Hacinas \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Loaded down with Precious Stones and Drowned in the River \n What Happened to a Man and a Swallow and a Sparrow \n Why the Seneschal of Carcassonne Lost His Soul \n What Happened to a King of Córdova Named Al-Haquem \n What Happened to a Woman of Sham Piety \n What Happened to Good and Evil and the Wise Man and the Madman \n What Happened to Don Pero Núñez the Loyal, to Don Ruy González de Zavallos, and to Don Gutier Roiz de Blaguiello with Don Rodrigo the Generous \n What Happened to a Man Who Became the Devil's Friend and Vassal \n What Happened to a Philosopher who by Accident Went down a Street Where Prostitutes Lived \n What Befell a Moor and His Sister Who Pretended That She Was Timid \n What Happened to a Man Who Tested His Friends \n What Happened to the Man Whom They Cast out Naked on an Island When They Took away from Him the Kingdom He Ruled \n What Happened to Saladin and a Lady, the Wife of a Knight Who Was His Vassal \n What Happened to a Christian King Who Was Very Powerful and Haughty\n\nReferences\n\nNotes\n\nBibliography\n\n Sturm, Harlan\n\n Wacks, David\n\nExternal links\n\nThe Internet Archive provides free access to the 1868 translation by James York.\nJSTOR has the to the 1977 translation by Keller and Keating.\nSelections in English and Spanish (pedagogical edition) with introduction, notes, and bibliography in Open Iberia/América (open access teaching anthology)\n\n14th-century books\nSpanish literature\n1335 books",
"What Happened to Jones may refer to:\n What Happened to Jones (1897 play), a play by George Broadhurst\n What Happened to Jones (1915 film), a lost silent film\n What Happened to Jones (1920 film), a lost silent film\n What Happened to Jones (1926 film), a silent film comedy"
] |
[
"Bernard Hinault",
"1978-1983: Renault",
"What happened in 1978?",
"To prepare for the 1978 Tour de France, Hinault rode his first grand tour, the Vuelta a Espana.",
"What happened during the Tour de France?",
"This tour became a battle with Joop Zoetemelk, Hinault taking the yellow jersey after the final time trial. He was hailed as the next great French cyclist and won",
"What happened after that?",
"At the start of the 1980 season Hinault and Guimard's aim for the season was to win cycling's Triple Crown"
] | C_86d5e12f20eb457ca39364108c484eed_1 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 4 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article besides Bernard Hinault and Guimard aiming to win the cycling Triple Crown? | Bernard Hinault | To prepare for the 1978 Tour de France, Hinault rode his first grand tour, the Vuelta a Espana. He won and felt ready for his first Tour de France. Before the Tour, he won the national championship, which allowed him to wear the tricolour. This tour became a battle with Joop Zoetemelk, Hinault taking the yellow jersey after the final time trial. He was hailed as the next great French cyclist and won the Tour again in 1979. Once again this Tour proved to be a two man battle between Hinault and Zoetemelk as amazingly they finished nearly a half hour ahead of the rest of the field. In fact the 79 Tour is the only time the Yellow Jersey was challenged on the final stage into Paris as Zoetemelk, trailing Hinault by about three minutes launched an attack early in the stage. Hinault answered and the two riders stayed away from the main field all the way to the finish. In the end Hinault won the stage and the Tour while Zoetemelk was given a ten minute doping penalty. At the start of the 1980 season Hinault and Guimard's aim for the season was to win cycling's Triple Crown - the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France and the world championships, which had previously only been won in the same year by Eddy Merckx. Hinault won that year's Giro, clinching the race with an attack on the Stelvio Pass. In the 1980 Tour de France he abandoned the race while wearing the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification because of a knee injury but he returned to win the world championship in Sallanches that year. The following year, 1981, wearing the rainbow jersey, he won Paris-Roubaix and returned to victory in the 1981 Tour and then again in 1982. He missed the Tour in 1983, again because of knee problems. The organiser, Jacques Goddet, said in his autobiography L'Equipee Belle that Hinault's problems came from pushing gears that were too high. During Hinault's absence, his teammate Laurent Fignon rose to prominence by winning the Tour in 1983. CANNOTANSWER | The following year, 1981, wearing the rainbow jersey, he won Paris-Roubaix and returned to victory in the 1981 Tour and then again in 1982. | Bernard Hinault (; born 14 November 1954) is a French former professional road cyclist. With 147 professional victories, including five in the Tour de France, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time.
Hinault started cycling as an amateur in his native Brittany. After a successful amateur career, he signed with the Gitane–Campagnolo team to turn professional in 1975. He took breakthrough victories at both the Liège–Bastogne–Liège classic and the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré stage race in 1977. In 1978, he won his first two Grand Tours: the Vuelta a España and the Tour de France. In the following years, he was the most successful professional cyclist, adding another Tour victory in 1979 and a win at the 1980 Giro d'Italia. Although a knee injury forced him to quit the 1980 Tour de France while in the lead, he returned to win the World Championship road race later in the year. He added another Tour victory in 1981, before completing his first Giro-Tour double in 1982.
After winning the 1983 Vuelta a España, a return of his knee problems forced him to miss that year's Tour de France, won by his teammate Laurent Fignon. Conflict within the Renault team led to his leaving and joining La Vie Claire. With his new team, he raced the 1984 Tour de France, but lost to Fignon by over ten minutes. He recovered the following year, winning another Giro-Tour double with the help of teammate Greg LeMond. This gave him ten grand tour wins in his career, one behind Merckx for the all time record. No rider since Hinault has achieved more than seven.
In the 1986 Tour de France, he engaged in an intra-team rivalry with LeMond, who won his first of three Tours. Hinault retired shortly thereafter. he is the most recent French winner of the Tour de France. After his cycling career, Hinault turned to farming, while fulfilling enforcement duties for the organisers of the Tour de France until 2016.
All through his career, Hinault was known by the nickname le blaireau ("the badger"); he associated himself with the animal due to its aggressive nature, a trait he embodied on the bike. Within the peloton, Hinault assumed the role of patron, exercising authority over races he took part in.
Early life and family
Hinault was born on 14 November 1954 in the Breton village of Yffiniac, the second oldest of four children to Joseph and Lucie Hinault. The family lived in a cottage named La Clôture, built shortly after Hinault was born. His parents were farmers, and the children often had to help out at harvest time. His father later worked as a platelayer for the national rail company SNCF. Hinault was described as a "hyperactive" child, with his mother nicknaming him "little hooligan". Hinault was not a good student, but visited the technical college in Saint-Brieuc for an engineering apprenticeship. He started athletics there, becoming a runner and finishing tenth in the French junior cross-country championship in 1971.
In December 1974, just before turning professional, Hinault married Martine, who he had met at a family wedding the year before. Their first son, Mickael, was born in 1975, with a second, Alexandre, in 1981. Hinault and his family lived in Quessoy, close to Yffiniac, while he was a professional cyclist. After his retirement, they moved to a farm away in Brittany. Hinault had bought the property near Calorguen in 1983. Martine later served as mayor of Calorguen.
Amateur career
Hinault came to cycling through his cousin René, who rode weekend races. At first he had to use the shared family bike, which he rode devotedly. He received his own bike when he was 15 as a reward for passing his school examinations, and used it to travel to college. During the summer of 1971 he made training rides with René, who had problems keeping up with the sixteen-year old Bernard, even though he was an experienced amateur rider. Hinault received his racing licence from Club Olympique Briochin in late April1971 and entered his first race on 2May in Planguenoual. Advised only to try to stay with the other riders, Hinault won the event. Hinault won his first five races, amassing twelve wins from twenty races by the end of the year. Also during the summer of 1971, Hinault was at odds with his father about his choice to pursue cycling as a career. Joseph Hinault relented only after his son ran away from home for three days to stay with his cousins, sleeping on straw in the barn.
For 1972, Hinault was allowed to race with the over-18s. At a race in Hillion, he and René escaped from the field and reached the finish alone. They crossed the line together to share the victory, to the dismay of the race organisers. The young Hinault was heavily influenced by his trainer at the Club Olympique Briochin, Robert Le Roux, who had earlier worked with 1965 World Champion Tom Simpson. Hinault won nineteen races in his second season as an amateur, including the national junior championship against opposition a year older than him, such as future professional Bernard Vallet. He was conscripted into the military at age 18, and did not race throughout 1973. He was unable to join the army's training centre for young athletes and instead served in Sissonne with the 21st Marine Infantry Regiment. Returning to competition overweight, Hinault managed to win his first race of 1974. This was his last season as an amateur and again was highly successful, including a victory in his home town of Yffiniac towards the end of the year, where an alliance formed by four other riders was unable to hold him back. He also competed in track cycling, winning the national pursuit championship. On the road, he took part in the Étoile des Espoirs, a race open to amateurs and young professionals. Hinault finished fifth overall, and second on the time trial stage behind reigning pursuit world champion Roy Schuiten. Towards the end of the season, Hinault turned down an offer to race with the prestigious Athletic Club de Boulogne-Billancourt, instead deciding to turn professional in 1975.
Professional career
1975–1977: Gitane
In January 1975, Hinault turned professional with the Gitane–Campagnolo team, run by former World Champion Jean Stablinski, on a lean wage of 2,500francs per month. The decision to turn professional relatively early was in part taken as, had Hinault raced the 1975 season as an amateur, he would have likely been prevented by the French cycling federation from turning professional before the 1976 Summer Olympics to be part of the French team there. Early on, he showed no interest in adhering to the unwritten rules of the peloton, whereby younger riders were expected to show respect towards older ones. At a criterium race in August1975 he went up against a coalition of senior riders, who had decided to divide the prize money between them. Hinault won all the intermediate cash prizes until five-time Tour de France winner Eddy Merckx declared that Hinault was included in the pact. His results in his first season were impressive, with a seventh place at Paris–Nice and a victory at the Circuit de la Sarthe, earning him the Promotion Pernod, the prize for the best new professional in France. However, Hinault showed little willingness to learn the basic trades of cycling from Stablinski, often escaping early in the race instead of learning how to ride inside the peloton. Together with Stablinski entering Hinault into too many races, this led to conflicts between them.
For 1976, Hinault stayed with Gitane, as former professional Cyrille Guimard, who had just retired from cycling, took over the team and became directeur sportif. Guimard and Hinault got along well, and the latter was kept out of the high-profile races for 1976, instead focussing on a steady improvement in lesser known races such as Paris–Camembert, which he won. That year, Guimard spurred Lucien Van Impe to his only win in the Tour de France. Hinault's progress was visible, with a second consecutive victory at the Circuit de la Sarthe, a third place at the Grand Prix du Midi Libre and a win at the Tour de l'Aude, ensuring him the Prestige Pernod, the award for the best French rider of the season. In total, Hinault won 15 races in 1976. At the end of the year, he came sixth at the World Championship Road Race, being beaten to the line for fifth by Eddy Merckx.
During the spring classics season of 1977, Hinault left the Tour of Flanders before it had even started, not wanting to risk his health in a rain- and cold-affected race on cobbled roads. This drew him a formal warning by Guimard for his conduct. Three weeks later, Hinault won Gent–Wevelgem in a solo effort after an attack from the finish. Five days later, at Liège–Bastogne–Liège, Hinault followed an attack by favourite André Dierickx, and beat him in the two-man sprint to take his first victory in one of cycling's "monuments". In accordance with Guimard's plan to build Hinault up slowly, he did not enter the Tour de France. He did however start the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, seen as the most important preparation event for the Tour. While in the leader's jersey on the penultimate stage to Grenoble, Hinault attacked up the Col de Porte, leading Van Impe and Bernard Thévenet by 1:30 minutes when crossing the summit. On the descent, he misjudged a hairpin corner and crashed down the mountainside. A tree saved him from falling far down, while his bike was lost. Hinault then climbed back onto the road, took a new bike and without showing any hesitation, continued on. Up the finishing climb in Grenoble, he briefly dismounted, still shocked from the near-death experience and pushed his bike for about , before remounting and winning the stage eighty seconds ahead of Van Impe. This also secured him the overall victory ahead of eventual Tour winner Thévenet.
This incident was mentioned from a semi-pro rider's perspective in the Tim Krabbé book De Renner (The Rider) when the main character is about to descend a Col in the Tour de Mont Aigoual:
At the end of the season, Hinault won the Grand Prix des Nations, an individual time trial, with a substantial margin of 3:15 minutes ahead of favourite Joop Zoetemelk.
1978–1983: Renault
1978: Grand Tour breakthrough
At the beginning of 1978, the Gitane team was taken over by its parent company, the state-owned car manufacturer Renault, becoming . Hinault started the season with second place at Paris–Nice. He then competed in the Critérium National de la Route. Trailing Raymond Martin by more than two minutes before the final time trial, he made up his significant deficit and won the event.
Hinault then competed in his first three-week Grand Tour, at the Vuelta a España, then held at the end of April. He won the opening prologue time trial in Gijón, but then let the leadership switch to Ferdi Van Den Haute. He won stage 11b, a mountain time trial in Barcelona, and regained the race lead the next day, when he won the stage to La Tossa de Montbui after an escape with teammate Jean-René Bernaudeau. He ensured his overall victory by winning stage 18 to Amurrio. On that stage, he bridged over to escapee Andrés Gandarias, who had earlier asked for Hinault's permission to attack. Hinault claimed to have been annoyed into attacking by one of Gandarias's teammates and offered to carry him to the finish. However, the Spaniard was unable to follow his wheel, saying: "This guy has made me suffer like a dog, he's tougher than Eddy Merckx!" In all, Hinault won five stages of the Vuelta. A sixth win was prevented on the final day of the Grand Tour, on which a short time trial was raced in the afternoon, held at San Sebastián in the Basque Country. The stage was marred by protests and obstructions by supporters of the Basque separatist group ETA. Hinault himself had sand thrown into his eyes, but won the stage nonetheless, only to find that the results would not count due to the surrounding circumstances.
Ahead of his first Tour de France, Hinault raced in the Tour de Suisse, where he did not feature prominently. He then travelled to the French Road Race Championship, held at Sarrebourg. He launched an escape, on which he rode solo, leading the rest of his competitors by more than six minutes by the start of the last lap. However, he had forgotten to eat enough and suffered from hypoglycemia during the last part of the race, crossing the finish line to take the title severely weakened. His victory allowed him to wear the French tricolore jersey for the following year.
In the Tour de France, Hinault fell behind early to challenger Zoetemelk when Renault lost two minutes to Mercier during the team time trial. On stage 8, the first longer individual time trial, Hinault gained back 59 seconds on Zoetemelk, while the previous two Tour winners, Van Impe and Thévenet, lost so much time that they were now counted out from chances of an overall win. Hinault rode conservatively in the Pyrenees to stay within striking distance of Zoetemelk. On stage 12a, from Tarbes to Valence-d'Agen, he firmly imprinted his authority on the race, although not by riding. The riders had been complaining about split stages, where more than one would be held on one day, as was the case on 12July. When they reached the finishing town, they dismounted their bikes and walked to the finish line in protest. Hinault was chosen by his fellow competitors to be the spokesperson of the strike. Journalist Felix Magowan wrote: "Before today's strike, people were asking if the Tour had a boss. Today that was answered. His name is Hinault." Following the strike, Hinault had trouble sleeping and was caught out the next day, a stage in the Massif Central, forcing his team into a long chase. Thus weakened and slowed by spectator interference at a bike change, he lost 1:40 minutes to Zoetemelk on the following day's uphill time trial. Hinault countered the next day en route to Saint-Étienne during stage 15, breaking away with Hennie Kuiper. By the finish, the two had been reeled back, but Hinault contested the finishing sprint, winning the stage. The following day, stage 16 to Alpe d'Huez, ended with Zoetemelk, Hinault and the temporary leader of the general classification and thus yellow jersey wearer Michel Pollentier separated by only 18 seconds. However, Pollentier was disqualified for trying to cheat his doping test, leaving Hinault and Zoetemelk to fight out the overall victory. On the final mountain stage, Hinault put his rival under pressure, but was unable to make up any time. He then clinched the yellow jersey in the final time trial, gaining more than four minutes to win his first Tour de France with an advantage of 3:56 minutes. Following his Tour win, he finished fifth at the World Championships, before once more winning the Grand Prix des Nations, this time ahead of Francesco Moser.
1979: Second Tour victory and Classics success
The 1979 season started slowly for an off-form Hinault. He bounced back at the La Flèche Wallonne classic in April, when he caught up to a breakaway by Giuseppe Saronni and Bernt Johansson, outsprinting the former to win the race. He then beat Zoetemelk to victory at the Dauphiné Libéré, winning four stages. He won the race by over ten minutes, also taking the points and mountain classifications. In the coming weeks ahead of the Tour, he proved his willingness to assist his teammates to ensure their loyalty, helping Lucien Didier win the Tour de Luxembourg and finishing second behind Roland Berland in the National Championship race.
The Tour de France was again a two-way battle between Hinault and Zoetemelk. In the prologue, Hinault was fourth, on the same time as the Dutchman. The mountain stages started immediately thereafter, with Hinault winning the mountain time trial on stage 2, taking over the yellow jersey. He also won the next stage into Pau. The team time trial on stage4 again went Zoetemelk's way, as his Mercier team took back 41 seconds on Hinault's Renault squad. Zoetemelk now was only 12 seconds behind Hinault. On stage 8, in another team time trial, Renault fared much better, and Hinault extended his advantage to 1:18 minutes. The next day however, on a stage containing cobbled sections, Hinault suffered two punctures, losing almost four minutes and the race lead to Zoetemelk. He took back 36 seconds on the time trial in Brussels on stage 11 before regaining the race lead after another time trial, uphill to Avoriaz on stage 15. At this stage, he led Zoetemelk by 1:48 minutes, with third-placed Kuiper already more than 12 minutes behind. Hinault gained another minute on stage 16, before Zoetemelk regained 47 seconds up Alpe d'Huez three days later. The final time trial of the Tour went Hinault's way once again, extending his advantage by a further 69 seconds. He also took the next stage in a slightly uphill sprint finish. On the final stage towards the Champs-Élysées in Paris, traditionally a ceremonious affair without attacks, Zoetemelk and Hinault broke away, with both gapping the field and Hinault taking another stage victory. Zoetemelk finished 3:07 minutes behind Hinault, but then had ten minutes added to his time for failing a doping test. The next finisher, Joaquim Agostinho, was almost half an hour behind the winner.
Towards the end of the season, Hinault won his second cycling monument, the Giro di Lombardia. He had escaped from the field from the finish, but was later joined by some other riders. Only Silvano Contini finished with him, with the next group more than three minutes behind. The victory also secured that Hinault won his first of four consecutive Super Prestige Pernod International competitions, the award handed to the best rider of the season.
1980: Attempt at the Triple Crown
As was often the case, Hinault started the season slowly in 1980, withdrawing from Paris–Nice. He then entered Paris–Roubaix, partly to prepare for the cobbled sections in the upcoming Tour de France, and finished fourth. A week later, he scored one of his most memorable wins at Liège–Bastogne–Liège. As soon as the riders left Liège, snow began to fall, soon turning into a blizzard. Hinault wanted to abandon, as had many others, including all but one of his teammates. He was convinced to carry on until the feeding station at Bastogne, where the snow had turned into rain. Only 21 riders were left by this point. Hinault removed his rain cape and attacked, catching up to the leaders and carried on by himself, winning with a margin of almost ten minutes ahead of Kuiper. The victory came at a price, as his right index and middle fingers took weeks to recover from frostbite, and caused him pain for several years.
Hinault and Guimard then turned their attention to the only Grand Tour he had not won yet: the Giro d'Italia. They hoped that Hinault would be able to reproduce a feat Eddy Merckx had achieved in 1974, winning the Giro, the Tour and the World Championship in the same year. This is commonly referred to as the Triple Crown of Cycling.
Hinault started the Giro d'Italia as odds-on favourite, pitted against local riders Francesco Moser and Giuseppe Saronni, who had the home crowd on their side. Following a fourth place at the prologue in Genoa, Hinault made a spontaneous visit to Fausto Coppi's home of Castellania, paying respect to the first rider ever to have won Giro and Tour in the same year. On stage 5, a time trial to Pisa, Hinault took over the race leader's pink jersey. He then relinquished his lead to Roberto Visentini, who was not considered to be a contender for the final victory. On stage 14, he attacked when the peloton relaxed after an intermediate sprint, winning the stage ahead of Wladimiro Panizza, who took the race lead. Hinault then made the decisive move of the race on stage 20, when he attacked on the tough climb of the Stelvio Pass. He caught up with his teammate Bernaudeau, and both carried on for the remaining of the stage together. Hinault gifted the stage victory to his teammate, while he clinched the overall victory almost six minutes ahead of Panizza.
In the Tour de France, Hinault was once again set to duel with Joop Zoetemelk, who had moved to the dominant squad. Hinault won the prologue in Frankfurt, Germany, five seconds ahead of Gerrie Knetemann. On stage5 from Liège to Lille, which contained cobbled sections used in Paris–Roubaix, conditions were poor with rain and heavy winds. Hinault called for the field to take a slow tempo, but when Zoetemelk's teammate Jan Raas attacked, he went after him. He eventually found himself in a group with several other riders, while Zoetemelk was distanced. At from the finish, he followed another attack from Kuiper and won the sprint at the line. The next stage was set to contain more cobbled roads, but on Hinault's protest, most of the worst parts were taken out. Hinault had however suffered damage to his left knee on the stage to Lille. Hinault finished only fifth on stage 11's individual time trial, won by Zoetemelk. While he regained the yellow jersey, Zoetemelk was second, only 21 seconds behind. With his tendinitis worsening, he carried on until the end of stage 12, just before the race was headed for the first high mountains in the Pyrenees. That night, Hinault and Guimard told the race organisers, Jacques Goddet and Félix Lévitan, that he would abandon the race, while still in the lead. He left the race at night, not informing the press, which led to a fallout with the media that took years to recover. In Hinault's absence, Zoetemelk duly won his only Tour de France. Insinuations that Zoetemelk's victory had been a gift through Hinault's absence were countered by Hinault himself: "My problems were of my own making. It is always the absent rider who is at fault. I was absent and he took my place."
Hinault returned from the disappointment of the Tour to start at the World Championship road race, held on a very tough parcours in Sallanches, France, often named the hardest course in the history of the event. Hinault had broken away about from the finish with several riders. On the last lap, he dropped his last companion, Gianbattista Baronchelli, on the steepest part of a climb and soloed to victory. It had been a race of attrition with only 15 out of 107 riders reaching the finish.
1981: Winning a third Tour de France
Hinault had never made his dislike for riding on cobbled roads a secret. The most prominent race of this character, Paris–Roubaix, was met with particular disdain, even though he never finished lower than thirteenth. After the 1980 edition, he had said to organiser Goddet: "You will never see me in this circus again." However, he returned for 1981, saying that he did so out of respect for his stature as World Champion. He suffered seven crashes and tyre punctures, but reached the finish at the velodrome with the lead group, where he outsprinted favourites Roger De Vlaeminck and Moser. One-and-a-half weeks earlier, he had already added a victory at the Amstel Gold Race. Furthermore, he also won the Critérium International and again dominated the Dauphiné Libéré, winning by twelve minutes ahead of Agostinho.
At the Tour de France, Hinault took an early lead by winning the prologue, then relinquished the yellow jersey to Knetemann and later to Phil Anderson. On the time trial to Pau on stage 7, he regained the lead and never lost the jersey, beating Van Impe by almost a quarter of an hour. He won five stages, including all four individual time trials. Amidst media criticism that he was riding too defensively in the mountains, he also took victory in the Alps on a stage to Le Pleynet.
At the World Championship in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Hinault failed to defend his title. Having bridged a two-and-a-half-minute gap to a strong lead group on his own, he came third in the final sprint, behind Freddy Maertens and Saronni.
1982: Achieving the Giro-Tour double
Hinault returned to the Giro in 1982. He looked set for victory after the first two weeks, having taken a significant lead after wins in the stage3 time trial and stage 12 to Campitello Matese. However, on stage 17 to Boario Terme, Guimard and the Renault team misjudged the toughness of the climb and Hinault lost the lead to Silvano Contini. He hit back the next day, winning the stage to Montecampione, turning the race in his favour.
In "his most uneventful Tour", Hinault never looked in trouble on his way to completing the Giro-Tour double at the Tour de France. He won the prologue in Basel, Switzerland, before the lead briefly turned to Ludo Peeters and Phil Anderson. Hinault regained the yellow jersey after the first time trial and won the overall classification easily. He took four stages, including again the final one on the Champs-Élysées, this time from a bunch sprint. His participation in the final-stage sprint was seen as an answer to critics, who had once again lamented that Hinault had ridden the Tour without panache. Zoetemelk was again the runner-up, more than six minutes behind Hinault. Later in the season, Hinault added another victory at the Grand Prix des Nations.
1983: Second Vuelta and the ascent of Fignon
Since 1981, Hinault had been joined at Renault by two young talents, Laurent Fignon and the American Greg LeMond. Both joined Hinault for the Vuelta a España, where he faced stiff competition from local riders like Marino Lejarreta, Julián Gorospe, and Alberto Fernández. Six days before the race started, he had won La Flèche Wallonne for a second time. On stage4 of the Vuelta, Fignon attacked and won, but Lejarreta, the defending champion, had followed him and gained time on Hinault. Hinault came back and took the lead the following day on the mountain stage to Castellar de n'Hug. However, a day later, the Spanish teams jointly attacked and Lejarreta moved ahead of Hinault, who was 22 seconds down. At the uphill time trial at Balneario de Panticosa, he suffered and finished more than two minutes behind Lejarreta. Hinault joined forces with Kuiper and Saronni to attack on stage 10 to Soria, affected by crosswinds. He was in trouble again on stage 14, affected by returning pain in his knee; at one point he trailed his rivals by more than five minutes, but regained contact. In the time trial around Valladolid on stage 15b, Hinault won, now just ten seconds behind Gorospe, the new leader in the general classification. The following day brought the last mountain stage and Renault put pressure on Gorospe from early on. Hinault, joined by Lejarreta and Vicente Belda, escaped for , distancing Gorospe by over twenty minutes with Hinault taking victory in Ávila, sealing his second Vuelta victory. Due to the tightly fought battle between Hinault and his Spanish competitors, the 1983 race is described on the Vuelta's website as "one of the most beautiful and spectacular" editions.
During the Vuelta, Hinault's tendinitis returned. After the race, he made two failed attempts to get back into racing, but eventually announced that he would miss the Tour de France. In his absence, teammate Fignon won the event on his first attempt. Hinault tried another comeback at a post-Tour criterium, but the pain returned and he did not race for the remainder of the season.
1984–1986: La Vie Claire
1984: Defeat at Fignon's hands
By 1983, the relationship between Hinault and Guimard had deteriorated to a point where the former described their relationship as "war". Hinault forced a choice on the Renault team to either release him or oust Guimard. The team decided to stick with their directeur sportif, leading Hinault to search for a new team. He joined forces with businessman Bernard Tapie to form the new squad. Their directeur sportif became Swiss coach Paul Köchli, who had made a name for himself with innovative and effective training methods, leaving Hinault a lot of freedom while at the same time scientifically measuring his progress. As part of his connection with Tapie, Hinault also contributed to the development of the clipless pedal, created by Look, another company owned by Tapie.
Hinault returned to racing at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, where he won the final stage. He then took victory at the Four Days of Dunkirk. But his spring campaign lacked major successes. At the Dauphiné Libéré, he came second to Martín Ramírez, who later claimed that Hinault and his team had tried to intimidate him during the final stage of the race. A memorable episode occurred during the Paris–Nice, a race he finished third overall. During stage5 to La Seyne-sur-Mer, Hinault was descending in a lead group with several other favourites. As they reached the valley, the road was blocked by protesters, unhappy with the announced closure of a dockyard at La Ciotat. While the other riders stopped, he drove into the group head-on, dismounted, and punched the protester closest to him. In the ensuing fist fight, Hinault suffered a broken rib.
The Tour de France was made out to be the big duel between Hinault and Fignon, who had just won the French National Championship. Hinault won the prologue, but Renault took the team time trial, 55 seconds ahead of La Vie Claire. He lost another 49 seconds to Fignon in the first long individual time trial, a discipline he had previously dominated. Following the second time trial, Hinault was only seventh on general classification, two minutes behind his adversary. The next stage led to Alpe d'Huez. Hinault attacked on the Rampe de Laffrey, but Fignon was able to respond. The two exchanged attacks on the way up the climb, but it was in the valley that Hinault was able to draw out a gap of about a minute. On Alpe d'Huez itself, he was first passed by eventual stage winner Luis Herrera. When he started to slow, Fignon caught up to him and eventually dropped Hinault, who lost a further three minutes. He ultimately finished the Tour in second place, a significant ten minutes behind Fignon.
Hinault managed to bounce back from his Tour defeat in the fall. In late September, he took his fifth and final victory at the Grand Prix des Nations, riding the time trial at a then record speed of . Fignon could only manage fourth, more than two minutes behind. Next, he won the Trofeo Baracchi, a two-man time trial, in which he competed with Moser. He then won the Giro di Lombardia for a second time, breaking away from the group of favourites from the finish.
1985: The second Giro-Tour double
For 1985, Greg LeMond switched teams from Renault to join Hinault at La Vie Claire. Together, they entered the Giro d'Italia. During the race, Hinault was met with hostility from the home crowd, who supported local rider Francesco Moser. On the stage 12 time trial, Hinault took the pink jersey and opened the decisive gap to Moser, who would eventually finish second. During the stage however, Hinault was spat at by spectators and almost knocked over, even though his team car rode behind him with the door opened the entire time to ensure that bystanders would have a harder time impeding him. Hinault won his third Giro with a margin of just over a minute.
In the Tour de France, Fignon did not take part due to an Achilles heel injury. Hinault therefore entered the race as the favourite. He took victory in the prologue in his native Brittany. La Vie Claire won the stage3 team time trial by over a minute. The next day, Hinault's teammate Kim Andersen took over the yellow jersey. Hinault supported him over the next days, even going so far as dropping back when Andersen punctured to lead him back into the peloton, showing his loyalty to riders who would later have to assist him. On stage 8, a time trial to Strasbourg, Hinault took back the race lead, winning the stage by more than two minutes ahead of Stephen Roche. While the race travelled through the Alps and in a second time trial, he consolidated his lead, building an advantage of five-and-a-half minutes on LeMond, who was now second overall.
On stage 14 to Saint-Étienne, LeMond finished two minutes ahead of a group containing Hinault. Involved in a crash with other riders, Hinault crossed the finish line with a broken nose. Around the same time, he started to experience symptoms of bronchitis. On stage 17, he showed signs of weakness and was unable to stay with the other leaders on the Col du Tourmalet. LeMond meanwhile followed an attack by Roche, but was forbidden by the team to cooperate to distance Hinault. LeMond would later claim that the team had deceived him by telling him that Hinault was closer behind than he actually was. Hinault eventually finished the stage just over a minute behind LeMond. The time LeMond waited may have been enough so that the two teammates would have contested the Maillot Jaune in the penultimate time trial. In the penultimate day's time trial, LeMond won the stage, but only five seconds ahead of Hinault, not enough to surpass him. This secured Hinault a record-equalling fifth Tour victory, by just under two minutes over his younger teammate. After the finish, he publicly pledged that he would support LeMond's bid for a first Tour victory the following year.
1986: The final season
In January 1986, Hinault was given the Legion of Honour by French president François Mitterrand. He had, already in 1982, announced that he would retire from cycling on his 32nd birthday, in November 1986.
Even though Hinault had pledged support for LeMond for the Tour de France, a lot of public attention was given to the possibility of him winning a record sixth Tour. Their La Vie Claire team was seen as dominant, with Laurent Fignon as the most likely challenger. Hinault finished third in the prologue, two seconds ahead of LeMond and Fignon. In the team time trial on stage 2, Fignon and gained almost two minutes on La Vie Claire, partly due to Hinault deciding that the squad would wait for two struggling riders, Niki Rüttimann and Guido Winterberg. Hinault then won the time trial on stage 9, gaining an additional 44 seconds on LeMond, who suffered a broken wheel and had to change his bike. Meanwhile, Fignon fell behind and later abandoned the race. On stage 12, from Bayonne to Pau, Hinault attacked with Pedro Delgado. The pair gained more than four-and-a-half minutes on LeMond, with Delgado taking the stage win. Hinault was now in the lead of the general classification, 5:25 minutes ahead of LeMond. Even though his lead was significant, he attacked again the following day, on the descent of the Col du Tourmalet, the first climb of the day. By the top of the next climb, the Col d'Aspin, he led the rest of the field by two minutes. However, joint effort behind brought him back before the final ascent up to the ski station of Superbagnères. Hinault then cracked, coming in ninth, 4:39 minutes behind stage winner LeMond. He now led his teammate by only forty seconds in the general classification.
The race then moved over to the Alps. On stage 17, Hinault got left behind on the Col d'Izoard and lost the yellow jersey to LeMond, falling to third in the overall rankings, 2:47 minutes behind his teammate. Stage 18 featured three major climbs, the Col du Galibier, the Croix de Fer and the final ascent up to Alpe d'Huez. Hinault attacked repeatedly, but reached the bottom of Alpe d'Huez with LeMond. He led the way up the climb, lined by approximately 300,000 spectators and crossed the finish line hand in hand with LeMond, in an apparent display of comradery. Urs Zimmermann, who had been second overall at the start of the day, lost more than five minutes. Any signs of appeasement between the rivalling teammates was shattered by Hinault in a television interview shortly after the stage finish, when he declared that the race was not yet over, even though he trailed LeMond by 2:45 minutes.
Stage 20 saw the final time trial and the last chance for Hinault to overcome LeMond's advantage. Aided by a crash from LeMond, Hinault won the stage, but gained back only 25 seconds, conceding defeat after the stage. He lost an additional 52 seconds on stage 21. In his last Tour de France stage into Paris, he took part in the final sprint, taking fourth place. He ended his final Tour de France second overall, 3:10 minutes behind LeMond. He won the mountains classification and was also given the super-combativity award. Hinault's repeated attacks during the race and refusal to concede defeat irritated LeMond, who felt betrayed by Hinault's lack of loyalty.
After the Tour, Hinault won the Coors Classic race in the United States, ahead of LeMond. He rode the World Championships Road Race, held in Colorado Springs. He aimed to win, showing a lot of effort in his preparation. However, he finished the race in 59th place. On 19 September, he won his last competitive race, a criterium in Angers, France. Hinault's retirement from professional cycling on 14 November 1986 was celebrated in Quessoy with a symbolic race of 3,600 riders, a concert and fireworks. A total of 15,000 people attended the event.
Retirement
After his retirement from professional cycling, Hinault moved to his farm and bred dairy cows, assisted by his cousin René, who had become an agricultural engineer. Just two weeks after he ended his career, the Tour de France organisers, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), approached Hinault and invited him to join the race management team. He held several positions, including race regulator and route advisor. After Jean-Marie Leblanc took over the role as general director, Hinault was named the Tour's ambassador. Included in his duties was being present during podium ceremonies. During the podium for stage3 of the 2008 Tour de France, a protester jumped on stage and disturbed proceedings. Hinault leapt forward and shoved him off. He stepped down from the role after the 2016 Tour de France. His role as ASO's brand ambassador was taken over by Stephen Roche, winner of the 1987 Tour de France.
Unlike many of his competitors, Hinault never became a directeur sportif (team manager) after his cycling career. Offers from Bouygues Télécom and a Chinese investor in the mid-2000s fell through. He was the selector of the French national team from 1988 to 1993. Hinault took a role as "patron" with the British squad for the 2014 season. In June 2020, Hinault became part of a group of businessmen investing into saving the cycling equipment company Mavic, who are a long-time sponsor of the Tour de France. Mavic was put into receivership earlier in the year due to the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Public image and riding style
Riding style and legacy
During his active career, Hinault was known as the patron of the field, meaning the rider with the highest authority. His biographer William Fotheringham has described him as "the last of the sport's patrons". In this role, Hinault would use his influence with race organisers, control the pace of the peloton, and allow or refuse other riders the chance to attack. The riders' strike at Valence d'Agen in the 1978 Tour is cited as the first instance in which Hinault assumed this role. His fellow riders stated that he, even though he did not talk much, was able to exert a high amount of certainty and therefore strength, which brought him respect and sometimes fear from his competitors. To signal his authority, Hinault often symbolically rode at the front of the field, instead of in the slipstream of his teammates. His riding style has been described as "fighting, full of aggression", and he stated that when he did not feel good in a race, his reaction would be to attack. Hinault described his own role as follows:
Hinault was however not always successful in his endeavours. During the 1980 Tour de France, he sought to remove the rule which excluded riders outside the time limit on each stage. He urged the riders to protest and ride slowly, but some did not follow his example, forcing Hinault to chase them down before he eventually left the race. His enigmatic exit from the 1980 Tour created tensions with the press that would persist during the rest of his active career. By 1982, debates about his personality started to appear more and more in the media. Particular interest was given to an alleged lack of panache during his Tour wins and his behaviour towards fans and officials, whom he treated with open disgust. Fotheringham suggests that Hinault only regained popularity with the French public after his knee problems and his Tour defeat in 1984. Fellow racer Robert Millar suggested that in 1986 in particular, Hinault attempted to win over the French public by riding aggressively.
Hinault was not known to particularly enjoy going on training rides, unless he was specifically preparing for an event. He would often greet his training partners in a night gown when they arrived on time for training or have an easy day of training that included stops at a bakery for cake. His distaste for training became even more evident in the winter, when he would gain a lot of weight. Laurent Fignon described the first training camps of the year as follows: "He looked as if he had been inflated. If you didn't know the Badger you would wonder how long it would take for him to get back to what he had been. You would be making a huge mistake." Hinault was capable of suffering through the training camp and returning to winning form within a month. Unlike a rider like Eddy Merckx, Hinault would not aim to win every race he entered. Millar described his approach as such: "Hinault either cared or he didn't. When he didn't care about winning he'd bumble round and hurt you now and again just to remind you he was there."
With a résumé of victories that includes all three Grand Tours (all of them more than once), the World Road Championships and a number of classics, Hinault has often been cited among the greatest cyclists of all time. The Historical Dictionary of Cycling describes him as "one of the best riders ever". Comparisons are often drawn with Eddy Merckx, against whom Hinault rode at the beginning of his career. Lucien Van Impe commented: "Merckx was the greatest, but Bernard [Hinault] was the most impressive." A study conducted in 2006, ranking Tour de France riders from 1953 to 2004 by different performance indicators, put Hinault as the top Tour rider of that period, ahead of Merckx and Lance Armstrong.
Nickname
Hinault was nicknamed le blaireau in French, a term that can be translated into English as either "the shaving brush" or "the badger". According to Fotheringham, the nickname originates from Hinault's early training partners, Maurice Le Guilloux and Georges Talbourdet, who would use the term to tease the young rider. Le Guilloux used it once in front of Pierre Chany, a writer for L'Équipe, and the name stuck. According to Hinault himself, the term in the first place was supposed to mean no more than "mate" or "buddy". However, Hinault later embraced the association with the wild animal. In 2003, he commented: "A badger is a beautiful thing. When it's hunted it goes into its sett and waits. When it comes out again, it attacks. That's the reason for my nickname. When I'm annoyed I go home, you don't see me for a month. When I come out again, I win." Hinault, as early as 1983, owned a stuffed badger to demonstrate his association with the animal.
Stance on doping
Hinault never tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs during his professional career and was never implicated in any doping practices. He did, however, lead a riders' protest during a criterium race in Callac in 1982 against the sudden introduction of doping controls. He was handed a one-month suspended ban and fined CHF 1,110, though the penalty was never enforced.
Hinault has been outspoken about several prominent doping cases in the past years. In 2013, he heavily criticised French senators for revealing the results of tests conducted in 2004 on samples from the 1998 Tour de France. He called the initiative "bullshit" and urged lawmakers "to stop bringing out the dead", claiming they "want to kill the Tour". In the same year, he reacted to comments made by Lance Armstrong, a rider stripped of seven Tour victories due to doping offences. Armstrong suggested that it would be impossible to win the Tour de France without performance-enhancing substances. To counter this claim, Hinault replied: "He must not know what it was like to ride without doping." Armstrong later clarified that he had spoken about the time when he was riding (1999–2005). In early 2018, Hinault also spoke out about the adverse analytical result for salbutamol of four-time Tour winner Chris Froome at the 2017 Vuelta a España. He criticised Froome for taking part in the 2018 Giro d'Italia while the investigation was still ongoing. In addition, he commented that Froome could not be "listed among the cycling greats". Froome would win the Giro and become the first rider since Hinault to hold all three Grand Tour Jerseys at once. Before the 2018 Tour de France, with Froome's case still ongoing, he urged the other riders to strike in protest if Froome competed. Froome was later cleared of the charges and started the Tour where he finished third behind teammate Geraint Thomas and Tom Dumoulin.
Career achievements
Major results
Source:
1972
1st Road race, National Junior Road Championships
1974
5th Overall Étoile des Espoirs
1975
1st Individual pursuit, National Track Championships
1st Overall Circuit de la Sarthe
6th Overall Tour de l'Oise
6th Grand Prix des Nations
7th Overall Paris–Nice
1976
1st Individual pursuit, National Track Championships
1st Overall Circuit de la Sarthe
1st Stage 3a (ITT)
1st Overall Tour du Limousin
1st Stage 1
1st Overall Tour de l'Aude
1st Stage 1
1st Overall Tour d'Indre-et-Loire
1st Stage 2b (ITT)
1st Paris–Camembert
1st Stage 2 Étoile des Espoirs
2nd Overall À travers Lausanne
3rd Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre
4th Grand Prix Pino Cerami
6th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
6th Grand Prix des Nations
10th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
1977
1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Stages 1 & 5
1st Overall Tour du Limousin
1st Stage 1
1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège
1st Gent–Wevelgem
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Stage 2b (ITT) Étoile des Espoirs
2nd Overall Tour Cycliste du Tarn
1st Mountains classification
2nd Overall Tour d'Indre-et-Loire
1st Stage 2b
3rd Paris–Brussels
4th Overall Tour de l'Aude
6th Overall Paris–Nice
6th GP Ouest–France
7th Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre
8th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
10th Grand Prix d'Isbergues
1978
1st Road race, National Road Championships
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Stages 8 (ITT), 15 & 20 (ITT)
1st Overall Vuelta a España
1st Prologue, Stages 11b (ITT), 12, 14 & 18
1st Overall Critérium International
1st Stage 3 (ITT)
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Boucles de l'Aulne
2nd Overall Paris–Nice
2nd Overall À travers Lausanne
3rd Giro di Lombardia
5th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
9th Overall Tour Cycliste du Tarn
1979
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Points classification
1st Stages 2 (ITT), 3, 11 (ITT), 15 (ITT), 21 (ITT), 23 & 24
1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Stages 3, 5b (ITT), 6 & 7b (ITT)
1st Overall Tour de l'Oise
1st Prologue
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Giro di Lombardia
1st La Flèche Wallonne
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Boucles de l'Aulne
1st
Étoile des Espoirs
1st Stages 3b (ITT) & 4
2nd Overall Critérium International
1st Stage 3 (ITT)
2nd Overall Tour de Luxembourg
1st Stage 3
2nd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
3rd Overall Tour Cycliste du Tarn
3rd Overall À travers Lausanne
3rd Critérium des As
6th Overall Paris–Nice
6th Paris–Tours
7th Milan–San Remo
8th Gent–Wevelgem
8th Grand Prix de Wallonie
1980
1st Road race, UCI Road World Championships
1st Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Stage 14
Tour de France
1st Prologue, Stages 4 (ITT) & 5
Held after Prologue, Stage 1a & Stages 11–12
1st Overall Tour de Romandie
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
3rd La Flèche Wallonne
4th Paris–Roubaix
5th Amstel Gold Race
1981
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Combination classification
1st Prologue, Stages 6 (ITT), 14 (ITT), 18 & 20 (ITT)
Overall Combativity award
1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Overall Critérium International
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Paris–Roubaix
1st Amstel Gold Race
3rd Road race, UCI Road World Championships
1982
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Combination classification
1st Prologue, Stages 14 (ITT), 19 (ITT) & 21
1st Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Prologue (TTT), Stages 3 (ITT), 12, 18, & 22 (ITT)
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Overall Tour de Luxembourg
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise
1st Critérium des As
9th Paris–Roubaix
1983
1st Overall Vuelta a España
1st Stages 15b (ITT) & 17
1st La Flèche Wallonne
1st Grand Prix Pino Cerami
1984
1st Giro di Lombardia
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
1st Trofeo Baracchi (with Francesco Moser)
2nd Overall Tour de France
1st Prologue
Held after Prologue
Overall Combativity award
2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
3rd Overall Paris–Nice
4th Züri-Metzgete
1985
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Prologue, Stages 3 (TTT) & 8 (ITT)
1st Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Stage 12 (ITT)
1986
1st Overall Coors Classic
1st Stages 7a & 11a
1st Overall Vuelta Ciclista a la Comunidad Valenciana
1st Trofeo Luis Puig
2nd Overall Tour de France
1st Mountains classification
1st Stages 9 (ITT), 18 & 20 (ITT)
Held after Stages 12–16
Overall Combativity award
General classification results timeline
Source:
Monuments results timeline
Source:
See also
Giro d'Italia records and statistics
List of cycling records
List of French people
List of Giro d'Italia general classification winners
List of Grand Tour general classification winners
List of Tour de France general classification winners
List of Tour de France secondary classification winners
List of Vuelta a España classification winners
List of Vuelta a España general classification winners
Yellow jersey statistics
Notes
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
1954 births
Breton people
French farmers
French Giro d'Italia stage winners
French male cyclists
French Tour de France stage winners
French Vuelta a España stage winners
Giro d'Italia winners
Living people
People from Saint-Brieuc
Tour de France Champs Elysées stage winners
Tour de France prologue winners
Tour de France winners
UCI Road World Champions (elite men)
Vuelta a España winners
Sportspeople from Côtes-d'Armor | 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"
] |
[
"Bernard Hinault",
"1978-1983: Renault",
"What happened in 1978?",
"To prepare for the 1978 Tour de France, Hinault rode his first grand tour, the Vuelta a Espana.",
"What happened during the Tour de France?",
"This tour became a battle with Joop Zoetemelk, Hinault taking the yellow jersey after the final time trial. He was hailed as the next great French cyclist and won",
"What happened after that?",
"At the start of the 1980 season Hinault and Guimard's aim for the season was to win cycling's Triple Crown",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"The following year, 1981, wearing the rainbow jersey, he won Paris-Roubaix and returned to victory in the 1981 Tour and then again in 1982."
