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This is a topic from the The Writing on the Walrus forum on inthe00s.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: gibbo on 01/10/10 at 7:18 pm
Pat and Paul eh? Both wonderful in their own way!
My kids think Paul Lynde is freaking hilarious. They see him in episodes of I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched (where I bought the DVD's)...
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/10/10 at 7:42 pm
We need a hair care expert here.
Sy Sperling?
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/10/10 at 7:42 pm
My favorite is Infatuation.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Frank on 01/11/10 at 12:58 am
Pat Benatar...loved her songs and she was so hot back in the very early 80s. Hell Is for Children, Treat Me Right, You Better Run. Hit Me With Your Best Shot, We belong, Love is a battlefield.
Paul Lynde. Hilarious man. Center man in Hollywood Squares. Cartoon voices.
2 great celebs!
Thanks ninny!
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Frank on 01/11/10 at 1:04 am
Canadian Person of the day
Sir John Alexander Macdonald,
Born January 11,1815 , died June 6, 1891 was the first Prime Minister of Canada and the dominant figure of Canadian Confederation. Macdonald's tenure in office spanned 18 years, making him the second longest serving Prime Minister of Canada. He is the only Canadian Prime Minister to win six majority governments. He was the major proponent of a national railway, the Canadian Pacific Railway, completed in 1885, linking Canada from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. He won praise for having helped forge a nation of sprawling geographic size, with two diverse European colonial origins, numerous Aboriginal nations, and a multiplicity of cultural backgrounds and political views.
Queen Victoria knighted John A. Macdonald for playing an integral role in bringing about Confederation. His appointment as a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George was announced at the birth of the Dominion, July 1, 1867. An election was held in August which put Macdonald and his Conservative party into power.
http://www.glasel.org/gopherhole/JaMAC.jpg
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/11/10 at 6:11 am
I like some of the lesser known songs: I'm Gonna Follow You, Out A Touch, and of course, Wuthering Heights.
Cat
You can't go wrong with her music.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/11/10 at 6:12 am
Pat and Paul eh? Both wonderful in their own way!
My kids think Paul Lynde is freaking hilarious. They see him in episodes of I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched (where I bought the DVD's)...
Pat Benatar...loved her songs and she was so hot back in the very early 80s. Hell Is for Children, Treat Me Right, You Better Run. Hit Me With Your Best Shot, We belong, Love is a battlefield.
Paul Lynde. Hilarious man. Center man in Hollywood Squares. Cartoon voices.
2 great celebs!
Thanks ninny!
I know Paul Lynde was a comic genius, he made Hollywood Squares.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/11/10 at 6:14 am
Canadian Person of the day
Sir John Alexander Macdonald,
Born January 11,1815 , died June 6, 1891 was the first Prime Minister of Canada and the dominant figure of Canadian Confederation. Macdonald's tenure in office spanned 18 years, making him the second longest serving Prime Minister of Canada. He is the only Canadian Prime Minister to win six majority governments. He was the major proponent of a national railway, the Canadian Pacific Railway, completed in 1885, linking Canada from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. He won praise for having helped forge a nation of sprawling geographic size, with two diverse European colonial origins, numerous Aboriginal nations, and a multiplicity of cultural backgrounds and political views.
Queen Victoria knighted John A. Macdonald for playing an integral role in bringing about Confederation. His appointment as a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George was announced at the birth of the Dominion, July 1, 1867. An election was held in August which put Macdonald and his Conservative party into power.
http://www.glasel.org/gopherhole/JaMAC.jpg
Thanks for the bio, it's nice to learn new things.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/11/10 at 6:23 am
The Word of the day...Crest
*
The crest of a hill or a wave is the top of it.
o
If you say that you are on the crest of a wave, you mean that you are feeling very happy and confident because things are going well for you.
+
The band are riding on the crest of a wave with the worldwide success of their number-one-selling single.
*
When someone crests a hill, they reach the top of it.
o
The first wave of marchers crested the hill.
*
A bird's crest is a group of upright feathers on the top of its head.
o
Both birds had a dark blue crest.
*
A crest is a design that is the symbol of a noble family, a town, or an organization.
o
On the wall is the family crest.
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/11/10 at 6:27 am
The birthday of the day...Rod Taylor
Rodney Sturt "Rod" Taylor (born January 11, 1930) is an Australian-born actor. Born in Lidcombe, a suburb of Sydney, Australia, Taylor was the only child of William Sturt Taylor, a steel construction contractor and commercial artist, and the former Mona Thompson, a writer of plays and children's books. His middle name comes from his great-great grand uncle, Captain Charles Sturt, a famous British explorer of outback Australia in the 1800s.
He attended Sydney Technical and Fine Arts College before deciding to become an actor upon seeing Laurence Olivier in an Old Vic touring production in Australia. After acquiring radio and stage experience in Australia (his radio work included a stint on Blue Hills), Taylor moved to the United States in 1954, where he became a leading man in feature films of the 1960s and 1970s.
In 1955, Taylor guest-starred in the third episode entitled "The Argonauts" of the first hour-long western television series, Cheyenne, an ABC program starring Clint Walker. Taylor and Edward Andrews played gold seekers Clancy and Duncan, respectively, who are best of friends until they strike it rich, only to see Native Americans release their gold dust to the wind.
In the 1960-1961 television season, Taylor starred as foreign correspondent Glenn Evans in the ABC dramatic series Hong Kong. His principal co-star was Lloyd Bochner. The program faced stiff competition on Wednesday evenings from NBC's Wagon Train.
In 1961, Taylor guest-starred on Marilyn Maxwell's short-lived ABC series Bus Stop. In 1962, he starred in an episode of The DuPont Show of the Week (NBC) entitled The Ordeal of Dr. Shannon, an adaptation of A. J. Cronin's novel, Shannon's Way.
Equally adept at light comedy and drama, Taylor's best-known films are the H.G. Wells science-fiction classic The Time Machine (1960) and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963). In the latter, Taylor starred as Mitch Brenner, a man whose town and family home in Northern California come under attack from flocks of angry black birds for no discernible reason.
His other films include Sunday in New York, Fate is the Hunter, 36 Hours, Young Cassidy, The Glass Bottom Boat, Darker Than Amber, The Picture Show Man, and Cry of the Innocent.
Prior to that, Taylor had broken into Hollywood with small roles in big pictures like Giant (1956), Raintree County (1957) and Separate Tables (1958).
Taylor was reportedly up for the role of Caucasian martial artist Roper in the Bruce Lee vehicle Enter the Dragon. The 1973 film was directed by Robert Clouse, who had also directed Taylor in 1970's Darker Than Amber. However, Taylor was supposedly deemed too tall for the part, and the role went to John Saxon.
In the 1970s, Taylor turned again to television. He starred in 1971's Bearcats! on CBS and in The Oregon Trail on NBC in 1976. He appeared in 30 episodes of Falcon Crest as well as multiple episodes of Murder, She Wrote and Walker, Texas Ranger.
In 1993, Taylor hosted the documentary Time Machine: The Journey Back, directed by Clyde Lucas. At the end of the special came a mini-sequel, written by David Duncan, the original writer of the George Pal classic. Taylor recreated his role as George, reuniting him with Filby (Alan Young).
Inglourious Basterds from director Quentin Tarantino in 2009 featured Taylor as British prime minister Winston Churchill.
Married to third wife Carol Kikumura, Taylor is the father of former CNN financial reporter Felicia Taylor (born 1964), from an earlier marriage. A life-long artist, he had homes in southern California and in Australia.
Partial filmography
* King of the Coral Sea (1953) (film debut)
* Long John Silver (1954)
* Top Gun (1955)
* World Without End (1956)
* The Catered Affair (1956)
* Giant (1956)
* Raintree County (1957)
* Separate Tables (1958)
* Ask Any Girl (1959)
* The Time Machine (1960)
* One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) (voice-Pongo)
* The Birds (1963)
* A Gathering of Eagles (1963)
* The V.I.P.s (1963)
* Sunday in New York (1963)
* Fate Is the Hunter (1964)
* 36 Hours (1965)
* Young Cassidy (1965)
* The Liquidator (1965)
* Do Not Disturb (1965)
* The Glass Bottom Boat (1966)
* Hotel (1967)
* Chuka (1967)
* Dark of the Sun (a.k.a. The Mercenaries) (1968)
* The High Commissioner (a.k.a. Nobody Runs Forever) (1968)
* Zabriskie Point (1970)
* Darker Than Amber (1970), as Travis McGee
* Powderkeg (1971) (TV)
* Family Flight (1972) (TV)
* The Train Robbers (1973)
* Trader Horn (1973)
* The Deadly Trackers (1973)
* A Matter of Wife... And Death (1976)
* The Oregon Trail (1976) (TV)
* The Picture Show Man (1977)
* Cry of the Innocent (1980)
* A Time to Die (1982)
* Terror in the Aisles (1984)
* Time Machine: The Journey Back (1993) (documentary)
* Point of Betrayal (1995)
* Welcome to Woop Woop (1998)
* The Warlord: Battle for the Galaxy (1998) (TV)
* KAW (2007) (TV)
* Inglourious Basterds (2009)
TV shows
Taylor has had several lead roles in television, from the early 1960s to the early 2000s. Among his TV shows are
* The Twilight Zone (1959, CBS)
* Hong Kong with co-star Lloyd Bochner (1960, ABC)
* Bearcats! (1971, CBS)
* The Oregon Trail as Evan Thorpe, a widower taking his three children from their Illinois farm to the Pacific Northwest by way of the Oregon Trail (1977, NBC)
* Masquerade (1983)
* Outlaws (1986)
Among semi-regular appearances or multiple episodes:
* Playhouse 90
* General Electric Theater
* Walker, Texas Ranger
* Murder She Wrote
* Falcon Crest
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/11/10 at 6:32 am
The person of the day...Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet of the naturalist movement, although in several poems he displays elements of the previous romantic and enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.
While he regarded himself primarily as a poet who composed novels mainly for financial gain, during his lifetime he was much better known for his novels which earned him a reputation as a great novelist. The bulk of his fictional works, initially published as serials in magazines, were set in the semi-fictional land of Wessex (based on the Dorchester region where he grew up) and explored tragic characters struggling against their passions and social circumstances.
Hardy's poetry, first published in his 50s, has come to be as well-regarded as his novels and has had a significant influence over modern English poetry, especially after The Movement poets of the 1950s and 1960s cited Hardy as a major figure.
Hardy's first novel, The Poor Man and the Lady, finished by 1867, failed to find a publisher and Hardy destroyed the manuscript so only parts of the novel remain. He was encouraged to try again by his mentor and friend, Victorian poet and novelist George Meredith. Desperate Remedies (1871) and Under the Greenwood Tree (1872) were published anonymously. In 1873 A Pair of Blue Eyes, a novel drawing on Hardy's courtship of his first wife, was published under his own name. The term "cliffhanger" is considered to have originated with the serialized version of this story (which was published in Tinsley's Magazine between September 1872 and July 1873) in which Henry Knight, one of the protagonists, is left literally hanging off a cliff.
Hardy said that he first introduced Wessex in Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), his next novel. It was successful enough for Hardy to give up architectural work and pursue a literary career. Over the next twenty-five years Hardy produced ten more novels.
The Hardys moved from London to Yeovil and then to Sturminster Newton, where he wrote The Return of the Native (1878). In 1885, they moved for a last time, to Max Gate, a house outside Dorchester designed by Hardy and built by his brother. There he wrote The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), The Woodlanders (1887) and Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891), the last of which attracted criticism for its sympathetic portrayal of a "fallen woman" and was initially refused publication. Its subtitle, A Pure Woman: Faithfully Presented, was intended to raise the eyebrows of the Victorian middle-classes.
Jude the Obscure, published in 1895, met with even stronger negative outcries from the Victorian public for its frank treatment of sex, and was often referred to as "Jude the Obscene". Heavily criticised for its apparent attack on the institution of marriage through the presentation of such concepts as erotolepsy, the book caused further strain on Hardy's already difficult marriage because Emma Hardy was concerned that Jude the Obscure would be read as autobiographical. Some booksellers sold the novel in brown paper bags, and the Bishop of Wakefield is reputed to have burnt his copy. In his postscript of 1912, Hardy humorously referred to this incident as part of the career of the book: "After these verdicts from the press its next misfortune was to be burnt by a bishop — probably in his despair at not being able to burn me".
Despite this criticism, Hardy had become a celebrity in English literature by the 1900s, with several highly successful novels behind him, yet he felt disgust at the public reception of two of his greatest works and gave up writing fiction altogether.
Literary themes
Although he wrote a great deal of poetry, most of it went unpublished until after 1898, thus Hardy is best remembered for the series of novels and short stories he wrote between 1871 and 1895. His novels are set in the imaginary world of Wessex, a large area of south and south-west England, using the name of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom that covered the area. Hardy was part of two worlds. He had a deep emotional bond with the rural way of life which he had known as a child, but he was also aware of the changes which were under way and the current social problems, from the innovations in agriculture — he captured the epoch just before the Industrial Revolution changed the English countryside — to the unfairness and hypocrisy of Victorian sexual behaviour.
Hardy critiques certain social constraints that hindered the lives of those living in the 19th century. Considered a Victorian Realist writer, Hardy examines the social constraints that are part of the Victorian status quo, suggesting these rules hinder the lives of all involved and ultimately lead to unhappiness. In Two on a Tower, Hardy seeks to take a stand against these rules and sets up a story against the backdrop of social structure by creating a story of love that crosses the boundaries of class. The reader is forced to consider disposing of the conventions set up for love. Nineteenth-century society enforces these conventions, and societal pressure ensures conformity. Swithin St Cleeve's idealism pits him against contemporary social constraints. He is a self-willed individual set up against the coercive strictures of social rules and mores.
“ In a novel structured around contrasts, the main opposition is between Swithin St Cleeve and Lady Viviette Constantine, who are presented as binary figures in a series of ways: aristocratic and lower class, youthful and mature, single and married, fair and dark, religious and agnostic…she is also deeply conventional, absurdly wishing to conceal their marriage until Swithin has achieved social status through his scientific work, which gives rise to uncontrolled ironies and tragic-comic misunderstandings (Harvey 108). ”
Hardy’s stories take into consideration the events of life and their effects. Fate plays a significant role as the thematic basis for many of his novels. Characters are constantly encountering crossroads, which are symbolic of a point of opportunity and transition. Far From the Madding Crowd tells a tale of lives that are constructed by chance. “Had Bathsheba not sent the valentine, had Fanny not missed her wedding, for example, the story would have taken an entirely different path.” Once things have been put into motion, they will play out. Hardy's characters are in the grips of an overwhelming fate.
Hardy paints a vivid picture of rural life in the 19th century, with all its joys and suffering, as a fatalistic world full of superstition and injustice. His heroes and heroines are often alienated from society and are rarely readmitted. He tends to emphasise the impersonal and, generally, negative powers of fate over the mainly working class people he represents in his novels. Hardy exhibits in his books elemental passion, deep instinct, and the human will struggling against fatal and ill-comprehended laws, a victim also of unforeseeable change. Tess of the d'Urbervilles, for example, ends with:
“ Justice was done, and the President of the Immortals, in Æschylean phrase, had ended his sport with Tess. And the d'Urberville knights and dames slept on in their tombs unknowing. The two speechless gazers bent themselves down to the earth, as if in prayer, and remained thus a long time, absolutely motionless: the flag continued to wave silently. As soon as they had strength they arose, joined hands again, and went on. ”
In particular, Hardy's novel Jude the Obscure is full of the sense of crisis of the later Victorian period (as witnessed in Matthew Arnold's 'Dover Beach'). It describes the tragedy of two new social types, Jude Fawley, a working man who attempts to educate himself, and his lover and cousin, Sue Bridehead, who represents the 'new woman' of the 1890s.
His mastery, as both an author and poet, lies in the creation of natural surroundings making discoveries through close observation and acute sensitiveness. He notices the smallest and most delicate details, yet he can also paint vast landscapes of his own Wessex in melancholy or noble moods. (His eye for poignant detail — such as the spreading bloodstain on the ceiling at the end of Tess of the d'Urbervilles and little Jude's suicide note — often came from clippings from newspaper reports of real events).
Poetry
For the full text of several poems, see the External links section
In 1898 Hardy published his first volume of poetry, Wessex Poems, a collection of poems written over 30 years. Hardy claimed poetry as his first love, and published collections until his death in 1928. Although not as well received by his contemporaries as his novels, Hardy's poetry has been applauded considerably in recent years, in part because of the influence on Philip Larkin who included many of Hardy's poems in the edition of the Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse that Larkin edited in 1973.
In a recent biography on Hardy, Claire Tomalin argues that Hardy became a truly great English poet after the death of his first wife, Emma, beginning with the elegies he wrote in her memory, calling these poems, "one of the finest and strangest celebrations of the dead in English poetry."
Most of his poems deal with themes of disappointment in love and life, and mankind's long struggle against indifference to human suffering. Some, like "The Darkling Thrush" and "An August Midnight", appear as poems about writing poetry, because the nature mentioned in them gives Hardy the inspiration to write those. A vein of regret tinges his often seemingly banal themes. His compositions range in style from the three-volume epic closet drama The Dynasts to smaller, and often hopeful or even cheerful ballads of the moment such as the little-known "The Children and Sir Nameless", a comic poem inspired by the tombs of the Martyns, builders of Athelhampton. A particularly strong theme in the Wessex Poems is the long shadow that the Napoleonic Wars cast over the nineteenth century, for example, in "The Sergeant's Song" and "Leipzig", and the way those memories wind through the English landscape and its inhabitants.
A few of Hardy's poems, such as "The Blinded Bird" (a melancholy polemic against the sport of vinkenzetting), display his love of the natural world and his firm stance against animal cruelty, exhibited in his antivivisectionist views and his membership in the RSPCA.
Composers who have set Hardy's text to music include Gerald Finzi, who produced six song-cycles for poems by Hardy, Benjamin Britten, who based his song-cycle Winter Words on Hardy's poetry, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst. Holst also based one of his last orchestral works, Egdon Heath, on Hardy's work. Composer Lee Hoiby's setting of "The Darkling Thrush" became the basis of the multimedia opera Darkling and Timothy Takach, a graduate of St. Olaf, has also put "The Darkling Thrush" into arrangement for a four-part mixed choir.
Works
Prose
Hardy divided his novels and collected short stories into three classes:
Novels of Character and Environment
* The Poor Man and the Lady (1867, unpublished and lost)
* Under the Greenwood Tree (1872)
* Far from the Madding Crowd (1874)
* The Return of the Native (1878)
* The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886)
* The Woodlanders (1887)
* Wessex Tales (1888, a collection of short stories)
* Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891)
* Life's Little Ironies (1894, a collection of short stories)
* Jude the Obscure (1895)
Romances and Fantasies
* A Pair of Blue Eyes (1873)
* The Trumpet-Major (1880)
* Two on a Tower (1882)
* A Group of Noble Dames (1891, a collection of short stories)
* The Well-Beloved (1897) (first published as a serial from 1892)
Novels of Ingenuity
* Desperate Remedies (1871)
* The Hand of Ethelberta (1876)
* A Laodicean (1881)
Hardy also produced a number of minor tales and a collaborative novel, The Spectre of the Real (1894). An additional short-story collection, beyond the ones mentioned above, is A Changed Man and Other Tales (1913). His works have been collected as the 24-volume Wessex Edition (1912–1913) and the 37-volume Mellstock Edition (1919–1920). His largely self-written biography appears under his second wife's name in two volumes from 1928–1930, as The Early Life of Thomas Hardy, 1840–1891 and The Later Years of Thomas Hardy, 1892–1928, now published in a critical one-volume edition as The Life and Work of Thomas Hardy, edited by Michael Millgate (1984).
Short stories (with date of first publication)
* "How I Built Myself A House" (1865)
* "Destiny and a Blue Cloak" (1874)
* "The Thieves Who Couldn't Stop Sneezing" (1877)
* "The Duchess of Hamptonshire" (1878)
* "The Distracted Preacher" (1879)
* "Fellow-Townsmen" (1880)
* "The Honourable Laura" (1881)
* "What The Shepherd Saw" (1881)
* "A Tradition of Eighteen Hundred and Four" (1882)
* "The Three Strangers" (1883)
* "The Romantic Adventures Of A Milkmaid" (1883)
* "Interlopers At The Knap" (1884)
* "A Mere Interlude" (1885) (republished in Penguin Great Loves series)
* "A Tryst At An Ancient Earthwork" (1885)
* "Alicia's Diary" (1887)
* "The Waiting Supper" (1887-88)
* "The Withered Arm" (1888)
* "A Tragedy Of Two Ambitions" (1888)
* "The First Countess of Wessex" (1889)
* "Anna, Lady Baxby" (1890)
* "The Lady Icenway" (1890)
* "Lady Mottisfont" (1890)
* "The Lady Penelope" (1890)
* "The Marchioness of Stonehenge" (1890)
* "Squire Petrick's Lady" (1890)
* "Barbara Of The House Of Grebe" (1890)
* "The Melancholy Hussar of The German Legion" (1890)
* "Absent-Mindedness in a Parish Choir" (1891)
* "The Winters And The Palmleys" (1891)
* "For Conscience' Sake" (1891)
* "Incident in Mr. Crookhill's Life"(1891)
* "The Doctor's Legend" (1891)
* "Andrey Satchel and the Parson and Clerk" (1891)
* "The History of the Hardcomes" (1891)
* "Netty Sargent's Copyhold" (1891)
* "On The Western Circuit" (1891)
* "A Few Crusted Characters: Introduction" (1891)
* "The Superstitious Man's Story" (1891)
* "Tony Kytes, the Arch-Deceiver" (1891)
* "To Please His Wife" (1891)
* "The Son's Veto" (1891)
* "Old Andrey's Experience as a Musician" (1891)
* "Our Exploits At West Poley" (1892-93)
* "Master John Horseleigh, Knight" (1893)
* "The Fiddler of the Reels" (1893)
* "An Imaginative Woman" (1894)
* "The Spectre of the Real" (1894)
* "A Committee-Man of 'The Terror'" (1896)
* "The Duke's Reappearance" (1896)
* "The Grave By The Handpost" (1897)
* "A Changed Man" (1900)
* "Enter a Dragoon" (1900)
* "Blue Jimmy: The Horse Stealer" (1911)
* "Old Mrs. Chundle" (1929)
* "The Unconquerable"(1992)
Poetry
* The Photograph (1890)
* Wessex Poems and Other Verses (1898)
* Poems of the Past and Present (1901)
* The Man He Killed (1902)
* Time's Laughingstocks and Other Verses (1909)
* The Voice (1912)
* Satires of Circumstance (1914)
* Moments of Vision (1917)
* Collected Poems (1919)
* Late Lyrics and Earlier with Many Other Verses (1922)
* Human Shows, Far Phantasies, Songs and Trifles (1925)
* Winter Words in Various Moods and Metres (1928)
* The Complete Poems (Macmillan, 1976)
* Selected Poems (Edited by Harry Thomas, Penguin, 1993)
* Hardy: Poems (Everyman's Library Pocket Poets, 1995)
* Thomas Hardy: Selected Poetry and Nonfictional Prose (St. Martin's Press, 1996)
* Selected Poems (Edited by Robert Mezey, Penguin, 1998)
* Thomas Hardy: The Complete Poems (Edited by James Gibson, Palgrave, 2001)
Drama
* The Dynasts (verse drama)
o The Dynasts, Part 1 (1904)
o The Dynasts, Part 2 (1906)
o The Dynasts, Part 3 (1908)
* The Famous Tragedy of the Queen of Cornwall at Tintagel in Lyonnesse (1923) (one-act play)
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/11/10 at 6:41 am
Don't forget The toothpaste Crest. ;)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Womble on 01/11/10 at 7:23 am
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Qzd9HIsRWeA/RwpmilbEugI/AAAAAAAABfY/P-eden9-rY8/s400/Rod+Taylor.jpghttp://www.richardsimpkin.com.au/Australian-Legends/ROD-TAYLOR.jpg
Rod Taylor then and Rod Taylor now. It's amazing how much he's changed in appearance. I know he's older now but some actors like Kirk Douglas and Sean Connery are still recognizable in their senior years. I would never have known the third pic was Taylor had I came accross it by accident. Nice Bio on Taylor, Ninny. Thanks for sharing.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/11/10 at 12:36 pm
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Qzd9HIsRWeA/RwpmilbEugI/AAAAAAAABfY/P-eden9-rY8/s400/Rod+Taylor.jpghttp://www.richardsimpkin.com.au/Australian-Legends/ROD-TAYLOR.jpg
Rod Taylor then and Rod Taylor now. It's amazing how much he's changed in appearance. I know he's older now but some actors like Kirk Douglas and Sean Connery are still recognizable in their senior years. I would never have known the third pic was Taylor had I came accross it by accident. Nice Bio on Taylor, Ninny. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the pics Vinny, I was looking for a pic of him that was current. :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Womble on 01/11/10 at 1:23 pm
Thanks for the pics Vinny, I was looking for a pic of him that was current. :)
My pleasure. :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/11/10 at 4:03 pm
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Crest_toothpaste.jpg
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/11/10 at 5:50 pm
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Crest_toothpaste.jpg
Nice :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/12/10 at 5:52 am
The word of the day...Imposter
Someone who is an impostor is dishonestly pretending to be someone else in order to gain an advantage
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/12/10 at 5:56 am
The birthday of the day...Oliver Platt
Oliver Platt (born January 12, 1960) is a Canadian-born American stage, film, and television actor.
Platt makes his decisions about accepting acting roles based on the role being "different from what I just did...I do have to be interested in the role". After Married to the Mob, he appeared in Working Girl (1988), Flatliners (1990), The Three Musketeers (1993), A Time to Kill (1996) and Bulworth (1998). In 1998, Platt and Stanley Tucci played two deadbeat actors who improvise with unsuspecting strangers in The Impostors. Tucci and Platt developed the characters while working on a play at Yale University in 1988, Tucci later completing the screenplay and directing the film.
In 1999, Platt played the wealthy and eccentric crocodile enthusiast Hector in David E. Kelley's Lake Placid, alongside Bill Pullman and Bridget Fonda. Platt described Hector as "pretty abrasive and obnoxious at times, but, I hope, he has a way of growing on you. I think David originally thought of him as a great white hunter sort of guy, but when I signed on for the role he sort of wrote him in a different direction."
The short-lived drama Deadline provided Platt's first lead role on television. Created by Dick Wolf, who also created Law & Order, Deadline focused on the lives of newspaper journalists in New York City. Platt starred as Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Wallace Benton, an "unlikely hero". The strong cast, which also included Bebe Neuwirth and Hope Davis, could not compensate for sub-standard writing and the series was soon canceled. After Deadline's failure, Platt avoided work on television until he read a script for The West Wing and signed on for a guest role. He received an Emmy nomination for his portrayal of no-nonsense White House Counsel Oliver Babish, brought in during season two to compile a defense for President Bartlet and others who covered up his non-disclosure of multiple sclerosis.
His role in the television series Huff as Russell Tupper from 2004 to 2006 was well-received, especially by creator Robert Lowry, who said, "Oliver plays an alcoholic, drug-addicted, sexaholic, workaholic, womanizing misogynist who is adorable. I don't know any actor who could do that. I originally saw Russell as a blond stud, but when I saw what Oliver could do, I realized how much better, richer, and less predictable he was than my idea of the character...Oliver is very committed to the idea that story and dialogue be character-driven and unique". Platt's work was nominated for two Emmy awards and a Golden Globe.
In 2005, Platt acted in Harold Ramis's film The Ice Harvest as an unhappy businessman with a trophy wife and two stepchildren who becomes involved with a friend who has stolen $2 million from a Mafia boss. He also played a lard merchant named Papprizzio in Lasse Hallstrom's Casanova, who competes with Casanova (Heath Ledger) for marriage to Francesca (Sienna Miller). Platt won the New York Film Critics Online Award for best supporting actor for his role in Casanova.
Oliver Platt greets fans outside the Nederlander Theatre in Manhattan after a performance of Guys and Dolls on February 21, 2009.
A Broadway production named Shining City was Platt's Broadway debut in 2006. The play was set in Dublin, and Platt's role was the tortured protagonist, John. Shining City's director said, "There is one word to describe Oliver. It's 'humanity.' He's got that everyman quality. He's a contradictory human being with flaws and strengths. And he's loveable. He can simultaneously make you laugh and break your heart. Oliver has brought to the role of John what I expected and more: tremendous inventiveness and sensitivity." Platt visited Dublin to prepare for the role and ensure his performance was authentic. He was nominated for a Tony award for "Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play".
In 2007, Platt played the part of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner in the ESPN mini-series The Bronx is Burning. Platt signed onto the project after John Turturro was confirmed as Billy Martin, because, "This thing lives or dies by that portrayal… I think it's great casting. God knows he has the intensity." Platt starred in the pilot episode of The Thick of It, a remake of the British show of the same name in 2007. The series was not picked up by ABC.
Platt recently starred as Nathan Detroit, alongside Lauren Graham as Miss Adelaide, in the Broadway revival of Guys and Dolls which began performances at the Nederlander Theatre on February 3, 2009 and officially opened on March 1, 2009. The production closed on June 14, 2009 after 113 performances.
Platt starred as the White House Chief of Staff Carl Anheuser in Roland Emmerich's 2012, a disaster film released November 13, 2009.
Personal life
Platt married Mary Camilla Bonsal Campbell (known as Camilla) in September 1992 at the First Congregational Church in Kittery Point, Maine. He now focuses on film and television more than theater because, "I've got a wife and three kids, so film is just the most viable thing for me right now. I still love the theater, but the commitment in time and energy to do live theater is so great, and, frankly, the financial rewards are just not as attractive. When you have a family, you have to think about those things." One of Platt's daughters is named Lily, and is fourteen. Platt has an open plane ticket when filming so he can return home frequently, because his family does not accompany him to filming locations.
Tufts University considered offering their Light on the Hill award to Platt in 2008, which is given to distinguished alumni. Tufts Community Union President Neil DiBiase said Platt was unable to make it to Tufts that semester, and they "would rather wait to find a better opportunity for him to come to campus when his schedule is more available. The point of the award is to get alumni back to campus." The 2008 award was instead given to Jeff Kindler, chief executive of pharmaceutical company Pfizer.
Oliver's older brother Adam is a restaurant critic for New York Magazine. Both attended the American School in Japan.
Filmography
Films
Year Film Role Notes
1988 Married to the Mob Ed Benitez
Working Girl Lutz
1989 Crusoe Mr. Newby
1990 Flatliners Randy Steckle
1992 Beethoven Harvey
Diggstown Fitz
1993 Indecent Proposal Jeremy
The Three Musketeers Porthos
Benny & Joon Eric
1995 Funny Bones Tommy Fawkes
Tall Tale Paul Bunyan
The Infiltrator Yaron
1996 Executive Decision Dennis Cahill
A Time to Kill Harry Rex Vonner
1998 Dangerous Beauty Maffio Venier
Bulworth Dennis Murphy
The Impostors Maurice
Dr. Dolittle Dr. Mark Weller
Simon Birch Ben Goodrich
1999 Lake Placid Hector Cyr
Three to Tango Peter Steinberg
Bicentennial Man Rupert Burns
2000 Ready to Rumble Jimmy King
Gun Shy Fulvio Nesstra
2001 Don't Say a Word Dr. Louis Sachs
2002 Liberty Stands Still Victor Wallace
Ash Wednesday Moran
2003 Pieces of April Jim Burns
Hope Springs Doug Reed
2004 Kinsey Herman Wells
2005 The Ice Harvest Pete
Casanova Paprizzio
2007 The Ten Marc Jacobson
Martian Child Jeff
2008 Frost/Nixon Bob Zelnick Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2009 Wonder Woman Hades Voice Only
Year One High Priest
Please Give TBA
2012 Carl Anheuser
Television
Year Show Role Notes
2000—2001 Deadline Wallace Benton
2001, 2005 The West Wing White House Counsel Oliver Babish Emmy nomination: "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series" (2001)
2003—2007 Queens Supreme Judge Jack Moran
2004—2006 Huff Russell Tupper Emmy nominations: "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series" (2005 and 2006),
Golden Globe nomination: "Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture made for Television" (2005)
2007 The Thick of It Malcolm Tucker TV pilot
The Bronx Is Burning George Steinbrenner Screen Actors Guild Award nomination: "Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries" (2008)
2007—2008 Nip/Tuck Freddy Prune Emmy nomination: "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series" (2008)
2009 Bored to Death Richard Antrem
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/12/10 at 6:01 am
The person of the day...Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE (15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976), was an English crime writer of novels, short stories and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but is best remembered for her 80 detective novels and her successful West End theatre plays. Her works, particularly those featuring detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple, have given her the title the 'Queen of Crime' and made her one of the most important and innovative writers in the development of the genre.
Christie has been referred to by the Guinness Book of World Records as the best-selling writer of books of all time and the best-selling writer of any kind, along with William Shakespeare. Only the Bible is known to have outsold her collected sales of roughly four billion copies of novels. UNESCO states that she is currently the most translated individual author in the world with only the collective corporate works of Walt Disney Productions surpassing her. Christie's books have been translated into at least 56 languages.
Her stage play The Mousetrap holds the record for the longest initial run in the world: it opened at the Ambassadors Theatre in London on 25 November 1952 and as of 2009 is still running after more than 23,000 performances. In 1955, Christie was the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's highest honour, the Grand Master Award, and in the same year, Witness for the Prosecution was given an Edgar Award by the MWA, for Best Play. Most of her books and short stories have been filmed, some many times over (Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile and 4.50 From Paddington for instance), and many have been adapted for television, radio, video games and comics.
In 1968, Booker Books, a subsidiary of the agri-industrial conglomerate Booker-McConnell, bought a 51 percent stake in Agatha Christie Limited, the private company that Christie had set up for tax purposes. Booker later increased its stake to 64 percent. In 1998, Booker sold its shares to Chorion, a company whose portfolio also includes the literary estates of Enid Blyton and Dennis Wheatley.
In 2004, a 5,000-word story entitled "The Incident of the Dog's Ball" was found in the attic of the author's daughter. It was published in Britain in September 2009. On November 10, 2009, Reuters announced that the story will be published by The Strand Magazine
Agatha Christie's first novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles was published in 1920 and introduced the long-running character detective Hercule Poirot, who appeared in 33 of Christie's novels and 54 short stories.
Her other well known character, Miss Marple, was introduced in The Tuesday Night Club in 1927 (short story), and was based on women like Christie's grandmother and her "cronies".
During the Second World War, Christie wrote two novels, Curtain and Sleeping Murder, intended as the last cases of these two great detectives, Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple, respectively. Both books were sealed in a bank vault for over thirty years, and were released for publication by Christie only at the end of her life, when she realized that she could not write any more novels. These publications came on the heels of the success of the film version of Murder on the Orient Express in 1974.
Like Arthur Conan Doyle with Sherlock Holmes, Christie was to become increasingly tired of her detective, Poirot. In fact, by the end of the 1930s, Christie confided to her diary that she was finding Poirot “insufferable," and by the 1960s she felt that he was "an ego-centric creep." However, unlike Conan Doyle, Christie resisted the temptation to kill her detective off while he was still popular. She saw herself as an entertainer whose job was to produce what the public liked, and the public liked Poirot.
In contrast, Christie was fond of Miss Marple. However, it is interesting to note that the Belgian detective’s titles outnumber the Marple titles by more than two to one. This is largely because Christie wrote numerous Poirot novels early in her career, while The Murder at the Vicarage remained the sole Marple novel until the 1940s.
Christie never wrote a novel or short story featuring both Poirot and Miss Marple. In a recording, recently re-discovered and released in 2008, Christie revealed the reason for this: "Hercule Poirot, a complete egoist, would not like being taught his business or having suggestions made to him by an elderly spinster lady".
Poirot is the only fictional character to have been given an obituary in The New York Times, following the publication of Curtain in 1975.
Following the great success of Curtain, Christie gave permission for the release of Sleeping Murder sometime in 1976, but died in January 1976 before the book could be released. This may explain some of the inconsistencies compared to the rest of the Marple series — for example, Colonel Arthur Bantry, husband of Miss Marple's friend, Dolly, is still alive and well in Sleeping Murder despite the fact he is noted as having died in books published earlier. It may be that Christie simply did not have time to revise the manuscript before she died. Miss Marple fared better than Poirot, since after solving the mystery in Sleeping Murder she returns home to her regular life in St. Mary Mead.
On an edition of Desert Island Discs in 2007, Brian Aldiss claimed that Agatha Christie told him that she wrote her books up to the last chapter, and then decided who the most unlikely suspect was. She would then go back and make the necessary changes to "frame" that person. The evidence of Christie's working methods, as described by successive biographers, contradicts this claim.
Formula and plot devices
Almost all of Agatha Christie’s books are whodunits, focusing on the English middle and upper classes. Usually, the detective either stumbles across the murder or is called upon by an old acquaintance, who is somehow involved. Gradually, the detective interrogates each suspect, examines the scene of the crime and makes a note of each clue, so readers can analyze it and be allowed a fair chance of solving the mystery themselves. Then, about halfway through, or sometimes even during the final act, one of the suspects usually dies, often because they have inadvertently deduced the killer's identity and need silencing. In a few of her novels, including Death Comes as the End and And Then There Were None, there are multiple victims. Finally, the detective organizes a meeting of all the suspects and slowly denounces the guilty party, exposing several unrelated secrets along the way, sometimes over the course of thirty or so pages. The murders are often extremely ingenious, involving some convoluted piece of deception. Christie’s stories are also known for their taut atmosphere and strong psychological suspense, developed from the deliberately slow pace of her prose.
Twice, the murderer surprisingly turns out to be the narrator of the story.
In four stories, Christie allows the murderer to escape justice (and in the case of the last three, implicitly almost approves of their crimes); these are The Witness for the Prosecution, Murder on the Orient Express, Curtain and The Unexpected Guest. After the dénouement of Taken at the Flood, her sleuth Poirot has the guilty party arrested for the lesser crime of manslaughter. (When Christie adapted Witness into a stage play, she lengthened the ending so that the murderer was also killed.) There are also numerous instances where the killer is not brought to justice in the legal sense but instead dies (death usually being presented as a more 'sympathetic' outcome), for example Death on the Nile, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Crooked House, Appointment with Death and The Hollow. In some cases this is with the collusion of the detective involved. Five Little Pigs, and arguably Ordeal by Innocence, end with the question of whether formal justice will be done unresolved.
Critical reception
Agatha Christie was revered as a master of suspense, plotting, and characterization by most of her contemporaries and, even today, her stories have received glowing reviews in most literary circles. Fellow crime writer Anthony Berkeley Cox was an admitted fan of her work, once saying that nobody can write an Agatha Christie novel but the authoress herself.
However, she does have her detractors, most notably the American novelist Raymond Chandler, who criticised her in his book, The Simple Art of Murder, and the American literary critic Edmund Wilson, who was dismissive of Christie and the detective fiction genre generally in his New Yorker essay, "Who Cares Who Killed Roger Ackroyd?".
Stereotyping
Christie occasionally inserted stereotyped descriptions of characters into her work, particularly before the end of the Second World War (when such attitudes were more commonly expressed publicly), and particularly in regard to Italians, Jews, and non-Europeans generally. For example, in the first editions of the collection The Mysterious Mr Quin (1930), in the short story "The Soul of the Croupier," she described "Hebraic men with hook-noses wearing rather flamboyant jewellery"; in later editions the passage was edited to describe "sallow men" wearing same.
Portrayals
Christie has been portrayed on a number of occasions in film and television.
Several biographical programs have been made, such as the 2004 BBC television program entitled Agatha Christie: A Life in Pictures, in which she is portrayed by Olivia Williams, Anna Massey, and Bonnie Wright.
Christie has also been portrayed fictionally. Some of these have explored and offered accounts of Christie's disappearance in 1926, including the 1979 film Agatha (with Vanessa Redgrave) and the Doctor Who episode "The Unicorn and the Wasp" (with Fenella Woolgar). Others, such as 1980 Hungarian film, Kojak Budapesten (not to be confused with the 1986 comedy by the same name) create their own scenarios involving Christie's criminal skill. In the 1986 TV play, Murder by the Book, Christie herself (Peggy Ashcroft) murdered one of her fictional-turned-real characters, Poirot.
Christie has also been parodied on screen, such as in the film Murder by Indecision, which featured the character "Agatha Crispy".
List of works
See List of works by Agatha Christie
Other works based on Christie's books and plays
Plays adapted into novels by Charles Osborne
* 1998 Black Coffee
* 1999 The Unexpected Guest
* 2000 Spider's Web
Plays adapted by other authors
* 1928 Alibi (dramatized by Michael Morton from the novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd)
* 1936 Love from a Stranger (play) (dramatized by Frank Vosper from the short story Philomel Cottage)
* 1939 Tea for Three (dramatized by Margery Vosper from the short story Accident)
* 1940 Peril at End House (dramatized from her novel by Arnold Ridley)
* 1949 Murder at the Vicarage (dramatized from the novel by Moie Charles and Barbara Toy)
* 1977 Murder at the Vicarage (dramatized from the novel by Leslie Darbon)
* 1981 Cards on the Table (dramatized from the novel by Leslie Darbon)
* 1993 Murder is Easy (dramatized from the novel by Clive Exton)
* 2005 And Then There Were None (dramatized from the novel by Kevin Elyot)
Movie Adaptations
Year Title Story Based On Other Notes
1928 "The Passing Of Mr. Quin" The Coming of Mr. Quin First Christie film adaptation.
1929 "Die Abenteurer G.m.b.H." The Secret Adversary First Christie foreign film adaptation. German adaptation of The Secret Adversary
1931 "Alibi" The stage play Alibi and the novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd First Christie film adaptation to feature Hercule Poirot.
1931 "Black Coffee" Black Coffee None.
1932 "Le Coffret de Laque" Black Coffee French adaptation of Black Coffee.
1934 "Lord Edgware Dies" Lord Edgware Dies None.
1937 "Love from a Stranger" The stage play Love from a Stranger and the short story Philomel Cottage Released in the US as A Night of Terror.
1945 "And Then There Were None" The stage play And Then There Were None and the novel And Then There Were None First Christie film adaptation of And Then There Were None.
1947 "Love from a Stranger" The stage play Love from a Stranger and the short story Philomel Cottage Released in the UK as A Stranger Walked In.
1957 "Witness for the Prosecution" The stage play Witness for the Prosecution and the short story The Witness for the Prosecution None.
1960 "The Spider's Web" Spider's Web None.
1961 "Murder, She Said" 4.50 From Paddington First Christie film adaptation to feature Miss Marple.
1963 "Murder at the Gallop" After the Funeral None.
1964 "Murder Most Foul" Mrs. McGinty's Dead None.
1964 "Murder Ahoy!" None An original movie not based on any book, although it borrows some elements of They Do It With Mirrors.
1965 "Gumnaam" And Then There Were None Uncredited adaptation of And Then There Were None.
1965 "Ten Little Indians" The stage play And Then There Were None and the novel And Then There Were None None.
1965 "The Alphabet Murders" The A.B.C. Murders None.
1972 "Endless Night" Endless Night None.
1974 "Murder on the Orient Express" Murder on the Orient Express None.
1974 "And Then There Were None" The stage play And Then There Were None and the novel And Then There Were None Released in the US as Ten Little Indians.
1978 "Death on the Nile" The stage play Murder on the Nile and the novel Death on the Nile None.
1980 "The Mirror Crack'd" The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side None.
1982 "Evil Under the Sun" Evil Under the Sun None.
1985 "Ordeal by Innocence" Ordeal by Innocence None.
1987 "Desyat Negrityat" The stage play And Then There Were None and the novel And Then There Were None Russian film adaptation of And Then There Were None.
1988 "Appointment With Death" The stage play Appointment with Death and the novel Appointment with Death None.
1989 "Ten Little Indians" The stage play And Then There Were None and the novel And Then There Were None None.
1995 "Innocent Lies" Towards Zero None.
2005 "Mon petit doigt m'a dit..." By the Pricking of My Thumbs French adaptation of By the Pricking of My Thumbs.
2007 "L'Heure zéro" Towards Zero French adaptation of Towards Zero.
2008 "Le crime est notre affaire" 4.50 From Paddington French adaptation of 4.50 From Paddington
v • d • e
Miss Marple Murder films
Films
Murder, She Said · Murder at the Gallop · Murder Most Foul · Murder Ahoy! · The Alphabet Murders
Novels
4.50 from Paddington · After the Funeral · Mrs. McGinty's Dead
Television Adaptations
* 1938 Love from a Stranger (TV) (Based on the stage play of the same name from the short story Philomel Cottage)
* 1947 Love from a Stranger (TV)
* 1949 Ten Little Indians
* 1959 Ten Little Indians
* 1970 The Murder at the Vicarage
* 1980 Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
* 1982 Spider's Web (TV)
* 1982 The Seven Dials Mystery
* 1982 The Agatha Christie Hour
* 1982 Murder is Easy
* 1982 The Witness for the Prosecution
* 1983 The Secret Adversary
* 1983 Partners in Crime
* 1983 A Caribbean Mystery
* 1983 Sparkling Cyanide
* 1984 The Body in the Library
* 1985 Murder with Mirrors
* 1985 The Moving Finger
* 1985 A Murder is Announced
* 1985 A Pocket Full of Rye
* 1985 Thirteen at Dinner
* 1986 Dead Man's Folly
* 1986 Murder in Three Acts
* 1986 The Murder at the Vicarage
* 1987 Sleeping Murder
* 1987 At Bertram's Hotel
* 1987 Nemesis
* 1987 4.50 from Paddington
* 1989 The Man in the Brown Suit
* 1989 A Caribbean Mystery
* 1991 They Do It with Mirrors
* 1992 The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side
* 1997 The Pale Horse
* 2001 Murder on the Orient Express
* 2003 Sparkling Cyanide'
* 2004 The Body in the Library
* 2004 The Murder at the Vicarage
* 2004 4.50 from Paddington
* 2005 A Murder is Announced
* 2005 Sleeping Murder
* 2006 The Moving Finger
* 2006 By the Pricking of My Thumbs
* 2006 The Sittaford Mystery
* 2007 Hercule Poirot's Christmas (A French film adaptation)
* 2007 Towards Zero
* 2007 Nemesis
* 2007 At Bertram's Hotel
* 2007 Ordeal by Innocence
* 2008 A Pocket Full of Rye
* 2008 Murder Is Easy
* 2008 Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
* 2008 They Do It with Mirrors
* 2009 The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side
Agatha Christie's Poirot television series
Episodes include:
* 1990 Peril at End House
* 1990 The Mysterious Affair at Styles
* 1994 Hercule Poirot's Christmas
* 1995 Murder on the Links
* 1995 Hickory Dickory Dock
* 1996 Dumb Witness
* 2000 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
* 2000 Lord Edgware Dies
* 2001 Evil Under the Sun
* 2001 Murder in Mesopotamia
* 2004 Five Little Pigs
* 2004 Death on the Nile
* 2004 Sad Cypress
* 2004 The Hollow
* 2005 The Mystery of the Blue Train
* 2005 Cards on the Table
* 2005 After the Funeral
* 2006 Taken at the Flood
* 2008 Mrs. McGinty's Dead
* 2008 Cat Among the Pigeons
* 2008 Third Girl
* 2008 Appointment with Death
* 2009 The Clocks
* 2009 Three Act Tragedy
Graphic novels
Euro Comics India began issuing a series of graphic novel adaptations of Christie's work in 2007.
* 2007 The Murder on the Links Adapted by François Rivière, Illustrated by Marc Piskic
* 2007 Murder on the Orient Express Adapted by François Rivière, Illustrated by Solidor (Jean-François Miniac).
* 2007 Death on the Nile Adapted by Francois Riviere, Illustrated by Solidor (Jean-François Miniac)
* 2007 The Secret of Chimneys Adapted by François Rivière, Illustrated by Laurence Suhner
* 2007 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Adapted and illustrated by Bruno Lachard
* 2007 The Mystery of the Blue Train Adapted and illustrated by Marc Piskic
* 2007 The Man in the Brown Suit Adapted and illustrated by Alain Paillou
* 2007 The Big Four Adapted by Hichot and illustrated by Bairi
* 2007 The Secret Adversary Adapted by François Rivière and illustrated by Frank Leclercq
* 2007 The Murder at the Vicarage Adapted and illustrated by "Norma"
* 2007 Murder in Mesopotamia Adapted by François Rivière and illustrated by Chandre
* 2007 And Then There Were None Adapted by François Rivière and illustrated by Frank Leclercq
* 2007 Endless Night Adapted by Francois Rivière and illustrated by Frank Leclercq
* 2008 Ordeal by Innocence Adapted and illustrated by Chandre
* 2008 Hallowe'en Party Adapted and illustrated by Chandre
HarperCollins independently began issuing this series also in 2007.
In addition to the titles issued the following titles are also planned for release:
* 2008 Peril at End House Adapted by Thierry Jollet and illustrated by Didier Quella-Guyot
* 2009 Dumb Witness Adapted and illustrated by "Marek"
Video games
* 1988 The Scoop (published by Spinnaker Software and Telarium) (PC)
* 2005 Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None (PC and Wii in 2008).
* 2006 Agatha Christie: Murder on the Orient Express (PC and Wii in 2009)
* 2007 Agathe Christie: Death on the Nile (I-Spy" hidden-object game) (PC)
* 2007 Agatha Christie: Evil Under the Sun (PC and Wii in 2008)
* 2008 Agatha Christie: Peril at End House (I-Spy" hidden-object game)
* 2009 Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders (DS)
* 2009 Agatha Christie: Dead Man's Folly (PC)
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/12/10 at 7:43 am
The birthday of the day...Oliver Platt
Oliver Platt (born January 12, 1960) is a Canadian-born American stage, film, and television actor.
Platt makes his decisions about accepting acting roles based on the role being "different from what I just did...I do have to be interested in the role". After Married to the Mob, he appeared in Working Girl (1988), Flatliners (1990), The Three Musketeers (1993), A Time to Kill (1996) and Bulworth (1998). In 1998, Platt and Stanley Tucci played two deadbeat actors who improvise with unsuspecting strangers in The Impostors. Tucci and Platt developed the characters while working on a play at Yale University in 1988, Tucci later completing the screenplay and directing the film.
In 1999, Platt played the wealthy and eccentric crocodile enthusiast Hector in David E. Kelley's Lake Placid, alongside Bill Pullman and Bridget Fonda. Platt described Hector as "pretty abrasive and obnoxious at times, but, I hope, he has a way of growing on you. I think David originally thought of him as a great white hunter sort of guy, but when I signed on for the role he sort of wrote him in a different direction."
The short-lived drama Deadline provided Platt's first lead role on television. Created by Dick Wolf, who also created Law & Order, Deadline focused on the lives of newspaper journalists in New York City. Platt starred as Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Wallace Benton, an "unlikely hero". The strong cast, which also included Bebe Neuwirth and Hope Davis, could not compensate for sub-standard writing and the series was soon canceled. After Deadline's failure, Platt avoided work on television until he read a script for The West Wing and signed on for a guest role. He received an Emmy nomination for his portrayal of no-nonsense White House Counsel Oliver Babish, brought in during season two to compile a defense for President Bartlet and others who covered up his non-disclosure of multiple sclerosis.
His role in the television series Huff as Russell Tupper from 2004 to 2006 was well-received, especially by creator Robert Lowry, who said, "Oliver plays an alcoholic, drug-addicted, sexaholic, workaholic, womanizing misogynist who is adorable. I don't know any actor who could do that. I originally saw Russell as a blond stud, but when I saw what Oliver could do, I realized how much better, richer, and less predictable he was than my idea of the character...Oliver is very committed to the idea that story and dialogue be character-driven and unique". Platt's work was nominated for two Emmy awards and a Golden Globe.
In 2005, Platt acted in Harold Ramis's film The Ice Harvest as an unhappy businessman with a trophy wife and two stepchildren who becomes involved with a friend who has stolen $2 million from a Mafia boss. He also played a lard merchant named Papprizzio in Lasse Hallstrom's Casanova, who competes with Casanova (Heath Ledger) for marriage to Francesca (Sienna Miller). Platt won the New York Film Critics Online Award for best supporting actor for his role in Casanova.
Oliver Platt greets fans outside the Nederlander Theatre in Manhattan after a performance of Guys and Dolls on February 21, 2009.
A Broadway production named Shining City was Platt's Broadway debut in 2006. The play was set in Dublin, and Platt's role was the tortured protagonist, John. Shining City's director said, "There is one word to describe Oliver. It's 'humanity.' He's got that everyman quality. He's a contradictory human being with flaws and strengths. And he's loveable. He can simultaneously make you laugh and break your heart. Oliver has brought to the role of John what I expected and more: tremendous inventiveness and sensitivity." Platt visited Dublin to prepare for the role and ensure his performance was authentic. He was nominated for a Tony award for "Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play".
In 2007, Platt played the part of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner in the ESPN mini-series The Bronx is Burning. Platt signed onto the project after John Turturro was confirmed as Billy Martin, because, "This thing lives or dies by that portrayal… I think it's great casting. God knows he has the intensity." Platt starred in the pilot episode of The Thick of It, a remake of the British show of the same name in 2007. The series was not picked up by ABC.
Platt recently starred as Nathan Detroit, alongside Lauren Graham as Miss Adelaide, in the Broadway revival of Guys and Dolls which began performances at the Nederlander Theatre on February 3, 2009 and officially opened on March 1, 2009. The production closed on June 14, 2009 after 113 performances.
Platt starred as the White House Chief of Staff Carl Anheuser in Roland Emmerich's 2012, a disaster film released November 13, 2009.
Personal life
Platt married Mary Camilla Bonsal Campbell (known as Camilla) in September 1992 at the First Congregational Church in Kittery Point, Maine. He now focuses on film and television more than theater because, "I've got a wife and three kids, so film is just the most viable thing for me right now. I still love the theater, but the commitment in time and energy to do live theater is so great, and, frankly, the financial rewards are just not as attractive. When you have a family, you have to think about those things." One of Platt's daughters is named Lily, and is fourteen. Platt has an open plane ticket when filming so he can return home frequently, because his family does not accompany him to filming locations.
Tufts University considered offering their Light on the Hill award to Platt in 2008, which is given to distinguished alumni. Tufts Community Union President Neil DiBiase said Platt was unable to make it to Tufts that semester, and they "would rather wait to find a better opportunity for him to come to campus when his schedule is more available. The point of the award is to get alumni back to campus." The 2008 award was instead given to Jeff Kindler, chief executive of pharmaceutical company Pfizer.
Oliver's older brother Adam is a restaurant critic for New York Magazine. Both attended the American School in Japan.
Filmography
Films
Year Film Role Notes
1988 Married to the Mob Ed Benitez
Working Girl Lutz
1989 Crusoe Mr. Newby
1990 Flatliners Randy Steckle
1992 Beethoven Harvey
Diggstown Fitz
1993 Indecent Proposal Jeremy
The Three Musketeers Porthos
Benny & Joon Eric
1995 Funny Bones Tommy Fawkes
Tall Tale Paul Bunyan
The Infiltrator Yaron
1996 Executive Decision Dennis Cahill
A Time to Kill Harry Rex Vonner
1998 Dangerous Beauty Maffio Venier
Bulworth Dennis Murphy
The Impostors Maurice
Dr. Dolittle Dr. Mark Weller
Simon Birch Ben Goodrich
1999 Lake Placid Hector Cyr
Three to Tango Peter Steinberg
Bicentennial Man Rupert Burns
2000 Ready to Rumble Jimmy King
Gun Shy Fulvio Nesstra
2001 Don't Say a Word Dr. Louis Sachs
2002 Liberty Stands Still Victor Wallace
Ash Wednesday Moran
2003 Pieces of April Jim Burns
Hope Springs Doug Reed
2004 Kinsey Herman Wells
2005 The Ice Harvest Pete
Casanova Paprizzio
2007 The Ten Marc Jacobson
Martian Child Jeff
2008 Frost/Nixon Bob Zelnick Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2009 Wonder Woman Hades Voice Only
Year One High Priest
Please Give TBA
2012 Carl Anheuser
Television
Year Show Role Notes
2000—2001 Deadline Wallace Benton
2001, 2005 The West Wing White House Counsel Oliver Babish Emmy nomination: "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series" (2001)
2003—2007 Queens Supreme Judge Jack Moran
2004—2006 Huff Russell Tupper Emmy nominations: "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series" (2005 and 2006),
Golden Globe nomination: "Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture made for Television" (2005)
2007 The Thick of It Malcolm Tucker TV pilot
The Bronx Is Burning George Steinbrenner Screen Actors Guild Award nomination: "Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries" (2008)
2007—2008 Nip/Tuck Freddy Prune Emmy nomination: "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series" (2008)
2009 Bored to Death Richard Antrem
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He's a good actor.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/12/10 at 10:12 am
He's a good actor.
Yes he is
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Frank on 01/12/10 at 5:57 pm
I have read many Agatha Christie books, both in English and French.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/13/10 at 7:10 am
I have read many Agatha Christie books, both in English and French.
I've read a few..only in English.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/13/10 at 7:15 am
The word of the day...Enchanted
*
placed under a spell(= magic words that have special powers)
o
an enchanted forest/kingdom
*
filled with great pleasure formal
o
He was enchanted to see her again after so long.
o
The children were enchanted with the present.
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/13/10 at 7:18 am
The birthday of the day...Patrick Dempsey
Patrick Galen Dempsey (born January 13, 1966) is an American actor and race car driver, known for his role as neurosurgeon Dr. Derek Shepherd ("McDreamy") on the medical drama Grey's Anatomy. He has also recently appeared in several films, including Sweet Home Alabama, The Emperor's Club, Freedom Writers, Enchanted and Made of Honor.
Dempsey was discovered by an invitation to audition for a role in the stage production of Torch Song Trilogy. His audition was successful, and he spent the following four months touring with the company in San Francisco. Dempsey also appeared on MTV on a show Overnight Success by Teri DeSario, where he dances and juggles. He followed this with another tour, Brighton Beach Memoirs, in the lead role, which was directed by Gene Saks. Dempsey has also made notable appearances in the stage productions of On Golden Pond, with the Maine Acting Company, and as Timmy (the Martin Sheen role) in a 1991 Off-Broadway revival of The Subject Was Roses co-starring with John Mahoney and Dana Ivey at the Roundabout Theatre in New York.
Dempsey's first major feature film role was at age 21 with Beverly D'Angelo in the movie In The Mood, the real life WW2 story about Ellsworth Wisecarver who had relationships with older married women which created a national uproar. This was followed by the teen comedy Can't Buy Me Love in 1987 with actress Amanda Peterson and Some Girls with Jennifer Connelly in 1988. In 1989, he had the lead role in the film Loverboy with actress Kirstie Alley and Happy Together with actress Helen Slater. Although the teen comedy and romance roles led to Dempsey being somewhat typecast for a time, he was able to avoid playing the same character as his career progressed.
1990s and 2000s
Dempsey presenting Made of Honor in Madrid
Dempsey made a number of featured appearances in television in the 1990s; he was cast several times in pilots that were not picked up for a full season, including lead roles in the TV versions of the films The Player and About A Boy. However he received good reviews as he portrayed real-life mob boss, Meyer Lansky in 1991, when Mobsters was put on the screen. His first major television role was a recurring role as Will's closeted sportscaster boyfriend on Will & Grace. He went on to play the role of Aaron Brooks, Lily & Judy's psychologically unbalanced brother, on Once & Again. Dempsey received an Emmy nomination in 2001 as Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for the role of Aaron. In 1993 he was convincing as a young John F. Kennedy in the 2-part TV mini-series JFK: Reckless Youth. In 2004, he co-starred in the highly acclaimed HBO production, Iron Jawed Angels, opposite Hilary Swank and Anjelica Huston. He also appeared as special guest star in The Practice for 3 episodes finale season (8x13-8x15), as a married man who murdered his lover.
Dempsey had a high-profile role as one of the suitors for Reese Witherspoon in Sweet Home Alabama. He also had a role as Detective Kincaid on Scream 3. He is expected to return in a possible Scream 4. Dempsey's most recent roles include the 2007 Disney film Enchanted, and the Paramount Pictures film Freedom Writers where he reunites with his Iron Jawed Angels co-star Hilary Swank. He also voiced the character Kenai in Brother Bear 2.
More recently, Dempsey has starred in Made of Honor as Tom.
Patrick Dempsey and Eric Dane are bound for the same big-screen project, joining the estimable ensemble for the romantic comedy Valentine's Day. The Garry Marshall-directed film follows five interconnecting stories about Los Angelinos anticipating (or in some cases dreading) the holiday of love.
He has acquired the rights to the prize-winning novel The Art of Racing in the Rain and will produce and star in the screen version. The film will go into production in 2010.
Grey's Anatomy
Main article: Grey's Anatomy
Dempsey has received significant public attention for his role as Dr. Derek Shepherd in the drama Grey's Anatomy. Prior to landing the role of Derek Shepherd, Dempsey auditioned for the role of Dr. Gregory House on another medical show, House. Initially a midseason replacement, the show was very well received and has become a highly rated program. Media attention has been focused on Dempsey's character Derek, often referred to as "McDreamy", for his sex appeal, and the character's romance with intern Meredith Grey (played by Ellen Pompeo). Also in a one-off episode of Private Practice, playing the same character as in Grey's Anatomy.
Dempsey was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama at the 2007 Golden Globes for the role. In 2006 Dempsey signed a contract with ABC raising his salary to $225,000 per episode. His success on the show has led to him becoming a spokesman for Mazda and a model for Versace. He has also been the spokesman for several recent State Farm advertisements. In November 2008 he launched an Avon fragrance named Unscripted, and due to its success a second fragrance named Patrick Dempsey 2 was launched in November 2009.
Patrick Dempsey has the same birthday as Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes. Dempsey is four years older than Rhimes making his birthday the 13th of January 1966, whilst Rhimes was born on that date in 1970.
Personal Life
Dempsey at the 2008 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona
He has been married twice. In 1987, he married actress and acting coach Rocky Parker, who appeared with Dempsey in the film In the Mood. The couple divorced in 1994.
On July 31, 1999, Dempsey married Delux Beauty founder Jillian Fink. The couple have three children: a daughter, Talula Fyfe, born on February 20, 2002, and twin sons Darby Galen and Sullivan Patrick, born on February 1, 2007. The family resides in Los Angeles and also have homes in Maine and Texas.
Dempsey was diagnosed with dyslexia at age 12. As a result, it is necessary for him to memorize all his lines in order to perform, even for auditions where he was unlikely to get the part.
n 1997, Dempsey's mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She was treated for the disease and had two relapses and had it treated another two times. In response to his mother's bouts with cancer, Dempsey helped start the Patrick Dempsey Center in his home town of Lewiston, Maine. In October of 2009 Dempsey introduced the first Dempsey Challenge, registration was closed after reaching the goal of 3,500 cyclists, runners and walkers. The event raised more than one million dollars for the center and will become an annual event in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine area.
Filmography
Film
Year Film Role Notes
1985 The Stuff Underground Stuff buyer #2
Heaven Help Us Corbet
1986 Meatballs III: Summer Job Rudy
1987 Can't Buy Me Love Ronald Miller Young Artist Award for Best Young Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy
In the Mood Ellsworth 'Sonny' Wisecarver
1988 Some Girls Michael
In a Shallow Grave Daventry Limited release
1989 Loverboy Randy Bodek
Happy Together Christopher Wooden
1990 Coupe de Ville Robert 'Bobby' Libner
1991 Mobsters Meyer Lansky
Run Charlie Farrow
1993 Bank Robber Billy
1994 With Honors Everett Calloway
Ava's Magical Adventure Jeffrey
1995 Outbreak Jimbo Scott
1997 Hugo Pool Floyd Gaylen Limited release
1998 Denial Sam
The Treat Mike Jonathan Gems film
There's No Fish Food in Heaven The Stranger aka Life in the Fast Lane
1999 Me and Will Fast Eddie
2000 Scream 3 Det. Mark Kincaid
2002 Sweet Home Alabama Andrew Hennings (Melanie's fiance)
The Emperor's Club Older Louis Masoudi
2006 Brother Bear 2 Kenai voice only
Shade Paul Parker Short film
2007 Freedom Writers Scott Casey
Enchanted Robert Philip Nominated— MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (with Amy Adams)
2008 Made of Honor Tom Bailey
2010 Valentine's Day Harrison Copeland
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1986 A Fighting Choice Kellin Taylor TV movie
Fast Times Mike Damone Television series
1989 The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! The Plant 1 episode
1990 The General Motors Playwrights Theater 1 episode "Merry Christmas, Baby"
1993 For Better and for Worse Robert Faldo TV movie
JFK: Reckless Youth John F. Kennedy Miniseries
1995 Bloodknot Tom TV movie
1996 The Right to Remain Silent Tom Harris TV movie
A Season in Purgatory Harrison Burns Miniseries
1997 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Pierre Arronax Miniseries
The Escape Clayton TV movie
The Player Griffin Mill TV movie
1998 The Bible: Jeremiah Jeremiah TV movie
Crime and Punishment Rodya Raskolnikov
2000 Will and Grace Matthew 2000-2001 (3 episodes)
2000 Once and Again Aaron Brooks 2000-2002 (4 episodes)
Nominated - Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
2001 Blonde Cass Miniseries
2003 Lucky 7 Peter Connor
Karen Sisco Carl 1 episode
About a Boy Carl TV movie
2004 Iron Jawed Angels Ben Weissman TV movie
The Practice Dr. Paul Stewart 3 episodes
2005 Grey's Anatomy Derek Shepherd 2005-present (110 episodes)
Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Cast in a Drama Series (2006)
People's Choice Award for Favorite Male TV Star (2007, 2008)
Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series (2005, 2006)
Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Cast in a Drama Series (2006, 2008)
Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series (2005)
Nomination - People's Choice Award for Favorite Male TV Star (2009)
2009 Private Practice Derek Shepherd TV episode ("The Ex-Life")
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/13/10 at 7:23 am
The person of the day...James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish writer and poet, widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. Along with Marcel Proust, Virginia Woolf, and William Faulkner, Joyce is a key figure in the development of the modernist novel. He is best known for his landmark novel Ulysses (1922). Other major works are the short-story collection Dubliners (1914), and the novels A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) and Finnegans Wake (1939).
Although most of his adult life was spent outside the country, Joyce's Irish experiences are essential to his writings and provide all of the settings for his fiction and much of their subject matter. In particular, his rocky early relationship with the Irish Catholic Church is reflected by a similar conflict in his character Stephen Dedalus, who appears in two of his novels. His fictional universe is firmly rooted in Dublin and reflects his family life and the events and friends (and enemies) from his school and college days; Ulysses is set with precision in the real streets and alleyways of the city. As the result of the combination of this attention to one place and his voluntary exile in continental Europe, most notably in Paris, Joyce paradoxically became both one of the most cosmopolitan yet most regionally focused of all the English language writers of his time.
Major works
Dubliners
Main article: Dubliners
Title page saying 'DUBLINERS BY JAMES JOYCE', then a colophon, then 'LONDON / GRANT RICHARDS LTD. / PUBLISHERS'.
The title page of the first edition of Dubliners
Joyce's Irish experiences constitute an essential element of his writings, and provide all of the settings for his fiction and much of its subject matter. His early volume of short stories, Dubliners, is a penetrating analysis of the stagnation and paralysis of Dublin society. The stories incorporate epiphanies, a word used particularly by Joyce, by which he meant a sudden consciousness of the "soul" of a thing. The final and most famous story in the collection, "The Dead", was directed by John Huston as his last feature film in 1987.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Main article: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a nearly complete rewrite of the abandoned novel Stephen Hero. Joyce partially destroyed the original manuscript in a fit of rage during an argument with Nora, who asserted that it would never be published. A Künstlerroman, or story of the personal development of an artist, Portrait is a heavily biographical coming-of-age novel in which Joyce depicts a conflicted young man's gradual growth into artistic self-consciousness. The main character, Stephen Dedalus, is in many ways based upon Joyce himself. Some hints of the techniques Joyce frequently employed in later works, such as stream of consciousness, interior monologue, and references to a character's psychic reality rather than to his external surroundings, are evident throughout this novel. Joseph Strick directed a film of the book in 1977 starring Luke Johnston, Bosco Hogan, T.P. McKenna and John Gielgud.
Exiles and poetry
Main articles: Pomes Penyeach and Chamber Music (book)
Despite early interest in the theatre, Joyce published only one play, Exiles, begun shortly after the outbreak of World War I in 1914 and published in 1918. A study of a husband and wife relationship, the play looks back to The Dead (the final story in Dubliners) and forward to Ulysses, which Joyce began around the time of the play's composition.
Joyce also published a number of books of poetry. His first mature published work was the satirical broadside "The Holy Office" (1904), in which he proclaimed himself to be the superior of many prominent members of the Celtic revival. His first full-length poetry collection Chamber Music (referring, Joyce explained, to the sound of urine hitting the side of a chamber pot) consisted of 36 short lyrics. This publication led to his inclusion in the Imagist Anthology, edited by Ezra Pound, who was a champion of Joyce's work. Other poetry Joyce published in his lifetime includes "Gas From A Burner" (1912), Pomes Penyeach (1927) and "Ecce Puer" (written in 1932 to mark the birth of his grandson and the recent death of his father). It was published in Collected Poems (1936).
Ulysses
Main article: Ulysses (novel)
Page saying 'ULYSSES by JAMES JOYCE will be published in the Autumn of 1921 by "SHAKESPEARE AND COMPANY" — SYLVIA BEACH — 8, RUE DUPUYTREN, PARIS — VIe'
Announcement of the initial publication of Ulysses.
As he was completing work on Dubliners in 1906, Joyce considered adding another story featuring a Jewish advertising canvasser called Leopold Bloom under the title Ulysses. Although he did not pursue the idea further at the time, he eventually commenced work on a novel using both the title and basic premise in 1914. The writing was completed in October, 1921. Three more months were devoted to working on the proofs of the book before Joyce halted work shortly before his self-imposed deadline, his 40th birthday (2 February 1922).
Thanks to Ezra Pound, serial publication of the novel in the magazine The Little Review began in 1918. This magazine was edited by Margaret Anderson and Jane Heap, with the backing of John Quinn, a New York attorney with an interest in contemporary experimental art and literature. Unfortunately, this publication encountered censorship problems in the United States; serialization was halted in 1920 when the editors were convicted of publishing obscenity. The novel was not published in the United States until 1933.
At least partly because of this controversy, Joyce found it difficult to get a publisher to accept the book, but it was published in 1922 by Sylvia Beach from her well-known Rive Gauche bookshop, Shakespeare and Company. An English edition published the same year by Joyce's patron, Harriet Shaw Weaver, ran into further difficulties with the United States authorities, and 500 copies that were shipped to the States were seized and possibly destroyed. The following year, John Rodker produced a print run of 500 more intended to replace the missing copies, but these were burned by English customs at Folkestone. A further consequence of the novel's ambiguous legal status as a banned book was that a number of "bootleg" versions appeared, most notably a number of pirate versions from the publisher Samuel Roth. In 1928, a court injunction against Roth was obtained and he ceased publication.
With the appearance of both Ulysses and T. S. Eliot's poem, The Waste Land, 1922 was a key year in the history of English-language literary modernism. In Ulysses, Joyce employs stream of consciousness, parody, jokes, and virtually every other literary technique to present his characters. The action of the novel, which takes place in a single day, 16 June 1904, sets the characters and incidents of the Odyssey of Homer in modern Dublin and represents Odysseus (Ulysses), Penelope and Telemachus in the characters of Leopold Bloom, his wife Molly Bloom and Stephen Dedalus, parodically contrasted with their lofty models. The book explores various areas of Dublin life, dwelling on its squalor and monotony. Nevertheless, the book is also an affectionately detailed study of the city, and Joyce claimed that if Dublin were to be destroyed in some catastrophe it could be rebuilt, brick by brick, using his work as a model. In order to achieve this level of accuracy, Joyce used the 1904 edition of Thom's Directory—a work that listed the owners and/or tenants of every residential and commercial property in the city. He also bombarded friends still living there with requests for information and clarification.
The book consists of 18 chapters, each covering roughly one hour of the day, beginning around 8 a.m. and ending some time after 2 a.m. the following morning. Each chapter employs its own literary style, and parodies a specific episode in Homer's Odyssey. Furthermore, each chapter is associated with a specific colour, art or science, and bodily organ. This combination of kaleidoscopic writing with an extreme formal schematic structure renders the book a major contribution to the development of 20th-century modernist literature. The use of classical mythology as an organizing framework, the near-obsessive focus on external detail, and the occurrence of significant action within the minds of characters have also contributed to the development of literary modernism. Nevertheless, Joyce complained that, "I may have oversystematised Ulysses," and played down the mythic correspondences by eliminating the chapter titles that had been taken from Homer.
Finnegans Wake
Main article: Finnegans Wake
Front and back of a specimen £10 note. Joyce's face covers the right third of the front. The back has an anonymous ancient face and says 'CENTRAL BANK OF IRELAND'.
Joyce as depicted on the Irish £10 banknote, issued 1993–2002
Having completed work on Ulysses, Joyce was so exhausted that he did not write a line of prose for a year. On 10 March 1923 he informed a patron, Harriet Weaver: "Yesterday I wrote two pages—the first I have since the final Yes of Ulysses. Having found a pen, with some difficulty I copied them out in a large handwriting on a double sheet of foolscap so that I could read them. Il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio, the Italians say. The wolf may lose his skin but not his vice or the leopard cannot change his spots". Thus was born a text that became known, first, as Work in Progress and later Finnegans Wake.
By 1926 Joyce had completed the first two parts of the book. In that year, he met Eugene and Maria Jolas who offered to serialise the book in their magazine transition. For the next few years, Joyce worked rapidly on the new book, but in the 1930s, progress slowed considerably. This was due to a number of factors, including the death of his father in 1931, concern over the mental health of his daughter Lucia and his own health problems, including failing eyesight. Much of the work was done with the assistance of younger admirers, including Samuel Beckett. For some years, Joyce nursed the eccentric plan of turning over the book to his friend James Stephens to complete, on the grounds that Stephens was born in the same hospital as Joyce exactly one week later, and shared the first name of both Joyce and of Joyce's fictional alter-ego (this is one example of Joyce's numerous superstitions).
Reaction to the work was mixed, including negative comment from early supporters of Joyce's work, such as Pound and the author's brother Stanislaus Joyce. In order to counteract this hostile reception, a book of essays by supporters of the new work, including Beckett, William Carlos Williams and others was organised and published in 1929 under the title Our Exagmination Round His Factification for Incamination of Work in Progress. At his 47th birthday party at the Jolases' home, Joyce revealed the final title of the work and Finnegans Wake was published in book form on 4 May 1939.
Joyce's method of stream of consciousness, literary allusions and free dream associations was pushed to the limit in Finnegans Wake, which abandoned all conventions of plot and character construction and is written in a peculiar and obscure language, based mainly on complex multi-level puns. This approach is similar to, but far more extensive than that used by Lewis Carroll in Jabberwocky. If Ulysses is a day in the life of a city, the Wake is a night and partakes of the logic of dreams. This has led many readers and critics to apply Joyce's oft-quoted description in the Wake of Ulysses as his "usylessly unreadable Blue Book of Eccles" to the Wake itself. However, readers have been able to reach a consensus about the central cast of characters and general plot.
Much of the wordplay in the book stems from the use of multilingual puns which draw on a wide range of languages. The role played by Beckett and other assistants included collating words from these languages on cards for Joyce to use and, as Joyce's eyesight worsened, of writing the text from the author's dictation.
The view of history propounded in this text is very strongly influenced by Giambattista Vico, and the metaphysics of Giordano Bruno of Nola are important to the interplay of the "characters". Vico propounded a cyclical view of history, in which civilisation rose from chaos, passed through theocratic, aristocratic, and democratic phases, and then lapsed back into chaos. The most obvious example of the influence of Vico's cyclical theory of history is to be found in the opening and closing words of the book. Finnegans Wake opens with the words "riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs." ("vicus" is a pun on Vico) and ends "A way a lone a last a loved a long the". In other words, the book ends with the beginning of a sentence and begins with the end of the same sentence, turning the book into one great cycle. Indeed, Joyce said that the ideal reader of the Wake would suffer from "ideal insomnia" and, on completing the book, would turn to page one and start again, and so on in an endless cycle of reading.
Legacy
Bronze statue of Joyce standing in a coat and broadbrimmed hat. His head is cocked looking up, his left leg is crossed over his right, his right hand holds a cane, and his left is in his pants pocket, with the left part of his coat tucked back.
Statue of James Joyce on North Earl Street, Dublin
Joyce's work has been subject to intense scrutiny by scholars of all types. He has also been an important influence on writers and scholars as diverse as Samuel Beckett, Jorge Luis Borges, Flann O'Brien, Máirtín Ó Cadhain, Salman Rushdie, Robert Anton Wilson, and Joseph Campbell. Ulysses has been called "a demonstration and summation of the entire movement".
Some scholars, most notably Vladimir Nabokov, have mixed feelings on his work, often championing some of his fiction while condemning other works. In Nabokov's opinion, Ulysses was brilliant, Finnegans Wake horrible—an attitude Jorge Luis Borges shared. In recent years, literary theory has embraced Joyce's innovation and ambition.
Joyce's influence is also evident in fields other than literature. The phrase "Three Quarks for Muster Mark" in Joyce's Finnegans Wake is often called the source of the physicists' word "quark", the name of one of the main kinds of elementary particles, proposed by the physicist Murray Gell-Mann. The French philosopher Jacques Derrida has written a book on the use of language in Ulysses, and the American philosopher Donald Davidson has written similarly on Finnegans Wake in comparison with Lewis Carroll. Psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan used Joyce's writings to explain his concept of the sinthome. According to Lacan, Joyce's writing is the supplementary cord which kept Joyce from psychosis.
The work and life of Joyce is celebrated annually on 16 June, Bloomsday, in Dublin and in an increasing number of cities worldwide.
In 1999, Time Magazine named Joyce one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century, and stated; "Joyce ... revolutionized 20th century fiction". In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Ulysses No. 1, and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man No. 3, on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.
Works
* Chamber Music (1907, poems)
* Dubliners (1914, short story collection)
* A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916, novel)
* Exiles (1918, play)
* Ulysses (1922, novel)
* Pomes Penyeach (1927, poems)
* Collected Poems (1936, poems)
* Finnegans Wake (1939, novel)
Posthumous publications
* Stephen Hero (precursor to A Portrait; written 1904–06, published 1944)
* Giacomo Joyce (written 1907, published 1968)
* Letters of James Joyce Vol. 1 (Ed. Stuart Gilbert, 1957)
* The Critical Writings of James Joyce (Eds. Ellsworth Mason and Richard Ellman, 1959)
* Letters of James Joyce Vol. 2 (Ed. Ricard Ellman, 1966)
* Letters of James Joyce Vol. 3 (Ed. Ricard Ellman, 1966)
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/13/10 at 4:00 pm
The birthday of the day...Patrick Dempsey
Patrick Galen Dempsey (born January 13, 1966) is an American actor and race car driver, known for his role as neurosurgeon Dr. Derek Shepherd ("McDreamy") on the medical drama Grey's Anatomy. He has also recently appeared in several films, including Sweet Home Alabama, The Emperor's Club, Freedom Writers, Enchanted and Made of Honor.
Dempsey was discovered by an invitation to audition for a role in the stage production of Torch Song Trilogy. His audition was successful, and he spent the following four months touring with the company in San Francisco. Dempsey also appeared on MTV on a show Overnight Success by Teri DeSario, where he dances and juggles. He followed this with another tour, Brighton Beach Memoirs, in the lead role, which was directed by Gene Saks. Dempsey has also made notable appearances in the stage productions of On Golden Pond, with the Maine Acting Company, and as Timmy (the Martin Sheen role) in a 1991 Off-Broadway revival of The Subject Was Roses co-starring with John Mahoney and Dana Ivey at the Roundabout Theatre in New York.
Dempsey's first major feature film role was at age 21 with Beverly D'Angelo in the movie In The Mood, the real life WW2 story about Ellsworth Wisecarver who had relationships with older married women which created a national uproar. This was followed by the teen comedy Can't Buy Me Love in 1987 with actress Amanda Peterson and Some Girls with Jennifer Connelly in 1988. In 1989, he had the lead role in the film Loverboy with actress Kirstie Alley and Happy Together with actress Helen Slater. Although the teen comedy and romance roles led to Dempsey being somewhat typecast for a time, he was able to avoid playing the same character as his career progressed.
1990s and 2000s
Dempsey presenting Made of Honor in Madrid
Dempsey made a number of featured appearances in television in the 1990s; he was cast several times in pilots that were not picked up for a full season, including lead roles in the TV versions of the films The Player and About A Boy. However he received good reviews as he portrayed real-life mob boss, Meyer Lansky in 1991, when Mobsters was put on the screen. His first major television role was a recurring role as Will's closeted sportscaster boyfriend on Will & Grace. He went on to play the role of Aaron Brooks, Lily & Judy's psychologically unbalanced brother, on Once & Again. Dempsey received an Emmy nomination in 2001 as Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for the role of Aaron. In 1993 he was convincing as a young John F. Kennedy in the 2-part TV mini-series JFK: Reckless Youth. In 2004, he co-starred in the highly acclaimed HBO production, Iron Jawed Angels, opposite Hilary Swank and Anjelica Huston. He also appeared as special guest star in The Practice for 3 episodes finale season (8x13-8x15), as a married man who murdered his lover.
Dempsey had a high-profile role as one of the suitors for Reese Witherspoon in Sweet Home Alabama. He also had a role as Detective Kincaid on Scream 3. He is expected to return in a possible Scream 4. Dempsey's most recent roles include the 2007 Disney film Enchanted, and the Paramount Pictures film Freedom Writers where he reunites with his Iron Jawed Angels co-star Hilary Swank. He also voiced the character Kenai in Brother Bear 2.
More recently, Dempsey has starred in Made of Honor as Tom.
Patrick Dempsey and Eric Dane are bound for the same big-screen project, joining the estimable ensemble for the romantic comedy Valentine's Day. The Garry Marshall-directed film follows five interconnecting stories about Los Angelinos anticipating (or in some cases dreading) the holiday of love.
He has acquired the rights to the prize-winning novel The Art of Racing in the Rain and will produce and star in the screen version. The film will go into production in 2010.
Grey's Anatomy
Main article: Grey's Anatomy
Dempsey has received significant public attention for his role as Dr. Derek Shepherd in the drama Grey's Anatomy. Prior to landing the role of Derek Shepherd, Dempsey auditioned for the role of Dr. Gregory House on another medical show, House. Initially a midseason replacement, the show was very well received and has become a highly rated program. Media attention has been focused on Dempsey's character Derek, often referred to as "McDreamy", for his sex appeal, and the character's romance with intern Meredith Grey (played by Ellen Pompeo). Also in a one-off episode of Private Practice, playing the same character as in Grey's Anatomy.
Dempsey was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama at the 2007 Golden Globes for the role. In 2006 Dempsey signed a contract with ABC raising his salary to $225,000 per episode. His success on the show has led to him becoming a spokesman for Mazda and a model for Versace. He has also been the spokesman for several recent State Farm advertisements. In November 2008 he launched an Avon fragrance named Unscripted, and due to its success a second fragrance named Patrick Dempsey 2 was launched in November 2009.
Patrick Dempsey has the same birthday as Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes. Dempsey is four years older than Rhimes making his birthday the 13th of January 1966, whilst Rhimes was born on that date in 1970.
Personal Life
Dempsey at the 2008 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona
He has been married twice. In 1987, he married actress and acting coach Rocky Parker, who appeared with Dempsey in the film In the Mood. The couple divorced in 1994.
On July 31, 1999, Dempsey married Delux Beauty founder Jillian Fink. The couple have three children: a daughter, Talula Fyfe, born on February 20, 2002, and twin sons Darby Galen and Sullivan Patrick, born on February 1, 2007. The family resides in Los Angeles and also have homes in Maine and Texas.
Dempsey was diagnosed with dyslexia at age 12. As a result, it is necessary for him to memorize all his lines in order to perform, even for auditions where he was unlikely to get the part.
n 1997, Dempsey's mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She was treated for the disease and had two relapses and had it treated another two times. In response to his mother's bouts with cancer, Dempsey helped start the Patrick Dempsey Center in his home town of Lewiston, Maine. In October of 2009 Dempsey introduced the first Dempsey Challenge, registration was closed after reaching the goal of 3,500 cyclists, runners and walkers. The event raised more than one million dollars for the center and will become an annual event in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine area.
Filmography
Film
Year Film Role Notes
1985 The Stuff Underground Stuff buyer #2
Heaven Help Us Corbet
1986 Meatballs III: Summer Job Rudy
1987 Can't Buy Me Love Ronald Miller Young Artist Award for Best Young Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy
In the Mood Ellsworth 'Sonny' Wisecarver
1988 Some Girls Michael
In a Shallow Grave Daventry Limited release
1989 Loverboy Randy Bodek
Happy Together Christopher Wooden
1990 Coupe de Ville Robert 'Bobby' Libner
1991 Mobsters Meyer Lansky
Run Charlie Farrow
1993 Bank Robber Billy
1994 With Honors Everett Calloway
Ava's Magical Adventure Jeffrey
1995 Outbreak Jimbo Scott
1997 Hugo Pool Floyd Gaylen Limited release
1998 Denial Sam
The Treat Mike Jonathan Gems film
There's No Fish Food in Heaven The Stranger aka Life in the Fast Lane
1999 Me and Will Fast Eddie
2000 Scream 3 Det. Mark Kincaid
2002 Sweet Home Alabama Andrew Hennings (Melanie's fiance)
The Emperor's Club Older Louis Masoudi
2006 Brother Bear 2 Kenai voice only
Shade Paul Parker Short film
2007 Freedom Writers Scott Casey
Enchanted Robert Philip Nominated— MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (with Amy Adams)
2008 Made of Honor Tom Bailey
2010 Valentine's Day Harrison Copeland
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1986 A Fighting Choice Kellin Taylor TV movie
Fast Times Mike Damone Television series
1989 The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! The Plant 1 episode
1990 The General Motors Playwrights Theater 1 episode "Merry Christmas, Baby"
1993 For Better and for Worse Robert Faldo TV movie
JFK: Reckless Youth John F. Kennedy Miniseries
1995 Bloodknot Tom TV movie
1996 The Right to Remain Silent Tom Harris TV movie
A Season in Purgatory Harrison Burns Miniseries
1997 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Pierre Arronax Miniseries
The Escape Clayton TV movie
The Player Griffin Mill TV movie
1998 The Bible: Jeremiah Jeremiah TV movie
Crime and Punishment Rodya Raskolnikov
2000 Will and Grace Matthew 2000-2001 (3 episodes)
2000 Once and Again Aaron Brooks 2000-2002 (4 episodes)
Nominated - Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
2001 Blonde Cass Miniseries
2003 Lucky 7 Peter Connor
Karen Sisco Carl 1 episode
About a Boy Carl TV movie
2004 Iron Jawed Angels Ben Weissman TV movie
The Practice Dr. Paul Stewart 3 episodes
2005 Grey's Anatomy Derek Shepherd 2005-present (110 episodes)
Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Cast in a Drama Series (2006)
People's Choice Award for Favorite Male TV Star (2007, 2008)
Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series (2005, 2006)
Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Cast in a Drama Series (2006, 2008)
Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series (2005)
Nomination - People's Choice Award for Favorite Male TV Star (2009)
2009 Private Practice Derek Shepherd TV episode ("The Ex-Life")
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A very fine actor.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/14/10 at 7:07 am
The word of the day...Inferno
If you refer to a fire as an inferno, you mean that it is burning fiercely and causing great destruction
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/14/10 at 7:10 am
The birthday of the day...Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941) is an American actress.
Dunaway won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Network (1976) after receiving previous nominations for the critically acclaimed films Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and Chinatown (1974). She has starred in a variety of films, including The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), Little Big Man (1970), The Towering Inferno (1974), Three Days of the Condor (1975), Mommie Dearest (1981).
Dunaway appeared on Broadway in 1962 as the daughter of Thomas More in A Man for All Seasons. Her first screen role was in 1967 in The Happening. In 1967, she was in Hurry Sundown, but that same year, she gained the leading female role in Bonnie and Clyde opposite Warren Beatty, which earned her an Oscar nomination. She also starred in 1968 with Steve McQueen in the caper film The Thomas Crown Affair (and had a small role in the 1999 remake with the same title with Pierce Brosnan).
Dunaway being interviewed by Army Archerd on the red carpet at the 60th Annual Academy Awards, April 11, 1988.
It was in the 1970s that she began to stretch her acting abilities in such films as Three Days of the Condor, Little Big Man, Chinatown, The Three/Four Musketeers, Eyes of Laura Mars, and Network, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress as the scheming TV executive Diana Christensen. She worked with such leading men as Dustin Hoffman, Charlton Heston, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Tommy Lee Jones, Jack Nicholson, and Robert Duvall.
In the 1980s, although her performances did not waver, the parts grew less compelling. Dunaway would later blame Mommie Dearest (1981) for ruining her career as a leading lady. She received a Razzie Award for Worst Actress, and the critic's despised the film, although the film grossed a moderate $19 million in its first release and was one of the top 30 grossing films of the year. In 1987 she was nominated for Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama for her performance in Barfly with Mickey Rourke. In a later movie, Don Juan DeMarco (1995), Dunaway co-starred with Johnny Depp and Marlon Brando.
Faye Dunaway at the ceremony Emmy Award 1994
Dunaway starred in the 1986 made-for-television movie Beverly Hills Madam opposite Melody Anderson, Donna Dixon, Terry Farrell and Robin Givens. In 1993, Dunaway briefly starred in a sitcom with Robert Urich, "It Had to Be You". Dunaway won an Emmy for a 1994 role as a murderer in "It's All in the Game," an episode of the long-running mystery series Columbo.
In 1996, she toured nationally with the stage play Master Class. The story about opera singer Maria Callas was very powerful and well received. Dunaway bought the rights to the Terrence McNally play for possible film development.
In 2006, Dunaway played a character named Lois O'Neill in the sixth season of the crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. She served as a judge on the 2005 reality show The Starlet, which sought, American Idol-style, to find the next young actress with the potential to become a major star. In the spring of 2007, the direct-to-DVD movie release of Rain, based on the novel by V. C. Andrews and starring Dunaway, was released. In 2009 Dunaway stars in film The Bait by Polish film director and producer Dariusz Zawiślak. The Bait is a contemporary version of a drama Balladyna by Polish 19th - century poet Juliusz Słowacki.
Dunaway has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard, which was awarded on October 2, 1996.
Personal life
Dunaway has been married twice, from 1974 to 1979 to Peter Wolf, the lead singer of the rock group The J. Geils Band, and from 1984 to 1987 to Terry O'Neill, a British photographer. She and O'Neill have one child, Liam O'Neill (born 1980). In 2003, despite Dunaway's earlier claims that she had given birth to Liam, Terry revealed that Liam was adopted.
Dunaway is an adult convert to Roman Catholicism.
Filmography
Year Film Role Notes
1967 Hurry Sundown Lou McDowell Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles also for Bonnie and Clyde
The Happening Sandy
Bonnie and Clyde Bonnie Parker Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles also for Hurry Sundown
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1968 The Thomas Crown Affair Vicki Anderson
Amanti Julia
1969 The Extraordinary Seaman Jennifer Winslow
The Arrangement Gwen
A Place for Lovers Julia
1970 Little Big Man Mrs. Louise Pendrake
Puzzle of a Downfall Child Lou Andreas Sand Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1971 The Deadly Trap Jill
Doc Katie Elder
1973 Oklahoma Crude Lena Doyle
The Three Musketeers Milady de Winter
1974 Chinatown Evelyn Cross Mulwray Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
The Towering Inferno Susan Franklin
The Four Musketeers Milady de Winter
1975 Three Days of the Condor Kathy Hale Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1976 Network Diana Christensen Academy Award for Best Actress
David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actress
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Voyage of the Damned Denise Kreisler
1978 Eyes of Laura Mars Laura Mars
1979 The Champ Annie
1980 The First Deadly Sin Barbara Delaney
1981 Mommie Dearest Joan Crawford Razzie Award for Worst Actress
Evita Peron Evita Peron
1983 The Wicked Lady Lady Barbara Skelton
1984 Ordeal by Innocence Rachel Argyle
Supergirl Selena
Ellis Island Maud Charteris Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film
Terror in the Aisles archival footage
1985 Thirteen at Dinner Jane Wilkinson
1986 Raspberry Ripple Matron + "M"
1987 Barfly Wanda Wilcox Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1988 Midnight Crossing Helen Barton
The Gamble Countess Matilda Von Wallenstein La Partita
Burning Secret Mrs. Sonya Tuchman
1989 Frames from the Edge Herself documentary
On a Moonlit Night Mrs. Colbert In una notte di chiaro di luna
Wait Until Spring, Bandini Mrs. Hildegarde
1990 The Handmaid's Tale Serena Joy
The Two Jakes Evelyn Mulwray voice only
1991 Scorchers Thais
1992 Double Edge Faye Milano Lahav Hatzui
1993 Arizona Dream Elaine Stalker
The Temp Charlene Towne
1995 Unzipped Herself – uncredited Documentary
Don Juan DeMarco Marilyn Mickler
Drunks Becky
1996 Dunston Checks In Mrs. Dubrow
Albino Alligator Janet Boudreaux
The Chamber Lee Cayhall Bowen
1997 In Praise of Older Women Condesa
The Twilight of the Golds Phyllis Gold Nominated — CableACE Award for Supporting Actress in a Movie or Miniseries
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
Rebecca Mrs. van Hopper TV miniseries
1998 Gia Wilhelmina Cooper Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film
Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
1999 Love Lies Bleeding Josephine Butler
The Thomas Crown Affair The Psychiatrist
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc Yolande of Aragon
2000 The Yards Kitty Olchin
Stanley's Gig Leila
Running Mates Meg Gable Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
2001 Yellow Bird Aurora Beavis Short subject – also director
Festival in Cannes Herself Cameo
2002 Mid-Century Blue/Mother
Changing Hearts Betty Miller
The Rules of Attraction Mrs. Eve Denton
Man of Faith Mae West
2003 Blind Horizon Ms. K
2004 Last Goodbye Sean Winston
El Padrino Atty. Gen. Navarro
Jennifer's Shadow Mary Ellen Cassi
2005 Ghosts Never Sleep Kathleen Dolan
2006 Cut Off Marilyn Burton
Love Hollywood Style God
Rain Isabel Hudson
2007 Cougar Club Edith Birnbaum
Say It in Russian Jacqueline de Rossy
The Gene Generation Josephine Hayden
2008 Flick Lieutenant Annie McKenzie
La Rabbia Madre
2009 Dr. Fugazzi Detective Rowland
Midnight Bayou Odette Lifetime made-for-TV movie
Caroline & The Magic Stone Filomena
Balladyna Dr Ash USA-Poland co-production
Guest appearances
Dunaway & Mirosław Baka - Balladyna
* Grey's Anatomy - Season 5, Episode 16 "An Honest Mistake" as Dr. Margaret Campbell (2009)
* CSI: Crime Scene Investigation "Kiss-Kiss, Bye-Bye" January 26, 2006
* Alias "The Abduction" (2002); "A Higher Echelon" (2003); "The Getaway" (2003), as Ariana Kane
* Soul Food - Season 3, Episode 1 - "Tonight at Noon" (2002)
* Road to Avonlea - Season 6, Episode 76 - "What a Tangled Web We Weave" (1995)
* Columbo: It's All in the Game (1993), as Lauren Staton
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/14/10 at 7:13 am
The person of the day...Uta Hagen
Uta Thyra Hagen (12 June 1919 – 14 January 2004) was a three-time Tony Award winning German-born American actress. She originated the role of Martha in the 1963 Broadway premiere of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee (who called her "a profoundly truthful actress"). Hagen was on the Hollywood blacklist, in part because of her association with Paul Robeson, and this curtailed film opportunities, focusing her perforce on New York theatre. She later became a highly influential acting teacher at New York's Herbert Berghof Studio and authored a best-selling acting text, Respect for Acting. She was elected to the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981.
Hagen was cast, early on, as Ophelia by the actress-manager Eva LeGallienne. From there, Hagen went on to play the leading ingenue role of Nina in a Broadway production of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull which featured Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. It was 1938; Hagen was just 18. The New York Times' critic Brooks Atkinson hailed her Nina as "grace and aspiration incarnate". She would go on to play George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan (1951) on Broadway, and Desdemona in a production which toured and played Broadway, featuring Paul Robeson as Shakespeare's Othello and her then-husband Jose Ferrer as Iago. She took over the role of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire for the national tour, which was directed not by Elia Kazan who had directed the Broadway production but by Harold Clurman. Hagen had had a revelatory experience when she first worked with Clurman in 1947. In Respect for Acting, she credited her discoveries with Clurman as the springboard for what she would later explore with her husband Herbert Berghof: "how to find a true technique of acting, how to make a character flow through me". She played Blanche (on the road and on Broadway) opposite at least four different Stanley Kowalskis, including Anthony Quinn and Marlon Brando. Through interviews with her and contemporary criticism, the report is that Hagen's Blanche refocused the audience's sympathies with Blanche rather than with Stanley (where the Brando/Kazan production had leaned). Primarily noted for stage roles, Hagen won her first Tony Award in 1951 for her performance as the self-sacrificing wife Georgie in Clifford Odets' The Country Girl. She won again in 1963 for originating the role of the "I-wear-the-pants-in-this-family-because-somebody's-got-to" Martha in Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. (An original cast recording was made of this show.) In 1981 she was elected to the American Theatre Hall of Fame and in 1999 received a "Special Lifetime Achievement Tony Award".
Although she appeared in some movies, because of the Hollywood blacklist she had more limited output in film and on television, not making her cinematic debut until 1972. She would later comment about being blacklisted, "that fact kept me pure".
Although Hagen played characters with German accents in both of her best-known Hollywood films, The Boys from Brazil, in which her scene is with Laurence Olivier, and The Other, she had simply assumed the accent for those roles (Hagen was raised in Wisconsin). She was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award as "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series" for her performance on the television soap opera One Life to Live.
She taught at HB Studio, a well-known New York City acting school on a cobblestone, tree-shaded street in the West Village. She began there in 1947, and married its co-founder, Herbert Berghof, on January 25, 1957. Later in her life, Hagen undertook a return to the stage, earning accolades for leading roles in Mrs. Warren's Profession (1985), Collected Stories, and Mrs. Klein. After Berghof's death in 1990 she became the school's chairperson.
Hagen was an influential acting teacher who taught, among others, Matthew Broderick, Christine Lahti, Jason Robards, Sigourney Weaver, Liza Minnelli, Whoopi Goldberg, Jack Lemmon, Charles Nelson Reilly, Manu Tupou, Debbie Allen and Al Pacino. She was a voice coach to Judy Garland, teaching a German accent, for the picture Judgment at Nuremberg. Garland's performance earned her an Academy Award nomination.
She also wrote Respect for Acting (1973) and A Challenge for the Actor (1991), which advocate realistic acting (as opposed to pre-determined "formalistic" acting). In her mode of realism, the actor puts his own psyche to use in finding identification with the role," trusting that a form will result. In Respect for Acting, Hagen credited director Harold Clurman with a turn-around in her perspective on acting:
"In 1947, I worked in a play under the direction of Harold Clurman. He opened a new world in the professional theatre for me. He took away my 'tricks'. He imposed no line readings, no gestures, no positions on the actors. At first I floundered badly because for many years I had become accustomed to using specific outer directions as the material from which to construct the mask for my character, the mask behind which I would hide throughout the performance. Mr Clurman refused to accept a mask. He demanded ME in the role. My love of acting was slowly reawakened as I began to deal with a strange new technique of evolving in the character. I was not allowed to begin with, or concern myself at any time with, a preconceived form. I was assured that a form would result from the work we were doing."
Hagen later "disassociated" herself from her first book, Respect for Acting. In Challenge for the Actor she redefined a term which she had initially called "substitution", an esoteric technique for alchemizing elements of an actor's life with his/her character work, calling it "transference" instead. Though Hagen wrote that the actor should identify the character they play with feelings and circumstances from their (the actor's) own life, she also makes clear that
"Thoughts and feelings are suspended in a vacuum unless they instigate and feed the selected actions, and it is the characters' actions which reveal the character in the play."
Respect for Acting is used as a textbook for many college acting classes. She also wrote a 1976 cookbook, Love for Cooking. In 2002, she was awarded the National Medal of the Arts by President George W. Bush at a ceremony held at the White House.
Personal life
She married José Ferrer in 1938, with whom she had a daughter, Leticia (Lettie) Ferrer, an actor in New York City. They divorced in 1948 partially because of her affair with her Othello co-star Paul Robeson, an affair which was long concealed. She was married to the actor and teacher and director Herbert Berghof from 1957 until his death in 1990. At his death, she said, "You know, we were partners in our work, in everything. We did everything together. Very few people understand what that kind of a loss is like."
Work
Stage
* The Seagull - 1938
* The Happiest Days - 1939
* Key Largo - 1939
* Vickie - 1942
* Othello - 1943
* The Whole World Over - 1947
* A Streetcar Named Desire - 1947
* The Country Girl - 1950
* Saint Joan - 1951
* In Any Language - 1952
* The Magic and The Loss - 1954
* Island of Goats - 1955
* Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - 1962
* The Cherry Orchard - 1968
* You Never Can Tell - 1986
* Charlotte - 1980
* Mrs. Klein - 1995
* Collected Stories - 1998
Film
* The Other - 1972
* The Boys from Brazil - 1978
* A Doctor's Story - 1984
* Reversal of Fortune - 1990
* Limón: A Life Beyond Words - 2001
Television
* Victory - 1945
* A Month in the Country - 1959
* The Day Before Sunday - 1970
* Seasonal Differences - 1987
* The Sunset Gang - 1991
* Oz - 1999
See also
* Stanislavski
* Mikhail Chekhov
* Lee Strasberg
* Stella Adler
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/14/10 at 7:54 am
The word of the day...Inferno
If you refer to a fire as an inferno, you mean that it is burning fiercely and causing great destruction
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Now that's fire.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/14/10 at 9:22 am
Now that's fire.
Hot Hot Hot ;D
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Frank on 01/14/10 at 12:09 pm
The birthday of the day...Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941) is an American actress.
Dunaway won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Network (1976) after receiving previous nominations for the critically acclaimed films Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and Chinatown (1974). She has starred in a variety of films, including The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), Little Big Man (1970), The Towering Inferno (1974), Three Days of the Condor (1975), Mommie Dearest (1981).
Dunaway appeared on Broadway in 1962 as the daughter of Thomas More in A Man for All Seasons. Her first screen role was in 1967 in The Happening. In 1967, she was in Hurry Sundown, but that same year, she gained the leading female role in Bonnie and Clyde opposite Warren Beatty, which earned her an Oscar nomination. She also starred in 1968 with Steve McQueen in the caper film The Thomas Crown Affair (and had a small role in the 1999 remake with the same title with Pierce Brosnan).
Dunaway being interviewed by Army Archerd on the red carpet at the 60th Annual Academy Awards, April 11, 1988.
It was in the 1970s that she began to stretch her acting abilities in such films as Three Days of the Condor, Little Big Man, Chinatown, The Three/Four Musketeers, Eyes of Laura Mars, and Network, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress as the scheming TV executive Diana Christensen. She worked with such leading men as Dustin Hoffman, Charlton Heston, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Tommy Lee Jones, Jack Nicholson, and Robert Duvall.
In the 1980s, although her performances did not waver, the parts grew less compelling. Dunaway would later blame Mommie Dearest (1981) for ruining her career as a leading lady. She received a Razzie Award for Worst Actress, and the critic's despised the film, although the film grossed a moderate $19 million in its first release and was one of the top 30 grossing films of the year. In 1987 she was nominated for Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama for her performance in Barfly with Mickey Rourke. In a later movie, Don Juan DeMarco (1995), Dunaway co-starred with Johnny Depp and Marlon Brando.
Faye Dunaway at the ceremony Emmy Award 1994
Dunaway starred in the 1986 made-for-television movie Beverly Hills Madam opposite Melody Anderson, Donna Dixon, Terry Farrell and Robin Givens. In 1993, Dunaway briefly starred in a sitcom with Robert Urich, "It Had to Be You". Dunaway won an Emmy for a 1994 role as a murderer in "It's All in the Game," an episode of the long-running mystery series Columbo.
In 1996, she toured nationally with the stage play Master Class. The story about opera singer Maria Callas was very powerful and well received. Dunaway bought the rights to the Terrence McNally play for possible film development.
In 2006, Dunaway played a character named Lois O'Neill in the sixth season of the crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. She served as a judge on the 2005 reality show The Starlet, which sought, American Idol-style, to find the next young actress with the potential to become a major star. In the spring of 2007, the direct-to-DVD movie release of Rain, based on the novel by V. C. Andrews and starring Dunaway, was released. In 2009 Dunaway stars in film The Bait by Polish film director and producer Dariusz Zawiślak. The Bait is a contemporary version of a drama Balladyna by Polish 19th - century poet Juliusz Słowacki.
Dunaway has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard, which was awarded on October 2, 1996.
Personal life
Dunaway has been married twice, from 1974 to 1979 to Peter Wolf, the lead singer of the rock group The J. Geils Band, and from 1984 to 1987 to Terry O'Neill, a British photographer. She and O'Neill have one child, Liam O'Neill (born 1980). In 2003, despite Dunaway's earlier claims that she had given birth to Liam, Terry revealed that Liam was adopted.
Dunaway is an adult convert to Roman Catholicism.
Filmography
Year Film Role Notes
1967 Hurry Sundown Lou McDowell Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles also for Bonnie and Clyde
The Happening Sandy
Bonnie and Clyde Bonnie Parker Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles also for Hurry Sundown
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1968 The Thomas Crown Affair Vicki Anderson
Amanti Julia
1969 The Extraordinary Seaman Jennifer Winslow
The Arrangement Gwen
A Place for Lovers Julia
1970 Little Big Man Mrs. Louise Pendrake
Puzzle of a Downfall Child Lou Andreas Sand Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1971 The Deadly Trap Jill
Doc Katie Elder
1973 Oklahoma Crude Lena Doyle
The Three Musketeers Milady de Winter
1974 Chinatown Evelyn Cross Mulwray Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
The Towering Inferno Susan Franklin
The Four Musketeers Milady de Winter
1975 Three Days of the Condor Kathy Hale Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1976 Network Diana Christensen Academy Award for Best Actress
David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actress
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Voyage of the Damned Denise Kreisler
1978 Eyes of Laura Mars Laura Mars
1979 The Champ Annie
1980 The First Deadly Sin Barbara Delaney
1981 Mommie Dearest Joan Crawford Razzie Award for Worst Actress
Evita Peron Evita Peron
1983 The Wicked Lady Lady Barbara Skelton
1984 Ordeal by Innocence Rachel Argyle
Supergirl Selena
Ellis Island Maud Charteris Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film
Terror in the Aisles archival footage
1985 Thirteen at Dinner Jane Wilkinson
1986 Raspberry Ripple Matron + "M"
1987 Barfly Wanda Wilcox Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1988 Midnight Crossing Helen Barton
The Gamble Countess Matilda Von Wallenstein La Partita
Burning Secret Mrs. Sonya Tuchman
1989 Frames from the Edge Herself documentary
On a Moonlit Night Mrs. Colbert In una notte di chiaro di luna
Wait Until Spring, Bandini Mrs. Hildegarde
1990 The Handmaid's Tale Serena Joy
The Two Jakes Evelyn Mulwray voice only
1991 Scorchers Thais
1992 Double Edge Faye Milano Lahav Hatzui
1993 Arizona Dream Elaine Stalker
The Temp Charlene Towne
1995 Unzipped Herself – uncredited Documentary
Don Juan DeMarco Marilyn Mickler
Drunks Becky
1996 Dunston Checks In Mrs. Dubrow
Albino Alligator Janet Boudreaux
The Chamber Lee Cayhall Bowen
1997 In Praise of Older Women Condesa
The Twilight of the Golds Phyllis Gold Nominated — CableACE Award for Supporting Actress in a Movie or Miniseries
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
Rebecca Mrs. van Hopper TV miniseries
1998 Gia Wilhelmina Cooper Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film
Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
1999 Love Lies Bleeding Josephine Butler
The Thomas Crown Affair The Psychiatrist
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc Yolande of Aragon
2000 The Yards Kitty Olchin
Stanley's Gig Leila
Running Mates Meg Gable Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
2001 Yellow Bird Aurora Beavis Short subject – also director
Festival in Cannes Herself Cameo
2002 Mid-Century Blue/Mother
Changing Hearts Betty Miller
The Rules of Attraction Mrs. Eve Denton
Man of Faith Mae West
2003 Blind Horizon Ms. K
2004 Last Goodbye Sean Winston
El Padrino Atty. Gen. Navarro
Jennifer's Shadow Mary Ellen Cassi
2005 Ghosts Never Sleep Kathleen Dolan
2006 Cut Off Marilyn Burton
Love Hollywood Style God
Rain Isabel Hudson
2007 Cougar Club Edith Birnbaum
Say It in Russian Jacqueline de Rossy
The Gene Generation Josephine Hayden
2008 Flick Lieutenant Annie McKenzie
La Rabbia Madre
2009 Dr. Fugazzi Detective Rowland
Midnight Bayou Odette Lifetime made-for-TV movie
Caroline & The Magic Stone Filomena
Balladyna Dr Ash USA-Poland co-production
Guest appearances
Dunaway & Mirosław Baka - Balladyna
* Grey's Anatomy - Season 5, Episode 16 "An Honest Mistake" as Dr. Margaret Campbell (2009)
* CSI: Crime Scene Investigation "Kiss-Kiss, Bye-Bye" January 26, 2006
* Alias "The Abduction" (2002); "A Higher Echelon" (2003); "The Getaway" (2003), as Ariana Kane
* Soul Food - Season 3, Episode 1 - "Tonight at Noon" (2002)
* Road to Avonlea - Season 6, Episode 76 - "What a Tangled Web We Weave" (1995)
* Columbo: It's All in the Game (1993), as Lauren Staton
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I use to have a huge crush on her back in the 70s in such films as Bonnie and Clyde, Network, The happening, Thomas Crown Affair, Chinatown, Towering inferno, little big man. Lovely eyes, cheeks and lips.