] | C_86d5e12f20eb457ca39364108c484eed_1 | Did he win anything else after that? | 5 | in addition to the Tour in 1981 and 1982, did Bernard Hinault win anything else? | Bernard Hinault | To prepare for the 1978 Tour de France, Hinault rode his first grand tour, the Vuelta a Espana. He won and felt ready for his first Tour de France. Before the Tour, he won the national championship, which allowed him to wear the tricolour. This tour became a battle with Joop Zoetemelk, Hinault taking the yellow jersey after the final time trial. He was hailed as the next great French cyclist and won the Tour again in 1979. Once again this Tour proved to be a two man battle between Hinault and Zoetemelk as amazingly they finished nearly a half hour ahead of the rest of the field. In fact the 79 Tour is the only time the Yellow Jersey was challenged on the final stage into Paris as Zoetemelk, trailing Hinault by about three minutes launched an attack early in the stage. Hinault answered and the two riders stayed away from the main field all the way to the finish. In the end Hinault won the stage and the Tour while Zoetemelk was given a ten minute doping penalty. At the start of the 1980 season Hinault and Guimard's aim for the season was to win cycling's Triple Crown - the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France and the world championships, which had previously only been won in the same year by Eddy Merckx. Hinault won that year's Giro, clinching the race with an attack on the Stelvio Pass. In the 1980 Tour de France he abandoned the race while wearing the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification because of a knee injury but he returned to win the world championship in Sallanches that year. The following year, 1981, wearing the rainbow jersey, he won Paris-Roubaix and returned to victory in the 1981 Tour and then again in 1982. He missed the Tour in 1983, again because of knee problems. The organiser, Jacques Goddet, said in his autobiography L'Equipee Belle that Hinault's problems came from pushing gears that were too high. During Hinault's absence, his teammate Laurent Fignon rose to prominence by winning the Tour in 1983. CANNOTANSWER | He missed the Tour in 1983, again because of knee problems. | Bernard Hinault (; born 14 November 1954) is a French former professional road cyclist. With 147 professional victories, including five in the Tour de France, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time.
Hinault started cycling as an amateur in his native Brittany. After a successful amateur career, he signed with the Gitane–Campagnolo team to turn professional in 1975. He took breakthrough victories at both the Liège–Bastogne–Liège classic and the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré stage race in 1977. In 1978, he won his first two Grand Tours: the Vuelta a España and the Tour de France. In the following years, he was the most successful professional cyclist, adding another Tour victory in 1979 and a win at the 1980 Giro d'Italia. Although a knee injury forced him to quit the 1980 Tour de France while in the lead, he returned to win the World Championship road race later in the year. He added another Tour victory in 1981, before completing his first Giro-Tour double in 1982.
After winning the 1983 Vuelta a España, a return of his knee problems forced him to miss that year's Tour de France, won by his teammate Laurent Fignon. Conflict within the Renault team led to his leaving and joining La Vie Claire. With his new team, he raced the 1984 Tour de France, but lost to Fignon by over ten minutes. He recovered the following year, winning another Giro-Tour double with the help of teammate Greg LeMond. This gave him ten grand tour wins in his career, one behind Merckx for the all time record. No rider since Hinault has achieved more than seven.
In the 1986 Tour de France, he engaged in an intra-team rivalry with LeMond, who won his first of three Tours. Hinault retired shortly thereafter. he is the most recent French winner of the Tour de France. After his cycling career, Hinault turned to farming, while fulfilling enforcement duties for the organisers of the Tour de France until 2016.
All through his career, Hinault was known by the nickname le blaireau ("the badger"); he associated himself with the animal due to its aggressive nature, a trait he embodied on the bike. Within the peloton, Hinault assumed the role of patron, exercising authority over races he took part in.
Early life and family
Hinault was born on 14 November 1954 in the Breton village of Yffiniac, the second oldest of four children to Joseph and Lucie Hinault. The family lived in a cottage named La Clôture, built shortly after Hinault was born. His parents were farmers, and the children often had to help out at harvest time. His father later worked as a platelayer for the national rail company SNCF. Hinault was described as a "hyperactive" child, with his mother nicknaming him "little hooligan". Hinault was not a good student, but visited the technical college in Saint-Brieuc for an engineering apprenticeship. He started athletics there, becoming a runner and finishing tenth in the French junior cross-country championship in 1971.
In December 1974, just before turning professional, Hinault married Martine, who he had met at a family wedding the year before. Their first son, Mickael, was born in 1975, with a second, Alexandre, in 1981. Hinault and his family lived in Quessoy, close to Yffiniac, while he was a professional cyclist. After his retirement, they moved to a farm away in Brittany. Hinault had bought the property near Calorguen in 1983. Martine later served as mayor of Calorguen.
Amateur career
Hinault came to cycling through his cousin René, who rode weekend races. At first he had to use the shared family bike, which he rode devotedly. He received his own bike when he was 15 as a reward for passing his school examinations, and used it to travel to college. During the summer of 1971 he made training rides with René, who had problems keeping up with the sixteen-year old Bernard, even though he was an experienced amateur rider. Hinault received his racing licence from Club Olympique Briochin in late April1971 and entered his first race on 2May in Planguenoual. Advised only to try to stay with the other riders, Hinault won the event. Hinault won his first five races, amassing twelve wins from twenty races by the end of the year. Also during the summer of 1971, Hinault was at odds with his father about his choice to pursue cycling as a career. Joseph Hinault relented only after his son ran away from home for three days to stay with his cousins, sleeping on straw in the barn.
For 1972, Hinault was allowed to race with the over-18s. At a race in Hillion, he and René escaped from the field and reached the finish alone. They crossed the line together to share the victory, to the dismay of the race organisers. The young Hinault was heavily influenced by his trainer at the Club Olympique Briochin, Robert Le Roux, who had earlier worked with 1965 World Champion Tom Simpson. Hinault won nineteen races in his second season as an amateur, including the national junior championship against opposition a year older than him, such as future professional Bernard Vallet. He was conscripted into the military at age 18, and did not race throughout 1973. He was unable to join the army's training centre for young athletes and instead served in Sissonne with the 21st Marine Infantry Regiment. Returning to competition overweight, Hinault managed to win his first race of 1974. This was his last season as an amateur and again was highly successful, including a victory in his home town of Yffiniac towards the end of the year, where an alliance formed by four other riders was unable to hold him back. He also competed in track cycling, winning the national pursuit championship. On the road, he took part in the Étoile des Espoirs, a race open to amateurs and young professionals. Hinault finished fifth overall, and second on the time trial stage behind reigning pursuit world champion Roy Schuiten. Towards the end of the season, Hinault turned down an offer to race with the prestigious Athletic Club de Boulogne-Billancourt, instead deciding to turn professional in 1975.
Professional career
1975–1977: Gitane
In January 1975, Hinault turned professional with the Gitane–Campagnolo team, run by former World Champion Jean Stablinski, on a lean wage of 2,500francs per month. The decision to turn professional relatively early was in part taken as, had Hinault raced the 1975 season as an amateur, he would have likely been prevented by the French cycling federation from turning professional before the 1976 Summer Olympics to be part of the French team there. Early on, he showed no interest in adhering to the unwritten rules of the peloton, whereby younger riders were expected to show respect towards older ones. At a criterium race in August1975 he went up against a coalition of senior riders, who had decided to divide the prize money between them. Hinault won all the intermediate cash prizes until five-time Tour de France winner Eddy Merckx declared that Hinault was included in the pact. His results in his first season were impressive, with a seventh place at Paris–Nice and a victory at the Circuit de la Sarthe, earning him the Promotion Pernod, the prize for the best new professional in France. However, Hinault showed little willingness to learn the basic trades of cycling from Stablinski, often escaping early in the race instead of learning how to ride inside the peloton. Together with Stablinski entering Hinault into too many races, this led to conflicts between them.
For 1976, Hinault stayed with Gitane, as former professional Cyrille Guimard, who had just retired from cycling, took over the team and became directeur sportif. Guimard and Hinault got along well, and the latter was kept out of the high-profile races for 1976, instead focussing on a steady improvement in lesser known races such as Paris–Camembert, which he won. That year, Guimard spurred Lucien Van Impe to his only win in the Tour de France. Hinault's progress was visible, with a second consecutive victory at the Circuit de la Sarthe, a third place at the Grand Prix du Midi Libre and a win at the Tour de l'Aude, ensuring him the Prestige Pernod, the award for the best French rider of the season. In total, Hinault won 15 races in 1976. At the end of the year, he came sixth at the World Championship Road Race, being beaten to the line for fifth by Eddy Merckx.
During the spring classics season of 1977, Hinault left the Tour of Flanders before it had even started, not wanting to risk his health in a rain- and cold-affected race on cobbled roads. This drew him a formal warning by Guimard for his conduct. Three weeks later, Hinault won Gent–Wevelgem in a solo effort after an attack from the finish. Five days later, at Liège–Bastogne–Liège, Hinault followed an attack by favourite André Dierickx, and beat him in the two-man sprint to take his first victory in one of cycling's "monuments". In accordance with Guimard's plan to build Hinault up slowly, he did not enter the Tour de France. He did however start the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, seen as the most important preparation event for the Tour. While in the leader's jersey on the penultimate stage to Grenoble, Hinault attacked up the Col de Porte, leading Van Impe and Bernard Thévenet by 1:30 minutes when crossing the summit. On the descent, he misjudged a hairpin corner and crashed down the mountainside. A tree saved him from falling far down, while his bike was lost. Hinault then climbed back onto the road, took a new bike and without showing any hesitation, continued on. Up the finishing climb in Grenoble, he briefly dismounted, still shocked from the near-death experience and pushed his bike for about , before remounting and winning the stage eighty seconds ahead of Van Impe. This also secured him the overall victory ahead of eventual Tour winner Thévenet.
This incident was mentioned from a semi-pro rider's perspective in the Tim Krabbé book De Renner (The Rider) when the main character is about to descend a Col in the Tour de Mont Aigoual:
At the end of the season, Hinault won the Grand Prix des Nations, an individual time trial, with a substantial margin of 3:15 minutes ahead of favourite Joop Zoetemelk.
1978–1983: Renault
1978: Grand Tour breakthrough
At the beginning of 1978, the Gitane team was taken over by its parent company, the state-owned car manufacturer Renault, becoming . Hinault started the season with second place at Paris–Nice. He then competed in the Critérium National de la Route. Trailing Raymond Martin by more than two minutes before the final time trial, he made up his significant deficit and won the event.
Hinault then competed in his first three-week Grand Tour, at the Vuelta a España, then held at the end of April. He won the opening prologue time trial in Gijón, but then let the leadership switch to Ferdi Van Den Haute. He won stage 11b, a mountain time trial in Barcelona, and regained the race lead the next day, when he won the stage to La Tossa de Montbui after an escape with teammate Jean-René Bernaudeau. He ensured his overall victory by winning stage 18 to Amurrio. On that stage, he bridged over to escapee Andrés Gandarias, who had earlier asked for Hinault's permission to attack. Hinault claimed to have been annoyed into attacking by one of Gandarias's teammates and offered to carry him to the finish. However, the Spaniard was unable to follow his wheel, saying: "This guy has made me suffer like a dog, he's tougher than Eddy Merckx!" In all, Hinault won five stages of the Vuelta. A sixth win was prevented on the final day of the Grand Tour, on which a short time trial was raced in the afternoon, held at San Sebastián in the Basque Country. The stage was marred by protests and obstructions by supporters of the Basque separatist group ETA. Hinault himself had sand thrown into his eyes, but won the stage nonetheless, only to find that the results would not count due to the surrounding circumstances.
Ahead of his first Tour de France, Hinault raced in the Tour de Suisse, where he did not feature prominently. He then travelled to the French Road Race Championship, held at Sarrebourg. He launched an escape, on which he rode solo, leading the rest of his competitors by more than six minutes by the start of the last lap. However, he had forgotten to eat enough and suffered from hypoglycemia during the last part of the race, crossing the finish line to take the title severely weakened. His victory allowed him to wear the French tricolore jersey for the following year.
In the Tour de France, Hinault fell behind early to challenger Zoetemelk when Renault lost two minutes to Mercier during the team time trial. On stage 8, the first longer individual time trial, Hinault gained back 59 seconds on Zoetemelk, while the previous two Tour winners, Van Impe and Thévenet, lost so much time that they were now counted out from chances of an overall win. Hinault rode conservatively in the Pyrenees to stay within striking distance of Zoetemelk. On stage 12a, from Tarbes to Valence-d'Agen, he firmly imprinted his authority on the race, although not by riding. The riders had been complaining about split stages, where more than one would be held on one day, as was the case on 12July. When they reached the finishing town, they dismounted their bikes and walked to the finish line in protest. Hinault was chosen by his fellow competitors to be the spokesperson of the strike. Journalist Felix Magowan wrote: "Before today's strike, people were asking if the Tour had a boss. Today that was answered. His name is Hinault." Following the strike, Hinault had trouble sleeping and was caught out the next day, a stage in the Massif Central, forcing his team into a long chase. Thus weakened and slowed by spectator interference at a bike change, he lost 1:40 minutes to Zoetemelk on the following day's uphill time trial. Hinault countered the next day en route to Saint-Étienne during stage 15, breaking away with Hennie Kuiper. By the finish, the two had been reeled back, but Hinault contested the finishing sprint, winning the stage. The following day, stage 16 to Alpe d'Huez, ended with Zoetemelk, Hinault and the temporary leader of the general classification and thus yellow jersey wearer Michel Pollentier separated by only 18 seconds. However, Pollentier was disqualified for trying to cheat his doping test, leaving Hinault and Zoetemelk to fight out the overall victory. On the final mountain stage, Hinault put his rival under pressure, but was unable to make up any time. He then clinched the yellow jersey in the final time trial, gaining more than four minutes to win his first Tour de France with an advantage of 3:56 minutes. Following his Tour win, he finished fifth at the World Championships, before once more winning the Grand Prix des Nations, this time ahead of Francesco Moser.
1979: Second Tour victory and Classics success
The 1979 season started slowly for an off-form Hinault. He bounced back at the La Flèche Wallonne classic in April, when he caught up to a breakaway by Giuseppe Saronni and Bernt Johansson, outsprinting the former to win the race. He then beat Zoetemelk to victory at the Dauphiné Libéré, winning four stages. He won the race by over ten minutes, also taking the points and mountain classifications. In the coming weeks ahead of the Tour, he proved his willingness to assist his teammates to ensure their loyalty, helping Lucien Didier win the Tour de Luxembourg and finishing second behind Roland Berland in the National Championship race.
The Tour de France was again a two-way battle between Hinault and Zoetemelk. In the prologue, Hinault was fourth, on the same time as the Dutchman. The mountain stages started immediately thereafter, with Hinault winning the mountain time trial on stage 2, taking over the yellow jersey. He also won the next stage into Pau. The team time trial on stage4 again went Zoetemelk's way, as his Mercier team took back 41 seconds on Hinault's Renault squad. Zoetemelk now was only 12 seconds behind Hinault. On stage 8, in another team time trial, Renault fared much better, and Hinault extended his advantage to 1:18 minutes. The next day however, on a stage containing cobbled sections, Hinault suffered two punctures, losing almost four minutes and the race lead to Zoetemelk. He took back 36 seconds on the time trial in Brussels on stage 11 before regaining the race lead after another time trial, uphill to Avoriaz on stage 15. At this stage, he led Zoetemelk by 1:48 minutes, with third-placed Kuiper already more than 12 minutes behind. Hinault gained another minute on stage 16, before Zoetemelk regained 47 seconds up Alpe d'Huez three days later. The final time trial of the Tour went Hinault's way once again, extending his advantage by a further 69 seconds. He also took the next stage in a slightly uphill sprint finish. On the final stage towards the Champs-Élysées in Paris, traditionally a ceremonious affair without attacks, Zoetemelk and Hinault broke away, with both gapping the field and Hinault taking another stage victory. Zoetemelk finished 3:07 minutes behind Hinault, but then had ten minutes added to his time for failing a doping test. The next finisher, Joaquim Agostinho, was almost half an hour behind the winner.
Towards the end of the season, Hinault won his second cycling monument, the Giro di Lombardia. He had escaped from the field from the finish, but was later joined by some other riders. Only Silvano Contini finished with him, with the next group more than three minutes behind. The victory also secured that Hinault won his first of four consecutive Super Prestige Pernod International competitions, the award handed to the best rider of the season.
1980: Attempt at the Triple Crown
As was often the case, Hinault started the season slowly in 1980, withdrawing from Paris–Nice. He then entered Paris–Roubaix, partly to prepare for the cobbled sections in the upcoming Tour de France, and finished fourth. A week later, he scored one of his most memorable wins at Liège–Bastogne–Liège. As soon as the riders left Liège, snow began to fall, soon turning into a blizzard. Hinault wanted to abandon, as had many others, including all but one of his teammates. He was convinced to carry on until the feeding station at Bastogne, where the snow had turned into rain. Only 21 riders were left by this point. Hinault removed his rain cape and attacked, catching up to the leaders and carried on by himself, winning with a margin of almost ten minutes ahead of Kuiper. The victory came at a price, as his right index and middle fingers took weeks to recover from frostbite, and caused him pain for several years.
Hinault and Guimard then turned their attention to the only Grand Tour he had not won yet: the Giro d'Italia. They hoped that Hinault would be able to reproduce a feat Eddy Merckx had achieved in 1974, winning the Giro, the Tour and the World Championship in the same year. This is commonly referred to as the Triple Crown of Cycling.
Hinault started the Giro d'Italia as odds-on favourite, pitted against local riders Francesco Moser and Giuseppe Saronni, who had the home crowd on their side. Following a fourth place at the prologue in Genoa, Hinault made a spontaneous visit to Fausto Coppi's home of Castellania, paying respect to the first rider ever to have won Giro and Tour in the same year. On stage 5, a time trial to Pisa, Hinault took over the race leader's pink jersey. He then relinquished his lead to Roberto Visentini, who was not considered to be a contender for the final victory. On stage 14, he attacked when the peloton relaxed after an intermediate sprint, winning the stage ahead of Wladimiro Panizza, who took the race lead. Hinault then made the decisive move of the race on stage 20, when he attacked on the tough climb of the Stelvio Pass. He caught up with his teammate Bernaudeau, and both carried on for the remaining of the stage together. Hinault gifted the stage victory to his teammate, while he clinched the overall victory almost six minutes ahead of Panizza.
In the Tour de France, Hinault was once again set to duel with Joop Zoetemelk, who had moved to the dominant squad. Hinault won the prologue in Frankfurt, Germany, five seconds ahead of Gerrie Knetemann. On stage5 from Liège to Lille, which contained cobbled sections used in Paris–Roubaix, conditions were poor with rain and heavy winds. Hinault called for the field to take a slow tempo, but when Zoetemelk's teammate Jan Raas attacked, he went after him. He eventually found himself in a group with several other riders, while Zoetemelk was distanced. At from the finish, he followed another attack from Kuiper and won the sprint at the line. The next stage was set to contain more cobbled roads, but on Hinault's protest, most of the worst parts were taken out. Hinault had however suffered damage to his left knee on the stage to Lille. Hinault finished only fifth on stage 11's individual time trial, won by Zoetemelk. While he regained the yellow jersey, Zoetemelk was second, only 21 seconds behind. With his tendinitis worsening, he carried on until the end of stage 12, just before the race was headed for the first high mountains in the Pyrenees. That night, Hinault and Guimard told the race organisers, Jacques Goddet and Félix Lévitan, that he would abandon the race, while still in the lead. He left the race at night, not informing the press, which led to a fallout with the media that took years to recover. In Hinault's absence, Zoetemelk duly won his only Tour de France. Insinuations that Zoetemelk's victory had been a gift through Hinault's absence were countered by Hinault himself: "My problems were of my own making. It is always the absent rider who is at fault. I was absent and he took my place."
Hinault returned from the disappointment of the Tour to start at the World Championship road race, held on a very tough parcours in Sallanches, France, often named the hardest course in the history of the event. Hinault had broken away about from the finish with several riders. On the last lap, he dropped his last companion, Gianbattista Baronchelli, on the steepest part of a climb and soloed to victory. It had been a race of attrition with only 15 out of 107 riders reaching the finish.
1981: Winning a third Tour de France
Hinault had never made his dislike for riding on cobbled roads a secret. The most prominent race of this character, Paris–Roubaix, was met with particular disdain, even though he never finished lower than thirteenth. After the 1980 edition, he had said to organiser Goddet: "You will never see me in this circus again." However, he returned for 1981, saying that he did so out of respect for his stature as World Champion. He suffered seven crashes and tyre punctures, but reached the finish at the velodrome with the lead group, where he outsprinted favourites Roger De Vlaeminck and Moser. One-and-a-half weeks earlier, he had already added a victory at the Amstel Gold Race. Furthermore, he also won the Critérium International and again dominated the Dauphiné Libéré, winning by twelve minutes ahead of Agostinho.
At the Tour de France, Hinault took an early lead by winning the prologue, then relinquished the yellow jersey to Knetemann and later to Phil Anderson. On the time trial to Pau on stage 7, he regained the lead and never lost the jersey, beating Van Impe by almost a quarter of an hour. He won five stages, including all four individual time trials. Amidst media criticism that he was riding too defensively in the mountains, he also took victory in the Alps on a stage to Le Pleynet.
At the World Championship in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Hinault failed to defend his title. Having bridged a two-and-a-half-minute gap to a strong lead group on his own, he came third in the final sprint, behind Freddy Maertens and Saronni.
1982: Achieving the Giro-Tour double
Hinault returned to the Giro in 1982. He looked set for victory after the first two weeks, having taken a significant lead after wins in the stage3 time trial and stage 12 to Campitello Matese. However, on stage 17 to Boario Terme, Guimard and the Renault team misjudged the toughness of the climb and Hinault lost the lead to Silvano Contini. He hit back the next day, winning the stage to Montecampione, turning the race in his favour.
In "his most uneventful Tour", Hinault never looked in trouble on his way to completing the Giro-Tour double at the Tour de France. He won the prologue in Basel, Switzerland, before the lead briefly turned to Ludo Peeters and Phil Anderson. Hinault regained the yellow jersey after the first time trial and won the overall classification easily. He took four stages, including again the final one on the Champs-Élysées, this time from a bunch sprint. His participation in the final-stage sprint was seen as an answer to critics, who had once again lamented that Hinault had ridden the Tour without panache. Zoetemelk was again the runner-up, more than six minutes behind Hinault. Later in the season, Hinault added another victory at the Grand Prix des Nations.
1983: Second Vuelta and the ascent of Fignon
Since 1981, Hinault had been joined at Renault by two young talents, Laurent Fignon and the American Greg LeMond. Both joined Hinault for the Vuelta a España, where he faced stiff competition from local riders like Marino Lejarreta, Julián Gorospe, and Alberto Fernández. Six days before the race started, he had won La Flèche Wallonne for a second time. On stage4 of the Vuelta, Fignon attacked and won, but Lejarreta, the defending champion, had followed him and gained time on Hinault. Hinault came back and took the lead the following day on the mountain stage to Castellar de n'Hug. However, a day later, the Spanish teams jointly attacked and Lejarreta moved ahead of Hinault, who was 22 seconds down. At the uphill time trial at Balneario de Panticosa, he suffered and finished more than two minutes behind Lejarreta. Hinault joined forces with Kuiper and Saronni to attack on stage 10 to Soria, affected by crosswinds. He was in trouble again on stage 14, affected by returning pain in his knee; at one point he trailed his rivals by more than five minutes, but regained contact. In the time trial around Valladolid on stage 15b, Hinault won, now just ten seconds behind Gorospe, the new leader in the general classification. The following day brought the last mountain stage and Renault put pressure on Gorospe from early on. Hinault, joined by Lejarreta and Vicente Belda, escaped for , distancing Gorospe by over twenty minutes with Hinault taking victory in Ávila, sealing his second Vuelta victory. Due to the tightly fought battle between Hinault and his Spanish competitors, the 1983 race is described on the Vuelta's website as "one of the most beautiful and spectacular" editions.
During the Vuelta, Hinault's tendinitis returned. After the race, he made two failed attempts to get back into racing, but eventually announced that he would miss the Tour de France. In his absence, teammate Fignon won the event on his first attempt. Hinault tried another comeback at a post-Tour criterium, but the pain returned and he did not race for the remainder of the season.
1984–1986: La Vie Claire
1984: Defeat at Fignon's hands
By 1983, the relationship between Hinault and Guimard had deteriorated to a point where the former described their relationship as "war". Hinault forced a choice on the Renault team to either release him or oust Guimard. The team decided to stick with their directeur sportif, leading Hinault to search for a new team. He joined forces with businessman Bernard Tapie to form the new squad. Their directeur sportif became Swiss coach Paul Köchli, who had made a name for himself with innovative and effective training methods, leaving Hinault a lot of freedom while at the same time scientifically measuring his progress. As part of his connection with Tapie, Hinault also contributed to the development of the clipless pedal, created by Look, another company owned by Tapie.
Hinault returned to racing at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, where he won the final stage. He then took victory at the Four Days of Dunkirk. But his spring campaign lacked major successes. At the Dauphiné Libéré, he came second to Martín Ramírez, who later claimed that Hinault and his team had tried to intimidate him during the final stage of the race. A memorable episode occurred during the Paris–Nice, a race he finished third overall. During stage5 to La Seyne-sur-Mer, Hinault was descending in a lead group with several other favourites. As they reached the valley, the road was blocked by protesters, unhappy with the announced closure of a dockyard at La Ciotat. While the other riders stopped, he drove into the group head-on, dismounted, and punched the protester closest to him. In the ensuing fist fight, Hinault suffered a broken rib.
The Tour de France was made out to be the big duel between Hinault and Fignon, who had just won the French National Championship. Hinault won the prologue, but Renault took the team time trial, 55 seconds ahead of La Vie Claire. He lost another 49 seconds to Fignon in the first long individual time trial, a discipline he had previously dominated. Following the second time trial, Hinault was only seventh on general classification, two minutes behind his adversary. The next stage led to Alpe d'Huez. Hinault attacked on the Rampe de Laffrey, but Fignon was able to respond. The two exchanged attacks on the way up the climb, but it was in the valley that Hinault was able to draw out a gap of about a minute. On Alpe d'Huez itself, he was first passed by eventual stage winner Luis Herrera. When he started to slow, Fignon caught up to him and eventually dropped Hinault, who lost a further three minutes. He ultimately finished the Tour in second place, a significant ten minutes behind Fignon.
Hinault managed to bounce back from his Tour defeat in the fall. In late September, he took his fifth and final victory at the Grand Prix des Nations, riding the time trial at a then record speed of . Fignon could only manage fourth, more than two minutes behind. Next, he won the Trofeo Baracchi, a two-man time trial, in which he competed with Moser. He then won the Giro di Lombardia for a second time, breaking away from the group of favourites from the finish.
1985: The second Giro-Tour double
For 1985, Greg LeMond switched teams from Renault to join Hinault at La Vie Claire. Together, they entered the Giro d'Italia. During the race, Hinault was met with hostility from the home crowd, who supported local rider Francesco Moser. On the stage 12 time trial, Hinault took the pink jersey and opened the decisive gap to Moser, who would eventually finish second. During the stage however, Hinault was spat at by spectators and almost knocked over, even though his team car rode behind him with the door opened the entire time to ensure that bystanders would have a harder time impeding him. Hinault won his third Giro with a margin of just over a minute.
In the Tour de France, Fignon did not take part due to an Achilles heel injury. Hinault therefore entered the race as the favourite. He took victory in the prologue in his native Brittany. La Vie Claire won the stage3 team time trial by over a minute. The next day, Hinault's teammate Kim Andersen took over the yellow jersey. Hinault supported him over the next days, even going so far as dropping back when Andersen punctured to lead him back into the peloton, showing his loyalty to riders who would later have to assist him. On stage 8, a time trial to Strasbourg, Hinault took back the race lead, winning the stage by more than two minutes ahead of Stephen Roche. While the race travelled through the Alps and in a second time trial, he consolidated his lead, building an advantage of five-and-a-half minutes on LeMond, who was now second overall.
On stage 14 to Saint-Étienne, LeMond finished two minutes ahead of a group containing Hinault. Involved in a crash with other riders, Hinault crossed the finish line with a broken nose. Around the same time, he started to experience symptoms of bronchitis. On stage 17, he showed signs of weakness and was unable to stay with the other leaders on the Col du Tourmalet. LeMond meanwhile followed an attack by Roche, but was forbidden by the team to cooperate to distance Hinault. LeMond would later claim that the team had deceived him by telling him that Hinault was closer behind than he actually was. Hinault eventually finished the stage just over a minute behind LeMond. The time LeMond waited may have been enough so that the two teammates would have contested the Maillot Jaune in the penultimate time trial. In the penultimate day's time trial, LeMond won the stage, but only five seconds ahead of Hinault, not enough to surpass him. This secured Hinault a record-equalling fifth Tour victory, by just under two minutes over his younger teammate. After the finish, he publicly pledged that he would support LeMond's bid for a first Tour victory the following year.
1986: The final season
In January 1986, Hinault was given the Legion of Honour by French president François Mitterrand. He had, already in 1982, announced that he would retire from cycling on his 32nd birthday, in November 1986.
Even though Hinault had pledged support for LeMond for the Tour de France, a lot of public attention was given to the possibility of him winning a record sixth Tour. Their La Vie Claire team was seen as dominant, with Laurent Fignon as the most likely challenger. Hinault finished third in the prologue, two seconds ahead of LeMond and Fignon. In the team time trial on stage 2, Fignon and gained almost two minutes on La Vie Claire, partly due to Hinault deciding that the squad would wait for two struggling riders, Niki Rüttimann and Guido Winterberg. Hinault then won the time trial on stage 9, gaining an additional 44 seconds on LeMond, who suffered a broken wheel and had to change his bike. Meanwhile, Fignon fell behind and later abandoned the race. On stage 12, from Bayonne to Pau, Hinault attacked with Pedro Delgado. The pair gained more than four-and-a-half minutes on LeMond, with Delgado taking the stage win. Hinault was now in the lead of the general classification, 5:25 minutes ahead of LeMond. Even though his lead was significant, he attacked again the following day, on the descent of the Col du Tourmalet, the first climb of the day. By the top of the next climb, the Col d'Aspin, he led the rest of the field by two minutes. However, joint effort behind brought him back before the final ascent up to the ski station of Superbagnères. Hinault then cracked, coming in ninth, 4:39 minutes behind stage winner LeMond. He now led his teammate by only forty seconds in the general classification.
The race then moved over to the Alps. On stage 17, Hinault got left behind on the Col d'Izoard and lost the yellow jersey to LeMond, falling to third in the overall rankings, 2:47 minutes behind his teammate. Stage 18 featured three major climbs, the Col du Galibier, the Croix de Fer and the final ascent up to Alpe d'Huez. Hinault attacked repeatedly, but reached the bottom of Alpe d'Huez with LeMond. He led the way up the climb, lined by approximately 300,000 spectators and crossed the finish line hand in hand with LeMond, in an apparent display of comradery. Urs Zimmermann, who had been second overall at the start of the day, lost more than five minutes. Any signs of appeasement between the rivalling teammates was shattered by Hinault in a television interview shortly after the stage finish, when he declared that the race was not yet over, even though he trailed LeMond by 2:45 minutes.
Stage 20 saw the final time trial and the last chance for Hinault to overcome LeMond's advantage. Aided by a crash from LeMond, Hinault won the stage, but gained back only 25 seconds, conceding defeat after the stage. He lost an additional 52 seconds on stage 21. In his last Tour de France stage into Paris, he took part in the final sprint, taking fourth place. He ended his final Tour de France second overall, 3:10 minutes behind LeMond. He won the mountains classification and was also given the super-combativity award. Hinault's repeated attacks during the race and refusal to concede defeat irritated LeMond, who felt betrayed by Hinault's lack of loyalty.
After the Tour, Hinault won the Coors Classic race in the United States, ahead of LeMond. He rode the World Championships Road Race, held in Colorado Springs. He aimed to win, showing a lot of effort in his preparation. However, he finished the race in 59th place. On 19 September, he won his last competitive race, a criterium in Angers, France. Hinault's retirement from professional cycling on 14 November 1986 was celebrated in Quessoy with a symbolic race of 3,600 riders, a concert and fireworks. A total of 15,000 people attended the event.
Retirement
After his retirement from professional cycling, Hinault moved to his farm and bred dairy cows, assisted by his cousin René, who had become an agricultural engineer. Just two weeks after he ended his career, the Tour de France organisers, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), approached Hinault and invited him to join the race management team. He held several positions, including race regulator and route advisor. After Jean-Marie Leblanc took over the role as general director, Hinault was named the Tour's ambassador. Included in his duties was being present during podium ceremonies. During the podium for stage3 of the 2008 Tour de France, a protester jumped on stage and disturbed proceedings. Hinault leapt forward and shoved him off. He stepped down from the role after the 2016 Tour de France. His role as ASO's brand ambassador was taken over by Stephen Roche, winner of the 1987 Tour de France.
Unlike many of his competitors, Hinault never became a directeur sportif (team manager) after his cycling career. Offers from Bouygues Télécom and a Chinese investor in the mid-2000s fell through. He was the selector of the French national team from 1988 to 1993. Hinault took a role as "patron" with the British squad for the 2014 season. In June 2020, Hinault became part of a group of businessmen investing into saving the cycling equipment company Mavic, who are a long-time sponsor of the Tour de France. Mavic was put into receivership earlier in the year due to the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Public image and riding style
Riding style and legacy
During his active career, Hinault was known as the patron of the field, meaning the rider with the highest authority. His biographer William Fotheringham has described him as "the last of the sport's patrons". In this role, Hinault would use his influence with race organisers, control the pace of the peloton, and allow or refuse other riders the chance to attack. The riders' strike at Valence d'Agen in the 1978 Tour is cited as the first instance in which Hinault assumed this role. His fellow riders stated that he, even though he did not talk much, was able to exert a high amount of certainty and therefore strength, which brought him respect and sometimes fear from his competitors. To signal his authority, Hinault often symbolically rode at the front of the field, instead of in the slipstream of his teammates. His riding style has been described as "fighting, full of aggression", and he stated that when he did not feel good in a race, his reaction would be to attack. Hinault described his own role as follows:
Hinault was however not always successful in his endeavours. During the 1980 Tour de France, he sought to remove the rule which excluded riders outside the time limit on each stage. He urged the riders to protest and ride slowly, but some did not follow his example, forcing Hinault to chase them down before he eventually left the race. His enigmatic exit from the 1980 Tour created tensions with the press that would persist during the rest of his active career. By 1982, debates about his personality started to appear more and more in the media. Particular interest was given to an alleged lack of panache during his Tour wins and his behaviour towards fans and officials, whom he treated with open disgust. Fotheringham suggests that Hinault only regained popularity with the French public after his knee problems and his Tour defeat in 1984. Fellow racer Robert Millar suggested that in 1986 in particular, Hinault attempted to win over the French public by riding aggressively.
Hinault was not known to particularly enjoy going on training rides, unless he was specifically preparing for an event. He would often greet his training partners in a night gown when they arrived on time for training or have an easy day of training that included stops at a bakery for cake. His distaste for training became even more evident in the winter, when he would gain a lot of weight. Laurent Fignon described the first training camps of the year as follows: "He looked as if he had been inflated. If you didn't know the Badger you would wonder how long it would take for him to get back to what he had been. You would be making a huge mistake." Hinault was capable of suffering through the training camp and returning to winning form within a month. Unlike a rider like Eddy Merckx, Hinault would not aim to win every race he entered. Millar described his approach as such: "Hinault either cared or he didn't. When he didn't care about winning he'd bumble round and hurt you now and again just to remind you he was there."
With a résumé of victories that includes all three Grand Tours (all of them more than once), the World Road Championships and a number of classics, Hinault has often been cited among the greatest cyclists of all time. The Historical Dictionary of Cycling describes him as "one of the best riders ever". Comparisons are often drawn with Eddy Merckx, against whom Hinault rode at the beginning of his career. Lucien Van Impe commented: "Merckx was the greatest, but Bernard [Hinault] was the most impressive." A study conducted in 2006, ranking Tour de France riders from 1953 to 2004 by different performance indicators, put Hinault as the top Tour rider of that period, ahead of Merckx and Lance Armstrong.
Nickname
Hinault was nicknamed le blaireau in French, a term that can be translated into English as either "the shaving brush" or "the badger". According to Fotheringham, the nickname originates from Hinault's early training partners, Maurice Le Guilloux and Georges Talbourdet, who would use the term to tease the young rider. Le Guilloux used it once in front of Pierre Chany, a writer for L'Équipe, and the name stuck. According to Hinault himself, the term in the first place was supposed to mean no more than "mate" or "buddy". However, Hinault later embraced the association with the wild animal. In 2003, he commented: "A badger is a beautiful thing. When it's hunted it goes into its sett and waits. When it comes out again, it attacks. That's the reason for my nickname. When I'm annoyed I go home, you don't see me for a month. When I come out again, I win." Hinault, as early as 1983, owned a stuffed badger to demonstrate his association with the animal.
Stance on doping
Hinault never tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs during his professional career and was never implicated in any doping practices. He did, however, lead a riders' protest during a criterium race in Callac in 1982 against the sudden introduction of doping controls. He was handed a one-month suspended ban and fined CHF 1,110, though the penalty was never enforced.
Hinault has been outspoken about several prominent doping cases in the past years. In 2013, he heavily criticised French senators for revealing the results of tests conducted in 2004 on samples from the 1998 Tour de France. He called the initiative "bullshit" and urged lawmakers "to stop bringing out the dead", claiming they "want to kill the Tour". In the same year, he reacted to comments made by Lance Armstrong, a rider stripped of seven Tour victories due to doping offences. Armstrong suggested that it would be impossible to win the Tour de France without performance-enhancing substances. To counter this claim, Hinault replied: "He must not know what it was like to ride without doping." Armstrong later clarified that he had spoken about the time when he was riding (1999–2005). In early 2018, Hinault also spoke out about the adverse analytical result for salbutamol of four-time Tour winner Chris Froome at the 2017 Vuelta a España. He criticised Froome for taking part in the 2018 Giro d'Italia while the investigation was still ongoing. In addition, he commented that Froome could not be "listed among the cycling greats". Froome would win the Giro and become the first rider since Hinault to hold all three Grand Tour Jerseys at once. Before the 2018 Tour de France, with Froome's case still ongoing, he urged the other riders to strike in protest if Froome competed. Froome was later cleared of the charges and started the Tour where he finished third behind teammate Geraint Thomas and Tom Dumoulin.