She was hot back then.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/14/10 at 12:28 pm
I use to have a huge crush on her back in the 70s in such films as Bonnie and Clyde, Network, The happening, Thomas Crown Affair, Chinatown, Towering inferno, little big man. Lovely eyes, cheeks and lips.
She was hot back then.
Yes she was nice looking in her younger years.I mainly remember her from Bonnie & Clyde and Chinatown.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: gibbo on 01/14/10 at 6:28 pm
I use to have a huge crush on her back in the 70s in such films as Bonnie and Clyde, Network, The happening, Thomas Crown Affair, Chinatown, Towering inferno, little big man. Lovely eyes, cheeks and lips.
She was hot back then.
Same for me...
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Frank on 01/14/10 at 7:32 pm
Same for me...
http://drnorth.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/faye-dunaway-bonnie-and-clyde.jpg
http://cinematicpassions.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/dunaway-faye-photo-xxl-faye-dunaway-6220471.jpg
A few more for gibbo.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: gibbo on 01/14/10 at 7:58 pm
http://drnorth.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/faye-dunaway-bonnie-and-clyde.jpg
http://cinematicpassions.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/dunaway-faye-photo-xxl-faye-dunaway-6220471.jpg
A few more for gibbo.
...and bonnie pics they were too. ;)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/14/10 at 7:58 pm
http://drnorth.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/faye-dunaway-bonnie-and-clyde.jpg
http://cinematicpassions.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/dunaway-faye-photo-xxl-faye-dunaway-6220471.jpg
A few more for gibbo.
What film was she famous for?
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Frank on 01/14/10 at 8:00 pm
What film was she famous for?
read a few posts above
Bonnie and Clyde, Chinatown, Network...
...and bonnie pics they were too. ;)
yes, Bonnie pics :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/14/10 at 8:01 pm
read a few posts above
Bonnie and Clyde, Chinatown, Network...yes, Bonnie pics :)
Thanks,I just did.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/15/10 at 6:37 am
The word or phrase of the day...Ice Cream
#
Ice cream is a very cold sweet food which is made from frozen cream or a substance like cream and has a flavour such as vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry. N-VAR N-MASS
*
I'll get you some ice cream.
*
...vanilla ice cream. food and drink
#
An ice cream is an amount of ice cream sold in a small container or a cone made of thin biscuit. N-COUNT
*
Do you want an ice cream?
*
They stuffed themselves with ice creams, chocolate and lollies.
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/15/10 at 6:40 am
The birthday of the day...Captain Beefheart
Don Van Vliet (pronounced /vliːt/; born Don Glen Vliet, January 15, 1941) is an American musician, songwriter and painter, best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was mainly conducted with a rotating assembly of musicians called The Magic Band, which was active between the mid-1960s and the early 1980s. Van Vliet was chiefly a singer and harmonica player, occasionally playing saxophone, bass clarinet and keyboards. His most characteristic compositions feature an odd mixture of shifting time signatures, atonal melodies, rhythmically complex and dissonant guitar playing, and surreal, non sequitur lyrics. Van Vliet himself was noted for his dictatorial approach to his musicians and his enigmatic persona and relationship with the public, which culminated in his retirement from music and a "new" career as an artist.
Beefheart's early output was rooted in blues-rock, first releasing and drawing attention with the album Safe as Milk in 1967. He however soon began to draw on and innovatively incorporate additional influences, often in competition and occasional collaboration with his childhood friend Frank Zappa. His most critically acclaimed albums, Trout Mask Replica (1969) and Lick My Decals Off, Baby (1970), iconoclastically take cues from free jazz, avant-garde and contemporary experimental composition. Frustrated with a lack of commercial success after seven studio albums, and fed up with Van Vliet's paranoia and authoritarianism, the group disbanded in 1974. After a brief flirtation with more conventional rock music — resulting in two albums that he has since disowned — Van Vliet formed a new Magic Band with a group of younger musicians and produced three albums, Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) (1978), Doc at the Radar Station (1980) and Ice Cream for Crow (1982), that revisited the eccentricities of his earlier work. While never achieving mainstream commercial success, he has been described as "one of modern music's true innovators" with a "singular body of work virtually unrivalled in its daring and fluid creativity". Van Vliet's music later attracted a devoted following and his influence on fellow musicians, particularly those of the punk, post-punk and New Wave movements, later alternative rock, has been described as "incalculable."
Van Vliet retired from music in the mid-1980s to devote himself to a flourishing and now highly successful career in painting, and he has since made few public appearances. His interest in art dates back to a childhood talent for sculpture. Van Vliet's work, which has been described as modernist, neo-primitive and abstract expressionist, has been exhibited in several countries.
The Magic Band and first records, 1962-1969
Some time after Vliet began using the "Captain Beefheart" stage moniker, during his early collaborations with Frank Zappa, Vic Mortenson and others, the character was sketched out in more fanciful detail. Mortenson explains that "Captain Beefheart was supposed to be a magical character. His thing is he would drink the Pepsi Cola and he could make magic things happen, he could appear or disappear. I told Frank, 'Hey, wouldn't it be cool if Captain Beefheart had a Magic Band, and wherever he went, if he wanted the band to appear, he would take a drink of Pepsi, and BINGO there's the band right behind him, 'jukin'?" Vliet was enamoured with the idea, and soon began inviting musicians to join the Magic Band, which became an extension of the "Captain Beefheart" persona.
In early 1965 he was contacted by Alex Snouffer, a local Lancaster rhythm and blues guitarist. Together they assembled the first professional Magic Band. It was at this point that Don Vliet became Don Van Vliet, whilst Alex Snouffer became Alex St. Claire. The first Magic Band was completed with Doug Moon (guitar), Jerry Handley (bass), and Mortenson (drums), the latter soon replaced by Paul Blakely. Doug Moon later left the band due to Van Vliet's developing experimentalism, which he described as "hinting of things to come".
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band signed to A&M and released two 1966 singles, a version of Bo Diddley's "Diddy Wah Diddy," followed by "Moonchild," which was written by David Gates. Both were hits in Los Angeles. The band played music venues that catered to underground artists, such as the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco.
Sometime in 1966 demos of what became the Safe as Milk material were submitted to A&M. Jerry Moss (the "M" in A&M) reportedly described the new direction as "too negative" and the band was dropped from the label. By the end of 1966 they were signed to Buddah Records and John French had joined on drums. French had the patience required to translate Van Vliet's musical ideas (often expressed by whistling or banging on the piano) for the other players. In French's absence this role was taken over by Bill Harkleroad.
The Safe as Milk material needed much more work, and 20-year-old guitar prodigy Ry Cooder was asked to help. They began recording in spring 1967, with Richard Perry producing (his first job as producer). Cooder left shortly after recording the album, which was released in September 1967. Among those who took notice were The Beatles; John Lennon and Paul McCartney were known as great admirers of Beefheart. Lennon displayed two of the album's promotional bumper stickers in the sunroom at his home. Later the Beatles planned to sign Beefheart to their experimental Zapple label (plans that were scrapped after Allen Klein took over the group's management).
It was January 27, 1968, that saw one Beefheart's most memorable live performances, when he and The Magic Band performed a set in the middle of Cannes Beach, California. They were then set to audition to play at the 1968 Monterey Pop Festival, an event that saw him suffer severe anxiety attacks in the weeks beforehand. He was able to compose himself on the day of the performance; when the band began to play "Electricity", however, Van Vliet froze, straightened his tie, then walked backwards, fell off the ten-foot stage, and landed directly on top on the manager. It was this that made Ry Cooder decide he could no longer work with Van Vliet.
In August, guitarist Jeff Cotton was recruited and by November the Snouffer/Cotton/Handley/French line-up began recording for the second album. It is said to have been intended to be a double album called It Comes to You in a Plain Brown Wrapper, with one disc recorded live (or live in the studio). What finally emerged in October 1968 was Strictly Personal, released on producer Bob Krasnow's Blue Thumb Records. After the album was released Van Vliet initiated through interviews a myth which alleged that the tapes of the album had been remixed by Krasnow without the band's knowledge, and further, that he had ruined it by adding modish psychedelic effects, particularly phasing. This is included as fact in Jason Ankeny's Allmusic biography. Stewart Mason in his Allmusic review of the album itself would describe it as a "terrific album" and a "fascinating, underrated release", "every bit the equal of Safe as Milk and Trout Mask Replica". Langdon Winner of Rolling Stone would call Strictly Personal "an excellent album. The guitars of the Magic Band mercilessly bend and stretch notes in a way that suggests that the world of music has wobbled clear off its axis." With the lyrics demonstrating "Beefheart's ability to juxtapose delightful humor with frightening insights". This was also the period in which Van Vliet furthered his own mythology through interviews. Earlier recordings of two of the Strictly Personal songs and two other songs were released by Buddah in 1971 under the title Mirror Man. The original release bore a sleeve note claiming that the material had been recorded "one night in Los Angeles in 1965". This was a ruse to circumvent possible copyright issues; the material was actually recorded in November and December 1967.
During his first trip to England in January 1968, Captain Beefheart was briefly represented by mod icon Peter Meaden, an early manager of The Who. The Captain and his band members were initially denied entry to the United Kingdom, because of improper paperwork. After returning to Germany for a few days, the group was permitted to re-enter the UK. By this time, they had terminated their association with Meaden. Alex St. Claire left the band in June 1968 after their return from the European tour and was replaced by teenager Bill Harkleroad. Handley also left the band a few weeks later.
Trout Mask Replica, 1969
Critically acclaimed as Van Vliet's magnum opus, Trout Mask Replica was released in June 1969 on Frank Zappa's newly formed Straight Records label. By this time, the Magic Band had enlisted bassist Mark Boston, a friend of French and Harkleroad. Van Vliet had also begun assigning nicknames to his band members, so Harkleroad became "Zoot Horn Rollo", and Boston became "Rockette Morton", while John French assumed the name "Drumbo", and Jeff Cotton became "Antennae Jimmy Semens". The group rehearsed Van Vliet's difficult compositions for eight months, living communally in conditions drummer John French described as "cult-like". According to Vliet, the 28 songs on the album were quickly written in roughly eight hours, though band members have stated that he worked on the compositions for roughly 3 weeks using a piano as his writing tool. It took the band about eight months to actually mold the songs into shape.
Trout Mask Replica displayed a wide variety of genres, including blues, avant-garde, experimental music, and rock. The relentless practice prior to recording blended the music into an iconoclastic whole of contrapuntal tempos, featuring slide guitar, polyrhythmic drumming, and honking saxophone and bass clarinet. Van Vliet's vocals range from his signature Howlin' Wolf-inspired growl to frenzied falsetto to laconic, casual ramblings. The instrumental backing was effectively recorded live in the studio, while Van Vliet overdubbed most of the vocals in only partial synch with the music by hearing the slight sound leakage through the studio window.
Van Vliet used the ensuing publicity, particularly with a 1970 Rolling Stone interview with Langdon Winner, to promulgate a number of myths which have subsequently been quoted as fact. Winner's article stated, for instance, that neither Van Vliet nor the members of the Magic Band ever took drugs, but guitarist Bill Harkleroad later refuted this. Van Vliet claimed to have taught both Harkleroad and bassist Mark Boston to play their instruments from scratch; in fact the pair were already accomplished musicians before joining the band. Last, Van Vliet claimed to have gone a year and half without sleeping. When asked how this was possible, he replied to have only eaten fruit.
Critic Steve Huey of Allmusic writes that the album's influence "was felt more in spirit than in direct copycatting, as a catalyst rather than a literal musical starting point. However, its inspiring reimagining of what was possible in a rock context laid the groundwork for countless experiments in rock surrealism to follow, especially during the punk and New Wave era." In 2003, the album was ranked fifty-eighth by Rolling Stone in their list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: "On first listen, Trout Mask Replica sounds like raw Delta blues", with Beefheart "singing and ranting and reciting poetry over fractured guitar licks. But the seeming sonic chaos is an illusion -- to construct the songs, the Magic Band rehearsed twelve hours a day for months on end in a house with the windows blacked out. (Producer Frank Zappa was then able to record most of the album in less than five hours.) Tracks such as "Ella Guru" and "My Human Gets Me Blues" are the direct predecessors of modern musical primitives such as Tom Waits and PJ Harvey".
Later recordings, 1970-1982
Lick My Decals Off, Baby (1970) continued in a similarly experimental vein. The album was Van Vliet's most commercially successful in the United Kingdom, spending twenty weeks on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number 20. An early promotional music video was made of its title song, and a bizarre television commercial was also filmed that included excerpts from "Woe-Is-uh-Me-Bop," silent footage of masked Magic Band members using kitchen utensils as musical instruments, and Beefheart kicking over a bowl of what appears to be porridge onto a dividing stripe in the middle of a road. The video was rarely played but was accepted into the Museum of Modern Art, where it has been used in several programs. The LP sees the addition of Art Tripp III to the band, who had joined from the Mothers of Invention, playing drums and marimba. Lick My Decals Off, Baby was the first record on which the band were credited as "The Magic Band", rather than "His Magic Band"; journalist Irwin Chusid interprets this change as "a grudging concession of its members' at least semiautonomous humanity."
Van Vliet in 1974 performing as Beefheart
The next two records, The Spotlight Kid (simply credited to "Captain Beefheart") and Clear Spot (credited to "Captain Beefheart And The Magic Band"), both released in 1972, were much more conventional. In 1974, immediately after the recording of Unconditionally Guaranteed—an album which continued the trend towards a more commercial sound heard on several of the Clear Spot tracks—The Magic Band, which had by then coalesced around the core of Art Tripp III, Alex St. Clair, Bill Harkleroad and Rockette Morton, decided they could no longer work with Van Vliet, who was by all accounts a severe taskmaster. They left to form Mallard. Van Vliet quickly formed a new Magic Band of musicians who had no experience with his music and in fact had never heard it. Having no knowledge of the previous Magic Band style they simply improvised what they thought would go with each song, played much slicker versions that have been described as "bar band" versions of Beefheart's songs. A negative review described this incarnation of the Magic Band as the "Tragic Band," a term that has stuck over the years. The one album they recorded, Bluejeans & Moonbeams (1974) has, like its predecessor Unconditionally Guaranteed, a completely different, almost soft-rock, sound from any other Beefheart record. Neither was well received; drummer Art Tripp recalled that when he and the original Magic Band listened to Unconditionally Guaranteed that they "were horrified. As we listened, it was as though each song was worse than the one which preceded it." Beefheart later disowned both albums, calling them "horrible and vulgar", asking that they not be considered part of his musical output and urging fans who bought them to "take copies back for a refund".
The friendship between Frank Zappa and Van Vliet over the years was sometimes expressed in the form of rivalry as musicians drifted back and forth between Van Vliet and Zappa's respective groups. Their collaborative work can be found on the 1975 album Bongo Fury, along with Zappa rarity collections The Lost Episodes (1996) and Mystery Disc (1996). Particularly notable is Beefheart's vocal on "Willie the Pimp" from Zappa's otherwise instrumental album Hot Rats (1969).
From 1975 to 1977 there were no new records (the original version of Bat Chain Puller was recorded in 1976 but has never been released). In 1978 a completely new band was formed (consisting of Richard Redus, Jeff Moris Tepper, Bruce Fowler, Eric Drew Feldman and Robert Williams). These were from a younger generation of musicians eager to work with him and extremely capable of playing his music. In several cases they had been fans for years, and had learned his music from records.
Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller), released in 1978, was largely regarded as a return to form. Described by Ned Ragget of Allmusic to "be manna from heaven for those feeling Beefheart had lost his way on his two Mercury albums". Doc at the Radar Station (1980) helped establish Beefheart's late resurgence as possibly the most consistently creative period of his musical career. Released by Virgin records during the post-punk scene, the music was again accessible by a younger more receptive audience. Van Vliet said at this period, "I'm doing a non-hypnotic music to break up the catatonic state... and I think there is one right now." Steve Huey of Allmusic would cite the album as being "generally acclaimed as the strongest album of his comeback, and by some as his best since Trout Mask Replica", "even if the Captain's voice isn't quite what it once was, Doc at the Radar Station is an excellent, focused consolidation of Beefheart's past and then-present".
In this period, Van Vliet made two appearances on David Letterman's late night television program on NBC, and also performed on Saturday Night Live. The final Beefheart record, Ice Cream for Crow (1982), was recorded with Gary Lucas (who was also Van Vliet's manager), Jeff Moris Tepper, Richard Snyder and Cliff Martinez. This line-up made a video to promote the title track which was rejected by MTV for being "too weird." However, that video was included in the Letterman broadcast on NBC-TV. Soon after, Van Vliet retired from music and established a new career as a painter.
Artistic career, 1982 to present
In the mid 1980s, Van Vliet became somewhat reclusive and abandoned music, stating he could make far more money painting. He was initially dismissed by some critics as "another rock musician dabbling in art for ego's sake". Over the years, however, his work began receiving positive attention. His artwork, like his music, has been seen as extreme and innovative, it commands high prices, some paintings of up to $25,000.
Cross Poked Shadow of a Crow No. 1 (1990)
Rolled Roots Gnarled Like Rakers (1985)
In the early 1980s Van Vliet established an association with the Michael Werner Gallery. Eric Feldman stated later in an interview that at that time Michael Werner told Van Vliet he would need to stop playing music if he wanted to be respected as a painter. Gordon Veneklasen, one of the gallery's directors in 1995 described Van Vliet as an "incredible painter" whose work "doesn't really look like anybody else's work but his own." Van Vliet has been described as a modernist, primitivist and an abstract expressionist. Morgan Falconer of Artforum concurs mentioning both a "neo-primitivist aesthetic" and further stating that his work is influenced by the CoBrA painters. The resemblance to the CoBrA painters is also recognized by art critic Roberto Ohrt. Some have compared it to the work of Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline and Francis Bacon.
According to Dr. John Lane, director of the Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco in 1997, although Van Vliet's work has associations with mainstream abstract expressionist painting, more importantly he is a self-taught artist and his painting "has that same kind of edge the music has." Van Vliet has stated of his own work, "I'm trying to turn myself inside out on the canvas. I'm trying to completely bare what I think at that moment" and has stated of precedent influences that there are none. "I just paint like I paint and that's enough influence."
Exhibits in 2007 of his paintings through the late 1990s at both the Anton Kern and Michael Werner Galleries of New York City received favorable reviews, the most recent of which was in 2008. Falconer stated the recent exhibitions show "evidence of a serious, committed artist."
Personal life
Van Vliet is last known to reside in Valhala, a small community near the Mojave Desert, in a mobile home with his wife Janet "Jan" Van Vliet. It was claimed that he stopped painting in the late 1990s. Around that time, it became publicly known that he had become wheelchair-bound and was suffering from a debilitating long-term illness. Cited and considered to most likely be multiple sclerosis. A 2007 interview with Van Vliet through email by Anthony Haden-Guest however, showed him to still be active artistically.
One of Van Vliet's few public appearances since his retirement from music is in the 1993 short documentary Some Yo Yo Stuff by filmmaker Anton Corbijn, described as an "observation of his observations". Around 13 minutes long and shot entirely in black and white, the film shows a noticeably weakened and dysarthric Van Vliet at his residence in California, reading poetry, and philosophically discussing his life, environment, music and art. In 2003 he appeared on the compilation album Where We Live: Stand for What You Stand On: A Benefit CD for EarthJustice singing a version of "Happy Birthday To You" retitled "Happy Earthday". The track is 35 seconds long and was recorded over the telephone.
Legacy
Van Vliet has been the subject of at least one documentary, the BBC's 1997 The Artist Formerly Known As Captain Beefheart., which was narrated by BBC disc jockey John Peel. The Magic Band, fronted by John French, with Denny Walley, Mark Boston and Gary Lucas, reformed without Van Vliet in 2003; and in 2005 toured the UK, playing a selection of small venues. John Peel was initially skeptical about the reformed Magic Band. He played a live recording of the band recorded at the 2003 All Tomorrows Parties festival on his show. After playing their set Peel couldn't speak and had to play a record to regain his composure. A year or so later the band did a live session for Peel. The band released two albums. Back To The Front was released on London the based ATP Recordings in 2003. 21st Century Mirror Men, followed in 2005. After playing over 30 shows throughout the United Kingdom and Europe, and just one in the United States, the band concluded their activities in 2006.
Influence
John Peel stated, "If there has ever been such a thing as a genius in the history of popular music, it's Beefheart... I heard echoes of his music in some of the records I listened to last week and I'll hear more echoes in records that I listen to this week." Describing him as a "psychedelic shaman who frequently bullied his musicians and sometimes alarmed his fans; Don somehow remained one of rock's great innocents". Many artists have cited Van Vliet as an influence, beginning with the Edgar Broughton Band, who covered "Dropout Boogie" (mixed with The Shadows' "Apache") as early as 1970. More notable were those emerging during the early days of punk rock, such as the Clash and John Lydon of the Sex Pistols, later of the post-punk band Public Image Ltd. This influence has seen Van Vliet often cited as a protopunk musician.
Cartoonist and writer Matt Groening tells of listening to Trout Mask Replica at the age of 15 and thinking "that it was the worst thing I'd ever heard. I said to myself, they're not even trying! It was just a sloppy cacophony. Then I listened to it a couple more times, because I couldn't believe Frank Zappa could do this to me - and because a double album cost a lot of money. About the third time, I realised they were doing it on purpose; they meant it to sound exactly this way. About the sixth or seventh time, it clicked in, and I thought it was the greatest album I'd ever heard."
Van Vliet's influence on the post-punk bands was demonstrated by Magazine's recording of "I Love You You Big Dummy" in 1978 and the tribute album Fast 'n' Bulbous - A Tribute to Captain Beefheart in 1988, featuring the likes of artists such as the Dog Faced Hermans, The Scientists, The Membranes, Simon Fisher Turner, That Petrol Emotion, the Primevals, The Mock Turtles, XTC, and Sonic Youth, who included a cover of Beefheart's "Electricity" as a bonus track on the deluxe edition of their critically acclaimed album Daydream Nation. The Minutemen were great fans of Beefheart, and were arguably among the few to effectively synthesize his music with their own, especially in their early output, which featured disjointed guitar and irregular, galloping rhythms. Michael Azerrad describes The Minutemen's early as "highly caffeinated Captain Beefheart running down James Brown tunes", and notes that Beefheart was the group's "idol". Mark E. Smith of The Fall would also acknowledge his admiration of Beefheart.
Tom Waits' shift in artistic direction, starting with 1983's Swordfishtrombones, was, Waits claims, a result of his wife introducing him to Van Vliet's music. Guitarist John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers has also cited Van Vliet as a prominent influence on the band's 1991 album Blood Sugar Sex Magik as well as his debut solo album Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt (1994) and stated that during his drug-induced absence, after leaving the Red Hot Chili Peppers, he "would paint and listen to Trout Mask Replica." Black Francis of the Pixies would cite Beefheart's The Spotlight Kid as one of the albums he listened to predominately when first writing songs for the band, citing influence and admiration of Van Vliet generally. Kurt Cobain of Nirvana would also acknowledge the influence of Van Vliet. The White Stripes in 2000 released a 7'' tribute single, Party of Special Things to Do, containing covers of Beefheart's "Party of Special Things to Do", "China Pig" and "Ashtray Heart". Franz Ferdinand cited Beefheart's 1980 album Doc At The Radar Station as a strong influence on their second LP, You Could Have It So Much Better. Placebo briefly named themselves Ashtray Heart, after the track on Doc at the Radar Station; the band's album Battle for the Sun contains a track called "Ashtray Heart". Joan Osborne covered Beefheart's "(His) Eyes are a Blue Million Miles," which appears on Early Recordings. She cites Van Vliet as one of her influences.
Discography
Main article: Captain Beefheart discography
* Safe as Milk (1967)
* Strictly Personal (1968)
* Trout Mask Replica (1969)
* Lick My Decals Off, Baby (1970)
* Mirror Man (1971)
* The Spotlight Kid (1972)
* Clear Spot (1972)
* Unconditionally Guaranteed (1974)
* Bluejeans & Moonbeams (1974)
* Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) (1978)
* Doc at the Radar Station (1980)
* Ice Cream for Crow (1982)
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/15/10 at 6:49 am
The person of the day...Harry Nilsson
Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 — January 15, 1994) was an American songwriter, singer, pianist, and guitarist who achieved the height of his fame during the 1960s and 1970s. For most of his recordings, he did not use his first name, and was credited only as Nilsson. Among Nilsson's best-known recordings are "Without You", "Jump into the Fire", "Everybody's Talkin'" and "Coconut".
Nilsson's personal and musical style is best described as witty and idiosyncratic, yet always he was a consummate pop craftsman much in demand especially in the late 1960s. He garnered many critical and commercial successes, including two Grammy Awards and two Top 10 singles, despite his tendency to switch styles from one album to the next and his generally iconoclastic decision-making.
Nilsson signed with RCA Victor in 1966 and released an album the following year, Pandemonium Shadow Show, which was a critical (if not commercial) success. Music industry insiders were impressed both with the songwriting and with Nilsson's pure-toned, multi-octave vocals. One such insider was The Beatles press officer Derek Taylor, who bought an entire box of copies of the album to share this new sound with others. With a major-label release, and continued songwriting success (most notably with The Monkees, who had a hit with Nilsson's "Cuddly Toy," after meeting him through their producer Chip Douglas), Nilsson finally felt secure enough in the music business to quit his job with the bank. Monkees member Micky Dolenz maintained a close friendship until Nilsson's death in 1994.
Some of the albums from Derek Taylor's box eventually ended up with the Beatles themselves, who quickly became Nilsson fans. This may have been helped by the track "You Can't Do That", in which Nilsson covered one Beatles song but added 22 others in the multi-tracked background vocals. When John Lennon and Paul McCartney held a press conference in 1968 to announce the formation of Apple Corps, John was asked to name his favorite American artist. He replied, "Nilsson". Paul was then asked to name his favorite American group. He replied, "Nilsson".
Aided by the Beatles' praise, "You Can't Do That" became a minor hit in the US, and a top 10 hit in Canada.
When RCA had asked if there was anything special he wanted as a signing premium, Nilsson asked for his own office at RCA, being used to working out of one. In the weeks after the Apple press conference, Nilsson's office phone began ringing constantly, with offers and requests for interviews and inquiries about his performing schedule. Nilsson usually answered the calls himself, surprising the callers, and answered questions candidly. (He recalled years later the flow of a typical conversation: "When did you play last?" "I didn't." "Where have you played before?" "I haven't." "When will you be playing next?" "I don't.") Nilsson acquired a manager, who steered him into a handful of TV guest appearances, and a brief run of stage performances in Europe set up by RCA. He disliked the experiences he had, though, and decided to stick to the recording studio. He later admitted this was a huge mistake on his part.
Once John Lennon called and praised Pandemonium Shadow Show, which he had listened to in a 36-hour marathon. Paul McCartney called later, also expressing his admiration. Nilsson was disappointed that he didn't receive a call from Ringo Starr or George Harrison, but shortly after a message came, inviting him to London to meet the Beatles, watch them at work, and possibly sign with Apple Corps.
Pandemonium Shadow Show was followed in 1968 by Aerial Ballet, an album that included Nilsson's rendition of Fred Neil's song "Everybody's Talkin'". A minor US hit at the time of release (and a top 40 hit in Canada), the song would become extremely popular a year later when it was featured in the film Midnight Cowboy, and it would earn Nilsson his first Grammy Award. The song would also become Nilsson's first US top 10 hit, reaching #6, and his first Canadian #1.
Aerial Ballet also contained Nilsson's version of his own composition, One, which was later taken to the top 5 of the US charts by Three Dog Night. Nilsson was also commissioned at this time to write and perform the theme song for the ABC television series The Courtship of Eddie's Father. The result, "Best Friend", was very popular, but Nilsson never released the song on record; an alternate version, "Girlfriend", did appear on the 1995 Personal Best anthology. Late in 1968, The Monkees' notorious experimental film Head premiered, featuring a memorable song-and-dance sequence with Davy Jones and Toni Basil performing Nilsson's composition "Daddy's Song." (This is followed by Frank Zappa's cameo as "The Critic," who dismisses the 1920s-style tune as "pretty white.")
With the success of Nilsson's RCA recordings, Tower re-issued or re-packaged many of their early Nilsson recordings in various formats. All of these re-issues failed to chart, including a 1969 single "Good Times".
Chart success
Nilsson's next album, Harry (1969), was his first to hit the charts, and also provided a Top 40 single with "I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City" (written as a contender for the theme to Midnight Cowboy), but used instead in the Sophia Loren movie La Mortadella (1971) (USA title: Lady Liberty). While the album still presented Nilsson as primarily a songwriter, his astute choice of cover material included, this time, a song by a then-little-known composer named Randy Newman, "Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear." Nilsson was so impressed with Newman's talent that he devoted his entire next album to Newman compositions, with Newman himself playing piano behind Nilsson's multi-tracked vocals. The result, Nilsson Sings Newman (1970), was commercially disappointing but was named Record of the Year by Stereo Review magazine and provided momentum to Newman's career.
Nilsson's next project was an animated film, The Point!, created with animation director Fred Wolf, and broadcast on ABC television on February 2, 1971, as an "ABC Movie of the Week." Nilsson's album of songs from The Point! was well received, and it spawned a hit single, "Me and My Arrow."
Later that year, Nilsson went to England with producer Richard Perry to record what became the most successful album of his career. Nilsson Schmilsson yielded three very stylistically different hit singles. The first was a cover of Badfinger's song "Without You" (by Pete Ham and Tom Evans), featuring a highly emotional arrangement and soaring vocals to match, a performance that was rewarded with Nilsson's second Grammy Award.
The second single was "Coconut", a novelty calypso number featuring three characters (the narrator, the sister, and the doctor) all sung in different voices by Nilsson. The song is best remembered for its chorus lyric, "Put de lime in de coconut, and drink 'em both up." Also notable is that the entire song is played using one chord, C 7th. Coconut was featured in Episode 81 (October 25, 1973) of the Flip Wilson Show. The song has since been featured in many other films and commercials. It was also used in a comedy skit on The Muppet Show, which featured Kermit the Frog in a hospital bed. The song was also used during the end credits of Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs.
The third single, "Jump into the Fire", was raucous, screaming rock and roll, including a drum solo by Derek and the Dominos' Jim Gordon and a bass detuning by Herbie Flowers. The song was famously used during the "Sunday, May 11, 1980", sequence in the film Goodfellas.
Nilsson followed quickly with Son of Schmilsson (1972), released while its predecessor was still in the charts. Besides the problem of competing with himself, Nilsson's decision to give free rein to his bawdiness and bluntness on this release alienated some of his earlier, more conservative fan base. With lyrics like "I sang my balls off for you, baby", "Roll the world over / And give her a kiss and a feel", and the notorious "You're breaking my heart / You're tearing it apart / So fudge you", Nilsson had traveled far afield from his earlier work. Still, the album did well, and the single "Spaceman" was a Top 40 hit. However, the follow-up single "Remember (Christmas)" stalled at #53. A third single, the tongue-in-cheek C&W send up "Joy", was issued on RCA's country imprint Green and credited to Buck Earle, but it failed to chart.
The maverick
This disregard for commercialism in favor of artistic satisfaction showed itself in Nilsson's next release, A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (1973). Performing a selection of pop standards by the likes of Irving Berlin, Kalmar and Ruby, Nilsson sang in front of an orchestra arranged and conducted by veteran Gordon Jenkins in sessions produced by Derek Taylor. While the sessions showcased a talented singer in one of his best performances, this musical endeavor did not do particularly well commercially. The session was filmed, and was broadcast as a television special by the BBC in the UK.
1973 found Nilsson back in California, and when John Lennon moved there during his separation from Yoko Ono, the two musicians rekindled their earlier friendship. Lennon was intent upon producing Nilsson's next album, much to Nilsson's delight. However, their time together in California became known much more for heavy drinking and drug use than it did for musical collaboration. In a widely publicized incident, they were ejected from the Troubadour nightclub in West Hollywood for drunken heckling of the Smothers Brothers. Both men also caused property damage during binges, with Lennon trashing a bedroom in Lou Adler's house, and Nilsson throwing a bottle through a thirty-foot hotel window.
To make matters worse, Nilsson ruptured a vocal cord during the sessions for this album, but he hid the injury due to fear that Lennon would call a halt to the production. The resulting album was Pussy Cats. In an effort to clean up, Lennon, Nilsson and Ringo Starr first rented a house together, then Lennon and Nilsson left for New York.
After the relative failure of his latest two albums, RCA Records considered dropping Nilsson's contract. In a show of friendship, Lennon accompanied Nilsson to negotiations, and both intimated to RCA that Lennon and Starr might want to sign with them, once their Apple Records contracts with EMI expired in 1975, but wouldn't be interested if Nilsson were no longer with the label. RCA took the hint and re-signed Nilsson (adding a bonus clause, to apply to each new album completed), but neither Lennon nor Starr switched to RCA.
Nilsson's voice had mostly recovered by his next release, Duit on Mon Dei (1975), but neither it nor its follow-ups, Sandman and …That's the Way It Is (both 1976) met with chart success. Finally, Nilsson recorded what he later considered to be his favorite album, 1977's Knnillssonn. With his voice strong again, and his songs exploring musical territory reminiscent of Harry or The Point!, Nilsson had every right to expect Knnillssonn to be a comeback album. RCA Victor seemed to agree, and promised Nilsson a substantial marketing campaign for the album. However, the death of Elvis Presley caused RCA Victor to ignore everything except meeting demand for Presley's back catalog, and the promised marketing push never happened. This, combined with RCA Victor releasing a Nilsson Greatest Hits collection without consulting him, prompted Nilsson to leave the label.
London flat
Nilsson's 1970s London flat in the building at 12 Curzon Street on the edge of Mayfair, was a two-bedroom apartment decorated by the design company that ex-Beatle Ringo Starr and Robin Cruikshank owned at that time. Nilsson cumulatively spent several years at the flat, which was located near Apple Records, the Playboy Club, Tramps disco and the homes of friends and business associates. Nilsson's work and interests took him to the U.S. for extended periods, and while he was away he lent his place to numerous musician friends. During one of his absences, ex-Mamas and Papas singer Cass Elliot and a few members of her tour group stayed at the flat while she performed solo at the London Palladium, headlining with her Torch Songs and "Don't Call Me Mama Anymore." Following a strenuous performance with encores, Elliot returned to the flat to relax and sleep and was discovered in one of the bedrooms, dead of heart failure, on July 29, 1974.
On September 7, 1978, The Who's drummer Keith Moon returned to the same room in the flat after a night out, and died from an overdose of chlormethiazole, a prescribed anti-alcohol drug. Nilsson, distraught over another friend's death in his flat, and having little need for the property, sold it to Moon's bandmate Pete Townshend and consolidated his life in Los Angeles.
Winding down
Nilsson's musical work after leaving RCA Victor was sporadic. He wrote a musical, Zapata, with Perry Botkin, Jr., libretto by Allan Katz, which was produced and directed by longtime friend Bert Convy. The show was mounted at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Connecticut, but never had another production. He wrote all the songs for Robert Altman's movie-musical Popeye (1980), the score of which met with unfavorable reviews. Nilsson's Popeye compositions included several songs that were representative of Nilsson's acclaimed "Point" era, such as "Everything is Food" and "Sweethaven". He recorded one more album, Flash Harry co-produced by Bruce Robb (producer) and Steve Cropper, which was released in the UK but not in the USA. However, Nilsson increasingly began referring to himself as a "retired musician".
Nilsson was profoundly affected by the murder of his close friend John Lennon on December 8, 1980. He joined the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and overcame his preference for privacy to make appearances for gun control fundraising.
After a long hiatus from the studio, Nilsson started recording sporadically once again in the mid to late 1980s. Most of these recordings were commissioned songs for movies or television shows. One notable exception was his work on a Yoko Ono Lennon tribute album, "Every Man Has A Woman" (1984) (Polydor); another was a cover of "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" recorded for Hal Willner's 1988 tribute album Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films. Nilsson donated his performance royalties from the song to the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.
In 1991, the Disney CD For Our Children, a compilation of children's music performed by celebrities to benefit the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, included Nilsson's original composition Blanket for a Sail, recorded at the Shandaliza Recording Studio in Los Angeles.
In 1985 Nilsson set up a production company, Hawkeye, to oversee the various film, TV and multimedia projects he was involved in. He appointed his friend, satirist and screenwriter Terry Southern as one of the principals, and they collaborated on a number of screenplays including Obits (a Citizen Kane style story about a journalist investigating an obituary notice) and The Telephone, a one-hander about an unhinged unemployed actor.
The Telephone was virtually the only Hawkeye project that made it to the screen. It had been written with Robin Williams in mind but he turned it down; comedian-actress Whoopi Goldberg then signed on, with Southern's friend Rip Torn directing, but the project was troubled. Torn battled with Goldberg, who interfered in the production and constantly digressed from the script during shooting, and Torn was forced to plead with her to perform takes that stuck to the screenplay. Torn, Southern and Nilsson put together their own version of the film, which screened at the Sundance Film Festival in early 1988, but it was overtaken by the "official" version from the studio, and this version premiered to poor reviews in late January 1988. The project reportedly had some later success when adapted as a theatre piece in Germany.
In 1990 Hawkeye collapsed and Nilsson found himself in a dire financial situation after it was discovered that his financial adviser Cindy Sims had betrayed his trust and embezzled all the funds he had earned as a recording artist. The Nilssons were left with $300 in the bank and a mountain of debt, while Sims served less than two years for her crimes and was released from prison in 1994 without making restitution.
After the death of John Lennon, he began to appear at Beatlefest conventions to raise money for gun control and he would get on stage with the Beatlefest house band "Liverpool" to either sing some of his own songs or "Give Peace a Chance." Nilsson made his last concert appearance September 1, 1992, when he joined Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band on stage at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada to sing "Without You" with Todd Rundgren handling the high notes. Afterwards, an emotional Ringo Starr embraced Nilsson on stage.
Nilsson's health had deteriorated, and he suffered a massive heart attack in 1993. After surviving that, he began pressing his old label, RCA, to release a boxed-set retrospective of his career, and resumed recording, attempting to complete one final album. He finished the vocal tracks for the album on January 15, 1994, with producer Mark Hudson who still holds the tapes of that session, and then died that night of heart failure in Agoura Hills, California. The following year, the 2-CD anthology he worked on with RCA, Personal Best, was released.
Legacy
Nilsson was survived by his third wife, Una (née O'Keeffe), and their six children, and one son from an earlier marriage. His wife discussed both John Lennon and Nilsson in the film The U.S. vs. John Lennon, which opened September 15 2006. Nilsson himself is the subject of a 2006 documentary, Who is Harry Nilsson? (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him) produced by David Leaf and John Schienfeld. The film was screened in 2006 at the Seattle International Film Festival and the Santa Barbara Film Festival. In August 2006, the film received its Los Angeles premiere when it was screened at the 7th Annual Mods & Rockers Film Festival followed by a panel discussion about Nilsson featuring the filmmakers and his good friends producer Richard Perry and attorney/executive producer Lee Blackman.
In 2006, Harry Nilsson's first grandchild, a boy, was born in California.
In May 2005 WPS1 art radio played tribute to Nilsson with curator Sherrie Fell and brother and sister hosts Bernadette and Harry O'Reilly.
As of November 2008, Nilsson's final album, tentatively titled Papa's Got a Brown New Robe (produced by Mark Hudson) has not been released, though several demos from the album are available on promotional CDs and online.
Discography
Albums
* Hollywood Dreamer (Recorded In 1962)
* Spotlight on Nilsson (1966) (Tower Records)
* Pandemonium Shadow Show (1967) (RCA Records)
* Aerial Ballet (1968) (RCA Records)
* Skidoo (soundtrack) (1968) (RCA Records)
* Harry (1969) (RCA Records), US #120
* Rock n Roll Nilsson (1969) (Pickwick Records)- reissue of Spotlight on Nilsson
* Nilsson Sings Newman (1970)
* The Point! (1971) (RCA Records), US #25
* Aerial Pandemonium Ballet (1971), US #149
* Nilsson Schmilsson (1971), US #3
* Son of Schmilsson (1972) (RCA Records), US #12
* A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (1973) (RCA Records), US #46
* Son of Dracula (1974) (RCA Records), US #106
* Pussy Cats (1974) (RCA Records), US #60
* A Toot and a Snore in '74 (1974) (John Lennon & Paul McCartney also featuring Stevie Wonder and Harry Nilsson) - a 30 minute studio bootleg
* Duit on Mon Dei (1975) (RCA Records), US #141
* Sandman (1976) (RCA Records), US #111
* …That's the Way It Is (1976) (RCA Records), US #158
* Knnillssonn (1977) (RCA Records), US #108
* Flash Harry (1980) (not released in USA) (Mercury Records)
* Early Tymes (1982) (CBS Records)
* A touch more Schmilsson in the night (1988) (BMG Records)
* Harry Nilsson - All Time Greatest Hits(1989), US #140
* Personal Best: The Harry Nilsson Anthology (1995) (RCA Records)
* Nilsson: Greatest Hits (2002) (RCA Records)
* Everybody's Talkin': The Very Best of Harry Nilsson (2006) (Legacy Recordings)
Compilations
* Performed "Silver Horse", "Dream Love" & "Loneliness" on 'Every Man Has a Woman' (Songs of Yoko Ono), 1984 (one of various artists).
* Performed Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah on Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films, 1988 (one of various artists).
Singles
As Bo Pete:
* 1964: Baa Baa Blacksheep
* 1964: Do You Wanna (Have Some Fun)
As Johnny Niles:
* 1964: Donna I Understand
As Nilsson:
* 1964: Sixteen Tons (Tower 103)
* 1965: You Can't Take Your Love Away From Me (Tower 136)
* 1965: The Path That Leads To Trouble (Tower 165)
* 1966: She's Yours (Tower 244)
* 1967: Without Her
* 1967: You Can't Do That (US #122, Canada #10)
* 1967: River Deep - Mountain High (Canadian release only)
* 1967: Good Old Desk (European release only)
* 1968: One
* 1968: Everybody's Talkin' (initial release -- US #113, Canada #35)
* 1969: I Will Take You There
* 1969: Everybody's Talkin' (re-release -- US #6, US A/C #2, Canada #1, Canada A/C #1, UK #23)
* 1969: Good Times
* 1969: Maybe
* 1969: I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City (US #34, US A/C #7, Canada #25, Canada A/C #3)
* 1970: Waiting (US A/C #40, Canada A/C #31)
* 1970: Caroline
* 1970: Down To The Valley (Canada #80)
* 1971: Me And My Arrow (US #34, US A/C #3, Canada #23, Canada A/C #17)
* 1971: Without You (US #1, US A/C #1, Canada #1, Canada A/C #24, UK #1)
* 1972: Jump Into The Fire (US #27, Canada #16)
* 1972: Coconut (US #8, Canada #5, UK #42)
* 1972: Spaceman (US #23, Canada #12)
* 1972: Remember (Christmas) (US #53, US A/C #21, Canada #57, Canada A/C #14)
* 1973: As Time Goes By (US #86, US A/C #35, Canada A/C #87)
* 1974: Daybreak (US #39, US A/C #37, Canada #15, Canada A/C #17)
* 1974: Many Rivers To Cross (US #109, Canada #82, Canada A/C #43)
* 1974: Subterranean Homesick Blues
* 1974: Save The Last Dance For Me (UK release only)
* 1974: Don't Forget Me
* 1975: A Love Like Yours (Nilsson & Cher)
* 1975: Kojak Columbo
* 1976: Something True (UK release only)
* 1976: Sail Away
* 1976: Just One Look/Baby I'm Yours (medley), duet with former Supreme Lynda Laurence (UK release only)
* 1977: Who Done It?
* 1977: All I Think About Is You (UK #43)
* 1977: Lean On Me (UK release only)
* 1978: Ain't It Kinda Wonderful
* 1980: I Don't Need You (UK release only)
* 1980: Rain (UK release only)
* 1982: With A Bullet (only available to attendees of Beatlefest '82)
* 1984: Loneliness
as Buck Earle:
* 1972: Joy
http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n426/ladygrinningsoul88/nilsson2006125-01_1138188591.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/wundrboi/Harry_Nilsson_publicity_photo.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/bryanclopton/Harry1-1.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l32/Fred_Fred_Wednesday/The%20Monkees/nilssonandmick.jpg
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/15/10 at 7:54 am
I love Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream. :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/15/10 at 9:58 am
I love Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream. :)
Yum, I like Mint Chocolate Chip, Butter Pecan & Chocolate Almond.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: CatwomanofV on 01/15/10 at 11:11 am
The person of the day...Harry Nilsson
Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 — January 15, 1994) was an American songwriter, singer, pianist, and guitarist who achieved the height of his fame during the 1960s and 1970s. For most of his recordings, he did not use his first name, and was credited only as Nilsson. Among Nilsson's best-known recordings are "Without You", "Jump into the Fire", "Everybody's Talkin'" and "Coconut".
Nilsson's personal and musical style is best described as witty and idiosyncratic, yet always he was a consummate pop craftsman much in demand especially in the late 1960s. He garnered many critical and commercial successes, including two Grammy Awards and two Top 10 singles, despite his tendency to switch styles from one album to the next and his generally iconoclastic decision-making.
Nilsson signed with RCA Victor in 1966 and released an album the following year, Pandemonium Shadow Show, which was a critical (if not commercial) success. Music industry insiders were impressed both with the songwriting and with Nilsson's pure-toned, multi-octave vocals. One such insider was The Beatles press officer Derek Taylor, who bought an entire box of copies of the album to share this new sound with others. With a major-label release, and continued songwriting success (most notably with The Monkees, who had a hit with Nilsson's "Cuddly Toy," after meeting him through their producer Chip Douglas), Nilsson finally felt secure enough in the music business to quit his job with the bank. Monkees member Micky Dolenz maintained a close friendship until Nilsson's death in 1994.
Some of the albums from Derek Taylor's box eventually ended up with the Beatles themselves, who quickly became Nilsson fans. This may have been helped by the track "You Can't Do That", in which Nilsson covered one Beatles song but added 22 others in the multi-tracked background vocals. When John Lennon and Paul McCartney held a press conference in 1968 to announce the formation of Apple Corps, John was asked to name his favorite American artist. He replied, "Nilsson". Paul was then asked to name his favorite American group. He replied, "Nilsson".
Aided by the Beatles' praise, "You Can't Do That" became a minor hit in the US, and a top 10 hit in Canada.
When RCA had asked if there was anything special he wanted as a signing premium, Nilsson asked for his own office at RCA, being used to working out of one. In the weeks after the Apple press conference, Nilsson's office phone began ringing constantly, with offers and requests for interviews and inquiries about his performing schedule. Nilsson usually answered the calls himself, surprising the callers, and answered questions candidly. (He recalled years later the flow of a typical conversation: "When did you play last?" "I didn't." "Where have you played before?" "I haven't." "When will you be playing next?" "I don't.") Nilsson acquired a manager, who steered him into a handful of TV guest appearances, and a brief run of stage performances in Europe set up by RCA. He disliked the experiences he had, though, and decided to stick to the recording studio. He later admitted this was a huge mistake on his part.
Once John Lennon called and praised Pandemonium Shadow Show, which he had listened to in a 36-hour marathon. Paul McCartney called later, also expressing his admiration. Nilsson was disappointed that he didn't receive a call from Ringo Starr or George Harrison, but shortly after a message came, inviting him to London to meet the Beatles, watch them at work, and possibly sign with Apple Corps.
Pandemonium Shadow Show was followed in 1968 by Aerial Ballet, an album that included Nilsson's rendition of Fred Neil's song "Everybody's Talkin'". A minor US hit at the time of release (and a top 40 hit in Canada), the song would become extremely popular a year later when it was featured in the film Midnight Cowboy, and it would earn Nilsson his first Grammy Award. The song would also become Nilsson's first US top 10 hit, reaching #6, and his first Canadian #1.
Aerial Ballet also contained Nilsson's version of his own composition, One, which was later taken to the top 5 of the US charts by Three Dog Night. Nilsson was also commissioned at this time to write and perform the theme song for the ABC television series The Courtship of Eddie's Father. The result, "Best Friend", was very popular, but Nilsson never released the song on record; an alternate version, "Girlfriend", did appear on the 1995 Personal Best anthology. Late in 1968, The Monkees' notorious experimental film Head premiered, featuring a memorable song-and-dance sequence with Davy Jones and Toni Basil performing Nilsson's composition "Daddy's Song." (This is followed by Frank Zappa's cameo as "The Critic," who dismisses the 1920s-style tune as "pretty white.")
With the success of Nilsson's RCA recordings, Tower re-issued or re-packaged many of their early Nilsson recordings in various formats. All of these re-issues failed to chart, including a 1969 single "Good Times".
Chart success
Nilsson's next album, Harry (1969), was his first to hit the charts, and also provided a Top 40 single with "I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City" (written as a contender for the theme to Midnight Cowboy), but used instead in the Sophia Loren movie La Mortadella (1971) (USA title: Lady Liberty). While the album still presented Nilsson as primarily a songwriter, his astute choice of cover material included, this time, a song by a then-little-known composer named Randy Newman, "Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear." Nilsson was so impressed with Newman's talent that he devoted his entire next album to Newman compositions, with Newman himself playing piano behind Nilsson's multi-tracked vocals. The result, Nilsson Sings Newman (1970), was commercially disappointing but was named Record of the Year by Stereo Review magazine and provided momentum to Newman's career.
Nilsson's next project was an animated film, The Point!, created with animation director Fred Wolf, and broadcast on ABC television on February 2, 1971, as an "ABC Movie of the Week." Nilsson's album of songs from The Point! was well received, and it spawned a hit single, "Me and My Arrow."
Later that year, Nilsson went to England with producer Richard Perry to record what became the most successful album of his career. Nilsson Schmilsson yielded three very stylistically different hit singles. The first was a cover of Badfinger's song "Without You" (by Pete Ham and Tom Evans), featuring a highly emotional arrangement and soaring vocals to match, a performance that was rewarded with Nilsson's second Grammy Award.
The second single was "Coconut", a novelty calypso number featuring three characters (the narrator, the sister, and the doctor) all sung in different voices by Nilsson. The song is best remembered for its chorus lyric, "Put de lime in de coconut, and drink 'em both up." Also notable is that the entire song is played using one chord, C 7th. Coconut was featured in Episode 81 (October 25, 1973) of the Flip Wilson Show. The song has since been featured in many other films and commercials. It was also used in a comedy skit on The Muppet Show, which featured Kermit the Frog in a hospital bed. The song was also used during the end credits of Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs.
The third single, "Jump into the Fire", was raucous, screaming rock and roll, including a drum solo by Derek and the Dominos' Jim Gordon and a bass detuning by Herbie Flowers. The song was famously used during the "Sunday, May 11, 1980", sequence in the film Goodfellas.
Nilsson followed quickly with Son of Schmilsson (1972), released while its predecessor was still in the charts. Besides the problem of competing with himself, Nilsson's decision to give free rein to his bawdiness and bluntness on this release alienated some of his earlier, more conservative fan base. With lyrics like "I sang my balls off for you, baby", "Roll the world over / And give her a kiss and a feel", and the notorious "You're breaking my heart / You're tearing it apart / So fudge you", Nilsson had traveled far afield from his earlier work. Still, the album did well, and the single "Spaceman" was a Top 40 hit. However, the follow-up single "Remember (Christmas)" stalled at #53. A third single, the tongue-in-cheek C&W send up "Joy", was issued on RCA's country imprint Green and credited to Buck Earle, but it failed to chart.
The maverick
This disregard for commercialism in favor of artistic satisfaction showed itself in Nilsson's next release, A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (1973). Performing a selection of pop standards by the likes of Irving Berlin, Kalmar and Ruby, Nilsson sang in front of an orchestra arranged and conducted by veteran Gordon Jenkins in sessions produced by Derek Taylor. While the sessions showcased a talented singer in one of his best performances, this musical endeavor did not do particularly well commercially. The session was filmed, and was broadcast as a television special by the BBC in the UK.
1973 found Nilsson back in California, and when John Lennon moved there during his separation from Yoko Ono, the two musicians rekindled their earlier friendship. Lennon was intent upon producing Nilsson's next album, much to Nilsson's delight. However, their time together in California became known much more for heavy drinking and drug use than it did for musical collaboration. In a widely publicized incident, they were ejected from the Troubadour nightclub in West Hollywood for drunken heckling of the Smothers Brothers. Both men also caused property damage during binges, with Lennon trashing a bedroom in Lou Adler's house, and Nilsson throwing a bottle through a thirty-foot hotel window.
To make matters worse, Nilsson ruptured a vocal cord during the sessions for this album, but he hid the injury due to fear that Lennon would call a halt to the production. The resulting album was Pussy Cats. In an effort to clean up, Lennon, Nilsson and Ringo Starr first rented a house together, then Lennon and Nilsson left for New York.
After the relative failure of his latest two albums, RCA Records considered dropping Nilsson's contract. In a show of friendship, Lennon accompanied Nilsson to negotiations, and both intimated to RCA that Lennon and Starr might want to sign with them, once their Apple Records contracts with EMI expired in 1975, but wouldn't be interested if Nilsson were no longer with the label. RCA took the hint and re-signed Nilsson (adding a bonus clause, to apply to each new album completed), but neither Lennon nor Starr switched to RCA.
Nilsson's voice had mostly recovered by his next release, Duit on Mon Dei (1975), but neither it nor its follow-ups, Sandman and …That's the Way It Is (both 1976) met with chart success. Finally, Nilsson recorded what he later considered to be his favorite album, 1977's Knnillssonn. With his voice strong again, and his songs exploring musical territory reminiscent of Harry or The Point!, Nilsson had every right to expect Knnillssonn to be a comeback album. RCA Victor seemed to agree, and promised Nilsson a substantial marketing campaign for the album. However, the death of Elvis Presley caused RCA Victor to ignore everything except meeting demand for Presley's back catalog, and the promised marketing push never happened. This, combined with RCA Victor releasing a Nilsson Greatest Hits collection without consulting him, prompted Nilsson to leave the label.
London flat
Nilsson's 1970s London flat in the building at 12 Curzon Street on the edge of Mayfair, was a two-bedroom apartment decorated by the design company that ex-Beatle Ringo Starr and Robin Cruikshank owned at that time. Nilsson cumulatively spent several years at the flat, which was located near Apple Records, the Playboy Club, Tramps disco and the homes of friends and business associates. Nilsson's work and interests took him to the U.S. for extended periods, and while he was away he lent his place to numerous musician friends. During one of his absences, ex-Mamas and Papas singer Cass Elliot and a few members of her tour group stayed at the flat while she performed solo at the London Palladium, headlining with her Torch Songs and "Don't Call Me Mama Anymore." Following a strenuous performance with encores, Elliot returned to the flat to relax and sleep and was discovered in one of the bedrooms, dead of heart failure, on July 29, 1974.
On September 7, 1978, The Who's drummer Keith Moon returned to the same room in the flat after a night out, and died from an overdose of chlormethiazole, a prescribed anti-alcohol drug. Nilsson, distraught over another friend's death in his flat, and having little need for the property, sold it to Moon's bandmate Pete Townshend and consolidated his life in Los Angeles.
Winding down
Nilsson's musical work after leaving RCA Victor was sporadic. He wrote a musical, Zapata, with Perry Botkin, Jr., libretto by Allan Katz, which was produced and directed by longtime friend Bert Convy. The show was mounted at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Connecticut, but never had another production. He wrote all the songs for Robert Altman's movie-musical Popeye (1980), the score of which met with unfavorable reviews. Nilsson's Popeye compositions included several songs that were representative of Nilsson's acclaimed "Point" era, such as "Everything is Food" and "Sweethaven". He recorded one more album, Flash Harry co-produced by Bruce Robb (producer) and Steve Cropper, which was released in the UK but not in the USA. However, Nilsson increasingly began referring to himself as a "retired musician".
Nilsson was profoundly affected by the murder of his close friend John Lennon on December 8, 1980. He joined the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and overcame his preference for privacy to make appearances for gun control fundraising.
After a long hiatus from the studio, Nilsson started recording sporadically once again in the mid to late 1980s. Most of these recordings were commissioned songs for movies or television shows. One notable exception was his work on a Yoko Ono Lennon tribute album, "Every Man Has A Woman" (1984) (Polydor); another was a cover of "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" recorded for Hal Willner's 1988 tribute album Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films. Nilsson donated his performance royalties from the song to the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.
In 1991, the Disney CD For Our Children, a compilation of children's music performed by celebrities to benefit the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, included Nilsson's original composition Blanket for a Sail, recorded at the Shandaliza Recording Studio in Los Angeles.
In 1985 Nilsson set up a production company, Hawkeye, to oversee the various film, TV and multimedia projects he was involved in. He appointed his friend, satirist and screenwriter Terry Southern as one of the principals, and they collaborated on a number of screenplays including Obits (a Citizen Kane style story about a journalist investigating an obituary notice) and The Telephone, a one-hander about an unhinged unemployed actor.
The Telephone was virtually the only Hawkeye project that made it to the screen. It had been written with Robin Williams in mind but he turned it down; comedian-actress Whoopi Goldberg then signed on, with Southern's friend Rip Torn directing, but the project was troubled. Torn battled with Goldberg, who interfered in the production and constantly digressed from the script during shooting, and Torn was forced to plead with her to perform takes that stuck to the screenplay. Torn, Southern and Nilsson put together their own version of the film, which screened at the Sundance Film Festival in early 1988, but it was overtaken by the "official" version from the studio, and this version premiered to poor reviews in late January 1988. The project reportedly had some later success when adapted as a theatre piece in Germany.
In 1990 Hawkeye collapsed and Nilsson found himself in a dire financial situation after it was discovered that his financial adviser Cindy Sims had betrayed his trust and embezzled all the funds he had earned as a recording artist. The Nilssons were left with $300 in the bank and a mountain of debt, while Sims served less than two years for her crimes and was released from prison in 1994 without making restitution.
After the death of John Lennon, he began to appear at Beatlefest conventions to raise money for gun control and he would get on stage with the Beatlefest house band "Liverpool" to either sing some of his own songs or "Give Peace a Chance." Nilsson made his last concert appearance September 1, 1992, when he joined Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band on stage at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada to sing "Without You" with Todd Rundgren handling the high notes. Afterwards, an emotional Ringo Starr embraced Nilsson on stage.
Nilsson's health had deteriorated, and he suffered a massive heart attack in 1993. After surviving that, he began pressing his old label, RCA, to release a boxed-set retrospective of his career, and resumed recording, attempting to complete one final album. He finished the vocal tracks for the album on January 15, 1994, with producer Mark Hudson who still holds the tapes of that session, and then died that night of heart failure in Agoura Hills, California. The following year, the 2-CD anthology he worked on with RCA, Personal Best, was released.
Legacy
Nilsson was survived by his third wife, Una (née O'Keeffe), and their six children, and one son from an earlier marriage. His wife discussed both John Lennon and Nilsson in the film The U.S. vs. John Lennon, which opened September 15 2006. Nilsson himself is the subject of a 2006 documentary, Who is Harry Nilsson? (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him) produced by David Leaf and John Schienfeld. The film was screened in 2006 at the Seattle International Film Festival and the Santa Barbara Film Festival. In August 2006, the film received its Los Angeles premiere when it was screened at the 7th Annual Mods & Rockers Film Festival followed by a panel discussion about Nilsson featuring the filmmakers and his good friends producer Richard Perry and attorney/executive producer Lee Blackman.
In 2006, Harry Nilsson's first grandchild, a boy, was born in California.
In May 2005 WPS1 art radio played tribute to Nilsson with curator Sherrie Fell and brother and sister hosts Bernadette and Harry O'Reilly.
As of November 2008, Nilsson's final album, tentatively titled Papa's Got a Brown New Robe (produced by Mark Hudson) has not been released, though several demos from the album are available on promotional CDs and online.
Discography
Albums
* Hollywood Dreamer (Recorded In 1962)
* Spotlight on Nilsson (1966) (Tower Records)
* Pandemonium Shadow Show (1967) (RCA Records)
* Aerial Ballet (1968) (RCA Records)
* Skidoo (soundtrack) (1968) (RCA Records)
* Harry (1969) (RCA Records), US #120
* Rock n Roll Nilsson (1969) (Pickwick Records)- reissue of Spotlight on Nilsson
* Nilsson Sings Newman (1970)
* The Point! (1971) (RCA Records), US #25
* Aerial Pandemonium Ballet (1971), US #149
* Nilsson Schmilsson (1971), US #3
* Son of Schmilsson (1972) (RCA Records), US #12
* A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (1973) (RCA Records), US #46
* Son of Dracula (1974) (RCA Records), US #106
* Pussy Cats (1974) (RCA Records), US #60
* A Toot and a Snore in '74 (1974) (John Lennon & Paul McCartney also featuring Stevie Wonder and Harry Nilsson) - a 30 minute studio bootleg
* Duit on Mon Dei (1975) (RCA Records), US #141
* Sandman (1976) (RCA Records), US #111
* …That's the Way It Is (1976) (RCA Records), US #158
* Knnillssonn (1977) (RCA Records), US #108
* Flash Harry (1980) (not released in USA) (Mercury Records)
* Early Tymes (1982) (CBS Records)
* A touch more Schmilsson in the night (1988) (BMG Records)
* Harry Nilsson - All Time Greatest Hits(1989), US #140
* Personal Best: The Harry Nilsson Anthology (1995) (RCA Records)
* Nilsson: Greatest Hits (2002) (RCA Records)
* Everybody's Talkin': The Very Best of Harry Nilsson (2006) (Legacy Recordings)
Compilations
* Performed "Silver Horse", "Dream Love" & "Loneliness" on 'Every Man Has a Woman' (Songs of Yoko Ono), 1984 (one of various artists).
* Performed Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah on Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films, 1988 (one of various artists).
Singles
As Bo Pete:
* 1964: Baa Baa Blacksheep
* 1964: Do You Wanna (Have Some Fun)
As Johnny Niles:
* 1964: Donna I Understand
As Nilsson:
* 1964: Sixteen Tons (Tower 103)
* 1965: You Can't Take Your Love Away From Me (Tower 136)
* 1965: The Path That Leads To Trouble (Tower 165)
* 1966: She's Yours (Tower 244)
* 1967: Without Her
* 1967: You Can't Do That (US #122, Canada #10)
* 1967: River Deep - Mountain High (Canadian release only)
* 1967: Good Old Desk (European release only)
* 1968: One
* 1968: Everybody's Talkin' (initial release -- US #113, Canada #35)
* 1969: I Will Take You There
* 1969: Everybody's Talkin' (re-release -- US #6, US A/C #2, Canada #1, Canada A/C #1, UK #23)
* 1969: Good Times
* 1969: Maybe
* 1969: I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City (US #34, US A/C #7, Canada #25, Canada A/C #3)
* 1970: Waiting (US A/C #40, Canada A/C #31)
* 1970: Caroline
* 1970: Down To The Valley (Canada #80)
* 1971: Me And My Arrow (US #34, US A/C #3, Canada #23, Canada A/C #17)
* 1971: Without You (US #1, US A/C #1, Canada #1, Canada A/C #24, UK #1)
* 1972: Jump Into The Fire (US #27, Canada #16)
* 1972: Coconut (US #8, Canada #5, UK #42)
* 1972: Spaceman (US #23, Canada #12)
* 1972: Remember (Christmas) (US #53, US A/C #21, Canada #57, Canada A/C #14)
* 1973: As Time Goes By (US #86, US A/C #35, Canada A/C #87)
* 1974: Daybreak (US #39, US A/C #37, Canada #15, Canada A/C #17)
* 1974: Many Rivers To Cross (US #109, Canada #82, Canada A/C #43)
* 1974: Subterranean Homesick Blues
* 1974: Save The Last Dance For Me (UK release only)
* 1974: Don't Forget Me
* 1975: A Love Like Yours (Nilsson & Cher)
* 1975: Kojak Columbo
* 1976: Something True (UK release only)
* 1976: Sail Away
* 1976: Just One Look/Baby I'm Yours (medley), duet with former Supreme Lynda Laurence (UK release only)
* 1977: Who Done It?
* 1977: All I Think About Is You (UK #43)
* 1977: Lean On Me (UK release only)
* 1978: Ain't It Kinda Wonderful
* 1980: I Don't Need You (UK release only)
* 1980: Rain (UK release only)
* 1982: With A Bullet (only available to attendees of Beatlefest '82)
* 1984: Loneliness
as Buck Earle:
* 1972: Joy
http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n426/ladygrinningsoul88/nilsson2006125-01_1138188591.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/wundrboi/Harry_Nilsson_publicity_photo.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/bryanclopton/Harry1-1.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l32/Fred_Fred_Wednesday/The%20Monkees/nilssonandmick.jpg
I LOVE Harry Nilsson. One of my favs of his is the Puppy Song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIg8CTRu7e8
Cat
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/15/10 at 11:27 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I04uD371-fI
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/15/10 at 11:27 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I04uD371-fI
My favourite Harry Nillsoon track.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/15/10 at 1:00 pm
Thanks for sharing Cat & Phil :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Frank on 01/15/10 at 1:04 pm
Harry was a very talented man.
"Without you" is a classic.
I also like "The most beautiful world in the world", 1941, Living without you, Remember (Christmas), girlfriend, good old desk...Everybodys' talkin'...so many nice songs.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: CatwomanofV on 01/15/10 at 1:28 pm
Harry was a very talented man.
"Without you" is a classic.
I also like "The most beautiful world in the world", 1941, Living without you, Remember (Christmas), girlfriend, good old desk...Everybodys' talkin'...so many nice songs.
There is also the song "You're Breaking My Heart." ;) :D ;D ;D
Cat
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/15/10 at 3:46 pm
I also like Neapolitan.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Frank on 01/15/10 at 6:10 pm
There is also the song "You're Breaking My Heart." ;) :D ;D ;D
Cat
That's a good song. :D .except you are pretty shocked when you hear it for the fist time.
"You're breaking my heart, You're tearing it apart, so..."
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/16/10 at 12:54 am
The person of the day...Harry Nilsson
Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 — January 15, 1994) was an American songwriter, singer, pianist, and guitarist who achieved the height of his fame during the 1960s and 1970s. For most of his recordings, he did not use his first name, and was credited only as Nilsson. Among Nilsson's best-known recordings are "Without You", "Jump into the Fire", "Everybody's Talkin'" and "Coconut".
Nilsson's personal and musical style is best described as witty and idiosyncratic, yet always he was a consummate pop craftsman much in demand especially in the late 1960s. He garnered many critical and commercial successes, including two Grammy Awards and two Top 10 singles, despite his tendency to switch styles from one album to the next and his generally iconoclastic decision-making.
Nilsson signed with RCA Victor in 1966 and released an album the following year, Pandemonium Shadow Show, which was a critical (if not commercial) success. Music industry insiders were impressed both with the songwriting and with Nilsson's pure-toned, multi-octave vocals. One such insider was The Beatles press officer Derek Taylor, who bought an entire box of copies of the album to share this new sound with others. With a major-label release, and continued songwriting success (most notably with The Monkees, who had a hit with Nilsson's "Cuddly Toy," after meeting him through their producer Chip Douglas), Nilsson finally felt secure enough in the music business to quit his job with the bank. Monkees member Micky Dolenz maintained a close friendship until Nilsson's death in 1994.
Some of the albums from Derek Taylor's box eventually ended up with the Beatles themselves, who quickly became Nilsson fans. This may have been helped by the track "You Can't Do That", in which Nilsson covered one Beatles song but added 22 others in the multi-tracked background vocals. When John Lennon and Paul McCartney held a press conference in 1968 to announce the formation of Apple Corps, John was asked to name his favorite American artist. He replied, "Nilsson". Paul was then asked to name his favorite American group. He replied, "Nilsson".
Aided by the Beatles' praise, "You Can't Do That" became a minor hit in the US, and a top 10 hit in Canada.
When RCA had asked if there was anything special he wanted as a signing premium, Nilsson asked for his own office at RCA, being used to working out of one. In the weeks after the Apple press conference, Nilsson's office phone began ringing constantly, with offers and requests for interviews and inquiries about his performing schedule. Nilsson usually answered the calls himself, surprising the callers, and answered questions candidly. (He recalled years later the flow of a typical conversation: "When did you play last?" "I didn't." "Where have you played before?" "I haven't." "When will you be playing next?" "I don't.") Nilsson acquired a manager, who steered him into a handful of TV guest appearances, and a brief run of stage performances in Europe set up by RCA. He disliked the experiences he had, though, and decided to stick to the recording studio. He later admitted this was a huge mistake on his part.
Once John Lennon called and praised Pandemonium Shadow Show, which he had listened to in a 36-hour marathon. Paul McCartney called later, also expressing his admiration. Nilsson was disappointed that he didn't receive a call from Ringo Starr or George Harrison, but shortly after a message came, inviting him to London to meet the Beatles, watch them at work, and possibly sign with Apple Corps.
Pandemonium Shadow Show was followed in 1968 by Aerial Ballet, an album that included Nilsson's rendition of Fred Neil's song "Everybody's Talkin'". A minor US hit at the time of release (and a top 40 hit in Canada), the song would become extremely popular a year later when it was featured in the film Midnight Cowboy, and it would earn Nilsson his first Grammy Award. The song would also become Nilsson's first US top 10 hit, reaching #6, and his first Canadian #1.
Aerial Ballet also contained Nilsson's version of his own composition, One, which was later taken to the top 5 of the US charts by Three Dog Night. Nilsson was also commissioned at this time to write and perform the theme song for the ABC television series The Courtship of Eddie's Father. The result, "Best Friend", was very popular, but Nilsson never released the song on record; an alternate version, "Girlfriend", did appear on the 1995 Personal Best anthology. Late in 1968, The Monkees' notorious experimental film Head premiered, featuring a memorable song-and-dance sequence with Davy Jones and Toni Basil performing Nilsson's composition "Daddy's Song." (This is followed by Frank Zappa's cameo as "The Critic," who dismisses the 1920s-style tune as "pretty white.")
With the success of Nilsson's RCA recordings, Tower re-issued or re-packaged many of their early Nilsson recordings in various formats. All of these re-issues failed to chart, including a 1969 single "Good Times".
Chart success
Nilsson's next album, Harry (1969), was his first to hit the charts, and also provided a Top 40 single with "I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City" (written as a contender for the theme to Midnight Cowboy), but used instead in the Sophia Loren movie La Mortadella (1971) (USA title: Lady Liberty). While the album still presented Nilsson as primarily a songwriter, his astute choice of cover material included, this time, a song by a then-little-known composer named Randy Newman, "Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear." Nilsson was so impressed with Newman's talent that he devoted his entire next album to Newman compositions, with Newman himself playing piano behind Nilsson's multi-tracked vocals. The result, Nilsson Sings Newman (1970), was commercially disappointing but was named Record of the Year by Stereo Review magazine and provided momentum to Newman's career.
Nilsson's next project was an animated film, The Point!, created with animation director Fred Wolf, and broadcast on ABC television on February 2, 1971, as an "ABC Movie of the Week." Nilsson's album of songs from The Point! was well received, and it spawned a hit single, "Me and My Arrow."
Later that year, Nilsson went to England with producer Richard Perry to record what became the most successful album of his career. Nilsson Schmilsson yielded three very stylistically different hit singles. The first was a cover of Badfinger's song "Without You" (by Pete Ham and Tom Evans), featuring a highly emotional arrangement and soaring vocals to match, a performance that was rewarded with Nilsson's second Grammy Award.
The second single was "Coconut", a novelty calypso number featuring three characters (the narrator, the sister, and the doctor) all sung in different voices by Nilsson. The song is best remembered for its chorus lyric, "Put de lime in de coconut, and drink 'em both up." Also notable is that the entire song is played using one chord, C 7th. Coconut was featured in Episode 81 (October 25, 1973) of the Flip Wilson Show. The song has since been featured in many other films and commercials. It was also used in a comedy skit on The Muppet Show, which featured Kermit the Frog in a hospital bed. The song was also used during the end credits of Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs.
The third single, "Jump into the Fire", was raucous, screaming rock and roll, including a drum solo by Derek and the Dominos' Jim Gordon and a bass detuning by Herbie Flowers. The song was famously used during the "Sunday, May 11, 1980", sequence in the film Goodfellas.
Nilsson followed quickly with Son of Schmilsson (1972), released while its predecessor was still in the charts. Besides the problem of competing with himself, Nilsson's decision to give free rein to his bawdiness and bluntness on this release alienated some of his earlier, more conservative fan base. With lyrics like "I sang my balls off for you, baby", "Roll the world over / And give her a kiss and a feel", and the notorious "You're breaking my heart / You're tearing it apart / So fudge you", Nilsson had traveled far afield from his earlier work. Still, the album did well, and the single "Spaceman" was a Top 40 hit. However, the follow-up single "Remember (Christmas)" stalled at #53. A third single, the tongue-in-cheek C&W send up "Joy", was issued on RCA's country imprint Green and credited to Buck Earle, but it failed to chart.
The maverick
This disregard for commercialism in favor of artistic satisfaction showed itself in Nilsson's next release, A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (1973). Performing a selection of pop standards by the likes of Irving Berlin, Kalmar and Ruby, Nilsson sang in front of an orchestra arranged and conducted by veteran Gordon Jenkins in sessions produced by Derek Taylor. While the sessions showcased a talented singer in one of his best performances, this musical endeavor did not do particularly well commercially. The session was filmed, and was broadcast as a television special by the BBC in the UK.
1973 found Nilsson back in California, and when John Lennon moved there during his separation from Yoko Ono, the two musicians rekindled their earlier friendship. Lennon was intent upon producing Nilsson's next album, much to Nilsson's delight. However, their time together in California became known much more for heavy drinking and drug use than it did for musical collaboration. In a widely publicized incident, they were ejected from the Troubadour nightclub in West Hollywood for drunken heckling of the Smothers Brothers. Both men also caused property damage during binges, with Lennon trashing a bedroom in Lou Adler's house, and Nilsson throwing a bottle through a thirty-foot hotel window.
To make matters worse, Nilsson ruptured a vocal cord during the sessions for this album, but he hid the injury due to fear that Lennon would call a halt to the production. The resulting album was Pussy Cats. In an effort to clean up, Lennon, Nilsson and Ringo Starr first rented a house together, then Lennon and Nilsson left for New York.
After the relative failure of his latest two albums, RCA Records considered dropping Nilsson's contract. In a show of friendship, Lennon accompanied Nilsson to negotiations, and both intimated to RCA that Lennon and Starr might want to sign with them, once their Apple Records contracts with EMI expired in 1975, but wouldn't be interested if Nilsson were no longer with the label. RCA took the hint and re-signed Nilsson (adding a bonus clause, to apply to each new album completed), but neither Lennon nor Starr switched to RCA.
Nilsson's voice had mostly recovered by his next release, Duit on Mon Dei (1975), but neither it nor its follow-ups, Sandman and …That's the Way It Is (both 1976) met with chart success. Finally, Nilsson recorded what he later considered to be his favorite album, 1977's Knnillssonn. With his voice strong again, and his songs exploring musical territory reminiscent of Harry or The Point!, Nilsson had every right to expect Knnillssonn to be a comeback album. RCA Victor seemed to agree, and promised Nilsson a substantial marketing campaign for the album. However, the death of Elvis Presley caused RCA Victor to ignore everything except meeting demand for Presley's back catalog, and the promised marketing push never happened. This, combined with RCA Victor releasing a Nilsson Greatest Hits collection without consulting him, prompted Nilsson to leave the label.
London flat
Nilsson's 1970s London flat in the building at 12 Curzon Street on the edge of Mayfair, was a two-bedroom apartment decorated by the design company that ex-Beatle Ringo Starr and Robin Cruikshank owned at that time. Nilsson cumulatively spent several years at the flat, which was located near Apple Records, the Playboy Club, Tramps disco and the homes of friends and business associates. Nilsson's work and interests took him to the U.S. for extended periods, and while he was away he lent his place to numerous musician friends. During one of his absences, ex-Mamas and Papas singer Cass Elliot and a few members of her tour group stayed at the flat while she performed solo at the London Palladium, headlining with her Torch Songs and "Don't Call Me Mama Anymore." Following a strenuous performance with encores, Elliot returned to the flat to relax and sleep and was discovered in one of the bedrooms, dead of heart failure, on July 29, 1974.
On September 7, 1978, The Who's drummer Keith Moon returned to the same room in the flat after a night out, and died from an overdose of chlormethiazole, a prescribed anti-alcohol drug. Nilsson, distraught over another friend's death in his flat, and having little need for the property, sold it to Moon's bandmate Pete Townshend and consolidated his life in Los Angeles.
Winding down
Nilsson's musical work after leaving RCA Victor was sporadic. He wrote a musical, Zapata, with Perry Botkin, Jr., libretto by Allan Katz, which was produced and directed by longtime friend Bert Convy. The show was mounted at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Connecticut, but never had another production. He wrote all the songs for Robert Altman's movie-musical Popeye (1980), the score of which met with unfavorable reviews. Nilsson's Popeye compositions included several songs that were representative of Nilsson's acclaimed "Point" era, such as "Everything is Food" and "Sweethaven". He recorded one more album, Flash Harry co-produced by Bruce Robb (producer) and Steve Cropper, which was released in the UK but not in the USA. However, Nilsson increasingly began referring to himself as a "retired musician".
Nilsson was profoundly affected by the murder of his close friend John Lennon on December 8, 1980. He joined the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and overcame his preference for privacy to make appearances for gun control fundraising.
After a long hiatus from the studio, Nilsson started recording sporadically once again in the mid to late 1980s. Most of these recordings were commissioned songs for movies or television shows. One notable exception was his work on a Yoko Ono Lennon tribute album, "Every Man Has A Woman" (1984) (Polydor); another was a cover of "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" recorded for Hal Willner's 1988 tribute album Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films. Nilsson donated his performance royalties from the song to the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.
In 1991, the Disney CD For Our Children, a compilation of children's music performed by celebrities to benefit the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, included Nilsson's original composition Blanket for a Sail, recorded at the Shandaliza Recording Studio in Los Angeles.
In 1985 Nilsson set up a production company, Hawkeye, to oversee the various film, TV and multimedia projects he was involved in. He appointed his friend, satirist and screenwriter Terry Southern as one of the principals, and they collaborated on a number of screenplays including Obits (a Citizen Kane style story about a journalist investigating an obituary notice) and The Telephone, a one-hander about an unhinged unemployed actor.
The Telephone was virtually the only Hawkeye project that made it to the screen. It had been written with Robin Williams in mind but he turned it down; comedian-actress Whoopi Goldberg then signed on, with Southern's friend Rip Torn directing, but the project was troubled. Torn battled with Goldberg, who interfered in the production and constantly digressed from the script during shooting, and Torn was forced to plead with her to perform takes that stuck to the screenplay. Torn, Southern and Nilsson put together their own version of the film, which screened at the Sundance Film Festival in early 1988, but it was overtaken by the "official" version from the studio, and this version premiered to poor reviews in late January 1988. The project reportedly had some later success when adapted as a theatre piece in Germany.
In 1990 Hawkeye collapsed and Nilsson found himself in a dire financial situation after it was discovered that his financial adviser Cindy Sims had betrayed his trust and embezzled all the funds he had earned as a recording artist. The Nilssons were left with $300 in the bank and a mountain of debt, while Sims served less than two years for her crimes and was released from prison in 1994 without making restitution.
After the death of John Lennon, he began to appear at Beatlefest conventions to raise money for gun control and he would get on stage with the Beatlefest house band "Liverpool" to either sing some of his own songs or "Give Peace a Chance." Nilsson made his last concert appearance September 1, 1992, when he joined Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band on stage at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada to sing "Without You" with Todd Rundgren handling the high notes. Afterwards, an emotional Ringo Starr embraced Nilsson on stage.
Nilsson's health had deteriorated, and he suffered a massive heart attack in 1993. After surviving that, he began pressing his old label, RCA, to release a boxed-set retrospective of his career, and resumed recording, attempting to complete one final album. He finished the vocal tracks for the album on January 15, 1994, with producer Mark Hudson who still holds the tapes of that session, and then died that night of heart failure in Agoura Hills, California. The following year, the 2-CD anthology he worked on with RCA, Personal Best, was released.
Legacy
Nilsson was survived by his third wife, Una (née O'Keeffe), and their six children, and one son from an earlier marriage. His wife discussed both John Lennon and Nilsson in the film The U.S. vs. John Lennon, which opened September 15 2006. Nilsson himself is the subject of a 2006 documentary, Who is Harry Nilsson? (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him) produced by David Leaf and John Schienfeld. The film was screened in 2006 at the Seattle International Film Festival and the Santa Barbara Film Festival. In August 2006, the film received its Los Angeles premiere when it was screened at the 7th Annual Mods & Rockers Film Festival followed by a panel discussion about Nilsson featuring the filmmakers and his good friends producer Richard Perry and attorney/executive producer Lee Blackman.
In 2006, Harry Nilsson's first grandchild, a boy, was born in California.
In May 2005 WPS1 art radio played tribute to Nilsson with curator Sherrie Fell and brother and sister hosts Bernadette and Harry O'Reilly.
As of November 2008, Nilsson's final album, tentatively titled Papa's Got a Brown New Robe (produced by Mark Hudson) has not been released, though several demos from the album are available on promotional CDs and online.
Discography
Albums
* Hollywood Dreamer (Recorded In 1962)
* Spotlight on Nilsson (1966) (Tower Records)
* Pandemonium Shadow Show (1967) (RCA Records)
* Aerial Ballet (1968) (RCA Records)
* Skidoo (soundtrack) (1968) (RCA Records)
* Harry (1969) (RCA Records), US #120
* Rock n Roll Nilsson (1969) (Pickwick Records)- reissue of Spotlight on Nilsson
* Nilsson Sings Newman (1970)
* The Point! (1971) (RCA Records), US #25
* Aerial Pandemonium Ballet (1971), US #149
* Nilsson Schmilsson (1971), US #3
* Son of Schmilsson (1972) (RCA Records), US #12
* A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (1973) (RCA Records), US #46
* Son of Dracula (1974) (RCA Records), US #106
* Pussy Cats (1974) (RCA Records), US #60
* A Toot and a Snore in '74 (1974) (John Lennon & Paul McCartney also featuring Stevie Wonder and Harry Nilsson) - a 30 minute studio bootleg
* Duit on Mon Dei (1975) (RCA Records), US #141
* Sandman (1976) (RCA Records), US #111
* …That's the Way It Is (1976) (RCA Records), US #158
* Knnillssonn (1977) (RCA Records), US #108
* Flash Harry (1980) (not released in USA) (Mercury Records)
* Early Tymes (1982) (CBS Records)
* A touch more Schmilsson in the night (1988) (BMG Records)
* Harry Nilsson - All Time Greatest Hits(1989), US #140
* Personal Best: The Harry Nilsson Anthology (1995) (RCA Records)
* Nilsson: Greatest Hits (2002) (RCA Records)
* Everybody's Talkin': The Very Best of Harry Nilsson (2006) (Legacy Recordings)
Compilations
* Performed "Silver Horse", "Dream Love" & "Loneliness" on 'Every Man Has a Woman' (Songs of Yoko Ono), 1984 (one of various artists).
* Performed Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah on Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films, 1988 (one of various artists).
Singles
As Bo Pete:
* 1964: Baa Baa Blacksheep
* 1964: Do You Wanna (Have Some Fun)
As Johnny Niles:
* 1964: Donna I Understand
As Nilsson:
* 1964: Sixteen Tons (Tower 103)
* 1965: You Can't Take Your Love Away From Me (Tower 136)
* 1965: The Path That Leads To Trouble (Tower 165)
* 1966: She's Yours (Tower 244)
* 1967: Without Her
* 1967: You Can't Do That (US #122, Canada #10)
* 1967: River Deep - Mountain High (Canadian release only)
* 1967: Good Old Desk (European release only)
* 1968: One
* 1968: Everybody's Talkin' (initial release -- US #113, Canada #35)
* 1969: I Will Take You There
* 1969: Everybody's Talkin' (re-release -- US #6, US A/C #2, Canada #1, Canada A/C #1, UK #23)
* 1969: Good Times
* 1969: Maybe
* 1969: I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City (US #34, US A/C #7, Canada #25, Canada A/C #3)
* 1970: Waiting (US A/C #40, Canada A/C #31)
* 1970: Caroline
* 1970: Down To The Valley (Canada #80)
* 1971: Me And My Arrow (US #34, US A/C #3, Canada #23, Canada A/C #17)
* 1971: Without You (US #1, US A/C #1, Canada #1, Canada A/C #24, UK #1)
* 1972: Jump Into The Fire (US #27, Canada #16)
* 1972: Coconut (US #8, Canada #5, UK #42)
* 1972: Spaceman (US #23, Canada #12)
* 1972: Remember (Christmas) (US #53, US A/C #21, Canada #57, Canada A/C #14)
* 1973: As Time Goes By (US #86, US A/C #35, Canada A/C #87)
* 1974: Daybreak (US #39, US A/C #37, Canada #15, Canada A/C #17)
* 1974: Many Rivers To Cross (US #109, Canada #82, Canada A/C #43)
* 1974: Subterranean Homesick Blues
* 1974: Save The Last Dance For Me (UK release only)
* 1974: Don't Forget Me
* 1975: A Love Like Yours (Nilsson & Cher)
* 1975: Kojak Columbo
* 1976: Something True (UK release only)
* 1976: Sail Away
* 1976: Just One Look/Baby I'm Yours (medley), duet with former Supreme Lynda Laurence (UK release only)
* 1977: Who Done It?
* 1977: All I Think About Is You (UK #43)
* 1977: Lean On Me (UK release only)
* 1978: Ain't It Kinda Wonderful
* 1980: I Don't Need You (UK release only)
* 1980: Rain (UK release only)
* 1982: With A Bullet (only available to attendees of Beatlefest '82)
* 1984: Loneliness
as Buck Earle:
* 1972: Joy
http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n426/ladygrinningsoul88/nilsson2006125-01_1138188591.jpg
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Harry Nilsson died at the same address as Keith Moon.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: gibbo on 01/16/10 at 1:54 am
I LOVE Harry Nilsson. One of my favs of his is the Puppy Song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIg8CTRu7e8
Cat
Ditto... :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/16/10 at 7:48 am
The word of the day...Fog
#
When there is fog, there are tiny drops of water in the air which form a thick cloud and make it difficult to see things. N-VAR
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The crash happened in thick fog.
*
These ocean fogs can last for days.
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A fog is an unpleasant cloud of something such as smoke inside a building or room. N-SING
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...a fog of stale cigarette smoke. + 'of'
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You can use fog to refer to a situation which stops people from being able to notice things, understand things, or think clearly. N-SING oft 'in' N
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The most basic facts about him are lost in a fog of mythology. + 'of'
*
Synchronizing these attacks may be difficult in the fog of war. + 'of'
*
His mind was in a fog when he finally got up.
#
If a window, mirror, or other glass surface fogs or is fogged, it becomes covered with very small drops of water so that you cannot see things clearly through it or in it. V-ERG
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The windows fogged immediately. V
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Water had fogged his diving mask and he couldn't remember how to clear it. V n
*
The car windows were fogged with vapor
http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg18/littlequeenie_photo/Nature/Fog.jpg
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http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww32/xxXJCSRXxx/274.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/fuzzyedges_album/fogontesk.jpg
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/16/10 at 7:53 am
The birthday of the day...John Carpenter
John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an Academy Award winning, American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer, and occasional actor. Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres, his name is most commonly associated with horror and science fiction. His first major film as director, Dark Star (1974), was a sci-fi black comedy that he cowrote with Dan O'Bannon (who later went on to write Alien, borrowing freely from much of Dark Star). The film reportedly cost only $60,000 and was difficult to make as both Carpenter and O'Bannon completed the film by multitasking, with Carpenter doing the musical score as well as the writing, producing and directing, while O'Bannon acted in the film and did the special effects (which caught the attention of George Lucas who hired him to do work on the special effects for Star Wars). Carpenter's efforts did not go unnoticed as much of Hollywood marveled at his filmmaking abilities within the confines of a shoestring budget.
Carpenter's next film was Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), a low-budget thriller influenced by the films of Howard Hawks, particularly Rio Bravo. As with Dark Star, Carpenter was responsible for many aspects of the film's creation. He not only wrote, directed and scored it, but also edited the film under the pseudonym "John T. Chance" (the name of John Wayne's character in Rio Bravo). Carpenter has said that he considers Assault on Precinct 13 to have been his first real film because it was the first movie that he shot on a schedule. The film was also significant because it marked the first time Carpenter worked with Debra Hill, who played prominently in the making of some of Carpenter's most important films.
Working within the limitations of a $100,000 budget, Carpenter assembled a main cast that consisted of experienced but relatively obscure actors. The two leads were Austin Stoker, who had appeared previously in science fiction, disaster and blaxploitation films, and Darwin Joston, who had worked primarily in television and had once been Carpenter's next-door neighbor.
The film was originally released in the United States to mixed critical reviews and lackluster box-office earnings, but after it was screened at the 1977 London Film Festival, it became a critical and commercial success in Europe and is often credited with launching Carpenter's career. The film subsequently received a critical reassessment in the United States, where it is now generally regarded as one of the best exploitation films of the 1970s.
A long forgotten, but still very note worthy film that Carpenter both wrote and directed was the Lauren Hutton thriller Someone's Watching Me! (aka High Rise) in 1978, a very busy year for the director. This made-for-television movie tells a very simplistic, yet rather effective tale of a single, working woman who, shortly after arriving in L.A., discovers that she is gradually being stalked and constantly observed by an unseen predator in the high rise building across from her apartment. Though a made-for-television film, Someone's Watching Me! does stand out from others of the period. Borrowing heavily from Hitchcock classics, Carpenter slowly builds the suspense and intrigue before the final confrontation ensues, making the most out of the theory that what one can't see is far more interesting than what is shown on the screen. Although it has never received much attention, it's interesting to draw some parallels between the story, concept, and visuals in this film with those featured in the director's next immediate production, Halloween.
Halloween (1978) was a smash hit on release and helped give birth to the slasher film genre. Originally an idea suggested by producer Irwin Yablans (entitled The Babysitter Murders), who envisioned a film about babysitters being menaced by a stalker, Carpenter took the idea and another suggestion from Yablans that it take place during Halloween and developed a story. Carpenter said of the basic concept: "Halloween night. It has never been the theme in a film. My idea was to do an old haunted house movie." The film was written by Carpenter and Debra Hill with Carpenter admitting that the film was inspired by both Dario Argento's Suspiria and William Friedkin's The Exorcist.
Carpenter again worked with a relatively small budget, $320,000. The film grossed over $65 million initially, making it one of the most successful independent films of all time.
Carpenter relied upon taut suspense rather than the excessive gore that would define later slasher films in order to make the menacing nature of the main character, Michael Myers, more palpable. At times, Carpenter has described Halloween in terms that appeared to directly contradict the more thoughtful, nuanced approach to horror that he actually used, such as: "True crass exploitation. I decided to make a film I would love to have seen as a kid, full of cheap tricks like a haunted house at a fair where you walk down the corridor and things jump out at you." The film has often been cited as an allegory on the virtue of sexual purity and the danger of casual sex, although Carpenter has explained that this was not his intent: "It has been suggested that I was making some kind of moral statement. Believe me, I'm not. In Halloween, I viewed the characters as simply normal teenagers." Of the later slasher films that largely mimicked Carpenter's work on Halloween, few have met with the same critical success.
In addition to the film's critical and commercial success, Carpenter's self-composed "Halloween Theme" remains a recognizable film music theme to this day.
In 1979, John Carpenter began what was to be the first of several collaborations with actor Kurt Russell when he directed the TV movie Elvis. The made-for-TV movie was a smash hit with viewers and critics, and was also released as a feature film in cinemas outside the U. S. and revived the career of Russell, who was a child actor in the 1960s.
1980s: Continued commercial success
Carpenter followed up the success of Halloween with The Fog (1980), a ghostly revenge tale (co-written by Hill) inspired by horror comics such as Tales from the Crypt and by The Crawling Eye, a 1958 movie about monsters hiding in clouds.
Completing The Fog was an unusually difficult process for Carpenter. After viewing a rough cut of the film, he was dissatisfied with the result. For the only time in his filmmaking career, he had to devise a way to salvage a nearly finished film that did not meet his standards. In order to make the movie more coherent and frightening, Carpenter shot additional footage that included a number of new scenes. Approximately one-third of the finished film is the newer footage.
Despite production problems and mostly negative critical reception, The Fog was another commercial success for Carpenter. The film was made on a budget of $1,000,000, but it grossed over $21,000,000 in the United States alone. Carpenter has said that The Fog is not his favorite film, although he considers it a "minor horror classic".
Carpenter immediately followed The Fog with the science-fiction adventure Escape from New York (1981), which quickly picked up large cult and mainstream audiences as well as critical acclaim.
His next film, The Thing (1982), is notable for its high production values, including innovative special effects by Rob Bottin, special visual effects by matte artist Albert Whitlock, a score by Ennio Morricone and a cast including rising star Kurt Russell and respected character actors such as Wilford Brimley, Richard Dysart, Keith David, and Richard Masur. The Thing was made with a budget of $15,000,000, Carpenter's largest up to that point, and distributed by Universal Pictures.
Although Carpenter's film was ostensibly a remake of the 1951 Howard Hawks film, The Thing from Another World, Carpenter's version is more faithful to the John W. Campbell, Jr. short story, Who Goes There?, upon which both films were based. Moreover, unlike the Hawks film, The Thing has a dark, pessimistic tone and a bleak ending, which didn't appeal to audiences in the summer of 1982, when it was released in the wake of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Consequently, it did not perform well commercially and was Carpenter's first financial failure. Later, the movie found new life in the home video and cable markets, and it is now widely regarded as one of the best horror films and remakes ever made.
Carpenter's next film, Christine, was the 1983 adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name. The story revolves around a high-school nerd named Arnie Cunningham (Keith Gordon) who buys a junked 1958 Plymouth Fury which turns out to have supernatural powers. As Cunningham restores and rebuilds the car, he becomes unnaturally obsessed with it, with deadly consequences. Christine did respectable business upon its release and was received well by critics; however, Carpenter has been quoted as saying he directed the film because it was the only thing offered to him at the time.
One of the high points in Carpenter's career came in 1984 with the release of Starman, a film that was critically praised but was only a moderate commercial success. Produced by Michael Douglas, the script was well received by Columbia Pictures, which chose it over the script for E.T. and prompted Steven Spielberg to go to Universal Pictures. Douglas chose Carpenter to be the director because of his reputation as an action director who could also convey strong emotion. Starman was favorably reviewed by the Los Angeles Times, New York Times and LA Weekly and described by Carpenter as a film he envisioned as a romantic comedy similar to It Happened One Night only with a space alien. The film received Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Jeff Bridges' portrayal of Starman and received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Musical Score for Jack Nitzsche.
After seeing footage of Starman, the executive producer of the Superman movie series, Ilya Salkind, offered Carpenter the chance to direct the latest Alexander–Ilya Salkind fantasy epic Santa Claus: The Movie. Salkind made the offer to Carpenter over lunch at The Ritz, and while he loved the idea of breaking from his normal traditions and directing a children's fantasy movie, he requested 24 hours to think over the offer. The next day he had drawn up a list of requirements should he direct the movie; they were: 100 percent creative control, the right to take over scriptwriting duties, being able to co-compose the movie's musical score, total editorial control, the casting of Brian Dennehey as Santa Claus and a $5 million signing-on fee (the same amount that the movie's star Dudley Moore was receiving). Team Salkind were nonplussed by his demands and withdrew their offer for him to direct. Carpenter told Empire magazine ten years later that he wished he'd been less demanding and made the movie because he liked the idea so much and it would have changed critics' views on his limitations as a director.
Following the box office failure of his big-budget action–comedy Big Trouble in Little China (1986), Carpenter struggled to get films financed. He returned to making lower budget films such as Prince of Darkness (1987), a film influenced by the BBC series Quatermass. Although some of the films from this time did pick up a cult audience, he never again realized his mass-market potential.
1990s: Criticism and commercial decline
His 1990s career is characterized by a number of notable misfires: Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992), Village of the Damned (1995) and Escape From L.A. (1996) are examples of films that were critical and box office failures. Notable from this decade is:
* In the Mouth of Madness (1995), yet another Lovecraftian homage, which did not do well either at the box-office or with critics.
* Vampires (1998) starred James Woods as the leader of a band of vampire hunters in league with the Catholic Church.
2000s–present: Remakes and Masters of Horror
2001 saw the release of Ghosts of Mars and Carpenter's reputation remains strong; his earlier films are considered classics and (because they have continued to perform well on home video) several have been subjected to big budget remakes. 2005 saw remakes of Assault on Precinct 13 and The Fog, the latter being produced by Carpenter himself, though in an interview he defined his involvement as, "I come in and say hello to everybody. Go home."
More recently, Rob Zombie has produced and directed Halloween, a re-imagining of John Carpenter's 1978 film. It was released in 2007, and spawned a sequel two years later.
Carpenter returned to the director's chair in 2005 for an episode of Showtime's Masters of Horror series as one of the thirteen filmmakers involved in the first season. His episode, Cigarette Burns, aired to generally positive reviews, and positive reactions from Carpenter fans, many of whom regard it as on par with his earlier horror classics. He has since contributed another original episode for the show's second season entitled "Pro-Life", about a young girl who is raped and impregnated by a demon and wants to have an abortion, but whose efforts are halted by her religious fanatic, gun-toting father and her three brothers.
A remake of Escape from New York was planned starring Gerard Butler as Snake Plissken but he has since turned the role down.
In February 2009, It was announced that Carpenter has planned for his newest project, called The Ward, starring Amber Heard. It will be his first movie since 2001's Ghosts of Mars.
Techniques
His films are characterized by minimalist lighting and photography, static cameras, use of steadicam, and distinctive synthesized scores (usually self-composed). He describes himself as having been influenced by Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, Nigel Kneale and The Twilight Zone.
With the exception of The Thing, Starman, and Memoirs of an Invisible Man, he has scored all of his films (though some are collaborations), most famously the themes from Halloween and Assault on Precinct 13. His music is generally synthesized with accompaniment from piano and atmospherics.
Carpenter is a big fan of widescreen, and all of his theatrical movies (with the exception of Dark Star) have been filmed in anamorphic with an aspect ratio 2.35:1.
Legacy
With a career that has spanned over thirty years, John Carpenter has attained a reputation as a respected independent filmmaker. Although some of Carpenter's films have not been commercially or critically successful upon initial theatrical release, Carpenter has developed a large cult following through home video releases of his films. Many of his films, most notably The Thing, have been rediscovered on VHS, laserdisc and DVD and have since been embraced by many fans - interesting, as The Thing was initially Carpenter's first big setback. The film was considered excessively dark, did not do well at the box office and Rob Bottin's effects were considered too grotesque for a mainstream audience. Retrospectively, the film has gained much critical appreciation.
Four years later, Big Trouble in Little China was also poorly received by audiences and critics alike, an eclectic mix of genres that was years ahead of its time. This film, like The Thing, found its audience on VHS and DVD years after its theatrical release.
Many of Carpenter's films have been re-released on DVD as special editions with numerous bonus features. Examples of such are: the collector's editions of Halloween, Escape From New York, Christine,The Thing, Assault on Precinct 13, Big Trouble In Little China and The Fog. Some have been re-issued recently with a new anamorphic widescreen transfer. In the UK, several of Carpenter's films have been released on DVD with audio commentary by Carpenter and his stars (They Live, with actor/wrestler Roddy Piper, Starman with actor Jeff Bridges and Prince of Darkness with actor Peter Jason) that have not been released in the United States .
In recent years, Carpenter has been the subject of the documentary film John Carpenter: The Man and His Movies, and his status as a respected filmmaker has been reinforced by American Cinematheque's 2002 retrospective of his films. Moreover, in 2006, the United States Library of Congress deemed Halloween to be "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.
Films
Year Film Credited as
Director Producer Writer Composer Actor Role
1970 The Resurrection of Broncho Billy Yes Yes
1974 Dark Star Yes Yes Yes Yes
1976 Assault on Precinct 13 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Gang Member
1978 Eyes of Laura Mars Yes
Halloween Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Voice of Paul
1980 The Fog Yes Yes Yes Yes Bennett
1981 Escape from New York Yes Yes Yes
Halloween II Yes Yes Yes
1982 The Thing Yes Yes Norwegian in video footage
Halloween III: Season of the Witch Yes Yes
1983 Christine Yes Yes
1984 The Philadelphia Experiment Yes
Starman Yes Yes Man in helicopter
1986 Big Trouble in Little China Yes Yes Yes Yes Worker in Chinatown
Black Moon Rising Yes Yes
The Boy Who Could Fly Yes Coupe de Villes band member
1987 Prince of Darkness Yes Yes Yes
1988 They Live Yes Yes Yes
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers Yes
1992 Memoirs of an Invisible Man Yes Yes Helicopter pilot
1993 The Silence of the Hams Yes Trench coat man
1995 In the Mouth of Madness Yes Yes
Village of the Damned Yes Yes Yes Man at gas station phone
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers Yes
1996 Escape from L.A. Yes Yes Yes
1998 Vampires Yes Yes
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later Yes
2001 Ghosts of Mars Yes Yes Yes
Vampires: Los Muertos Yes
2002 Halloween: Resurrection Yes
2005 Assault on Precinct 13 Yes
The Fog Yes Yes
2007 Halloween Yes
2010 The Ward Yes
2011 Fangland Yes
Year Film Director Producer Writer Composer Actor Role
Credited as
^ I Credited as editor.
^ II Uncredited acting role.
^ III Theme music only.
Highest-grossing films
This is a list of the top 10 highest domestic-grossing films in which Carpenter has directed according to Box Office Mojo. Carpenter's films have grossed domestically a total of more than $282 million, with an average of $18 million per film.
Rank Title Lifetime gross (US$)
1 Halloween 47 million
2 Starman 28 million
3 Halloween II 25.5 million
4 Escape From L.A. 25.4 million
5 Escape From New York 25.2 million
6 The Fog 21.3 million
7 Christine 21.0 million
8 Vampires 20 million
9 Memoirs of an Invisible Man 14.3 million
10 Prince of Darkness 14.1 million
Television
Year Title Credit
1978 Zuma Beach Writer
Someone's Watching Me! Director, writer
1979 Better Late Than Never Writer
Elvis Director
1990 El Diablo Writer
1991 Blood River Writer
1993 Body Bags Director, producer, composer, actor
1999 Silent Predators Writer
2005 Cigarette Burns Director
2006 Pro-Life Director
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y20/w_cowart/john_carpenter.jpg
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh238/iPodBaldasar/Carpenter.jpg
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa95/pauerboys/jcarp.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/phearinc/youcantwin-37.jpg
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/16/10 at 7:56 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVCDZaApwV8
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/16/10 at 7:59 am
The person of the day...Andrew Wyeth
Andrew Newell Wyeth (surname pronounced /ˈwаɪɛθ/; July 12, 1917 – January 16, 2009) was a visual artist, primarily a realist painter, working predominantly in a regionalist style. He was one of the best-known U.S. artists of the middle 20th century and was sometimes referred to as the "Painter of the People," due to his work's popularity with the American public.
In his art, Wyeth's favorite subjects were the land and people around him, both in his hometown of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, and at his summer home in Cushing, Maine.
One of the most well-known images in 20th-century American art is his painting, Christina's World, currently in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Dividing his time between Pennsylvania and Maine, Wyeth maintained a realist painting style for over fifty years. He gravitated to several identifiable landscape subjects and models. In 1958, Andrew and Betsy Wyeth purchased and restored "The Mill," a group of 18th-century buildings that appeared often in his work, including Night Sleeper (1979). His solitary walks were the primary means of inspiration for his landscapes. He developed an extraordinary intimacy with the land and sea and strove for a spiritual understanding based on history and unspoken emotion. He typically created dozens of studies on a subject in pencil or loosely brushed watercolor before executing a finished painting, either in watercolor, drybrush (a watercolor style in which the water is squeezed from the brush), or egg tempera.
When Christina Olsen died in the winter of 1969, Wyeth refocused his artistic attention upon Siri Erickson, capturing her naked innocence in Indian Summer (1970). It was a prelude to the Helga paintings.
Helga paintings
In 1986, extensive coverage was given to the revelation of a series of 247 studies of Wyeth's neighbour, the Prussian-born Helga Testorf, painted over the period 1971–85 without the knowledge of either Wyeth's wife or John Testorf, Helga's husband. Helga is a musician, baker, caregiver, and friend of the Wyeths; she met Wyeth when she was attending to Karl Kuerner. She had never modeled before, but quickly became comfortable with the long periods of posing, during which she was observed and painted in intimate detail. The Helga pictures are not an obvious psychological study of the subject, but more an extensive study of her physical landscape set within Wyeth's customary landscapes. She is nearly always unsmiling and passive; yet, within those deliberate limitations, Wyeth manages to convey subtle qualities of character and mood, as he does in many of his best portraits. This extensive study of one subject studied in differing contexts and emotional states is unique in American art.
In 1986, millionaire Leonard E.B. Andrews purchased almost the entire collection, preserving it intact. A very few Helga paintings had already been given away to friends, including the famous Lovers, which had been given as a gift to Wyeth's wife.
The works were exhibited at the National Gallery of Art in 1987 and in a coast-to-coast tour. The Helga works were briefly owned by a private Japanese industrialist, who had agreed to allow additional exhibitions. Since then the collection has returned to the U.S. and has been split up, contrary to the original intentions of many to keep the collection together, and pieces are in many public and private collections. In March 2002, Wyeth painted Gone, his last Helga picture, and it joined the collection on recent tours between 2002–06.
Critical reaction
Late Fall, watercolor on paper, 67.3cm × 47cm, 1981, by Andrew Wyeth.