Career achievements
Major results
Source:
1972
1st Road race, National Junior Road Championships
1974
5th Overall Étoile des Espoirs
1975
1st Individual pursuit, National Track Championships
1st Overall Circuit de la Sarthe
6th Overall Tour de l'Oise
6th Grand Prix des Nations
7th Overall Paris–Nice
1976
1st Individual pursuit, National Track Championships
1st Overall Circuit de la Sarthe
1st Stage 3a (ITT)
1st Overall Tour du Limousin
1st Stage 1
1st Overall Tour de l'Aude
1st Stage 1
1st Overall Tour d'Indre-et-Loire
1st Stage 2b (ITT)
1st Paris–Camembert
1st Stage 2 Étoile des Espoirs
2nd Overall À travers Lausanne
3rd Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre
4th Grand Prix Pino Cerami
6th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
6th Grand Prix des Nations
10th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
1977
1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Stages 1 & 5
1st Overall Tour du Limousin
1st Stage 1
1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège
1st Gent–Wevelgem
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Stage 2b (ITT) Étoile des Espoirs
2nd Overall Tour Cycliste du Tarn
1st Mountains classification
2nd Overall Tour d'Indre-et-Loire
1st Stage 2b
3rd Paris–Brussels
4th Overall Tour de l'Aude
6th Overall Paris–Nice
6th GP Ouest–France
7th Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre
8th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
10th Grand Prix d'Isbergues
1978
1st Road race, National Road Championships
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Stages 8 (ITT), 15 & 20 (ITT)
1st Overall Vuelta a España
1st Prologue, Stages 11b (ITT), 12, 14 & 18
1st Overall Critérium International
1st Stage 3 (ITT)
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Boucles de l'Aulne
2nd Overall Paris–Nice
2nd Overall À travers Lausanne
3rd Giro di Lombardia
5th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
9th Overall Tour Cycliste du Tarn
1979
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Points classification
1st Stages 2 (ITT), 3, 11 (ITT), 15 (ITT), 21 (ITT), 23 & 24
1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Stages 3, 5b (ITT), 6 & 7b (ITT)
1st Overall Tour de l'Oise
1st Prologue
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Giro di Lombardia
1st La Flèche Wallonne
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Boucles de l'Aulne
1st
Étoile des Espoirs
1st Stages 3b (ITT) & 4
2nd Overall Critérium International
1st Stage 3 (ITT)
2nd Overall Tour de Luxembourg
1st Stage 3
2nd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
3rd Overall Tour Cycliste du Tarn
3rd Overall À travers Lausanne
3rd Critérium des As
6th Overall Paris–Nice
6th Paris–Tours
7th Milan–San Remo
8th Gent–Wevelgem
8th Grand Prix de Wallonie
1980
1st Road race, UCI Road World Championships
1st Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Stage 14
Tour de France
1st Prologue, Stages 4 (ITT) & 5
Held after Prologue, Stage 1a & Stages 11–12
1st Overall Tour de Romandie
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
3rd La Flèche Wallonne
4th Paris–Roubaix
5th Amstel Gold Race
1981
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Combination classification
1st Prologue, Stages 6 (ITT), 14 (ITT), 18 & 20 (ITT)
Overall Combativity award
1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Overall Critérium International
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Paris–Roubaix
1st Amstel Gold Race
3rd Road race, UCI Road World Championships
1982
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Combination classification
1st Prologue, Stages 14 (ITT), 19 (ITT) & 21
1st Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Prologue (TTT), Stages 3 (ITT), 12, 18, & 22 (ITT)
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Overall Tour de Luxembourg
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise
1st Critérium des As
9th Paris–Roubaix
1983
1st Overall Vuelta a España
1st Stages 15b (ITT) & 17
1st La Flèche Wallonne
1st Grand Prix Pino Cerami
1984
1st Giro di Lombardia
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
1st Trofeo Baracchi (with Francesco Moser)
2nd Overall Tour de France
1st Prologue
Held after Prologue
Overall Combativity award
2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
3rd Overall Paris–Nice
4th Züri-Metzgete
1985
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Prologue, Stages 3 (TTT) & 8 (ITT)
1st Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Stage 12 (ITT)
1986
1st Overall Coors Classic
1st Stages 7a & 11a
1st Overall Vuelta Ciclista a la Comunidad Valenciana
1st Trofeo Luis Puig
2nd Overall Tour de France
1st Mountains classification
1st Stages 9 (ITT), 18 & 20 (ITT)
Held after Stages 12–16
Overall Combativity award
General classification results timeline
Source:
Monuments results timeline
Source:
See also
Giro d'Italia records and statistics
List of cycling records
List of French people
List of Giro d'Italia general classification winners
List of Grand Tour general classification winners
List of Tour de France general classification winners
List of Tour de France secondary classification winners
List of Vuelta a España classification winners
List of Vuelta a España general classification winners
Yellow jersey statistics
Notes
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
1954 births
Breton people
French farmers
French Giro d'Italia stage winners
French male cyclists
French Tour de France stage winners
French Vuelta a España stage winners
Giro d'Italia winners
Living people
People from Saint-Brieuc
Tour de France Champs Elysées stage winners
Tour de France prologue winners
Tour de France winners
UCI Road World Champions (elite men)
Vuelta a España winners
Sportspeople from Côtes-d'Armor | 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",
"In baseball, a fair ball is a batted ball that entitles the batter to attempt to reach first base. By contrast, a foul ball is a batted ball that does not entitle the batter to attempt to reach first base. Whether a batted ball is fair or foul is determined by the location of the ball at the appropriate reference point, as follows:\n\n if the ball leaves the playing field without touching anything, the point where the ball leaves the field;\n else, if the ball first lands past first or third base without touching anything, the point where the ball lands;\n else, if the ball rolls or bounces past first or third base without touching anything other than the ground, the point where the ball passes the base;\n else, if the ball touches anything other than the ground (such as an umpire, a player, or any equipment left on the field) before any of the above happens, the point of such touching;\n else (the ball comes to a rest before reaching first or third base), the point where the ball comes to a rest.\n\nIf any part of the ball is on or above fair territory at the appropriate reference point, it is fair; else it is foul. Fair territory or fair ground is defined as the area of the playing field between the two foul lines, and includes the foul lines themselves and the foul poles. However, certain exceptions exist:\n\n A ball that touches first, second, or third base is always fair.\n Under Rule 5.09(a)(7)-(8), if a batted ball touches the batter or his bat while the batter is in the batter's box and not intentionally interfering with the course of the ball, the ball is foul.\n A ball that hits the foul pole without first having touched anything else off the bat is fair.\n Ground rules may provide whether a ball hitting specific objects (e.g. roof, overhead speaker) is fair or foul.\n\nOn a fair ball, the batter attempts to reach first base or any subsequent base, runners attempt to advance and fielders try to record outs. A fair ball is considered a live ball until the ball becomes dead by leaving the field or any other method.\n\nReferences\n\nBaseball rules"
] |
[
"Bernard Hinault",
"1978-1983: Renault",
"What happened in 1978?",
"To prepare for the 1978 Tour de France, Hinault rode his first grand tour, the Vuelta a Espana.",
"What happened during the Tour de France?",
"This tour became a battle with Joop Zoetemelk, Hinault taking the yellow jersey after the final time trial. He was hailed as the next great French cyclist and won",
"What happened after that?",
"At the start of the 1980 season Hinault and Guimard's aim for the season was to win cycling's Triple Crown",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"The following year, 1981, wearing the rainbow jersey, he won Paris-Roubaix and returned to victory in the 1981 Tour and then again in 1982.",
"Did he win anything else after that?",
"He missed the Tour in 1983, again because of knee problems."
] | C_86d5e12f20eb457ca39364108c484eed_1 | Can you tell me about Renault? | 6 | Can you tell me about Renault? | Bernard Hinault | To prepare for the 1978 Tour de France, Hinault rode his first grand tour, the Vuelta a Espana. He won and felt ready for his first Tour de France. Before the Tour, he won the national championship, which allowed him to wear the tricolour. This tour became a battle with Joop Zoetemelk, Hinault taking the yellow jersey after the final time trial. He was hailed as the next great French cyclist and won the Tour again in 1979. Once again this Tour proved to be a two man battle between Hinault and Zoetemelk as amazingly they finished nearly a half hour ahead of the rest of the field. In fact the 79 Tour is the only time the Yellow Jersey was challenged on the final stage into Paris as Zoetemelk, trailing Hinault by about three minutes launched an attack early in the stage. Hinault answered and the two riders stayed away from the main field all the way to the finish. In the end Hinault won the stage and the Tour while Zoetemelk was given a ten minute doping penalty. At the start of the 1980 season Hinault and Guimard's aim for the season was to win cycling's Triple Crown - the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France and the world championships, which had previously only been won in the same year by Eddy Merckx. Hinault won that year's Giro, clinching the race with an attack on the Stelvio Pass. In the 1980 Tour de France he abandoned the race while wearing the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification because of a knee injury but he returned to win the world championship in Sallanches that year. The following year, 1981, wearing the rainbow jersey, he won Paris-Roubaix and returned to victory in the 1981 Tour and then again in 1982. He missed the Tour in 1983, again because of knee problems. The organiser, Jacques Goddet, said in his autobiography L'Equipee Belle that Hinault's problems came from pushing gears that were too high. During Hinault's absence, his teammate Laurent Fignon rose to prominence by winning the Tour in 1983. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Bernard Hinault (; born 14 November 1954) is a French former professional road cyclist. With 147 professional victories, including five in the Tour de France, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time.
Hinault started cycling as an amateur in his native Brittany. After a successful amateur career, he signed with the Gitane–Campagnolo team to turn professional in 1975. He took breakthrough victories at both the Liège–Bastogne–Liège classic and the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré stage race in 1977. In 1978, he won his first two Grand Tours: the Vuelta a España and the Tour de France. In the following years, he was the most successful professional cyclist, adding another Tour victory in 1979 and a win at the 1980 Giro d'Italia. Although a knee injury forced him to quit the 1980 Tour de France while in the lead, he returned to win the World Championship road race later in the year. He added another Tour victory in 1981, before completing his first Giro-Tour double in 1982.
After winning the 1983 Vuelta a España, a return of his knee problems forced him to miss that year's Tour de France, won by his teammate Laurent Fignon. Conflict within the Renault team led to his leaving and joining La Vie Claire. With his new team, he raced the 1984 Tour de France, but lost to Fignon by over ten minutes. He recovered the following year, winning another Giro-Tour double with the help of teammate Greg LeMond. This gave him ten grand tour wins in his career, one behind Merckx for the all time record. No rider since Hinault has achieved more than seven.
In the 1986 Tour de France, he engaged in an intra-team rivalry with LeMond, who won his first of three Tours. Hinault retired shortly thereafter. he is the most recent French winner of the Tour de France. After his cycling career, Hinault turned to farming, while fulfilling enforcement duties for the organisers of the Tour de France until 2016.
All through his career, Hinault was known by the nickname le blaireau ("the badger"); he associated himself with the animal due to its aggressive nature, a trait he embodied on the bike. Within the peloton, Hinault assumed the role of patron, exercising authority over races he took part in.
Early life and family
Hinault was born on 14 November 1954 in the Breton village of Yffiniac, the second oldest of four children to Joseph and Lucie Hinault. The family lived in a cottage named La Clôture, built shortly after Hinault was born. His parents were farmers, and the children often had to help out at harvest time. His father later worked as a platelayer for the national rail company SNCF. Hinault was described as a "hyperactive" child, with his mother nicknaming him "little hooligan". Hinault was not a good student, but visited the technical college in Saint-Brieuc for an engineering apprenticeship. He started athletics there, becoming a runner and finishing tenth in the French junior cross-country championship in 1971.
In December 1974, just before turning professional, Hinault married Martine, who he had met at a family wedding the year before. Their first son, Mickael, was born in 1975, with a second, Alexandre, in 1981. Hinault and his family lived in Quessoy, close to Yffiniac, while he was a professional cyclist. After his retirement, they moved to a farm away in Brittany. Hinault had bought the property near Calorguen in 1983. Martine later served as mayor of Calorguen.
Amateur career
Hinault came to cycling through his cousin René, who rode weekend races. At first he had to use the shared family bike, which he rode devotedly. He received his own bike when he was 15 as a reward for passing his school examinations, and used it to travel to college. During the summer of 1971 he made training rides with René, who had problems keeping up with the sixteen-year old Bernard, even though he was an experienced amateur rider. Hinault received his racing licence from Club Olympique Briochin in late April1971 and entered his first race on 2May in Planguenoual. Advised only to try to stay with the other riders, Hinault won the event. Hinault won his first five races, amassing twelve wins from twenty races by the end of the year. Also during the summer of 1971, Hinault was at odds with his father about his choice to pursue cycling as a career. Joseph Hinault relented only after his son ran away from home for three days to stay with his cousins, sleeping on straw in the barn.
For 1972, Hinault was allowed to race with the over-18s. At a race in Hillion, he and René escaped from the field and reached the finish alone. They crossed the line together to share the victory, to the dismay of the race organisers. The young Hinault was heavily influenced by his trainer at the Club Olympique Briochin, Robert Le Roux, who had earlier worked with 1965 World Champion Tom Simpson. Hinault won nineteen races in his second season as an amateur, including the national junior championship against opposition a year older than him, such as future professional Bernard Vallet. He was conscripted into the military at age 18, and did not race throughout 1973. He was unable to join the army's training centre for young athletes and instead served in Sissonne with the 21st Marine Infantry Regiment. Returning to competition overweight, Hinault managed to win his first race of 1974. This was his last season as an amateur and again was highly successful, including a victory in his home town of Yffiniac towards the end of the year, where an alliance formed by four other riders was unable to hold him back. He also competed in track cycling, winning the national pursuit championship. On the road, he took part in the Étoile des Espoirs, a race open to amateurs and young professionals. Hinault finished fifth overall, and second on the time trial stage behind reigning pursuit world champion Roy Schuiten. Towards the end of the season, Hinault turned down an offer to race with the prestigious Athletic Club de Boulogne-Billancourt, instead deciding to turn professional in 1975.
Professional career
1975–1977: Gitane
In January 1975, Hinault turned professional with the Gitane–Campagnolo team, run by former World Champion Jean Stablinski, on a lean wage of 2,500francs per month. The decision to turn professional relatively early was in part taken as, had Hinault raced the 1975 season as an amateur, he would have likely been prevented by the French cycling federation from turning professional before the 1976 Summer Olympics to be part of the French team there. Early on, he showed no interest in adhering to the unwritten rules of the peloton, whereby younger riders were expected to show respect towards older ones. At a criterium race in August1975 he went up against a coalition of senior riders, who had decided to divide the prize money between them. Hinault won all the intermediate cash prizes until five-time Tour de France winner Eddy Merckx declared that Hinault was included in the pact. His results in his first season were impressive, with a seventh place at Paris–Nice and a victory at the Circuit de la Sarthe, earning him the Promotion Pernod, the prize for the best new professional in France. However, Hinault showed little willingness to learn the basic trades of cycling from Stablinski, often escaping early in the race instead of learning how to ride inside the peloton. Together with Stablinski entering Hinault into too many races, this led to conflicts between them.
For 1976, Hinault stayed with Gitane, as former professional Cyrille Guimard, who had just retired from cycling, took over the team and became directeur sportif. Guimard and Hinault got along well, and the latter was kept out of the high-profile races for 1976, instead focussing on a steady improvement in lesser known races such as Paris–Camembert, which he won. That year, Guimard spurred Lucien Van Impe to his only win in the Tour de France. Hinault's progress was visible, with a second consecutive victory at the Circuit de la Sarthe, a third place at the Grand Prix du Midi Libre and a win at the Tour de l'Aude, ensuring him the Prestige Pernod, the award for the best French rider of the season. In total, Hinault won 15 races in 1976. At the end of the year, he came sixth at the World Championship Road Race, being beaten to the line for fifth by Eddy Merckx.
During the spring classics season of 1977, Hinault left the Tour of Flanders before it had even started, not wanting to risk his health in a rain- and cold-affected race on cobbled roads. This drew him a formal warning by Guimard for his conduct. Three weeks later, Hinault won Gent–Wevelgem in a solo effort after an attack from the finish. Five days later, at Liège–Bastogne–Liège, Hinault followed an attack by favourite André Dierickx, and beat him in the two-man sprint to take his first victory in one of cycling's "monuments". In accordance with Guimard's plan to build Hinault up slowly, he did not enter the Tour de France. He did however start the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, seen as the most important preparation event for the Tour. While in the leader's jersey on the penultimate stage to Grenoble, Hinault attacked up the Col de Porte, leading Van Impe and Bernard Thévenet by 1:30 minutes when crossing the summit. On the descent, he misjudged a hairpin corner and crashed down the mountainside. A tree saved him from falling far down, while his bike was lost. Hinault then climbed back onto the road, took a new bike and without showing any hesitation, continued on. Up the finishing climb in Grenoble, he briefly dismounted, still shocked from the near-death experience and pushed his bike for about , before remounting and winning the stage eighty seconds ahead of Van Impe. This also secured him the overall victory ahead of eventual Tour winner Thévenet.
This incident was mentioned from a semi-pro rider's perspective in the Tim Krabbé book De Renner (The Rider) when the main character is about to descend a Col in the Tour de Mont Aigoual:
At the end of the season, Hinault won the Grand Prix des Nations, an individual time trial, with a substantial margin of 3:15 minutes ahead of favourite Joop Zoetemelk.
1978–1983: Renault
1978: Grand Tour breakthrough
At the beginning of 1978, the Gitane team was taken over by its parent company, the state-owned car manufacturer Renault, becoming . Hinault started the season with second place at Paris–Nice. He then competed in the Critérium National de la Route. Trailing Raymond Martin by more than two minutes before the final time trial, he made up his significant deficit and won the event.
Hinault then competed in his first three-week Grand Tour, at the Vuelta a España, then held at the end of April. He won the opening prologue time trial in Gijón, but then let the leadership switch to Ferdi Van Den Haute. He won stage 11b, a mountain time trial in Barcelona, and regained the race lead the next day, when he won the stage to La Tossa de Montbui after an escape with teammate Jean-René Bernaudeau. He ensured his overall victory by winning stage 18 to Amurrio. On that stage, he bridged over to escapee Andrés Gandarias, who had earlier asked for Hinault's permission to attack. Hinault claimed to have been annoyed into attacking by one of Gandarias's teammates and offered to carry him to the finish. However, the Spaniard was unable to follow his wheel, saying: "This guy has made me suffer like a dog, he's tougher than Eddy Merckx!" In all, Hinault won five stages of the Vuelta. A sixth win was prevented on the final day of the Grand Tour, on which a short time trial was raced in the afternoon, held at San Sebastián in the Basque Country. The stage was marred by protests and obstructions by supporters of the Basque separatist group ETA. Hinault himself had sand thrown into his eyes, but won the stage nonetheless, only to find that the results would not count due to the surrounding circumstances.
Ahead of his first Tour de France, Hinault raced in the Tour de Suisse, where he did not feature prominently. He then travelled to the French Road Race Championship, held at Sarrebourg. He launched an escape, on which he rode solo, leading the rest of his competitors by more than six minutes by the start of the last lap. However, he had forgotten to eat enough and suffered from hypoglycemia during the last part of the race, crossing the finish line to take the title severely weakened. His victory allowed him to wear the French tricolore jersey for the following year.
In the Tour de France, Hinault fell behind early to challenger Zoetemelk when Renault lost two minutes to Mercier during the team time trial. On stage 8, the first longer individual time trial, Hinault gained back 59 seconds on Zoetemelk, while the previous two Tour winners, Van Impe and Thévenet, lost so much time that they were now counted out from chances of an overall win. Hinault rode conservatively in the Pyrenees to stay within striking distance of Zoetemelk. On stage 12a, from Tarbes to Valence-d'Agen, he firmly imprinted his authority on the race, although not by riding. The riders had been complaining about split stages, where more than one would be held on one day, as was the case on 12July. When they reached the finishing town, they dismounted their bikes and walked to the finish line in protest. Hinault was chosen by his fellow competitors to be the spokesperson of the strike. Journalist Felix Magowan wrote: "Before today's strike, people were asking if the Tour had a boss. Today that was answered. His name is Hinault." Following the strike, Hinault had trouble sleeping and was caught out the next day, a stage in the Massif Central, forcing his team into a long chase. Thus weakened and slowed by spectator interference at a bike change, he lost 1:40 minutes to Zoetemelk on the following day's uphill time trial. Hinault countered the next day en route to Saint-Étienne during stage 15, breaking away with Hennie Kuiper. By the finish, the two had been reeled back, but Hinault contested the finishing sprint, winning the stage. The following day, stage 16 to Alpe d'Huez, ended with Zoetemelk, Hinault and the temporary leader of the general classification and thus yellow jersey wearer Michel Pollentier separated by only 18 seconds. However, Pollentier was disqualified for trying to cheat his doping test, leaving Hinault and Zoetemelk to fight out the overall victory. On the final mountain stage, Hinault put his rival under pressure, but was unable to make up any time. He then clinched the yellow jersey in the final time trial, gaining more than four minutes to win his first Tour de France with an advantage of 3:56 minutes. Following his Tour win, he finished fifth at the World Championships, before once more winning the Grand Prix des Nations, this time ahead of Francesco Moser.
1979: Second Tour victory and Classics success
The 1979 season started slowly for an off-form Hinault. He bounced back at the La Flèche Wallonne classic in April, when he caught up to a breakaway by Giuseppe Saronni and Bernt Johansson, outsprinting the former to win the race. He then beat Zoetemelk to victory at the Dauphiné Libéré, winning four stages. He won the race by over ten minutes, also taking the points and mountain classifications. In the coming weeks ahead of the Tour, he proved his willingness to assist his teammates to ensure their loyalty, helping Lucien Didier win the Tour de Luxembourg and finishing second behind Roland Berland in the National Championship race.
The Tour de France was again a two-way battle between Hinault and Zoetemelk. In the prologue, Hinault was fourth, on the same time as the Dutchman. The mountain stages started immediately thereafter, with Hinault winning the mountain time trial on stage 2, taking over the yellow jersey. He also won the next stage into Pau. The team time trial on stage4 again went Zoetemelk's way, as his Mercier team took back 41 seconds on Hinault's Renault squad. Zoetemelk now was only 12 seconds behind Hinault. On stage 8, in another team time trial, Renault fared much better, and Hinault extended his advantage to 1:18 minutes. The next day however, on a stage containing cobbled sections, Hinault suffered two punctures, losing almost four minutes and the race lead to Zoetemelk. He took back 36 seconds on the time trial in Brussels on stage 11 before regaining the race lead after another time trial, uphill to Avoriaz on stage 15. At this stage, he led Zoetemelk by 1:48 minutes, with third-placed Kuiper already more than 12 minutes behind. Hinault gained another minute on stage 16, before Zoetemelk regained 47 seconds up Alpe d'Huez three days later. The final time trial of the Tour went Hinault's way once again, extending his advantage by a further 69 seconds. He also took the next stage in a slightly uphill sprint finish. On the final stage towards the Champs-Élysées in Paris, traditionally a ceremonious affair without attacks, Zoetemelk and Hinault broke away, with both gapping the field and Hinault taking another stage victory. Zoetemelk finished 3:07 minutes behind Hinault, but then had ten minutes added to his time for failing a doping test. The next finisher, Joaquim Agostinho, was almost half an hour behind the winner.
Towards the end of the season, Hinault won his second cycling monument, the Giro di Lombardia. He had escaped from the field from the finish, but was later joined by some other riders. Only Silvano Contini finished with him, with the next group more than three minutes behind. The victory also secured that Hinault won his first of four consecutive Super Prestige Pernod International competitions, the award handed to the best rider of the season.
1980: Attempt at the Triple Crown
As was often the case, Hinault started the season slowly in 1980, withdrawing from Paris–Nice. He then entered Paris–Roubaix, partly to prepare for the cobbled sections in the upcoming Tour de France, and finished fourth. A week later, he scored one of his most memorable wins at Liège–Bastogne–Liège. As soon as the riders left Liège, snow began to fall, soon turning into a blizzard. Hinault wanted to abandon, as had many others, including all but one of his teammates. He was convinced to carry on until the feeding station at Bastogne, where the snow had turned into rain. Only 21 riders were left by this point. Hinault removed his rain cape and attacked, catching up to the leaders and carried on by himself, winning with a margin of almost ten minutes ahead of Kuiper. The victory came at a price, as his right index and middle fingers took weeks to recover from frostbite, and caused him pain for several years.
Hinault and Guimard then turned their attention to the only Grand Tour he had not won yet: the Giro d'Italia. They hoped that Hinault would be able to reproduce a feat Eddy Merckx had achieved in 1974, winning the Giro, the Tour and the World Championship in the same year. This is commonly referred to as the Triple Crown of Cycling.
Hinault started the Giro d'Italia as odds-on favourite, pitted against local riders Francesco Moser and Giuseppe Saronni, who had the home crowd on their side. Following a fourth place at the prologue in Genoa, Hinault made a spontaneous visit to Fausto Coppi's home of Castellania, paying respect to the first rider ever to have won Giro and Tour in the same year. On stage 5, a time trial to Pisa, Hinault took over the race leader's pink jersey. He then relinquished his lead to Roberto Visentini, who was not considered to be a contender for the final victory. On stage 14, he attacked when the peloton relaxed after an intermediate sprint, winning the stage ahead of Wladimiro Panizza, who took the race lead. Hinault then made the decisive move of the race on stage 20, when he attacked on the tough climb of the Stelvio Pass. He caught up with his teammate Bernaudeau, and both carried on for the remaining of the stage together. Hinault gifted the stage victory to his teammate, while he clinched the overall victory almost six minutes ahead of Panizza.
In the Tour de France, Hinault was once again set to duel with Joop Zoetemelk, who had moved to the dominant squad. Hinault won the prologue in Frankfurt, Germany, five seconds ahead of Gerrie Knetemann. On stage5 from Liège to Lille, which contained cobbled sections used in Paris–Roubaix, conditions were poor with rain and heavy winds. Hinault called for the field to take a slow tempo, but when Zoetemelk's teammate Jan Raas attacked, he went after him. He eventually found himself in a group with several other riders, while Zoetemelk was distanced. At from the finish, he followed another attack from Kuiper and won the sprint at the line. The next stage was set to contain more cobbled roads, but on Hinault's protest, most of the worst parts were taken out. Hinault had however suffered damage to his left knee on the stage to Lille. Hinault finished only fifth on stage 11's individual time trial, won by Zoetemelk. While he regained the yellow jersey, Zoetemelk was second, only 21 seconds behind. With his tendinitis worsening, he carried on until the end of stage 12, just before the race was headed for the first high mountains in the Pyrenees. That night, Hinault and Guimard told the race organisers, Jacques Goddet and Félix Lévitan, that he would abandon the race, while still in the lead. He left the race at night, not informing the press, which led to a fallout with the media that took years to recover. In Hinault's absence, Zoetemelk duly won his only Tour de France. Insinuations that Zoetemelk's victory had been a gift through Hinault's absence were countered by Hinault himself: "My problems were of my own making. It is always the absent rider who is at fault. I was absent and he took my place."
Hinault returned from the disappointment of the Tour to start at the World Championship road race, held on a very tough parcours in Sallanches, France, often named the hardest course in the history of the event. Hinault had broken away about from the finish with several riders. On the last lap, he dropped his last companion, Gianbattista Baronchelli, on the steepest part of a climb and soloed to victory. It had been a race of attrition with only 15 out of 107 riders reaching the finish.
1981: Winning a third Tour de France
Hinault had never made his dislike for riding on cobbled roads a secret. The most prominent race of this character, Paris–Roubaix, was met with particular disdain, even though he never finished lower than thirteenth. After the 1980 edition, he had said to organiser Goddet: "You will never see me in this circus again." However, he returned for 1981, saying that he did so out of respect for his stature as World Champion. He suffered seven crashes and tyre punctures, but reached the finish at the velodrome with the lead group, where he outsprinted favourites Roger De Vlaeminck and Moser. One-and-a-half weeks earlier, he had already added a victory at the Amstel Gold Race. Furthermore, he also won the Critérium International and again dominated the Dauphiné Libéré, winning by twelve minutes ahead of Agostinho.
At the Tour de France, Hinault took an early lead by winning the prologue, then relinquished the yellow jersey to Knetemann and later to Phil Anderson. On the time trial to Pau on stage 7, he regained the lead and never lost the jersey, beating Van Impe by almost a quarter of an hour. He won five stages, including all four individual time trials. Amidst media criticism that he was riding too defensively in the mountains, he also took victory in the Alps on a stage to Le Pleynet.
At the World Championship in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Hinault failed to defend his title. Having bridged a two-and-a-half-minute gap to a strong lead group on his own, he came third in the final sprint, behind Freddy Maertens and Saronni.
1982: Achieving the Giro-Tour double
Hinault returned to the Giro in 1982. He looked set for victory after the first two weeks, having taken a significant lead after wins in the stage3 time trial and stage 12 to Campitello Matese. However, on stage 17 to Boario Terme, Guimard and the Renault team misjudged the toughness of the climb and Hinault lost the lead to Silvano Contini. He hit back the next day, winning the stage to Montecampione, turning the race in his favour.
In "his most uneventful Tour", Hinault never looked in trouble on his way to completing the Giro-Tour double at the Tour de France. He won the prologue in Basel, Switzerland, before the lead briefly turned to Ludo Peeters and Phil Anderson. Hinault regained the yellow jersey after the first time trial and won the overall classification easily. He took four stages, including again the final one on the Champs-Élysées, this time from a bunch sprint. His participation in the final-stage sprint was seen as an answer to critics, who had once again lamented that Hinault had ridden the Tour without panache. Zoetemelk was again the runner-up, more than six minutes behind Hinault. Later in the season, Hinault added another victory at the Grand Prix des Nations.
1983: Second Vuelta and the ascent of Fignon
Since 1981, Hinault had been joined at Renault by two young talents, Laurent Fignon and the American Greg LeMond. Both joined Hinault for the Vuelta a España, where he faced stiff competition from local riders like Marino Lejarreta, Julián Gorospe, and Alberto Fernández. Six days before the race started, he had won La Flèche Wallonne for a second time. On stage4 of the Vuelta, Fignon attacked and won, but Lejarreta, the defending champion, had followed him and gained time on Hinault. Hinault came back and took the lead the following day on the mountain stage to Castellar de n'Hug. However, a day later, the Spanish teams jointly attacked and Lejarreta moved ahead of Hinault, who was 22 seconds down. At the uphill time trial at Balneario de Panticosa, he suffered and finished more than two minutes behind Lejarreta. Hinault joined forces with Kuiper and Saronni to attack on stage 10 to Soria, affected by crosswinds. He was in trouble again on stage 14, affected by returning pain in his knee; at one point he trailed his rivals by more than five minutes, but regained contact. In the time trial around Valladolid on stage 15b, Hinault won, now just ten seconds behind Gorospe, the new leader in the general classification. The following day brought the last mountain stage and Renault put pressure on Gorospe from early on. Hinault, joined by Lejarreta and Vicente Belda, escaped for , distancing Gorospe by over twenty minutes with Hinault taking victory in Ávila, sealing his second Vuelta victory. Due to the tightly fought battle between Hinault and his Spanish competitors, the 1983 race is described on the Vuelta's website as "one of the most beautiful and spectacular" editions.
During the Vuelta, Hinault's tendinitis returned. After the race, he made two failed attempts to get back into racing, but eventually announced that he would miss the Tour de France. In his absence, teammate Fignon won the event on his first attempt. Hinault tried another comeback at a post-Tour criterium, but the pain returned and he did not race for the remainder of the season.
1984–1986: La Vie Claire
1984: Defeat at Fignon's hands
By 1983, the relationship between Hinault and Guimard had deteriorated to a point where the former described their relationship as "war". Hinault forced a choice on the Renault team to either release him or oust Guimard. The team decided to stick with their directeur sportif, leading Hinault to search for a new team. He joined forces with businessman Bernard Tapie to form the new squad. Their directeur sportif became Swiss coach Paul Köchli, who had made a name for himself with innovative and effective training methods, leaving Hinault a lot of freedom while at the same time scientifically measuring his progress. As part of his connection with Tapie, Hinault also contributed to the development of the clipless pedal, created by Look, another company owned by Tapie.
Hinault returned to racing at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, where he won the final stage. He then took victory at the Four Days of Dunkirk. But his spring campaign lacked major successes. At the Dauphiné Libéré, he came second to Martín Ramírez, who later claimed that Hinault and his team had tried to intimidate him during the final stage of the race. A memorable episode occurred during the Paris–Nice, a race he finished third overall. During stage5 to La Seyne-sur-Mer, Hinault was descending in a lead group with several other favourites. As they reached the valley, the road was blocked by protesters, unhappy with the announced closure of a dockyard at La Ciotat. While the other riders stopped, he drove into the group head-on, dismounted, and punched the protester closest to him. In the ensuing fist fight, Hinault suffered a broken rib.
The Tour de France was made out to be the big duel between Hinault and Fignon, who had just won the French National Championship. Hinault won the prologue, but Renault took the team time trial, 55 seconds ahead of La Vie Claire. He lost another 49 seconds to Fignon in the first long individual time trial, a discipline he had previously dominated. Following the second time trial, Hinault was only seventh on general classification, two minutes behind his adversary. The next stage led to Alpe d'Huez. Hinault attacked on the Rampe de Laffrey, but Fignon was able to respond. The two exchanged attacks on the way up the climb, but it was in the valley that Hinault was able to draw out a gap of about a minute. On Alpe d'Huez itself, he was first passed by eventual stage winner Luis Herrera. When he started to slow, Fignon caught up to him and eventually dropped Hinault, who lost a further three minutes. He ultimately finished the Tour in second place, a significant ten minutes behind Fignon.
Hinault managed to bounce back from his Tour defeat in the fall. In late September, he took his fifth and final victory at the Grand Prix des Nations, riding the time trial at a then record speed of . Fignon could only manage fourth, more than two minutes behind. Next, he won the Trofeo Baracchi, a two-man time trial, in which he competed with Moser. He then won the Giro di Lombardia for a second time, breaking away from the group of favourites from the finish.
1985: The second Giro-Tour double
For 1985, Greg LeMond switched teams from Renault to join Hinault at La Vie Claire. Together, they entered the Giro d'Italia. During the race, Hinault was met with hostility from the home crowd, who supported local rider Francesco Moser. On the stage 12 time trial, Hinault took the pink jersey and opened the decisive gap to Moser, who would eventually finish second. During the stage however, Hinault was spat at by spectators and almost knocked over, even though his team car rode behind him with the door opened the entire time to ensure that bystanders would have a harder time impeding him. Hinault won his third Giro with a margin of just over a minute.
In the Tour de France, Fignon did not take part due to an Achilles heel injury. Hinault therefore entered the race as the favourite. He took victory in the prologue in his native Brittany. La Vie Claire won the stage3 team time trial by over a minute. The next day, Hinault's teammate Kim Andersen took over the yellow jersey. Hinault supported him over the next days, even going so far as dropping back when Andersen punctured to lead him back into the peloton, showing his loyalty to riders who would later have to assist him. On stage 8, a time trial to Strasbourg, Hinault took back the race lead, winning the stage by more than two minutes ahead of Stephen Roche. While the race travelled through the Alps and in a second time trial, he consolidated his lead, building an advantage of five-and-a-half minutes on LeMond, who was now second overall.
On stage 14 to Saint-Étienne, LeMond finished two minutes ahead of a group containing Hinault. Involved in a crash with other riders, Hinault crossed the finish line with a broken nose. Around the same time, he started to experience symptoms of bronchitis. On stage 17, he showed signs of weakness and was unable to stay with the other leaders on the Col du Tourmalet. LeMond meanwhile followed an attack by Roche, but was forbidden by the team to cooperate to distance Hinault. LeMond would later claim that the team had deceived him by telling him that Hinault was closer behind than he actually was. Hinault eventually finished the stage just over a minute behind LeMond. The time LeMond waited may have been enough so that the two teammates would have contested the Maillot Jaune in the penultimate time trial. In the penultimate day's time trial, LeMond won the stage, but only five seconds ahead of Hinault, not enough to surpass him. This secured Hinault a record-equalling fifth Tour victory, by just under two minutes over his younger teammate. After the finish, he publicly pledged that he would support LeMond's bid for a first Tour victory the following year.
1986: The final season
In January 1986, Hinault was given the Legion of Honour by French president François Mitterrand. He had, already in 1982, announced that he would retire from cycling on his 32nd birthday, in November 1986.
Even though Hinault had pledged support for LeMond for the Tour de France, a lot of public attention was given to the possibility of him winning a record sixth Tour. Their La Vie Claire team was seen as dominant, with Laurent Fignon as the most likely challenger. Hinault finished third in the prologue, two seconds ahead of LeMond and Fignon. In the team time trial on stage 2, Fignon and gained almost two minutes on La Vie Claire, partly due to Hinault deciding that the squad would wait for two struggling riders, Niki Rüttimann and Guido Winterberg. Hinault then won the time trial on stage 9, gaining an additional 44 seconds on LeMond, who suffered a broken wheel and had to change his bike. Meanwhile, Fignon fell behind and later abandoned the race. On stage 12, from Bayonne to Pau, Hinault attacked with Pedro Delgado. The pair gained more than four-and-a-half minutes on LeMond, with Delgado taking the stage win. Hinault was now in the lead of the general classification, 5:25 minutes ahead of LeMond. Even though his lead was significant, he attacked again the following day, on the descent of the Col du Tourmalet, the first climb of the day. By the top of the next climb, the Col d'Aspin, he led the rest of the field by two minutes. However, joint effort behind brought him back before the final ascent up to the ski station of Superbagnères. Hinault then cracked, coming in ninth, 4:39 minutes behind stage winner LeMond. He now led his teammate by only forty seconds in the general classification.
The race then moved over to the Alps. On stage 17, Hinault got left behind on the Col d'Izoard and lost the yellow jersey to LeMond, falling to third in the overall rankings, 2:47 minutes behind his teammate. Stage 18 featured three major climbs, the Col du Galibier, the Croix de Fer and the final ascent up to Alpe d'Huez. Hinault attacked repeatedly, but reached the bottom of Alpe d'Huez with LeMond. He led the way up the climb, lined by approximately 300,000 spectators and crossed the finish line hand in hand with LeMond, in an apparent display of comradery. Urs Zimmermann, who had been second overall at the start of the day, lost more than five minutes. Any signs of appeasement between the rivalling teammates was shattered by Hinault in a television interview shortly after the stage finish, when he declared that the race was not yet over, even though he trailed LeMond by 2:45 minutes.
Stage 20 saw the final time trial and the last chance for Hinault to overcome LeMond's advantage. Aided by a crash from LeMond, Hinault won the stage, but gained back only 25 seconds, conceding defeat after the stage. He lost an additional 52 seconds on stage 21. In his last Tour de France stage into Paris, he took part in the final sprint, taking fourth place. He ended his final Tour de France second overall, 3:10 minutes behind LeMond. He won the mountains classification and was also given the super-combativity award. Hinault's repeated attacks during the race and refusal to concede defeat irritated LeMond, who felt betrayed by Hinault's lack of loyalty.
After the Tour, Hinault won the Coors Classic race in the United States, ahead of LeMond. He rode the World Championships Road Race, held in Colorado Springs. He aimed to win, showing a lot of effort in his preparation. However, he finished the race in 59th place. On 19 September, he won his last competitive race, a criterium in Angers, France. Hinault's retirement from professional cycling on 14 November 1986 was celebrated in Quessoy with a symbolic race of 3,600 riders, a concert and fireworks. A total of 15,000 people attended the event.
Retirement
After his retirement from professional cycling, Hinault moved to his farm and bred dairy cows, assisted by his cousin René, who had become an agricultural engineer. Just two weeks after he ended his career, the Tour de France organisers, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), approached Hinault and invited him to join the race management team. He held several positions, including race regulator and route advisor. After Jean-Marie Leblanc took over the role as general director, Hinault was named the Tour's ambassador. Included in his duties was being present during podium ceremonies. During the podium for stage3 of the 2008 Tour de France, a protester jumped on stage and disturbed proceedings. Hinault leapt forward and shoved him off. He stepped down from the role after the 2016 Tour de France. His role as ASO's brand ambassador was taken over by Stephen Roche, winner of the 1987 Tour de France.
Unlike many of his competitors, Hinault never became a directeur sportif (team manager) after his cycling career. Offers from Bouygues Télécom and a Chinese investor in the mid-2000s fell through. He was the selector of the French national team from 1988 to 1993. Hinault took a role as "patron" with the British squad for the 2014 season. In June 2020, Hinault became part of a group of businessmen investing into saving the cycling equipment company Mavic, who are a long-time sponsor of the Tour de France. Mavic was put into receivership earlier in the year due to the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Public image and riding style
Riding style and legacy
During his active career, Hinault was known as the patron of the field, meaning the rider with the highest authority. His biographer William Fotheringham has described him as "the last of the sport's patrons". In this role, Hinault would use his influence with race organisers, control the pace of the peloton, and allow or refuse other riders the chance to attack. The riders' strike at Valence d'Agen in the 1978 Tour is cited as the first instance in which Hinault assumed this role. His fellow riders stated that he, even though he did not talk much, was able to exert a high amount of certainty and therefore strength, which brought him respect and sometimes fear from his competitors. To signal his authority, Hinault often symbolically rode at the front of the field, instead of in the slipstream of his teammates. His riding style has been described as "fighting, full of aggression", and he stated that when he did not feel good in a race, his reaction would be to attack. Hinault described his own role as follows:
Hinault was however not always successful in his endeavours. During the 1980 Tour de France, he sought to remove the rule which excluded riders outside the time limit on each stage. He urged the riders to protest and ride slowly, but some did not follow his example, forcing Hinault to chase them down before he eventually left the race. His enigmatic exit from the 1980 Tour created tensions with the press that would persist during the rest of his active career. By 1982, debates about his personality started to appear more and more in the media. Particular interest was given to an alleged lack of panache during his Tour wins and his behaviour towards fans and officials, whom he treated with open disgust. Fotheringham suggests that Hinault only regained popularity with the French public after his knee problems and his Tour defeat in 1984. Fellow racer Robert Millar suggested that in 1986 in particular, Hinault attempted to win over the French public by riding aggressively.
Hinault was not known to particularly enjoy going on training rides, unless he was specifically preparing for an event. He would often greet his training partners in a night gown when they arrived on time for training or have an easy day of training that included stops at a bakery for cake. His distaste for training became even more evident in the winter, when he would gain a lot of weight. Laurent Fignon described the first training camps of the year as follows: "He looked as if he had been inflated. If you didn't know the Badger you would wonder how long it would take for him to get back to what he had been. You would be making a huge mistake." Hinault was capable of suffering through the training camp and returning to winning form within a month. Unlike a rider like Eddy Merckx, Hinault would not aim to win every race he entered. Millar described his approach as such: "Hinault either cared or he didn't. When he didn't care about winning he'd bumble round and hurt you now and again just to remind you he was there."
With a résumé of victories that includes all three Grand Tours (all of them more than once), the World Road Championships and a number of classics, Hinault has often been cited among the greatest cyclists of all time. The Historical Dictionary of Cycling describes him as "one of the best riders ever". Comparisons are often drawn with Eddy Merckx, against whom Hinault rode at the beginning of his career. Lucien Van Impe commented: "Merckx was the greatest, but Bernard [Hinault] was the most impressive." A study conducted in 2006, ranking Tour de France riders from 1953 to 2004 by different performance indicators, put Hinault as the top Tour rider of that period, ahead of Merckx and Lance Armstrong.
Nickname
Hinault was nicknamed le blaireau in French, a term that can be translated into English as either "the shaving brush" or "the badger". According to Fotheringham, the nickname originates from Hinault's early training partners, Maurice Le Guilloux and Georges Talbourdet, who would use the term to tease the young rider. Le Guilloux used it once in front of Pierre Chany, a writer for L'Équipe, and the name stuck. According to Hinault himself, the term in the first place was supposed to mean no more than "mate" or "buddy". However, Hinault later embraced the association with the wild animal. In 2003, he commented: "A badger is a beautiful thing. When it's hunted it goes into its sett and waits. When it comes out again, it attacks. That's the reason for my nickname. When I'm annoyed I go home, you don't see me for a month. When I come out again, I win." Hinault, as early as 1983, owned a stuffed badger to demonstrate his association with the animal.
Stance on doping
Hinault never tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs during his professional career and was never implicated in any doping practices. He did, however, lead a riders' protest during a criterium race in Callac in 1982 against the sudden introduction of doping controls. He was handed a one-month suspended ban and fined CHF 1,110, though the penalty was never enforced.
Hinault has been outspoken about several prominent doping cases in the past years. In 2013, he heavily criticised French senators for revealing the results of tests conducted in 2004 on samples from the 1998 Tour de France. He called the initiative "bullshit" and urged lawmakers "to stop bringing out the dead", claiming they "want to kill the Tour". In the same year, he reacted to comments made by Lance Armstrong, a rider stripped of seven Tour victories due to doping offences. Armstrong suggested that it would be impossible to win the Tour de France without performance-enhancing substances. To counter this claim, Hinault replied: "He must not know what it was like to ride without doping." Armstrong later clarified that he had spoken about the time when he was riding (1999–2005). In early 2018, Hinault also spoke out about the adverse analytical result for salbutamol of four-time Tour winner Chris Froome at the 2017 Vuelta a España. He criticised Froome for taking part in the 2018 Giro d'Italia while the investigation was still ongoing. In addition, he commented that Froome could not be "listed among the cycling greats". Froome would win the Giro and become the first rider since Hinault to hold all three Grand Tour Jerseys at once. Before the 2018 Tour de France, with Froome's case still ongoing, he urged the other riders to strike in protest if Froome competed. Froome was later cleared of the charges and started the Tour where he finished third behind teammate Geraint Thomas and Tom Dumoulin.