Wyeth's art has long been controversial. As a representational artist, Wyeth's paintings have sharply contrasted with abstraction, which gained currency in American art in the middle of the 20th century.
Museum exhibitions of Wyeth's paintings have set attendance records, but many art critics have been critical of his work. Peter Schjeldahl, art critic for The Village Voice, derided his paintings as "Formulaic stuff, not very effective even as illustrational 'realism.' " Common criticisms are that Wyeth's art verges on illustration and that his rural subject matter is sentimental.
Admirers of Wyeth's art believe that his paintings, in addition to sometimes displaying overt beauty, contain strong emotional currents, symbolic content, and underlying abstraction. Most observers of his art agree that he is skilled at handling the media of egg tempera (which uses egg yolk as its medium) and watercolor. Wyeth avoided using traditional oil paints. His use of light and shadow let the subjects illuminate the canvas. His paintings and titles suggest sound, as is implied in many paintings, including Distant Thunder (1961) and Spring Fed (1967).
A close friend and student of Wyeth, Bo Bartlett, commented on Wyeth’s reaction to criticism during an interview with Brian Sherwin in 2008: "People only make you swerve. I won’t show anybody anything I’m working on. If they hate it, it’s a bad thing, and if they like it, it’s a bad thing. An artist has to be ingrown to be any good."
Museum collections
Andrew Wyeth's work is in the collections of most major American museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Whitney Museum of American Art; the Cincinnati Art Museum; the Museum of Modern Art in New York City; the Smithsonian American Art Museum; the National Gallery of Art; the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City; the Arkansas Art Center in Little Rock; and the White House, in Washington, DC. Especially large collections of Wyeth's art are in the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania; the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, Maine; and the Greenville County Museum of Art in Greenville, South Carolina. A major retrospective of Andrew Wyeth's work was presented at the Philadelphia Museum of Art from March 29, 2006 to July 16, 2006.
Honors and awards
Andrew Wyeth (right) receiving the National Medal of Arts from George W. Bush in 2007.
Wyeth was the recipient of numerous honorary degrees. He received the 2007 National Medal of Arts. In 1963, Andrew Wyeth became the first painter to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 1977, he became the first American artist since John Singer Sargent elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts. In 1980, Wyeth became the first living American artist to be elected to Britain's Royal Academy. In 1987, Wyeth received a D.F.A. from Bates College. On November 9, 1988, Wyeth received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor bestowed by the United States legislature.
Death
On January 16, 2009, Andrew Wyeth died in his sleep at his home in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, after a brief illness. He was 91 years old.
Influence on pop culture
Wyeth was often referenced by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz (a longtime admirer) in his comic strip, Peanuts. In one strip, the character Snoopy was presented with a bill for "psychiatric help" (20¢) and states, "I refuse to sell my Andrew Wyeth." In another strip, Snoopy's prized Van Gogh painting is burned in a fire, and he replaces it with an Andrew Wyeth. Fred Rogers, of the PBS television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, had an Andrew Wyeth painting in the entryway of the studio home, readily seen as he entered and exited.
Tom Duffield, the production designer for the American remake of The Ring (2002), drew inspiration from Wyeth's paintings for the look of the film. M. Night Shyamalan based his movie The Village on paintings by Andrew Wyeth. The Village was filmed in Chadds Ford, not far from Wyeth's studio. Director Philip Ridley has stated that his 1990 film The Reflecting Skin is heavily inspired by the paintings of Andrew Wyeth in its visual style.
The Helga series of paintings became the inspiration for the 1987 Album Man of Colours by the Australian band Icehouse.
In the 90's television series Step by Step, Wyeth's painting "Master Bedroom" can be seen in the Foster's living room.
The Japanese television series Asheesha No Kita Yoshio main characters are bound by a book featuring Wyeth's work, the painting Christina's World is shown especially often.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e330/clintorama/AndrewWyeth.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh187/1zuzax1/FACES%20AND%20FIGURES/andrew_wyeth_portrait.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e130/coenhead/Baseball%20Trip%202007/Baseball2007038.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/jojobearauburn/Permanent%20Store%20Pics/Latest%20Permanent%20Store%20Pics/IMG_9657.jpg
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/16/10 at 8:00 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVCDZaApwV8
Nice.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/16/10 at 8:01 am
Nice.
Today, it is a rainy day in London Town
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: CatwomanofV on 01/16/10 at 8:28 am
The person of the day...Andrew Wyeth
Andrew Newell Wyeth (surname pronounced /ˈwаɪɛθ/; July 12, 1917 – January 16, 2009) was a visual artist, primarily a realist painter, working predominantly in a regionalist style. He was one of the best-known U.S. artists of the middle 20th century and was sometimes referred to as the "Painter of the People," due to his work's popularity with the American public.
In his art, Wyeth's favorite subjects were the land and people around him, both in his hometown of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, and at his summer home in Cushing, Maine.
One of the most well-known images in 20th-century American art is his painting, Christina's World, currently in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Dividing his time between Pennsylvania and Maine, Wyeth maintained a realist painting style for over fifty years. He gravitated to several identifiable landscape subjects and models. In 1958, Andrew and Betsy Wyeth purchased and restored "The Mill," a group of 18th-century buildings that appeared often in his work, including Night Sleeper (1979). His solitary walks were the primary means of inspiration for his landscapes. He developed an extraordinary intimacy with the land and sea and strove for a spiritual understanding based on history and unspoken emotion. He typically created dozens of studies on a subject in pencil or loosely brushed watercolor before executing a finished painting, either in watercolor, drybrush (a watercolor style in which the water is squeezed from the brush), or egg tempera.
When Christina Olsen died in the winter of 1969, Wyeth refocused his artistic attention upon Siri Erickson, capturing her naked innocence in Indian Summer (1970). It was a prelude to the Helga paintings.
Helga paintings
In 1986, extensive coverage was given to the revelation of a series of 247 studies of Wyeth's neighbour, the Prussian-born Helga Testorf, painted over the period 1971–85 without the knowledge of either Wyeth's wife or John Testorf, Helga's husband. Helga is a musician, baker, caregiver, and friend of the Wyeths; she met Wyeth when she was attending to Karl Kuerner. She had never modeled before, but quickly became comfortable with the long periods of posing, during which she was observed and painted in intimate detail. The Helga pictures are not an obvious psychological study of the subject, but more an extensive study of her physical landscape set within Wyeth's customary landscapes. She is nearly always unsmiling and passive; yet, within those deliberate limitations, Wyeth manages to convey subtle qualities of character and mood, as he does in many of his best portraits. This extensive study of one subject studied in differing contexts and emotional states is unique in American art.
In 1986, millionaire Leonard E.B. Andrews purchased almost the entire collection, preserving it intact. A very few Helga paintings had already been given away to friends, including the famous Lovers, which had been given as a gift to Wyeth's wife.
The works were exhibited at the National Gallery of Art in 1987 and in a coast-to-coast tour. The Helga works were briefly owned by a private Japanese industrialist, who had agreed to allow additional exhibitions. Since then the collection has returned to the U.S. and has been split up, contrary to the original intentions of many to keep the collection together, and pieces are in many public and private collections. In March 2002, Wyeth painted Gone, his last Helga picture, and it joined the collection on recent tours between 2002–06.
Critical reaction
Late Fall, watercolor on paper, 67.3cm × 47cm, 1981, by Andrew Wyeth.
Wyeth's art has long been controversial. As a representational artist, Wyeth's paintings have sharply contrasted with abstraction, which gained currency in American art in the middle of the 20th century.
Museum exhibitions of Wyeth's paintings have set attendance records, but many art critics have been critical of his work. Peter Schjeldahl, art critic for The Village Voice, derided his paintings as "Formulaic stuff, not very effective even as illustrational 'realism.' " Common criticisms are that Wyeth's art verges on illustration and that his rural subject matter is sentimental.
Admirers of Wyeth's art believe that his paintings, in addition to sometimes displaying overt beauty, contain strong emotional currents, symbolic content, and underlying abstraction. Most observers of his art agree that he is skilled at handling the media of egg tempera (which uses egg yolk as its medium) and watercolor. Wyeth avoided using traditional oil paints. His use of light and shadow let the subjects illuminate the canvas. His paintings and titles suggest sound, as is implied in many paintings, including Distant Thunder (1961) and Spring Fed (1967).
A close friend and student of Wyeth, Bo Bartlett, commented on Wyeth’s reaction to criticism during an interview with Brian Sherwin in 2008: "People only make you swerve. I won’t show anybody anything I’m working on. If they hate it, it’s a bad thing, and if they like it, it’s a bad thing. An artist has to be ingrown to be any good."
Museum collections
Andrew Wyeth's work is in the collections of most major American museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Whitney Museum of American Art; the Cincinnati Art Museum; the Museum of Modern Art in New York City; the Smithsonian American Art Museum; the National Gallery of Art; the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City; the Arkansas Art Center in Little Rock; and the White House, in Washington, DC. Especially large collections of Wyeth's art are in the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania; the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, Maine; and the Greenville County Museum of Art in Greenville, South Carolina. A major retrospective of Andrew Wyeth's work was presented at the Philadelphia Museum of Art from March 29, 2006 to July 16, 2006.
Honors and awards
Andrew Wyeth (right) receiving the National Medal of Arts from George W. Bush in 2007.
Wyeth was the recipient of numerous honorary degrees. He received the 2007 National Medal of Arts. In 1963, Andrew Wyeth became the first painter to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 1977, he became the first American artist since John Singer Sargent elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts. In 1980, Wyeth became the first living American artist to be elected to Britain's Royal Academy. In 1987, Wyeth received a D.F.A. from Bates College. On November 9, 1988, Wyeth received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor bestowed by the United States legislature.
Death
On January 16, 2009, Andrew Wyeth died in his sleep at his home in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, after a brief illness. He was 91 years old.
Influence on pop culture
Wyeth was often referenced by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz (a longtime admirer) in his comic strip, Peanuts. In one strip, the character Snoopy was presented with a bill for "psychiatric help" (20¢) and states, "I refuse to sell my Andrew Wyeth." In another strip, Snoopy's prized Van Gogh painting is burned in a fire, and he replaces it with an Andrew Wyeth. Fred Rogers, of the PBS television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, had an Andrew Wyeth painting in the entryway of the studio home, readily seen as he entered and exited.
Tom Duffield, the production designer for the American remake of The Ring (2002), drew inspiration from Wyeth's paintings for the look of the film. M. Night Shyamalan based his movie The Village on paintings by Andrew Wyeth. The Village was filmed in Chadds Ford, not far from Wyeth's studio. Director Philip Ridley has stated that his 1990 film The Reflecting Skin is heavily inspired by the paintings of Andrew Wyeth in its visual style.
The Helga series of paintings became the inspiration for the 1987 Album Man of Colours by the Australian band Icehouse.
In the 90's television series Step by Step, Wyeth's painting "Master Bedroom" can be seen in the Foster's living room.
The Japanese television series Asheesha No Kita Yoshio main characters are bound by a book featuring Wyeth's work, the painting Christina's World is shown especially often.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e330/clintorama/AndrewWyeth.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh187/1zuzax1/FACES%20AND%20FIGURES/andrew_wyeth_portrait.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e130/coenhead/Baseball%20Trip%202007/Baseball2007038.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/jojobearauburn/Permanent%20Store%20Pics/Latest%20Permanent%20Store%20Pics/IMG_9657.jpg
His paintings always reminded me of Norman Rockwell's. A few years ago, we had a poster with one of his paintings and at first I thought it WAS Norman's but it wasn't. They both had the same style, I think.
Cat
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/16/10 at 4:03 pm
The word of the day...Fog
#
When there is fog, there are tiny drops of water in the air which form a thick cloud and make it difficult to see things. N-VAR
*
The crash happened in thick fog.
*
These ocean fogs can last for days.
#
A fog is an unpleasant cloud of something such as smoke inside a building or room. N-SING
*
...a fog of stale cigarette smoke. + 'of'
#
You can use fog to refer to a situation which stops people from being able to notice things, understand things, or think clearly. N-SING oft 'in' N
*
The most basic facts about him are lost in a fog of mythology. + 'of'
*
Synchronizing these attacks may be difficult in the fog of war. + 'of'
*
His mind was in a fog when he finally got up.
#
If a window, mirror, or other glass surface fogs or is fogged, it becomes covered with very small drops of water so that you cannot see things clearly through it or in it. V-ERG
*
The windows fogged immediately. V
*
Water had fogged his diving mask and he couldn't remember how to clear it. V n
*
The car windows were fogged with vapor
http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg18/littlequeenie_photo/Nature/Fog.jpg
http://i629.photobucket.com/albums/uu12/brude2000/4U2/fog_xlg.jpg
http://i908.photobucket.com/albums/ac285/southernpoint/barr-fog.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f199/HoldfastOrganicGardening/Sample/Swamp.jpg
http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/ss214/DropDeadBianca/Decorated%20images/MyspacePhotos002.jpg
http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww32/xxXJCSRXxx/274.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/fuzzyedges_album/fogontesk.jpg
http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg3/personalcheeseit/Cars/Shadow/100_0172.jpg
http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv220/supertala/PIC_0047.jpg
fog happens on a rainy day.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/17/10 at 4:56 am
The word of the day...Lion
A lion is a large wild member of the cat family that is found in Africa. Lions have yellowish fur, and male lions have long hair on their head and neck.
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/17/10 at 4:59 am
The birthday of the day...James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is an American actor of stage and screen, well known for his deep basso voice. To modern audiences, he is known for providing the voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise.
Jones had his acting career beginnings at the Ramsdell Theatre in Manistee, Michigan. In 1953 he was a stage carpenter. During the 1955–1957 seasons he was an actor and stage manager. He performed his first portrayal of Shakespeare’s Othello in this theater in 1955.
His first film role was as a young and trim Lt. Lothar Zogg, the B-52 bombardier in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb in 1964, which was more famous for the work of Peter Sellers and Slim Pickens. His first big role came with his portrayal of boxer Jack Jefferson in the film version of the Broadway play The Great White Hope, which was based on the life of boxer Jack Johnson. For his role, Jones was nominated Best Actor by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, making him the second African-American male performer (following Sidney Poitier) to receive a nomination.
In 1969, Jones participated in making test films for a proposed children's television series called Sesame Street; these shorts, combined with animated segments, were shown to groups of children to gauge the effectiveness of the then-groundbreaking Sesame Street format. As cited by production notes included in the DVD release Sesame Street: Old School 1969-1974, the short that had the greatest impact with test audiences was one showing bald-headed Jones counting slowly to ten. This and other segments featuring Jones were eventually aired as part of the Sesame Street series itself when it debuted later in 1969 and Jones is often cited as the first celebrity guest on that series, although a segment with Carol Burnett was the first to actually be broadcast.
In the early 1970s, James appeared with Diahann Carroll in a film called Claudine, the story of a woman who raises her six children alone after two failed marriages and one "almost" marriage. Ruppert, played by Jones, is a garbage man who has deep problems of his own. The couple somehow overcomes each other's pride and stubbornness and gets married.
Darth Vader
He has appeared in many roles since, but is well known as the voice of Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy. Darth Vader was portrayed in costume by David Prowse in the original trilogy, with Jones dubbing Vader's dialogue in postproduction due to Prowse's strong West Country accent being unsuitable for the role. At his own request, he was originally uncredited for the release of the first two films (he would later be credited for the two in the 1997 re-release):
“ When Linda Blair did the girl in The Exorcist, they hired Mercedes McCambridge to do the voice of the devil coming out of her. And there was controversy as to whether Mercedes should get credit. I was one who thought no, she was just special effects. So when it came to Darth Vader, I said, no I'm just special effects. But it became so identified that by the third one, I thought, OK I've been denying it, I've been saying it sounds like the uncola nut guy Holder. Geoffrey Holder! ... But for the third one, I said OK, I'll let them put my name on it. ”
Although uncredited, Jones' voice is briefly heard as Darth Vader at the conclusion of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. When specifically asked whether he had supplied the voice, possibly from a previous recording, Jones told New York Newsday: "You'd have to ask Lucas about that. I don't know." However, on the issue of the voice, the commentary on the DVD release states that, while it will always be uncredited, any true Star Wars fan "should know the answer".
Over the years, Jones reprised his role as the voice of Vader several times: He is credited in the movie Robots with the voice of Darth Vader from a voice module. Playing the king of Zamunda in the comedy Coming to America, he echoed four Darth Vader phrases. He also vocally appeared as Vader in the comedy film The Benchwarmers and the video games Monopoly Star Wars and Star Wars: The Interactive Video Board Game. Jones' voice is also used for the Jedi Training academy attraction at Disneyland MGM.
Other voiceover work
His other voice roles include Mufasa in the 1994 film Disney animated blockbuster The Lion King, and its sequel, The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. Archived audio from the former has been used in the Square Enix and Disney crossover game Kingdom Hearts II. He also voiced the Emperor of the Night in Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night. He also has done the CNN tagline, "This is CNN"; the opening for NBC's coverage of the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics; "the Big PI in the Sky" (God) in the computer game Under a Killing Moon; a Claymation film about The Creation; and several guest spots on The Simpsons.
Notable film roles
Jones played the older version of author Alex Haley, in the television mini-series Roots: The Next Generations; the villain Thulsa Doom, in Conan the Barbarian; the character Terence Mann, in the baseball film Field of Dreams; the feared neighbour and owner of the dog Hercules in The Sandlot; King Jaffe Joffer, in Coming to America; Reverend Stephen Kumalo, in Cry, The Beloved Country; and Admiral James Greer, in The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, and Clear and Present Danger. He also made a cameo appearance in a penultimate episodes of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
Notable stage roles
Jones is an accomplished stage actor as well; he has won Tony awards in 1969 for The Great White Hope and in 1987 for Fences. Othello, King Lear, Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Abhorson in Measure for Measure, and Claudius in Hamlet are Shakespearean roles he has played. He received Kennedy Center Honors in 2002.
In February 2008, he began starring on Broadway as Big Daddy in a limited-run, all-African-American production of Tennessee Williams's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, directed by Debbie Allen and mounted at the Broadhurst Theatre.
In November 2009, James reprised the role of Big Daddy in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof at the Novello Theatre in London's West End. This production also stars Sanaa Lathan as Maggie, Phylicia Rashad as Big Mamma, and Adrian Lester as Brick.
Other work
His other works include his portrayal of GDI's commanding general James Solomon in Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun, a starring role in the television program Under One Roof as widowed police officer Neb Langston for which he received an Emmy nomination, and television and radio advertising for Verizon Business DSL and Verizon Online DSL from Verizon Communications.
Jones appeared in the 1963-1964 television season in an episode of ABC's drama series about college life, Channing starring Jason Evers and Henry Jones. He appeared on the soap opera Guiding Light. He portrayed Thad Green on Mathnet, a parody of Dragnet.
He has played lead characters on television in three series. First, he appeared on the short-lived CBS police drama Paris, which aired during Fall 1979. That show was notable as the first program on which Steven Bochco served as executive producer. The second show aired on ABC between 1990 and 1992, the first season being titled Gabriel's Fire and the second (after a format revision) Pros and Cons. In both formats of that show, Jones played a former policeman wrongly convicted for murder who, upon his release from prison, became a private eye. In 1995, Jones starred in Under One Roof, as Neb Langston, a widowed African-American police officer sharing his home in Seattle with his daughter, his married son and children and Neb's newly adopted son. The show was a mid-season replacement and lasted only six weeks.
In 1986, Jones played a Harvard law professor in the movie Soul Man, with C. Thomas Howell and Rae Dawn Chong. From 1989 to 1993, Jones served as the host of the children's TV series Long Ago and Far Away.
In 1990, Jones did a voiceover for the Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror", in which he was the narrator for the Simpsons' version of Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven". In 1992, Jones was often seen as the host on the video tele-monitor for the Sea World resort in Orlando, Florida. In 1996, James guest starred in the CBS drama Touched by an Angel as the Angels of Angels in the episode "Clipped Wings". In 1998, Jones starred in the widely acclaimed syndicated program An American Moment (created by James R. Kirk and Ninth Wave Productions). Jones took over the role left by Charles Kuralt, upon Kuralt's death. He has guest-starred on such sitcoms as NBC's Frasier and Will & Grace, and the WB drama Everwood. Jones also lent his voice for a narrative part in the Adam Sandler comedy, Click, released in June 2006. His voice is also used to create an audio version of the King James New Testament.
On April 7, 2005, James Earl Jones and Leslie Uggams headed the cast in an African-American Broadway revival version of On Golden Pond, directed by Leonard Foglia and produced by Jeffrey Finn.
On December 15, 2008, Jones made a guest appearance on the sitcom Two and a Half Men.
On October 5, 2009, Jones made a guest appearance on the television series House playing African dictator Antipas Dibala.
Personal life
Jones has been married to actress Cecilia Hart since 1982. They have one child, Flynn Earl Jones. He was previously married to American actress/singer Julienne Marie (born March 21, 1933, Toledo, Ohio); they had no children.
Coincidentally, both of Jones' wives had played Desdemona to Jones' Othello.
Jones was given a key to the city in Detroit, Michigan.
Awards
Academy Awards
* 1971 Best Actor in a Leading Role - The Great White Hope (Nominated)
Emmy Awards
* 1964 Outstanding Lead Actor - Miniseries or a Movie/East Side/West Side (Nominated)
* 1990 Outstanding Supporting Actor - Miniseries or a Movie/By Dawn's Early Light (Nominated)
* 1991 Outstanding Lead Actor - Drama Series/Gabriel's Fire
* 1991 Outstanding Supporting Actor - Miniseries or a Movie/Heat Wave
* 1994 Outstanding Guest Actor - Drama Series/Picket Fences (Nominated)
* 1995 Outstanding Supporting Actor - Drama Series/Under One Roof (Nominated)
* 1997 Outstanding Guest Actor - Comedy Series/Frasier (Nominated)
* 1999 Outstanding Performer - Children's Special
* 2004 Outstanding Guest Actor - Drama Series/Everwood (Nominated)
Golden Globe Awards
* 1971 New Star of the Year - Actor/The Great White Hope
* 1971 Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama/The Great White Hope (Nominated)
* 1975 Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy/Claudine (Nominated)
* 1991 Best Actor in a Drama Series/Gabriel's Fire (Nominated)
* 1992 Best Actor in a Drama Series/Pros and Cons (Nominated)
Independent Spirit Awards
* 1987 Best Supporting Male/Matewan (Nominated)
Screen Actors Guild Awards
* 1996 Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role/Cry, the Beloved Country (Nominated)
* 2009 Life Achievement Award
Tony Awards
* 1969 Best Leading Actor in a Play/The Great White Hope
* 1987 Best Leading Actor in a Play/Fences
* 2005 Best Leading Actor in a Play/On Golden Pond (Nominated)
Other Awards
* 1991 Common Wealth Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Dramatic Arts
Filmography
* Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
* The Comedians in Africa (1967)
* The Comedians (1967)
* End of the Road (1970)
* King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (1970)
* The Great White Hope (1970)
* Malcolm X (1972)
* The Man (1972)
* Claudine (1974)
* The Cay (1974 one-hour TV drama)
* The UFO Incident (1975 TV-movie)
* The River Niger (1976)
* The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976)
* Swashbuckler (1976)
* Deadly Hero (1976)
* The Greatest (1977)
* Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) (voice)
* Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)
* The Last Remake of Beau Geste (1977)
* A Piece of the Action (1977)
* Jesus of Nazareth (1977)
* Black Theatre: The Making of a Movement (1978)
* Star Wars Christmas Special (1978 TV special) (voice)
* Roots: The Next Generations (1979 TV miniseries)
* Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (voice)
* Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980 TV miniseries)
* The Creation (1981)
* The Bushido Blade (1981)
* The Flight of Dragons (1982) (voice)
* Conan the Barbarian (1982)
* Blood Tide (1982)
* Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) (voice)
* Allen Boesak: Choosing for Justice (1984)
* City Limits (1985)
* Soul Man (1986)
* Gardens of Stone (1987)
* Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1987)
* My Little Girl (1987)
* Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night (1987) (voice)
* Matewan (1987)
* Terrorgram (1988) (voice)
* Coming to America (1988)
* Three Fugitives (1989)
* Field of Dreams (1989)
* Best of the Best (1989)
* By Dawn's Early Light (1990)
* Convicts (1990)
* The Hunt for Red October (1990)
* A World Alive (1990)
* The Ambulance (1990)
* Grim Prairie Tales (1990)
* Heatwave (1990)
* True Identity (1991)
* Scorchers (1991)
* The Second Coming (1992)
* Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama (1992)
* Patriot Games (1992)
* Freddie the Frog (1992)
* Sneakers (1992)
* Dreamrider (1993)
* Sommersby (1993)
* The Sandlot (1993)
* Excessive Force (1993)
* The Meteor Man (1993)
* Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult (1994)
* Africa: The Serengeti (1994)
* Clean Slate (1994)
* The Vernon Johns Story (1994)
* The Lion King (1994) (voice)
* Clear and Present Danger (1994)
* Countdown to Freedom: 10 Days That Changed South Africa (1994)
* Jefferson in Paris (1995)
* Judge Dredd (1995)
* Cry, The Beloved Country (1995)
* A Family Thing (1996)
* Looking for Richard (1996)
* Good Luck (1996)
* Gang Related (1997)
* What the Deaf Man Heard (1997)
* New York... Come Visit the World (1998)
* Primary Colors (1998) (voice)
* Merlin (1998) (voice)
* The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998 direct-to-DVD) (voice)
* Summer's End (1999)
* Our Friend, Martin (1999) (voice)
* On the Q.T. (1999)
* Undercover Angel (1999)
* The Annihilation of Fish (1999)
* Fantasia 2000 (1999)
* Tiberian Sun (1999 video game cut scene)
* Ennis' Gift (2000)
* Antietam: A Documentary Drama (2000)
* The Papp Project (2001)
* Black Indians: An American Story (2001)
* Finder's Fee (2001)
* Recess Christmas: Miracle on Third Street (2001)
* Muhammad Ali: Through the Eyes of the World (2001)
* Disney's American Legends (2002)
* The Great Year (2004)
* Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (2004)
* Robots (2005) (voice)
* Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) (voice)
* The Reading Room (2005)
* The Sandlot 2 (2005)
* Malcolm X: Prince of Islam documentary (2006) (narration only)
* Kingdom Hearts II (2006) (archived audio, voice)
* The Benchwarmers (2006) (voice)
* Scary Movie 4 (2006)
* Click (2006) (voice) (As Himself)
* The Trail of Tears: Cherokee Legacy (2006)
* Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (2008)
* Jack and the Beanstalk (2008) (voice)
* Disneyland Hollywood Studios (2008) (voice)
* Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey (2009) (voice)
* Earth (2009) (voice)
* House (2009) Dibala
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/17/10 at 5:07 am
The person of the day...Richard Crenna
Richard Donald Crenna (30 November 1926 – 17 January 2003) was a Emmy award winning American film, television and radio actor and director. He starred in such motion pictures as The Sand Pebbles, Wait Until Dark, Body Heat, Rambo (First Blood – Rambo III), Hot Shots! Part Deux, and The Flamingo Kid. He played Walter Denton in the CBS radio and television series Our Miss Brooks and Luke McCoy in the ABC and CBS sitcom The Real McCoys (1957-1963). He was on the rare political dramatic series Slattery's People on CBS. He was Colonel Trautman in the Rambo films. He was also known to have bore a great resemblance to another actor Cliff Robertson.
Crenna got his acting start on radio, appearing in My Favorite Husband, Boy Scout Jamboree, A Date With Judy, The Great Gildersleeve, and Our Miss Brooks. He remained with the cast of the latter show when it moved to television.
He guest starred on I Love Lucy with Janet Waldo and on NBC's 1955-1956 Frontier anthology series in the lead role of the episode entitled "The Ten Days of John Leslie".
When Our Miss Brooks, starring Eve Arden, underwent a change in format - his character Walter Denton was omitted - Crenna joined The Real McCoys. Kathleen Nolan was cast as his young wife, Kate McCoy; they lived on a southern California farm with Grandpa Amos McCoy, played by Walter Brennan. In the last season, 1962-1963, The Real McCoys was shortened to The McCoys, moved from ABC to CBS, and switched from Thursday to Sunday evening. Moreover, Nolan's character died on screen. The widower Luke McCoy then began to court a neighbor, Louise Howard, played by actress Janet De Gore.
Crenna won an Emmy and a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in the title role of the film The Rape of Richard Beck.
Crenna portrayed California state senator James Slattery in the TV series Slattery's People and received two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Individual Achievements in Entertainment (1965) and for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Series (1965). He was also nominated in 1965 for a Golden Globe for Best TV Star - Male for the same role. During the 1970s Crenna continued to appear in popular western movies such as Catlow, Breakheart Pass, and A Man Called Noon.
Crenna is perhaps best known today for his role as John Rambo's ex-commanding Officer "Colonel Sam Trautman" in the first three Rambo films, a role he only received after Kirk Douglas left the production a day into the shoot of the first film. He also spoofed the role in Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993) as an homage to his Rambo character. Crenna appeared as Lt. Frank Janek in seven TV movies 1985-94. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6714 Hollywood Blvd. Crenna was also the inspiration for Col Roy Cambell a character in the Metal Gear Solid series.
Death
Crenna contracted pancreatic cancer but died of heart failure at the age of 76. He was cremated. At the time of his death he had a recurring role in the CBS series Judging Amy. On the show his passing was acknowledged by the death of the character that he portrayed.
Crenna's son Richard Anthony Crenna is also an actor.
Filmography
* Let's Dance (1950)
* Red Skies of Montana (1952)
* The Pride of St. Louis (1952)
* It Grows on Trees (1952)
* Our Miss Brooks (1956)
* Over-Exposed (1956)
* Ann-Margret: Made in Paris (1965) (short subject)
* John Goldfarb, Please Come Home (1965)
* Made in Paris (1966)
* The Sand Pebbles (1966)
* Wait Until Dark (1967)
* Star! (1968)
* Midas Run (1969)
* Marooned (1969)
* Doctors' Wives (1971)
* The Deserter (1971)
* Red Sky at Morning (1971)
* Catlow (1971)
* Un Flic (Fr. aka "Dirty Money" (1972)
* The Man Called Noon (1973)
* Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1973)
* Breakheart Pass (1975)
* The Evil (1978)
* Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell (1978)
* Wild Horse Hank (1979)
* Stone Cold Dead (1979)
* Death Ship (1980)
* Body Heat (1981)
* First Blood (1982)
* Table for Five (1983)
* The Flamingo Kid (1984)
* Terror in the Aisles (1984) (documentary)
(archival footage)
* The Rape of Richard Beck (1985)
* Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
* Summer Rental (1985)
* Rambo III (1988)
* Leviathan (1989)
* Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993)
* A Pyromaniac's Love Story (1995)
* Jade (1995)
* Sabrina (1995)
* 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1997)
* Wrongfully Accused (1998)
* Judging Amy (1999)
* By Dawn's Early Light (2000)
* Darkness at High Noon: The Carl Foreman Documents (2002) (documentary) (narrator)
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/17/10 at 7:43 am
The birthday of the day...James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is an American actor of stage and screen, well known for his deep basso voice. To modern audiences, he is known for providing the voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise.
Jones had his acting career beginnings at the Ramsdell Theatre in Manistee, Michigan. In 1953 he was a stage carpenter. During the 1955–1957 seasons he was an actor and stage manager. He performed his first portrayal of Shakespeare’s Othello in this theater in 1955.
His first film role was as a young and trim Lt. Lothar Zogg, the B-52 bombardier in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb in 1964, which was more famous for the work of Peter Sellers and Slim Pickens. His first big role came with his portrayal of boxer Jack Jefferson in the film version of the Broadway play The Great White Hope, which was based on the life of boxer Jack Johnson. For his role, Jones was nominated Best Actor by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, making him the second African-American male performer (following Sidney Poitier) to receive a nomination.
In 1969, Jones participated in making test films for a proposed children's television series called Sesame Street; these shorts, combined with animated segments, were shown to groups of children to gauge the effectiveness of the then-groundbreaking Sesame Street format. As cited by production notes included in the DVD release Sesame Street: Old School 1969-1974, the short that had the greatest impact with test audiences was one showing bald-headed Jones counting slowly to ten. This and other segments featuring Jones were eventually aired as part of the Sesame Street series itself when it debuted later in 1969 and Jones is often cited as the first celebrity guest on that series, although a segment with Carol Burnett was the first to actually be broadcast.
In the early 1970s, James appeared with Diahann Carroll in a film called Claudine, the story of a woman who raises her six children alone after two failed marriages and one "almost" marriage. Ruppert, played by Jones, is a garbage man who has deep problems of his own. The couple somehow overcomes each other's pride and stubbornness and gets married.
Darth Vader
He has appeared in many roles since, but is well known as the voice of Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy. Darth Vader was portrayed in costume by David Prowse in the original trilogy, with Jones dubbing Vader's dialogue in postproduction due to Prowse's strong West Country accent being unsuitable for the role. At his own request, he was originally uncredited for the release of the first two films (he would later be credited for the two in the 1997 re-release):
“ When Linda Blair did the girl in The Exorcist, they hired Mercedes McCambridge to do the voice of the devil coming out of her. And there was controversy as to whether Mercedes should get credit. I was one who thought no, she was just special effects. So when it came to Darth Vader, I said, no I'm just special effects. But it became so identified that by the third one, I thought, OK I've been denying it, I've been saying it sounds like the uncola nut guy Holder. Geoffrey Holder! ... But for the third one, I said OK, I'll let them put my name on it. ”
Although uncredited, Jones' voice is briefly heard as Darth Vader at the conclusion of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. When specifically asked whether he had supplied the voice, possibly from a previous recording, Jones told New York Newsday: "You'd have to ask Lucas about that. I don't know." However, on the issue of the voice, the commentary on the DVD release states that, while it will always be uncredited, any true Star Wars fan "should know the answer".
Over the years, Jones reprised his role as the voice of Vader several times: He is credited in the movie Robots with the voice of Darth Vader from a voice module. Playing the king of Zamunda in the comedy Coming to America, he echoed four Darth Vader phrases. He also vocally appeared as Vader in the comedy film The Benchwarmers and the video games Monopoly Star Wars and Star Wars: The Interactive Video Board Game. Jones' voice is also used for the Jedi Training academy attraction at Disneyland MGM.
Other voiceover work
His other voice roles include Mufasa in the 1994 film Disney animated blockbuster The Lion King, and its sequel, The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. Archived audio from the former has been used in the Square Enix and Disney crossover game Kingdom Hearts II. He also voiced the Emperor of the Night in Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night. He also has done the CNN tagline, "This is CNN"; the opening for NBC's coverage of the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics; "the Big PI in the Sky" (God) in the computer game Under a Killing Moon; a Claymation film about The Creation; and several guest spots on The Simpsons.
Notable film roles
Jones played the older version of author Alex Haley, in the television mini-series Roots: The Next Generations; the villain Thulsa Doom, in Conan the Barbarian; the character Terence Mann, in the baseball film Field of Dreams; the feared neighbour and owner of the dog Hercules in The Sandlot; King Jaffe Joffer, in Coming to America; Reverend Stephen Kumalo, in Cry, The Beloved Country; and Admiral James Greer, in The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, and Clear and Present Danger. He also made a cameo appearance in a penultimate episodes of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
Notable stage roles
Jones is an accomplished stage actor as well; he has won Tony awards in 1969 for The Great White Hope and in 1987 for Fences. Othello, King Lear, Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Abhorson in Measure for Measure, and Claudius in Hamlet are Shakespearean roles he has played. He received Kennedy Center Honors in 2002.
In February 2008, he began starring on Broadway as Big Daddy in a limited-run, all-African-American production of Tennessee Williams's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, directed by Debbie Allen and mounted at the Broadhurst Theatre.
In November 2009, James reprised the role of Big Daddy in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof at the Novello Theatre in London's West End. This production also stars Sanaa Lathan as Maggie, Phylicia Rashad as Big Mamma, and Adrian Lester as Brick.
Other work
His other works include his portrayal of GDI's commanding general James Solomon in Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun, a starring role in the television program Under One Roof as widowed police officer Neb Langston for which he received an Emmy nomination, and television and radio advertising for Verizon Business DSL and Verizon Online DSL from Verizon Communications.
Jones appeared in the 1963-1964 television season in an episode of ABC's drama series about college life, Channing starring Jason Evers and Henry Jones. He appeared on the soap opera Guiding Light. He portrayed Thad Green on Mathnet, a parody of Dragnet.
He has played lead characters on television in three series. First, he appeared on the short-lived CBS police drama Paris, which aired during Fall 1979. That show was notable as the first program on which Steven Bochco served as executive producer. The second show aired on ABC between 1990 and 1992, the first season being titled Gabriel's Fire and the second (after a format revision) Pros and Cons. In both formats of that show, Jones played a former policeman wrongly convicted for murder who, upon his release from prison, became a private eye. In 1995, Jones starred in Under One Roof, as Neb Langston, a widowed African-American police officer sharing his home in Seattle with his daughter, his married son and children and Neb's newly adopted son. The show was a mid-season replacement and lasted only six weeks.
In 1986, Jones played a Harvard law professor in the movie Soul Man, with C. Thomas Howell and Rae Dawn Chong. From 1989 to 1993, Jones served as the host of the children's TV series Long Ago and Far Away.
In 1990, Jones did a voiceover for the Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror", in which he was the narrator for the Simpsons' version of Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven". In 1992, Jones was often seen as the host on the video tele-monitor for the Sea World resort in Orlando, Florida. In 1996, James guest starred in the CBS drama Touched by an Angel as the Angels of Angels in the episode "Clipped Wings". In 1998, Jones starred in the widely acclaimed syndicated program An American Moment (created by James R. Kirk and Ninth Wave Productions). Jones took over the role left by Charles Kuralt, upon Kuralt's death. He has guest-starred on such sitcoms as NBC's Frasier and Will & Grace, and the WB drama Everwood. Jones also lent his voice for a narrative part in the Adam Sandler comedy, Click, released in June 2006. His voice is also used to create an audio version of the King James New Testament.
On April 7, 2005, James Earl Jones and Leslie Uggams headed the cast in an African-American Broadway revival version of On Golden Pond, directed by Leonard Foglia and produced by Jeffrey Finn.
On December 15, 2008, Jones made a guest appearance on the sitcom Two and a Half Men.
On October 5, 2009, Jones made a guest appearance on the television series House playing African dictator Antipas Dibala.
Personal life
Jones has been married to actress Cecilia Hart since 1982. They have one child, Flynn Earl Jones. He was previously married to American actress/singer Julienne Marie (born March 21, 1933, Toledo, Ohio); they had no children.
Coincidentally, both of Jones' wives had played Desdemona to Jones' Othello.
Jones was given a key to the city in Detroit, Michigan.
Awards
Academy Awards
* 1971 Best Actor in a Leading Role - The Great White Hope (Nominated)
Emmy Awards
* 1964 Outstanding Lead Actor - Miniseries or a Movie/East Side/West Side (Nominated)
* 1990 Outstanding Supporting Actor - Miniseries or a Movie/By Dawn's Early Light (Nominated)
* 1991 Outstanding Lead Actor - Drama Series/Gabriel's Fire
* 1991 Outstanding Supporting Actor - Miniseries or a Movie/Heat Wave
* 1994 Outstanding Guest Actor - Drama Series/Picket Fences (Nominated)
* 1995 Outstanding Supporting Actor - Drama Series/Under One Roof (Nominated)
* 1997 Outstanding Guest Actor - Comedy Series/Frasier (Nominated)
* 1999 Outstanding Performer - Children's Special
* 2004 Outstanding Guest Actor - Drama Series/Everwood (Nominated)
Golden Globe Awards
* 1971 New Star of the Year - Actor/The Great White Hope
* 1971 Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama/The Great White Hope (Nominated)
* 1975 Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy/Claudine (Nominated)
* 1991 Best Actor in a Drama Series/Gabriel's Fire (Nominated)
* 1992 Best Actor in a Drama Series/Pros and Cons (Nominated)
Independent Spirit Awards
* 1987 Best Supporting Male/Matewan (Nominated)
Screen Actors Guild Awards
* 1996 Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role/Cry, the Beloved Country (Nominated)
* 2009 Life Achievement Award
Tony Awards
* 1969 Best Leading Actor in a Play/The Great White Hope
* 1987 Best Leading Actor in a Play/Fences
* 2005 Best Leading Actor in a Play/On Golden Pond (Nominated)
Other Awards
* 1991 Common Wealth Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Dramatic Arts
Filmography
* Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
* The Comedians in Africa (1967)
* The Comedians (1967)
* End of the Road (1970)
* King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (1970)
* The Great White Hope (1970)
* Malcolm X (1972)
* The Man (1972)
* Claudine (1974)
* The Cay (1974 one-hour TV drama)
* The UFO Incident (1975 TV-movie)
* The River Niger (1976)
* The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976)
* Swashbuckler (1976)
* Deadly Hero (1976)
* The Greatest (1977)
* Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) (voice)
* Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)
* The Last Remake of Beau Geste (1977)
* A Piece of the Action (1977)
* Jesus of Nazareth (1977)
* Black Theatre: The Making of a Movement (1978)
* Star Wars Christmas Special (1978 TV special) (voice)
* Roots: The Next Generations (1979 TV miniseries)
* Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (voice)
* Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980 TV miniseries)
* The Creation (1981)
* The Bushido Blade (1981)
* The Flight of Dragons (1982) (voice)
* Conan the Barbarian (1982)
* Blood Tide (1982)
* Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) (voice)
* Allen Boesak: Choosing for Justice (1984)
* City Limits (1985)
* Soul Man (1986)
* Gardens of Stone (1987)
* Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1987)
* My Little Girl (1987)
* Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night (1987) (voice)
* Matewan (1987)
* Terrorgram (1988) (voice)
* Coming to America (1988)
* Three Fugitives (1989)
* Field of Dreams (1989)
* Best of the Best (1989)
* By Dawn's Early Light (1990)
* Convicts (1990)
* The Hunt for Red October (1990)
* A World Alive (1990)
* The Ambulance (1990)
* Grim Prairie Tales (1990)
* Heatwave (1990)
* True Identity (1991)
* Scorchers (1991)
* The Second Coming (1992)
* Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama (1992)
* Patriot Games (1992)
* Freddie the Frog (1992)
* Sneakers (1992)
* Dreamrider (1993)
* Sommersby (1993)
* The Sandlot (1993)
* Excessive Force (1993)
* The Meteor Man (1993)
* Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult (1994)
* Africa: The Serengeti (1994)
* Clean Slate (1994)
* The Vernon Johns Story (1994)
* The Lion King (1994) (voice)
* Clear and Present Danger (1994)
* Countdown to Freedom: 10 Days That Changed South Africa (1994)
* Jefferson in Paris (1995)
* Judge Dredd (1995)
* Cry, The Beloved Country (1995)
* A Family Thing (1996)
* Looking for Richard (1996)
* Good Luck (1996)
* Gang Related (1997)
* What the Deaf Man Heard (1997)
* New York... Come Visit the World (1998)
* Primary Colors (1998) (voice)
* Merlin (1998) (voice)
* The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998 direct-to-DVD) (voice)
* Summer's End (1999)
* Our Friend, Martin (1999) (voice)
* On the Q.T. (1999)
* Undercover Angel (1999)
* The Annihilation of Fish (1999)
* Fantasia 2000 (1999)
* Tiberian Sun (1999 video game cut scene)
* Ennis' Gift (2000)
* Antietam: A Documentary Drama (2000)
* The Papp Project (2001)
* Black Indians: An American Story (2001)
* Finder's Fee (2001)
* Recess Christmas: Miracle on Third Street (2001)
* Muhammad Ali: Through the Eyes of the World (2001)
* Disney's American Legends (2002)
* The Great Year (2004)
* Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (2004)
* Robots (2005) (voice)
* Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) (voice)
* The Reading Room (2005)
* The Sandlot 2 (2005)
* Malcolm X: Prince of Islam documentary (2006) (narration only)
* Kingdom Hearts II (2006) (archived audio, voice)
* The Benchwarmers (2006) (voice)
* Scary Movie 4 (2006)
* Click (2006) (voice) (As Himself)
* The Trail of Tears: Cherokee Legacy (2006)
* Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (2008)
* Jack and the Beanstalk (2008) (voice)
* Disneyland Hollywood Studios (2008) (voice)
* Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey (2009) (voice)
* Earth (2009) (voice)
* House (2009) Dibala
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/qq166/briansmith2009/Actors/044JamesEJones.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/ualineman/JamesEarlJone.jpg
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p188/mcmilkman666/jamessmall.jpg
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc73/hancocks_2007/tmp7.jpg
He is a legend. :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/17/10 at 7:44 am
The word of the day...Lion
A lion is a large wild member of the cat family that is found in Africa. Lions have yellowish fur, and male lions have long hair on their head and neck.
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e36/DrKearse/lion.jpg
http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/ad184/luzfigueira/lion-2.jpg
http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/ww251/animedragon33/Cats/Lion---Fierce.jpg
http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/ad184/luzfigueira/lion-5.jpg
http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/ww251/animedragon33/Cats/lion-female.jpg
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll211/gabban18/lion-king_4.jpg
http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo48/bigbreastedbenbow/SANY0342.jpg
http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/af314/angiehill_bucket/SDC10243.jpg
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr213/iztabby/mominRussia019.jpg
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/cowardlylion.jpg
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/17/10 at 8:14 am
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/cowardlylion.jpg
The cowardly lion, how did I forget him.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/17/10 at 8:15 am
He is a legend. :)
Yes he is.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/17/10 at 8:18 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTkgAL-bxVY
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: CatwomanofV on 01/17/10 at 9:24 am
Not only is James Earl Jones a fabulous actor and has a great voice, I think he has a WONDERFUL smile. I just love his smile.
Cat
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/17/10 at 11:15 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTkgAL-bxVY
It wouldn't play :\'(
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/17/10 at 11:16 am
Not only is James Earl Jones a fabulous actor and has a great voice, I think he has a WONDERFUL smile. I just love his smile.
Cat
He is a very unique gentleman.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/17/10 at 11:18 am
It wouldn't play :\'(
It played on the main YouTube website.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/17/10 at 3:12 pm
It played on the main YouTube website.
I just listened to it Thanks.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/17/10 at 8:12 pm
Lions are kings of the jungle.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/18/10 at 1:40 am
British Person of the Day: A. A. Milne
Alan Alexander Milne (18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English author, best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh and for various children's poems. Milne was a noted writer, primarily as a playwright, before the huge success of Pooh overshadowed all his previous work.
Life
A. A. Milne was born in Kilburn, London, England to parents John Vine Milne and Sarah Maria (née Heginbotham) and grew up at Henley House School, 6/7 Mortimer Road (now Crescent), Kilburn, London, a small independent school run by his father. One of his teachers was H. G. Wells who taught there in 1889–90. Milne attended Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied on a mathematics scholarship. While there, he edited and wrote for Granta, a student magazine. He collaborated with his brother Kenneth and their articles appeared over the initials AKM. Milne's work came to the attention of the leading British humour magazine Punch, where Milne was to become a contributor and later an assistant editor.
Milne joined the British Army in World War I and served as an officer in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and later, after a debilitating illness, the Royal Corps of Signals. After the war, he wrote a denunciation of war titled Peace with Honour (1934), which he retracted somewhat with 1940's War with Honour. During World War II, Milne was one of the most prominent critics of English humour writer P. G. Wodehouse, who was captured at his country home in France by the Nazis and imprisoned for a year. Wodehouse made radio broadcasts about his internment, which were broadcast from Berlin. Although the lighthearted broadcasts made fun of the Germans, Milne accused Wodehouse of committing an act of near treason by cooperating with his country's enemy. Wodehouse got some revenge on his former friend by creating fatuous parodies of the Christopher Robin poems in some of his later stories, and claiming that Milne "was probably jealous of all other writers.... But I loved his stuff."
He married Dorothy "Daphne" de Sélincourt in 1913, and their only son, Christopher Robin Milne, was born in 1920. In 1925, A. A. Milne bought a country home, Cotchford Farm, in Hartfield, East Sussex. During World War II, A. A. Milne was Captain of the Home Guard in Hartfield & Forest Row, insisting on being plain 'Mr. Milne' to the members of his platoon. He retired to the farm after a stroke and brain surgery in 1952 left him an invalid and by August 1953 "he seemed very old and disenchanted".
Literary career
1903 to 1925
After graduating from Cambridge in 1903, A. A. Milne contributed humorous verse and whimsical essays to the British humour magazine Punch, joining the staff in 1906 and becoming an assistant editor.
During this period he published 18 plays and 3 novels, including the murder mystery The Red House Mystery (1922). His son was born in August 1920 and in 1924 Milne produced a collection of children's poems When We Were Very Young, which were illustrated by Punch staff cartoonist E. H. Shepard. A collection of short stories for children Gallery of Children, and other stories that became part of the Winnie-the-Pooh books, were first published in 1925.
Looking back on this period (in 1926) Milne observed that when he told his agent that he was going to write a detective story, he was told that what the country wanted from a "Punch humorist" was a humorous story; when two years later he said he was writing nursery rhymes, his agent and publisher were convinced he should write another detective story; and after another two years he was being told that writing a detective story would be in the worst of taste given the demand for children's books. He concluded that "the only excuse which I have yet discovered for writing anything is that I want to write it; and I should be as proud to be delivered of a Telephone Directory con amore as I should be ashamed to create a Blank Verse Tragedy at the bidding of others."
1926 to 1928
Milne is most famous for his two Pooh books about a boy named Christopher Robin after his son, and various characters inspired by his son's stuffed animals, most notably the bear named Winnie-the-Pooh. Christopher Robin Milne's stuffed bear, originally named "Edward", was renamed "Winnie-the-Pooh" after a Canadian black bear named Winnie (after Winnipeg), which was used as a military mascot in World War I, and left to London Zoo during the war. "The pooh" comes from a swan called "Pooh". E. H. Shepard illustrated the original Pooh books, using his own son's teddy, Growler ("a magnificent bear"), as the model. Christopher Robin Milne's own toys are now under glass in New York.
Winnie-the-Pooh was published in 1926, followed by The House at Pooh Corner in 1928. A second collection of nursery rhymes, Now We Are Six, was published in 1927. All three books were illustrated by E. H. Shepard. Milne also published four plays in this period. He also "gallantly stepped forward" to contribute a quarter of the costs of dramatising P. G. Wodehouse's A Damsel in Distress.
1929 onwards
The success of his children's books was to become a source of considerable annoyance to Milne, whose self-avowed aim was to write whatever he pleased and who had, until then, found a ready audience for each change of direction: he had freed pre-war Punch from its ponderous facetiousness; he had made a considerable reputation as a playwright (like his idol J. M. Barrie) on both sides of the Atlantic; he had produced a witty piece of detective writing in The Red House Mystery (although this was severely criticised by Raymond Chandler for the implausibility of its plot). But once Milne had, in his own words, "said goodbye to all that in 70,000 words" (the approximate length of his four principal children's books), he had no intention of producing any reworkings lacking in originality, given that one of the sources of inspiration, his son, was growing older.
His reception remained warmer in America than Britain, and he continued to publish novels and short stories, but by the late 1930s the audience for Milne's grown-up writing had largely vanished: he observed bitterly in his autobiography that a critic had said that the hero of his latest play ("God help it") was simply "Christopher Robin grown up...what an obsession with me children are become!".
Even his old literary home, Punch, where the When We Were Very Young verses had first appeared, was ultimately to reject him, as Christopher Milne details in his autobiography The Enchanted Places, although Methuen continued to publish whatever Milne wrote, including the long poem 'The Norman Church' and an assembly of articles entitled Year In, Year Out (which Milne likened to a benefit night for the author).
He also adapted Kenneth Grahame's novel The Wind in the Willows for the stage as Toad of Toad Hall. The title was an implicit admission that such chapters as Chapter 7, "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn", could not survive translation to the theatre. A special introduction written by Milne is included in some editions of Grahame's novel.
Several of Milne's children's poems were set to music by the composer Harold Fraser-Simson. His poems have been parodied many times, including with the books When We Were Rather Older and Now We Are Sixty.
After Milne's death, his widow sold the rights to the Pooh characters to the Walt Disney Company, which has made a number of Pooh cartoon movies, as well as a large amount of Pooh-related merchandise.
Royalties from the Pooh characters paid by Disney to the Royal Literary Fund, part-owner of the Pooh copyright, provide the income used to run the Fund's Fellowship Scheme, placing professional writers in U.K. universities.
Works
Novels
* Lovers in London (1905) (Some consider this more of a short story collection; Milne didn't like it and considered The Day's Play as his first book.)
* Once on a Time (1917)
* Mr. Pim (1921) (A novelisation of his play Mr. Pim Passes By (1919))
* The Red House Mystery (1922)
* Two People (1931) (Inside jacket claims this is Milne's first attempt at a novel.)
* Four Days' Wonder (1933)
* Chloe Marr (1946)
Non-fiction
* Peace With Honour (1934)
* It's Too Late Now: The Autobiography of a Writer (1939)
* War With Honour (1940)
* Year In, Year Out (1952) (illustrated by E. H. Shepard)
Punch articles
* The Day's Play (1910)
* Once a Week (1914)
* The Holiday Round (1912)
* The Sunny Side (1921)
* Those Were the Days (1929)
Selections of newspaper articles and introductions to books by others
* The Chronicles of Clovis by "Saki" (1911)
* Not That It Matters (1920)
* By Way of Introduction (1929)
Story collections for children
* Gallery of Children (1925)
* Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) (illustrated by E. H. Shepard)
* The House at Pooh Corner (1928) (illustrated by E. H. Shepard)
* Short Stories
Story collections
* A Table Near the Band (1950)
Poetry
* For the Luncheon Interval
* When We Were Very Young (1924) (illustrated by E. H. Shepard)
* Now We Are Six (1927) (illustrated by E. H. Shepard)
* Behind the Lines (1940)
* The Norman Church (1948)
Plays
Milne wrote over 25 plays, including:
* Wurzel-Flummery (1917)
* Belinda (1918)
* The Boy Comes Home (1918)
* Make-Believe (1918) (children's play)
* The Camberley Triangle (1919)
* Mr. Pim Passes By (1919)
* The Red Feathers (1920)
* The Romantic Age (1920)
* The Stepmother (1920)
* The Truth about Blayds (1920)
* The Dover Road (1921)
* The Lucky One (1922)
* The Artist: A Duologue (1923)
* Give Me Yesterday (1923) (a.k.a. Success in the U.K.)
* The Great Broxopp (1923)
* Ariadne (1924)
* The Man in the Bowler Hat: A Terribly Exciting Affair (1924)
* To Have the Honour (1924)
* Portrait of a Gentleman in Slippers (1926)
* Success (1926)
* Miss Marlow at Play (1927)
* The Fourth Wall or The Perfect Alibi (1928)
* The Ivory Door (1929)
* Toad of Toad Hall (1929) (adaptation of The Wind in the Willows)
* Michael and Mary (1930)
* Other People's Lives (1933) (a.k.a. They Don't Mean Any Harm)
* Miss Elizabeth Bennet (1936)
* Sarah Simple (1937)
* Gentleman Unknown (1938)
* The General Takes Off His Helmet (1939) in The Queen's Book of the Red Cross
* The Ugly Duckling (1946)
* Before the Flood (1951)
http://blog.syracuse.com/shelflife/2008/01/milne.jpg
http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/19845241.jpg
A A Milne memorial plaque in Ashdown Forest
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/18/10 at 8:02 am
British Person of the Day: A. A. Milne
Alan Alexander Milne (18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English author, best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh and for various children's poems. Milne was a noted writer, primarily as a playwright, before the huge success of Pooh overshadowed all his previous work.
Life
A. A. Milne was born in Kilburn, London, England to parents John Vine Milne and Sarah Maria (née Heginbotham) and grew up at Henley House School, 6/7 Mortimer Road (now Crescent), Kilburn, London, a small independent school run by his father. One of his teachers was H. G. Wells who taught there in 1889–90. Milne attended Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied on a mathematics scholarship. While there, he edited and wrote for Granta, a student magazine. He collaborated with his brother Kenneth and their articles appeared over the initials AKM. Milne's work came to the attention of the leading British humour magazine Punch, where Milne was to become a contributor and later an assistant editor.
Milne joined the British Army in World War I and served as an officer in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and later, after a debilitating illness, the Royal Corps of Signals. After the war, he wrote a denunciation of war titled Peace with Honour (1934), which he retracted somewhat with 1940's War with Honour. During World War II, Milne was one of the most prominent critics of English humour writer P. G. Wodehouse, who was captured at his country home in France by the Nazis and imprisoned for a year. Wodehouse made radio broadcasts about his internment, which were broadcast from Berlin. Although the lighthearted broadcasts made fun of the Germans, Milne accused Wodehouse of committing an act of near treason by cooperating with his country's enemy. Wodehouse got some revenge on his former friend by creating fatuous parodies of the Christopher Robin poems in some of his later stories, and claiming that Milne "was probably jealous of all other writers.... But I loved his stuff."
He married Dorothy "Daphne" de Sélincourt in 1913, and their only son, Christopher Robin Milne, was born in 1920. In 1925, A. A. Milne bought a country home, Cotchford Farm, in Hartfield, East Sussex. During World War II, A. A. Milne was Captain of the Home Guard in Hartfield & Forest Row, insisting on being plain 'Mr. Milne' to the members of his platoon. He retired to the farm after a stroke and brain surgery in 1952 left him an invalid and by August 1953 "he seemed very old and disenchanted".
Literary career
1903 to 1925
After graduating from Cambridge in 1903, A. A. Milne contributed humorous verse and whimsical essays to the British humour magazine Punch, joining the staff in 1906 and becoming an assistant editor.
During this period he published 18 plays and 3 novels, including the murder mystery The Red House Mystery (1922). His son was born in August 1920 and in 1924 Milne produced a collection of children's poems When We Were Very Young, which were illustrated by Punch staff cartoonist E. H. Shepard. A collection of short stories for children Gallery of Children, and other stories that became part of the Winnie-the-Pooh books, were first published in 1925.
Looking back on this period (in 1926) Milne observed that when he told his agent that he was going to write a detective story, he was told that what the country wanted from a "Punch humorist" was a humorous story; when two years later he said he was writing nursery rhymes, his agent and publisher were convinced he should write another detective story; and after another two years he was being told that writing a detective story would be in the worst of taste given the demand for children's books. He concluded that "the only excuse which I have yet discovered for writing anything is that I want to write it; and I should be as proud to be delivered of a Telephone Directory con amore as I should be ashamed to create a Blank Verse Tragedy at the bidding of others."
1926 to 1928
Milne is most famous for his two Pooh books about a boy named Christopher Robin after his son, and various characters inspired by his son's stuffed animals, most notably the bear named Winnie-the-Pooh. Christopher Robin Milne's stuffed bear, originally named "Edward", was renamed "Winnie-the-Pooh" after a Canadian black bear named Winnie (after Winnipeg), which was used as a military mascot in World War I, and left to London Zoo during the war. "The pooh" comes from a swan called "Pooh". E. H. Shepard illustrated the original Pooh books, using his own son's teddy, Growler ("a magnificent bear"), as the model. Christopher Robin Milne's own toys are now under glass in New York.
Winnie-the-Pooh was published in 1926, followed by The House at Pooh Corner in 1928. A second collection of nursery rhymes, Now We Are Six, was published in 1927. All three books were illustrated by E. H. Shepard. Milne also published four plays in this period. He also "gallantly stepped forward" to contribute a quarter of the costs of dramatising P. G. Wodehouse's A Damsel in Distress.
1929 onwards
The success of his children's books was to become a source of considerable annoyance to Milne, whose self-avowed aim was to write whatever he pleased and who had, until then, found a ready audience for each change of direction: he had freed pre-war Punch from its ponderous facetiousness; he had made a considerable reputation as a playwright (like his idol J. M. Barrie) on both sides of the Atlantic; he had produced a witty piece of detective writing in The Red House Mystery (although this was severely criticised by Raymond Chandler for the implausibility of its plot). But once Milne had, in his own words, "said goodbye to all that in 70,000 words" (the approximate length of his four principal children's books), he had no intention of producing any reworkings lacking in originality, given that one of the sources of inspiration, his son, was growing older.
His reception remained warmer in America than Britain, and he continued to publish novels and short stories, but by the late 1930s the audience for Milne's grown-up writing had largely vanished: he observed bitterly in his autobiography that a critic had said that the hero of his latest play ("God help it") was simply "Christopher Robin grown up...what an obsession with me children are become!".
Even his old literary home, Punch, where the When We Were Very Young verses had first appeared, was ultimately to reject him, as Christopher Milne details in his autobiography The Enchanted Places, although Methuen continued to publish whatever Milne wrote, including the long poem 'The Norman Church' and an assembly of articles entitled Year In, Year Out (which Milne likened to a benefit night for the author).
He also adapted Kenneth Grahame's novel The Wind in the Willows for the stage as Toad of Toad Hall. The title was an implicit admission that such chapters as Chapter 7, "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn", could not survive translation to the theatre. A special introduction written by Milne is included in some editions of Grahame's novel.
Several of Milne's children's poems were set to music by the composer Harold Fraser-Simson. His poems have been parodied many times, including with the books When We Were Rather Older and Now We Are Sixty.
After Milne's death, his widow sold the rights to the Pooh characters to the Walt Disney Company, which has made a number of Pooh cartoon movies, as well as a large amount of Pooh-related merchandise.
Royalties from the Pooh characters paid by Disney to the Royal Literary Fund, part-owner of the Pooh copyright, provide the income used to run the Fund's Fellowship Scheme, placing professional writers in U.K. universities.
Works
Novels
* Lovers in London (1905) (Some consider this more of a short story collection; Milne didn't like it and considered The Day's Play as his first book.)
* Once on a Time (1917)
* Mr. Pim (1921) (A novelisation of his play Mr. Pim Passes By (1919))
* The Red House Mystery (1922)
* Two People (1931) (Inside jacket claims this is Milne's first attempt at a novel.)
* Four Days' Wonder (1933)
* Chloe Marr (1946)
Non-fiction
* Peace With Honour (1934)
* It's Too Late Now: The Autobiography of a Writer (1939)
* War With Honour (1940)
* Year In, Year Out (1952) (illustrated by E. H. Shepard)
Punch articles
* The Day's Play (1910)
* Once a Week (1914)
* The Holiday Round (1912)
* The Sunny Side (1921)
* Those Were the Days (1929)
Selections of newspaper articles and introductions to books by others
* The Chronicles of Clovis by "Saki" (1911)
* Not That It Matters (1920)
* By Way of Introduction (1929)
Story collections for children
* Gallery of Children (1925)
* Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) (illustrated by E. H. Shepard)
* The House at Pooh Corner (1928) (illustrated by E. H. Shepard)
* Short Stories
Story collections
* A Table Near the Band (1950)
Poetry
* For the Luncheon Interval
* When We Were Very Young (1924) (illustrated by E. H. Shepard)
* Now We Are Six (1927) (illustrated by E. H. Shepard)
* Behind the Lines (1940)
* The Norman Church (1948)
Plays
Milne wrote over 25 plays, including:
* Wurzel-Flummery (1917)
* Belinda (1918)
* The Boy Comes Home (1918)
* Make-Believe (1918) (children's play)
* The Camberley Triangle (1919)
* Mr. Pim Passes By (1919)
* The Red Feathers (1920)
* The Romantic Age (1920)
* The Stepmother (1920)
* The Truth about Blayds (1920)
* The Dover Road (1921)
* The Lucky One (1922)
* The Artist: A Duologue (1923)
* Give Me Yesterday (1923) (a.k.a. Success in the U.K.)
* The Great Broxopp (1923)
* Ariadne (1924)
* The Man in the Bowler Hat: A Terribly Exciting Affair (1924)
* To Have the Honour (1924)
* Portrait of a Gentleman in Slippers (1926)
* Success (1926)
* Miss Marlow at Play (1927)
* The Fourth Wall or The Perfect Alibi (1928)
* The Ivory Door (1929)
* Toad of Toad Hall (1929) (adaptation of The Wind in the Willows)
* Michael and Mary (1930)
* Other People's Lives (1933) (a.k.a. They Don't Mean Any Harm)
* Miss Elizabeth Bennet (1936)
* Sarah Simple (1937)
* Gentleman Unknown (1938)
* The General Takes Off His Helmet (1939) in The Queen's Book of the Red Cross
* The Ugly Duckling (1946)
* Before the Flood (1951)
http://blog.syracuse.com/shelflife/2008/01/milne.jpg
http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/19845241.jpg
A A Milne memorial plaque in Ashdown Forest
I was going around singing the Winnie The Pooh song
Winnie the Pooh
Winnie the Pooh
Tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff
He's Winnie the Pooh
Winnie the Pooh
Willy nilly silly old bear :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/18/10 at 8:08 am
The word of the day...Rent
If you rent something, you regularly pay its owner a sum of money in order to be able to have it and use it yourself
If you rent something to someone, you let them have it and use it in exchange for a sum of money which they pay you regularly.
Rent is the amount of money that you pay regularly to use a house, flat, or piece of land.
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f335/mackzekerule/RENT/RENT-2-1.jpg
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f335/mackzekerule/RENT/rent.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b104/master_of_one/RENT/92.png
http://i795.photobucket.com/albums/yy239/ParksideBrentwood/Flyers/ApartmentForRent1.jpg
http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx229/Raisa94/Greennewlyrenaptforrent.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b104/master_of_one/Iconses/4dea41a2.gif
http://i770.photobucket.com/albums/xx348/michael_crisson/2010%20BCS%20National%20Championship/100_2241.jpg
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/18/10 at 8:11 am
The birthday of the day...Jesse L. Martin
Jesse Lamont Martin (born Jesse Lamont Watkins; January 18, 1969) is an American theatre, film, and television actor, best known for originating the role of Tom Collins in Rent and as Det. Ed Green in the NBC series Law & Order.
Stage work
After graduation, Martin toured the states with John Houseman's The Acting Company. He appeared in Shakespeare's Rock-in-Roles at the Actors Theatre of Louisville and The Butcher's Daughter at the Cleveland Playhouse, and returned to Manhattan to perform in local theatre, soap operas, and commercials. Finding that auditions, regional theater, and bit parts were no way to support himself, Martin waited tables at several restaurants around the city. He was literally serving a pizza when his appearance on CBS's Guiding Light aired in the same eatery. While the show aired, the whole waitstaff gathered around the bar television to cheer his performance. Often, during the dinner rush, he broke out in song. When he gave his customers their dinner checks, he told them to "keep it, because someday I'll be famous!" Many of his coworkers in the restaurants continue to follow his career and are considered his early "fan club".
Martin made his Broadway debut in Timon of Athens, and then performed in The Government Inspector with Lainie Kazan. While employed at the Moondance Diner, he met the playwright Jonathan Larson, who also worked on the restaurant's staff. In 1996, Larson's musical Rent took the theatre world by storm, with Martin in the part of gay computer geek/philosophy professor Tom Collins. The 1990s update of Puccini's La Bohème earned six Drama Desk Awards, five Obie Awards, four Tony Awards, and the Pulitzer Prize.
Television
Martin soon landed roles on Fox's short-lived 413 Hope St. and Eric Bross' independent film Restaurant (1998). Ally McBeal's creator, David E. Kelley, attended Rent's Broadway premiere and remembered Martin when the show needed a new boyfriend for Calista Flockhart's Ally. Martin's performance as Dr. Greg Butters on Ally McBeal caught David Duchovny's eye, who then cast Martin as a baseball-playing alien in a 1999 episode of The X-Files titled "The Unnatural" that Duchovny wrote and directed.
While still shooting Ally McBeal, Martin heard rumours that actor Benjamin Bratt planned to leave the cast of Law & Order. Martin had tried out for the show years before and won the minor role of a car-radio thief named Earl the Hamster, but decided to wait for a bigger part. With the opportunity presenting itself, Martin approached Law & Order producer Dick Wolf regarding the opening. Wolf hoped to cast him, and upon hearing that CBS and Fox both offered Martin development deals, he gave the actor the part without an audition.
From 1999 to 2008, he played Det. Ed Green on Law & Order. He had a brief hiatus at the end of the 2004–2005 season while he was filming the movie adaptation of Rent in which he reprised the role of Tom Collins. Martin's character was the first detective to be promoted from junior to senior partner. Martin's final episode of Law & Order aired April 23, 2008, as he was replaced by Anthony Anderson. Martin returned to NBC a year later, as the co-star of The Philanthropist.
Future work
Currently in development is Sexual Healing, a film about the last years of singer Marvin Gaye's life. Martin plans to both produce and star in the film. The film, directed by Lauren Goodman, is in pre-production as of 2008.
Stage work
* Timon of Athens (Broadway premiere) - "Alcibiades' Officer" and "Second Masseur" (1993)
* The Government Inspector (revival) - Abdulin (1994)
* Rent - Tom Collins (1996)
* Bright Lights Big City (Off-Broadway) - Tad
Filmography
Year Film/television Role Other notes
1995 & 1998 New York Undercover Mustapha (1995 episode: "All In The Family") and Kaylen (1998 episode: "Going Native") TV series
1997 413 Hope St. Antonio Collins TV series
Ally McBeal Dr. Greg Butters TV Series
1998 Restaurant Quincy
1999 The X-Files Josh Exley TV Series (Episode 6x19, "The Unnatural")
Deep in My Heart Don Williams TV series
1999–2008 Law & Order Det. Edward Green Regular:198 Episodes (left briefly during the end of the 2004–2005 season)
2002 Buring House of Love Andre Anderson
2003 Season of Youth
2004 A Christmas Carol Ghost of Christmas Present TV movie
2005 Rent Tom Collins repeated his Off-Broadway and Broadway role along with five other original cast members
2008 A Muppet Christmas: Letters to Santa A Postal Worker cameo, TV Movie
Sexual Healing Marvin Gaye Producer and starring actor, in production as of 2007
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w9/kharadiva/jesselmartin.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z221/likethembald/JesseLMartin.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v670/punkrockprincess08/Jesse%20L%20Martin/RENTTheApollo016-vi.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll293/AUTUMNSKYS24/saudah2/lo1.jpg
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/18/10 at 8:15 am
The person of the day...Al Waxman
Albert Samuel Waxman, CM, O.Ont (March 2, 1935 – January 18, 2001) was a Canadian actor and director of over 1000 productions on radio, television, film, and stage. He is best known for his starring roles in the television series King of Kensington (CBC) and Cagney & Lacey (CBS).
Waxman's career began at the age of twelve on CBC radio but it wasn't until 1975, when he began playing the role of Larry King on CBC's King of Kensington (1975-1980), that he became a Canadian icon.
In the 1980 award winning film Atlantic City starring Burt Lancaster, Waxman appeared as a rich cocaine buyer with a seemingly endless amount of cash.
During the 1980s Waxman starred as the gruff but endearing Lt Bert Samuels in the highly successful CBS television drama Cagney & Lacey (1981-1989).
During the 1990s Waxman appeared in a variety of films and television shows but began spending more time acting and directing in the theatre. He was also a founding member of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.
In 1997 he was awarded the best actor Gemini Award for his performance in the television film Net Worth.
Waxman also appeared at the Stratford Festival, beginning with his critically acclaimed performance as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman in 1997. He also directed a memorable Anne Frank at the Stratford Festival in 2000. He was to return to Stratford for his highly anticipated portrayal of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice in 2001. In the wake of Waxman's death one month before rehearsals were to begin Paul Soles accepted the part of Shylock and the play was performed in honour of Waxman.
His last television role was as celestial Judge Othneil in Twice in a Lifetime(1999-2001). The last episode on which he worked right up until the afternoon before his elective heart bypass surgery was about a man, popular in his community, who needed routine bypass surgery but died during the operation. Although some sections of the episode were rewritten, at the end of this final episode Waxman's character is asked rhetorically 'why do the good die young' to which he has no answer. He's then told 'you were quite a warrior'. His response - not merely the end of the episode, but one of Waxman's last lines ever recorded, and spoken with a smile of resignation from the heavens - was: 'I had my day'.
Throughout his career he responded to the need for his services in community work and was involved with charitable causes from coast to coast. He was spokesperson for organisations such as United Appeal, United Jewish Appeal, Israel Bonds, Variety Club, the Muscular Dystrophy Telethons, and Big Brothers (for which he also became an honorary member). From June 1979 to June 1981 he was the National Campaign Chairman for the Canadian Cancer Society, and from 1988-1989 he was an official spokesperson for the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Ontario.
Al Waxman was accorded many tributes for his volunteer and philanthropic work. In 1978 he was honoured with the Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal. In 1989 he was the recipient of the B'nai Brith of Canada Humanitarian Award. In 1996 Waxman was inducted into the Order of Ontario and in 1997 into the Order of Canada. In 1998 he was given the Earle Grey Award for lifetime achievement in Canadian television. A statue erected for his popularity as a Canadian star actor, director, and humanitarian stands in Kensington Market. The inscription in front of it reads 'There's lots to do down the road, there's always more. Trust your gut instincts. In small matters trust your mind, but in the important decisions of life - trust your heart.'
Death
He died in Toronto during heart surgery on January 18, 2001, at the age of 65. His unexpected passing sent shock waves through the media and across the country that admired him as much for his charity and his indefatigable spirit as for the enormous body of work that he had achieved over his career. The Toronto neighbourhood that his starring role in King of Kensington made famous, Kensington Market, erected a memorial to Waxman following his death.
Fan club
Musician Jaymz Bee of the Bee People, (prior to his work with The Look People, The Royal Jelly Orchestra and various projects) was a founder of the Al Waxman Fan Club. The Fan Club began in 1984 following the heyday of the King of Kensington television show. Bee, his associates Clay Tyson (son of Ian and Sylvia), Bazl Salazar, Bruce J. Scott and artist Max MacDonald would host parties and write songs in honour of Waxman. They even created a dance called "The Waxman Wiggle". Some other Bee People songtitles included: "Have Al Instead", "Al or Nothing", "UniversAl" and "Puff, The Waxman Poodle". While the Fan Club initially appeared to be a publicity stunt, this led to a long and successful association between Jaymz Bee and Al Waxman. Waxman attended some of the Fan Club events as organised by Bee, most of which raised money for charities such as The Canadian Cancer Foundation and Big Brother. Bee attended Waxman's funeral, and joined with his Fan Club to hold a wake in Toronto on 25 January 2001. They had a New Orleans-style funeral march with a jazz band and paraded from The Cameron House to Kensington Market where they recorded his hit TV theme song with Vezi Tayeb at Kensington Sound. The AWFC boasted over 1,000 card carrying members and while the bulk of members were from Toronto, some were as far away as Japan and Africa. President Bee received a terse reply from Buckingham Palace however, notifying him that The Queen does not "join a fan club". Al Waxman realized over the years that this organization, while appearing tongue in cheek, was a group of bonafide fans who enjoyed celebrating "the King of Canada". Members of the now dormant AWFC can still be seen wandering through Kensington Market to shake the hand of the Al Waxman statue that resides there.
Filmography
Movies
* 1959: Sun In My Eyes
* 1962: The War Lover
* 1963: The Victors
* 1968: Isabel
* 1970: The Last Act of Martin Weston
* 1974: Vengeance is Mine
* 1975: The Clown Murders
* 1975: My Pleasure is my Business
* 1979: Wild Horse Hank
* 1980: Atlantic City
* 1980: Double Negative
* 1981: Heavy Metal (voice only)
* 1981: Tulips
* 1982: Class of '84
* 1983: Spasms
* 1987: Meatballs III
* 1988: Switching Channels
* 1989: Collision Course
* 1989: Malarek
* 1989: Millennium
* 1990: Mob Story
* 1991: Cerro Torre: Scream of Stone
* 1991: The Hitman
* 1991: White Light
* 1992: Live Wire
* 1992: The Diamond Fleece
* 1993: Operation Golden Phoenix
* 1995: Iron Eagle IV
* 1996: Bogus
* 1997: The Assignment
* 1997: Critical Care
* 1998: At the End of the Day: The Sue Rodriguez Story
* 1998: Summer's End
* 1999: The Hurricane
Television series
* 1975-1980: King of Kensington
* 1981: Circus International
* 1982-1988: Cagney & Lacey
* 1990-1991: Missing Treasures
* 1997: Simply Wine and Cheese
* 1999-2001: Twice in a Lifetime
Television Appearances
* 1965: For the People
* 1969: Adventures in Rainbow Country
* 1979, 1983-1984: The Littlest Hobo
* 1985: Night Heat
* 1986: Philip Marlowe, Private Eye
* 1988: My Secret Identity
* 1988: Street Legal
* 1988-1989: Alfred Hitchcock Presents
* 1989: Hard Time on Planet Earth
* 1989: Murder, She Wrote
* 1993: Sweating Bullets
* 1994: They Eat Horses, Don't They?
* 1996: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
* 1998: Due South
* 1998: Twitch City
* 1998-2000: Power Play
Television specials
* 1961: The Hired Gun
* 1963: Man in the Middle
* 1967: Do Not Fold, Staple, Or Spindle, Or Mutilate
* 1967: Counter Etiquette. Part 1
* 1970: The Last Act of Martin Weston
* 1971: When Michael Calls
* 1972: The Sloane Affair
* 1974: A Star is Lost!
* 1979: Please Don't Eat the Planet (voice only)
* 1979: Intergalactic Thanksgiving (voice only)
* 1981: Cagney & Lacey (pilot TV movie)
* 1988: The Return of Ben Casey
* 1990: Maggie's Secret
* 1990: Back to the Beanstalk
* 1991: I Still Dream of Jeannie
* 1992: Quiet Killer
* 1992: The Diamond Fleece
* 1992: Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story
* 1992: The Trial of Red Riding Hood
* 1994: Cagney & Lacey: The Return
* 1994: Web of Deceit
* 1994: I Know My Son Is Alive
* 1994: Death Junction
* 1995: Net Worth
* 1995: The Shamrock Conspiracy
* 1996: Gotti
* 1996: Holiday Affair
* 1997: Rescuers: Stories of Courage
* 1998: Naked City: A Killer at Christmas
* 1999: In the Company of Spies (TV-1999)
* 1999: A Saintly Switch
* 1999: Unforgettable: 100 Years Remembered
* 2000: The Ride
* 2000: The Thin Blue Lie
* 2000: Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (released posthumously)
* 2000: What Makes a Family (released posthumously)
* 2000: Messiah From Montreal (released posthumously)
*I can't find a pic on Photobucket
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: CatwomanofV on 01/18/10 at 8:27 am
When I was One,
I had just begun.
When I was Two,
I was nearly new.
When I was Three
I was hardly me.
When I was Four,
I was not much more.
When I was Five,
I was just alive.
But now I am Six,
I'm as clever as clever,
So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.
-A. A. Milne
This is one of my favorite Milne poems. (Had to get Granddaughter #1 this book on her last birthday since she turned 6. I will probably get it for Granddaughter #2 for her birthday since she will be turning 6 this year.)
Good choice, Philip.
Cat
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/18/10 at 5:47 pm
I remember Al Waxman.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Frank on 01/18/10 at 10:57 pm
The person of the day...Al Waxman
Albert Samuel Waxman, CM, O.Ont (March 2, 1935 – January 18, 2001) was a Canadian actor and director of over 1000 productions on radio, television, film, and stage. He is best known for his starring roles in the television series King of Kensington (CBC) and Cagney & Lacey (CBS).
Waxman's career began at the age of twelve on CBC radio but it wasn't until 1975, when he began playing the role of Larry King on CBC's King of Kensington (1975-1980), that he became a Canadian icon.
In the 1980 award winning film Atlantic City starring Burt Lancaster, Waxman appeared as a rich cocaine buyer with a seemingly endless amount of cash.
During the 1980s Waxman starred as the gruff but endearing Lt Bert Samuels in the highly successful CBS television drama Caegney & Lacey (1981-1989).
During the 1990s Waxman appeared in a variety of films and television shows but began spending more time acting and directing in the theatre. He was also a founding member of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.
In 1997 he was awarded the best actor Gemini Award for his performance in the television film Net Worth.
Waxman also appeared at the Stratford Festival, beginning with his critically acclaimed performance as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman in 1997. He also directed a memorable Anne Frank at the Stratford Festival in 2000. He was to return to Stratford for his highly anticipated portrayal of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice in 2001. In the wake of Waxman's death one month before rehearsals were to begin Paul Soles accepted the part of Shylock and the play was performed in honour of Waxman.
His last television role was as celestial Judge Othneil in Twice in a Lifetime(1999-2001). The last episode on which he worked right up until the afternoon before his elective heart bypass surgery was about a man, popular in his community, who needed routine bypass surgery but died during the operation. Although some sections of the episode were rewritten, at the end of this final episode Waxman's character is asked rhetorically 'why do the good die young' to which he has no answer. He's then told 'you were quite a warrior'. His response - not merely the end of the episode, but one of Waxman's last lines ever recorded, and spoken with a smile of resignation from the heavens - was: 'I had my day'.
Throughout his career he responded to the need for his services in community work and was involved with charitable causes from coast to coast. He was spokesperson for organisations such as United Appeal, United Jewish Appeal, Israel Bonds, Variety Club, the Muscular Dystrophy Telethons, and Big Brothers (for which he also became an honorary member). From June 1979 to June 1981 he was the National Campaign Chairman for the Canadian Cancer Society, and from 1988-1989 he was an official spokesperson for the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Ontario.
Al Waxman was accorded many tributes for his volunteer and philanthropic work. In 1978 he was honoured with the Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal. In 1989 he was the recipient of the B'nai Brith of Canada Humanitarian Award. In 1996 Waxman was inducted into the Order of Ontario and in 1997 into the Order of Canada. In 1998 he was given the Earle Grey Award for lifetime achievement in Canadian television. A statue erected for his popularity as a Canadian star actor, director, and humanitarian stands in Kensington Market. The inscription in front of it reads 'There's lots to do down the road, there's always more. Trust your gut instincts. In small matters trust your mind, but in the important decisions of life - trust your heart.'
Death
He died in Toronto during heart surgery on January 18, 2001, at the age of 65. His unexpected passing sent shock waves through the media and across the country that admired him as much for his charity and his indefatigable spirit as for the enormous body of work that he had achieved over his career. The Toronto neighbourhood that his starring role in King of Kensington made famous, Kensington Market, erected a memorial to Waxman following his death.
Fan club
Musician Jaymz Bee of the Bee People, (prior to his work with The Look People, The Royal Jelly Orchestra and various projects) was a founder of the Al Waxman Fan Club. The Fan Club began in 1984 following the heyday of the King of Kensington television show. Bee, his associates Clay Tyson (son of Ian and Sylvia), Bazl Salazar, Bruce J. Scott and artist Max MacDonald would host parties and write songs in honour of Waxman. They even created a dance called "The Waxman Wiggle". Some other Bee People songtitles included: "Have Al Instead", "Al or Nothing", "UniversAl" and "Puff, The Waxman Poodle". While the Fan Club initially appeared to be a publicity stunt, this led to a long and successful association between Jaymz Bee and Al Waxman. Waxman attended some of the Fan Club events as organised by Bee, most of which raised money for charities such as The Canadian Cancer Foundation and Big Brother. Bee attended Waxman's funeral, and joined with his Fan Club to hold a wake in Toronto on 25 January 2001. They had a New Orleans-style funeral march with a jazz band and paraded from The Cameron House to Kensington Market where they recorded his hit TV theme song with Vezi Tayeb at Kensington Sound. The AWFC boasted over 1,000 card carrying members and while the bulk of members were from Toronto, some were as far away as Japan and Africa. President Bee received a terse reply from Buckingham Palace however, notifying him that The Queen does not "join a fan club". Al Waxman realized over the years that this organization, while appearing tongue in cheek, was a group of bonafide fans who enjoyed celebrating "the King of Canada". Members of the now dormant AWFC can still be seen wandering through Kensington Market to shake the hand of the Al Waxman statue that resides there.
Filmography
Movies
* 1959: Sun In My Eyes
* 1962: The War Lover
* 1963: The Victors
* 1968: Isabel
* 1970: The Last Act of Martin Weston
* 1974: Vengeance is Mine
* 1975: The Clown Murders
* 1975: My Pleasure is my Business
* 1979: Wild Horse Hank
* 1980: Atlantic City
* 1980: Double Negative
* 1981: Heavy Metal (voice only)
* 1981: Tulips
* 1982: Class of '84
* 1983: Spasms
* 1987: Meatballs III
* 1988: Switching Channels
* 1989: Collision Course
* 1989: Malarek
* 1989: Millennium
* 1990: Mob Story
* 1991: Cerro Torre: Scream of Stone
* 1991: The Hitman
* 1991: White Light
* 1992: Live Wire
* 1992: The Diamond Fleece
* 1993: Operation Golden Phoenix
* 1995: Iron Eagle IV
* 1996: Bogus
* 1997: The Assignment
* 1997: Critical Care
* 1998: At the End of the Day: The Sue Rodriguez Story
* 1998: Summer's End
* 1999: The Hurricane
Television series
* 1975-1980: King of Kensington
* 1981: Circus International
* 1982-1988: Cagney & Lacey
* 1990-1991: Missing Treasures
* 1997: Simply Wine and Cheese
* 1999-2001: Twice in a Lifetime
Television Appearances
* 1965: For the People
* 1969: Adventures in Rainbow Country
* 1979, 1983-1984: The Littlest Hobo
* 1985: Night Heat
* 1986: Philip Marlowe, Private Eye
* 1988: My Secret Identity
* 1988: Street Legal
* 1988-1989: Alfred Hitchcock Presents
* 1989: Hard Time on Planet Earth
* 1989: Murder, She Wrote
* 1993: Sweating Bullets
* 1994: They Eat Horses, Don't They?
* 1996: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
* 1998: Due South
* 1998: Twitch City
* 1998-2000: Power Play
Television specials
* 1961: The Hired Gun
* 1963: Man in the Middle
* 1967: Do Not Fold, Staple, Or Spindle, Or Mutilate
* 1967: Counter Etiquette. Part 1
* 1970: The Last Act of Martin Weston
* 1971: When Michael Calls
* 1972: The Sloane Affair
* 1974: A Star is Lost!
* 1979: Please Don't Eat the Planet (voice only)
* 1979: Intergalactic Thanksgiving (voice only)
* 1981: Cagney & Lacey (pilot TV movie)
* 1988: The Return of Ben Casey
* 1990: Maggie's Secret
* 1990: Back to the Beanstalk
* 1991: I Still Dream of Jeannie
* 1992: Quiet Killer
* 1992: The Diamond Fleece
* 1992: Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story
* 1992: The Trial of Red Riding Hood
* 1994: Cagney & Lacey: The Return
* 1994: Web of Deceit
* 1994: I Know My Son Is Alive
* 1994: Death Junction
* 1995: Net Worth
* 1995: The Shamrock Conspiracy
* 1996: Gotti
* 1996: Holiday Affair
* 1997: Rescuers: Stories of Courage
* 1998: Naked City: A Killer at Christmas
* 1999: In the Company of Spies (TV-1999)
* 1999: A Saintly Switch
* 1999: Unforgettable: 100 Years Remembered
* 2000: The Ride
* 2000: The Thin Blue Lie
* 2000: Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (released posthumously)
* 2000: What Makes a Family (released posthumously)
* 2000: Messiah From Montreal (released posthumously)
*I can't find a pic on Photobucket
The King of Kensington!
Used to watch that show.
Mike Myers ( as a teen) once made a guest appearance on that show, In Canada.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/19/10 at 1:26 am
British Person of the Day: Matthew Webb
Captain Matthew Webb (19 January 1848–24 July 1883) was the first person to swim the English Channel without the use of artificial aids. On 25 August 1875 he swam from Dover to Calais in less than 22 hours.
Early life and career
He was born at Dawley in Shropshire, one of twelve children of a Coalbrookdale doctor. He joined the merchant navy and served a three-year apprenticeship with Rathbone Brothers of Liverpool.
Whilst serving as second mate on the Cunard Line ship Russia, travelling from New York to Liverpool, he attempted to rescue a man overboard by diving into the sea in the mid-Atlantic. The man was never found, but Webb's daring won him an award of £100 and the Stanhope Medal, and made him a hero of the British press.
English Channel swimming record
In 1873 Webb was serving as captain of the steamship Emerald when he read an account of the failed attempt by J. B. Johnson to swim the English Channel. He became inspired to try himself, and left his job to begin training, first at Lambeth Baths, then in the cold waters of the Thames and the English Channel.
On 12 August 1875 he made his first cross-Channel swimming attempt, but strong winds and poor sea conditions forced him to abandon the swim.
On 24 August 1875 he began a second swim by diving in from the Admiralty Pier at Dover. Backed by three chase boats and smeared in porpoise oil, he set off into the ebb tide at a steady breaststroke. Despite stings from jellyfish and strong currents off Cap Gris Nez which prevented him reaching the shore for five hours, finally, after 21 hours and 45 minutes, he landed near Calais—the first successful cross-channel swim. His zig-zag course across the Channel was over 39 miles (64 km) long.
Later life
After his record swim Captain Webb basked in national and international adulation, and followed a career as a professional swimmer. He licensed his name for merchandising such as commemorative pottery, and wrote a book called The Art of Swimming. A brand of matches was named after him. He participated in exhibition swimming matches and stunts such as floating in a tank of water for 128 hours.
On 27 April 1880 he married Madeline Kate Chaddock, and they had two children, Matthew and Helen.
His final stunt was to be a dangerous swim through the Whirlpool Rapids below Niagara Falls, a feat many observers considered suicidal. Although Webb failed in an attempt at raising interest in funding the event, on 24 July 1883 he jumped into the river from a small boat located near the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge and began his swim. Accounts of the time indicate that in all likelihood Webb successfully survived the first part of the swim, but died in the section of the river located near the entrance to the whirlpool. Webb was interred in Oakwood Cemetery, Niagara Falls, New York.
In 1909, Webb's elder brother Thomas unveiled a memorial in Dawley. On it reads the short inscription: "Nothing great is easy." The memorial was taken away for repair after a lorry collided with it in February 2009. The landmark memorial was returned after full restoration and was hoisted back onto its plinth in Dawley High Street in October 2009.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/shropshire/features/2003/08/images/webb_credit_museum_270.jpg
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/19/10 at 5:30 am
British Person of the Day: Matthew Webb
Captain Matthew Webb (19 January 1848–24 July 1883) was the first person to swim the English Channel without the use of artificial aids. On 25 August 1875 he swam from Dover to Calais in less than 22 hours.
Early life and career
He was born at Dawley in Shropshire, one of twelve children of a Coalbrookdale doctor. He joined the merchant navy and served a three-year apprenticeship with Rathbone Brothers of Liverpool.
Whilst serving as second mate on the Cunard Line ship Russia, travelling from New York to Liverpool, he attempted to rescue a man overboard by diving into the sea in the mid-Atlantic. The man was never found, but Webb's daring won him an award of £100 and the Stanhope Medal, and made him a hero of the British press.
English Channel swimming record
In 1873 Webb was serving as captain of the steamship Emerald when he read an account of the failed attempt by J. B. Johnson to swim the English Channel. He became inspired to try himself, and left his job to begin training, first at Lambeth Baths, then in the cold waters of the Thames and the English Channel.
On 12 August 1875 he made his first cross-Channel swimming attempt, but strong winds and poor sea conditions forced him to abandon the swim.
On 24 August 1875 he began a second swim by diving in from the Admiralty Pier at Dover. Backed by three chase boats and smeared in porpoise oil, he set off into the ebb tide at a steady breaststroke. Despite stings from jellyfish and strong currents off Cap Gris Nez which prevented him reaching the shore for five hours, finally, after 21 hours and 45 minutes, he landed near Calais—the first successful cross-channel swim. His zig-zag course across the Channel was over 39 miles (64 km) long.
Later life
After his record swim Captain Webb basked in national and international adulation, and followed a career as a professional swimmer. He licensed his name for merchandising such as commemorative pottery, and wrote a book called The Art of Swimming. A brand of matches was named after him. He participated in exhibition swimming matches and stunts such as floating in a tank of water for 128 hours.
On 27 April 1880 he married Madeline Kate Chaddock, and they had two children, Matthew and Helen.
His final stunt was to be a dangerous swim through the Whirlpool Rapids below Niagara Falls, a feat many observers considered suicidal. Although Webb failed in an attempt at raising interest in funding the event, on 24 July 1883 he jumped into the river from a small boat located near the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge and began his swim. Accounts of the time indicate that in all likelihood Webb successfully survived the first part of the swim, but died in the section of the river located near the entrance to the whirlpool. Webb was interred in Oakwood Cemetery, Niagara Falls, New York.
In 1909, Webb's elder brother Thomas unveiled a memorial in Dawley. On it reads the short inscription: "Nothing great is easy." The memorial was taken away for repair after a lorry collided with it in February 2009. The landmark memorial was returned after full restoration and was hoisted back onto its plinth in Dawley High Street in October 2009.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/shropshire/features/2003/08/images/webb_credit_museum_270.jpg
Very interesting. Thanks Phil.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/19/10 at 5:41 am
The word of the day...Coat
A coat is a piece of clothing with long sleeves which you wear over your other clothes when you go outside.
An animal's coat is the fur or hair on its body
If you coat something with a substance or in a substance, you cover it with a thin layer of the substance.
A coat of paint or varnish is a thin layer of it on a surface.
http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/ab144/qqmickey/20100111101154843833308.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g11/duckdog98604/ColumbiaCoat.jpg
http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/ad127/427SC/DSCN2257.jpg
http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo195/czmmvc/coat.jpg
http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/ss283/notshai/coat/IMG_3725.jpg
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm95/MrsAlyssaCullen/trench.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v280/Splatter_c4/johnny.jpg
http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn125/dyingbull/Raffles_Institution_Coat_of_Arms.png
http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn144/sturmmd/P1000119sm.jpg
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj312/tomglibbery/coat1.jpg
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u126/eawslinky/pubichare.jpg
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb13/Clue_in/BashkirCurly.jpg
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/19/10 at 5:43 am
Very interesting. Thanks Phil.
For me he is an undiscovered hero that has been lost to history.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/19/10 at 5:46 am
The birthday of the day...Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best-known for her work in country music.
In the four-and-a-half decades since her national-chart début, she remains one of the most-successful female artists in the history of the country genre which garnered her the title of 'The Queen of Country Music', with twenty-five number-one singles, and a record forty-one top-10 country albums. She has the distinction of having performed on a top-five country hit in each of the last five decades and is tied with Reba McEntire as the only country artists with No. 1 singles in four consecutive decades.
She is known for her distinctive soprano, sometimes bawdy humor, flamboyant dress sense and voluptuous figure.
n 1967, Parton was asked to join the weekly country-music, syndicated-television program The Porter Wagoner Show, hosted by Porter Wagoner, replacing Norma Jean, one of the most popular country female vocalists at the time, who was newly married and semi-retiring.
Initially, Wagoner's audience was reluctant to warm to Parton and chanted for Norma Jean, but with Wagoner's assistance, she was accepted. Wagoner convinced his label, RCA Victor, to also sign Parton. The label decided to protect their investment by releasing her first single as a duet with Wagoner. The duo's first single, "The Last Thing on My Mind," reached the country Top Ten early in 1968, launching a six-year streak of virtually uninterrupted Top-Ten singles.
Parton's first solo single for RCA, "Just Because I'm a Woman", was released in the summer of 1968 and was a moderate hit, reaching number seventeen. For the remainder of the decade, none of her solo efforts – even "In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)," which would later become a standard – were as successful as her duets. The duo was named Vocal Group of the Year in 1968 by the Country Music Association, but Parton's solo records were continually ignored. Wagoner and Parton were both frustrated by her lack of solo success, because he had a significant financial stake in her future – as of 1969, he was her co-producer and owned nearly half of the publishing company Owepar.
By 1970, both Parton and Wagoner had grown frustrated by her lack of solo chart success, and Porter had her sing Jimmie Rodgers' "Mule Skinner Blues," a gimmick that worked. The record shot to number three on the charts, followed closely by her first number-one single, "Joshua." For the next two years, she had a number of solo hits – including her signature song "Coat of Many Colors" (number four, 1971) – in addition to her duets. Though she had successful singles, none of them were blockbusters until "Jolene" reached number one in early 1974. Parton stopped traveling with Wagoner after its release, yet she continued to appear on television and sing duets with him until 1976.
She stayed with the Wagoner Show and continued to record duets with him for seven years, then made a break to become a solo artist. In 1974, her song, "I Will Always Love You" (written about her professional break from Wagoner), was released and went to number one on the country-music charts. Around the same time, Elvis Presley indicated that he wanted to cover the song. Parton was interested until Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, told her that she would have to sign over half of the publishing rights if Presley recorded the song (as was the standard procedure for songs he recorded). Parton refused and that decision is credited with helping to make her many millions of dollars in royalties from the song over the years. It was decisions like these, in fact, that caused her to be called "The Iron Butterfly" in show-business circles.
1977–1986: Branching out into pop music
From 1974 to 1980, she consistently charted in the country Top 10, with no fewer than eight singles reaching number one. Parton had her own syndicated-television variety show, Dolly! (1976–1977), and by 1977 had gained the right to produce her own albums, which immediately resulted in diverse efforts like 1977's New Harvest ... First Gathering. In addition to her own hits during the late 1970s, many artists, from Rose Maddox and Kitty Wells to Olivia Newton-John, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt, covered her songs, and her siblings Randy and Stella had recording contracts of their own.
Parton later had commercial success as a pop singer, as well as an actress. Her 1977 album, Here You Come Again, was her first million-seller, and its title track ("Here You Come Again") became her first top-ten single on the pop charts (reaching number three); many of her subsequent singles charted on both pop and country charts, simultaneously. Her albums during this period were developed specifically for pop-crossover success.
In 1978 Parton won a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for her Here You Come Again album. Following that title track's success, she had further pop hits with "Two Doors Down", "Heartbreaker" (both 1978), "Baby I'm Burning" and "You're the Only One" (both 1979), all of which charted in the pop singles Top 40, and all of which also topped the country-singles chart. On April 3, 1978, Parton performed with Cher on television in Cher... Special in the "Musical Battle to Save Cher's Soul Medley". Parton was dressed in white and, with a team of brightly clad singers, portrayed an angelic host while punk band The Tubes, dressed in black leather and performing "Mondo Bondage", battled to send Cher's soul into eternal damnation.
Parton's commercial success continued to grow during 1980, with three number-one hits in a row: the Donna Summer-written "Starting Over Again," "Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle to You", and "9 to 5."
With less time to spend songwriting as she focused on a burgeoning film career, during the early 1980s Parton recorded a larger percentage of material from noted pop songwriters, such as Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, Rupert Holmes, Gary Portnoy and Carole Bayer Sager.
Parton in Honolulu, Hawaii, 1983.
"9 to 5", the theme song to the feature film Nine to Five (1980) Parton starred in along with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, not only reached number one on the country charts, but also number one on the pop and the adult-contemporary charts, giving her a triple-number-one hit. Parton became one of the few female country singers to have a number-one single on the country and pop charts simultaneously. It also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.
Parton's singles continued to appear consistently in the country Top 10: between 1981 and 1985, she had 12 Top 10 hits; half of those were number-one singles. Parton continued to make inroads on the pop charts as well with a re-recorded version of "I Will Always Love You" from the feature film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) scraping the Top 50 that year and her duet with Kenny Rogers, "Islands in the Stream" (written by the Bee Gees and produced by Barry Gibb), spent two weeks at number one in 1983.
Most of her albums were dominated by the adult-contemporary pop songs like "Islands in the Stream," and it had been years since she had sung straightforward country. She also continued to explore new business and entertainment ventures such as her Dollywood theme park, that opened in 1986 in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Her record sales were still relatively strong, however, with "Save the Last Dance for Me", "Tennessee Homesick Blues" (both 1984); "Real Love" (another duet with Kenny Rogers), "Don't Call it Love" (both 1985); and "Think About Love" (1986) all reaching the country-singles Top 10. ("Tennessee Homesick Blues" and "Think About Love" reached number one. "Real Love" also reached number one on the country-singles chart and also became a modest pop-crossover hit). However, RCA Records didn't renew her contract after it expired that year, and she signed with CBS Records in 1987.
1987–1994: Return to country roots
Along with Harris and Ronstadt, she released the decade-in-the-making Trio (1987) to critical acclaim. The album strongly revitalized Parton's temporarily stalled music career, spending five weeks at number one on Billboard's Country Albums chart, selling several million copies and producing four Top 10 country hits including Phil Spector's "To Know Him Is to Love Him", which went to number one. Trio won the Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year. In 1987, she revived her television variety show, Dolly
After a further attempt at pop success with 1987's critically and commercially disappointing Rainbow, Parton refocused on recording country material. White Limozeen (1989) produced two number-one hits in "Why'd You Come in Here Lookin' Like That" and "Yellow Roses." Although it looked like Parton's career had been revived, it was actually just a brief revival before contemporary country music came in the early 1990s and moved all veteran artists out of the charts.
A duet with Ricky Van Shelton, "Rockin' Years" (1991) reached number one but Parton's greatest commercial fortune of the decade came when Whitney Houston recorded "I Will Always Love You" for the soundtrack of the feature film The Bodyguard (1992); both the single and the album were massively successful.
She recorded "The Day I Fall In Love" as a duet with James Ingram for the feature film Beethoven's 2nd (1993). The songwriters (Sager, Ingram, and Clif Mangess) were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song and Parton and Ingram performed the song on the awards telecast.
Similar to her earlier collabrative album with Harris and Ronstadt, Parton recorded Honky Tonk Angels (1994) with Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette. It was certified a Gold Album by the Recording Industry Association of America and helped revive both Wynette's and Lynn's careers.
Since 1995: career today
In 1995 Parton re-recorded "I Will Always Love You" as a duet with Vince Gill on her album Something Special for which they won the Country Music Association's Vocal Event of the Year Award.
A second and more-contemporary collaboration with Harris and Ronstadt, Trio II (1999), was released and its cover of Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush" won a Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. Parton was also inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999.
She recorded a series of critically acclaimed bluegrass albums, beginning with The Grass Is Blue (1999), winning a Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album, and Little Sparrow (2001), with its cover of Collective Soul's "Shine" winning a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. The third, Halos & Horns (2002) included a bluegrass version of the Led Zeppelin classic "Stairway to Heaven".
Parton released Those Were The Days (2005), her interpretation of hits from the folk-rock era of the late 1960s through the early 1970s. It featured such classics as John Lennon's "Imagine", Cat Stevens's "Where Do the Children Play?", Tommy James's "Crimson and Clover", and Pete Seeger's anti-war song "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?".
Parton earned her second Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for "Travelin' Thru", which she wrote specifically for the feature film Transamerica (2005). Because of the song's nature of accepting a transgender woman without judgment, Parton received death threats. She also returned to number one on the country charts later in 2005 by lending her distinctive harmonies to the Brad Paisley ballad, "When I Get Where I'm Goin'".
In September 2007, Parton released her first single from her own record company, Dolly Records, entitled, "Better Get to Livin'", which eventually peaked at number forty-eight on the Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart.
Her latest studio album, "Backwoods Barbie", released February 26, 2008, reached number two on the country charts. The album's début at number seventeen on the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart has been the highest in her career. The title track and video was released in February 2009. The title song was written as part of her score for 9 to 5: The Musical, an adaptation of her feature film Nine to Five.
After the sudden death of Michael Jackson, whom Parton knew personally, she released a video in which she somberly told of her feelings on Jackson and his death.
On October 27, 2009, Parton released a 4-CD box set entitled "Dolly" which features 99 songs and spans most of her career. She is now set to release her second live DVD and album, "Live From London" in October 2009 which was filmed during her sold out 2008 concerts at London's 02 Arena. She is also currently working on a dance album, "Dance with Dolly", of which she has said should be released very soon.
Parton is a hugely successful songwriter, having begun by writing country-music songs with strong elements of folk music, based upon her upbringing in humble mountain surroundings, and reflecting her family's evangelical-Christian background. Her songs "Coat of Many Colors", "I Will Always Love You" and "Jolene" have become classics in the field, as have a number of others. As a songwriter, she is also regarded as one of country music's most-gifted storytellers, with many of her narrative songs based on persons and events from her childhood. Parton has listed almost 600 songs with Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) to date and has earned 37 BMI awards for her material. In 2001, she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In a 2009 interview with CNN's Larry King Live, Parton indicated that she had written "at least 3,000" songs, having written seriously since the age of seven. Parton went on to say that she writes something every day, be it a song or an idea.
Compositions in films and television and covers
Parton's songwriting has been featured prominently in several films.
In addition to the title song for Nine to Five (1980), she also recorded a second version of "I Will Always Love You" for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982); the second version proved to be another number-one country hit and also managed to reach the pop charts going to number 53 in the U.S.
"I Will Always Love You" has been covered by many country artists, including Ronstadt, on Prisoner In Disguise (1975); Kenny Rogers, on Vote for Love (1996); and LeAnn Rimes, on Unchained Melody: The Early Years (1997). Whitney Houston performed it on The Bodyguard (1992) film soundtrack and her version became the best-selling hit ever both written and performed by a female vocalist, with worldwide sales of over twelve million copies.
As a songwriter, Parton has twice been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, for "9 to 5" (1980) and "Travelin' Thru" (2005). "Travelin' Thru" did win as Best Original Song award at the Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards (2005). The song was also nominated for both the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song (2005) and the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award (also known as the Critics' Choice Awards) for Best Song (2005).
A cover version of "Love Is Like A Butterfly", recorded by singer Clare Torry, was used as the theme music for the British TV show Butterflies.
American Idol appearance
The music-competition, reality-television show American Idol (since 2002) has weekly themes and the April 1–2, 2008, episodes' theme was "Dolly Parton Songs" with the nine then-remaining contestants each singing a Parton composition. Parton participated as a "guest mentor" to the contestants and also performed "Jesus and Gravity" (from Backwoods Barbie and released as a single in March 2008) receiving a standing ovation from the studio audience.
9 to 5: The Musical
Main article: 9 to 5: The Musical
Parton wrote the score (and Patricia Resnick wrote the book) for 9 to 5: The Musical, a musical-theatre adaptation of Parton's feature film Nine to Five (1980). The musical ran at the Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, California, in Fall 2008.
It opened on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre in New York City, New York, on April 30, 2009, to mixed reviews. The title track of her Backwoods Barbie (2008), was written for the musical's character Doralee.
Developing the musical was not an overnight process. According to a broadcast of the public-radio program Studio 360 (October 29, 2005), in October 2005 Parton was in the midst of composing the songs for a Broadway musical-theatre adaptation of the film. In late June 2007, 9 to 5: the Musical was read for industry presentations. The readings starred Megan Hilty, Allison Janney, Stephanie J. Block, Bebe Neuwirth and Marc Kudisch.
Musician
Parton plays the autoharp, banjo, drums, dulcimer, fiddle, guitar, harmonica, pennywhistle and piano. She began composing songs at the age of four, her mother often writing down the music as she heard Parton singing around the house. Parton often describes her talent as having "the gift of rhyme".
Acting career
During the mid-1970s, Parton wanted to expand her audience base. Although her first attempt, the television variety show Dolly! (1976–1977), had high ratings, it lasted only one season, with Parton requesting to be released from her contract because of the stress it was causing her vocal cords. (She later tried a second television variety show, also entitled Dolly (1987–1988); it also lasted only one season.)
Film
In her first feature film she portrayed a secretary in a co-starring role with Fonda and Tomlin in Nine to Five (1980). Parton received Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and New Star Of The Year – Actress.
She also wrote and recorded the biggest solo hit of her career with the film's title song. It received a nomination for Academy Award for Best Song along with a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Original Song. Released as a single, the song won two Grammy Awards: Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song. The song also reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and in was placed number 78 on the American Film Institute's "100 Years... 100 Songs" list released in 2004. Parton was also named Top Female Box Office Star by the Motion Picture Herald in both 1981 and 1982.
Parton's second film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), earned her a second Golden Globe nomination for Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.
She followed with Rhinestone (1984), co-starring Sylvester Stallone, and Steel Magnolias (1989), with an ensemble cast.