Career achievements
Major results
Source:
1972
1st Road race, National Junior Road Championships
1974
5th Overall Étoile des Espoirs
1975
1st Individual pursuit, National Track Championships
1st Overall Circuit de la Sarthe
6th Overall Tour de l'Oise
6th Grand Prix des Nations
7th Overall Paris–Nice
1976
1st Individual pursuit, National Track Championships
1st Overall Circuit de la Sarthe
1st Stage 3a (ITT)
1st Overall Tour du Limousin
1st Stage 1
1st Overall Tour de l'Aude
1st Stage 1
1st Overall Tour d'Indre-et-Loire
1st Stage 2b (ITT)
1st Paris–Camembert
1st Stage 2 Étoile des Espoirs
2nd Overall À travers Lausanne
3rd Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre
4th Grand Prix Pino Cerami
6th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
6th Grand Prix des Nations
10th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
1977
1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Stages 1 & 5
1st Overall Tour du Limousin
1st Stage 1
1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège
1st Gent–Wevelgem
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Stage 2b (ITT) Étoile des Espoirs
2nd Overall Tour Cycliste du Tarn
1st Mountains classification
2nd Overall Tour d'Indre-et-Loire
1st Stage 2b
3rd Paris–Brussels
4th Overall Tour de l'Aude
6th Overall Paris–Nice
6th GP Ouest–France
7th Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre
8th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
10th Grand Prix d'Isbergues
1978
1st Road race, National Road Championships
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Stages 8 (ITT), 15 & 20 (ITT)
1st Overall Vuelta a España
1st Prologue, Stages 11b (ITT), 12, 14 & 18
1st Overall Critérium International
1st Stage 3 (ITT)
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Boucles de l'Aulne
2nd Overall Paris–Nice
2nd Overall À travers Lausanne
3rd Giro di Lombardia
5th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
9th Overall Tour Cycliste du Tarn
1979
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Points classification
1st Stages 2 (ITT), 3, 11 (ITT), 15 (ITT), 21 (ITT), 23 & 24
1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Stages 3, 5b (ITT), 6 & 7b (ITT)
1st Overall Tour de l'Oise
1st Prologue
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Giro di Lombardia
1st La Flèche Wallonne
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Boucles de l'Aulne
1st
Étoile des Espoirs
1st Stages 3b (ITT) & 4
2nd Overall Critérium International
1st Stage 3 (ITT)
2nd Overall Tour de Luxembourg
1st Stage 3
2nd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
3rd Overall Tour Cycliste du Tarn
3rd Overall À travers Lausanne
3rd Critérium des As
6th Overall Paris–Nice
6th Paris–Tours
7th Milan–San Remo
8th Gent–Wevelgem
8th Grand Prix de Wallonie
1980
1st Road race, UCI Road World Championships
1st Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Stage 14
Tour de France
1st Prologue, Stages 4 (ITT) & 5
Held after Prologue, Stage 1a & Stages 11–12
1st Overall Tour de Romandie
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
3rd La Flèche Wallonne
4th Paris–Roubaix
5th Amstel Gold Race
1981
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Combination classification
1st Prologue, Stages 6 (ITT), 14 (ITT), 18 & 20 (ITT)
Overall Combativity award
1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Overall Critérium International
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Paris–Roubaix
1st Amstel Gold Race
3rd Road race, UCI Road World Championships
1982
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Combination classification
1st Prologue, Stages 14 (ITT), 19 (ITT) & 21
1st Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Prologue (TTT), Stages 3 (ITT), 12, 18, & 22 (ITT)
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Overall Tour de Luxembourg
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise
1st Critérium des As
9th Paris–Roubaix
1983
1st Overall Vuelta a España
1st Stages 15b (ITT) & 17
1st La Flèche Wallonne
1st Grand Prix Pino Cerami
1984
1st Giro di Lombardia
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
1st Trofeo Baracchi (with Francesco Moser)
2nd Overall Tour de France
1st Prologue
Held after Prologue
Overall Combativity award
2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
3rd Overall Paris–Nice
4th Züri-Metzgete
1985
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Prologue, Stages 3 (TTT) & 8 (ITT)
1st Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Stage 12 (ITT)
1986
1st Overall Coors Classic
1st Stages 7a & 11a
1st Overall Vuelta Ciclista a la Comunidad Valenciana
1st Trofeo Luis Puig
2nd Overall Tour de France
1st Mountains classification
1st Stages 9 (ITT), 18 & 20 (ITT)
Held after Stages 12–16
Overall Combativity award
General classification results timeline
Source:
Monuments results timeline
Source:
See also
Giro d'Italia records and statistics
List of cycling records
List of French people
List of Giro d'Italia general classification winners
List of Grand Tour general classification winners
List of Tour de France general classification winners
List of Tour de France secondary classification winners
List of Vuelta a España classification winners
List of Vuelta a España general classification winners
Yellow jersey statistics
Notes
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
1954 births
Breton people
French farmers
French Giro d'Italia stage winners
French male cyclists
French Tour de France stage winners
French Vuelta a España stage winners
Giro d'Italia winners
Living people
People from Saint-Brieuc
Tour de France Champs Elysées stage winners
Tour de France prologue winners
Tour de France winners
UCI Road World Champions (elite men)
Vuelta a España winners
Sportspeople from Côtes-d'Armor | false | [
"You Can Hold Me Down is the debut album by William Tell, first released on March 13, 2007 through Universal Records and New Door Records.\n\nTrack listing\n \"Jeannie\" (William Tell) 3:01\n \"Slipping Under (Sing Along to Your Favorite Song)\" (PJ Smith, William Tell) 3:34\n \"Trouble\" (William Tell) 2:55\n \"Fairfax (You’re Still the Same)\" (William Tell) 2:49\n \"Like You, Only Sweeter\" (Darren Tehrani, William Tell) 3:41\n \"Maybe Tonight\" (William Tell, Mike Green) 3:13\n \"Young at Heart\" (William Tell) 2:46\n \"Sounds\" (William Tell, PJ Smith) 3:05\n \"Just For You\" (William Tell, Mike Green) 3:33\n \"You Can Hold Me Down\" (William Tell, Darren Tehrani) 3:23\n\nBest Buy hidden track:\n<li> \"You Can Hold Me Down\" (Tell, Tehrani) – 9:31\n features the hidden track \"After All\", beginning at about 4:30\n\niTunes Store bonus track:\n<li> \"Yesterday is Calling\" (James Bourne, Smith) – 3:43\n\nTarget bonus track:\n<li> \"Young at Heart (Acoustic)\" (Tell) – 2:46\n\nWal-Mart bonus tracks:\n<li> \"This Mess\" – 3:23\n<li> \"Katie (Where'd You Go?)\" – 3:48\n\nPersonnel\nWilliam Tell - vocals, guitars, bass\nBrian Ireland - drums, percussion\nAndrew McMahon - piano\n\nReferences\n\nYou Can Hold Me Down (William Tell album)",
"\"Tell Me How You Feel\" is a song by American singer and actress Joy Enriquez. It samples \"Mellow Mellow Right On\" by Lowrell Simon. The song was released as the second single from her debut self-titled studio album in September 2000, peaking at number 17 on the US Billboard Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, number 24 in Australia and number 14 in New Zealand, where it was certified Gold for sales of over 5,000.\n\nTrack listings\n\nUS CD single\n \"Tell Me How You Feel\" – 4:06\n Snippets from Joy Enriquez\n \"Shake Up the Party\"\n \"Situation\"\n \"I Can't Believe\"\n\nAustralian maxi-CD single\n \"Tell Me How You Feel\" – 4:06\n \"Tell Me How You Feel\" (Full Crew remix) – 4:04\n \"Between You and Me\" – 4:21\n \"How Can I Not Love You\" – 4:33\n\nEuropean CD single\n \"Tell Me How You Feel\" (album version) – 4:06\n \"Tell Me How You Feel\" (Full Crew remix) – 4:05\n\nEuropean maxi-CD single\n \"Tell Me How You Feel\" (album version) – 4:06\n \"Tell Me How You Feel\" (Full Crew remix) – 4:05\n \"Dime mi amor\" (Spanish version) – 3:59\n \"Tell Me How You Feel\" (instrumental) – 4:05\n\nJapanese CD single\n \"Tell Me How You Feel\"\n \"How Can I Not Love You\"\n\nCharts\n\nCertifications\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n at Discogs\n\n2000 singles\n2000 songs\n2001 singles\nArista Records singles\nSong recordings produced by Soulshock and Karlin\nSongs written by Kenneth Karlin\nSongs written by Soulshock"
] |
[
"Bernard Hinault",
"1978-1983: Renault",
"What happened in 1978?",
"To prepare for the 1978 Tour de France, Hinault rode his first grand tour, the Vuelta a Espana.",
"What happened during the Tour de France?",
"This tour became a battle with Joop Zoetemelk, Hinault taking the yellow jersey after the final time trial. He was hailed as the next great French cyclist and won",
"What happened after that?",
"At the start of the 1980 season Hinault and Guimard's aim for the season was to win cycling's Triple Crown",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"The following year, 1981, wearing the rainbow jersey, he won Paris-Roubaix and returned to victory in the 1981 Tour and then again in 1982.",
"Did he win anything else after that?",
"He missed the Tour in 1983, again because of knee problems.",
"Can you tell me about Renault?",
"I don't know."
] | C_86d5e12f20eb457ca39364108c484eed_1 | What happened in 1983? | 7 | What happened to Bernard Hinault in 1983? | Bernard Hinault | To prepare for the 1978 Tour de France, Hinault rode his first grand tour, the Vuelta a Espana. He won and felt ready for his first Tour de France. Before the Tour, he won the national championship, which allowed him to wear the tricolour. This tour became a battle with Joop Zoetemelk, Hinault taking the yellow jersey after the final time trial. He was hailed as the next great French cyclist and won the Tour again in 1979. Once again this Tour proved to be a two man battle between Hinault and Zoetemelk as amazingly they finished nearly a half hour ahead of the rest of the field. In fact the 79 Tour is the only time the Yellow Jersey was challenged on the final stage into Paris as Zoetemelk, trailing Hinault by about three minutes launched an attack early in the stage. Hinault answered and the two riders stayed away from the main field all the way to the finish. In the end Hinault won the stage and the Tour while Zoetemelk was given a ten minute doping penalty. At the start of the 1980 season Hinault and Guimard's aim for the season was to win cycling's Triple Crown - the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France and the world championships, which had previously only been won in the same year by Eddy Merckx. Hinault won that year's Giro, clinching the race with an attack on the Stelvio Pass. In the 1980 Tour de France he abandoned the race while wearing the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification because of a knee injury but he returned to win the world championship in Sallanches that year. The following year, 1981, wearing the rainbow jersey, he won Paris-Roubaix and returned to victory in the 1981 Tour and then again in 1982. He missed the Tour in 1983, again because of knee problems. The organiser, Jacques Goddet, said in his autobiography L'Equipee Belle that Hinault's problems came from pushing gears that were too high. During Hinault's absence, his teammate Laurent Fignon rose to prominence by winning the Tour in 1983. CANNOTANSWER | He missed the Tour in 1983, again because of knee problems. | Bernard Hinault (; born 14 November 1954) is a French former professional road cyclist. With 147 professional victories, including five in the Tour de France, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time.
Hinault started cycling as an amateur in his native Brittany. After a successful amateur career, he signed with the Gitane–Campagnolo team to turn professional in 1975. He took breakthrough victories at both the Liège–Bastogne–Liège classic and the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré stage race in 1977. In 1978, he won his first two Grand Tours: the Vuelta a España and the Tour de France. In the following years, he was the most successful professional cyclist, adding another Tour victory in 1979 and a win at the 1980 Giro d'Italia. Although a knee injury forced him to quit the 1980 Tour de France while in the lead, he returned to win the World Championship road race later in the year. He added another Tour victory in 1981, before completing his first Giro-Tour double in 1982.
After winning the 1983 Vuelta a España, a return of his knee problems forced him to miss that year's Tour de France, won by his teammate Laurent Fignon. Conflict within the Renault team led to his leaving and joining La Vie Claire. With his new team, he raced the 1984 Tour de France, but lost to Fignon by over ten minutes. He recovered the following year, winning another Giro-Tour double with the help of teammate Greg LeMond. This gave him ten grand tour wins in his career, one behind Merckx for the all time record. No rider since Hinault has achieved more than seven.
In the 1986 Tour de France, he engaged in an intra-team rivalry with LeMond, who won his first of three Tours. Hinault retired shortly thereafter. he is the most recent French winner of the Tour de France. After his cycling career, Hinault turned to farming, while fulfilling enforcement duties for the organisers of the Tour de France until 2016.
All through his career, Hinault was known by the nickname le blaireau ("the badger"); he associated himself with the animal due to its aggressive nature, a trait he embodied on the bike. Within the peloton, Hinault assumed the role of patron, exercising authority over races he took part in.
Early life and family
Hinault was born on 14 November 1954 in the Breton village of Yffiniac, the second oldest of four children to Joseph and Lucie Hinault. The family lived in a cottage named La Clôture, built shortly after Hinault was born. His parents were farmers, and the children often had to help out at harvest time. His father later worked as a platelayer for the national rail company SNCF. Hinault was described as a "hyperactive" child, with his mother nicknaming him "little hooligan". Hinault was not a good student, but visited the technical college in Saint-Brieuc for an engineering apprenticeship. He started athletics there, becoming a runner and finishing tenth in the French junior cross-country championship in 1971.
In December 1974, just before turning professional, Hinault married Martine, who he had met at a family wedding the year before. Their first son, Mickael, was born in 1975, with a second, Alexandre, in 1981. Hinault and his family lived in Quessoy, close to Yffiniac, while he was a professional cyclist. After his retirement, they moved to a farm away in Brittany. Hinault had bought the property near Calorguen in 1983. Martine later served as mayor of Calorguen.
Amateur career
Hinault came to cycling through his cousin René, who rode weekend races. At first he had to use the shared family bike, which he rode devotedly. He received his own bike when he was 15 as a reward for passing his school examinations, and used it to travel to college. During the summer of 1971 he made training rides with René, who had problems keeping up with the sixteen-year old Bernard, even though he was an experienced amateur rider. Hinault received his racing licence from Club Olympique Briochin in late April1971 and entered his first race on 2May in Planguenoual. Advised only to try to stay with the other riders, Hinault won the event. Hinault won his first five races, amassing twelve wins from twenty races by the end of the year. Also during the summer of 1971, Hinault was at odds with his father about his choice to pursue cycling as a career. Joseph Hinault relented only after his son ran away from home for three days to stay with his cousins, sleeping on straw in the barn.
For 1972, Hinault was allowed to race with the over-18s. At a race in Hillion, he and René escaped from the field and reached the finish alone. They crossed the line together to share the victory, to the dismay of the race organisers. The young Hinault was heavily influenced by his trainer at the Club Olympique Briochin, Robert Le Roux, who had earlier worked with 1965 World Champion Tom Simpson. Hinault won nineteen races in his second season as an amateur, including the national junior championship against opposition a year older than him, such as future professional Bernard Vallet. He was conscripted into the military at age 18, and did not race throughout 1973. He was unable to join the army's training centre for young athletes and instead served in Sissonne with the 21st Marine Infantry Regiment. Returning to competition overweight, Hinault managed to win his first race of 1974. This was his last season as an amateur and again was highly successful, including a victory in his home town of Yffiniac towards the end of the year, where an alliance formed by four other riders was unable to hold him back. He also competed in track cycling, winning the national pursuit championship. On the road, he took part in the Étoile des Espoirs, a race open to amateurs and young professionals. Hinault finished fifth overall, and second on the time trial stage behind reigning pursuit world champion Roy Schuiten. Towards the end of the season, Hinault turned down an offer to race with the prestigious Athletic Club de Boulogne-Billancourt, instead deciding to turn professional in 1975.
Professional career
1975–1977: Gitane
In January 1975, Hinault turned professional with the Gitane–Campagnolo team, run by former World Champion Jean Stablinski, on a lean wage of 2,500francs per month. The decision to turn professional relatively early was in part taken as, had Hinault raced the 1975 season as an amateur, he would have likely been prevented by the French cycling federation from turning professional before the 1976 Summer Olympics to be part of the French team there. Early on, he showed no interest in adhering to the unwritten rules of the peloton, whereby younger riders were expected to show respect towards older ones. At a criterium race in August1975 he went up against a coalition of senior riders, who had decided to divide the prize money between them. Hinault won all the intermediate cash prizes until five-time Tour de France winner Eddy Merckx declared that Hinault was included in the pact. His results in his first season were impressive, with a seventh place at Paris–Nice and a victory at the Circuit de la Sarthe, earning him the Promotion Pernod, the prize for the best new professional in France. However, Hinault showed little willingness to learn the basic trades of cycling from Stablinski, often escaping early in the race instead of learning how to ride inside the peloton. Together with Stablinski entering Hinault into too many races, this led to conflicts between them.
For 1976, Hinault stayed with Gitane, as former professional Cyrille Guimard, who had just retired from cycling, took over the team and became directeur sportif. Guimard and Hinault got along well, and the latter was kept out of the high-profile races for 1976, instead focussing on a steady improvement in lesser known races such as Paris–Camembert, which he won. That year, Guimard spurred Lucien Van Impe to his only win in the Tour de France. Hinault's progress was visible, with a second consecutive victory at the Circuit de la Sarthe, a third place at the Grand Prix du Midi Libre and a win at the Tour de l'Aude, ensuring him the Prestige Pernod, the award for the best French rider of the season. In total, Hinault won 15 races in 1976. At the end of the year, he came sixth at the World Championship Road Race, being beaten to the line for fifth by Eddy Merckx.
During the spring classics season of 1977, Hinault left the Tour of Flanders before it had even started, not wanting to risk his health in a rain- and cold-affected race on cobbled roads. This drew him a formal warning by Guimard for his conduct. Three weeks later, Hinault won Gent–Wevelgem in a solo effort after an attack from the finish. Five days later, at Liège–Bastogne–Liège, Hinault followed an attack by favourite André Dierickx, and beat him in the two-man sprint to take his first victory in one of cycling's "monuments". In accordance with Guimard's plan to build Hinault up slowly, he did not enter the Tour de France. He did however start the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, seen as the most important preparation event for the Tour. While in the leader's jersey on the penultimate stage to Grenoble, Hinault attacked up the Col de Porte, leading Van Impe and Bernard Thévenet by 1:30 minutes when crossing the summit. On the descent, he misjudged a hairpin corner and crashed down the mountainside. A tree saved him from falling far down, while his bike was lost. Hinault then climbed back onto the road, took a new bike and without showing any hesitation, continued on. Up the finishing climb in Grenoble, he briefly dismounted, still shocked from the near-death experience and pushed his bike for about , before remounting and winning the stage eighty seconds ahead of Van Impe. This also secured him the overall victory ahead of eventual Tour winner Thévenet.
This incident was mentioned from a semi-pro rider's perspective in the Tim Krabbé book De Renner (The Rider) when the main character is about to descend a Col in the Tour de Mont Aigoual:
At the end of the season, Hinault won the Grand Prix des Nations, an individual time trial, with a substantial margin of 3:15 minutes ahead of favourite Joop Zoetemelk.
1978–1983: Renault
1978: Grand Tour breakthrough
At the beginning of 1978, the Gitane team was taken over by its parent company, the state-owned car manufacturer Renault, becoming . Hinault started the season with second place at Paris–Nice. He then competed in the Critérium National de la Route. Trailing Raymond Martin by more than two minutes before the final time trial, he made up his significant deficit and won the event.
Hinault then competed in his first three-week Grand Tour, at the Vuelta a España, then held at the end of April. He won the opening prologue time trial in Gijón, but then let the leadership switch to Ferdi Van Den Haute. He won stage 11b, a mountain time trial in Barcelona, and regained the race lead the next day, when he won the stage to La Tossa de Montbui after an escape with teammate Jean-René Bernaudeau. He ensured his overall victory by winning stage 18 to Amurrio. On that stage, he bridged over to escapee Andrés Gandarias, who had earlier asked for Hinault's permission to attack. Hinault claimed to have been annoyed into attacking by one of Gandarias's teammates and offered to carry him to the finish. However, the Spaniard was unable to follow his wheel, saying: "This guy has made me suffer like a dog, he's tougher than Eddy Merckx!" In all, Hinault won five stages of the Vuelta. A sixth win was prevented on the final day of the Grand Tour, on which a short time trial was raced in the afternoon, held at San Sebastián in the Basque Country. The stage was marred by protests and obstructions by supporters of the Basque separatist group ETA. Hinault himself had sand thrown into his eyes, but won the stage nonetheless, only to find that the results would not count due to the surrounding circumstances.
Ahead of his first Tour de France, Hinault raced in the Tour de Suisse, where he did not feature prominently. He then travelled to the French Road Race Championship, held at Sarrebourg. He launched an escape, on which he rode solo, leading the rest of his competitors by more than six minutes by the start of the last lap. However, he had forgotten to eat enough and suffered from hypoglycemia during the last part of the race, crossing the finish line to take the title severely weakened. His victory allowed him to wear the French tricolore jersey for the following year.
In the Tour de France, Hinault fell behind early to challenger Zoetemelk when Renault lost two minutes to Mercier during the team time trial. On stage 8, the first longer individual time trial, Hinault gained back 59 seconds on Zoetemelk, while the previous two Tour winners, Van Impe and Thévenet, lost so much time that they were now counted out from chances of an overall win. Hinault rode conservatively in the Pyrenees to stay within striking distance of Zoetemelk. On stage 12a, from Tarbes to Valence-d'Agen, he firmly imprinted his authority on the race, although not by riding. The riders had been complaining about split stages, where more than one would be held on one day, as was the case on 12July. When they reached the finishing town, they dismounted their bikes and walked to the finish line in protest. Hinault was chosen by his fellow competitors to be the spokesperson of the strike. Journalist Felix Magowan wrote: "Before today's strike, people were asking if the Tour had a boss. Today that was answered. His name is Hinault." Following the strike, Hinault had trouble sleeping and was caught out the next day, a stage in the Massif Central, forcing his team into a long chase. Thus weakened and slowed by spectator interference at a bike change, he lost 1:40 minutes to Zoetemelk on the following day's uphill time trial. Hinault countered the next day en route to Saint-Étienne during stage 15, breaking away with Hennie Kuiper. By the finish, the two had been reeled back, but Hinault contested the finishing sprint, winning the stage. The following day, stage 16 to Alpe d'Huez, ended with Zoetemelk, Hinault and the temporary leader of the general classification and thus yellow jersey wearer Michel Pollentier separated by only 18 seconds. However, Pollentier was disqualified for trying to cheat his doping test, leaving Hinault and Zoetemelk to fight out the overall victory. On the final mountain stage, Hinault put his rival under pressure, but was unable to make up any time. He then clinched the yellow jersey in the final time trial, gaining more than four minutes to win his first Tour de France with an advantage of 3:56 minutes. Following his Tour win, he finished fifth at the World Championships, before once more winning the Grand Prix des Nations, this time ahead of Francesco Moser.
1979: Second Tour victory and Classics success
The 1979 season started slowly for an off-form Hinault. He bounced back at the La Flèche Wallonne classic in April, when he caught up to a breakaway by Giuseppe Saronni and Bernt Johansson, outsprinting the former to win the race. He then beat Zoetemelk to victory at the Dauphiné Libéré, winning four stages. He won the race by over ten minutes, also taking the points and mountain classifications. In the coming weeks ahead of the Tour, he proved his willingness to assist his teammates to ensure their loyalty, helping Lucien Didier win the Tour de Luxembourg and finishing second behind Roland Berland in the National Championship race.
The Tour de France was again a two-way battle between Hinault and Zoetemelk. In the prologue, Hinault was fourth, on the same time as the Dutchman. The mountain stages started immediately thereafter, with Hinault winning the mountain time trial on stage 2, taking over the yellow jersey. He also won the next stage into Pau. The team time trial on stage4 again went Zoetemelk's way, as his Mercier team took back 41 seconds on Hinault's Renault squad. Zoetemelk now was only 12 seconds behind Hinault. On stage 8, in another team time trial, Renault fared much better, and Hinault extended his advantage to 1:18 minutes. The next day however, on a stage containing cobbled sections, Hinault suffered two punctures, losing almost four minutes and the race lead to Zoetemelk. He took back 36 seconds on the time trial in Brussels on stage 11 before regaining the race lead after another time trial, uphill to Avoriaz on stage 15. At this stage, he led Zoetemelk by 1:48 minutes, with third-placed Kuiper already more than 12 minutes behind. Hinault gained another minute on stage 16, before Zoetemelk regained 47 seconds up Alpe d'Huez three days later. The final time trial of the Tour went Hinault's way once again, extending his advantage by a further 69 seconds. He also took the next stage in a slightly uphill sprint finish. On the final stage towards the Champs-Élysées in Paris, traditionally a ceremonious affair without attacks, Zoetemelk and Hinault broke away, with both gapping the field and Hinault taking another stage victory. Zoetemelk finished 3:07 minutes behind Hinault, but then had ten minutes added to his time for failing a doping test. The next finisher, Joaquim Agostinho, was almost half an hour behind the winner.
Towards the end of the season, Hinault won his second cycling monument, the Giro di Lombardia. He had escaped from the field from the finish, but was later joined by some other riders. Only Silvano Contini finished with him, with the next group more than three minutes behind. The victory also secured that Hinault won his first of four consecutive Super Prestige Pernod International competitions, the award handed to the best rider of the season.
1980: Attempt at the Triple Crown
As was often the case, Hinault started the season slowly in 1980, withdrawing from Paris–Nice. He then entered Paris–Roubaix, partly to prepare for the cobbled sections in the upcoming Tour de France, and finished fourth. A week later, he scored one of his most memorable wins at Liège–Bastogne–Liège. As soon as the riders left Liège, snow began to fall, soon turning into a blizzard. Hinault wanted to abandon, as had many others, including all but one of his teammates. He was convinced to carry on until the feeding station at Bastogne, where the snow had turned into rain. Only 21 riders were left by this point. Hinault removed his rain cape and attacked, catching up to the leaders and carried on by himself, winning with a margin of almost ten minutes ahead of Kuiper. The victory came at a price, as his right index and middle fingers took weeks to recover from frostbite, and caused him pain for several years.
Hinault and Guimard then turned their attention to the only Grand Tour he had not won yet: the Giro d'Italia. They hoped that Hinault would be able to reproduce a feat Eddy Merckx had achieved in 1974, winning the Giro, the Tour and the World Championship in the same year. This is commonly referred to as the Triple Crown of Cycling.
Hinault started the Giro d'Italia as odds-on favourite, pitted against local riders Francesco Moser and Giuseppe Saronni, who had the home crowd on their side. Following a fourth place at the prologue in Genoa, Hinault made a spontaneous visit to Fausto Coppi's home of Castellania, paying respect to the first rider ever to have won Giro and Tour in the same year. On stage 5, a time trial to Pisa, Hinault took over the race leader's pink jersey. He then relinquished his lead to Roberto Visentini, who was not considered to be a contender for the final victory. On stage 14, he attacked when the peloton relaxed after an intermediate sprint, winning the stage ahead of Wladimiro Panizza, who took the race lead. Hinault then made the decisive move of the race on stage 20, when he attacked on the tough climb of the Stelvio Pass. He caught up with his teammate Bernaudeau, and both carried on for the remaining of the stage together. Hinault gifted the stage victory to his teammate, while he clinched the overall victory almost six minutes ahead of Panizza.
In the Tour de France, Hinault was once again set to duel with Joop Zoetemelk, who had moved to the dominant squad. Hinault won the prologue in Frankfurt, Germany, five seconds ahead of Gerrie Knetemann. On stage5 from Liège to Lille, which contained cobbled sections used in Paris–Roubaix, conditions were poor with rain and heavy winds. Hinault called for the field to take a slow tempo, but when Zoetemelk's teammate Jan Raas attacked, he went after him. He eventually found himself in a group with several other riders, while Zoetemelk was distanced. At from the finish, he followed another attack from Kuiper and won the sprint at the line. The next stage was set to contain more cobbled roads, but on Hinault's protest, most of the worst parts were taken out. Hinault had however suffered damage to his left knee on the stage to Lille. Hinault finished only fifth on stage 11's individual time trial, won by Zoetemelk. While he regained the yellow jersey, Zoetemelk was second, only 21 seconds behind. With his tendinitis worsening, he carried on until the end of stage 12, just before the race was headed for the first high mountains in the Pyrenees. That night, Hinault and Guimard told the race organisers, Jacques Goddet and Félix Lévitan, that he would abandon the race, while still in the lead. He left the race at night, not informing the press, which led to a fallout with the media that took years to recover. In Hinault's absence, Zoetemelk duly won his only Tour de France. Insinuations that Zoetemelk's victory had been a gift through Hinault's absence were countered by Hinault himself: "My problems were of my own making. It is always the absent rider who is at fault. I was absent and he took my place."
Hinault returned from the disappointment of the Tour to start at the World Championship road race, held on a very tough parcours in Sallanches, France, often named the hardest course in the history of the event. Hinault had broken away about from the finish with several riders. On the last lap, he dropped his last companion, Gianbattista Baronchelli, on the steepest part of a climb and soloed to victory. It had been a race of attrition with only 15 out of 107 riders reaching the finish.
1981: Winning a third Tour de France
Hinault had never made his dislike for riding on cobbled roads a secret. The most prominent race of this character, Paris–Roubaix, was met with particular disdain, even though he never finished lower than thirteenth. After the 1980 edition, he had said to organiser Goddet: "You will never see me in this circus again." However, he returned for 1981, saying that he did so out of respect for his stature as World Champion. He suffered seven crashes and tyre punctures, but reached the finish at the velodrome with the lead group, where he outsprinted favourites Roger De Vlaeminck and Moser. One-and-a-half weeks earlier, he had already added a victory at the Amstel Gold Race. Furthermore, he also won the Critérium International and again dominated the Dauphiné Libéré, winning by twelve minutes ahead of Agostinho.
At the Tour de France, Hinault took an early lead by winning the prologue, then relinquished the yellow jersey to Knetemann and later to Phil Anderson. On the time trial to Pau on stage 7, he regained the lead and never lost the jersey, beating Van Impe by almost a quarter of an hour. He won five stages, including all four individual time trials. Amidst media criticism that he was riding too defensively in the mountains, he also took victory in the Alps on a stage to Le Pleynet.
At the World Championship in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Hinault failed to defend his title. Having bridged a two-and-a-half-minute gap to a strong lead group on his own, he came third in the final sprint, behind Freddy Maertens and Saronni.
1982: Achieving the Giro-Tour double
Hinault returned to the Giro in 1982. He looked set for victory after the first two weeks, having taken a significant lead after wins in the stage3 time trial and stage 12 to Campitello Matese. However, on stage 17 to Boario Terme, Guimard and the Renault team misjudged the toughness of the climb and Hinault lost the lead to Silvano Contini. He hit back the next day, winning the stage to Montecampione, turning the race in his favour.
In "his most uneventful Tour", Hinault never looked in trouble on his way to completing the Giro-Tour double at the Tour de France. He won the prologue in Basel, Switzerland, before the lead briefly turned to Ludo Peeters and Phil Anderson. Hinault regained the yellow jersey after the first time trial and won the overall classification easily. He took four stages, including again the final one on the Champs-Élysées, this time from a bunch sprint. His participation in the final-stage sprint was seen as an answer to critics, who had once again lamented that Hinault had ridden the Tour without panache. Zoetemelk was again the runner-up, more than six minutes behind Hinault. Later in the season, Hinault added another victory at the Grand Prix des Nations.
1983: Second Vuelta and the ascent of Fignon
Since 1981, Hinault had been joined at Renault by two young talents, Laurent Fignon and the American Greg LeMond. Both joined Hinault for the Vuelta a España, where he faced stiff competition from local riders like Marino Lejarreta, Julián Gorospe, and Alberto Fernández. Six days before the race started, he had won La Flèche Wallonne for a second time. On stage4 of the Vuelta, Fignon attacked and won, but Lejarreta, the defending champion, had followed him and gained time on Hinault. Hinault came back and took the lead the following day on the mountain stage to Castellar de n'Hug. However, a day later, the Spanish teams jointly attacked and Lejarreta moved ahead of Hinault, who was 22 seconds down. At the uphill time trial at Balneario de Panticosa, he suffered and finished more than two minutes behind Lejarreta. Hinault joined forces with Kuiper and Saronni to attack on stage 10 to Soria, affected by crosswinds. He was in trouble again on stage 14, affected by returning pain in his knee; at one point he trailed his rivals by more than five minutes, but regained contact. In the time trial around Valladolid on stage 15b, Hinault won, now just ten seconds behind Gorospe, the new leader in the general classification. The following day brought the last mountain stage and Renault put pressure on Gorospe from early on. Hinault, joined by Lejarreta and Vicente Belda, escaped for , distancing Gorospe by over twenty minutes with Hinault taking victory in Ávila, sealing his second Vuelta victory. Due to the tightly fought battle between Hinault and his Spanish competitors, the 1983 race is described on the Vuelta's website as "one of the most beautiful and spectacular" editions.
During the Vuelta, Hinault's tendinitis returned. After the race, he made two failed attempts to get back into racing, but eventually announced that he would miss the Tour de France. In his absence, teammate Fignon won the event on his first attempt. Hinault tried another comeback at a post-Tour criterium, but the pain returned and he did not race for the remainder of the season.
1984–1986: La Vie Claire
1984: Defeat at Fignon's hands
By 1983, the relationship between Hinault and Guimard had deteriorated to a point where the former described their relationship as "war". Hinault forced a choice on the Renault team to either release him or oust Guimard. The team decided to stick with their directeur sportif, leading Hinault to search for a new team. He joined forces with businessman Bernard Tapie to form the new squad. Their directeur sportif became Swiss coach Paul Köchli, who had made a name for himself with innovative and effective training methods, leaving Hinault a lot of freedom while at the same time scientifically measuring his progress. As part of his connection with Tapie, Hinault also contributed to the development of the clipless pedal, created by Look, another company owned by Tapie.
Hinault returned to racing at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, where he won the final stage. He then took victory at the Four Days of Dunkirk. But his spring campaign lacked major successes. At the Dauphiné Libéré, he came second to Martín Ramírez, who later claimed that Hinault and his team had tried to intimidate him during the final stage of the race. A memorable episode occurred during the Paris–Nice, a race he finished third overall. During stage5 to La Seyne-sur-Mer, Hinault was descending in a lead group with several other favourites. As they reached the valley, the road was blocked by protesters, unhappy with the announced closure of a dockyard at La Ciotat. While the other riders stopped, he drove into the group head-on, dismounted, and punched the protester closest to him. In the ensuing fist fight, Hinault suffered a broken rib.
The Tour de France was made out to be the big duel between Hinault and Fignon, who had just won the French National Championship. Hinault won the prologue, but Renault took the team time trial, 55 seconds ahead of La Vie Claire. He lost another 49 seconds to Fignon in the first long individual time trial, a discipline he had previously dominated. Following the second time trial, Hinault was only seventh on general classification, two minutes behind his adversary. The next stage led to Alpe d'Huez. Hinault attacked on the Rampe de Laffrey, but Fignon was able to respond. The two exchanged attacks on the way up the climb, but it was in the valley that Hinault was able to draw out a gap of about a minute. On Alpe d'Huez itself, he was first passed by eventual stage winner Luis Herrera. When he started to slow, Fignon caught up to him and eventually dropped Hinault, who lost a further three minutes. He ultimately finished the Tour in second place, a significant ten minutes behind Fignon.
Hinault managed to bounce back from his Tour defeat in the fall. In late September, he took his fifth and final victory at the Grand Prix des Nations, riding the time trial at a then record speed of . Fignon could only manage fourth, more than two minutes behind. Next, he won the Trofeo Baracchi, a two-man time trial, in which he competed with Moser. He then won the Giro di Lombardia for a second time, breaking away from the group of favourites from the finish.
1985: The second Giro-Tour double
For 1985, Greg LeMond switched teams from Renault to join Hinault at La Vie Claire. Together, they entered the Giro d'Italia. During the race, Hinault was met with hostility from the home crowd, who supported local rider Francesco Moser. On the stage 12 time trial, Hinault took the pink jersey and opened the decisive gap to Moser, who would eventually finish second. During the stage however, Hinault was spat at by spectators and almost knocked over, even though his team car rode behind him with the door opened the entire time to ensure that bystanders would have a harder time impeding him. Hinault won his third Giro with a margin of just over a minute.
In the Tour de France, Fignon did not take part due to an Achilles heel injury. Hinault therefore entered the race as the favourite. He took victory in the prologue in his native Brittany. La Vie Claire won the stage3 team time trial by over a minute. The next day, Hinault's teammate Kim Andersen took over the yellow jersey. Hinault supported him over the next days, even going so far as dropping back when Andersen punctured to lead him back into the peloton, showing his loyalty to riders who would later have to assist him. On stage 8, a time trial to Strasbourg, Hinault took back the race lead, winning the stage by more than two minutes ahead of Stephen Roche. While the race travelled through the Alps and in a second time trial, he consolidated his lead, building an advantage of five-and-a-half minutes on LeMond, who was now second overall.
On stage 14 to Saint-Étienne, LeMond finished two minutes ahead of a group containing Hinault. Involved in a crash with other riders, Hinault crossed the finish line with a broken nose. Around the same time, he started to experience symptoms of bronchitis. On stage 17, he showed signs of weakness and was unable to stay with the other leaders on the Col du Tourmalet. LeMond meanwhile followed an attack by Roche, but was forbidden by the team to cooperate to distance Hinault. LeMond would later claim that the team had deceived him by telling him that Hinault was closer behind than he actually was. Hinault eventually finished the stage just over a minute behind LeMond. The time LeMond waited may have been enough so that the two teammates would have contested the Maillot Jaune in the penultimate time trial. In the penultimate day's time trial, LeMond won the stage, but only five seconds ahead of Hinault, not enough to surpass him. This secured Hinault a record-equalling fifth Tour victory, by just under two minutes over his younger teammate. After the finish, he publicly pledged that he would support LeMond's bid for a first Tour victory the following year.
1986: The final season
In January 1986, Hinault was given the Legion of Honour by French president François Mitterrand. He had, already in 1982, announced that he would retire from cycling on his 32nd birthday, in November 1986.
Even though Hinault had pledged support for LeMond for the Tour de France, a lot of public attention was given to the possibility of him winning a record sixth Tour. Their La Vie Claire team was seen as dominant, with Laurent Fignon as the most likely challenger. Hinault finished third in the prologue, two seconds ahead of LeMond and Fignon. In the team time trial on stage 2, Fignon and gained almost two minutes on La Vie Claire, partly due to Hinault deciding that the squad would wait for two struggling riders, Niki Rüttimann and Guido Winterberg. Hinault then won the time trial on stage 9, gaining an additional 44 seconds on LeMond, who suffered a broken wheel and had to change his bike. Meanwhile, Fignon fell behind and later abandoned the race. On stage 12, from Bayonne to Pau, Hinault attacked with Pedro Delgado. The pair gained more than four-and-a-half minutes on LeMond, with Delgado taking the stage win. Hinault was now in the lead of the general classification, 5:25 minutes ahead of LeMond. Even though his lead was significant, he attacked again the following day, on the descent of the Col du Tourmalet, the first climb of the day. By the top of the next climb, the Col d'Aspin, he led the rest of the field by two minutes. However, joint effort behind brought him back before the final ascent up to the ski station of Superbagnères. Hinault then cracked, coming in ninth, 4:39 minutes behind stage winner LeMond. He now led his teammate by only forty seconds in the general classification.
The race then moved over to the Alps. On stage 17, Hinault got left behind on the Col d'Izoard and lost the yellow jersey to LeMond, falling to third in the overall rankings, 2:47 minutes behind his teammate. Stage 18 featured three major climbs, the Col du Galibier, the Croix de Fer and the final ascent up to Alpe d'Huez. Hinault attacked repeatedly, but reached the bottom of Alpe d'Huez with LeMond. He led the way up the climb, lined by approximately 300,000 spectators and crossed the finish line hand in hand with LeMond, in an apparent display of comradery. Urs Zimmermann, who had been second overall at the start of the day, lost more than five minutes. Any signs of appeasement between the rivalling teammates was shattered by Hinault in a television interview shortly after the stage finish, when he declared that the race was not yet over, even though he trailed LeMond by 2:45 minutes.
Stage 20 saw the final time trial and the last chance for Hinault to overcome LeMond's advantage. Aided by a crash from LeMond, Hinault won the stage, but gained back only 25 seconds, conceding defeat after the stage. He lost an additional 52 seconds on stage 21. In his last Tour de France stage into Paris, he took part in the final sprint, taking fourth place. He ended his final Tour de France second overall, 3:10 minutes behind LeMond. He won the mountains classification and was also given the super-combativity award. Hinault's repeated attacks during the race and refusal to concede defeat irritated LeMond, who felt betrayed by Hinault's lack of loyalty.
After the Tour, Hinault won the Coors Classic race in the United States, ahead of LeMond. He rode the World Championships Road Race, held in Colorado Springs. He aimed to win, showing a lot of effort in his preparation. However, he finished the race in 59th place. On 19 September, he won his last competitive race, a criterium in Angers, France. Hinault's retirement from professional cycling on 14 November 1986 was celebrated in Quessoy with a symbolic race of 3,600 riders, a concert and fireworks. A total of 15,000 people attended the event.
Retirement
After his retirement from professional cycling, Hinault moved to his farm and bred dairy cows, assisted by his cousin René, who had become an agricultural engineer. Just two weeks after he ended his career, the Tour de France organisers, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), approached Hinault and invited him to join the race management team. He held several positions, including race regulator and route advisor. After Jean-Marie Leblanc took over the role as general director, Hinault was named the Tour's ambassador. Included in his duties was being present during podium ceremonies. During the podium for stage3 of the 2008 Tour de France, a protester jumped on stage and disturbed proceedings. Hinault leapt forward and shoved him off. He stepped down from the role after the 2016 Tour de France. His role as ASO's brand ambassador was taken over by Stephen Roche, winner of the 1987 Tour de France.
Unlike many of his competitors, Hinault never became a directeur sportif (team manager) after his cycling career. Offers from Bouygues Télécom and a Chinese investor in the mid-2000s fell through. He was the selector of the French national team from 1988 to 1993. Hinault took a role as "patron" with the British squad for the 2014 season. In June 2020, Hinault became part of a group of businessmen investing into saving the cycling equipment company Mavic, who are a long-time sponsor of the Tour de France. Mavic was put into receivership earlier in the year due to the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Public image and riding style
Riding style and legacy
During his active career, Hinault was known as the patron of the field, meaning the rider with the highest authority. His biographer William Fotheringham has described him as "the last of the sport's patrons". In this role, Hinault would use his influence with race organisers, control the pace of the peloton, and allow or refuse other riders the chance to attack. The riders' strike at Valence d'Agen in the 1978 Tour is cited as the first instance in which Hinault assumed this role. His fellow riders stated that he, even though he did not talk much, was able to exert a high amount of certainty and therefore strength, which brought him respect and sometimes fear from his competitors. To signal his authority, Hinault often symbolically rode at the front of the field, instead of in the slipstream of his teammates. His riding style has been described as "fighting, full of aggression", and he stated that when he did not feel good in a race, his reaction would be to attack. Hinault described his own role as follows:
Hinault was however not always successful in his endeavours. During the 1980 Tour de France, he sought to remove the rule which excluded riders outside the time limit on each stage. He urged the riders to protest and ride slowly, but some did not follow his example, forcing Hinault to chase them down before he eventually left the race. His enigmatic exit from the 1980 Tour created tensions with the press that would persist during the rest of his active career. By 1982, debates about his personality started to appear more and more in the media. Particular interest was given to an alleged lack of panache during his Tour wins and his behaviour towards fans and officials, whom he treated with open disgust. Fotheringham suggests that Hinault only regained popularity with the French public after his knee problems and his Tour defeat in 1984. Fellow racer Robert Millar suggested that in 1986 in particular, Hinault attempted to win over the French public by riding aggressively.