The last leading role for Parton was portraying a plainspoken radio-program host (with listeners telephoning in to share their problems) in Straight Talk (1992), opposite James Woods.
She played an overprotective mother in Frank McKlusky, C.I. (2002) with Dave Sheridan, Cameron Richardson and Randy Quaid.
Parton played herself in a cameo appearance in The Beverly Hillbillies (1993) (an adaptation of the long-running television situation comedy of the same name) and also in Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (2005) (the sequel to Sandra Bullock's earlier Miss Congeniality (2000)).
She was featured in The Book Lady (2008) a documentary about her campaign for children’s literacy and she was expecting to repeat her television role as Hannah's godmother in Hannah Montana: The Movie (2008) but the character was omitted from the final screenplay.
Television
In addition to her performing appearances on the Wagoner Show in the 1960s and into the 1970s; her two self-titled television variety shows in the 1970s and 1980s; and on American Idol in 2001 and other guest appearances, Parton has also acted in television roles. In 1979 she received an Emmy award nomination as "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Variety Program" for her guest appearance in a Cher special.
She starred in the television movie Smoky Mountain Christmas (1986); Unlikely Angel (1996), portraying an angel sent back to earth following a deadly car crash; and Blue Valley Songbird (1999), where her character lives through her music.
Parton has also done voice work for animation for television series, playing herself in the Alvin & the Chipmunks (episode "Urban Chipmunk", 1983) and the character Katrina Eloise "Murph" Murphy in The Magic School Bus (episode "The Family Holiday Special", 1994).
Dolly guest starred on an episode of Designing Women (episode "The First Day of the Last Decade of the Entire Twentieth Century") as herself, the guardian movie star of Charlene's baby. She also appeared in the situation comedy series Reba (episode "Reba's Rules of Real Estate") portraying a real-estate agency owner, and on The Simpsons (episode "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday", 1999).
She also made cameo appearances on the Disney Channel as "Aunt Dolly" visiting Hannah and her family in the fellow Tennessean Miley Cyrus's series Hannah Montana (episodes "Good Golly, Miss Dolly", 2006, and "I Will Always Loathe You", 2007). The role came about because of her real-life relationship as Cyrus's godmother.
Since the mid-1980s Parton has supported many charitable efforts, particularly in the area of literacy, primarily through her Dollywood Foundation.
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library
Her literacy program, "Dolly Parton's Imagination Library", a part of the Dollywood Foundation, mails one book per month to each enrolled child from the time of their birth until they enter kindergarten. It began in Sevier County but has now been replicated in 566 counties across thirty-six U.S. states (as well as in Canada). In December 2007 it expanded to Europe with the South Yorkshire town of Rotherham, United Kingdom, being the first British locality to receive the books.
The program distributes more than 2.5 million free books to children annually.
In 2006 Parton published a cookbook Dolly's Dixie Fixin's: Love, Laughter and Lots of Good Food. The net profits support the Dollywood Foundation.
Other philanthropy
Dollywood has also been noted for bringing jobs and tax revenues to a previously depressed region.
She has also worked to raise money on behalf of several other causes, including the American Red Cross and a number of HIV/AIDS-related charities.
In December 2006, Parton pledged $500,000 toward a proposed $90-million hospital and cancer center to be constructed in Sevierville in the name of Dr. Robert F. Thomas, the physician who delivered her; she also announced plans for a benefit concert to raise additional funds for the project. The concert went ahead playing to about 8,000 people.
In May 2009, Parton gave the Graduating Commencement Address at the University of Tennessee. Her speech was about her life lessons, and she encouraged the graduates to never stop dreaming.
Awards and honors
Parton is one of the most-honored female country performers of all time. The Record Industry Association of America has certified 25 of her single or album releases as either Gold Record, Platinum Record or Multi-Platinum Record. She has had 26 songs reach number one on the Billboard country charts, a record for a female artist. She has 42 career-top-10 country albums, a record for any artist, and 110 career-charted singles over the past 40 years. All inclusive sales of singles, albums, hits collections, paid digital downloads and compilation usage during Parton's career have reportedly topped 100 million records around the world.
Parton during a reception for The Kennedy Center honorees in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on December 3, 2006.
She has received seven Grammy Awards and a total of 45 Grammy Award nominations. At the American Music Awards she has won three awards, but has received 18 nominations. At the Country Music Association, she has received 10 awards and 42 nominations. At the Academy of Country Music, she has won seven awards and 39 nominations. She is one of only six female artists (including Reba McEntire, Barbara Mandrell, Shania Twain, Loretta Lynn, and Taylor Swift), to win the Country Music Association's highest honor, Entertainer of the Year (1978). She has also been nominated for two Academy Awards and a Tony Award.
She was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording in 1984, located at 6712 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California; a star on the Nashville Star Walk for Grammy winners; and a bronze sculpture on the courthouse lawn in Sevierville. She has called that statue of herself in her hometown "the greatest honor," because it came from the people who knew her.
Parton was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 1969, and in 1986 was named one of Ms. Magazine's Women of the Year. In 1986, Parton was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 1999, Parton received country music's highest honor, an induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. She received an honorary doctorate degree from Carson-Newman College (Jefferson City, Tennessee) in 1990. This was followed by induction into the National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001. In 2002, Parton ranked number four in CMT's 40 Greatest Women of Country Music.
She was honored in 2003 with a tribute album called Just Because I'm a Woman: Songs of Dolly Parton. The artists who recorded versions of Parton's songs included Melissa Etheridge ("I Will Always Love You"), Alison Krauss ("9 to 5"), Twain ("Coat of Many Colors"), Me'Shell NdegéOcello ("Two Doors Down"), Norah Jones ("The Grass is Blue"), and Sinéad O'Connor ("Dagger Through the Heart"); Parton herself contributed a rerecording of the title song, originally the title song for her first RCA album in 1968. Parton was awarded the Living Legend Medal by the U.S. Library of Congress on April 14, 2004, for her contributions to the cultural heritage of the United States.
This was followed in 2005 with the National Medal of Arts, the highest honor given by the U.S. government for excellence in the arts and is presented by the U.S. President.
On December 3, 2006, Parton received the Kennedy Center Honors from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for her lifetime of contributions to the arts. Other 2006 honorees included Zubin Mehta, Steven Spielberg, Smokey Robinson and Andrew Lloyd Webber. During the show, some of country music's biggest names came to show their admiration. Carrie Underwood performed Parton's hit "Islands in the Stream" with Rogers, Parton's original duet partner. Krauss performed "Jolene" and duetted "Coat of Many Colors" with Twain. McEntire and Reese Witherspoon also came to pay tribute.
Philanthropy-related honors
In 2003, her efforts to preserve the bald eagle through the American Eagle Foundation's sanctuary at Dollywood earned her the Partnership Award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Parton received the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars of the Smithsonian Institution at a ceremony in Nashville on November 8, 2007.
For her work in literacy, Parton has received various awards including:
* Association of American Publishers - AAP Honors Award (2000)
* Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval (2001) (the first time the seal had been awarded to a person)
* American Association of School Administrators - Galaxy Award (2002)
* National State Teachers of the Year - Chasing Rainbows Award (2002)
* Parents as Teachers National Center - Child and Family Advocacy Award (2003)
On May 8, 2009, Parton gave the commencement speech at the commencement ceremony in Knoxville, Tennessee, for the University of Tennessee, Knoxville's College of Arts and Sciences. During the ceremony she received an honorary degree, a doctorate of humane and musical letters, from the university. It was only the second honorary degree to be given by the university and in presenting the degree, the university's chancellor, Jimmy G. Cheek, said, "Because of her career not just as a musician and entertainer, but for her role as a cultural ambassador, philanthropist and lifelong advocate for education, it is fitting that she be honored with an honorary degree from the flagship educational institution of her home state."
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/19/10 at 5:47 am
For me he is an undiscovered hero that has been lost to history.
I know what you mean, I sometimes think I should go back more to find the person of the day.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/19/10 at 5:47 am
The word of the day...Coat
A coat is a piece of clothing with long sleeves which you wear over your other clothes when you go outside.
An animal's coat is the fur or hair on its body
If you coat something with a substance or in a substance, you cover it with a thin layer of the substance.
A coat of paint or varnish is a thin layer of it on a surface.
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Youtube is....
...Service Unavailable
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/19/10 at 5:50 am
Youtube is....
...Service Unavailable
Through Google Videos (on youTube)
Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/19/10 at 5:52 am
The person of the day...Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an American R&B/rock and roll and soul singer and songwriter known for his raw, raspy, passionate vocal delivery.
A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the pop charts as well. Among his best known hits are "In The Midnight Hour" (which he co-wrote), "Land of 1,000 Dances", "Mustang Sally", and "Funky Broadway".
The impact of Pickett's songwriting and recording led to his 1991 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Pickett's Atlantic career began with a self-produced single, "I'm Gonna Cry", which stalled at a lowly #124 on the national charts. Looking to boost Pickett's chart chances, Atlantic next paired him with famed producer Bert Berns and established songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. With this team, Pickett recorded "Come Home Baby," a pop duet with New Orleans singer Tammi Lynn, but this single failed to chart completely.
Pickett's breakthrough came at Stax Records' recording studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where he recorded his third Atlantic single, "In the Midnight Hour" (1965), perhaps his best-remembered hit, peaking at #1 R&B, #21 pop {US}, and #12 hit {UK}.
The genesis of "In the Midnight Hour" was a recording session on May 12, 1965, in which producer Jerry Wexler worked out a powerful rhythm track with studio musicians Steve Cropper and Al Jackson of the Stax Records house band, which also included bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn. (Stax keyboard player Booker T. Jones, who usually played with Dunn, Cropper and Jackson as Booker T. & the MG's, did not play on any of the Pickett studio sessions.) Wexler said to Cropper and Jackson, "Why don't you pick up on this thing here?" He performed a dance step. Cropper later explained in an interview that Wexler told them that "this was the way the kids were dancing; they were putting the accent on two. Basically, we'd been one-beat-accenters with an afterbeat; it was like 'boom dah,' but here this was a thing that went 'um-chaw,' just the reverse as far as the accent goes." The song that resulted from this encounter established Pickett as a star, and also gave Atlantic Records a bona fide hit.
Stax/Fame years (1965-67)
Pickett recorded three sessions at Stax in May and October 1965, and was joined by keyboardist Isaac Hayes for the October sessions. In addition to "In the Midnight Hour," Pickett's 1965 recordings included the singles "Don't Fight It," (#4 R&B, #53 pop) "634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A,)" (#1 R&B, #13 pop) and "Ninety-Nine and A Half (Won't Do)" (#13 R&B, #53 pop). All but "634-5789" were original compositions Pickett co-wrote with Eddie Floyd and/or Steve Cropper; "634-5789" was credited to Cropper and Floyd alone. All of these recordings are considered soul classics, and show a range of different styles, from the hard-driving "Midnight Hour" and "Don't Fight It," to the more overtly gospel-influenced "Ninety-Nine and A Half" (which borrowed its title from a gospel standard recorded by The Ward Singers) and the pop-soul of "634-5789".
For his next sessions, Pickett would not return to Stax; the label's owner, Jim Stewart, banned all outside productions in December, 1965. As a result, Wexler took Pickett to Fame studios, another recording studio with an even closer association to Atlantic Records. Located in a converted tobacco warehouse in nearby Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Fame was very influential in shaping soul music, and Pickett recorded some of his biggest hits there. This included the highest-charting version ever of the kinetic "Land of 1,000 Dances", which became Pickett's third R&B #1, and his biggest ever pop hit, peaking at #6. The song had previously been a hit for the song's writer, Chris Kenner, and Mexican-American band Cannibal & the Headhunters.
Other big hits from this era in Pickett's career included two other covers: Mack Rice's "Mustang Sally," (#6 R&B, #23 pop), and Dyke & the Blazers' "Funky Broadway," (another R&B #1 for Pickett, as well as #8 pop). The band heard on almost all of Pickett's Fame recordings included keyboardist Spooner Oldham and drummer Roger Hawkins.
Later Atlantic years (1967-1972)
Towards the end of 1967, Pickett began recording at American Studios in Memphis with producers Tom Dowd and Tommy Cogbill, and also began recording numerous songs by Bobby Womack. The songs "I'm In Love," "Jealous Love," "I've Come A Long Way," "I'm A Midnight Mover," (a Pickett/Womack co-write), and "I Found A True Love" were all Womack-penned hits for Pickett in 1967 and 1968. "I'm In Love" was also a return to the soul ballad genre for Pickett; he would continue to record a mixture of ballads, soul and funk for the rest of his career. Pickett also recorded work by other writers during this era; Rodger Collins' "She's Looking Good" and a cover of the traditional blues standard "Stagger Lee" were also top 40 Pickett hits recorded at American in 1967/68. Womack was the guitarist on all these recordings.
Pickett returned to Fame Studios in late 1968 and early 1969, where he worked with a band that featured guitarist Duane Allman, as well as Muscle Shoals stalwart Hawkins and newly recruited bassist David Hood. A #16 pop hit cover of The Beatles' "Hey Jude" came from these Fame sessions, as well as the minor hits "Mini-Skirt Minnie" and "Hey Joe".
Late 1969 found Pickett at Criteria Studios in Miami. Hit covers of The Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (#16 R&B, #92 Pop) and The Archies' "Sugar Sugar" (#4 R&B, #25 Pop), as well as the Pickett original "She Said Yes" (#20 R&B, #68 Pop) came from these sessions.
Pickett then teamed up with established Philadelphia-based hitmakers Gamble and Huff for the 1970 album Wilson Pickett In Philadelphia, which featured his next two hit singles, the funk-oriented "Get Me Back On Time, Engine Number 9" (#3 R&B, #14 Pop) and the pop number "Don't Let The Green Grass Fool You" (#2 R&B, #17 Pop).
Following these two big hits, Pickett returned to Muscle Shoals and the Muscle Shoals band, featuring Hood, Hawkins and Tippy Armstrong. This line-up recorded Pickett's fifth and last R&B #1 hit, "Don't Knock My Love, Pt. 1", which also peaked at #13 on the pop charts in 1971. Two further hits followed in '71: "Call My Name, I'll Be There" (#10 R&B, #52 Pop) and "Fire and Water" (#2 R&B, #24 Pop), a cover of a song by Free.
Pickett recorded several tracks in 1972 for a planned new album on Atlantic, but after the single "Funk Factory" reached #11 R&B and #58 pop in June of 1972, he left Atlantic for RCA Records. His final Atlantic single, a cover of Randy Newman's "Mama Told Me Not To Come," was actually culled from Pickett's 1971 album Don't Knock My Love.
Post-Atlantic recording career
Pickett continued to record with some success on the R&B charts for RCA in 1973 and 1974, scoring four top 30 R&B hits with "Mr. Magic Man", "Take a Closer Look at the Woman You're With", "International Playboy" and "Soft Soul Boogie Woogie". However, he was no longer crossing over to the pop charts with any regularity, as none of these songs hit higher than #90 on the Billboard Hot 100.
As the decade continued, the advent of disco put Pickett's soul-based musical style out of step with the then-current trends in R&B, and in pop music in general. In 1975, with Pickett's once-prominent chart career on the wane, RCA dropped Pickett from the label.
Pickett continued to record sporadically with several labels over the following decades, occasionally making the lower to mid-range of the R&B charts. However, after 1974, he never had another pop hit. His last record was issued in 1999, although he remained fairly active on the touring front until he became ill in 2004.
Personal life and honors
Outside of music, Pickett's personal life was troubled. Even in his 1960s heyday, Pickett's friends found him to be temperamental and preoccupied with guns; Don Covay described him as "young and wild". Then in 1987, as his recording career was drying up, Pickett was given two years' probation and fined $1,000 for carrying a loaded shotgun in his car. In 1991, he was arrested for allegedly yelling death threats while driving a car over the mayor's front lawn in Englewood, New Jersey. The following year, he was charged with assaulting his girlfriend.
In 1993, Pickett was involved in an accident where he struck an 86-year-old pedestrian, Pepe Ruiz, with his car in Englewood. Ruiz, who helped organize the New York animation union, died later that year. Pickett pled guilty to drunken driving charges and received a reduced sentence of one year in jail and five years probation. Pickett had been previously convicted of various drug offenses.
Throughout the 1990s, despite his personal troubles, Pickett was continually honored for his contributions to music. In addition to being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, his music was prominently featured in the film The Commitments, with Pickett as an off-screen character. In 1993, he was honored with a Pioneer Award by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation.
Pickett was also a popular songwriter, as songs he wrote were recorded by artists like Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, the Grateful Dead, Booker T. & the MGs, Genesis, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Hootie & the Blowfish, Echo & the Bunnymen, Roxy Music, Bruce Springsteen, Los Lobos, The Jam and Ani DiFranco, among others.
Several years after his release from jail, Pickett returned to the studio and received a Grammy nomination for the 1999 album It's Harder Now. The comeback also resulted in his being honored as Soul/Blues Male Artist of the Year by the Blues Foundation in Memphis. It's Harder Now was voted Comeback Blues Album of the Year and Soul/Blues Album of the Year.
In 2003, he co-starred in the D.A. Pennebaker-directed documentary "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of both the 2002 Cannes and Sundance Film Festivals. In 2003, Pickett was also a judge for the 2nd annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers. In 2005, Wilson Pickett was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame. His classic recording of "Mustang Sally" was voted a Legendary Michigan Song in 2007.
Pickett spent the twilight of his career playing dozens of concert dates a year until 2004, when he began suffering from health problems. While in the hospital, he returned to his spiritual roots and told his sister that he wanted to record a gospel album. But, sadly, he never recovered.
Death
Pickett died of a heart attack January 19, 2006 in the hospital near his Ashburn, Virginia home and was buried in Louisville, Kentucky. Pickett's long-time friend, Little Richard, spoke about him and preached briefly at the funeral. Pickett spent many years in Louisville when his mother moved there from Alabama. He is considered an honorary son of the city. His funeral procession was flanked by well wishers welcoming him home.
He was remembered on March 20, 2006, at NYC's B.B. King Blues Club with performances by the Commitments, his long-term backing band the Midnight Movers, soul singer Bruce "Big Daddy" Wayne, and Southside Johnny Lyon in front of an audience that included many members of his family, including two brothers.
Discography
Singles
Release date Title Chart positions
US Hot 100 US R&B UK
1962 "If You Need Me" #64 #30
1963 "It's Too Late" #49 #7
"I'm Down to My Last Heartbreak" #95 #27
"My Heart Belongs to You" (reissue charted in 1965) #109
1964 "I'm Gonna Cry" #124
"Come Home Baby"
1965 "In the Midnight Hour" #21 #1 #12
"Don't Fight It" #53 #4 #29
1966 "634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)" #13 #1 #36
"Ninety Nine and a Half (Won't Do)" #53 #13
"Land of 1000 Dances" #6 #1 #22
"Mustang Sally" #23 #6 #28
1967 "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" #29 #19
"I Found a Love - Pt. 1" #32 #6
"You Can't Stand Alone" (A-Side) #70 #26
→ "Soul Dance Number Three" (B-Side) #55 #10
"Funky Broadway" #8 #1 #43
"I'm in Love" (A-Side) #45 #4
→ "Stag-O-Lee" (B-Side) #22 #13
1968 "Jealous Love" (A-Side) #50 #18
→ "I've Come a Long Way" (B-Side) #101 #46
"She's Looking Good" #15 #7
"I'm a Midnight Mover" #24 #6 #38
"I Found a True Love" #42 #11
"A Man and a Half" #42 #20
"Hey Jude" #23 #13 #16
1969 "Mini-skirt Minnie" #50 #19
"Born to Be Wild" #64 #41
"Hey Joe" #59 #29
"You Keep Me Hangin' On" #92 #16
1970 "Sugar, Sugar" (A-Side) #25 #4
→ "Cole, Cooke, and Redding" (B-Side) #91 #11
"She Said Yes" #68 #20
"Get Me Back On Time, Engine Number 9" #14 #3
1971 "Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You" #17 #2
"Don't Knock My Love - Pt. 1" #13 #1
"Call My Name, I'll Be There" #52 #10
"Fire and Water" #24 #2
1972 "Funk Factory" #58 #11
"Mama Told Me Not To Come" #99 #16
1973 "Mr. Magic Man" #98 #16
"Take a Closer Look at the Woman You're With" #90 #17
"International Playboy" #104 #30
1974 "Soft Soul Boogie Woogie" #103 #20
"Take Your Pleasure Where You Find It" #68
"I Was Too Nice"
1975 "The Best Part of A Man" #26
1976 "Love Will Keep Us Together" #69
1977 "Love Dagger"
1978 "Who Turned You On" #59
"Groovin'" #94
1979 "I Want You" #41
1980 "Live With Me" #95
1981 "Ain't Gonna Give You No More"
"Back On The Right Track"
1987 "Don't Turn Away" #74
"In the Midnight Hour" (re-recording) #62
1988 "Love Never Let Me Down"
Albums
* In The Midnight Hour (1965, Atlantic) US: #107
* The Exciting Wilson Pickett (1966) US: #21
* The Best Of Wilson Pickett (1967) US: #35
* The Wicked Pickett (1967) US: #42
* The Sound Of Wilson Pickett (1967) US: #54
* I'm In Love (1967) US: #70
* The Midnight Mover (1968) US: #91
* Hey Jude (1968) US: #97
* Wilson Pickett In Philadelphia (1970) US: #64
* Right On (1970) US: #197
* The Best Of Wilson Pickett, Vol. II (1971) US: #73
* Don't Knock My Love (1972) US: #132
* Mr. Magic Man (1973, RCA) US: #187
* Wilson Pickett's Greatest Hits (1973) US: #178
* Miz Lena's Boy (1973, RCA)
* Pickett In The Pocket (1974, RCA)
* Live In Japan (1974, RCA)
* Join Me And Let's Be Free (1975, RCA)
* Chocolate Mountain (1976, Wicked)
* Funky Situation (1978, Big Tree)
* I Want You (1979, EMI)
* Right Track (1981, EMI)
* American Soul Man (1987, Motown)
* A Man And A Half: The Best Of Wilson Pickett (1992, Rhino/Atlantic)
* It's Harder Now (Bullseye Blues 1999)
* Live And Burnin' - Stockholm '69 (Soulsville 2009)
* Live In Germany 1968 (Crypt Records 2009)
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/19/10 at 5:52 am
The birthday of the day...Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best-known for her work in country music.
In the four-and-a-half decades since her national-chart début, she remains one of the most-successful female artists in the history of the country genre which garnered her the title of 'The Queen of Country Music', with twenty-five number-one singles, and a record forty-one top-10 country albums. She has the distinction of having performed on a top-five country hit in each of the last five decades and is tied with Reba McEntire as the only country artists with No. 1 singles in four consecutive decades.
She is known for her distinctive soprano, sometimes bawdy humor, flamboyant dress sense and voluptuous figure.
n 1967, Parton was asked to join the weekly country-music, syndicated-television program The Porter Wagoner Show, hosted by Porter Wagoner, replacing Norma Jean, one of the most popular country female vocalists at the time, who was newly married and semi-retiring.
Initially, Wagoner's audience was reluctant to warm to Parton and chanted for Norma Jean, but with Wagoner's assistance, she was accepted. Wagoner convinced his label, RCA Victor, to also sign Parton. The label decided to protect their investment by releasing her first single as a duet with Wagoner. The duo's first single, "The Last Thing on My Mind," reached the country Top Ten early in 1968, launching a six-year streak of virtually uninterrupted Top-Ten singles.
Parton's first solo single for RCA, "Just Because I'm a Woman", was released in the summer of 1968 and was a moderate hit, reaching number seventeen. For the remainder of the decade, none of her solo efforts – even "In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)," which would later become a standard – were as successful as her duets. The duo was named Vocal Group of the Year in 1968 by the Country Music Association, but Parton's solo records were continually ignored. Wagoner and Parton were both frustrated by her lack of solo success, because he had a significant financial stake in her future – as of 1969, he was her co-producer and owned nearly half of the publishing company Owepar.
By 1970, both Parton and Wagoner had grown frustrated by her lack of solo chart success, and Porter had her sing Jimmie Rodgers' "Mule Skinner Blues," a gimmick that worked. The record shot to number three on the charts, followed closely by her first number-one single, "Joshua." For the next two years, she had a number of solo hits – including her signature song "Coat of Many Colors" (number four, 1971) – in addition to her duets. Though she had successful singles, none of them were blockbusters until "Jolene" reached number one in early 1974. Parton stopped traveling with Wagoner after its release, yet she continued to appear on television and sing duets with him until 1976.
She stayed with the Wagoner Show and continued to record duets with him for seven years, then made a break to become a solo artist. In 1974, her song, "I Will Always Love You" (written about her professional break from Wagoner), was released and went to number one on the country-music charts. Around the same time, Elvis Presley indicated that he wanted to cover the song. Parton was interested until Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, told her that she would have to sign over half of the publishing rights if Presley recorded the song (as was the standard procedure for songs he recorded). Parton refused and that decision is credited with helping to make her many millions of dollars in royalties from the song over the years. It was decisions like these, in fact, that caused her to be called "The Iron Butterfly" in show-business circles.
1977–1986: Branching out into pop music
From 1974 to 1980, she consistently charted in the country Top 10, with no fewer than eight singles reaching number one. Parton had her own syndicated-television variety show, Dolly! (1976–1977), and by 1977 had gained the right to produce her own albums, which immediately resulted in diverse efforts like 1977's New Harvest ... First Gathering. In addition to her own hits during the late 1970s, many artists, from Rose Maddox and Kitty Wells to Olivia Newton-John, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt, covered her songs, and her siblings Randy and Stella had recording contracts of their own.
Parton later had commercial success as a pop singer, as well as an actress. Her 1977 album, Here You Come Again, was her first million-seller, and its title track ("Here You Come Again") became her first top-ten single on the pop charts (reaching number three); many of her subsequent singles charted on both pop and country charts, simultaneously. Her albums during this period were developed specifically for pop-crossover success.
In 1978 Parton won a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for her Here You Come Again album. Following that title track's success, she had further pop hits with "Two Doors Down", "Heartbreaker" (both 1978), "Baby I'm Burning" and "You're the Only One" (both 1979), all of which charted in the pop singles Top 40, and all of which also topped the country-singles chart. On April 3, 1978, Parton performed with Cher on television in Cher... Special in the "Musical Battle to Save Cher's Soul Medley". Parton was dressed in white and, with a team of brightly clad singers, portrayed an angelic host while punk band The Tubes, dressed in black leather and performing "Mondo Bondage", battled to send Cher's soul into eternal damnation.
Parton's commercial success continued to grow during 1980, with three number-one hits in a row: the Donna Summer-written "Starting Over Again," "Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle to You", and "9 to 5."
With less time to spend songwriting as she focused on a burgeoning film career, during the early 1980s Parton recorded a larger percentage of material from noted pop songwriters, such as Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, Rupert Holmes, Gary Portnoy and Carole Bayer Sager.
Parton in Honolulu, Hawaii, 1983.
"9 to 5", the theme song to the feature film Nine to Five (1980) Parton starred in along with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, not only reached number one on the country charts, but also number one on the pop and the adult-contemporary charts, giving her a triple-number-one hit. Parton became one of the few female country singers to have a number-one single on the country and pop charts simultaneously. It also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.
Parton's singles continued to appear consistently in the country Top 10: between 1981 and 1985, she had 12 Top 10 hits; half of those were number-one singles. Parton continued to make inroads on the pop charts as well with a re-recorded version of "I Will Always Love You" from the feature film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) scraping the Top 50 that year and her duet with Kenny Rogers, "Islands in the Stream" (written by the Bee Gees and produced by Barry Gibb), spent two weeks at number one in 1983.
Most of her albums were dominated by the adult-contemporary pop songs like "Islands in the Stream," and it had been years since she had sung straightforward country. She also continued to explore new business and entertainment ventures such as her Dollywood theme park, that opened in 1986 in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Her record sales were still relatively strong, however, with "Save the Last Dance for Me", "Tennessee Homesick Blues" (both 1984); "Real Love" (another duet with Kenny Rogers), "Don't Call it Love" (both 1985); and "Think About Love" (1986) all reaching the country-singles Top 10. ("Tennessee Homesick Blues" and "Think About Love" reached number one. "Real Love" also reached number one on the country-singles chart and also became a modest pop-crossover hit). However, RCA Records didn't renew her contract after it expired that year, and she signed with CBS Records in 1987.
1987–1994: Return to country roots
Along with Harris and Ronstadt, she released the decade-in-the-making Trio (1987) to critical acclaim. The album strongly revitalized Parton's temporarily stalled music career, spending five weeks at number one on Billboard's Country Albums chart, selling several million copies and producing four Top 10 country hits including Phil Spector's "To Know Him Is to Love Him", which went to number one. Trio won the Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year. In 1987, she revived her television variety show, Dolly
After a further attempt at pop success with 1987's critically and commercially disappointing Rainbow, Parton refocused on recording country material. White Limozeen (1989) produced two number-one hits in "Why'd You Come in Here Lookin' Like That" and "Yellow Roses." Although it looked like Parton's career had been revived, it was actually just a brief revival before contemporary country music came in the early 1990s and moved all veteran artists out of the charts.
A duet with Ricky Van Shelton, "Rockin' Years" (1991) reached number one but Parton's greatest commercial fortune of the decade came when Whitney Houston recorded "I Will Always Love You" for the soundtrack of the feature film The Bodyguard (1992); both the single and the album were massively successful.
She recorded "The Day I Fall In Love" as a duet with James Ingram for the feature film Beethoven's 2nd (1993). The songwriters (Sager, Ingram, and Clif Mangess) were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song and Parton and Ingram performed the song on the awards telecast.
Similar to her earlier collabrative album with Harris and Ronstadt, Parton recorded Honky Tonk Angels (1994) with Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette. It was certified a Gold Album by the Recording Industry Association of America and helped revive both Wynette's and Lynn's careers.
Since 1995: career today
In 1995 Parton re-recorded "I Will Always Love You" as a duet with Vince Gill on her album Something Special for which they won the Country Music Association's Vocal Event of the Year Award.
A second and more-contemporary collaboration with Harris and Ronstadt, Trio II (1999), was released and its cover of Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush" won a Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. Parton was also inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999.
She recorded a series of critically acclaimed bluegrass albums, beginning with The Grass Is Blue (1999), winning a Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album, and Little Sparrow (2001), with its cover of Collective Soul's "Shine" winning a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. The third, Halos & Horns (2002) included a bluegrass version of the Led Zeppelin classic "Stairway to Heaven".
Parton released Those Were The Days (2005), her interpretation of hits from the folk-rock era of the late 1960s through the early 1970s. It featured such classics as John Lennon's "Imagine", Cat Stevens's "Where Do the Children Play?", Tommy James's "Crimson and Clover", and Pete Seeger's anti-war song "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?".
Parton earned her second Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for "Travelin' Thru", which she wrote specifically for the feature film Transamerica (2005). Because of the song's nature of accepting a transgender woman without judgment, Parton received death threats. She also returned to number one on the country charts later in 2005 by lending her distinctive harmonies to the Brad Paisley ballad, "When I Get Where I'm Goin'".
In September 2007, Parton released her first single from her own record company, Dolly Records, entitled, "Better Get to Livin'", which eventually peaked at number forty-eight on the Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart.
Her latest studio album, "Backwoods Barbie", released February 26, 2008, reached number two on the country charts. The album's début at number seventeen on the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart has been the highest in her career. The title track and video was released in February 2009. The title song was written as part of her score for 9 to 5: The Musical, an adaptation of her feature film Nine to Five.
After the sudden death of Michael Jackson, whom Parton knew personally, she released a video in which she somberly told of her feelings on Jackson and his death.
On October 27, 2009, Parton released a 4-CD box set entitled "Dolly" which features 99 songs and spans most of her career. She is now set to release her second live DVD and album, "Live From London" in October 2009 which was filmed during her sold out 2008 concerts at London's 02 Arena. She is also currently working on a dance album, "Dance with Dolly", of which she has said should be released very soon.
Parton is a hugely successful songwriter, having begun by writing country-music songs with strong elements of folk music, based upon her upbringing in humble mountain surroundings, and reflecting her family's evangelical-Christian background. Her songs "Coat of Many Colors", "I Will Always Love You" and "Jolene" have become classics in the field, as have a number of others. As a songwriter, she is also regarded as one of country music's most-gifted storytellers, with many of her narrative songs based on persons and events from her childhood. Parton has listed almost 600 songs with Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) to date and has earned 37 BMI awards for her material. In 2001, she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In a 2009 interview with CNN's Larry King Live, Parton indicated that she had written "at least 3,000" songs, having written seriously since the age of seven. Parton went on to say that she writes something every day, be it a song or an idea.
Compositions in films and television and covers
Parton's songwriting has been featured prominently in several films.
In addition to the title song for Nine to Five (1980), she also recorded a second version of "I Will Always Love You" for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982); the second version proved to be another number-one country hit and also managed to reach the pop charts going to number 53 in the U.S.
"I Will Always Love You" has been covered by many country artists, including Ronstadt, on Prisoner In Disguise (1975); Kenny Rogers, on Vote for Love (1996); and LeAnn Rimes, on Unchained Melody: The Early Years (1997). Whitney Houston performed it on The Bodyguard (1992) film soundtrack and her version became the best-selling hit ever both written and performed by a female vocalist, with worldwide sales of over twelve million copies.
As a songwriter, Parton has twice been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, for "9 to 5" (1980) and "Travelin' Thru" (2005). "Travelin' Thru" did win as Best Original Song award at the Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards (2005). The song was also nominated for both the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song (2005) and the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award (also known as the Critics' Choice Awards) for Best Song (2005).
A cover version of "Love Is Like A Butterfly", recorded by singer Clare Torry, was used as the theme music for the British TV show Butterflies.
American Idol appearance
The music-competition, reality-television show American Idol (since 2002) has weekly themes and the April 1–2, 2008, episodes' theme was "Dolly Parton Songs" with the nine then-remaining contestants each singing a Parton composition. Parton participated as a "guest mentor" to the contestants and also performed "Jesus and Gravity" (from Backwoods Barbie and released as a single in March 2008) receiving a standing ovation from the studio audience.
9 to 5: The Musical
Main article: 9 to 5: The Musical
Parton wrote the score (and Patricia Resnick wrote the book) for 9 to 5: The Musical, a musical-theatre adaptation of Parton's feature film Nine to Five (1980). The musical ran at the Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, California, in Fall 2008.
It opened on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre in New York City, New York, on April 30, 2009, to mixed reviews. The title track of her Backwoods Barbie (2008), was written for the musical's character Doralee.
Developing the musical was not an overnight process. According to a broadcast of the public-radio program Studio 360 (October 29, 2005), in October 2005 Parton was in the midst of composing the songs for a Broadway musical-theatre adaptation of the film. In late June 2007, 9 to 5: the Musical was read for industry presentations. The readings starred Megan Hilty, Allison Janney, Stephanie J. Block, Bebe Neuwirth and Marc Kudisch.
Musician
Parton plays the autoharp, banjo, drums, dulcimer, fiddle, guitar, harmonica, pennywhistle and piano. She began composing songs at the age of four, her mother often writing down the music as she heard Parton singing around the house. Parton often describes her talent as having "the gift of rhyme".
Acting career
During the mid-1970s, Parton wanted to expand her audience base. Although her first attempt, the television variety show Dolly! (1976–1977), had high ratings, it lasted only one season, with Parton requesting to be released from her contract because of the stress it was causing her vocal cords. (She later tried a second television variety show, also entitled Dolly (1987–1988); it also lasted only one season.)
Film
In her first feature film she portrayed a secretary in a co-starring role with Fonda and Tomlin in Nine to Five (1980). Parton received Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and New Star Of The Year – Actress.
She also wrote and recorded the biggest solo hit of her career with the film's title song. It received a nomination for Academy Award for Best Song along with a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Original Song. Released as a single, the song won two Grammy Awards: Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song. The song also reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and in was placed number 78 on the American Film Institute's "100 Years... 100 Songs" list released in 2004. Parton was also named Top Female Box Office Star by the Motion Picture Herald in both 1981 and 1982.
Parton's second film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), earned her a second Golden Globe nomination for Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.
She followed with Rhinestone (1984), co-starring Sylvester Stallone, and Steel Magnolias (1989), with an ensemble cast.
The last leading role for Parton was portraying a plainspoken radio-program host (with listeners telephoning in to share their problems) in Straight Talk (1992), opposite James Woods.
She played an overprotective mother in Frank McKlusky, C.I. (2002) with Dave Sheridan, Cameron Richardson and Randy Quaid.
Parton played herself in a cameo appearance in The Beverly Hillbillies (1993) (an adaptation of the long-running television situation comedy of the same name) and also in Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (2005) (the sequel to Sandra Bullock's earlier Miss Congeniality (2000)).
She was featured in The Book Lady (2008) a documentary about her campaign for children’s literacy and she was expecting to repeat her television role as Hannah's godmother in Hannah Montana: The Movie (2008) but the character was omitted from the final screenplay.
Television
In addition to her performing appearances on the Wagoner Show in the 1960s and into the 1970s; her two self-titled television variety shows in the 1970s and 1980s; and on American Idol in 2001 and other guest appearances, Parton has also acted in television roles. In 1979 she received an Emmy award nomination as "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Variety Program" for her guest appearance in a Cher special.
She starred in the television movie Smoky Mountain Christmas (1986); Unlikely Angel (1996), portraying an angel sent back to earth following a deadly car crash; and Blue Valley Songbird (1999), where her character lives through her music.
Parton has also done voice work for animation for television series, playing herself in the Alvin & the Chipmunks (episode "Urban Chipmunk", 1983) and the character Katrina Eloise "Murph" Murphy in The Magic School Bus (episode "The Family Holiday Special", 1994).
Dolly guest starred on an episode of Designing Women (episode "The First Day of the Last Decade of the Entire Twentieth Century") as herself, the guardian movie star of Charlene's baby. She also appeared in the situation comedy series Reba (episode "Reba's Rules of Real Estate") portraying a real-estate agency owner, and on The Simpsons (episode "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday", 1999).
She also made cameo appearances on the Disney Channel as "Aunt Dolly" visiting Hannah and her family in the fellow Tennessean Miley Cyrus's series Hannah Montana (episodes "Good Golly, Miss Dolly", 2006, and "I Will Always Loathe You", 2007). The role came about because of her real-life relationship as Cyrus's godmother.
Since the mid-1980s Parton has supported many charitable efforts, particularly in the area of literacy, primarily through her Dollywood Foundation.
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library
Her literacy program, "Dolly Parton's Imagination Library", a part of the Dollywood Foundation, mails one book per month to each enrolled child from the time of their birth until they enter kindergarten. It began in Sevier County but has now been replicated in 566 counties across thirty-six U.S. states (as well as in Canada). In December 2007 it expanded to Europe with the South Yorkshire town of Rotherham, United Kingdom, being the first British locality to receive the books.
The program distributes more than 2.5 million free books to children annually.
In 2006 Parton published a cookbook Dolly's Dixie Fixin's: Love, Laughter and Lots of Good Food. The net profits support the Dollywood Foundation.
Other philanthropy
Dollywood has also been noted for bringing jobs and tax revenues to a previously depressed region.
She has also worked to raise money on behalf of several other causes, including the American Red Cross and a number of HIV/AIDS-related charities.
In December 2006, Parton pledged $500,000 toward a proposed $90-million hospital and cancer center to be constructed in Sevierville in the name of Dr. Robert F. Thomas, the physician who delivered her; she also announced plans for a benefit concert to raise additional funds for the project. The concert went ahead playing to about 8,000 people.
In May 2009, Parton gave the Graduating Commencement Address at the University of Tennessee. Her speech was about her life lessons, and she encouraged the graduates to never stop dreaming.
Awards and honors
Parton is one of the most-honored female country performers of all time. The Record Industry Association of America has certified 25 of her single or album releases as either Gold Record, Platinum Record or Multi-Platinum Record. She has had 26 songs reach number one on the Billboard country charts, a record for a female artist. She has 42 career-top-10 country albums, a record for any artist, and 110 career-charted singles over the past 40 years. All inclusive sales of singles, albums, hits collections, paid digital downloads and compilation usage during Parton's career have reportedly topped 100 million records around the world.
Parton during a reception for The Kennedy Center honorees in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on December 3, 2006.
She has received seven Grammy Awards and a total of 45 Grammy Award nominations. At the American Music Awards she has won three awards, but has received 18 nominations. At the Country Music Association, she has received 10 awards and 42 nominations. At the Academy of Country Music, she has won seven awards and 39 nominations. She is one of only six female artists (including Reba McEntire, Barbara Mandrell, Shania Twain, Loretta Lynn, and Taylor Swift), to win the Country Music Association's highest honor, Entertainer of the Year (1978). She has also been nominated for two Academy Awards and a Tony Award.
She was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording in 1984, located at 6712 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California; a star on the Nashville Star Walk for Grammy winners; and a bronze sculpture on the courthouse lawn in Sevierville. She has called that statue of herself in her hometown "the greatest honor," because it came from the people who knew her.
Parton was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 1969, and in 1986 was named one of Ms. Magazine's Women of the Year. In 1986, Parton was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 1999, Parton received country music's highest honor, an induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. She received an honorary doctorate degree from Carson-Newman College (Jefferson City, Tennessee) in 1990. This was followed by induction into the National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001. In 2002, Parton ranked number four in CMT's 40 Greatest Women of Country Music.
She was honored in 2003 with a tribute album called Just Because I'm a Woman: Songs of Dolly Parton. The artists who recorded versions of Parton's songs included Melissa Etheridge ("I Will Always Love You"), Alison Krauss ("9 to 5"), Twain ("Coat of Many Colors"), Me'Shell NdegéOcello ("Two Doors Down"), Norah Jones ("The Grass is Blue"), and Sinéad O'Connor ("Dagger Through the Heart"); Parton herself contributed a rerecording of the title song, originally the title song for her first RCA album in 1968. Parton was awarded the Living Legend Medal by the U.S. Library of Congress on April 14, 2004, for her contributions to the cultural heritage of the United States.
This was followed in 2005 with the National Medal of Arts, the highest honor given by the U.S. government for excellence in the arts and is presented by the U.S. President.
On December 3, 2006, Parton received the Kennedy Center Honors from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for her lifetime of contributions to the arts. Other 2006 honorees included Zubin Mehta, Steven Spielberg, Smokey Robinson and Andrew Lloyd Webber. During the show, some of country music's biggest names came to show their admiration. Carrie Underwood performed Parton's hit "Islands in the Stream" with Rogers, Parton's original duet partner. Krauss performed "Jolene" and duetted "Coat of Many Colors" with Twain. McEntire and Reese Witherspoon also came to pay tribute.
Philanthropy-related honors
In 2003, her efforts to preserve the bald eagle through the American Eagle Foundation's sanctuary at Dollywood earned her the Partnership Award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Parton received the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars of the Smithsonian Institution at a ceremony in Nashville on November 8, 2007.
For her work in literacy, Parton has received various awards including:
* Association of American Publishers - AAP Honors Award (2000)
* Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval (2001) (the first time the seal had been awarded to a person)
* American Association of School Administrators - Galaxy Award (2002)
* National State Teachers of the Year - Chasing Rainbows Award (2002)
* Parents as Teachers National Center - Child and Family Advocacy Award (2003)
On May 8, 2009, Parton gave the commencement speech at the commencement ceremony in Knoxville, Tennessee, for the University of Tennessee, Knoxville's College of Arts and Sciences. During the ceremony she received an honorary degree, a doctorate of humane and musical letters, from the university. It was only the second honorary degree to be given by the university and in presenting the degree, the university's chancellor, Jimmy G. Cheek, said, "Because of her career not just as a musician and entertainer, but for her role as a cultural ambassador, philanthropist and lifelong advocate for education, it is fitting that she be honored with an honorary degree from the flagship educational institution of her home state."
Her original version(which she wrote) of I Will Always Love you is the only version of the song I will listen to.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/19/10 at 5:54 am
Through Google Videos (on youTube)
Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat
I hate to admit it, but this is the first time I ever saw this. :(
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/19/10 at 5:56 am
Dolly Parton's Coat Of Many Colors
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1zJzr-kWsI#
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/19/10 at 5:59 am
Dolly Parton's Coat Of Many Colors
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1zJzr-kWsI#
Wonderful!
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/19/10 at 6:02 am
I hate to admit it, but this is the first time I ever saw this. :(
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is the first musical produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, over the it has grown from a production to be preformed at schools by schoolchildren, to a full blown musical on Broadway and the West End.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/19/10 at 7:51 am
Islands In The Stream with Kenny Rogers (1983)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/19/10 at 7:52 am
The person of the day...Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an American R&B/rock and roll and soul singer and songwriter known for his raw, raspy, passionate vocal delivery.
A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the pop charts as well. Among his best known hits are "In The Midnight Hour" (which he co-wrote), "Land of 1,000 Dances", "Mustang Sally", and "Funky Broadway".
The impact of Pickett's songwriting and recording led to his 1991 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Pickett's Atlantic career began with a self-produced single, "I'm Gonna Cry", which stalled at a lowly #124 on the national charts. Looking to boost Pickett's chart chances, Atlantic next paired him with famed producer Bert Berns and established songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. With this team, Pickett recorded "Come Home Baby," a pop duet with New Orleans singer Tammi Lynn, but this single failed to chart completely.
Pickett's breakthrough came at Stax Records' recording studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where he recorded his third Atlantic single, "In the Midnight Hour" (1965), perhaps his best-remembered hit, peaking at #1 R&B, #21 pop {US}, and #12 hit {UK}.
The genesis of "In the Midnight Hour" was a recording session on May 12, 1965, in which producer Jerry Wexler worked out a powerful rhythm track with studio musicians Steve Cropper and Al Jackson of the Stax Records house band, which also included bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn. (Stax keyboard player Booker T. Jones, who usually played with Dunn, Cropper and Jackson as Booker T. & the MG's, did not play on any of the Pickett studio sessions.) Wexler said to Cropper and Jackson, "Why don't you pick up on this thing here?" He performed a dance step. Cropper later explained in an interview that Wexler told them that "this was the way the kids were dancing; they were putting the accent on two. Basically, we'd been one-beat-accenters with an afterbeat; it was like 'boom dah,' but here this was a thing that went 'um-chaw,' just the reverse as far as the accent goes." The song that resulted from this encounter established Pickett as a star, and also gave Atlantic Records a bona fide hit.
Stax/Fame years (1965-67)
Pickett recorded three sessions at Stax in May and October 1965, and was joined by keyboardist Isaac Hayes for the October sessions. In addition to "In the Midnight Hour," Pickett's 1965 recordings included the singles "Don't Fight It," (#4 R&B, #53 pop) "634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A,)" (#1 R&B, #13 pop) and "Ninety-Nine and A Half (Won't Do)" (#13 R&B, #53 pop). All but "634-5789" were original compositions Pickett co-wrote with Eddie Floyd and/or Steve Cropper; "634-5789" was credited to Cropper and Floyd alone. All of these recordings are considered soul classics, and show a range of different styles, from the hard-driving "Midnight Hour" and "Don't Fight It," to the more overtly gospel-influenced "Ninety-Nine and A Half" (which borrowed its title from a gospel standard recorded by The Ward Singers) and the pop-soul of "634-5789".
For his next sessions, Pickett would not return to Stax; the label's owner, Jim Stewart, banned all outside productions in December, 1965. As a result, Wexler took Pickett to Fame studios, another recording studio with an even closer association to Atlantic Records. Located in a converted tobacco warehouse in nearby Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Fame was very influential in shaping soul music, and Pickett recorded some of his biggest hits there. This included the highest-charting version ever of the kinetic "Land of 1,000 Dances", which became Pickett's third R&B #1, and his biggest ever pop hit, peaking at #6. The song had previously been a hit for the song's writer, Chris Kenner, and Mexican-American band Cannibal & the Headhunters.
Other big hits from this era in Pickett's career included two other covers: Mack Rice's "Mustang Sally," (#6 R&B, #23 pop), and Dyke & the Blazers' "Funky Broadway," (another R&B #1 for Pickett, as well as #8 pop). The band heard on almost all of Pickett's Fame recordings included keyboardist Spooner Oldham and drummer Roger Hawkins.
Later Atlantic years (1967-1972)
Towards the end of 1967, Pickett began recording at American Studios in Memphis with producers Tom Dowd and Tommy Cogbill, and also began recording numerous songs by Bobby Womack. The songs "I'm In Love," "Jealous Love," "I've Come A Long Way," "I'm A Midnight Mover," (a Pickett/Womack co-write), and "I Found A True Love" were all Womack-penned hits for Pickett in 1967 and 1968. "I'm In Love" was also a return to the soul ballad genre for Pickett; he would continue to record a mixture of ballads, soul and funk for the rest of his career. Pickett also recorded work by other writers during this era; Rodger Collins' "She's Looking Good" and a cover of the traditional blues standard "Stagger Lee" were also top 40 Pickett hits recorded at American in 1967/68. Womack was the guitarist on all these recordings.
Pickett returned to Fame Studios in late 1968 and early 1969, where he worked with a band that featured guitarist Duane Allman, as well as Muscle Shoals stalwart Hawkins and newly recruited bassist David Hood. A #16 pop hit cover of The Beatles' "Hey Jude" came from these Fame sessions, as well as the minor hits "Mini-Skirt Minnie" and "Hey Joe".
Late 1969 found Pickett at Criteria Studios in Miami. Hit covers of The Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (#16 R&B, #92 Pop) and The Archies' "Sugar Sugar" (#4 R&B, #25 Pop), as well as the Pickett original "She Said Yes" (#20 R&B, #68 Pop) came from these sessions.
Pickett then teamed up with established Philadelphia-based hitmakers Gamble and Huff for the 1970 album Wilson Pickett In Philadelphia, which featured his next two hit singles, the funk-oriented "Get Me Back On Time, Engine Number 9" (#3 R&B, #14 Pop) and the pop number "Don't Let The Green Grass Fool You" (#2 R&B, #17 Pop).
Following these two big hits, Pickett returned to Muscle Shoals and the Muscle Shoals band, featuring Hood, Hawkins and Tippy Armstrong. This line-up recorded Pickett's fifth and last R&B #1 hit, "Don't Knock My Love, Pt. 1", which also peaked at #13 on the pop charts in 1971. Two further hits followed in '71: "Call My Name, I'll Be There" (#10 R&B, #52 Pop) and "Fire and Water" (#2 R&B, #24 Pop), a cover of a song by Free.
Pickett recorded several tracks in 1972 for a planned new album on Atlantic, but after the single "Funk Factory" reached #11 R&B and #58 pop in June of 1972, he left Atlantic for RCA Records. His final Atlantic single, a cover of Randy Newman's "Mama Told Me Not To Come," was actually culled from Pickett's 1971 album Don't Knock My Love.
Post-Atlantic recording career
Pickett continued to record with some success on the R&B charts for RCA in 1973 and 1974, scoring four top 30 R&B hits with "Mr. Magic Man", "Take a Closer Look at the Woman You're With", "International Playboy" and "Soft Soul Boogie Woogie". However, he was no longer crossing over to the pop charts with any regularity, as none of these songs hit higher than #90 on the Billboard Hot 100.
As the decade continued, the advent of disco put Pickett's soul-based musical style out of step with the then-current trends in R&B, and in pop music in general. In 1975, with Pickett's once-prominent chart career on the wane, RCA dropped Pickett from the label.
Pickett continued to record sporadically with several labels over the following decades, occasionally making the lower to mid-range of the R&B charts. However, after 1974, he never had another pop hit. His last record was issued in 1999, although he remained fairly active on the touring front until he became ill in 2004.
Personal life and honors
Outside of music, Pickett's personal life was troubled. Even in his 1960s heyday, Pickett's friends found him to be temperamental and preoccupied with guns; Don Covay described him as "young and wild". Then in 1987, as his recording career was drying up, Pickett was given two years' probation and fined $1,000 for carrying a loaded shotgun in his car. In 1991, he was arrested for allegedly yelling death threats while driving a car over the mayor's front lawn in Englewood, New Jersey. The following year, he was charged with assaulting his girlfriend.
In 1993, Pickett was involved in an accident where he struck an 86-year-old pedestrian, Pepe Ruiz, with his car in Englewood. Ruiz, who helped organize the New York animation union, died later that year. Pickett pled guilty to drunken driving charges and received a reduced sentence of one year in jail and five years probation. Pickett had been previously convicted of various drug offenses.
Throughout the 1990s, despite his personal troubles, Pickett was continually honored for his contributions to music. In addition to being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, his music was prominently featured in the film The Commitments, with Pickett as an off-screen character. In 1993, he was honored with a Pioneer Award by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation.
Pickett was also a popular songwriter, as songs he wrote were recorded by artists like Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, the Grateful Dead, Booker T. & the MGs, Genesis, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Hootie & the Blowfish, Echo & the Bunnymen, Roxy Music, Bruce Springsteen, Los Lobos, The Jam and Ani DiFranco, among others.
Several years after his release from jail, Pickett returned to the studio and received a Grammy nomination for the 1999 album It's Harder Now. The comeback also resulted in his being honored as Soul/Blues Male Artist of the Year by the Blues Foundation in Memphis. It's Harder Now was voted Comeback Blues Album of the Year and Soul/Blues Album of the Year.
In 2003, he co-starred in the D.A. Pennebaker-directed documentary "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of both the 2002 Cannes and Sundance Film Festivals. In 2003, Pickett was also a judge for the 2nd annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers. In 2005, Wilson Pickett was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame. His classic recording of "Mustang Sally" was voted a Legendary Michigan Song in 2007.
Pickett spent the twilight of his career playing dozens of concert dates a year until 2004, when he began suffering from health problems. While in the hospital, he returned to his spiritual roots and told his sister that he wanted to record a gospel album. But, sadly, he never recovered.
Death
Pickett died of a heart attack January 19, 2006 in the hospital near his Ashburn, Virginia home and was buried in Louisville, Kentucky. Pickett's long-time friend, Little Richard, spoke about him and preached briefly at the funeral. Pickett spent many years in Louisville when his mother moved there from Alabama. He is considered an honorary son of the city. His funeral procession was flanked by well wishers welcoming him home.