Hinault was not known to particularly enjoy going on training rides, unless he was specifically preparing for an event. He would often greet his training partners in a night gown when they arrived on time for training or have an easy day of training that included stops at a bakery for cake. His distaste for training became even more evident in the winter, when he would gain a lot of weight. Laurent Fignon described the first training camps of the year as follows: "He looked as if he had been inflated. If you didn't know the Badger you would wonder how long it would take for him to get back to what he had been. You would be making a huge mistake." Hinault was capable of suffering through the training camp and returning to winning form within a month. Unlike a rider like Eddy Merckx, Hinault would not aim to win every race he entered. Millar described his approach as such: "Hinault either cared or he didn't. When he didn't care about winning he'd bumble round and hurt you now and again just to remind you he was there."
With a résumé of victories that includes all three Grand Tours (all of them more than once), the World Road Championships and a number of classics, Hinault has often been cited among the greatest cyclists of all time. The Historical Dictionary of Cycling describes him as "one of the best riders ever". Comparisons are often drawn with Eddy Merckx, against whom Hinault rode at the beginning of his career. Lucien Van Impe commented: "Merckx was the greatest, but Bernard [Hinault] was the most impressive." A study conducted in 2006, ranking Tour de France riders from 1953 to 2004 by different performance indicators, put Hinault as the top Tour rider of that period, ahead of Merckx and Lance Armstrong.
Nickname
Hinault was nicknamed le blaireau in French, a term that can be translated into English as either "the shaving brush" or "the badger". According to Fotheringham, the nickname originates from Hinault's early training partners, Maurice Le Guilloux and Georges Talbourdet, who would use the term to tease the young rider. Le Guilloux used it once in front of Pierre Chany, a writer for L'Équipe, and the name stuck. According to Hinault himself, the term in the first place was supposed to mean no more than "mate" or "buddy". However, Hinault later embraced the association with the wild animal. In 2003, he commented: "A badger is a beautiful thing. When it's hunted it goes into its sett and waits. When it comes out again, it attacks. That's the reason for my nickname. When I'm annoyed I go home, you don't see me for a month. When I come out again, I win." Hinault, as early as 1983, owned a stuffed badger to demonstrate his association with the animal.
Stance on doping
Hinault never tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs during his professional career and was never implicated in any doping practices. He did, however, lead a riders' protest during a criterium race in Callac in 1982 against the sudden introduction of doping controls. He was handed a one-month suspended ban and fined CHF 1,110, though the penalty was never enforced.
Hinault has been outspoken about several prominent doping cases in the past years. In 2013, he heavily criticised French senators for revealing the results of tests conducted in 2004 on samples from the 1998 Tour de France. He called the initiative "bullshit" and urged lawmakers "to stop bringing out the dead", claiming they "want to kill the Tour". In the same year, he reacted to comments made by Lance Armstrong, a rider stripped of seven Tour victories due to doping offences. Armstrong suggested that it would be impossible to win the Tour de France without performance-enhancing substances. To counter this claim, Hinault replied: "He must not know what it was like to ride without doping." Armstrong later clarified that he had spoken about the time when he was riding (1999–2005). In early 2018, Hinault also spoke out about the adverse analytical result for salbutamol of four-time Tour winner Chris Froome at the 2017 Vuelta a España. He criticised Froome for taking part in the 2018 Giro d'Italia while the investigation was still ongoing. In addition, he commented that Froome could not be "listed among the cycling greats". Froome would win the Giro and become the first rider since Hinault to hold all three Grand Tour Jerseys at once. Before the 2018 Tour de France, with Froome's case still ongoing, he urged the other riders to strike in protest if Froome competed. Froome was later cleared of the charges and started the Tour where he finished third behind teammate Geraint Thomas and Tom Dumoulin.
Career achievements
Major results
Source:
1972
1st Road race, National Junior Road Championships
1974
5th Overall Étoile des Espoirs
1975
1st Individual pursuit, National Track Championships
1st Overall Circuit de la Sarthe
6th Overall Tour de l'Oise
6th Grand Prix des Nations
7th Overall Paris–Nice
1976
1st Individual pursuit, National Track Championships
1st Overall Circuit de la Sarthe
1st Stage 3a (ITT)
1st Overall Tour du Limousin
1st Stage 1
1st Overall Tour de l'Aude
1st Stage 1
1st Overall Tour d'Indre-et-Loire
1st Stage 2b (ITT)
1st Paris–Camembert
1st Stage 2 Étoile des Espoirs
2nd Overall À travers Lausanne
3rd Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre
4th Grand Prix Pino Cerami
6th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
6th Grand Prix des Nations
10th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
1977
1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Stages 1 & 5
1st Overall Tour du Limousin
1st Stage 1
1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège
1st Gent–Wevelgem
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Stage 2b (ITT) Étoile des Espoirs
2nd Overall Tour Cycliste du Tarn
1st Mountains classification
2nd Overall Tour d'Indre-et-Loire
1st Stage 2b
3rd Paris–Brussels
4th Overall Tour de l'Aude
6th Overall Paris–Nice
6th GP Ouest–France
7th Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre
8th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
10th Grand Prix d'Isbergues
1978
1st Road race, National Road Championships
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Stages 8 (ITT), 15 & 20 (ITT)
1st Overall Vuelta a España
1st Prologue, Stages 11b (ITT), 12, 14 & 18
1st Overall Critérium International
1st Stage 3 (ITT)
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Boucles de l'Aulne
2nd Overall Paris–Nice
2nd Overall À travers Lausanne
3rd Giro di Lombardia
5th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
9th Overall Tour Cycliste du Tarn
1979
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Points classification
1st Stages 2 (ITT), 3, 11 (ITT), 15 (ITT), 21 (ITT), 23 & 24
1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Stages 3, 5b (ITT), 6 & 7b (ITT)
1st Overall Tour de l'Oise
1st Prologue
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Giro di Lombardia
1st La Flèche Wallonne
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Boucles de l'Aulne
1st
Étoile des Espoirs
1st Stages 3b (ITT) & 4
2nd Overall Critérium International
1st Stage 3 (ITT)
2nd Overall Tour de Luxembourg
1st Stage 3
2nd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
3rd Overall Tour Cycliste du Tarn
3rd Overall À travers Lausanne
3rd Critérium des As
6th Overall Paris–Nice
6th Paris–Tours
7th Milan–San Remo
8th Gent–Wevelgem
8th Grand Prix de Wallonie
1980
1st Road race, UCI Road World Championships
1st Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Stage 14
Tour de France
1st Prologue, Stages 4 (ITT) & 5
Held after Prologue, Stage 1a & Stages 11–12
1st Overall Tour de Romandie
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
3rd La Flèche Wallonne
4th Paris–Roubaix
5th Amstel Gold Race
1981
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Combination classification
1st Prologue, Stages 6 (ITT), 14 (ITT), 18 & 20 (ITT)
Overall Combativity award
1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Overall Critérium International
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Paris–Roubaix
1st Amstel Gold Race
3rd Road race, UCI Road World Championships
1982
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Combination classification
1st Prologue, Stages 14 (ITT), 19 (ITT) & 21
1st Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Prologue (TTT), Stages 3 (ITT), 12, 18, & 22 (ITT)
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Overall Tour de Luxembourg
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise
1st Critérium des As
9th Paris–Roubaix
1983
1st Overall Vuelta a España
1st Stages 15b (ITT) & 17
1st La Flèche Wallonne
1st Grand Prix Pino Cerami
1984
1st Giro di Lombardia
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
1st Trofeo Baracchi (with Francesco Moser)
2nd Overall Tour de France
1st Prologue
Held after Prologue
Overall Combativity award
2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
3rd Overall Paris–Nice
4th Züri-Metzgete
1985
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Prologue, Stages 3 (TTT) & 8 (ITT)
1st Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Stage 12 (ITT)
1986
1st Overall Coors Classic
1st Stages 7a & 11a
1st Overall Vuelta Ciclista a la Comunidad Valenciana
1st Trofeo Luis Puig
2nd Overall Tour de France
1st Mountains classification
1st Stages 9 (ITT), 18 & 20 (ITT)
Held after Stages 12–16
Overall Combativity award
General classification results timeline
Source:
Monuments results timeline
Source:
See also
Giro d'Italia records and statistics
List of cycling records
List of French people
List of Giro d'Italia general classification winners
List of Grand Tour general classification winners
List of Tour de France general classification winners
List of Tour de France secondary classification winners
List of Vuelta a España classification winners
List of Vuelta a España general classification winners
Yellow jersey statistics
Notes
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
1954 births
Breton people
French farmers
French Giro d'Italia stage winners
French male cyclists
French Tour de France stage winners
French Vuelta a España stage winners
Giro d'Italia winners
Living people
People from Saint-Brieuc
Tour de France Champs Elysées stage winners
Tour de France prologue winners
Tour de France winners
UCI Road World Champions (elite men)
Vuelta a España winners
Sportspeople from Côtes-d'Armor | false | [
"Don Juan Manuel's Tales of Count Lucanor, in Spanish Libro de los ejemplos del conde Lucanor y de Patronio (Book of the Examples of Count Lucanor and of Patronio), also commonly known as El Conde Lucanor, Libro de Patronio, or Libro de los ejemplos (original Old Castilian: Libro de los enxiemplos del Conde Lucanor et de Patronio), is one of the earliest works of prose in Castilian Spanish. It was first written in 1335.\n\nThe book is divided into four parts. The first and most well-known part is a series of 51 short stories (some no more than a page or two) drawn from various sources, such as Aesop and other classical writers, and Arabic folktales.\n\nTales of Count Lucanor was first printed in 1575 when it was published at Seville under the auspices of Argote de Molina. It was again printed at Madrid in 1642, after which it lay forgotten for nearly two centuries.\n\nPurpose and structure\n\nA didactic, moralistic purpose, which would color so much of the Spanish literature to follow (see Novela picaresca), is the mark of this book. Count Lucanor engages in conversation with his advisor Patronio, putting to him a problem (\"Some man has made me a proposition...\" or \"I fear that such and such person intends to...\") and asking for advice. Patronio responds always with the greatest humility, claiming not to wish to offer advice to so illustrious a person as the Count, but offering to tell him a story of which the Count's problem reminds him. (Thus, the stories are \"examples\" [ejemplos] of wise action.) At the end he advises the Count to do as the protagonist of his story did.\n\nEach chapter ends in more or less the same way, with slight variations on: \"And this pleased the Count greatly and he did just so, and found it well. And Don Johán (Juan) saw that this example was very good, and had it written in this book, and composed the following verses.\" A rhymed couplet closes, giving the moral of the story.\n\nOrigin of stories and influence on later literature\nMany of the stories written in the book are the first examples written in a modern European language of various stories, which many other writers would use in the proceeding centuries. Many of the stories he included were themselves derived from other stories, coming from western and Arab sources.\n\nShakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew has the basic elements of Tale 35, \"What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\".\n\nTale 32, \"What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth\" tells the story that Hans Christian Andersen made popular as The Emperor's New Clothes.\n\nStory 7, \"What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana\", a version of Aesop's The Milkmaid and Her Pail, was claimed by Max Müller to originate in the Hindu cycle Panchatantra.\n\nTale 2, \"What happened to a good Man and his Son, leading a beast to market,\" is the familiar fable The miller, his son and the donkey.\n\nIn 2016, Baroque Decay released a game under the name \"The Count Lucanor\". As well as some protagonists' names, certain events from the books inspired past events in the game.\n\nThe stories\n\nThe book opens with a prologue which introduces the characters of the Count and Patronio. The titles in the following list are those given in Keller and Keating's 1977 translation into English. James York's 1868 translation into English gives a significantly different ordering of the stories and omits the fifty-first.\n\n What Happened to a King and His Favorite \n What Happened to a Good Man and His Son \n How King Richard of England Leapt into the Sea against the Moors\n What a Genoese Said to His Soul When He Was about to Die \n What Happened to a Fox and a Crow Who Had a Piece of Cheese in His Beak\n How the Swallow Warned the Other Birds When She Saw Flax Being Sown \n What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana \n What Happened to a Man Whose Liver Had to Be Washed \n What Happened to Two Horses Which Were Thrown to the Lion \n What Happened to a Man Who on Account of Poverty and Lack of Other Food Was Eating Bitter Lentils \n What Happened to a Dean of Santiago de Compostela and Don Yllán, the Grand Master of Toledo\n What Happened to the Fox and the Rooster \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Hunting Partridges \n The Miracle of Saint Dominick When He Preached against the Usurer \n What Happened to Lorenzo Suárez at the Siege of Seville \n The Reply that count Fernán González Gave to His Relative Núño Laynes \n What Happened to a Very Hungry Man Who Was Half-heartedly Invited to Dinner \n What Happened to Pero Meléndez de Valdés When He Broke His Leg \n What Happened to the Crows and the Owls \n What Happened to a King for Whom a Man Promised to Perform Alchemy \n What Happened to a Young King and a Philosopher to Whom his Father Commended Him \n What Happened to the Lion and the Bull \n How the Ants Provide for Themselves \n What Happened to the King Who Wanted to Test His Three Sons \n What Happened to the Count of Provence and How He Was Freed from Prison by the Advice of Saladin\n What Happened to the Tree of Lies \n What Happened to an Emperor and to Don Alvarfáñez Minaya and Their Wives \n What Happened in Granada to Don Lorenzo Suárez Gallinato When He Beheaded the Renegade Chaplain \n What Happened to a Fox Who Lay down in the Street to Play Dead \n What Happened to King Abenabet of Seville and Ramayquía His Wife \n How a Cardinal Judged between the Canons of Paris and the Friars Minor \n What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth \n What Happened to Don Juan Manuel's Saker Falcon and an Eagle and a Heron \n What Happened to a Blind Man Who Was Leading Another \n What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\n What Happened to a Merchant When He Found His Son and His Wife Sleeping Together \n What Happened to Count Fernán González with His Men after He Had Won the Battle of Hacinas \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Loaded down with Precious Stones and Drowned in the River \n What Happened to a Man and a Swallow and a Sparrow \n Why the Seneschal of Carcassonne Lost His Soul \n What Happened to a King of Córdova Named Al-Haquem \n What Happened to a Woman of Sham Piety \n What Happened to Good and Evil and the Wise Man and the Madman \n What Happened to Don Pero Núñez the Loyal, to Don Ruy González de Zavallos, and to Don Gutier Roiz de Blaguiello with Don Rodrigo the Generous \n What Happened to a Man Who Became the Devil's Friend and Vassal \n What Happened to a Philosopher who by Accident Went down a Street Where Prostitutes Lived \n What Befell a Moor and His Sister Who Pretended That She Was Timid \n What Happened to a Man Who Tested His Friends \n What Happened to the Man Whom They Cast out Naked on an Island When They Took away from Him the Kingdom He Ruled \n What Happened to Saladin and a Lady, the Wife of a Knight Who Was His Vassal \n What Happened to a Christian King Who Was Very Powerful and Haughty\n\nReferences\n\nNotes\n\nBibliography\n\n Sturm, Harlan\n\n Wacks, David\n\nExternal links\n\nThe Internet Archive provides free access to the 1868 translation by James York.\nJSTOR has the to the 1977 translation by Keller and Keating.\nSelections in English and Spanish (pedagogical edition) with introduction, notes, and bibliography in Open Iberia/América (open access teaching anthology)\n\n14th-century books\nSpanish literature\n1335 books",
"\"What Happened to Us\" is a song by Australian recording artist Jessica Mauboy, featuring English recording artist Jay Sean. It was written by Sean, Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim and Israel Cruz. \"What Happened to Us\" was leaked online in October 2010, and was released on 10 March 2011, as the third single from Mauboy's second studio album, Get 'Em Girls (2010). The song received positive reviews from critics.\n\nA remix of \"What Happened to Us\" made by production team OFM, was released on 11 April 2011. A different version of the song which features Stan Walker, was released on 29 May 2011. \"What Happened to Us\" charted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number 14 and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). An accompanying music video was directed by Mark Alston, and reminisces on a former relationship between Mauboy and Sean.\n\nProduction and release\n\n\"What Happened to Us\" was written by Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim, Israel Cruz and Jay Sean. It was produced by Skaller, Cruz, Rohaim and Bobby Bass. The song uses C, D, and B minor chords in the chorus. \"What Happened to Us\" was sent to contemporary hit radio in Australia on 14 February 2011. The cover art for the song was revealed on 22 February on Mauboy's official Facebook page. A CD release was available for purchase via her official website on 10 March, for one week only. It was released digitally the following day.\n\nReception\nMajhid Heath from ABC Online Indigenous called the song a \"Jordin Sparks-esque duet\", and wrote that it \"has a nice innocence to it that rings true to the experience of losing a first love.\" Chris Urankar from Nine to Five wrote that it as a \"mid-tempo duet ballad\" which signifies Mauboy's strength as a global player. On 21 March 2011, \"What Happened to Us\" debuted at number 30 on the ARIA Singles Chart, and peaked at number 14 the following week. The song was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), for selling 70,000 copies. \"What Happened to Us\" spent a total of ten weeks in the ARIA top fifty.\n\nMusic video\n\nBackground\nThe music video for the song was shot in the Elizabeth Bay House in Sydney on 26 November 2010. The video was shot during Sean's visit to Australia for the Summerbeatz tour. During an interview with The Daily Telegraph while on the set of the video, Sean said \"the song is sick! ... Jessica's voice is amazing and we're shooting [the video] in this ridiculously beautiful mansion overlooking the harbour.\" The video was directed by Mark Alston, who had previously directed the video for Mauboy's single \"Let Me Be Me\" (2009). It premiered on YouTube on 10 February 2011.\n\nSynopsis and reception\nThe video begins showing Mauboy who appears to be sitting on a yellow antique couch in a mansion, wearing a purple dress. As the video progresses, scenes of memories are displayed of Mauboy and her love interest, played by Sean, spending time there previously. It then cuts to the scenes where Sean appears in the main entrance room of the mansion. The final scene shows Mauboy outdoors in a gold dress, surrounded by green grass and trees. She is later joined by Sean who appears in a black suit and a white shirt, and together they sing the chorus of the song to each other. David Lim of Feed Limmy wrote that the video is \"easily the best thing our R&B princess has committed to film – ever\" and praised the \"mansion and wondrous interior décor\". He also commended Mauboy for choosing Australian talent to direct the video instead of American directors, which she had used for her previous two music videos. Since its release, the video has received over two million views on Vevo.\n\nLive performances\nMauboy performed \"What Happened to Us\" live for the first time during her YouTube Live Sessions program on 4 December 2010. She also appeared on Adam Hills in Gordon Street Tonight on 23 February 2011 for an interview and later performed the song. On 15 March 2011, Mauboy performed \"What Happened to Us\" on Sunrise. She also performed the song with Stan Walker during the Australian leg of Chris Brown's F.A.M.E. Tour in April 2011. Mauboy and Walker later performed \"What Happened to Us\" on Dancing with the Stars Australia on 29 May 2011. From November 2013 to February 2014, \"What Happened to Us\" was part of the set list of the To the End of the Earth Tour, Mauboy's second headlining tour of Australia, with Nathaniel Willemse singing Sean's part.\n\nTrack listing\n\nDigital download\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean – 3:19\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Sgt Slick Remix) – 6:33\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Just Witness Remix) – 3:45\n\nCD single\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Album Version) – 3:19\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Sgt Slick Remix) – 6:33\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (OFM Remix) – 3:39\n\nDigital download – Remix\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (OFM Remix) – 3:38\n\nDigital download\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Stan Walker – 3:20\n\nPersonnel\nSongwriting – Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim, Israel Cruz, Jay Sean\nProduction – Jeremy Skaller, Bobby Bass\nAdditional production – Israel Cruz, Khaled Rohaim\nLead vocals – Jessica Mauboy, Jay Sean\nMixing – Phil Tan\nAdditional mixing – Damien Lewis\nMastering – Tom Coyne \nSource:\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly chart\n\nYear-end chart\n\nCertification\n\nRadio dates and release history\n\nReferences\n\n2010 songs\n2011 singles\nJessica Mauboy songs\nJay Sean songs\nSongs written by Billy Steinberg\nSongs written by Jay Sean\nSongs written by Josh Alexander\nSongs written by Israel Cruz\nVocal duets\nSony Music Australia singles\nSongs written by Khaled Rohaim"
] |
[
"Bernard Hinault",
"1978-1983: Renault",
"What happened in 1978?",
"To prepare for the 1978 Tour de France, Hinault rode his first grand tour, the Vuelta a Espana.",
"What happened during the Tour de France?",
"This tour became a battle with Joop Zoetemelk, Hinault taking the yellow jersey after the final time trial. He was hailed as the next great French cyclist and won",
"What happened after that?",
"At the start of the 1980 season Hinault and Guimard's aim for the season was to win cycling's Triple Crown",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"The following year, 1981, wearing the rainbow jersey, he won Paris-Roubaix and returned to victory in the 1981 Tour and then again in 1982.",
"Did he win anything else after that?",
"He missed the Tour in 1983, again because of knee problems.",
"Can you tell me about Renault?",
"I don't know.",
"What happened in 1983?",
"He missed the Tour in 1983, again because of knee problems."
] | C_86d5e12f20eb457ca39364108c484eed_1 | Is there anything else important? | 8 | aside from missing the tour in 1983 due to knee problems, is there anything else important about Bernard Hinault? | Bernard Hinault | To prepare for the 1978 Tour de France, Hinault rode his first grand tour, the Vuelta a Espana. He won and felt ready for his first Tour de France. Before the Tour, he won the national championship, which allowed him to wear the tricolour. This tour became a battle with Joop Zoetemelk, Hinault taking the yellow jersey after the final time trial. He was hailed as the next great French cyclist and won the Tour again in 1979. Once again this Tour proved to be a two man battle between Hinault and Zoetemelk as amazingly they finished nearly a half hour ahead of the rest of the field. In fact the 79 Tour is the only time the Yellow Jersey was challenged on the final stage into Paris as Zoetemelk, trailing Hinault by about three minutes launched an attack early in the stage. Hinault answered and the two riders stayed away from the main field all the way to the finish. In the end Hinault won the stage and the Tour while Zoetemelk was given a ten minute doping penalty. At the start of the 1980 season Hinault and Guimard's aim for the season was to win cycling's Triple Crown - the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France and the world championships, which had previously only been won in the same year by Eddy Merckx. Hinault won that year's Giro, clinching the race with an attack on the Stelvio Pass. In the 1980 Tour de France he abandoned the race while wearing the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification because of a knee injury but he returned to win the world championship in Sallanches that year. The following year, 1981, wearing the rainbow jersey, he won Paris-Roubaix and returned to victory in the 1981 Tour and then again in 1982. He missed the Tour in 1983, again because of knee problems. The organiser, Jacques Goddet, said in his autobiography L'Equipee Belle that Hinault's problems came from pushing gears that were too high. During Hinault's absence, his teammate Laurent Fignon rose to prominence by winning the Tour in 1983. CANNOTANSWER | During Hinault's absence, his teammate Laurent Fignon rose to prominence by winning the Tour in 1983. | Bernard Hinault (; born 14 November 1954) is a French former professional road cyclist. With 147 professional victories, including five in the Tour de France, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time.
Hinault started cycling as an amateur in his native Brittany. After a successful amateur career, he signed with the Gitane–Campagnolo team to turn professional in 1975. He took breakthrough victories at both the Liège–Bastogne–Liège classic and the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré stage race in 1977. In 1978, he won his first two Grand Tours: the Vuelta a España and the Tour de France. In the following years, he was the most successful professional cyclist, adding another Tour victory in 1979 and a win at the 1980 Giro d'Italia. Although a knee injury forced him to quit the 1980 Tour de France while in the lead, he returned to win the World Championship road race later in the year. He added another Tour victory in 1981, before completing his first Giro-Tour double in 1982.
After winning the 1983 Vuelta a España, a return of his knee problems forced him to miss that year's Tour de France, won by his teammate Laurent Fignon. Conflict within the Renault team led to his leaving and joining La Vie Claire. With his new team, he raced the 1984 Tour de France, but lost to Fignon by over ten minutes. He recovered the following year, winning another Giro-Tour double with the help of teammate Greg LeMond. This gave him ten grand tour wins in his career, one behind Merckx for the all time record. No rider since Hinault has achieved more than seven.
In the 1986 Tour de France, he engaged in an intra-team rivalry with LeMond, who won his first of three Tours. Hinault retired shortly thereafter. he is the most recent French winner of the Tour de France. After his cycling career, Hinault turned to farming, while fulfilling enforcement duties for the organisers of the Tour de France until 2016.
All through his career, Hinault was known by the nickname le blaireau ("the badger"); he associated himself with the animal due to its aggressive nature, a trait he embodied on the bike. Within the peloton, Hinault assumed the role of patron, exercising authority over races he took part in.
Early life and family
Hinault was born on 14 November 1954 in the Breton village of Yffiniac, the second oldest of four children to Joseph and Lucie Hinault. The family lived in a cottage named La Clôture, built shortly after Hinault was born. His parents were farmers, and the children often had to help out at harvest time. His father later worked as a platelayer for the national rail company SNCF. Hinault was described as a "hyperactive" child, with his mother nicknaming him "little hooligan". Hinault was not a good student, but visited the technical college in Saint-Brieuc for an engineering apprenticeship. He started athletics there, becoming a runner and finishing tenth in the French junior cross-country championship in 1971.
In December 1974, just before turning professional, Hinault married Martine, who he had met at a family wedding the year before. Their first son, Mickael, was born in 1975, with a second, Alexandre, in 1981. Hinault and his family lived in Quessoy, close to Yffiniac, while he was a professional cyclist. After his retirement, they moved to a farm away in Brittany. Hinault had bought the property near Calorguen in 1983. Martine later served as mayor of Calorguen.
Amateur career
Hinault came to cycling through his cousin René, who rode weekend races. At first he had to use the shared family bike, which he rode devotedly. He received his own bike when he was 15 as a reward for passing his school examinations, and used it to travel to college. During the summer of 1971 he made training rides with René, who had problems keeping up with the sixteen-year old Bernard, even though he was an experienced amateur rider. Hinault received his racing licence from Club Olympique Briochin in late April1971 and entered his first race on 2May in Planguenoual. Advised only to try to stay with the other riders, Hinault won the event. Hinault won his first five races, amassing twelve wins from twenty races by the end of the year. Also during the summer of 1971, Hinault was at odds with his father about his choice to pursue cycling as a career. Joseph Hinault relented only after his son ran away from home for three days to stay with his cousins, sleeping on straw in the barn.
For 1972, Hinault was allowed to race with the over-18s. At a race in Hillion, he and René escaped from the field and reached the finish alone. They crossed the line together to share the victory, to the dismay of the race organisers. The young Hinault was heavily influenced by his trainer at the Club Olympique Briochin, Robert Le Roux, who had earlier worked with 1965 World Champion Tom Simpson. Hinault won nineteen races in his second season as an amateur, including the national junior championship against opposition a year older than him, such as future professional Bernard Vallet. He was conscripted into the military at age 18, and did not race throughout 1973. He was unable to join the army's training centre for young athletes and instead served in Sissonne with the 21st Marine Infantry Regiment. Returning to competition overweight, Hinault managed to win his first race of 1974. This was his last season as an amateur and again was highly successful, including a victory in his home town of Yffiniac towards the end of the year, where an alliance formed by four other riders was unable to hold him back. He also competed in track cycling, winning the national pursuit championship. On the road, he took part in the Étoile des Espoirs, a race open to amateurs and young professionals. Hinault finished fifth overall, and second on the time trial stage behind reigning pursuit world champion Roy Schuiten. Towards the end of the season, Hinault turned down an offer to race with the prestigious Athletic Club de Boulogne-Billancourt, instead deciding to turn professional in 1975.
Professional career
1975–1977: Gitane
In January 1975, Hinault turned professional with the Gitane–Campagnolo team, run by former World Champion Jean Stablinski, on a lean wage of 2,500francs per month. The decision to turn professional relatively early was in part taken as, had Hinault raced the 1975 season as an amateur, he would have likely been prevented by the French cycling federation from turning professional before the 1976 Summer Olympics to be part of the French team there. Early on, he showed no interest in adhering to the unwritten rules of the peloton, whereby younger riders were expected to show respect towards older ones. At a criterium race in August1975 he went up against a coalition of senior riders, who had decided to divide the prize money between them. Hinault won all the intermediate cash prizes until five-time Tour de France winner Eddy Merckx declared that Hinault was included in the pact. His results in his first season were impressive, with a seventh place at Paris–Nice and a victory at the Circuit de la Sarthe, earning him the Promotion Pernod, the prize for the best new professional in France. However, Hinault showed little willingness to learn the basic trades of cycling from Stablinski, often escaping early in the race instead of learning how to ride inside the peloton. Together with Stablinski entering Hinault into too many races, this led to conflicts between them.
For 1976, Hinault stayed with Gitane, as former professional Cyrille Guimard, who had just retired from cycling, took over the team and became directeur sportif. Guimard and Hinault got along well, and the latter was kept out of the high-profile races for 1976, instead focussing on a steady improvement in lesser known races such as Paris–Camembert, which he won. That year, Guimard spurred Lucien Van Impe to his only win in the Tour de France. Hinault's progress was visible, with a second consecutive victory at the Circuit de la Sarthe, a third place at the Grand Prix du Midi Libre and a win at the Tour de l'Aude, ensuring him the Prestige Pernod, the award for the best French rider of the season. In total, Hinault won 15 races in 1976. At the end of the year, he came sixth at the World Championship Road Race, being beaten to the line for fifth by Eddy Merckx.
During the spring classics season of 1977, Hinault left the Tour of Flanders before it had even started, not wanting to risk his health in a rain- and cold-affected race on cobbled roads. This drew him a formal warning by Guimard for his conduct. Three weeks later, Hinault won Gent–Wevelgem in a solo effort after an attack from the finish. Five days later, at Liège–Bastogne–Liège, Hinault followed an attack by favourite André Dierickx, and beat him in the two-man sprint to take his first victory in one of cycling's "monuments". In accordance with Guimard's plan to build Hinault up slowly, he did not enter the Tour de France. He did however start the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, seen as the most important preparation event for the Tour. While in the leader's jersey on the penultimate stage to Grenoble, Hinault attacked up the Col de Porte, leading Van Impe and Bernard Thévenet by 1:30 minutes when crossing the summit. On the descent, he misjudged a hairpin corner and crashed down the mountainside. A tree saved him from falling far down, while his bike was lost. Hinault then climbed back onto the road, took a new bike and without showing any hesitation, continued on. Up the finishing climb in Grenoble, he briefly dismounted, still shocked from the near-death experience and pushed his bike for about , before remounting and winning the stage eighty seconds ahead of Van Impe. This also secured him the overall victory ahead of eventual Tour winner Thévenet.
This incident was mentioned from a semi-pro rider's perspective in the Tim Krabbé book De Renner (The Rider) when the main character is about to descend a Col in the Tour de Mont Aigoual:
At the end of the season, Hinault won the Grand Prix des Nations, an individual time trial, with a substantial margin of 3:15 minutes ahead of favourite Joop Zoetemelk.
1978–1983: Renault
1978: Grand Tour breakthrough
At the beginning of 1978, the Gitane team was taken over by its parent company, the state-owned car manufacturer Renault, becoming . Hinault started the season with second place at Paris–Nice. He then competed in the Critérium National de la Route. Trailing Raymond Martin by more than two minutes before the final time trial, he made up his significant deficit and won the event.
Hinault then competed in his first three-week Grand Tour, at the Vuelta a España, then held at the end of April. He won the opening prologue time trial in Gijón, but then let the leadership switch to Ferdi Van Den Haute. He won stage 11b, a mountain time trial in Barcelona, and regained the race lead the next day, when he won the stage to La Tossa de Montbui after an escape with teammate Jean-René Bernaudeau. He ensured his overall victory by winning stage 18 to Amurrio. On that stage, he bridged over to escapee Andrés Gandarias, who had earlier asked for Hinault's permission to attack. Hinault claimed to have been annoyed into attacking by one of Gandarias's teammates and offered to carry him to the finish. However, the Spaniard was unable to follow his wheel, saying: "This guy has made me suffer like a dog, he's tougher than Eddy Merckx!" In all, Hinault won five stages of the Vuelta. A sixth win was prevented on the final day of the Grand Tour, on which a short time trial was raced in the afternoon, held at San Sebastián in the Basque Country. The stage was marred by protests and obstructions by supporters of the Basque separatist group ETA. Hinault himself had sand thrown into his eyes, but won the stage nonetheless, only to find that the results would not count due to the surrounding circumstances.
Ahead of his first Tour de France, Hinault raced in the Tour de Suisse, where he did not feature prominently. He then travelled to the French Road Race Championship, held at Sarrebourg. He launched an escape, on which he rode solo, leading the rest of his competitors by more than six minutes by the start of the last lap. However, he had forgotten to eat enough and suffered from hypoglycemia during the last part of the race, crossing the finish line to take the title severely weakened. His victory allowed him to wear the French tricolore jersey for the following year.
In the Tour de France, Hinault fell behind early to challenger Zoetemelk when Renault lost two minutes to Mercier during the team time trial. On stage 8, the first longer individual time trial, Hinault gained back 59 seconds on Zoetemelk, while the previous two Tour winners, Van Impe and Thévenet, lost so much time that they were now counted out from chances of an overall win. Hinault rode conservatively in the Pyrenees to stay within striking distance of Zoetemelk. On stage 12a, from Tarbes to Valence-d'Agen, he firmly imprinted his authority on the race, although not by riding. The riders had been complaining about split stages, where more than one would be held on one day, as was the case on 12July. When they reached the finishing town, they dismounted their bikes and walked to the finish line in protest. Hinault was chosen by his fellow competitors to be the spokesperson of the strike. Journalist Felix Magowan wrote: "Before today's strike, people were asking if the Tour had a boss. Today that was answered. His name is Hinault." Following the strike, Hinault had trouble sleeping and was caught out the next day, a stage in the Massif Central, forcing his team into a long chase. Thus weakened and slowed by spectator interference at a bike change, he lost 1:40 minutes to Zoetemelk on the following day's uphill time trial. Hinault countered the next day en route to Saint-Étienne during stage 15, breaking away with Hennie Kuiper. By the finish, the two had been reeled back, but Hinault contested the finishing sprint, winning the stage. The following day, stage 16 to Alpe d'Huez, ended with Zoetemelk, Hinault and the temporary leader of the general classification and thus yellow jersey wearer Michel Pollentier separated by only 18 seconds. However, Pollentier was disqualified for trying to cheat his doping test, leaving Hinault and Zoetemelk to fight out the overall victory. On the final mountain stage, Hinault put his rival under pressure, but was unable to make up any time. He then clinched the yellow jersey in the final time trial, gaining more than four minutes to win his first Tour de France with an advantage of 3:56 minutes. Following his Tour win, he finished fifth at the World Championships, before once more winning the Grand Prix des Nations, this time ahead of Francesco Moser.
1979: Second Tour victory and Classics success
The 1979 season started slowly for an off-form Hinault. He bounced back at the La Flèche Wallonne classic in April, when he caught up to a breakaway by Giuseppe Saronni and Bernt Johansson, outsprinting the former to win the race. He then beat Zoetemelk to victory at the Dauphiné Libéré, winning four stages. He won the race by over ten minutes, also taking the points and mountain classifications. In the coming weeks ahead of the Tour, he proved his willingness to assist his teammates to ensure their loyalty, helping Lucien Didier win the Tour de Luxembourg and finishing second behind Roland Berland in the National Championship race.
The Tour de France was again a two-way battle between Hinault and Zoetemelk. In the prologue, Hinault was fourth, on the same time as the Dutchman. The mountain stages started immediately thereafter, with Hinault winning the mountain time trial on stage 2, taking over the yellow jersey. He also won the next stage into Pau. The team time trial on stage4 again went Zoetemelk's way, as his Mercier team took back 41 seconds on Hinault's Renault squad. Zoetemelk now was only 12 seconds behind Hinault. On stage 8, in another team time trial, Renault fared much better, and Hinault extended his advantage to 1:18 minutes. The next day however, on a stage containing cobbled sections, Hinault suffered two punctures, losing almost four minutes and the race lead to Zoetemelk. He took back 36 seconds on the time trial in Brussels on stage 11 before regaining the race lead after another time trial, uphill to Avoriaz on stage 15. At this stage, he led Zoetemelk by 1:48 minutes, with third-placed Kuiper already more than 12 minutes behind. Hinault gained another minute on stage 16, before Zoetemelk regained 47 seconds up Alpe d'Huez three days later. The final time trial of the Tour went Hinault's way once again, extending his advantage by a further 69 seconds. He also took the next stage in a slightly uphill sprint finish. On the final stage towards the Champs-Élysées in Paris, traditionally a ceremonious affair without attacks, Zoetemelk and Hinault broke away, with both gapping the field and Hinault taking another stage victory. Zoetemelk finished 3:07 minutes behind Hinault, but then had ten minutes added to his time for failing a doping test. The next finisher, Joaquim Agostinho, was almost half an hour behind the winner.
Towards the end of the season, Hinault won his second cycling monument, the Giro di Lombardia. He had escaped from the field from the finish, but was later joined by some other riders. Only Silvano Contini finished with him, with the next group more than three minutes behind. The victory also secured that Hinault won his first of four consecutive Super Prestige Pernod International competitions, the award handed to the best rider of the season.
1980: Attempt at the Triple Crown
As was often the case, Hinault started the season slowly in 1980, withdrawing from Paris–Nice. He then entered Paris–Roubaix, partly to prepare for the cobbled sections in the upcoming Tour de France, and finished fourth. A week later, he scored one of his most memorable wins at Liège–Bastogne–Liège. As soon as the riders left Liège, snow began to fall, soon turning into a blizzard. Hinault wanted to abandon, as had many others, including all but one of his teammates. He was convinced to carry on until the feeding station at Bastogne, where the snow had turned into rain. Only 21 riders were left by this point. Hinault removed his rain cape and attacked, catching up to the leaders and carried on by himself, winning with a margin of almost ten minutes ahead of Kuiper. The victory came at a price, as his right index and middle fingers took weeks to recover from frostbite, and caused him pain for several years.
Hinault and Guimard then turned their attention to the only Grand Tour he had not won yet: the Giro d'Italia. They hoped that Hinault would be able to reproduce a feat Eddy Merckx had achieved in 1974, winning the Giro, the Tour and the World Championship in the same year. This is commonly referred to as the Triple Crown of Cycling.
Hinault started the Giro d'Italia as odds-on favourite, pitted against local riders Francesco Moser and Giuseppe Saronni, who had the home crowd on their side. Following a fourth place at the prologue in Genoa, Hinault made a spontaneous visit to Fausto Coppi's home of Castellania, paying respect to the first rider ever to have won Giro and Tour in the same year. On stage 5, a time trial to Pisa, Hinault took over the race leader's pink jersey. He then relinquished his lead to Roberto Visentini, who was not considered to be a contender for the final victory. On stage 14, he attacked when the peloton relaxed after an intermediate sprint, winning the stage ahead of Wladimiro Panizza, who took the race lead. Hinault then made the decisive move of the race on stage 20, when he attacked on the tough climb of the Stelvio Pass. He caught up with his teammate Bernaudeau, and both carried on for the remaining of the stage together. Hinault gifted the stage victory to his teammate, while he clinched the overall victory almost six minutes ahead of Panizza.
In the Tour de France, Hinault was once again set to duel with Joop Zoetemelk, who had moved to the dominant squad. Hinault won the prologue in Frankfurt, Germany, five seconds ahead of Gerrie Knetemann. On stage5 from Liège to Lille, which contained cobbled sections used in Paris–Roubaix, conditions were poor with rain and heavy winds. Hinault called for the field to take a slow tempo, but when Zoetemelk's teammate Jan Raas attacked, he went after him. He eventually found himself in a group with several other riders, while Zoetemelk was distanced. At from the finish, he followed another attack from Kuiper and won the sprint at the line. The next stage was set to contain more cobbled roads, but on Hinault's protest, most of the worst parts were taken out. Hinault had however suffered damage to his left knee on the stage to Lille. Hinault finished only fifth on stage 11's individual time trial, won by Zoetemelk. While he regained the yellow jersey, Zoetemelk was second, only 21 seconds behind. With his tendinitis worsening, he carried on until the end of stage 12, just before the race was headed for the first high mountains in the Pyrenees. That night, Hinault and Guimard told the race organisers, Jacques Goddet and Félix Lévitan, that he would abandon the race, while still in the lead. He left the race at night, not informing the press, which led to a fallout with the media that took years to recover. In Hinault's absence, Zoetemelk duly won his only Tour de France. Insinuations that Zoetemelk's victory had been a gift through Hinault's absence were countered by Hinault himself: "My problems were of my own making. It is always the absent rider who is at fault. I was absent and he took my place."
Hinault returned from the disappointment of the Tour to start at the World Championship road race, held on a very tough parcours in Sallanches, France, often named the hardest course in the history of the event. Hinault had broken away about from the finish with several riders. On the last lap, he dropped his last companion, Gianbattista Baronchelli, on the steepest part of a climb and soloed to victory. It had been a race of attrition with only 15 out of 107 riders reaching the finish.
1981: Winning a third Tour de France
Hinault had never made his dislike for riding on cobbled roads a secret. The most prominent race of this character, Paris–Roubaix, was met with particular disdain, even though he never finished lower than thirteenth. After the 1980 edition, he had said to organiser Goddet: "You will never see me in this circus again." However, he returned for 1981, saying that he did so out of respect for his stature as World Champion. He suffered seven crashes and tyre punctures, but reached the finish at the velodrome with the lead group, where he outsprinted favourites Roger De Vlaeminck and Moser. One-and-a-half weeks earlier, he had already added a victory at the Amstel Gold Race. Furthermore, he also won the Critérium International and again dominated the Dauphiné Libéré, winning by twelve minutes ahead of Agostinho.
At the Tour de France, Hinault took an early lead by winning the prologue, then relinquished the yellow jersey to Knetemann and later to Phil Anderson. On the time trial to Pau on stage 7, he regained the lead and never lost the jersey, beating Van Impe by almost a quarter of an hour. He won five stages, including all four individual time trials. Amidst media criticism that he was riding too defensively in the mountains, he also took victory in the Alps on a stage to Le Pleynet.
At the World Championship in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Hinault failed to defend his title. Having bridged a two-and-a-half-minute gap to a strong lead group on his own, he came third in the final sprint, behind Freddy Maertens and Saronni.
1982: Achieving the Giro-Tour double
Hinault returned to the Giro in 1982. He looked set for victory after the first two weeks, having taken a significant lead after wins in the stage3 time trial and stage 12 to Campitello Matese. However, on stage 17 to Boario Terme, Guimard and the Renault team misjudged the toughness of the climb and Hinault lost the lead to Silvano Contini. He hit back the next day, winning the stage to Montecampione, turning the race in his favour.
In "his most uneventful Tour", Hinault never looked in trouble on his way to completing the Giro-Tour double at the Tour de France. He won the prologue in Basel, Switzerland, before the lead briefly turned to Ludo Peeters and Phil Anderson. Hinault regained the yellow jersey after the first time trial and won the overall classification easily. He took four stages, including again the final one on the Champs-Élysées, this time from a bunch sprint. His participation in the final-stage sprint was seen as an answer to critics, who had once again lamented that Hinault had ridden the Tour without panache. Zoetemelk was again the runner-up, more than six minutes behind Hinault. Later in the season, Hinault added another victory at the Grand Prix des Nations.
1983: Second Vuelta and the ascent of Fignon
Since 1981, Hinault had been joined at Renault by two young talents, Laurent Fignon and the American Greg LeMond. Both joined Hinault for the Vuelta a España, where he faced stiff competition from local riders like Marino Lejarreta, Julián Gorospe, and Alberto Fernández. Six days before the race started, he had won La Flèche Wallonne for a second time. On stage4 of the Vuelta, Fignon attacked and won, but Lejarreta, the defending champion, had followed him and gained time on Hinault. Hinault came back and took the lead the following day on the mountain stage to Castellar de n'Hug. However, a day later, the Spanish teams jointly attacked and Lejarreta moved ahead of Hinault, who was 22 seconds down. At the uphill time trial at Balneario de Panticosa, he suffered and finished more than two minutes behind Lejarreta. Hinault joined forces with Kuiper and Saronni to attack on stage 10 to Soria, affected by crosswinds. He was in trouble again on stage 14, affected by returning pain in his knee; at one point he trailed his rivals by more than five minutes, but regained contact. In the time trial around Valladolid on stage 15b, Hinault won, now just ten seconds behind Gorospe, the new leader in the general classification. The following day brought the last mountain stage and Renault put pressure on Gorospe from early on. Hinault, joined by Lejarreta and Vicente Belda, escaped for , distancing Gorospe by over twenty minutes with Hinault taking victory in Ávila, sealing his second Vuelta victory. Due to the tightly fought battle between Hinault and his Spanish competitors, the 1983 race is described on the Vuelta's website as "one of the most beautiful and spectacular" editions.
During the Vuelta, Hinault's tendinitis returned. After the race, he made two failed attempts to get back into racing, but eventually announced that he would miss the Tour de France. In his absence, teammate Fignon won the event on his first attempt. Hinault tried another comeback at a post-Tour criterium, but the pain returned and he did not race for the remainder of the season.
1984–1986: La Vie Claire
1984: Defeat at Fignon's hands
By 1983, the relationship between Hinault and Guimard had deteriorated to a point where the former described their relationship as "war". Hinault forced a choice on the Renault team to either release him or oust Guimard. The team decided to stick with their directeur sportif, leading Hinault to search for a new team. He joined forces with businessman Bernard Tapie to form the new squad. Their directeur sportif became Swiss coach Paul Köchli, who had made a name for himself with innovative and effective training methods, leaving Hinault a lot of freedom while at the same time scientifically measuring his progress. As part of his connection with Tapie, Hinault also contributed to the development of the clipless pedal, created by Look, another company owned by Tapie.
Hinault returned to racing at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, where he won the final stage. He then took victory at the Four Days of Dunkirk. But his spring campaign lacked major successes. At the Dauphiné Libéré, he came second to Martín Ramírez, who later claimed that Hinault and his team had tried to intimidate him during the final stage of the race. A memorable episode occurred during the Paris–Nice, a race he finished third overall. During stage5 to La Seyne-sur-Mer, Hinault was descending in a lead group with several other favourites. As they reached the valley, the road was blocked by protesters, unhappy with the announced closure of a dockyard at La Ciotat. While the other riders stopped, he drove into the group head-on, dismounted, and punched the protester closest to him. In the ensuing fist fight, Hinault suffered a broken rib.
The Tour de France was made out to be the big duel between Hinault and Fignon, who had just won the French National Championship. Hinault won the prologue, but Renault took the team time trial, 55 seconds ahead of La Vie Claire. He lost another 49 seconds to Fignon in the first long individual time trial, a discipline he had previously dominated. Following the second time trial, Hinault was only seventh on general classification, two minutes behind his adversary. The next stage led to Alpe d'Huez. Hinault attacked on the Rampe de Laffrey, but Fignon was able to respond. The two exchanged attacks on the way up the climb, but it was in the valley that Hinault was able to draw out a gap of about a minute. On Alpe d'Huez itself, he was first passed by eventual stage winner Luis Herrera. When he started to slow, Fignon caught up to him and eventually dropped Hinault, who lost a further three minutes. He ultimately finished the Tour in second place, a significant ten minutes behind Fignon.
Hinault managed to bounce back from his Tour defeat in the fall. In late September, he took his fifth and final victory at the Grand Prix des Nations, riding the time trial at a then record speed of . Fignon could only manage fourth, more than two minutes behind. Next, he won the Trofeo Baracchi, a two-man time trial, in which he competed with Moser. He then won the Giro di Lombardia for a second time, breaking away from the group of favourites from the finish.
1985: The second Giro-Tour double
For 1985, Greg LeMond switched teams from Renault to join Hinault at La Vie Claire. Together, they entered the Giro d'Italia. During the race, Hinault was met with hostility from the home crowd, who supported local rider Francesco Moser. On the stage 12 time trial, Hinault took the pink jersey and opened the decisive gap to Moser, who would eventually finish second. During the stage however, Hinault was spat at by spectators and almost knocked over, even though his team car rode behind him with the door opened the entire time to ensure that bystanders would have a harder time impeding him. Hinault won his third Giro with a margin of just over a minute.
In the Tour de France, Fignon did not take part due to an Achilles heel injury. Hinault therefore entered the race as the favourite. He took victory in the prologue in his native Brittany. La Vie Claire won the stage3 team time trial by over a minute. The next day, Hinault's teammate Kim Andersen took over the yellow jersey. Hinault supported him over the next days, even going so far as dropping back when Andersen punctured to lead him back into the peloton, showing his loyalty to riders who would later have to assist him. On stage 8, a time trial to Strasbourg, Hinault took back the race lead, winning the stage by more than two minutes ahead of Stephen Roche. While the race travelled through the Alps and in a second time trial, he consolidated his lead, building an advantage of five-and-a-half minutes on LeMond, who was now second overall.
On stage 14 to Saint-Étienne, LeMond finished two minutes ahead of a group containing Hinault. Involved in a crash with other riders, Hinault crossed the finish line with a broken nose. Around the same time, he started to experience symptoms of bronchitis. On stage 17, he showed signs of weakness and was unable to stay with the other leaders on the Col du Tourmalet. LeMond meanwhile followed an attack by Roche, but was forbidden by the team to cooperate to distance Hinault. LeMond would later claim that the team had deceived him by telling him that Hinault was closer behind than he actually was. Hinault eventually finished the stage just over a minute behind LeMond. The time LeMond waited may have been enough so that the two teammates would have contested the Maillot Jaune in the penultimate time trial. In the penultimate day's time trial, LeMond won the stage, but only five seconds ahead of Hinault, not enough to surpass him. This secured Hinault a record-equalling fifth Tour victory, by just under two minutes over his younger teammate. After the finish, he publicly pledged that he would support LeMond's bid for a first Tour victory the following year.
1986: The final season
In January 1986, Hinault was given the Legion of Honour by French president François Mitterrand. He had, already in 1982, announced that he would retire from cycling on his 32nd birthday, in November 1986.
Even though Hinault had pledged support for LeMond for the Tour de France, a lot of public attention was given to the possibility of him winning a record sixth Tour. Their La Vie Claire team was seen as dominant, with Laurent Fignon as the most likely challenger. Hinault finished third in the prologue, two seconds ahead of LeMond and Fignon. In the team time trial on stage 2, Fignon and gained almost two minutes on La Vie Claire, partly due to Hinault deciding that the squad would wait for two struggling riders, Niki Rüttimann and Guido Winterberg. Hinault then won the time trial on stage 9, gaining an additional 44 seconds on LeMond, who suffered a broken wheel and had to change his bike. Meanwhile, Fignon fell behind and later abandoned the race. On stage 12, from Bayonne to Pau, Hinault attacked with Pedro Delgado. The pair gained more than four-and-a-half minutes on LeMond, with Delgado taking the stage win. Hinault was now in the lead of the general classification, 5:25 minutes ahead of LeMond. Even though his lead was significant, he attacked again the following day, on the descent of the Col du Tourmalet, the first climb of the day. By the top of the next climb, the Col d'Aspin, he led the rest of the field by two minutes. However, joint effort behind brought him back before the final ascent up to the ski station of Superbagnères. Hinault then cracked, coming in ninth, 4:39 minutes behind stage winner LeMond. He now led his teammate by only forty seconds in the general classification.
The race then moved over to the Alps. On stage 17, Hinault got left behind on the Col d'Izoard and lost the yellow jersey to LeMond, falling to third in the overall rankings, 2:47 minutes behind his teammate. Stage 18 featured three major climbs, the Col du Galibier, the Croix de Fer and the final ascent up to Alpe d'Huez. Hinault attacked repeatedly, but reached the bottom of Alpe d'Huez with LeMond. He led the way up the climb, lined by approximately 300,000 spectators and crossed the finish line hand in hand with LeMond, in an apparent display of comradery. Urs Zimmermann, who had been second overall at the start of the day, lost more than five minutes. Any signs of appeasement between the rivalling teammates was shattered by Hinault in a television interview shortly after the stage finish, when he declared that the race was not yet over, even though he trailed LeMond by 2:45 minutes.
Stage 20 saw the final time trial and the last chance for Hinault to overcome LeMond's advantage. Aided by a crash from LeMond, Hinault won the stage, but gained back only 25 seconds, conceding defeat after the stage. He lost an additional 52 seconds on stage 21. In his last Tour de France stage into Paris, he took part in the final sprint, taking fourth place. He ended his final Tour de France second overall, 3:10 minutes behind LeMond. He won the mountains classification and was also given the super-combativity award. Hinault's repeated attacks during the race and refusal to concede defeat irritated LeMond, who felt betrayed by Hinault's lack of loyalty.
After the Tour, Hinault won the Coors Classic race in the United States, ahead of LeMond. He rode the World Championships Road Race, held in Colorado Springs. He aimed to win, showing a lot of effort in his preparation. However, he finished the race in 59th place. On 19 September, he won his last competitive race, a criterium in Angers, France. Hinault's retirement from professional cycling on 14 November 1986 was celebrated in Quessoy with a symbolic race of 3,600 riders, a concert and fireworks. A total of 15,000 people attended the event.
Retirement
After his retirement from professional cycling, Hinault moved to his farm and bred dairy cows, assisted by his cousin René, who had become an agricultural engineer. Just two weeks after he ended his career, the Tour de France organisers, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), approached Hinault and invited him to join the race management team. He held several positions, including race regulator and route advisor. After Jean-Marie Leblanc took over the role as general director, Hinault was named the Tour's ambassador. Included in his duties was being present during podium ceremonies. During the podium for stage3 of the 2008 Tour de France, a protester jumped on stage and disturbed proceedings. Hinault leapt forward and shoved him off. He stepped down from the role after the 2016 Tour de France. His role as ASO's brand ambassador was taken over by Stephen Roche, winner of the 1987 Tour de France.
Unlike many of his competitors, Hinault never became a directeur sportif (team manager) after his cycling career. Offers from Bouygues Télécom and a Chinese investor in the mid-2000s fell through. He was the selector of the French national team from 1988 to 1993. Hinault took a role as "patron" with the British squad for the 2014 season. In June 2020, Hinault became part of a group of businessmen investing into saving the cycling equipment company Mavic, who are a long-time sponsor of the Tour de France. Mavic was put into receivership earlier in the year due to the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Public image and riding style
Riding style and legacy
During his active career, Hinault was known as the patron of the field, meaning the rider with the highest authority. His biographer William Fotheringham has described him as "the last of the sport's patrons". In this role, Hinault would use his influence with race organisers, control the pace of the peloton, and allow or refuse other riders the chance to attack. The riders' strike at Valence d'Agen in the 1978 Tour is cited as the first instance in which Hinault assumed this role. His fellow riders stated that he, even though he did not talk much, was able to exert a high amount of certainty and therefore strength, which brought him respect and sometimes fear from his competitors. To signal his authority, Hinault often symbolically rode at the front of the field, instead of in the slipstream of his teammates. His riding style has been described as "fighting, full of aggression", and he stated that when he did not feel good in a race, his reaction would be to attack. Hinault described his own role as follows:
Hinault was however not always successful in his endeavours. During the 1980 Tour de France, he sought to remove the rule which excluded riders outside the time limit on each stage. He urged the riders to protest and ride slowly, but some did not follow his example, forcing Hinault to chase them down before he eventually left the race. His enigmatic exit from the 1980 Tour created tensions with the press that would persist during the rest of his active career. By 1982, debates about his personality started to appear more and more in the media. Particular interest was given to an alleged lack of panache during his Tour wins and his behaviour towards fans and officials, whom he treated with open disgust. Fotheringham suggests that Hinault only regained popularity with the French public after his knee problems and his Tour defeat in 1984. Fellow racer Robert Millar suggested that in 1986 in particular, Hinault attempted to win over the French public by riding aggressively.
Hinault was not known to particularly enjoy going on training rides, unless he was specifically preparing for an event. He would often greet his training partners in a night gown when they arrived on time for training or have an easy day of training that included stops at a bakery for cake. His distaste for training became even more evident in the winter, when he would gain a lot of weight. Laurent Fignon described the first training camps of the year as follows: "He looked as if he had been inflated. If you didn't know the Badger you would wonder how long it would take for him to get back to what he had been. You would be making a huge mistake." Hinault was capable of suffering through the training camp and returning to winning form within a month. Unlike a rider like Eddy Merckx, Hinault would not aim to win every race he entered. Millar described his approach as such: "Hinault either cared or he didn't. When he didn't care about winning he'd bumble round and hurt you now and again just to remind you he was there."
With a résumé of victories that includes all three Grand Tours (all of them more than once), the World Road Championships and a number of classics, Hinault has often been cited among the greatest cyclists of all time. The Historical Dictionary of Cycling describes him as "one of the best riders ever". Comparisons are often drawn with Eddy Merckx, against whom Hinault rode at the beginning of his career. Lucien Van Impe commented: "Merckx was the greatest, but Bernard [Hinault] was the most impressive." A study conducted in 2006, ranking Tour de France riders from 1953 to 2004 by different performance indicators, put Hinault as the top Tour rider of that period, ahead of Merckx and Lance Armstrong.
Nickname
Hinault was nicknamed le blaireau in French, a term that can be translated into English as either "the shaving brush" or "the badger". According to Fotheringham, the nickname originates from Hinault's early training partners, Maurice Le Guilloux and Georges Talbourdet, who would use the term to tease the young rider. Le Guilloux used it once in front of Pierre Chany, a writer for L'Équipe, and the name stuck. According to Hinault himself, the term in the first place was supposed to mean no more than "mate" or "buddy". However, Hinault later embraced the association with the wild animal. In 2003, he commented: "A badger is a beautiful thing. When it's hunted it goes into its sett and waits. When it comes out again, it attacks. That's the reason for my nickname. When I'm annoyed I go home, you don't see me for a month. When I come out again, I win." Hinault, as early as 1983, owned a stuffed badger to demonstrate his association with the animal.
Stance on doping
Hinault never tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs during his professional career and was never implicated in any doping practices. He did, however, lead a riders' protest during a criterium race in Callac in 1982 against the sudden introduction of doping controls. He was handed a one-month suspended ban and fined CHF 1,110, though the penalty was never enforced.
Hinault has been outspoken about several prominent doping cases in the past years. In 2013, he heavily criticised French senators for revealing the results of tests conducted in 2004 on samples from the 1998 Tour de France. He called the initiative "bullshit" and urged lawmakers "to stop bringing out the dead", claiming they "want to kill the Tour". In the same year, he reacted to comments made by Lance Armstrong, a rider stripped of seven Tour victories due to doping offences. Armstrong suggested that it would be impossible to win the Tour de France without performance-enhancing substances. To counter this claim, Hinault replied: "He must not know what it was like to ride without doping." Armstrong later clarified that he had spoken about the time when he was riding (1999–2005). In early 2018, Hinault also spoke out about the adverse analytical result for salbutamol of four-time Tour winner Chris Froome at the 2017 Vuelta a España. He criticised Froome for taking part in the 2018 Giro d'Italia while the investigation was still ongoing. In addition, he commented that Froome could not be "listed among the cycling greats". Froome would win the Giro and become the first rider since Hinault to hold all three Grand Tour Jerseys at once. Before the 2018 Tour de France, with Froome's case still ongoing, he urged the other riders to strike in protest if Froome competed. Froome was later cleared of the charges and started the Tour where he finished third behind teammate Geraint Thomas and Tom Dumoulin.
Career achievements
Major results
Source:
1972
1st Road race, National Junior Road Championships
1974
5th Overall Étoile des Espoirs
1975
1st Individual pursuit, National Track Championships
1st Overall Circuit de la Sarthe
6th Overall Tour de l'Oise
6th Grand Prix des Nations
7th Overall Paris–Nice
1976
1st Individual pursuit, National Track Championships
1st Overall Circuit de la Sarthe
1st Stage 3a (ITT)
1st Overall Tour du Limousin
1st Stage 1
1st Overall Tour de l'Aude
1st Stage 1
1st Overall Tour d'Indre-et-Loire
1st Stage 2b (ITT)
1st Paris–Camembert
1st Stage 2 Étoile des Espoirs
2nd Overall À travers Lausanne
3rd Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre
4th Grand Prix Pino Cerami
6th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
6th Grand Prix des Nations
10th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
1977
1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Stages 1 & 5
1st Overall Tour du Limousin
1st Stage 1
1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège
1st Gent–Wevelgem
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Stage 2b (ITT) Étoile des Espoirs
2nd Overall Tour Cycliste du Tarn
1st Mountains classification
2nd Overall Tour d'Indre-et-Loire
1st Stage 2b
3rd Paris–Brussels
4th Overall Tour de l'Aude
6th Overall Paris–Nice
6th GP Ouest–France
7th Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre
8th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
10th Grand Prix d'Isbergues
1978
1st Road race, National Road Championships
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Stages 8 (ITT), 15 & 20 (ITT)
1st Overall Vuelta a España
1st Prologue, Stages 11b (ITT), 12, 14 & 18
1st Overall Critérium International
1st Stage 3 (ITT)
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Boucles de l'Aulne
2nd Overall Paris–Nice
2nd Overall À travers Lausanne
3rd Giro di Lombardia
5th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
9th Overall Tour Cycliste du Tarn
1979
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Points classification
1st Stages 2 (ITT), 3, 11 (ITT), 15 (ITT), 21 (ITT), 23 & 24
1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Stages 3, 5b (ITT), 6 & 7b (ITT)
1st Overall Tour de l'Oise
1st Prologue
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Giro di Lombardia
1st La Flèche Wallonne
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Boucles de l'Aulne
1st
Étoile des Espoirs
1st Stages 3b (ITT) & 4
2nd Overall Critérium International
1st Stage 3 (ITT)
2nd Overall Tour de Luxembourg
1st Stage 3
2nd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
3rd Overall Tour Cycliste du Tarn
3rd Overall À travers Lausanne
3rd Critérium des As
6th Overall Paris–Nice
6th Paris–Tours
7th Milan–San Remo
8th Gent–Wevelgem
8th Grand Prix de Wallonie
1980
1st Road race, UCI Road World Championships
1st Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Stage 14
Tour de France
1st Prologue, Stages 4 (ITT) & 5
Held after Prologue, Stage 1a & Stages 11–12
1st Overall Tour de Romandie
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
3rd La Flèche Wallonne
4th Paris–Roubaix
5th Amstel Gold Race
1981
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Combination classification
1st Prologue, Stages 6 (ITT), 14 (ITT), 18 & 20 (ITT)
Overall Combativity award
1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Overall Critérium International
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Paris–Roubaix
1st Amstel Gold Race
3rd Road race, UCI Road World Championships
1982
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Combination classification
1st Prologue, Stages 14 (ITT), 19 (ITT) & 21
1st Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Prologue (TTT), Stages 3 (ITT), 12, 18, & 22 (ITT)
1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International
1st Overall Tour de Luxembourg
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise
1st Critérium des As
9th Paris–Roubaix
1983
1st Overall Vuelta a España
1st Stages 15b (ITT) & 17
1st La Flèche Wallonne
1st Grand Prix Pino Cerami
1984
1st Giro di Lombardia
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
1st Trofeo Baracchi (with Francesco Moser)
2nd Overall Tour de France
1st Prologue
Held after Prologue
Overall Combativity award
2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
3rd Overall Paris–Nice
4th Züri-Metzgete
1985
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Prologue, Stages 3 (TTT) & 8 (ITT)
1st Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Stage 12 (ITT)
1986
1st Overall Coors Classic
1st Stages 7a & 11a
1st Overall Vuelta Ciclista a la Comunidad Valenciana
1st Trofeo Luis Puig
2nd Overall Tour de France
1st Mountains classification
1st Stages 9 (ITT), 18 & 20 (ITT)
Held after Stages 12–16
Overall Combativity award
General classification results timeline
Source:
Monuments results timeline
Source:
See also
Giro d'Italia records and statistics
List of cycling records
List of French people
List of Giro d'Italia general classification winners
List of Grand Tour general classification winners
List of Tour de France general classification winners
List of Tour de France secondary classification winners
List of Vuelta a España classification winners
List of Vuelta a España general classification winners
Yellow jersey statistics
Notes
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
1954 births
Breton people
French farmers
French Giro d'Italia stage winners
French male cyclists
French Tour de France stage winners
French Vuelta a España stage winners
Giro d'Italia winners
Living people
People from Saint-Brieuc
Tour de France Champs Elysées stage winners
Tour de France prologue winners
Tour de France winners
UCI Road World Champions (elite men)
Vuelta a España winners
Sportspeople from Côtes-d'Armor | false | [
"In baseball, a fair ball is a batted ball that entitles the batter to attempt to reach first base. By contrast, a foul ball is a batted ball that does not entitle the batter to attempt to reach first base. Whether a batted ball is fair or foul is determined by the location of the ball at the appropriate reference point, as follows:\n\n if the ball leaves the playing field without touching anything, the point where the ball leaves the field;\n else, if the ball first lands past first or third base without touching anything, the point where the ball lands;\n else, if the ball rolls or bounces past first or third base without touching anything other than the ground, the point where the ball passes the base;\n else, if the ball touches anything other than the ground (such as an umpire, a player, or any equipment left on the field) before any of the above happens, the point of such touching;\n else (the ball comes to a rest before reaching first or third base), the point where the ball comes to a rest.\n\nIf any part of the ball is on or above fair territory at the appropriate reference point, it is fair; else it is foul. Fair territory or fair ground is defined as the area of the playing field between the two foul lines, and includes the foul lines themselves and the foul poles. However, certain exceptions exist:\n\n A ball that touches first, second, or third base is always fair.\n Under Rule 5.09(a)(7)-(8), if a batted ball touches the batter or his bat while the batter is in the batter's box and not intentionally interfering with the course of the ball, the ball is foul.\n A ball that hits the foul pole without first having touched anything else off the bat is fair.\n Ground rules may provide whether a ball hitting specific objects (e.g. roof, overhead speaker) is fair or foul.\n\nOn a fair ball, the batter attempts to reach first base or any subsequent base, runners attempt to advance and fielders try to record outs. A fair ball is considered a live ball until the ball becomes dead by leaving the field or any other method.\n\nReferences\n\nBaseball rules",
"Transcendent truths are those unaffected by time or space. They define the world, but are not defined by the world. An example of a transcendent truth is \"God is good\", or \"there is no God\". Either way, how one looks at things contained by time and space is a result of the transcendent truth. One is true; both cannot be true at the same time.\n\nWorld views are made up of transcendent truths, things we believe are true before we question whether or not anything else is true.\n\nTheories of truth"
] |
[
"Ted Drake",
"Chelsea"
] | C_a96dfc44242a4a348c87e365710a8b1a_0 | Who is chelsea? | 1 | Who is chelsea? | Ted Drake | Without much ado he was appointed manager of First Division Chelsea in June 1952. This is so due to the rivalry between the Gunners and the Blues being non existent at the time. Upon Drake's arrival at Chelsea, he made a series of sweeping changes, doing much to rid the club of its previous amateurish, music hall image. He discarded the club's Chelsea pensioner crest and with it the Pensioners nickname, and insisted a new one be adopted. From these changes came the Lion Rampant Regardant crest and the Blues nickname. He introduced scouting reports and a new, tougher, training regime based on ballwork, a rare practice in English football at the time. The club's previous policy of signing unreliable big-name players was abandoned; Drake instead used his knowledge of the lower divisions and the amateur game to recruit little-known, but more reliable players. These included John McNichol, Frank Blunstone, Derek Saunders, Jim Lewis and Peter Sillett Within three years, in the 1954-55 season, Drake had led Chelsea to their first league championship triumph. In doing so, he became the first person to win the league title both as player and manager. However, Drake never came close to repeating the success. The championship-winning side was gradually broken up, to be replaced by the crop of youngsters emerging from the club's youth team, such as Jimmy Greaves, Peter Brabrook and Bobby Tambling, for whom Drake was an aloof figure. Thereafter performances and results were very erratic, leaving the club stranded in mid-table; an FA Cup loss to Fourth Division side Crewe Alexandra weakened his position at the club and a few months later, Drake was sacked early into the 1961-62 season. After leaving Chelsea, he became reserve team manager at Fulham. During 1970 Drake went on to have a six-month stint as assistant manager at Barcelona. He later returned to Fulham where he became a chief scout, director and life president of the Cottagers. Drake passed away at the age of 82 on 30 May 1995. CANNOTANSWER | Without much ado he was appointed manager of First Division Chelsea | Edward Joseph Drake (16 August 1912 – 30 May 1995) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he first played for Southampton but made his name playing for Arsenal in the 1930s, winning two league titles and an FA Cup, as well as five caps for England. Drake is Arsenal's joint fifth highest goalscorer of all time. He also holds the record for the most goals scored in a top flight game in English football, with seven against Aston Villa in December 1935. A former centre forward, Drake has been described as a "classic number 9" and as a "strong, powerful, brave and almost entirely unthinking" player who "typified the English view."
After retiring from playing football, Drake became a manager, most notably of Chelsea. In 1955, he led the club to their first league title. This made him the first person to win the English top-flight as both a player and a manager. He was also a cricketer, but only ever played sparingly for Hampshire.
Club career
Southampton
Born in Southampton, Drake started playing at Winchester City, whilst continuing to work as a gas-meter reader. He nearly joined Spurs as a schoolboy, but missed the trial match with an injury. In June 1931, he was persuaded by George Kay to join Southampton, then playing in Division Two. He made his Saints debut on 14 November 1931 at Swansea Town, and signed as a professional in November, becoming first-choice centre-forward by the end of the 1931–32 season.
In the following season he made 33 league appearances, scoring 20 goals. After only one full season, his bravery and skill attracted the attention of Arsenal's Herbert Chapman, who tried to persuade Drake to move to north London. Drake rejected the chance of a move to Highbury and decided to remain at The Dell. He started the 1933–34 season by scoring a hat-trick in the opening game against Bradford City, following this with at least one goal in the next four games, thereby amassing eight goals in the opening five games. By early March he had blasted his way to the top of the Football League Division Two goal-scoring table with 22 goals.
Arsenal, with George Allison now in charge, renewed their interest and Drake eventually decided to join the Gunners. Saints had declined several previous offers, but eventually were forced to sell to balance their books. Drake made a total of 74 appearances for Southampton, scoring 48 goals.
Arsenal
Drake moved to Arsenal in March 1934 for £6,500, and scored on his league debut against Wolves on 24 March 1934, in a 3–2 win. Although he joined too late to qualify for a League Championship medal in 1933–34, Drake would win one in 1934–35, scoring 42 goals in 41 league games in the process – this included three hat-tricks and four four-goal hauls. With two more goals in the FA Cup and Charity Shield, Drake scored 44 in all that season, breaking Jack Lambert's club record, one that still holds to this day.
The following season, 1935–36 Drake scored seven in a single match against Aston Villa at Villa Park on 14 December 1935, a club record and top flight record that also still stands. Drake claimed an eighth goal hit the crossbar and went over the line, but the referee waved away his appeal. Drake would go on to win the FA Cup in 1935–36 with him scoring the only goal in the final and the League title again in 1937–38 with Arsenal.
Despite being injured regularly (he was a doubt up until the last minute for the 1936 Cup Final), Drake's speed, fierce shooting and brave playing style meant he was Arsenal's first-choice centre forward for the rest of the decade, and he was the club's top scorer for each of the five seasons from 1934–35 to 1938–39. The Second World War curtailed Drake's career, although he served in the Royal Air Force as well as turning out for Arsenal in wartime games and also appearing as a guest player for West Ham United later in World War II. However, Drake's career would not last long into peacetime; a spinal injury incurred in a game against Reading in 1945 forced him to retire from playing. With 139 goals in 184 games, he is along with Jimmy Brain the joint-fifth all-time scorer for Arsenal.
Drake is as well one of 32 Arsenal legends who are emblazoned in a mural upon the walls of the club's Emirates Stadium.
International career
Drake's exploits at club level brought him recognition at international level, and he made his England debut against Italy in the "Battle of Highbury" on 14 November 1934. As one of seven Arsenal players in the side, he scored the third goal in a heated 3–2 win. With England Drake also went on to win the 1935 British Home Championship title. In total he won five caps, scoring six times for the Three Lions.
Cricket career
He made his debut for Hampshire in 1931 and shared a vital stand of 86 with Phil Mead against Glamorgan. He made 45 but never reached this score again in the 15 further matches he played over the next six years, first as an amateur and then as a professional.
Management career
Hendon and Reading
After retiring as a player, Drake managed Hendon in 1946, and then Reading from 1947. He led the club to the runners-up spot in Division Three South in 1948–49 and again in 1951–52, though at the time only the champions were promoted.
Chelsea
Without much ado he was appointed manager of First Division Chelsea in June 1952. This is so due to the rivalry between the Gunners and the Blues being non existent at the time. Upon Drake's arrival at Chelsea, he made a series of sweeping changes, doing much to rid the club of its previous amateurish, music hall image. He discarded the club's Chelsea pensioner crest and with it the Pensioners nickname, and insisted a new one be adopted. From these changes came the Lion Rampant Regardant crest and the Blues nickname. He introduced scouting reports and a new, tougher, training regime based on ballwork, a rare practice in English football at the time. The club's previous policy of signing unreliable big-name players was abandoned; Drake instead used his knowledge of the lower divisions and the amateur game to recruit little-known, but more reliable players. These included John McNichol, Frank Blunstone, Derek Saunders, Jim Lewis and Peter Sillett
Within three years, in the 1954–55 season, Drake had led Chelsea to their first league championship triumph. In doing so, he became the first person to win the league title both as player and manager. However, Drake never came close to repeating the success. The championship-winning side was gradually broken up, to be replaced by the crop of youngsters emerging from the club's youth team, such as Jimmy Greaves, Peter Brabrook and Bobby Tambling, for whom Drake was an aloof figure. Thereafter performances and results were very erratic, leaving the club stranded in mid-table; an FA Cup loss to Fourth Division side Crewe Alexandra weakened his position at the club and a few months later, Drake was sacked early into the 1961–62 season.
After leaving Chelsea, he became reserve team manager at Fulham, where he was also assistant to the manager Vic Buckingham. In December he joined Barcelona as assistant to Buckingham, staying until June 1970. He later returned to Fulham where he became a chief scout, director and life president of the Cottagers. Drake died at the age of 82 on 30 May 1995.
Honours
Club
Arsenal
Football League First Division: 1934–35, 1937–38
FA Cup: 1935–36
FA Charity Shield: 1934, 1938
International
England
British Home Championship: 1935
Manager
Chelsea
Football League First Division: 1954–55
FA Charity Shield: 1955
Individual
First Division Golden Boot: 1935
See also
List of English football championship winning managers
References
External links
Wisden obituary
FA Profile
1912 births
Footballers from Southampton
1995 deaths
Hampshire cricketers
English footballers
England international footballers
English Football League players
First Division/Premier League top scorers
Winchester City F.C. players
Southampton F.C. players
Arsenal F.C. players
English football managers
Reading F.C. managers
Chelsea F.C. managers
English cricketers
West Ham United F.C. wartime guest players
Association football forwards
Cricketers from Southampton
FA Cup Final players
Royal Air Force personnel of World War II | true | [
"Chelsea Brady is a fictional character on the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives. Created by head writer Sally Sussman Morina, the role was originally played by Mandy Musgrave. The role was recast with Rachel Melvin in 2005. Melvin portrayed the character from 2005 to 2009, after the character moves to London to take care of her mother, Billie Reed. She is the child of Bo Brady and Billie Reed. Chelsea is born by the name of Georgia Reed Brady. \"Georgia\" is presumed dead, and buried in a bayou in Louisiana. In 2005 after Chelsea Benson's parents are killed in a car accident, DNA tests show that she is Georgia Reed Brady.\n\nStorylines\nChelsea Brady is born onscreen as Georgia Reed Brady on May 22, 1998, in Louisiana. Chelsea is the long-lost daughter of Billie Reed and Bo Brady, who is initially buried in the bayou as Georgia Reed Brady in May 1998. The truth comes out when Chelsea's illegally adoptive parents are killed in a car accident and blood tests reveal her true lineage. Billie immediately steps in to care for Chelsea. In 2006, Chelsea changes her last name to Brady, her biological father's last name.\n\nAs Abigail Deveraux's best friend, Chelsea is a bad influence. She encourages Abby to smoke, drink, and lie often to her mother. She also has a few driving incidents, including having her license revoked. Of course, the most serious accident results in the death of Zack Brady — her half-brother, whom she hits while she is text messaging and driving simultaneously, thus incurring the wrath of Hope Brady and half-brother Shawn Brady.\n\nChelsea is involved with Max Brady, who keeps Chelsea's secret about accidentally killing Zack. Chelsea is also obsessed with older men including Patrick Lockhart, who is conveniently staying at Abby's house. Seeing Billie Reed as her biggest competition, Chelsea hates her, that is, until she learned that Billie is actually her mother.\n\nAfter all the bad things Chelsea does, she desperately wants to change. While serving her community service at the hospital, a gloved hand leaves a file for Chelsea to discover. The file says that Claire Brady is not her cousin, the daughter of Philip Kiriakis, but actually her half-niece, Shawn's daughter. Thinking she is doing the right thing, Chelsea leaves the file in Shawn's cubicle for him to find while he lies unconscious from alcohol poisoning. She feels letting him know he is Claire's father will give him a reason to live.\n\nBelle and Shawn discover the file when he wakes up and they think the file is fraudulent because they do not remember sleeping together. The file is dusted for fingerprints and it is discovered that, apart from Shawn and Belle, Chelsea's are the only other fingerprints on the file. Bo arrests Chelsea, and Max blows up when he finds out, immediately dumping her. Bo decides that the only way to prove that Chelsea is guilty is to run the DNA test on Shawn to see if he is Claire's biological father. The tests come back positive and, in this turn of events, the charges are dropped.\n\nChelsea then goes on a quest to get Bo and Billie back together, and consults the help of her grandmother, Kate Roberts, who encourages Chelsea to be driven and go after what she wants. The stress of losing their child has torn apart Bo and Hope and when Hope sends e-mails to Bo expressing her desire for a divorce, Chelsea intercepts the emails and writes back pretending to be Bo and agrees to the divorce even though Bo is trying to get back together with Hope. When her actions are discovered, Bo and Hope are completely enraged and Bo disown Chelsea. After many weeks of feeling guilty she talks to her father and with the support of her mother, Billie, she is able to gain back her father's trust and he welcomes her back into his life.\n\nChelsea is then involved with a mystery lover online by the name of Dr. Shane Patten. She tells him all her feelings and her deepest secrets thinking she can trust him. She even goes so far as to plan their future together. She gets so into him she wants all the details about him so she gets Abby's cousin, Nick Fallon, to find everything out for her. After giving up on Nick finding out information about Patten because Nick won't talk to her, Chelsea finally learns that Dr. Patten is really Nick all along and he is just trying to get her to like him. She is upset and hurt at Nick's actions and completely ends their friendship, saying she can never trust him again.\n\nThings became even worse between the two when Chelsea finds out that Nick had slept with her mother when she was drunk and he is depressed over the loss of Chelsea's friendship. She refuses to even be in the same room as Nick and moves out of her mother's house and moves in with her father and stepmother. Her mother desperately tries to repair their relationship, but there still remains some tension between the two.\n\nChelsea finds even more problems when her father's house is set on fire. The fire is actually started by Willow Stark, a former prostitute and ex-girlfriend of Shawn Brady, who is hired by EJ DiMera to break into the house. The fire is started unintentionally and Willow places a hairbrush of Chelsea's in the house to try to frame her for the fire. Chelsea panics at what her father would think considering her past troubles and under the pretense of wanting to rebuild their relationship she convinces Nick, a DNA assistant, to steal the brush in order to keep her father from finding out. Nick feels extremely guilty over his actions and is not completely sure if she is telling the truth about the fire and visits Willow in jail (she is arrested for stealing Hope's jewelry) to try to figure out which version of the fire story is true. Willow steals the hairbrush from Nick, which results in Nick trying to get the hairbrush back. Willow dies struggling to get the hairbrush back from Nick. Afterwards, Chelsea admits to her father that she asked Nick to steal the hairbrush from the lab.\n\nIt is believed that Chelsea truly does have romantic feelings for Nick, but due to past relationships she has trouble trusting people and has found it hard to forgive Nick, but Nick has stated that he is determined to prove to Chelsea he loves her no matter what it takes together. Chelsea and Nick bond after Chelsea is kidnapped on the campus of Salem University, with Max also stopping a bomb from going off that is strapped to her body in exchange for Atermis and DeMarquette.\n\nThen, Chelsea goes on to help have Ford Decker arrested for the rape of her two good friends Cordy and Morgan. Chelsea is not aware that Stephanie was also raped by Ford and ignores Stephanie's pleas to let Ford be.\n\nChelsea and the girls create posters depicting Ford as a rapist and are threatened by him on several occasions, the latest being at the Brady Pub where Nick is forced to defend her.\n\nIn November, Chelsea and Nick break into Ford's dorm to obtain proof that he is indeed the campus rapist. They have pictures that are illegally obtained. Chelsea's father Bo and Stephanie's father Steve are forced to confront Ford. After being appalled by the university's unwillingness to do anything to Ford, the girls lure him into their sorority house where Chelsea pretends to be interested in him. The girls drug his drink but Ford switches the drinks and Chelsea ends up drugged. In a fight on the stairs, Ford falls backwards and dies. The girls, with the help of Max Brady, bury Ford in the basement of the house.\n\nChelsea's father Bo Brady is later admitted to the hospital for pancreatic issues. Chelsea is found to be a match and is scheduled for an experimental operation to graft some of her pancreas to save Bo. Bo's handsome and earth-friendly doctor, Dr. Daniel Jonas, (who is brought in by Victor Kiriakis) performs the surgery. He and Chelsea grew to become friends and their friendship turned into an attraction that went beyond \"just friends\". However Daniel fought it at first. He was older, she was his patient at one point, and he was still mourning his late wife, for which he blamed himself for her death. However, he decided follow his heart with Chelsea and they started dating. Unfortunately, the happiness did not last as Chelsea found out that Daniel had slept with her grandmother Kate before they started dating. Chelsea broke up with Daniel.\n\nKate Roberts, her grandmother, and Dr. Jonas become involved as he treats her for lung cancer.\n\nAfterwards, she begins defending Nick Fallon, her \"first love,\" who is charged with Trent Robbins murder, and growing closer to her old flame, Max Brady, whom she kissed at New years dinner at Chez Rouge, suggesting that they may get back together. Max and Chelsea spend a lot more time together and old feelings come back. They both realize that they are in love with each other and that they need to be together now. Chelsea also volunteers at the hospital, where she establishes a connection with Abe and Lexie's son, Theo.\n\nChelsea goes to England to be with her mom after Billie is involved in a car accident. She later returns to Salem and announces that she will be staying in London. She reunites with Max and they get engaged. They decide to leave Salem and move to London.\n\nReferences\n\nNotes\n\nExternal links\nChelsea at soapcentral.com\n\nDays of Our Lives characters\nAdoptee characters in television\nFictional Greek people in television\nFictional child killers\nAmerican female characters in television\n\nfi:Luettelo televisiosarjan Päivien viemää henkilöistä#Chelsea Brady",
"Chelsea Atkins (also Fox) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Tiana Benjamin from 2006 to 2010, and then Zaraah Abrahams from 2020 onwards. Benjamin was cast in the role and she left her role in the Harry Potter film series to appear in the soap, she made her first appearance as Chelsea in episode 3147, broadcast on 5 May 2006 as she is introduced as part of the all-female Fox family alongside her mother, Denise Fox (Diane Parish), and half-sister, Libby Fox (Belinda Owusu). Benjamin announced her departure from the show in April 2010, and she left in episode 4047, broadcast on 5 August 2010. In October 2020, the character's return was announced alongside Abrahams' casting, Chelsea returns in episode 6188/6189, broadcast on 25 December 2020.\n\nStorylines\n\n2006–2010\nUpon Chelsea's arrival, she is seduced by Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp), unaware he is dating her to make Jane Collins (Laurie Brett) jealous. However, when Denise uncovers the truth, Grant ends the relationship. Chelsea becomes friends with Deano Wicks (Matt Di Angelo) and initially works for Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick) at his video shop, but is sacked. She then finds employment at Tanya Branning's (Jo Joyner) salon, Booty, and falls for Sean Slater (Robert Kazinsky). Although, Sean is promiscuous and pursues other women, including Tanya and Carly Wicks (Kellie Shirley), while Chelsea wants a serious relationship. Attempting to keep Sean away from Carly, Chelsea sets her up on a date with Warren Stamp (Will Mellor), who tries to assault Carly. Sean rescues her and animosity between the girls escalates, particularly when Sean dumps Chelsea for Carly. Carly's brother, Deano, is attracted to Chelsea and, using this to her advantage, she and Deano sabotage Carly and Sean's relationship. When Patrick Trueman (Rudolph Walker) is attacked, Chelsea and Deano frame Sean, stealing CCTV evidence that clears Sean but Carly finds it and gives it to the police. Sean is released and the police charge Chelsea and Deano with perverting the course of justice. Sean gets revenge by cutting Chelsea's hair while she sleeps and having Deano beaten by a gang of thugs. She and Deano are sentenced to six months imprisonment and released after three.\n\nChelsea befriends Shabnam Masood (Zahra Ahmadi) in hopes to get closer to Jalil Iqbal (Jan Uddin), but is devastated when he chooses Shabnam. Helped by her sister, Libby, Chelsea traces her father, Lucas Johnson (Don Gilet), who left her and Denise 20 years ago. She confronts him, revealing that she is his daughter but leaves before he responds. Two months later, Lucas appears. Chelsea is reluctant to see him but eventually agrees to go out for a birthday meal. However, she leaves on discovering that she has a half-brother, Jordan (Michael-Joel David Stuart). \n\nShe buys drugs from Sean and steals money from work to buy more but gets beaten up by a group of girls. Tanya fires her and Patrick catches her taking cocaine. He locks her in her room and calls Lucas to help. When he arrives, Chelsea has escaped through the bedroom window. Lucas finds her in R&R nightclub, high on cocaine, and takes her home. Chelsea gets her job back at Booty. She falls in love with Theo Kelly (Rolan Bell), but upon dating, Chelsea feels excluded from Theo and his university friends. She later cheats on him with a footballer named Ellis Prince (Michael Obiora), who offers her drugs. A guilt-ridden Chelsea confesses her infidelity to Theo and despite his forgiving her, insists she cannot be with him and ends the relationship. She resumes her relationship with Ellis but Lucas finds the drugs Ellis gave her and confronts Chelsea. She runs away with Ellis, leaving a note for her family but returns on Libby's birthday, demanding to know why Libby's grandmother, Liz Turner (Kate Williams) is in Albert Square, forcing her to admit she has been visiting her father, Owen Turner (Lee Ross), in prison and is glad that he is going to be released. Chelsea is cautious of her family's safety when Owen returns to the Square, and pleads with him not to bring up the suspicious death of Lucas's ex-wife, Trina Johnson (Sharon Duncan Brewster), again as Denise was a suspect and could get in trouble.\n\nChelsea and Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons) both pursue Dr. Al Jenkins (Adam Croasdell), becoming rivals as the doctor is dating them both secretly. Chelsea assists Jordan in his protest to get a tree planted in Trina's memory and manages to win Al. However, just before Chelsea and Al get together, Roxy turns up at his office dressed as a nurse, so Chelsea leaves, embarrassed. Despite this, when Roxy inherits The Queen Victoria public house, she employs Chelsea as a barmaid. Denise sets Chelsea up on a blind date with an associate of Lucas's called Matthew, but Chelsea does not enjoy the date and tells Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) she wants to leave. While she is in the toilet, Jack tells Matthew that Chelsea has a boyfriend so he leaves. Chelsea and Jack start dating and she returns to work at the salon, now named Roxy's. When Jack is shot and hospitalised, Chelsea declares her love for him and stays with him in hospital but Jack ends it as he is still in love with Ronnie. Later, Chelsea and her colleague Amira Masood (Preeya Kalidas) worry that they are pregnant and take pregnancy tests. Amira's is negative but Chelsea's is positive. She decides to keep the baby but decides not to tell Jack as it would not change anything but she does not want to be a single mother. After Denise sees Chelsea crying and spending time with Zainab Masood's (Nina Wadia) baby, Kamil (Arian Chikhlia), she tells Libby that she thinks Chelsea is pregnant. Chelsea admits it when Denise asks her and they have a heart-to-heart, which Lucas joins in. She takes the test again and realises she is not pregnant but tells her parents that she'll make her own decisions. She tells Amira that it was her test that was positive and promises to keep her secret when she leaves Walford after learning that her husband Syed (Marc Elliott) is gay.\n\nChelsea goes on to celebrate her birthday and discovers Denise has put a picture of Chelsea in the newspaper wearing a cowboy suit. Much to Chelsea's embarrassment, so she decides to buy all the newspapers so people will not mock her. When Roxy discovers it is Chelsea's birthday she decides to throw her a western themed birthday. Chelsea starts to fall for the DJ but Roxy is caught kissing him.\n\nWhen Owen's body is discovered buried under the Square, Denise is taken for questioning. Chelsea thinks that Denise may have killed Trina and Owen as Lucas had told her that Denise was hiding Trina's bracelet in her bag. Chelsea tells Libby about the bracelet, and after Denise is released without charge, they see her leaving the Square alone and receive a text message from her saying \"I'm sorry\", unaware that Lucas killed Owen and confessed to Denise, took her to a canal and strangled her, sending the text message before he threw the phone in the canal. The police tell the family that Denise's car has been found by the canal and a body is pulled from the water along with Denise's mobile phone. Chelsea wonders who her mother really is and says it makes her some kind of monster. She offers to go with Lucas to identify the body but she is unable to go in so he goes in alone and identifies it as Denise, leaving Chelsea devastated. Chelsea believes that her mother killed Owen and then herself. After Denise's funeral, Chelsea and Libby agree to start packing up Denise's belongings. While celebrating Libby's birthday, Denise walks in, revealing that she is not dead but that Lucas has been keeping her prisoner, and that he killed Trina and Owen. Chelsea tells her to stay away from her, calling her a murderer. Lucas enters and confirms that Denise is telling the truth but Chelsea says he is covering up for her and she faked her own death. However, Lucas takes the family hostage, but when Jordan arrives, they escape and Lucas is arrested.\n\nChelsea says she no longer has a normal family, and argues with Libby over their parents. After speaking to Liz, Chelsea decides she wants to move to Spain with her, as people in Walford will only ever think of her as the daughter of a murderer. Denise initially argues with Chelsea about this, but eventually agrees, encouraging Libby to go too for a holiday before returning to university. After leaving drinks in The Queen Victoria pub, Chelsea, Libby and Liz leave Walford in the back of a taxi.\n\nIn November 2011, Amira states that Chelsea is living in Málaga, Spain. In May 2014, Denise goes to Spain with Libby to celebrate Chelsea's birthday. In August 2015, when Libby returns to Walford for her birthday, Chelsea calls her, urging her to tell Denise something, but Libby cannot go through with it. In December 2015, Libby reveals to Denise that Jordan briefly lived with her and Chelsea in Spain, however he caused an endless amount of trouble for them, so Chelsea kicked him out.\n\n2020–present\nIn December 2020, Denise is surprised to see Chelsea (now played by Zaraah Abrahams) with her father Lucas, who has recently been released from prison. Chelsea later returns to Albert Square, where she reveals to Denise that she has been in communication with Lucas for months and is upset with Denise for not telling her about her son Raymond. After an argument with Denise, Chelsea leaves with Lucas. Patrick, in cooperation with Raymond's father Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), meets Chelsea at The Queen Victoria public house to find out about Lucas' whereabouts. Later that day, Lucas is attacked in front of Chelsea after they leave a restaurant. Phil is blamed for Lucas's attack, but it is Chelsea's ex-boyfriend Caleb Malone (Ben Freeman) who arranged Lucas's attack. Chelsea is indebted to Caleb after fleecing him and she is planning on using Lucas to smuggle drugs for Caleb. Chelsea arranges to travel to Spain with Lucas, planning to use him to smuggle drugs, but ultimately fails. Denise confronts Lucas about upsetting Chelsea, and they both go missing. Chelsea finds blood in Lucas's flat, and believes that Lucas has hurt Denise and kidnapped her, but Chelsea later discovers that Caleb is responsible. Denise discovers the truth and reluctantly agrees to help Chelsea frame Lucas. They try to convince Lucas to follow Chelsea to Ibiza, but he later discovers their intentions. Lucas vows to kill Caleb but Chelsea threatens to abandon Lucas, having not forgiving him for faking Denise's death, and warns him that Caleb will kill her. When Denise's boyfriend and Chelsea's ex-lover Jack discovers Chelsea's plan, she attempts to seduce him to stop him from reporting her to the police. Lucas is ashamed of Chelsea's behavior, and refuses to do the job unless she follows him to church, where he tells Chelsea to go to the police and face imprisonment. After a heart to heart, Lucas agrees to do the job, but changes his mind leaving Chelsea alone. He is later arrested after being caught, and Chelsea later tips the police off when Caleb asks her to meet him, and he is arrested.\n\nChelsea begins a relationship with Gray Atkins (Toby-Alexander Smith) in June 2021, which is met with strong opposition by his mother and father-in-law Karen Taylor (Lorraine Stanley) and Mitch Baker (Roger Griffiths). During their relationship, Chelsea fleeces Gray by living extravagantly off his credit card and shows no interest in his children, Mia (Mahalia Malcolm) and Mack (Isaac Lemonius), frequently neglecting them when they are in her care. Their relationship comes to an end, when Chelsea witnesses Gray's volatile behavior towards her and others, and refuses to be mistreated by Gray. However, Chelsea later discovers she has been impregnated by Gray, and plans to have an abortion, but is stopped by Gray's fling, Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty). Whitney accompanies her to the abortion clinic, but after having a scan and finding out she is further along than expected, Chelsea decides to keep the baby. She decides to keep the pregnancy a secret from Gray and to raise the child alone, but Whitney urges her to tell Gray. Gray finds out about Chelsea's pregnancy and initially agrees to have no involvement, but has a change of heart and decides that he wants to raise the child together with Chelsea. They later get engaged. On the day of their wedding, Whitney reveals to Chelsea that Gray had murdered his wife Chantelle Atkins (Jessica Plummer). Chelsea decides to stop the wedding but is manipulated by Gray, who reveals that Whitney had kissed him. They eventually marry on Christmas Day 2021, but Chelsea later discovers Gray’s abuse on Chantelle, when Whitney sends her screenshots of Chantelle’s revelation of the abuse that she posted online. She then vows to leave Gray. She steals money from Ruby's and plans on fleeing to Ibiza, but is stopped in her tracks by Gray, when he realises that she has stolen jewellery. When Gray confronts Chelsea, her waters break, and she is rushed to hospital, where she goes into premature labour, with Gray helping her. She gives birth to a son, Jordan Atkins, named after her deceased half-brother. Chelsea decides to stay with Gray, but later reveals to Whitney that she is temporarily using him for stability, and is planning to expose him.\n\nCreation and development\nOn 12 January 2006, an official BBC press report announced the introduction of a new character to EastEnders, Chelsea Fox. Chelsea was due to be part of a new, all female family joining the show, with Chelsea's mother Denise and her sister Libby (played by Diane Parish and Belinda Owusu respectively) completing the clan. The role was cast to Tiana Benjamin, who was 21 at the time. Benjamin has revealed that she was the second Fox to be cast, and on her final audition, she had a workshop and met Diane Parish there. Owusu was cast at a later date. Of her casting, Benjamin said \"I've been a big fan of EastEnders since I was little and I'm very excited to join the show. I've always really admired Diane [Parish] and I can't wait to work with her – it really hasn't sunk in yet! [...] It's one of those jobs that's unlike any other. There's a lot that changes when you take on something as big as EastEnders. I [am] really happy and genuinely excited to be a part of the show.\" She added that the three actors who play the Fox family have a bond, commenting \"We all respect and understand each other, and manage to have a good time while we're filming too. I felt that we clicked from our first few scenes together.\" Benjamin quit her role as Angelina Johnson in the Harry Potter film series, in order to take the part. Chelsea made her first screen appearance in May 2006 and was the first of the Fox family to be seen by viewers.\n\nDeparture\nIn April 2010, it was announced that Benjamin had chosen to leave the show to pursue other projects. Of her decision, she said \"I have had an amazing time at EastEnders and this has been a very difficult decision for me to make but now seems like the right time to move on and leave Chelsea behind even through she's been such a fantastic character to play.\" Her final episode was broadcast on 5 August 2010.\n\nRecast and return\nIt was announced in October 2020 that the character would be reintroduced with the role recast to actress Zaraah Abrahams. The announcement followed the news that Don Gilet would reprise his role as Chelsea's father, Lucas Johnson. Abrahams expressed her excitement at joining the cast, while Jon Sen, the show's executive producer, praised Abrahams' casting and commented, \"When Chelsea was around, trouble was never far away and that is as true as ever when she returns to Walford later this year\".\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nEastEnders characters\nFictional beauticians\nFictional waiting staff\nFictional Black British people\nFictional bartenders\nTelevision characters introduced in 2006\nFictional cocaine users\nFictional criminals in soap operas\nFemale characters in television\nFictional prisoners and detainees\nFictional drug dealers"
] |
[
"Ted Drake",
"Chelsea",
"Who is chelsea?",
"Without much ado he was appointed manager of First Division Chelsea"
] | C_a96dfc44242a4a348c87e365710a8b1a_0 | What did he do as manager? | 2 | What did Ted Drake do as manager of First Division Chelsea? | Ted Drake | Without much ado he was appointed manager of First Division Chelsea in June 1952. This is so due to the rivalry between the Gunners and the Blues being non existent at the time. Upon Drake's arrival at Chelsea, he made a series of sweeping changes, doing much to rid the club of its previous amateurish, music hall image. He discarded the club's Chelsea pensioner crest and with it the Pensioners nickname, and insisted a new one be adopted. From these changes came the Lion Rampant Regardant crest and the Blues nickname. He introduced scouting reports and a new, tougher, training regime based on ballwork, a rare practice in English football at the time. The club's previous policy of signing unreliable big-name players was abandoned; Drake instead used his knowledge of the lower divisions and the amateur game to recruit little-known, but more reliable players. These included John McNichol, Frank Blunstone, Derek Saunders, Jim Lewis and Peter Sillett Within three years, in the 1954-55 season, Drake had led Chelsea to their first league championship triumph. In doing so, he became the first person to win the league title both as player and manager. However, Drake never came close to repeating the success. The championship-winning side was gradually broken up, to be replaced by the crop of youngsters emerging from the club's youth team, such as Jimmy Greaves, Peter Brabrook and Bobby Tambling, for whom Drake was an aloof figure. Thereafter performances and results were very erratic, leaving the club stranded in mid-table; an FA Cup loss to Fourth Division side Crewe Alexandra weakened his position at the club and a few months later, Drake was sacked early into the 1961-62 season. After leaving Chelsea, he became reserve team manager at Fulham. During 1970 Drake went on to have a six-month stint as assistant manager at Barcelona. He later returned to Fulham where he became a chief scout, director and life president of the Cottagers. Drake passed away at the age of 82 on 30 May 1995. CANNOTANSWER | he made a series of sweeping changes, doing much to rid the club of its previous amateurish, music hall image. | Edward Joseph Drake (16 August 1912 – 30 May 1995) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he first played for Southampton but made his name playing for Arsenal in the 1930s, winning two league titles and an FA Cup, as well as five caps for England. Drake is Arsenal's joint fifth highest goalscorer of all time. He also holds the record for the most goals scored in a top flight game in English football, with seven against Aston Villa in December 1935. A former centre forward, Drake has been described as a "classic number 9" and as a "strong, powerful, brave and almost entirely unthinking" player who "typified the English view."
After retiring from playing football, Drake became a manager, most notably of Chelsea. In 1955, he led the club to their first league title. This made him the first person to win the English top-flight as both a player and a manager. He was also a cricketer, but only ever played sparingly for Hampshire.
Club career
Southampton
Born in Southampton, Drake started playing at Winchester City, whilst continuing to work as a gas-meter reader. He nearly joined Spurs as a schoolboy, but missed the trial match with an injury. In June 1931, he was persuaded by George Kay to join Southampton, then playing in Division Two. He made his Saints debut on 14 November 1931 at Swansea Town, and signed as a professional in November, becoming first-choice centre-forward by the end of the 1931–32 season.
In the following season he made 33 league appearances, scoring 20 goals. After only one full season, his bravery and skill attracted the attention of Arsenal's Herbert Chapman, who tried to persuade Drake to move to north London. Drake rejected the chance of a move to Highbury and decided to remain at The Dell. He started the 1933–34 season by scoring a hat-trick in the opening game against Bradford City, following this with at least one goal in the next four games, thereby amassing eight goals in the opening five games. By early March he had blasted his way to the top of the Football League Division Two goal-scoring table with 22 goals.
Arsenal, with George Allison now in charge, renewed their interest and Drake eventually decided to join the Gunners. Saints had declined several previous offers, but eventually were forced to sell to balance their books. Drake made a total of 74 appearances for Southampton, scoring 48 goals.
Arsenal
Drake moved to Arsenal in March 1934 for £6,500, and scored on his league debut against Wolves on 24 March 1934, in a 3–2 win. Although he joined too late to qualify for a League Championship medal in 1933–34, Drake would win one in 1934–35, scoring 42 goals in 41 league games in the process – this included three hat-tricks and four four-goal hauls. With two more goals in the FA Cup and Charity Shield, Drake scored 44 in all that season, breaking Jack Lambert's club record, one that still holds to this day.
The following season, 1935–36 Drake scored seven in a single match against Aston Villa at Villa Park on 14 December 1935, a club record and top flight record that also still stands. Drake claimed an eighth goal hit the crossbar and went over the line, but the referee waved away his appeal. Drake would go on to win the FA Cup in 1935–36 with him scoring the only goal in the final and the League title again in 1937–38 with Arsenal.
Despite being injured regularly (he was a doubt up until the last minute for the 1936 Cup Final), Drake's speed, fierce shooting and brave playing style meant he was Arsenal's first-choice centre forward for the rest of the decade, and he was the club's top scorer for each of the five seasons from 1934–35 to 1938–39. The Second World War curtailed Drake's career, although he served in the Royal Air Force as well as turning out for Arsenal in wartime games and also appearing as a guest player for West Ham United later in World War II. However, Drake's career would not last long into peacetime; a spinal injury incurred in a game against Reading in 1945 forced him to retire from playing. With 139 goals in 184 games, he is along with Jimmy Brain the joint-fifth all-time scorer for Arsenal.
Drake is as well one of 32 Arsenal legends who are emblazoned in a mural upon the walls of the club's Emirates Stadium.
International career
Drake's exploits at club level brought him recognition at international level, and he made his England debut against Italy in the "Battle of Highbury" on 14 November 1934. As one of seven Arsenal players in the side, he scored the third goal in a heated 3–2 win. With England Drake also went on to win the 1935 British Home Championship title. In total he won five caps, scoring six times for the Three Lions.
Cricket career
He made his debut for Hampshire in 1931 and shared a vital stand of 86 with Phil Mead against Glamorgan. He made 45 but never reached this score again in the 15 further matches he played over the next six years, first as an amateur and then as a professional.
Management career
Hendon and Reading
After retiring as a player, Drake managed Hendon in 1946, and then Reading from 1947. He led the club to the runners-up spot in Division Three South in 1948–49 and again in 1951–52, though at the time only the champions were promoted.
Chelsea
Without much ado he was appointed manager of First Division Chelsea in June 1952. This is so due to the rivalry between the Gunners and the Blues being non existent at the time. Upon Drake's arrival at Chelsea, he made a series of sweeping changes, doing much to rid the club of its previous amateurish, music hall image. He discarded the club's Chelsea pensioner crest and with it the Pensioners nickname, and insisted a new one be adopted. From these changes came the Lion Rampant Regardant crest and the Blues nickname. He introduced scouting reports and a new, tougher, training regime based on ballwork, a rare practice in English football at the time. The club's previous policy of signing unreliable big-name players was abandoned; Drake instead used his knowledge of the lower divisions and the amateur game to recruit little-known, but more reliable players. These included John McNichol, Frank Blunstone, Derek Saunders, Jim Lewis and Peter Sillett
Within three years, in the 1954–55 season, Drake had led Chelsea to their first league championship triumph. In doing so, he became the first person to win the league title both as player and manager. However, Drake never came close to repeating the success. The championship-winning side was gradually broken up, to be replaced by the crop of youngsters emerging from the club's youth team, such as Jimmy Greaves, Peter Brabrook and Bobby Tambling, for whom Drake was an aloof figure. Thereafter performances and results were very erratic, leaving the club stranded in mid-table; an FA Cup loss to Fourth Division side Crewe Alexandra weakened his position at the club and a few months later, Drake was sacked early into the 1961–62 season.
After leaving Chelsea, he became reserve team manager at Fulham, where he was also assistant to the manager Vic Buckingham. In December he joined Barcelona as assistant to Buckingham, staying until June 1970. He later returned to Fulham where he became a chief scout, director and life president of the Cottagers. Drake died at the age of 82 on 30 May 1995.
Honours
Club
Arsenal
Football League First Division: 1934–35, 1937–38
FA Cup: 1935–36
FA Charity Shield: 1934, 1938
International
England
British Home Championship: 1935
Manager
Chelsea
Football League First Division: 1954–55
FA Charity Shield: 1955
Individual
First Division Golden Boot: 1935
See also
List of English football championship winning managers
References
External links
Wisden obituary
FA Profile
1912 births
Footballers from Southampton
1995 deaths
Hampshire cricketers
English footballers
England international footballers
English Football League players
First Division/Premier League top scorers
Winchester City F.C. players
Southampton F.C. players
Arsenal F.C. players
English football managers
Reading F.C. managers
Chelsea F.C. managers
English cricketers
West Ham United F.C. wartime guest players
Association football forwards
Cricketers from Southampton
FA Cup Final players
Royal Air Force personnel of World War II | true | [
"Alan Callan (1 August 1946 - 27 May 2014) was a British businessman, record producer and music executive. He worked as an executive for Swan Song Records (a record label established by English rock band Led Zeppelin in 1974), as a business manager for Jimmy Page and as a chairman for Scottish Open Championship Ltd. He was also the founder and CEO of the short-lived startup WorldSport.\n\nPersonal life \nHe had a daughter and a son. He died on 27 May 2014, having been diagnosed with bone cancer in April 2000 and had been battling the disease over the years.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \nWhat did you do during the boom, daddy?Times Online\nCallan's eulogy for Peter Grant Proximity Led Zeppelin fanzine.\n\nDate of birth unknown\n2014 deaths\nBritish businesspeople\nSwan Song Records",
"\"What Would Steve Do?\" is the second single released by Mumm-Ra on Columbia Records, which was released on February 19, 2007. It is a re-recorded version of the self-release they did in April 2006. It reached #40 in the UK Singles Chart, making it their highest charting single.\n\nTrack listings\nAll songs written by Mumm-Ra.\n\nCD\n\"What Would Steve Do?\"\n\"Cute As\"\n\"Without You\"\n\n7\"\n\"What Would Steve Do?\"\n\"What Would Steve Do? (Floorboard Mix)\"\n\nGatefold 7\"\n\"What Would Steve Do?\"\n\"Cute As\"\n\nReferences\n\n2007 singles\nMumm-Ra (band) songs\n2006 songs\nColumbia Records singles"
] |
[
"Ted Drake",
"Chelsea",
"Who is chelsea?",
"Without much ado he was appointed manager of First Division Chelsea",
"What did he do as manager?",
"he made a series of sweeping changes, doing much to rid the club of its previous amateurish, music hall image."
] | C_a96dfc44242a4a348c87e365710a8b1a_0 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 3 | Other than Ted Drake's actions as manager of First Division Chelsea, aree there any other interesting aspects about this article? | Ted Drake | Without much ado he was appointed manager of First Division Chelsea in June 1952. This is so due to the rivalry between the Gunners and the Blues being non existent at the time. Upon Drake's arrival at Chelsea, he made a series of sweeping changes, doing much to rid the club of its previous amateurish, music hall image. He discarded the club's Chelsea pensioner crest and with it the Pensioners nickname, and insisted a new one be adopted. From these changes came the Lion Rampant Regardant crest and the Blues nickname. He introduced scouting reports and a new, tougher, training regime based on ballwork, a rare practice in English football at the time. The club's previous policy of signing unreliable big-name players was abandoned; Drake instead used his knowledge of the lower divisions and the amateur game to recruit little-known, but more reliable players. These included John McNichol, Frank Blunstone, Derek Saunders, Jim Lewis and Peter Sillett Within three years, in the 1954-55 season, Drake had led Chelsea to their first league championship triumph. In doing so, he became the first person to win the league title both as player and manager. However, Drake never came close to repeating the success. The championship-winning side was gradually broken up, to be replaced by the crop of youngsters emerging from the club's youth team, such as Jimmy Greaves, Peter Brabrook and Bobby Tambling, for whom Drake was an aloof figure. Thereafter performances and results were very erratic, leaving the club stranded in mid-table; an FA Cup loss to Fourth Division side Crewe Alexandra weakened his position at the club and a few months later, Drake was sacked early into the 1961-62 season. After leaving Chelsea, he became reserve team manager at Fulham. During 1970 Drake went on to have a six-month stint as assistant manager at Barcelona. He later returned to Fulham where he became a chief scout, director and life president of the Cottagers. Drake passed away at the age of 82 on 30 May 1995. CANNOTANSWER | He discarded the club's Chelsea pensioner crest and with it the Pensioners nickname, and insisted a new one be adopted. | Edward Joseph Drake (16 August 1912 – 30 May 1995) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he first played for Southampton but made his name playing for Arsenal in the 1930s, winning two league titles and an FA Cup, as well as five caps for England. Drake is Arsenal's joint fifth highest goalscorer of all time. He also holds the record for the most goals scored in a top flight game in English football, with seven against Aston Villa in December 1935. A former centre forward, Drake has been described as a "classic number 9" and as a "strong, powerful, brave and almost entirely unthinking" player who "typified the English view."
After retiring from playing football, Drake became a manager, most notably of Chelsea. In 1955, he led the club to their first league title. This made him the first person to win the English top-flight as both a player and a manager. He was also a cricketer, but only ever played sparingly for Hampshire.
Club career
Southampton
Born in Southampton, Drake started playing at Winchester City, whilst continuing to work as a gas-meter reader. He nearly joined Spurs as a schoolboy, but missed the trial match with an injury. In June 1931, he was persuaded by George Kay to join Southampton, then playing in Division Two. He made his Saints debut on 14 November 1931 at Swansea Town, and signed as a professional in November, becoming first-choice centre-forward by the end of the 1931–32 season.
In the following season he made 33 league appearances, scoring 20 goals. After only one full season, his bravery and skill attracted the attention of Arsenal's Herbert Chapman, who tried to persuade Drake to move to north London. Drake rejected the chance of a move to Highbury and decided to remain at The Dell. He started the 1933–34 season by scoring a hat-trick in the opening game against Bradford City, following this with at least one goal in the next four games, thereby amassing eight goals in the opening five games. By early March he had blasted his way to the top of the Football League Division Two goal-scoring table with 22 goals.
Arsenal, with George Allison now in charge, renewed their interest and Drake eventually decided to join the Gunners. Saints had declined several previous offers, but eventually were forced to sell to balance their books. Drake made a total of 74 appearances for Southampton, scoring 48 goals.
Arsenal
Drake moved to Arsenal in March 1934 for £6,500, and scored on his league debut against Wolves on 24 March 1934, in a 3–2 win. Although he joined too late to qualify for a League Championship medal in 1933–34, Drake would win one in 1934–35, scoring 42 goals in 41 league games in the process – this included three hat-tricks and four four-goal hauls. With two more goals in the FA Cup and Charity Shield, Drake scored 44 in all that season, breaking Jack Lambert's club record, one that still holds to this day.
The following season, 1935–36 Drake scored seven in a single match against Aston Villa at Villa Park on 14 December 1935, a club record and top flight record that also still stands. Drake claimed an eighth goal hit the crossbar and went over the line, but the referee waved away his appeal. Drake would go on to win the FA Cup in 1935–36 with him scoring the only goal in the final and the League title again in 1937–38 with Arsenal.
Despite being injured regularly (he was a doubt up until the last minute for the 1936 Cup Final), Drake's speed, fierce shooting and brave playing style meant he was Arsenal's first-choice centre forward for the rest of the decade, and he was the club's top scorer for each of the five seasons from 1934–35 to 1938–39. The Second World War curtailed Drake's career, although he served in the Royal Air Force as well as turning out for Arsenal in wartime games and also appearing as a guest player for West Ham United later in World War II. However, Drake's career would not last long into peacetime; a spinal injury incurred in a game against Reading in 1945 forced him to retire from playing. With 139 goals in 184 games, he is along with Jimmy Brain the joint-fifth all-time scorer for Arsenal.
Drake is as well one of 32 Arsenal legends who are emblazoned in a mural upon the walls of the club's Emirates Stadium.
International career
Drake's exploits at club level brought him recognition at international level, and he made his England debut against Italy in the "Battle of Highbury" on 14 November 1934. As one of seven Arsenal players in the side, he scored the third goal in a heated 3–2 win. With England Drake also went on to win the 1935 British Home Championship title. In total he won five caps, scoring six times for the Three Lions.
Cricket career
He made his debut for Hampshire in 1931 and shared a vital stand of 86 with Phil Mead against Glamorgan. He made 45 but never reached this score again in the 15 further matches he played over the next six years, first as an amateur and then as a professional.
Management career
Hendon and Reading
After retiring as a player, Drake managed Hendon in 1946, and then Reading from 1947. He led the club to the runners-up spot in Division Three South in 1948–49 and again in 1951–52, though at the time only the champions were promoted.
Chelsea
Without much ado he was appointed manager of First Division Chelsea in June 1952. This is so due to the rivalry between the Gunners and the Blues being non existent at the time. Upon Drake's arrival at Chelsea, he made a series of sweeping changes, doing much to rid the club of its previous amateurish, music hall image. He discarded the club's Chelsea pensioner crest and with it the Pensioners nickname, and insisted a new one be adopted. From these changes came the Lion Rampant Regardant crest and the Blues nickname. He introduced scouting reports and a new, tougher, training regime based on ballwork, a rare practice in English football at the time. The club's previous policy of signing unreliable big-name players was abandoned; Drake instead used his knowledge of the lower divisions and the amateur game to recruit little-known, but more reliable players. These included John McNichol, Frank Blunstone, Derek Saunders, Jim Lewis and Peter Sillett
Within three years, in the 1954–55 season, Drake had led Chelsea to their first league championship triumph. In doing so, he became the first person to win the league title both as player and manager. However, Drake never came close to repeating the success. The championship-winning side was gradually broken up, to be replaced by the crop of youngsters emerging from the club's youth team, such as Jimmy Greaves, Peter Brabrook and Bobby Tambling, for whom Drake was an aloof figure. Thereafter performances and results were very erratic, leaving the club stranded in mid-table; an FA Cup loss to Fourth Division side Crewe Alexandra weakened his position at the club and a few months later, Drake was sacked early into the 1961–62 season.
After leaving Chelsea, he became reserve team manager at Fulham, where he was also assistant to the manager Vic Buckingham. In December he joined Barcelona as assistant to Buckingham, staying until June 1970. He later returned to Fulham where he became a chief scout, director and life president of the Cottagers. Drake died at the age of 82 on 30 May 1995.
Honours
Club
Arsenal
Football League First Division: 1934–35, 1937–38
FA Cup: 1935–36
FA Charity Shield: 1934, 1938
International
England
British Home Championship: 1935
Manager
Chelsea
Football League First Division: 1954–55
FA Charity Shield: 1955
Individual
First Division Golden Boot: 1935
See also
List of English football championship winning managers
References
External links
Wisden obituary
FA Profile
1912 births
Footballers from Southampton
1995 deaths
Hampshire cricketers
English footballers
England international footballers
English Football League players
First Division/Premier League top scorers
Winchester City F.C. players
Southampton F.C. players
Arsenal F.C. players
English football managers
Reading F.C. managers
Chelsea F.C. managers
English cricketers
West Ham United F.C. wartime guest players
Association football forwards
Cricketers from Southampton
FA Cup Final players
Royal Air Force personnel of World War II | 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"
] |
[
"Ted Drake",
"Chelsea",
"Who is chelsea?",
"Without much ado he was appointed manager of First Division Chelsea",
"What did he do as manager?",
"he made a series of sweeping changes, doing much to rid the club of its previous amateurish, music hall image.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"He discarded the club's Chelsea pensioner crest and with it the Pensioners nickname, and insisted a new one be adopted."
] | C_a96dfc44242a4a348c87e365710a8b1a_0 | What was the new? | 4 | What was the new pensioner crest and nickname for Chelsea? | Ted Drake | Without much ado he was appointed manager of First Division Chelsea in June 1952. This is so due to the rivalry between the Gunners and the Blues being non existent at the time. Upon Drake's arrival at Chelsea, he made a series of sweeping changes, doing much to rid the club of its previous amateurish, music hall image. He discarded the club's Chelsea pensioner crest and with it the Pensioners nickname, and insisted a new one be adopted. From these changes came the Lion Rampant Regardant crest and the Blues nickname. He introduced scouting reports and a new, tougher, training regime based on ballwork, a rare practice in English football at the time. The club's previous policy of signing unreliable big-name players was abandoned; Drake instead used his knowledge of the lower divisions and the amateur game to recruit little-known, but more reliable players. These included John McNichol, Frank Blunstone, Derek Saunders, Jim Lewis and Peter Sillett Within three years, in the 1954-55 season, Drake had led Chelsea to their first league championship triumph. In doing so, he became the first person to win the league title both as player and manager. However, Drake never came close to repeating the success. The championship-winning side was gradually broken up, to be replaced by the crop of youngsters emerging from the club's youth team, such as Jimmy Greaves, Peter Brabrook and Bobby Tambling, for whom Drake was an aloof figure. Thereafter performances and results were very erratic, leaving the club stranded in mid-table; an FA Cup loss to Fourth Division side Crewe Alexandra weakened his position at the club and a few months later, Drake was sacked early into the 1961-62 season. After leaving Chelsea, he became reserve team manager at Fulham. During 1970 Drake went on to have a six-month stint as assistant manager at Barcelona. He later returned to Fulham where he became a chief scout, director and life president of the Cottagers. Drake passed away at the age of 82 on 30 May 1995. CANNOTANSWER | From these changes came the Lion Rampant Regardant crest and the Blues nickname. | Edward Joseph Drake (16 August 1912 – 30 May 1995) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he first played for Southampton but made his name playing for Arsenal in the 1930s, winning two league titles and an FA Cup, as well as five caps for England. Drake is Arsenal's joint fifth highest goalscorer of all time. He also holds the record for the most goals scored in a top flight game in English football, with seven against Aston Villa in December 1935. A former centre forward, Drake has been described as a "classic number 9" and as a "strong, powerful, brave and almost entirely unthinking" player who "typified the English view."
After retiring from playing football, Drake became a manager, most notably of Chelsea. In 1955, he led the club to their first league title. This made him the first person to win the English top-flight as both a player and a manager. He was also a cricketer, but only ever played sparingly for Hampshire.
Club career
Southampton
Born in Southampton, Drake started playing at Winchester City, whilst continuing to work as a gas-meter reader. He nearly joined Spurs as a schoolboy, but missed the trial match with an injury. In June 1931, he was persuaded by George Kay to join Southampton, then playing in Division Two. He made his Saints debut on 14 November 1931 at Swansea Town, and signed as a professional in November, becoming first-choice centre-forward by the end of the 1931–32 season.
In the following season he made 33 league appearances, scoring 20 goals. After only one full season, his bravery and skill attracted the attention of Arsenal's Herbert Chapman, who tried to persuade Drake to move to north London. Drake rejected the chance of a move to Highbury and decided to remain at The Dell. He started the 1933–34 season by scoring a hat-trick in the opening game against Bradford City, following this with at least one goal in the next four games, thereby amassing eight goals in the opening five games. By early March he had blasted his way to the top of the Football League Division Two goal-scoring table with 22 goals.
Arsenal, with George Allison now in charge, renewed their interest and Drake eventually decided to join the Gunners. Saints had declined several previous offers, but eventually were forced to sell to balance their books. Drake made a total of 74 appearances for Southampton, scoring 48 goals.
Arsenal
Drake moved to Arsenal in March 1934 for £6,500, and scored on his league debut against Wolves on 24 March 1934, in a 3–2 win. Although he joined too late to qualify for a League Championship medal in 1933–34, Drake would win one in 1934–35, scoring 42 goals in 41 league games in the process – this included three hat-tricks and four four-goal hauls. With two more goals in the FA Cup and Charity Shield, Drake scored 44 in all that season, breaking Jack Lambert's club record, one that still holds to this day.
The following season, 1935–36 Drake scored seven in a single match against Aston Villa at Villa Park on 14 December 1935, a club record and top flight record that also still stands. Drake claimed an eighth goal hit the crossbar and went over the line, but the referee waved away his appeal. Drake would go on to win the FA Cup in 1935–36 with him scoring the only goal in the final and the League title again in 1937–38 with Arsenal.
Despite being injured regularly (he was a doubt up until the last minute for the 1936 Cup Final), Drake's speed, fierce shooting and brave playing style meant he was Arsenal's first-choice centre forward for the rest of the decade, and he was the club's top scorer for each of the five seasons from 1934–35 to 1938–39. The Second World War curtailed Drake's career, although he served in the Royal Air Force as well as turning out for Arsenal in wartime games and also appearing as a guest player for West Ham United later in World War II. However, Drake's career would not last long into peacetime; a spinal injury incurred in a game against Reading in 1945 forced him to retire from playing. With 139 goals in 184 games, he is along with Jimmy Brain the joint-fifth all-time scorer for Arsenal.
Drake is as well one of 32 Arsenal legends who are emblazoned in a mural upon the walls of the club's Emirates Stadium.
International career
Drake's exploits at club level brought him recognition at international level, and he made his England debut against Italy in the "Battle of Highbury" on 14 November 1934. As one of seven Arsenal players in the side, he scored the third goal in a heated 3–2 win. With England Drake also went on to win the 1935 British Home Championship title. In total he won five caps, scoring six times for the Three Lions.
Cricket career
He made his debut for Hampshire in 1931 and shared a vital stand of 86 with Phil Mead against Glamorgan. He made 45 but never reached this score again in the 15 further matches he played over the next six years, first as an amateur and then as a professional.
Management career
Hendon and Reading
After retiring as a player, Drake managed Hendon in 1946, and then Reading from 1947. He led the club to the runners-up spot in Division Three South in 1948–49 and again in 1951–52, though at the time only the champions were promoted.
Chelsea
Without much ado he was appointed manager of First Division Chelsea in June 1952. This is so due to the rivalry between the Gunners and the Blues being non existent at the time. Upon Drake's arrival at Chelsea, he made a series of sweeping changes, doing much to rid the club of its previous amateurish, music hall image. He discarded the club's Chelsea pensioner crest and with it the Pensioners nickname, and insisted a new one be adopted. From these changes came the Lion Rampant Regardant crest and the Blues nickname. He introduced scouting reports and a new, tougher, training regime based on ballwork, a rare practice in English football at the time. The club's previous policy of signing unreliable big-name players was abandoned; Drake instead used his knowledge of the lower divisions and the amateur game to recruit little-known, but more reliable players. These included John McNichol, Frank Blunstone, Derek Saunders, Jim Lewis and Peter Sillett
Within three years, in the 1954–55 season, Drake had led Chelsea to their first league championship triumph. In doing so, he became the first person to win the league title both as player and manager. However, Drake never came close to repeating the success. The championship-winning side was gradually broken up, to be replaced by the crop of youngsters emerging from the club's youth team, such as Jimmy Greaves, Peter Brabrook and Bobby Tambling, for whom Drake was an aloof figure. Thereafter performances and results were very erratic, leaving the club stranded in mid-table; an FA Cup loss to Fourth Division side Crewe Alexandra weakened his position at the club and a few months later, Drake was sacked early into the 1961–62 season.
After leaving Chelsea, he became reserve team manager at Fulham, where he was also assistant to the manager Vic Buckingham. In December he joined Barcelona as assistant to Buckingham, staying until June 1970. He later returned to Fulham where he became a chief scout, director and life president of the Cottagers. Drake died at the age of 82 on 30 May 1995.
Honours
Club
Arsenal
Football League First Division: 1934–35, 1937–38
FA Cup: 1935–36
FA Charity Shield: 1934, 1938
International
England
British Home Championship: 1935
Manager
Chelsea
Football League First Division: 1954–55
FA Charity Shield: 1955
Individual
First Division Golden Boot: 1935
See also
List of English football championship winning managers
References
External links
Wisden obituary
FA Profile
1912 births
Footballers from Southampton
1995 deaths
Hampshire cricketers
English footballers
England international footballers
English Football League players
First Division/Premier League top scorers
Winchester City F.C. players
Southampton F.C. players
Arsenal F.C. players
English football managers
Reading F.C. managers
Chelsea F.C. managers
English cricketers
West Ham United F.C. wartime guest players
Association football forwards
Cricketers from Southampton
FA Cup Final players
Royal Air Force personnel of World War II | true | [
"What to Do with Daylight is the debut album by New Zealand singer/songwriter, Brooke Fraser released in 2004. What to Do with Daylight was the top New Zealand album for 2004 (according to RIANZ), and went seven times Platinum.\n\nThe album title comes from the album's first track \"Arithmetic\", as heard in the line \"Wondering what to do with daylight/Until I can make you mine\". The song was released as the album's fourth single in New Zealand.\n\nAll five singles from the album reached the top 20 NZ singles chart and achieved No. 1 airplay status.\n\nTrack listing\n\nSpecial edition\nWhat To Do With Daylight was also re-released as a two disc CD+DVD \"Special Edition\" in 2004, following the album's success. The first disc was the album with the second disc being a live DVD of four songs from the album. This set also came with a slipcase cover with a different photo of Fraser. The DVD was filmed and recorded live at The Pumphouse, Takapuna, Auckland on 2 April 2004.\n\nLive DVD track list:\n \"Saving the World\"\n \"Lifeline\"\n \"Arithmetic\"\n \"Better\"\n\nCharts and certifications\nWhat To Do With Daylight debuted at number one on the New Zealand RIANZ Album Chart. It was also certified Gold in the first week with sales of over 7,500. Within three weeks the album was certified Platinum with sales of over 15,000.\n\nThe album had a 66-week run on the New Zealand chart dating from 16 November 2003 – 28 February 2005, and would go on to reach number one a further two times and be certified 7x Platinum.\n\nCertifications in weeks:\n\nReferences \n\nBrooke Fraser albums\n2003 debut albums",
"What's New with Phil & Dixie is a gaming parody comic by Phil Foglio. What's New was Foglio's first comic, and was published in the magazines Dragon and The Duelist, as well as in print collections and online.\n\nPremise \nThe comic stars Phil Foglio, along with Dixie Null, as they explore the world of gaming, particularly tabletop RPGs, with a mixture of reportage and advice to the reader. Strips created for The Duelist magazine focused on Magic: The Gathering.\n\nA long-running joke revolved around the often promised and often delayed \"Sex in D&D\" segment. This segment never appeared in magazine printings, but was finally written and included as additional material in one of the strip's book printings.\n\nOriginal magazine publications \nIn an interview, Foglio said that What's New was his start in comics, and was first published in Dragon magazine in 1980. In another interview, he said that he had done some covers for Dragon, and noted he could earn much more for similar effort if he added jokes.\n\nAccording to Wizards of the Coast, the current owners of Dragon, the comic first appeared in Dragon shortly before issue #50 and ran until issue #84 (i.e., in 1984), when Foglio stopped the comic to work on other projects. According to Wizards, characters from What's New appeared in another Foglio work, Another Fine Myth.\n\nWizards also states that What's New was revived for a run in The Duelist magazine, also published by Wizards of the Coast. It ran in The Duelist from 1993 to 1999, ending when publication of The Duelist ceased.\n\nAfter the end of The Duelist, the comic returned to Dragon and ran there from 1999 to 2003 (issues 265–311), plus a final \"farewell\" installment Dragon #359, the last issue of Dragon in print.\n\nBook printings and online publication \nThe entire run in Dragon, plus additional material, was published in two print collections by Palliard Press.\n\nIn 2001 a third volume was published by Studio Foglio collecting all the Duelist magazine strips, along with some bonus content.\n\nFrom 2007 to 2010, What's New was republished on Foglio's website as a weekly webcomic.\n\nReception \nThe author and blogger Cory Doctorow has said he loved What's New when he was a kid.\n\nReferences\n\nCitations\n\nComic references\nSource dates in these references refer to the original printing date. These comics were reprinted on Foglio's website between 2007 and 2010.\n\nExternal links\n Archive of all What's New with Phil and Dixie at Internet Archive\n \n\nAmerican comedy webcomics\nStudio Foglio titles\nWebcomics about fandom\nWebcomics from print"
] |
[
"Ted Drake",
"Chelsea",
"Who is chelsea?",
"Without much ado he was appointed manager of First Division Chelsea",
"What did he do as manager?",
"he made a series of sweeping changes, doing much to rid the club of its previous amateurish, music hall image.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"He discarded the club's Chelsea pensioner crest and with it the Pensioners nickname, and insisted a new one be adopted.",
"What was the new?",
"From these changes came the Lion Rampant Regardant crest and the Blues nickname."
] | C_a96dfc44242a4a348c87e365710a8b1a_0 | How did the public take the change? | 5 | How did the public react to the change of Chelsea's pensioner crest and nickname? | Ted Drake | Without much ado he was appointed manager of First Division Chelsea in June 1952. This is so due to the rivalry between the Gunners and the Blues being non existent at the time. Upon Drake's arrival at Chelsea, he made a series of sweeping changes, doing much to rid the club of its previous amateurish, music hall image. He discarded the club's Chelsea pensioner crest and with it the Pensioners nickname, and insisted a new one be adopted. From these changes came the Lion Rampant Regardant crest and the Blues nickname. He introduced scouting reports and a new, tougher, training regime based on ballwork, a rare practice in English football at the time. The club's previous policy of signing unreliable big-name players was abandoned; Drake instead used his knowledge of the lower divisions and the amateur game to recruit little-known, but more reliable players. These included John McNichol, Frank Blunstone, Derek Saunders, Jim Lewis and Peter Sillett Within three years, in the 1954-55 season, Drake had led Chelsea to their first league championship triumph. In doing so, he became the first person to win the league title both as player and manager. However, Drake never came close to repeating the success. The championship-winning side was gradually broken up, to be replaced by the crop of youngsters emerging from the club's youth team, such as Jimmy Greaves, Peter Brabrook and Bobby Tambling, for whom Drake was an aloof figure. Thereafter performances and results were very erratic, leaving the club stranded in mid-table; an FA Cup loss to Fourth Division side Crewe Alexandra weakened his position at the club and a few months later, Drake was sacked early into the 1961-62 season. After leaving Chelsea, he became reserve team manager at Fulham. During 1970 Drake went on to have a six-month stint as assistant manager at Barcelona. He later returned to Fulham where he became a chief scout, director and life president of the Cottagers. Drake passed away at the age of 82 on 30 May 1995. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Edward Joseph Drake (16 August 1912 – 30 May 1995) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he first played for Southampton but made his name playing for Arsenal in the 1930s, winning two league titles and an FA Cup, as well as five caps for England. Drake is Arsenal's joint fifth highest goalscorer of all time. He also holds the record for the most goals scored in a top flight game in English football, with seven against Aston Villa in December 1935. A former centre forward, Drake has been described as a "classic number 9" and as a "strong, powerful, brave and almost entirely unthinking" player who "typified the English view."
After retiring from playing football, Drake became a manager, most notably of Chelsea. In 1955, he led the club to their first league title. This made him the first person to win the English top-flight as both a player and a manager. He was also a cricketer, but only ever played sparingly for Hampshire.
Club career
Southampton
Born in Southampton, Drake started playing at Winchester City, whilst continuing to work as a gas-meter reader. He nearly joined Spurs as a schoolboy, but missed the trial match with an injury. In June 1931, he was persuaded by George Kay to join Southampton, then playing in Division Two. He made his Saints debut on 14 November 1931 at Swansea Town, and signed as a professional in November, becoming first-choice centre-forward by the end of the 1931–32 season.
In the following season he made 33 league appearances, scoring 20 goals. After only one full season, his bravery and skill attracted the attention of Arsenal's Herbert Chapman, who tried to persuade Drake to move to north London. Drake rejected the chance of a move to Highbury and decided to remain at The Dell. He started the 1933–34 season by scoring a hat-trick in the opening game against Bradford City, following this with at least one goal in the next four games, thereby amassing eight goals in the opening five games. By early March he had blasted his way to the top of the Football League Division Two goal-scoring table with 22 goals.
Arsenal, with George Allison now in charge, renewed their interest and Drake eventually decided to join the Gunners. Saints had declined several previous offers, but eventually were forced to sell to balance their books. Drake made a total of 74 appearances for Southampton, scoring 48 goals.
Arsenal
Drake moved to Arsenal in March 1934 for £6,500, and scored on his league debut against Wolves on 24 March 1934, in a 3–2 win. Although he joined too late to qualify for a League Championship medal in 1933–34, Drake would win one in 1934–35, scoring 42 goals in 41 league games in the process – this included three hat-tricks and four four-goal hauls. With two more goals in the FA Cup and Charity Shield, Drake scored 44 in all that season, breaking Jack Lambert's club record, one that still holds to this day.
The following season, 1935–36 Drake scored seven in a single match against Aston Villa at Villa Park on 14 December 1935, a club record and top flight record that also still stands. Drake claimed an eighth goal hit the crossbar and went over the line, but the referee waved away his appeal. Drake would go on to win the FA Cup in 1935–36 with him scoring the only goal in the final and the League title again in 1937–38 with Arsenal.
Despite being injured regularly (he was a doubt up until the last minute for the 1936 Cup Final), Drake's speed, fierce shooting and brave playing style meant he was Arsenal's first-choice centre forward for the rest of the decade, and he was the club's top scorer for each of the five seasons from 1934–35 to 1938–39. The Second World War curtailed Drake's career, although he served in the Royal Air Force as well as turning out for Arsenal in wartime games and also appearing as a guest player for West Ham United later in World War II. However, Drake's career would not last long into peacetime; a spinal injury incurred in a game against Reading in 1945 forced him to retire from playing. With 139 goals in 184 games, he is along with Jimmy Brain the joint-fifth all-time scorer for Arsenal.
Drake is as well one of 32 Arsenal legends who are emblazoned in a mural upon the walls of the club's Emirates Stadium.
International career
Drake's exploits at club level brought him recognition at international level, and he made his England debut against Italy in the "Battle of Highbury" on 14 November 1934. As one of seven Arsenal players in the side, he scored the third goal in a heated 3–2 win. With England Drake also went on to win the 1935 British Home Championship title. In total he won five caps, scoring six times for the Three Lions.
Cricket career
He made his debut for Hampshire in 1931 and shared a vital stand of 86 with Phil Mead against Glamorgan. He made 45 but never reached this score again in the 15 further matches he played over the next six years, first as an amateur and then as a professional.
Management career
Hendon and Reading
After retiring as a player, Drake managed Hendon in 1946, and then Reading from 1947. He led the club to the runners-up spot in Division Three South in 1948–49 and again in 1951–52, though at the time only the champions were promoted.
Chelsea
Without much ado he was appointed manager of First Division Chelsea in June 1952. This is so due to the rivalry between the Gunners and the Blues being non existent at the time. Upon Drake's arrival at Chelsea, he made a series of sweeping changes, doing much to rid the club of its previous amateurish, music hall image. He discarded the club's Chelsea pensioner crest and with it the Pensioners nickname, and insisted a new one be adopted. From these changes came the Lion Rampant Regardant crest and the Blues nickname. He introduced scouting reports and a new, tougher, training regime based on ballwork, a rare practice in English football at the time. The club's previous policy of signing unreliable big-name players was abandoned; Drake instead used his knowledge of the lower divisions and the amateur game to recruit little-known, but more reliable players. These included John McNichol, Frank Blunstone, Derek Saunders, Jim Lewis and Peter Sillett
Within three years, in the 1954–55 season, Drake had led Chelsea to their first league championship triumph. In doing so, he became the first person to win the league title both as player and manager. However, Drake never came close to repeating the success. The championship-winning side was gradually broken up, to be replaced by the crop of youngsters emerging from the club's youth team, such as Jimmy Greaves, Peter Brabrook and Bobby Tambling, for whom Drake was an aloof figure. Thereafter performances and results were very erratic, leaving the club stranded in mid-table; an FA Cup loss to Fourth Division side Crewe Alexandra weakened his position at the club and a few months later, Drake was sacked early into the 1961–62 season.
After leaving Chelsea, he became reserve team manager at Fulham, where he was also assistant to the manager Vic Buckingham. In December he joined Barcelona as assistant to Buckingham, staying until June 1970. He later returned to Fulham where he became a chief scout, director and life president of the Cottagers. Drake died at the age of 82 on 30 May 1995.
Honours
Club
Arsenal
Football League First Division: 1934–35, 1937–38
FA Cup: 1935–36
FA Charity Shield: 1934, 1938
International
England
British Home Championship: 1935
Manager
Chelsea
Football League First Division: 1954–55
FA Charity Shield: 1955
Individual
First Division Golden Boot: 1935
See also
List of English football championship winning managers
References
External links
Wisden obituary
FA Profile
1912 births
Footballers from Southampton
1995 deaths
Hampshire cricketers
English footballers
England international footballers
English Football League players
First Division/Premier League top scorers
Winchester City F.C. players
Southampton F.C. players
Arsenal F.C. players
English football managers
Reading F.C. managers
Chelsea F.C. managers
English cricketers
West Ham United F.C. wartime guest players
Association football forwards
Cricketers from Southampton
FA Cup Final players
Royal Air Force personnel of World War II | false | [
"Lorraine Elisabeth Whitmarsh is a British psychologist and environmental scientist at the University of Bath. She serves as Director of the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations. Her research considers how the public engage with climate change, energy and transport.\n\nEarly life and education \nWhitmarsh was an undergraduate student at the University of Kent, where she studied theology and religious studies. As a graduate student, Whitmarsh studied psychology at the University of Bath. Her doctoral research considered the public understanding of climate change in Southern England. She moved to the University of East Anglia as a research associate in 2005, where she spent four years.\n\nResearch and career \nWhitmarsh joined the faculty at Cardiff University in 2009, where she was promoted to Professor in 2015. In 2014, Whitmarsh was awarded a European Research Council Starting Grant to investigate low carbon lifestyles. Whitmarsh was later awarded a European Research Council Consolidator Grant where she studied the moments that cause pro-environmental behaviour shifts. \n\nWhitmarsh moved to the University of Bath in 2020, where she was made a Professor of Environmental Psychology. She leads the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformation, which considers how society must adapt to reduce emissions. In particular, Whitmarsh has focussed on mobility, food, insulation and material consumption. Whitmarsh has argued that psychologists can effectively communicate the risks associated with climate change, as well as helping people to mitigate hyperthermia or natural disasters. She has worked with city councils to design interventions that encourage low-carbon travel, as well as supporting the roll-out of infrastructure changes such as cycle paths. Whitmarsh was involved with the UK Climate Assembly, a citizen science engagement process that looked to take public opinion on climate change to the Government of the United Kingdom.\n\nWhitmarsh has contributed to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and served as lead author for the IPCC Working Group II. She serves on the advisory team of the parliamentary group for a green new deal.\n\nWhitmarsh was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to social research in climate change, energy and transport.\n\nSelected publications\n\nBooks\n\nReferences \n\nBritish psychologists\nEnvironmental scientists\nAlumni of the University of Kent\nAcademics of the University of Bath\nAlumni of the University of Bath\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nLiving people\nMembers of the Order of the British Empire",
"A deliberatorium or collaboratorium is a form of online collaborative argument mapping. It was first deployed as the MIT Collaboratorium, and directed at the question of climate change.\n\nHistory\n\nIn December 2008, Center for Collective Intelligence at the MIT Mark Klein tested a prototype of the collaboratorium at the University of Naples featuring a 200 student debate on biofuels.\n\nFeatures\n\nDeliberatoriums work by deploying a website which allows the public to post the latest scientific results about climate change. Once done, people can debate how to get rid of carbon emissions which is how politicians get feedback on public opinion.\n\nThe site operates similar to Wikipedia for authoritative reports but with a more structured, organized debate featuring an argument tree. These reports for the site come from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).\n\nSee also \n Collaborative software\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n\nArgument mapping\nCollaborative software\nPolitical science"
] |
[
"Ted Drake",
"Chelsea",
"Who is chelsea?",
"Without much ado he was appointed manager of First Division Chelsea",
"What did he do as manager?",
"he made a series of sweeping changes, doing much to rid the club of its previous amateurish, music hall image.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"He discarded the club's Chelsea pensioner crest and with it the Pensioners nickname, and insisted a new one be adopted.",
"What was the new?",
"From these changes came the Lion Rampant Regardant crest and the Blues nickname.",
"How did the public take the change?",
"I don't know."
] | C_a96dfc44242a4a348c87e365710a8b1a_0 | What other changes did he implement? | 6 | What other changes did Ted Drake implement other than changing the nickname and crest? | Ted Drake | Without much ado he was appointed manager of First Division Chelsea in June 1952. This is so due to the rivalry between the Gunners and the Blues being non existent at the time. Upon Drake's arrival at Chelsea, he made a series of sweeping changes, doing much to rid the club of its previous amateurish, music hall image. He discarded the club's Chelsea pensioner crest and with it the Pensioners nickname, and insisted a new one be adopted. From these changes came the Lion Rampant Regardant crest and the Blues nickname. He introduced scouting reports and a new, tougher, training regime based on ballwork, a rare practice in English football at the time. The club's previous policy of signing unreliable big-name players was abandoned; Drake instead used his knowledge of the lower divisions and the amateur game to recruit little-known, but more reliable players. These included John McNichol, Frank Blunstone, Derek Saunders, Jim Lewis and Peter Sillett Within three years, in the 1954-55 season, Drake had led Chelsea to their first league championship triumph. In doing so, he became the first person to win the league title both as player and manager. However, Drake never came close to repeating the success. The championship-winning side was gradually broken up, to be replaced by the crop of youngsters emerging from the club's youth team, such as Jimmy Greaves, Peter Brabrook and Bobby Tambling, for whom Drake was an aloof figure. Thereafter performances and results were very erratic, leaving the club stranded in mid-table; an FA Cup loss to Fourth Division side Crewe Alexandra weakened his position at the club and a few months later, Drake was sacked early into the 1961-62 season. After leaving Chelsea, he became reserve team manager at Fulham. During 1970 Drake went on to have a six-month stint as assistant manager at Barcelona. He later returned to Fulham where he became a chief scout, director and life president of the Cottagers. Drake passed away at the age of 82 on 30 May 1995. CANNOTANSWER | He introduced scouting reports and a new, tougher, training regime based on ballwork, a rare practice in English football at the time. | Edward Joseph Drake (16 August 1912 – 30 May 1995) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he first played for Southampton but made his name playing for Arsenal in the 1930s, winning two league titles and an FA Cup, as well as five caps for England. Drake is Arsenal's joint fifth highest goalscorer of all time. He also holds the record for the most goals scored in a top flight game in English football, with seven against Aston Villa in December 1935. A former centre forward, Drake has been described as a "classic number 9" and as a "strong, powerful, brave and almost entirely unthinking" player who "typified the English view."
After retiring from playing football, Drake became a manager, most notably of Chelsea. In 1955, he led the club to their first league title. This made him the first person to win the English top-flight as both a player and a manager. He was also a cricketer, but only ever played sparingly for Hampshire.
Club career
Southampton
Born in Southampton, Drake started playing at Winchester City, whilst continuing to work as a gas-meter reader. He nearly joined Spurs as a schoolboy, but missed the trial match with an injury. In June 1931, he was persuaded by George Kay to join Southampton, then playing in Division Two. He made his Saints debut on 14 November 1931 at Swansea Town, and signed as a professional in November, becoming first-choice centre-forward by the end of the 1931–32 season.
In the following season he made 33 league appearances, scoring 20 goals. After only one full season, his bravery and skill attracted the attention of Arsenal's Herbert Chapman, who tried to persuade Drake to move to north London. Drake rejected the chance of a move to Highbury and decided to remain at The Dell. He started the 1933–34 season by scoring a hat-trick in the opening game against Bradford City, following this with at least one goal in the next four games, thereby amassing eight goals in the opening five games. By early March he had blasted his way to the top of the Football League Division Two goal-scoring table with 22 goals.
Arsenal, with George Allison now in charge, renewed their interest and Drake eventually decided to join the Gunners. Saints had declined several previous offers, but eventually were forced to sell to balance their books. Drake made a total of 74 appearances for Southampton, scoring 48 goals.
Arsenal
Drake moved to Arsenal in March 1934 for £6,500, and scored on his league debut against Wolves on 24 March 1934, in a 3–2 win. Although he joined too late to qualify for a League Championship medal in 1933–34, Drake would win one in 1934–35, scoring 42 goals in 41 league games in the process – this included three hat-tricks and four four-goal hauls. With two more goals in the FA Cup and Charity Shield, Drake scored 44 in all that season, breaking Jack Lambert's club record, one that still holds to this day.
The following season, 1935–36 Drake scored seven in a single match against Aston Villa at Villa Park on 14 December 1935, a club record and top flight record that also still stands. Drake claimed an eighth goal hit the crossbar and went over the line, but the referee waved away his appeal. Drake would go on to win the FA Cup in 1935–36 with him scoring the only goal in the final and the League title again in 1937–38 with Arsenal.
Despite being injured regularly (he was a doubt up until the last minute for the 1936 Cup Final), Drake's speed, fierce shooting and brave playing style meant he was Arsenal's first-choice centre forward for the rest of the decade, and he was the club's top scorer for each of the five seasons from 1934–35 to 1938–39. The Second World War curtailed Drake's career, although he served in the Royal Air Force as well as turning out for Arsenal in wartime games and also appearing as a guest player for West Ham United later in World War II. However, Drake's career would not last long into peacetime; a spinal injury incurred in a game against Reading in 1945 forced him to retire from playing. With 139 goals in 184 games, he is along with Jimmy Brain the joint-fifth all-time scorer for Arsenal.
Drake is as well one of 32 Arsenal legends who are emblazoned in a mural upon the walls of the club's Emirates Stadium.
International career
Drake's exploits at club level brought him recognition at international level, and he made his England debut against Italy in the "Battle of Highbury" on 14 November 1934. As one of seven Arsenal players in the side, he scored the third goal in a heated 3–2 win. With England Drake also went on to win the 1935 British Home Championship title. In total he won five caps, scoring six times for the Three Lions.
Cricket career
He made his debut for Hampshire in 1931 and shared a vital stand of 86 with Phil Mead against Glamorgan. He made 45 but never reached this score again in the 15 further matches he played over the next six years, first as an amateur and then as a professional.
Management career
Hendon and Reading
After retiring as a player, Drake managed Hendon in 1946, and then Reading from 1947. He led the club to the runners-up spot in Division Three South in 1948–49 and again in 1951–52, though at the time only the champions were promoted.
Chelsea
Without much ado he was appointed manager of First Division Chelsea in June 1952. This is so due to the rivalry between the Gunners and the Blues being non existent at the time. Upon Drake's arrival at Chelsea, he made a series of sweeping changes, doing much to rid the club of its previous amateurish, music hall image. He discarded the club's Chelsea pensioner crest and with it the Pensioners nickname, and insisted a new one be adopted. From these changes came the Lion Rampant Regardant crest and the Blues nickname. He introduced scouting reports and a new, tougher, training regime based on ballwork, a rare practice in English football at the time. The club's previous policy of signing unreliable big-name players was abandoned; Drake instead used his knowledge of the lower divisions and the amateur game to recruit little-known, but more reliable players. These included John McNichol, Frank Blunstone, Derek Saunders, Jim Lewis and Peter Sillett
Within three years, in the 1954–55 season, Drake had led Chelsea to their first league championship triumph. In doing so, he became the first person to win the league title both as player and manager. However, Drake never came close to repeating the success. The championship-winning side was gradually broken up, to be replaced by the crop of youngsters emerging from the club's youth team, such as Jimmy Greaves, Peter Brabrook and Bobby Tambling, for whom Drake was an aloof figure. Thereafter performances and results were very erratic, leaving the club stranded in mid-table; an FA Cup loss to Fourth Division side Crewe Alexandra weakened his position at the club and a few months later, Drake was sacked early into the 1961–62 season.
After leaving Chelsea, he became reserve team manager at Fulham, where he was also assistant to the manager Vic Buckingham. In December he joined Barcelona as assistant to Buckingham, staying until June 1970. He later returned to Fulham where he became a chief scout, director and life president of the Cottagers. Drake died at the age of 82 on 30 May 1995.
Honours
Club
Arsenal
Football League First Division: 1934–35, 1937–38
FA Cup: 1935–36
FA Charity Shield: 1934, 1938
International
England
British Home Championship: 1935
Manager
Chelsea
Football League First Division: 1954–55
FA Charity Shield: 1955
Individual
First Division Golden Boot: 1935
See also
List of English football championship winning managers
References
External links
Wisden obituary
FA Profile
1912 births
Footballers from Southampton
1995 deaths
Hampshire cricketers
English footballers
England international footballers
English Football League players
First Division/Premier League top scorers
Winchester City F.C. players
Southampton F.C. players
Arsenal F.C. players
English football managers
Reading F.C. managers
Chelsea F.C. managers
English cricketers
West Ham United F.C. wartime guest players
Association football forwards
Cricketers from Southampton
FA Cup Final players
Royal Air Force personnel of World War II | true | [
"Curriculum and Instruction (C&I) is a field within education which seeks to research, develop, and implement curriculum changes that increase student achievement within and outside schools. The field focuses on how students learn and the best ways to educate. It is also interested in new trends in teaching and learning process. It tries to find answers to questions such as \"why to teach\", \"what to teach\", \"how to teach\" and \"how to evaluate\" in instructional process. Master's degrees and doctorates are offered at a number of universities.\n\nReferences\n\nEducational research",
"The shooting of Mohamed Bah was an incident that occurred on September 25, 2012. During the incident, Mohamed Bah was fatally shot 8 times inside his Manhattan apartment by New York City Police officers.\n\nThe incident prompted the Bah family to file a $70 million civil lawsuit against New York City. The lawsuit demanded the city implement changes in the way police deal with people suffering from a mental illness.\n\nIn 2017, the Bah family settled in court for $2.21 million. The officers were found to have used unnecessary force but did not face charges.\n\niedereen zn moeder\n\n2012 deaths\nDeaths by firearm in Manhattan\nDeaths by person in New York City\nVictims of police brutality in the United States"
] |
[
"Ted Drake",
"Chelsea",
"Who is chelsea?",
"Without much ado he was appointed manager of First Division Chelsea",
"What did he do as manager?",
"he made a series of sweeping changes, doing much to rid the club of its previous amateurish, music hall image.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"He discarded the club's Chelsea pensioner crest and with it the Pensioners nickname, and insisted a new one be adopted.",
"What was the new?",
"From these changes came the Lion Rampant Regardant crest and the Blues nickname.",
"How did the public take the change?",
"I don't know.",
"What other changes did he implement?",
"He introduced scouting reports and a new, tougher, training regime based on ballwork, a rare practice in English football at the time."
] | C_a96dfc44242a4a348c87e365710a8b1a_0 | Was there a team change up | 7 | Was there a team change up for First Divison Chelsea? | Ted Drake | Without much ado he was appointed manager of First Division Chelsea in June 1952. This is so due to the rivalry between the Gunners and the Blues being non existent at the time. Upon Drake's arrival at Chelsea, he made a series of sweeping changes, doing much to rid the club of its previous amateurish, music hall image. He discarded the club's Chelsea pensioner crest and with it the Pensioners nickname, and insisted a new one be adopted. From these changes came the Lion Rampant Regardant crest and the Blues nickname. He introduced scouting reports and a new, tougher, training regime based on ballwork, a rare practice in English football at the time. The club's previous policy of signing unreliable big-name players was abandoned; Drake instead used his knowledge of the lower divisions and the amateur game to recruit little-known, but more reliable players. These included John McNichol, Frank Blunstone, Derek Saunders, Jim Lewis and Peter Sillett Within three years, in the 1954-55 season, Drake had led Chelsea to their first league championship triumph. In doing so, he became the first person to win the league title both as player and manager. However, Drake never came close to repeating the success. The championship-winning side was gradually broken up, to be replaced by the crop of youngsters emerging from the club's youth team, such as Jimmy Greaves, Peter Brabrook and Bobby Tambling, for whom Drake was an aloof figure. Thereafter performances and results were very erratic, leaving the club stranded in mid-table; an FA Cup loss to Fourth Division side Crewe Alexandra weakened his position at the club and a few months later, Drake was sacked early into the 1961-62 season. After leaving Chelsea, he became reserve team manager at Fulham. During 1970 Drake went on to have a six-month stint as assistant manager at Barcelona. He later returned to Fulham where he became a chief scout, director and life president of the Cottagers. Drake passed away at the age of 82 on 30 May 1995. CANNOTANSWER | recruit little-known, but more reliable players. | Edward Joseph Drake (16 August 1912 – 30 May 1995) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he first played for Southampton but made his name playing for Arsenal in the 1930s, winning two league titles and an FA Cup, as well as five caps for England. Drake is Arsenal's joint fifth highest goalscorer of all time. He also holds the record for the most goals scored in a top flight game in English football, with seven against Aston Villa in December 1935. A former centre forward, Drake has been described as a "classic number 9" and as a "strong, powerful, brave and almost entirely unthinking" player who "typified the English view."
After retiring from playing football, Drake became a manager, most notably of Chelsea. In 1955, he led the club to their first league title. This made him the first person to win the English top-flight as both a player and a manager. He was also a cricketer, but only ever played sparingly for Hampshire.
Club career
Southampton
Born in Southampton, Drake started playing at Winchester City, whilst continuing to work as a gas-meter reader. He nearly joined Spurs as a schoolboy, but missed the trial match with an injury. In June 1931, he was persuaded by George Kay to join Southampton, then playing in Division Two. He made his Saints debut on 14 November 1931 at Swansea Town, and signed as a professional in November, becoming first-choice centre-forward by the end of the 1931–32 season.
In the following season he made 33 league appearances, scoring 20 goals. After only one full season, his bravery and skill attracted the attention of Arsenal's Herbert Chapman, who tried to persuade Drake to move to north London. Drake rejected the chance of a move to Highbury and decided to remain at The Dell. He started the 1933–34 season by scoring a hat-trick in the opening game against Bradford City, following this with at least one goal in the next four games, thereby amassing eight goals in the opening five games. By early March he had blasted his way to the top of the Football League Division Two goal-scoring table with 22 goals.
Arsenal, with George Allison now in charge, renewed their interest and Drake eventually decided to join the Gunners. Saints had declined several previous offers, but eventually were forced to sell to balance their books. Drake made a total of 74 appearances for Southampton, scoring 48 goals.
Arsenal
Drake moved to Arsenal in March 1934 for £6,500, and scored on his league debut against Wolves on 24 March 1934, in a 3–2 win. Although he joined too late to qualify for a League Championship medal in 1933–34, Drake would win one in 1934–35, scoring 42 goals in 41 league games in the process – this included three hat-tricks and four four-goal hauls. With two more goals in the FA Cup and Charity Shield, Drake scored 44 in all that season, breaking Jack Lambert's club record, one that still holds to this day.
The following season, 1935–36 Drake scored seven in a single match against Aston Villa at Villa Park on 14 December 1935, a club record and top flight record that also still stands. Drake claimed an eighth goal hit the crossbar and went over the line, but the referee waved away his appeal. Drake would go on to win the FA Cup in 1935–36 with him scoring the only goal in the final and the League title again in 1937–38 with Arsenal.
Despite being injured regularly (he was a doubt up until the last minute for the 1936 Cup Final), Drake's speed, fierce shooting and brave playing style meant he was Arsenal's first-choice centre forward for the rest of the decade, and he was the club's top scorer for each of the five seasons from 1934–35 to 1938–39. The Second World War curtailed Drake's career, although he served in the Royal Air Force as well as turning out for Arsenal in wartime games and also appearing as a guest player for West Ham United later in World War II. However, Drake's career would not last long into peacetime; a spinal injury incurred in a game against Reading in 1945 forced him to retire from playing. With 139 goals in 184 games, he is along with Jimmy Brain the joint-fifth all-time scorer for Arsenal.
Drake is as well one of 32 Arsenal legends who are emblazoned in a mural upon the walls of the club's Emirates Stadium.
International career
Drake's exploits at club level brought him recognition at international level, and he made his England debut against Italy in the "Battle of Highbury" on 14 November 1934. As one of seven Arsenal players in the side, he scored the third goal in a heated 3–2 win. With England Drake also went on to win the 1935 British Home Championship title. In total he won five caps, scoring six times for the Three Lions.
Cricket career
He made his debut for Hampshire in 1931 and shared a vital stand of 86 with Phil Mead against Glamorgan. He made 45 but never reached this score again in the 15 further matches he played over the next six years, first as an amateur and then as a professional.
Management career
Hendon and Reading
After retiring as a player, Drake managed Hendon in 1946, and then Reading from 1947. He led the club to the runners-up spot in Division Three South in 1948–49 and again in 1951–52, though at the time only the champions were promoted.
Chelsea
Without much ado he was appointed manager of First Division Chelsea in June 1952. This is so due to the rivalry between the Gunners and the Blues being non existent at the time. Upon Drake's arrival at Chelsea, he made a series of sweeping changes, doing much to rid the club of its previous amateurish, music hall image. He discarded the club's Chelsea pensioner crest and with it the Pensioners nickname, and insisted a new one be adopted. From these changes came the Lion Rampant Regardant crest and the Blues nickname. He introduced scouting reports and a new, tougher, training regime based on ballwork, a rare practice in English football at the time. The club's previous policy of signing unreliable big-name players was abandoned; Drake instead used his knowledge of the lower divisions and the amateur game to recruit little-known, but more reliable players. These included John McNichol, Frank Blunstone, Derek Saunders, Jim Lewis and Peter Sillett
Within three years, in the 1954–55 season, Drake had led Chelsea to their first league championship triumph. In doing so, he became the first person to win the league title both as player and manager. However, Drake never came close to repeating the success. The championship-winning side was gradually broken up, to be replaced by the crop of youngsters emerging from the club's youth team, such as Jimmy Greaves, Peter Brabrook and Bobby Tambling, for whom Drake was an aloof figure. Thereafter performances and results were very erratic, leaving the club stranded in mid-table; an FA Cup loss to Fourth Division side Crewe Alexandra weakened his position at the club and a few months later, Drake was sacked early into the 1961–62 season.
After leaving Chelsea, he became reserve team manager at Fulham, where he was also assistant to the manager Vic Buckingham. In December he joined Barcelona as assistant to Buckingham, staying until June 1970. He later returned to Fulham where he became a chief scout, director and life president of the Cottagers. Drake died at the age of 82 on 30 May 1995.
Honours
Club
Arsenal
Football League First Division: 1934–35, 1937–38
FA Cup: 1935–36
FA Charity Shield: 1934, 1938
International
England
British Home Championship: 1935
Manager
Chelsea
Football League First Division: 1954–55
FA Charity Shield: 1955
Individual
First Division Golden Boot: 1935
See also
List of English football championship winning managers
References
External links
Wisden obituary
FA Profile
1912 births
Footballers from Southampton
1995 deaths
Hampshire cricketers
English footballers
England international footballers
English Football League players
First Division/Premier League top scorers
Winchester City F.C. players
Southampton F.C. players
Arsenal F.C. players
English football managers
Reading F.C. managers
Chelsea F.C. managers
English cricketers
West Ham United F.C. wartime guest players
Association football forwards
Cricketers from Southampton
FA Cup Final players
Royal Air Force personnel of World War II | true | [
"There is currently no offside rule in field hockey. There were prior offside rules, rules that restricted the positioning of players from the attacking team in a way similar to the offside rule in association football. The evolution of the field hockey offside rule culminated with its abolition in the mid-1990s.\n\nHistory of the offside rule\n\n1876 rule\nA set of rules of field hockey was drawn up by several clubs in London in January 1876 following the establishment of the first, briefly existing, Hockey Association (of England) the year before. (The second, and final, Hockey Association was formed in 1886.) An offside rule was included in the 1876 rules. Under this rule, a player who was nearer to the opponent team's goal-line than both the ball and the third to last opponent was said to be at an offside position (simply put: an attacking player was offside if the ball was behind them and there were fewer than three defenders between them and the goal they were attacking). The rule was applied on the whole pitch, except when the ball was hit from the goal-line.\n\n1886 rule\nIn 1886, the second England Hockey Association drew up a code of Rules based on those used by clubs in the London area. Offside was then applied to attacking players from the half-way line only.\n\n1972 rule change\nThe 1886 offside rule remained unchanged until 1972, when offside was changed from 3 to 2 defenders.\n\n1987 rule change\nIn 1987, the offside was amended to apply only in the 25 yards area.\n\nOffside abolished\nAfter various amendments, the offside rule was finally repealed. \"No offside\" was introduced as a mandatory experiment in 1996 and it was confirmed as a rule in 1998 by the Hockey Rules Board. The aims of this change were:\n to transfer the balance of power towards the offense,\n to create more space around the circle and mid-field, \n to help the flow of play, more goals and fewer whistles, and \n to make the game more exciting and appealing to spectators.\n\nNew tactics were developed by many teams to exploit this new rule.\n\nEvolution of the offside rule in diagrams\n\nReferences\n\nSources\n FIH - History of rules\n USA Field Hockey Field Hockey Rules History\n New No-offside Rule\n\nField hockey terminology\nfield hockey",
"Los Angeles Croatia was a soccer team based in Los Angeles.\n\nHistory\n\nThe club originally was established in 1959, under the name “Bosna”. It officially change the name to “Croatia” in 1963. The club was National Challenge Cup's runner-up in 1970.\n\nWinners of the first West Coast Croatian tournament in 1973.\n\nClubs was restarted in 1997.\n\nHonors\nNational Challenge Cup\nRunner-up (1): 1970\n\nReferences\n\nDefunct soccer clubs in California"
] |
[
"Ted Drake",
"Chelsea",
"Who is chelsea?",
"Without much ado he was appointed manager of First Division Chelsea",
"What did he do as manager?",
"he made a series of sweeping changes, doing much to rid the club of its previous amateurish, music hall image.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"He discarded the club's Chelsea pensioner crest and with it the Pensioners nickname, and insisted a new one be adopted.",
"What was the new?",
"From these changes came the Lion Rampant Regardant crest and the Blues nickname.",
"How did the public take the change?",
"I don't know.",
"What other changes did he implement?",
"He introduced scouting reports and a new, tougher, training regime based on ballwork, a rare practice in English football at the time.",
"Was there a team change up",
"recruit little-known, but more reliable players."
] | C_a96dfc44242a4a348c87e365710a8b1a_0 | how did the team do after these changes? | 8 | How did First Division Chelsea do after the changes implemented by Ted Drake? | Ted Drake | Without much ado he was appointed manager of First Division Chelsea in June 1952. This is so due to the rivalry between the Gunners and the Blues being non existent at the time. Upon Drake's arrival at Chelsea, he made a series of sweeping changes, doing much to rid the club of its previous amateurish, music hall image. He discarded the club's Chelsea pensioner crest and with it the Pensioners nickname, and insisted a new one be adopted. From these changes came the Lion Rampant Regardant crest and the Blues nickname. He introduced scouting reports and a new, tougher, training regime based on ballwork, a rare practice in English football at the time. The club's previous policy of signing unreliable big-name players was abandoned; Drake instead used his knowledge of the lower divisions and the amateur game to recruit little-known, but more reliable players. These included John McNichol, Frank Blunstone, Derek Saunders, Jim Lewis and Peter Sillett Within three years, in the 1954-55 season, Drake had led Chelsea to their first league championship triumph. In doing so, he became the first person to win the league title both as player and manager. However, Drake never came close to repeating the success. The championship-winning side was gradually broken up, to be replaced by the crop of youngsters emerging from the club's youth team, such as Jimmy Greaves, Peter Brabrook and Bobby Tambling, for whom Drake was an aloof figure. Thereafter performances and results were very erratic, leaving the club stranded in mid-table; an FA Cup loss to Fourth Division side Crewe Alexandra weakened his position at the club and a few months later, Drake was sacked early into the 1961-62 season. After leaving Chelsea, he became reserve team manager at Fulham. During 1970 Drake went on to have a six-month stint as assistant manager at Barcelona. He later returned to Fulham where he became a chief scout, director and life president of the Cottagers. Drake passed away at the age of 82 on 30 May 1995. CANNOTANSWER | Within three years, in the 1954-55 season, Drake had led Chelsea to their first league championship triumph. | Edward Joseph Drake (16 August 1912 – 30 May 1995) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he first played for Southampton but made his name playing for Arsenal in the 1930s, winning two league titles and an FA Cup, as well as five caps for England. Drake is Arsenal's joint fifth highest goalscorer of all time. He also holds the record for the most goals scored in a top flight game in English football, with seven against Aston Villa in December 1935. A former centre forward, Drake has been described as a "classic number 9" and as a "strong, powerful, brave and almost entirely unthinking" player who "typified the English view."
After retiring from playing football, Drake became a manager, most notably of Chelsea. In 1955, he led the club to their first league title. This made him the first person to win the English top-flight as both a player and a manager. He was also a cricketer, but only ever played sparingly for Hampshire.
Club career
Southampton
Born in Southampton, Drake started playing at Winchester City, whilst continuing to work as a gas-meter reader. He nearly joined Spurs as a schoolboy, but missed the trial match with an injury. In June 1931, he was persuaded by George Kay to join Southampton, then playing in Division Two. He made his Saints debut on 14 November 1931 at Swansea Town, and signed as a professional in November, becoming first-choice centre-forward by the end of the 1931–32 season.
In the following season he made 33 league appearances, scoring 20 goals. After only one full season, his bravery and skill attracted the attention of Arsenal's Herbert Chapman, who tried to persuade Drake to move to north London. Drake rejected the chance of a move to Highbury and decided to remain at The Dell. He started the 1933–34 season by scoring a hat-trick in the opening game against Bradford City, following this with at least one goal in the next four games, thereby amassing eight goals in the opening five games. By early March he had blasted his way to the top of the Football League Division Two goal-scoring table with 22 goals.
Arsenal, with George Allison now in charge, renewed their interest and Drake eventually decided to join the Gunners. Saints had declined several previous offers, but eventually were forced to sell to balance their books. Drake made a total of 74 appearances for Southampton, scoring 48 goals.
Arsenal
Drake moved to Arsenal in March 1934 for £6,500, and scored on his league debut against Wolves on 24 March 1934, in a 3–2 win. Although he joined too late to qualify for a League Championship medal in 1933–34, Drake would win one in 1934–35, scoring 42 goals in 41 league games in the process – this included three hat-tricks and four four-goal hauls. With two more goals in the FA Cup and Charity Shield, Drake scored 44 in all that season, breaking Jack Lambert's club record, one that still holds to this day.
The following season, 1935–36 Drake scored seven in a single match against Aston Villa at Villa Park on 14 December 1935, a club record and top flight record that also still stands. Drake claimed an eighth goal hit the crossbar and went over the line, but the referee waved away his appeal. Drake would go on to win the FA Cup in 1935–36 with him scoring the only goal in the final and the League title again in 1937–38 with Arsenal.
Despite being injured regularly (he was a doubt up until the last minute for the 1936 Cup Final), Drake's speed, fierce shooting and brave playing style meant he was Arsenal's first-choice centre forward for the rest of the decade, and he was the club's top scorer for each of the five seasons from 1934–35 to 1938–39. The Second World War curtailed Drake's career, although he served in the Royal Air Force as well as turning out for Arsenal in wartime games and also appearing as a guest player for West Ham United later in World War II. However, Drake's career would not last long into peacetime; a spinal injury incurred in a game against Reading in 1945 forced him to retire from playing. With 139 goals in 184 games, he is along with Jimmy Brain the joint-fifth all-time scorer for Arsenal.
Drake is as well one of 32 Arsenal legends who are emblazoned in a mural upon the walls of the club's Emirates Stadium.
International career
Drake's exploits at club level brought him recognition at international level, and he made his England debut against Italy in the "Battle of Highbury" on 14 November 1934. As one of seven Arsenal players in the side, he scored the third goal in a heated 3–2 win. With England Drake also went on to win the 1935 British Home Championship title. In total he won five caps, scoring six times for the Three Lions.
Cricket career
He made his debut for Hampshire in 1931 and shared a vital stand of 86 with Phil Mead against Glamorgan. He made 45 but never reached this score again in the 15 further matches he played over the next six years, first as an amateur and then as a professional.
Management career
Hendon and Reading
After retiring as a player, Drake managed Hendon in 1946, and then Reading from 1947. He led the club to the runners-up spot in Division Three South in 1948–49 and again in 1951–52, though at the time only the champions were promoted.
Chelsea
Without much ado he was appointed manager of First Division Chelsea in June 1952. This is so due to the rivalry between the Gunners and the Blues being non existent at the time. Upon Drake's arrival at Chelsea, he made a series of sweeping changes, doing much to rid the club of its previous amateurish, music hall image. He discarded the club's Chelsea pensioner crest and with it the Pensioners nickname, and insisted a new one be adopted. From these changes came the Lion Rampant Regardant crest and the Blues nickname. He introduced scouting reports and a new, tougher, training regime based on ballwork, a rare practice in English football at the time. The club's previous policy of signing unreliable big-name players was abandoned; Drake instead used his knowledge of the lower divisions and the amateur game to recruit little-known, but more reliable players. These included John McNichol, Frank Blunstone, Derek Saunders, Jim Lewis and Peter Sillett
Within three years, in the 1954–55 season, Drake had led Chelsea to their first league championship triumph. In doing so, he became the first person to win the league title both as player and manager. However, Drake never came close to repeating the success. The championship-winning side was gradually broken up, to be replaced by the crop of youngsters emerging from the club's youth team, such as Jimmy Greaves, Peter Brabrook and Bobby Tambling, for whom Drake was an aloof figure. Thereafter performances and results were very erratic, leaving the club stranded in mid-table; an FA Cup loss to Fourth Division side Crewe Alexandra weakened his position at the club and a few months later, Drake was sacked early into the 1961–62 season.
After leaving Chelsea, he became reserve team manager at Fulham, where he was also assistant to the manager Vic Buckingham. In December he joined Barcelona as assistant to Buckingham, staying until June 1970. He later returned to Fulham where he became a chief scout, director and life president of the Cottagers. Drake died at the age of 82 on 30 May 1995.
Honours
Club
Arsenal
Football League First Division: 1934–35, 1937–38
FA Cup: 1935–36
FA Charity Shield: 1934, 1938
International
England
British Home Championship: 1935
Manager
Chelsea
Football League First Division: 1954–55
FA Charity Shield: 1955
Individual
First Division Golden Boot: 1935
See also
List of English football championship winning managers
References
External links
Wisden obituary
FA Profile
1912 births
Footballers from Southampton
1995 deaths
Hampshire cricketers
English footballers
England international footballers
English Football League players
First Division/Premier League top scorers
Winchester City F.C. players
Southampton F.C. players
Arsenal F.C. players
English football managers
Reading F.C. managers
Chelsea F.C. managers
English cricketers
West Ham United F.C. wartime guest players
Association football forwards
Cricketers from Southampton
FA Cup Final players
Royal Air Force personnel of World War II | false | [
"\"How Do You Do It?\" was the debut single by Liverpudlian band Gerry and the Pacemakers. It was written by Mitch Murray. The song reached number one in the UK Singles Chart on 11 April 1963, where it stayed for three weeks.\n\nHistory\nThe song was written by Mitch Murray, who offered it to Adam Faith and Brian Poole but was turned down. George Martin of EMI, feeling the song had enormous hit potential, decided to pick it up for the new group he was producing, the Beatles, as the A-side of their first single. The Beatles recorded the song on 4 September 1962 with Ringo Starr on drums. The group was initially opposed to recording it, feeling that it did not fit their sound, but worked out changes from Murray's demo-disc version. These included a new introduction, vocal harmony, an instrumental interlude, small lyric changes and removal of the half-step modulation for the last verse. Although Murray disliked their changes, the decision not to release the Beatles' version was primarily a business one. In fact, George Martin came very close to issuing \"How Do You Do It?\" as the Beatles' first single before settling instead on \"Love Me Do\", recorded during the same sessions. Martin commented later: \"I looked very hard at 'How Do You Do It?', but in the end I went with 'Love Me Do', it was quite a good record.\" McCartney would remark: \"We knew that the peer pressure back in Liverpool would not allow us to do 'How Do You Do It'.\"\n\nThe Beatles' version of \"How Do You Do It?\" was officially unissued for over 30 years, finally seeing release in November 1995 on the retrospective Anthology 1.\n\nWhile the Beatles' recording remained in the vaults, Martin still had faith in the song's appeal. Consequently, he had another new client, Gerry and the Pacemakers, record \"How Do You Do It?\" as their debut single in early 1963. This version of \"How Do You Do It?\", also produced by Martin, became a number-one hit in the UK until it was replaced by \"From Me to You\" (the Beatles' third single). It was the title song of a 7-inch EP that also featured \"Away From You\", \"I Like It\" and \"It's Happened to Me\" (Columbia SEG8257, released July 1963).\n\nChart performance\nGerry and the Pacemakers' version of \"How Do You Do It?\" was initially issued in the US and Canada in the spring of 1963, but made no impact on the charts. After the group had issued several chart singles in North America, the track was reissued in the summer of 1964. \"How Do You Do It?\" entered the US charts on 5 July 1964, eventually reaching number nine; it did even better in Canada, peaking at number six. Billboard described the song as a \"top-rated teen ballad\" with a \"great beat for dancing.\" Cash Box described it as a \"bright jumper...that's sure to get chart action right off the bat\" and also as \"a charming, teen-angled stomp-atwist’er...that the outfit knocks out in very commercial solo vocal and combo instrumental manner.\"\n\nIn their native UK, the single reached number one in the charts, staying there for three weeks in total.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nGerry Marsden fan site\nClassic Bands history page\n\n1963 songs\n1963 debut singles\nSongs written by Mitch Murray\nGerry and the Pacemakers songs\nThe Beatles songs\nDick and Dee Dee songs\nSong recordings produced by George Martin\nUK Singles Chart number-one singles\nColumbia Graphophone Company singles",
"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"
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