He was remembered on March 20, 2006, at NYC's B.B. King Blues Club with performances by the Commitments, his long-term backing band the Midnight Movers, soul singer Bruce "Big Daddy" Wayne, and Southside Johnny Lyon in front of an audience that included many members of his family, including two brothers.
Discography
Singles
Release date Title Chart positions
US Hot 100 US R&B UK
1962 "If You Need Me" #64 #30
1963 "It's Too Late" #49 #7
"I'm Down to My Last Heartbreak" #95 #27
"My Heart Belongs to You" (reissue charted in 1965) #109
1964 "I'm Gonna Cry" #124
"Come Home Baby"
1965 "In the Midnight Hour" #21 #1 #12
"Don't Fight It" #53 #4 #29
1966 "634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)" #13 #1 #36
"Ninety Nine and a Half (Won't Do)" #53 #13
"Land of 1000 Dances" #6 #1 #22
"Mustang Sally" #23 #6 #28
1967 "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" #29 #19
"I Found a Love - Pt. 1" #32 #6
"You Can't Stand Alone" (A-Side) #70 #26
→ "Soul Dance Number Three" (B-Side) #55 #10
"Funky Broadway" #8 #1 #43
"I'm in Love" (A-Side) #45 #4
→ "Stag-O-Lee" (B-Side) #22 #13
1968 "Jealous Love" (A-Side) #50 #18
→ "I've Come a Long Way" (B-Side) #101 #46
"She's Looking Good" #15 #7
"I'm a Midnight Mover" #24 #6 #38
"I Found a True Love" #42 #11
"A Man and a Half" #42 #20
"Hey Jude" #23 #13 #16
1969 "Mini-skirt Minnie" #50 #19
"Born to Be Wild" #64 #41
"Hey Joe" #59 #29
"You Keep Me Hangin' On" #92 #16
1970 "Sugar, Sugar" (A-Side) #25 #4
→ "Cole, Cooke, and Redding" (B-Side) #91 #11
"She Said Yes" #68 #20
"Get Me Back On Time, Engine Number 9" #14 #3
1971 "Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You" #17 #2
"Don't Knock My Love - Pt. 1" #13 #1
"Call My Name, I'll Be There" #52 #10
"Fire and Water" #24 #2
1972 "Funk Factory" #58 #11
"Mama Told Me Not To Come" #99 #16
1973 "Mr. Magic Man" #98 #16
"Take a Closer Look at the Woman You're With" #90 #17
"International Playboy" #104 #30
1974 "Soft Soul Boogie Woogie" #103 #20
"Take Your Pleasure Where You Find It" #68
"I Was Too Nice"
1975 "The Best Part of A Man" #26
1976 "Love Will Keep Us Together" #69
1977 "Love Dagger"
1978 "Who Turned You On" #59
"Groovin'" #94
1979 "I Want You" #41
1980 "Live With Me" #95
1981 "Ain't Gonna Give You No More"
"Back On The Right Track"
1987 "Don't Turn Away" #74
"In the Midnight Hour" (re-recording) #62
1988 "Love Never Let Me Down"
Albums
* In The Midnight Hour (1965, Atlantic) US: #107
* The Exciting Wilson Pickett (1966) US: #21
* The Best Of Wilson Pickett (1967) US: #35
* The Wicked Pickett (1967) US: #42
* The Sound Of Wilson Pickett (1967) US: #54
* I'm In Love (1967) US: #70
* The Midnight Mover (1968) US: #91
* Hey Jude (1968) US: #97
* Wilson Pickett In Philadelphia (1970) US: #64
* Right On (1970) US: #197
* The Best Of Wilson Pickett, Vol. II (1971) US: #73
* Don't Knock My Love (1972) US: #132
* Mr. Magic Man (1973, RCA) US: #187
* Wilson Pickett's Greatest Hits (1973) US: #178
* Miz Lena's Boy (1973, RCA)
* Pickett In The Pocket (1974, RCA)
* Live In Japan (1974, RCA)
* Join Me And Let's Be Free (1975, RCA)
* Chocolate Mountain (1976, Wicked)
* Funky Situation (1978, Big Tree)
* I Want You (1979, EMI)
* Right Track (1981, EMI)
* American Soul Man (1987, Motown)
* A Man And A Half: The Best Of Wilson Pickett (1992, Rhino/Atlantic)
* It's Harder Now (Bullseye Blues 1999)
* Live And Burnin' - Stockholm '69 (Soulsville 2009)
* Live In Germany 1968 (Crypt Records 2009)
http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww220/LuckyGoodfellah/Wilson-Pickett-77-1.jpg
http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r200/000971453/MUSIC/Wilson_Pickett.jpg
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p219/sam_cucuo/wpickett.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w175/xWhiteBoy12x/wilsonpickett.png
he died too soon. :(
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: CatwomanofV on 01/19/10 at 8:33 am
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is the first musical produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, over the it has grown from a production to be preformed at schools by schoolchildren, to a full blown musical on Broadway and the West End.
I have a recording of the VERY, VERY first recording of it. I think it came out in 1970? 71? or so. I knew most of the songs from it before most people had ever really heard about it.
Cat
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/19/10 at 10:23 am
he died too soon. :(
Yes he did :\'(
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/19/10 at 4:25 pm
I'm suprised at Dolly's age,she still has those big breasts. :o
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/19/10 at 7:34 pm
I'm suprised at Dolly's age,she still has those big breasts. :o
Really I didn't notice :D
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Womble on 01/19/10 at 9:34 pm
I've always loved Dolly. Thanks for the Bio, Ninny. :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/19/10 at 10:26 pm
I've always loved Dolly. Thanks for the Bio, Ninny. :)
I'm glad you liked it Vinny :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/20/10 at 6:06 am
The word of the day...Peak(s)
The peak of a process or an activity is the point at which it is at its strongest, most successful, or most fully developed.
When something peaks, it reaches its highest value or its highest level.
Peak times are the times when there is most demand for something or most use of something
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/20/10 at 6:10 am
The birthday of the day...David Lynch
David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker and visual artist. Over a lengthy career, Lynch has employed a distinctive and unorthodox approach to narrative filmmaking (dubbed Lynchian), which has become instantly recognizable to many audiences and critics worldwide. Lynch's films are known for surreal, nightmarish and dreamlike images and meticulously crafted sound design. Lynch's work often depicts a seedy underside of small town America (particularly Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks), or sprawling California metropolises (Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive and his latest release, Inland Empire). Beginning with his experimental film school feature Eraserhead (1977), he has maintained a strong cult following despite inconsistent commercial success.
Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, for his films The Elephant Man (1980), Blue Velvet (1986), and Mulholland Drive (2001), and has also received a screenplay Academy Award nomination for The Elephant Man. Lynch has twice won France's César Award for Best Foreign Film, the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and a Golden Lion award for lifetime achievement at the Venice Film Festival. The French government awarded him with the Legion of Honor, the country's top civilian honor, as Chevalier in 2002 then Officier in 2007, whilst that same year, The Guardian described Lynch as "the most important director of this era"
n 1971, Lynch moved to Los Angeles, California to study for a Master of Fine Arts degree at the AFI Conservatory. At the Conservatory, Lynch began working on his first feature-length film, Eraserhead, using a $10,000 grant from the AFI. The grant did not provide enough money to complete the film and, due to lack of a sufficient budget, Eraserhead was filmed intermittently until 1977. Lynch used money from friends and family, including boyhood friend Jack Fisk, a production designer and the husband of actress Sissy Spacek, and even took a paper route to finish it. A stark and enigmatic film, Eraserhead tells the story of a quiet young man (Jack Nance) living in an industrial wasteland, whose girlfriend gives birth to a constantly crying mutant baby. Lynch has referred to Eraserhead as "my Philadelphia story", meaning it reflects all of the dangerous and fearful elements he encountered while studying and living in Philadelphia. He said "this feeling left its traces deep down inside me. And when it came out again, it became Eraserhead".
The final film was initially judged to be almost unreleasable, but thanks to the efforts of the Elgin Theater distributor Ben Barenholtz, it became an instant cult classic and was a staple of midnight movie showings for the next decade. It was also a critical success, launching Lynch to the forefront of avant-garde filmmaking. The acclaimed film maker Stanley Kubrick said that it was one of his all-time favorite films. It cemented the team of actors and technicians who would continue to define the texture of his work for years to come, including cinematographer Frederick Elmes, sound designer Alan Splet, and actor Jack Nance. Meanwhile, Lynch continued producing short films, and during "a brief lull in the filming of Eraserhead" had produced The Amputee in 1974, revolving around a woman with stumps for limbs (Catherine Coulson) who has them washed by a doctor, played by Lynch himself.
Rise to prominence (1980–1986)
David Lynch on the set of Blue Velvet with the film's main actor Kyle MacLachlan.
Eraserhead brought Lynch to the attention of producer Mel Brooks, who hired him to direct 1980's The Elephant Man, a biopic of deformed Victorian era figure Joseph Merrick (John Hurt). Lynch brought his own distinct surrealist approach to the film, filming it in black and white, although it has still been described as "one of the most conventional" of his films. The Elephant Man was a huge commercial success, and earned eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay nods for Lynch. It also established his place as a commercially viable, if somewhat dark and unconventional, Hollywood director. George Lucas, a fan of Eraserhead, offered Lynch the opportunity to direct Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, which he refused, feeling that it would be more Lucas' vision than his own. Meanwhile in 1983 he began the writing and drawing of a comic strip, The Angriest Dog in the World, which featured unchanging graphics alongside cryptic philosophical references. It ran from 1983 until 1992 in the Village Voice, Creative Loafing and other tabloid and alternative publications.
Afterwards, Lynch agreed to direct a big-budget adaptation of Frank Herbert's science fiction novel Dune for Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis's De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, on the condition that DEG release a second Lynch project, over which the director would have complete creative control. Although De Laurentiis hoped it would be the next Star Wars, Lynch's Dune (1984) was a critical and commercial dud; it cost $45 million to make, and grossed a mere $27.4 million domestically. Later on, Universal Studios released an "extended cut" of the film for syndicated television; this contained almost an hour of cutting-room-floor footage and new narration. Such was not representative of Lynch's intentions, but the studio considered it more comprehensible than the original two hour version. Lynch objected to these changes and had his name struck from the extended cut, which has "Alan Smithee" credited as the director and "Judas Booth" (a pseudonym which Lynch himself invented, inspired by his own feelings of betrayal) as the screenwriter. The three hour version has since been released on video worldwide.
Lynch's second De Laurentiis-financed project was 1986's Blue Velvet, the story of a college student (Kyle MacLachlan) who discovers his small, idealistic hometown hides a dark side after investigating a severed ear that he found in a field. The film featured performances from Isabella Rossellini as a tormented lounge singer and Dennis Hopper as a crude, psychopathic criminal. Although Lynch had found success previously with The Elephant Man, Blue Velvet's controversy with audiences and critics introduced him into the mainstream, and became a huge critical and moderate commercial success. Thus, the film earned Lynch his second Academy Award nomination for Best Director. The content of the film and its artistic merit drew much controversy from audiences and critics alike in 1986 and onwards. Blue Velvet introduced several common elements of his work, including abused women, the dark underbelly of small towns, and unconventional uses of vintage songs. Bobby Vinton's "Blue Velvet" and Roy Orbison's "In Dreams" are both featured in unconventional ways. It was also the first time Lynch worked with composer Angelo Badalamenti, who would contribute to all of his future full-length films except Inland Empire. Woody Allen, whose film Hannah and Her Sisters was nominated for Best Picture, said that Blue Velvet was his favorite film of the year.
The transition to television (1987–1996)
Lynch at the 1990 Emmy Awards ceremony.
In the late 1980s, Lynch moved from producing films to focusing on television, directing a short film entitled The Cowboy and the Frenchman in 1989 for French television, before meeting the producer Mark Frost, with whom he would go on to collaborate with on a number of projects. Initially, Lynch and Frost planned to create a surreal comedy named One Saliva Bubble, but it never materialised. Instead they created a show entitled Twin Peaks, a drama series set in a small Washington where the popular high school student Laura Palmer has been raped and murdered. To investigate, the FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) is called in, eventually unearthing the secrets of many town residents and the supernatural nature of the murder. Lynch himself directed only six episodes of the series, including the feature-length pilot, which debuted on the ABC Network on April 8, 1990. Lynch himself later starred in several episodes of the series as the FBI agent Graham Cole. Twin Peaks gradually rose from cult hit to cultural phenomenon, and because of its originality and success remains one of the most well-known television series of the decade. Catch phrases from the show entered the culture and parodies of it were seen on Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons. Lynch appeared on the cover of Time magazine largely because of the success of the series.
However, Lynch clashed with the ABC Network on several matters, particularly whether or not to reveal Laura Palmer's killer. The network insisted that the revelation be made during the second season but Lynch wanted the mystery to last as long as the series. Lynch soon became disenchanted with the series, and, as a result, many cast members complained of feeling abandoned. Later he stated that he and Frost had never intended to ever reveal the identity of Laura's killer, that ABC forced him to reveal the culprit prematurely, and that agreeing to do so is one of his biggest professional regrets. Twin Peaks suffered a severe ratings drop and was canceled in 1991. Still, Lynch scripted a prequel to the series about the last seven days in the life of Laura Palmer.
Meanwhile, whilst Twin Peaks was in production, the Brooklyn Academy of Music asked Lynch and Badalementi to create a theatrical piece which would only be performed twice at their academy in New York City in 1989 as a part of the New Music America Festival. The result was Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Broken Hearted, which starred such frequent Lynch collaborators as Laura Dern, Nicolas Cage and Michael J. Anderson as well as containing five songs sung by Julee Cruise. David Lynch produced a 50-minute video of the performance in 1990. Following this, Lynch returned to making feature films, after his friend, Monty Montgomery offered him the chance to adapt Barry Gifford's novel, Wild at Heart: The Story of Sailor and Lula into a film. Lynch agreed, with the result being Wild at Heart, a crime and road movie starring Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern. Despite receiving a muted response from American critics and viewers, it won the Palme d'Or at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival.
Without Frost this time, he decided to revisit Twin Peaks, making the prequal film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me in 1992. The film was a commercial and critical failure in the United States, although was a hit in Japan and British critic Mark Kermode has hailed the film as Lynch's "masterpiece". Meanwhile, Lynch continued working on a series of television shows with Mark Frost. After Twin Peaks, they produced a series of documentaries entitled American Chronicles (1990) which examined life across the United States, the comedy series On the Air (1992), which was cancelled after only three episodes had aired, and the three-episode HBO mini-series Hotel Room (1993) about events that happened in the same hotel room but at different dates in time.
Return to cinema and digital work (1997-2006)
Lynch speaking at an Amazon.com reception in January 2007.
Following his unsuccesful television ventures since Twin Peaks, Lynch returned to making feature films. In 1997 he released the non-linear, noiresque Lost Highway, co-written by Barry Gifford and starring Bill Pullman and Patricia Arquette. The film failed commercially and received a mixed response from critics. However, thanks in part to a soundtrack featuring David Bowie, Marilyn Manson, Rammstein, Nine Inch Nails and The Smashing Pumpkins, it helped gain Lynch a new audience of Generation X viewers. Lost Highway was followed in 1999 with the G-rated, Disney-produced The Straight Story, written and edited by Mary Sweeney, which was, on the surface, a simple and humble movie telling the true story of Iowan Alvin Straight (Richard Farnsworth), who rides a lawnmower to Wisconsin to make peace with his ailing brother, played by Harry Dean Stanton. As Le Blanc and Odell stated, the plot made it "seem as far removed from Lynch's earlier works as could be imagined, but in fact right from the very opening, this is entirely his film - a surreal road movie". The film garnered positive reviews and reached a new audience for its director.
The same year, Lynch approached ABC once again with an idea for a television drama. The network gave Lynch the go-ahead to shoot a two-hour pilot for the series Mulholland Drive, but disputes over content and running time led to the project being shelved indefinitely. However, with seven million dollars from the French production company StudioCanal, Lynch completed the pilot as a film, Mulholland Drive. The film is a non-linear narrative surrealist tale of the dark side of Hollywood and stars Naomi Watts, Laura Harring and Justin Theroux. The film performed relatively well at the box office worldwide and was a critical success, earning Lynch a Best Director prize at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival (shared with Joel Coen for The Man Who Wasn't There) and a Best Director award from the New York Film Critics Association.
With the onset of popularity of the internet, Lynch decided to utlilise this new medium, releasing several new series that he had created exclusively on his website, davidlynch.com. In 2002, he created a series of online shorts entitled Dumbland. Intentionally crude both in content and execution, the eight-episode series was later released on DVD. The same year, Lynch released a surreal sitcom via his website - Rabbits, which revolved around a family of humanoid rabbits. Later, he showed his experiments with Digital Video in the form of the Japanese-style horror short Darkened Room.
In 2006, Lynch's latest feature film, Inland Empire was released, being the longest of Lynch's films at almost three hours long. Like Mulholland Drive and Lost Highway before it, the film did not fit to a narrative structure, and starred Lynch regulars Laura Dern, Harry Dean Stanton, and Justin Theroux, with cameos by Naomi Watts and Laura Harring (voices of Suzie and Jane Rabbit), and a performance by Jeremy Irons. Lynch described the piece as "a mystery about a woman in trouble". In an effort to promote the film, Lynch made appearances with a cow and a placard bearing the slogan "Without cheese there would be no Inland Empire".
Documentaries and animation (2007-)
In 2008, Lynch announced that he was working on a road documentary "about his dialogues with regular folk on the meaning of life," with traveling companions including singer Donovan and physicist John Hagelin, two prominent members of the Transcendental Meditation movement.
Lynch currently has two films in production, both of which differ in content from his previous work. One of these is an animation entitled Snootworld, and the other is a documentary on Maharishi Mahesh Yogi consisting of interviews with people who knew him
Filmography
Features
Year Film Oscars BAFTA Golden Globe
Nominations Wins Nominations Wins Nominations Wins
1977 Eraserhead
1980 The Elephant Man 8 7 3 4
1984 Dune 1
1986 Blue Velvet 1 2
1990 Wild at Heart 1 1 1
1992 Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
1997 Lost Highway
1999 The Straight Story 1 2
2001 Mulholland Drive 1 2 1 4
2006 Inland Empire
Short films
* Six Men Getting Sick (1966) - available on The Short Films of David Lynch DVD
* Absurd Encounter with Fear (1967) - available on The Lime Green Set DVD
* Fictitious Anacin Commercial (1967) - available on The Lime Green Set DVD
* The Alphabet (1968) - available on The Short Films of David Lynch DVD
* The Grandmother (1970) - available on The Short Films of David Lynch DVD
* The Amputee (1974) - available on The Short Films of David Lynch DVD
* The Cowboy and the Frenchman (1988) - available on The Short Films of David Lynch DVD
* Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Broken Hearted (1990) - available on The Lime Green Set DVD
* Premonitions Following an Evil Deed (1995) - available on The Short Films of David Lynch DVD
* Darkened Room (2002) - available on the Dynamic 1 DVD
* Ballerina (2006) - available on the Inland Empire DVD
* Boat (2007) - available on the Dynamic 1 DVD
* Bug Crawls (2007) - available on the Dynamic 1 DVD
* Scissors (2008) - available on The Lime Green Set DVD
Television series
Year ↓ Series ↓ Episodes ↓
1990-1991 Twin Peaks 30
1992 On the Air 7
1993 Hotel Room 3
Online series
Year ↓ Series ↓ Episodes ↓ Available on DVD ↓
2002 Rabbits The Lime Green Set DVD
2002 Dumbland 8 The Lime Green Set DVD
Out Yonder The Lime Green Set DVD
2009 Interview Project
Music videos
Year ↓ Song ↓ Musician ↓
1982 "I Predict" Sparks
2009 "Shot in the Back of the Head" Moby
Other
In October, 2008, the OMMA Video Conference, Jen Gregono, chief content officer at On Networks, announced that her company signed Lynch to a webisode series based on his book, Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness and Creativity.
In June 2009, Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse released an album called Dark Night of the Soul, with a 100+ page booklet with visuals by Lynch. The album contained complete packaging and a blank CD because of some dispute with the record label. The artists involved implied that consumers can get the music online and just burn the blank CD provided.
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/20/10 at 6:39 am
The person of the day...Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn (4 May 1929(1929-05-04) – 20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian.
Born in Ixelles, Belgium as Audrey Kathleen Ruston, Hepburn spent her childhood chiefly in the Netherlands, including German-occupied Arnhem, Netherlands, during the Second World War (1939-1945). She studied ballet in Arnhem and then moved to London in 1948, where she continued to train in ballet and worked as a photographer's model. She appeared in a handful of European films before starring in the 1951 Broadway play Gigi. Hepburn played the lead female role in Roman Holiday (1953), winning an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA for her performance. She also won a Tony Award for her performance in Ondine (1954).
Hepburn became one of the most successful film actresses in the world and performed with such notable leading men as Gregory Peck, Rex Harrison, Humphrey Bogart, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, Henry Fonda, William Holden, Fred Astaire, Peter O'Toole, and Albert Finney. She won BAFTA Awards for her performances in The Nun's Story (1959) and Charade (1963), and received Academy Award nominations for Sabrina (1954), The Nun's Story (1959), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) and Wait Until Dark (1967).
She starred as Eliza Doolittle in the film version of My Fair Lady (1964), becoming only the third actor to receive $1,000,000 for a film role. From 1968 to 1975 she took a break from film-making, mostly to spend more time with her two sons. In 1976 she starred with Sean Connery in Robin and Marian. In 1989 she made her last film appearance in Steven Spielberg's Always.
Her war-time experiences inspired her passion for humanitarian work, and although she had worked for UNICEF since the 1950s, during her later life she dedicated much of her time and energy to the organization. From 1988 until 1992, she worked in some of the most profoundly disadvantaged communities of Africa, South America and Asia. In 1992, Hepburn was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. In 1999, she was ranked as the third greatest female star of all time by the American Film Institute.
epburn's first role in a motion picture was in the British film One Wild Oat in which she played a hotel receptionist. She played several more minor roles in Young Wives' Tale, Laughter in Paradise, The Lavender Hill Mob, and Monte Carlo Baby.
During the filming of Monte Carlo Baby Hepburn was chosen to play the lead character in the Broadway play Gigi, which opened on 24 November, 1951, at the Fulton Theatre and ran for 219 performances. The writer Colette, when she first saw Hepburn, reportedly said "Voilà! There's our Gigi!" She won a Theatre World Award for her performance. Hepburn's first significant film performance was in the Thorold Dickinson film Secret People (1952), in which she played a prodigious ballerina. Hepburn did all of her own dancing scenes.
From Hepburn's Roman Holiday screen test which was also used in the promotional trailer for the film.
Her first starring role was with Gregory Peck in the Italian-set Roman Holiday (1952). Producers initially wanted Elizabeth Taylor for the role, but director William Wyler was so impressed by Hepburn's screen test (the camera was left on and candid footage of Hepburn relaxing and answering questions, unaware that she was still being filmed, displayed her talents), that he cast her in the lead. Wyler said, "She had everything I was looking for: charm, innocence and talent. She also was very funny. She was absolutely enchanting, and we said, 'That's the girl!'"
The movie was to have had Gregory Peck's name above the title in large font with "Introducing Audrey Hepburn" beneath. After filming had been completed, Peck called his agent and, predicting correctly that Hepburn would win the Academy Award for Best Actress, had the billing changed so that her name also appeared before the title in type as large as his.
Hepburn and Peck bonded during filming, and there were rumours that they were romantically involved; both denied it. Hepburn, however, added, "Actually, you have to be a little bit in love with your leading man and vice versa. If you're going to portray love, you have to feel it. You can't do it any other way. But you don't carry it beyond the set." Because of the instant celebrity that came with Roman Holiday, Hepburn's illustration was placed on the 7 September, 1953, cover of TIME.
Hepburn's performance received much critical praise. A. H. Weiler noted in The New York Times, "Although she is not precisely a newcomer to films, Audrey Hepburn, the British actress who is being starred for the first time as Princess Ann, is a slender, elfin, and wistful beauty, alternately regal and childlike in her profound appreciation of newly-found, simple pleasures and love. Although she bravely smiles her acknowledgment of the end of that affair, she remains a pitifully lonely figure facing a stuffy future." Hepburn would later call Roman Holiday her dearest movie, because it was the one that made her a star.
After filming Roman Holiday for four months, Hepburn returned to New York and performed in Gigi for eight months. The play was performed in Los Angeles and San Francisco in its last month.
She was signed to a seven-picture contract with Paramount with twelve months in between films to allow her time for stage work.
Hollywood stardom
Hepburn in War and Peace (1956)
After Roman Holiday, she filmed Billy Wilder's Sabrina with Humphrey Bogart and William Holden. Hepburn was sent to a then young and upcoming fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy to decide on her wardrobe.
When told that "Miss Hepburn" was coming to see him, Givenchy expected to see Katharine. He was disappointed and told her that he didn't have much time for her, but Hepburn asked for just a few minutes to pick out a few pieces for Sabrina. Shortly after, Givenchy and Hepburn developed a lasting friendship, and she was often a muse for many of his designs. They formed a lifelong friendship and partnership.
During the filming of Sabrina, Hepburn and the already-married Holden became romantically involved and she hoped to marry him and have children. She broke off the relationship when Holden revealed that he had undergone a vasectomy.
In 1954, Hepburn returned to the stage to play the water sprite in Ondine in a performance with Mel Ferrer, whom she would marry later in the year. During the run of the play, Hepburn was awarded the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actress and the Academy Award, both for Roman Holiday. Six weeks after receiving the Oscar, Hepburn was awarded the Tony Award for Best Actress for Ondine. Audrey Hepburn is one of only three actresses to receive a Best Actress Oscar and Best Actress Tony in the same year (the others were Shirley Booth and Ellen Burstyn).
By the mid-1950s, Hepburn was not only one of the biggest motion picture stars in Hollywood, but also a major fashion influence. Her gamine and elfin appearance and widely recognized sense of chic were both admired and imitated. In 1955, she was awarded the Golden Globe for World Film Favorite - Female.
Having become one of Hollywood's most popular box-office attractions, Hepburn co-starred with actors such as Humphrey Bogart in Sabrina, Henry Fonda in War and Peace, Fred Astaire in Funny Face, William Holden in Paris When It Sizzles, Maurice Chevalier and Gary Cooper in Love in the Afternoon, Anthony Perkins in Green Mansions, Burt Lancaster and Lillian Gish in The Unforgiven, Shirley MacLaine and James Garner in The Children's Hour, George Peppard in Breakfast at Tiffany's, Cary Grant in Charade, Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady, Peter O'Toole in How to Steal a Million and Sean Connery in Robin and Marian.
from Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
Rex Harrison called Audrey Hepburn his favourite leading lady, although he initially felt she was badly miscast as Eliza Dolittle in My Fair Lady (many accounts indicate that she became great friends with British actress and dancer Kay Kendall, who was Harrison's wife); Cary Grant loved to humour her and once said, "All I want for Christmas is another picture with Audrey Hepburn;" and Gregory Peck became a lifelong friend.
After her death, Peck went on camera and tearfully recited her favourite poem, "Unending Love" by Rabindranath Tagore.
A common perception of the time was that Bogart and Hepburn did not get along. However, Hepburn has been quoted as saying, "Sometimes it's the so-called 'tough guys' that are the most tender hearted, as Bogey was with me."
Funny Face in 1957 was one of Hepburn's favourites because she got to dance with Fred Astaire. Then in 1959's The Nun's Story came one of her most daring roles. Films in Review stated: "Her performance will forever silence those who have thought her less an actress than a symbol of the sophisticated child/woman. Her portrayal of Sister Luke is one of the great performances of the screen.".
Otto Frank even asked her to play his daughter Anne's onscreen counterpart in the 1959 film The Diary of Anne Frank, but Hepburn, who was born the same year as Anne was almost 30 years old, and felt too old to play a teenager. The role was eventually given to Millie Perkins.
Hepburn's Holly Golightly in 1961's Breakfast at Tiffany's became an iconic character in American cinema. She called the role "the jazziest of my career". Asked about the acting challenge of the role, she replied, "I'm an introvert. Playing the extroverted girl was the hardest thing I ever did." In the film, she wore trendy clothing designed by herself and Givenchy, and added blonde streaks to her brown hair, a look that she would keep off-screen as well.
Hepburn in a scene from the comic thriller Charade (1963).
In 1963, Hepburn starred in Charade, her first and only film with Cary Grant, who had previously withdrawn from the starring roles in Roman Holiday and Sabrina. He was sensitive as to their age difference and requested a script change so that Hepburn's character would be the one to romantically pursue his.
Released after Charade was Paris When It Sizzles, a film that paired Hepburn with William Holden, who nearly ten years before had been her leading man in Sabrina. The film, called "marshmallow-weight hokum", was "uniformly panned"; Behind the scenes, the set was plagued with problems: Holden tried without success to rekindle a romance with the now-married actress; that, combined with his alcoholism made the situation a challenge for the production. Hepburn did not help matters: after principal photography began, she demanded the dismissal of cinematographer Claude Renoir after seeing what she felt were unflattering dailies. Superstitious, she insisted on dressing room 55 because that was her lucky number (she had dressing room 55 for Roman Holiday and Breakfast at Tiffany’s). She insisted that Givenchy, her long-time designer, be given a credit in the film for her perfume.
In 1964, Hepburn starred in My Fair Lady which was said to be the most anticipated movie since Gone with the Wind.
Hepburn was cast as Eliza Doolittle instead of Julie Andrews, who had originated the role on Broadway, but had no film experience as yet. The decision not to cast Andrews was made before Hepburn was chosen. Hepburn initially refused the role and asked Jack Warner to give it to Andrews, but when informed that it would either be her or Elizabeth Taylor, who was also vying for the part, she accepted the role.
The casting of a non-singer in the lead role of a major musical proved to be very controversial. Several critics felt that Hepburn was not believable as a Cockney flower girl, and that at 35 she was rather old for the part since Eliza was supposed to be about 20. However, according to an article in Soundstage magazine, "Everyone agreed that if Julie Andrews was not to be in the film, Audrey Hepburn was the perfect choice."
Hepburn recorded vocals, but was later told that her vocals would be replaced by Marni Nixon. She walked off the set but returned early the next day to apologize for her "wicked" behaviour. Footage of several songs with Hepburn's original vocals still exist and have been included in documentaries and the DVD release of the film, though to date, only Nixon's renditions have been released on LP and CD.
Some of her original vocals remained in the film: a section of "Just You Wait" and one line of the verse to "I Could Have Danced All Night". When asked about the dubbing of an actress with such distinctive vocal tones, Hepburn frowned and said, "You could tell, couldn't you? And there was Rex, recording all his songs as he acted ... next time —" She bit her lip to keep from saying any more.
Aside from the dubbing, many critics agreed that Hepburn's performance was excellent. Gene Ringgold said, "Audrey Hepburn is magnificent. She is Eliza for the ages."
The controversy over Hepburn's casting reached its height at the 1964–65 Academy Awards season, when Hepburn was not nominated for best actress while Andrews was, for Mary Poppins. The media tried to play up a rivalry between the two actresses as the ceremony approached, even though both women denied any such bad feelings existed and got along well. Andrews won the award.
Two for the Road was a non-linear and innovative movie about divorce. Director Stanley Donen said that Hepburn was more free and happy than he had ever seen her, and he credited that to Albert Finney.
Wait Until Dark in 1967 was a difficult film. It was an edgy thriller in which Hepburn played the part of a blind woman being terrorized. In addition, it was produced by Mel Ferrer and filmed on the brink of their divorce. Hepburn is said to have lost fifteen pounds under the stress. On the bright side, she found co-star Richard Crenna to be very funny, and she had a lot to laugh about with director Terence Young. They both joked that he had shelled his favorite star 23 years before; he had been a British Army tank commander during the Battle of Arnhem. Hepburn's performance was nominated for an Academy Award.
oon after Hepburn's final film role, she was appointed a goodwill ambassador to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Grateful for her own good fortune after enduring the German occupation as a child, she dedicated the remainder of her life to helping impoverished children in the poorest nations. Hepburn's travels were made easier by her wide knowledge of languages; she spoke French, Italian, English, Dutch, and Spanish.
Though she had done work for UNICEF in the 1950s, starting in 1954 with radio presentations, this was a much higher level of dedication. Those close to her say that the thoughts of dying, helpless children consumed her for the rest of her life. Her first field mission was to Ethiopia in 1988. She visited an orphanage in Mek'ele that housed 500 starving children and had UNICEF send food. Of the trip, she said, "I have a broken heart. I feel desperate. I can't stand the idea that two million people are in imminent danger of starving to death, many of them children, not because there isn't tons of food sitting in the northern port of Shoa. It can't be distributed. Last spring, Red Cross and UNICEF workers were ordered out of the northern provinces because of two simultaneous civil wars... I went into rebel country and saw mothers and their children who had walked for ten days, even three weeks, looking for food, settling onto the desert floor into makeshift camps where they may die. Horrible. That image is too much for me. The 'Third World' is a term I don't like very much, because we're all one world. I want people to know that the largest part of humanity is suffering."
In 1992, President George H. W. Bush presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work with UNICEF, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded her The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for her contribution to humanity. This was awarded posthumously, with her son accepting on her behalf.
In 1992, when Hepburn returned to Switzerland from her visit to Somalia, she began to feel abdominal pains. She went to specialists and received inconclusive results, so she decided to have it examined while on a trip to Los Angeles in October.
On 1 November, doctors performed a laparoscopy and discovered abdominal cancer that had spread from her appendix. It had grown slowly over several years, and metastasized not as a tumor, but as a thin coating encasing over her small intestine. The doctors performed surgery and then put Hepburn through 5-fluorouracil Leucovorin chemotherapy. A few days later, she had an obstruction. Medication was not enough to dull the pain, so on 1 December, she had a second surgery. After one hour, the surgeon decided that the cancer had spread too far and could not be removed.
Because Hepburn was unable to fly on a commercial aircraft, Givenchy arranged for Rachel Lambert "Bunny" Mellon to send her private Gulfstream jet, filled with flowers, to take Hepburn from California to Switzerland. Hepburn died of cancer on 20 January 1993, in Tolochenaz, Vaud, Switzerland, and was interred there.
At the time of her death, she was involved with Robert Wolders, a Dutch actor who was the widower of film star Merle Oberon. She had met Wolders through a friend, in the later stage of her marriage to Dotti. After Hepburn's divorce was final, she and Wolders started their lives together, although they never married. In 1989, after nine years with him, she called them the happiest years of her life. "Took me long enough", she said in an interview with Barbara Walters. Walters then asked why they never married. Hepburn replied that they were married, just not formally
Filmography
Year Film Role Notes
1948 Nederlands in 7 lessen Airline Stewardess Documentary (English: Dutch in Seven Lessons)
1951 One Wild Oat Hotel receptionist
Laughter in Paradise Cigarette girl
Monte Carlo Baby Linda Farell Discovered by French novelist Colette during filming and cast as Gigi for the Broadway play
Young Wives' Tale Eve Lester
The Lavender Hill Mob Chiquita
1952 The Secret People Nora Brentano
Nous irons à Monte Carlo Melissa Walter French version of Monte Carlo Baby (English: We Will Go to Monte Carlo)
1953 Roman Holiday Princess Ann Academy Award for Best Actress
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1954 Sabrina Sabrina Fairchild Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
1956 War and Peace Natasha Rostova Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1957 Funny Face Jo Stockton
Love in the Afternoon Ariane Chavasse/Thin Girl Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1959 Green Mansions Rima Directed by Mel Ferrer
The Nun's Story Sister Luke (Gabrielle van der Mal) BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1960 The Unforgiven Rachel Zachary
1961 Breakfast at Tiffany's Holly Golightly Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
The Children's Hour Karen Wright
1963 Charade Regina "Reggie" Lampert BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1964 Paris When It Sizzles Gabrielle Simpson
My Fair Lady Eliza Doolittle Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1966 How to Steal a Million Nicole Bonnet
1967 Two for the Road Joanna Wallace Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Wait Until Dark Susy Hendrix Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1976 Robin and Marian Lady Marian
1979 Bloodline Elizabeth Roffe Her only R-rated film
1981 They All Laughed Angela Niotes
1989 Always Hap
Television and theatre
Year Film Role Notes
1949 High Button Shoes Chorus Girl Musical Theatre
Sauce Tartare Chorus Girl Musical Theatre
1950 Sauce Piquante Featured Player Musical Theatre
1951 Gigi Gigi Opened on Broadway at the Fulton Theatre, 24 November 1951.
Theatre World Award
1952 CBS Television Workshop Episode entitled "Rainy Day at Paradise Junction"
1954 Ondine Water Nymph Opened on Broadway, 18 February - 26 June, co-starring Mel Ferrer
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
1957 Mayerling Maria Vetsera Producers' Showcase live production. Costarring Mel Ferrer as Prince Rudolf. Released theatrically in Europe.
1987 Love Among Thieves Baroness Caroline DuLac Television movie.
1993 Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn Herself PBS miniseries;
Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming
Awards and honors
The handprints of Audrey Hepburn in front of The Great Movie Ride at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park.
She won the 1953 Academy Award for Best Actress for Roman Holiday. She was nominated for Best Actress four more times; for Sabrina, The Nun's Story, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Wait Until Dark. She was not nominated for her performance as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, one of her most acclaimed performances. For her 1967 nomination, the Academy chose her performance in Wait Until Dark over her critically acclaimed performance in Two for the Road. She lost to Katharine Hepburn (in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner). Audrey Hepburn is one of the few people who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony Award.
* Academy Award: Best Actress for Roman Holiday (1954) and posthumously The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (1993).
* Golden Globe award: Best Motion Picture Actress for Roman Holiday (1954).
* Tony Award: Best Actress for Ondine (1954) and Special Achievement award (1968).
* Grammy Award: Best Spoken Word Album for Children (1993) for Audrey Hepburn's Enchanted Tales (posthumous).
* Emmy Award: Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming (1993) for the "Flower Gardens" episode of her documentary series, Gardens of the World (posthumous).
Hepburn won the Henrietta Award in 1955 for the world's favourite actress, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1990 and the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1992. Hepburn was posthumously awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award later in 1993.
In December 1992, one month before her death, Hepburn received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her work in UNICEF. This is one of the two highest awards a civilian can receive in the United States. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1652 Vine Street.
In 2003, the United States Postal Service issued a stamp illustrated by Michael J. Deas honouring her as a Hollywood legend and humanitarian. It has a drawing of her which is based on a publicity photo from the movie Sabrina. Hepburn is one of the few non-Americans to be so honoured. As well, in 2008, Canada Post issued a series of stamps based on the work of Yousuf Karsh, one of which was a portrait of Hepburn.
Hepburn was only one of two people to wear the Tiffany Diamond, the other being Mrs. Sheldon Whitheouse at the 1957 Tiffany Ball. Hepburn was a member of the International Best Dressed List and elevated into its Hall of Fame in 1961.
She was posthumously awarded the The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for her humanitarian work. She received a posthumous Grammy Award for her spoken word recording, Audrey Hepburn's Enchanted Tales in 1994, and in the same year, won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement for Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn, thereby becoming one of a few people to receive an Academy, Emmy, Grammy and Tony award.
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/20/10 at 7:43 am
The person of the day...Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn (4 May 1929(1929-05-04) – 20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian.
Born in Ixelles, Belgium as Audrey Kathleen Ruston, Hepburn spent her childhood chiefly in the Netherlands, including German-occupied Arnhem, Netherlands, during the Second World War (1939-1945). She studied ballet in Arnhem and then moved to London in 1948, where she continued to train in ballet and worked as a photographer's model. She appeared in a handful of European films before starring in the 1951 Broadway play Gigi. Hepburn played the lead female role in Roman Holiday (1953), winning an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA for her performance. She also won a Tony Award for her performance in Ondine (1954).
Hepburn became one of the most successful film actresses in the world and performed with such notable leading men as Gregory Peck, Rex Harrison, Humphrey Bogart, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, Henry Fonda, William Holden, Fred Astaire, Peter O'Toole, and Albert Finney. She won BAFTA Awards for her performances in The Nun's Story (1959) and Charade (1963), and received Academy Award nominations for Sabrina (1954), The Nun's Story (1959), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) and Wait Until Dark (1967).
She starred as Eliza Doolittle in the film version of My Fair Lady (1964), becoming only the third actor to receive $1,000,000 for a film role. From 1968 to 1975 she took a break from film-making, mostly to spend more time with her two sons. In 1976 she starred with Sean Connery in Robin and Marian. In 1989 she made her last film appearance in Steven Spielberg's Always.
Her war-time experiences inspired her passion for humanitarian work, and although she had worked for UNICEF since the 1950s, during her later life she dedicated much of her time and energy to the organization. From 1988 until 1992, she worked in some of the most profoundly disadvantaged communities of Africa, South America and Asia. In 1992, Hepburn was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. In 1999, she was ranked as the third greatest female star of all time by the American Film Institute.
epburn's first role in a motion picture was in the British film One Wild Oat in which she played a hotel receptionist. She played several more minor roles in Young Wives' Tale, Laughter in Paradise, The Lavender Hill Mob, and Monte Carlo Baby.
During the filming of Monte Carlo Baby Hepburn was chosen to play the lead character in the Broadway play Gigi, which opened on 24 November, 1951, at the Fulton Theatre and ran for 219 performances. The writer Colette, when she first saw Hepburn, reportedly said "Voilà! There's our Gigi!" She won a Theatre World Award for her performance. Hepburn's first significant film performance was in the Thorold Dickinson film Secret People (1952), in which she played a prodigious ballerina. Hepburn did all of her own dancing scenes.
From Hepburn's Roman Holiday screen test which was also used in the promotional trailer for the film.
Her first starring role was with Gregory Peck in the Italian-set Roman Holiday (1952). Producers initially wanted Elizabeth Taylor for the role, but director William Wyler was so impressed by Hepburn's screen test (the camera was left on and candid footage of Hepburn relaxing and answering questions, unaware that she was still being filmed, displayed her talents), that he cast her in the lead. Wyler said, "She had everything I was looking for: charm, innocence and talent. She also was very funny. She was absolutely enchanting, and we said, 'That's the girl!'"
The movie was to have had Gregory Peck's name above the title in large font with "Introducing Audrey Hepburn" beneath. After filming had been completed, Peck called his agent and, predicting correctly that Hepburn would win the Academy Award for Best Actress, had the billing changed so that her name also appeared before the title in type as large as his.
Hepburn and Peck bonded during filming, and there were rumours that they were romantically involved; both denied it. Hepburn, however, added, "Actually, you have to be a little bit in love with your leading man and vice versa. If you're going to portray love, you have to feel it. You can't do it any other way. But you don't carry it beyond the set." Because of the instant celebrity that came with Roman Holiday, Hepburn's illustration was placed on the 7 September, 1953, cover of TIME.
Hepburn's performance received much critical praise. A. H. Weiler noted in The New York Times, "Although she is not precisely a newcomer to films, Audrey Hepburn, the British actress who is being starred for the first time as Princess Ann, is a slender, elfin, and wistful beauty, alternately regal and childlike in her profound appreciation of newly-found, simple pleasures and love. Although she bravely smiles her acknowledgment of the end of that affair, she remains a pitifully lonely figure facing a stuffy future." Hepburn would later call Roman Holiday her dearest movie, because it was the one that made her a star.
After filming Roman Holiday for four months, Hepburn returned to New York and performed in Gigi for eight months. The play was performed in Los Angeles and San Francisco in its last month.
She was signed to a seven-picture contract with Paramount with twelve months in between films to allow her time for stage work.
Hollywood stardom
Hepburn in War and Peace (1956)
After Roman Holiday, she filmed Billy Wilder's Sabrina with Humphrey Bogart and William Holden. Hepburn was sent to a then young and upcoming fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy to decide on her wardrobe.
When told that "Miss Hepburn" was coming to see him, Givenchy expected to see Katharine. He was disappointed and told her that he didn't have much time for her, but Hepburn asked for just a few minutes to pick out a few pieces for Sabrina. Shortly after, Givenchy and Hepburn developed a lasting friendship, and she was often a muse for many of his designs. They formed a lifelong friendship and partnership.
During the filming of Sabrina, Hepburn and the already-married Holden became romantically involved and she hoped to marry him and have children. She broke off the relationship when Holden revealed that he had undergone a vasectomy.
In 1954, Hepburn returned to the stage to play the water sprite in Ondine in a performance with Mel Ferrer, whom she would marry later in the year. During the run of the play, Hepburn was awarded the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actress and the Academy Award, both for Roman Holiday. Six weeks after receiving the Oscar, Hepburn was awarded the Tony Award for Best Actress for Ondine. Audrey Hepburn is one of only three actresses to receive a Best Actress Oscar and Best Actress Tony in the same year (the others were Shirley Booth and Ellen Burstyn).
By the mid-1950s, Hepburn was not only one of the biggest motion picture stars in Hollywood, but also a major fashion influence. Her gamine and elfin appearance and widely recognized sense of chic were both admired and imitated. In 1955, she was awarded the Golden Globe for World Film Favorite - Female.
Having become one of Hollywood's most popular box-office attractions, Hepburn co-starred with actors such as Humphrey Bogart in Sabrina, Henry Fonda in War and Peace, Fred Astaire in Funny Face, William Holden in Paris When It Sizzles, Maurice Chevalier and Gary Cooper in Love in the Afternoon, Anthony Perkins in Green Mansions, Burt Lancaster and Lillian Gish in The Unforgiven, Shirley MacLaine and James Garner in The Children's Hour, George Peppard in Breakfast at Tiffany's, Cary Grant in Charade, Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady, Peter O'Toole in How to Steal a Million and Sean Connery in Robin and Marian.
from Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
Rex Harrison called Audrey Hepburn his favourite leading lady, although he initially felt she was badly miscast as Eliza Dolittle in My Fair Lady (many accounts indicate that she became great friends with British actress and dancer Kay Kendall, who was Harrison's wife); Cary Grant loved to humour her and once said, "All I want for Christmas is another picture with Audrey Hepburn;" and Gregory Peck became a lifelong friend.
After her death, Peck went on camera and tearfully recited her favourite poem, "Unending Love" by Rabindranath Tagore.
A common perception of the time was that Bogart and Hepburn did not get along. However, Hepburn has been quoted as saying, "Sometimes it's the so-called 'tough guys' that are the most tender hearted, as Bogey was with me."
Funny Face in 1957 was one of Hepburn's favourites because she got to dance with Fred Astaire. Then in 1959's The Nun's Story came one of her most daring roles. Films in Review stated: "Her performance will forever silence those who have thought her less an actress than a symbol of the sophisticated child/woman. Her portrayal of Sister Luke is one of the great performances of the screen.".
Otto Frank even asked her to play his daughter Anne's onscreen counterpart in the 1959 film The Diary of Anne Frank, but Hepburn, who was born the same year as Anne was almost 30 years old, and felt too old to play a teenager. The role was eventually given to Millie Perkins.
Hepburn's Holly Golightly in 1961's Breakfast at Tiffany's became an iconic character in American cinema. She called the role "the jazziest of my career". Asked about the acting challenge of the role, she replied, "I'm an introvert. Playing the extroverted girl was the hardest thing I ever did." In the film, she wore trendy clothing designed by herself and Givenchy, and added blonde streaks to her brown hair, a look that she would keep off-screen as well.
Hepburn in a scene from the comic thriller Charade (1963).
In 1963, Hepburn starred in Charade, her first and only film with Cary Grant, who had previously withdrawn from the starring roles in Roman Holiday and Sabrina. He was sensitive as to their age difference and requested a script change so that Hepburn's character would be the one to romantically pursue his.
Released after Charade was Paris When It Sizzles, a film that paired Hepburn with William Holden, who nearly ten years before had been her leading man in Sabrina. The film, called "marshmallow-weight hokum", was "uniformly panned"; Behind the scenes, the set was plagued with problems: Holden tried without success to rekindle a romance with the now-married actress; that, combined with his alcoholism made the situation a challenge for the production. Hepburn did not help matters: after principal photography began, she demanded the dismissal of cinematographer Claude Renoir after seeing what she felt were unflattering dailies. Superstitious, she insisted on dressing room 55 because that was her lucky number (she had dressing room 55 for Roman Holiday and Breakfast at Tiffany’s). She insisted that Givenchy, her long-time designer, be given a credit in the film for her perfume.
In 1964, Hepburn starred in My Fair Lady which was said to be the most anticipated movie since Gone with the Wind.
Hepburn was cast as Eliza Doolittle instead of Julie Andrews, who had originated the role on Broadway, but had no film experience as yet. The decision not to cast Andrews was made before Hepburn was chosen. Hepburn initially refused the role and asked Jack Warner to give it to Andrews, but when informed that it would either be her or Elizabeth Taylor, who was also vying for the part, she accepted the role.
The casting of a non-singer in the lead role of a major musical proved to be very controversial. Several critics felt that Hepburn was not believable as a Cockney flower girl, and that at 35 she was rather old for the part since Eliza was supposed to be about 20. However, according to an article in Soundstage magazine, "Everyone agreed that if Julie Andrews was not to be in the film, Audrey Hepburn was the perfect choice."
Hepburn recorded vocals, but was later told that her vocals would be replaced by Marni Nixon. She walked off the set but returned early the next day to apologize for her "wicked" behaviour. Footage of several songs with Hepburn's original vocals still exist and have been included in documentaries and the DVD release of the film, though to date, only Nixon's renditions have been released on LP and CD.
Some of her original vocals remained in the film: a section of "Just You Wait" and one line of the verse to "I Could Have Danced All Night". When asked about the dubbing of an actress with such distinctive vocal tones, Hepburn frowned and said, "You could tell, couldn't you? And there was Rex, recording all his songs as he acted ... next time —" She bit her lip to keep from saying any more.
Aside from the dubbing, many critics agreed that Hepburn's performance was excellent. Gene Ringgold said, "Audrey Hepburn is magnificent. She is Eliza for the ages."
The controversy over Hepburn's casting reached its height at the 1964–65 Academy Awards season, when Hepburn was not nominated for best actress while Andrews was, for Mary Poppins. The media tried to play up a rivalry between the two actresses as the ceremony approached, even though both women denied any such bad feelings existed and got along well. Andrews won the award.
Two for the Road was a non-linear and innovative movie about divorce. Director Stanley Donen said that Hepburn was more free and happy than he had ever seen her, and he credited that to Albert Finney.
Wait Until Dark in 1967 was a difficult film. It was an edgy thriller in which Hepburn played the part of a blind woman being terrorized. In addition, it was produced by Mel Ferrer and filmed on the brink of their divorce. Hepburn is said to have lost fifteen pounds under the stress. On the bright side, she found co-star Richard Crenna to be very funny, and she had a lot to laugh about with director Terence Young. They both joked that he had shelled his favorite star 23 years before; he had been a British Army tank commander during the Battle of Arnhem. Hepburn's performance was nominated for an Academy Award.
oon after Hepburn's final film role, she was appointed a goodwill ambassador to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Grateful for her own good fortune after enduring the German occupation as a child, she dedicated the remainder of her life to helping impoverished children in the poorest nations. Hepburn's travels were made easier by her wide knowledge of languages; she spoke French, Italian, English, Dutch, and Spanish.
Though she had done work for UNICEF in the 1950s, starting in 1954 with radio presentations, this was a much higher level of dedication. Those close to her say that the thoughts of dying, helpless children consumed her for the rest of her life. Her first field mission was to Ethiopia in 1988. She visited an orphanage in Mek'ele that housed 500 starving children and had UNICEF send food. Of the trip, she said, "I have a broken heart. I feel desperate. I can't stand the idea that two million people are in imminent danger of starving to death, many of them children, not because there isn't tons of food sitting in the northern port of Shoa. It can't be distributed. Last spring, Red Cross and UNICEF workers were ordered out of the northern provinces because of two simultaneous civil wars... I went into rebel country and saw mothers and their children who had walked for ten days, even three weeks, looking for food, settling onto the desert floor into makeshift camps where they may die. Horrible. That image is too much for me. The 'Third World' is a term I don't like very much, because we're all one world. I want people to know that the largest part of humanity is suffering."
In 1992, President George H. W. Bush presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work with UNICEF, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded her The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for her contribution to humanity. This was awarded posthumously, with her son accepting on her behalf.
In 1992, when Hepburn returned to Switzerland from her visit to Somalia, she began to feel abdominal pains. She went to specialists and received inconclusive results, so she decided to have it examined while on a trip to Los Angeles in October.
On 1 November, doctors performed a laparoscopy and discovered abdominal cancer that had spread from her appendix. It had grown slowly over several years, and metastasized not as a tumor, but as a thin coating encasing over her small intestine. The doctors performed surgery and then put Hepburn through 5-fluorouracil Leucovorin chemotherapy. A few days later, she had an obstruction. Medication was not enough to dull the pain, so on 1 December, she had a second surgery. After one hour, the surgeon decided that the cancer had spread too far and could not be removed.
Because Hepburn was unable to fly on a commercial aircraft, Givenchy arranged for Rachel Lambert "Bunny" Mellon to send her private Gulfstream jet, filled with flowers, to take Hepburn from California to Switzerland. Hepburn died of cancer on 20 January 1993, in Tolochenaz, Vaud, Switzerland, and was interred there.
At the time of her death, she was involved with Robert Wolders, a Dutch actor who was the widower of film star Merle Oberon. She had met Wolders through a friend, in the later stage of her marriage to Dotti. After Hepburn's divorce was final, she and Wolders started their lives together, although they never married. In 1989, after nine years with him, she called them the happiest years of her life. "Took me long enough", she said in an interview with Barbara Walters. Walters then asked why they never married. Hepburn replied that they were married, just not formally
Filmography
Year Film Role Notes
1948 Nederlands in 7 lessen Airline Stewardess Documentary (English: Dutch in Seven Lessons)
1951 One Wild Oat Hotel receptionist
Laughter in Paradise Cigarette girl
Monte Carlo Baby Linda Farell Discovered by French novelist Colette during filming and cast as Gigi for the Broadway play
Young Wives' Tale Eve Lester
The Lavender Hill Mob Chiquita
1952 The Secret People Nora Brentano
Nous irons à Monte Carlo Melissa Walter French version of Monte Carlo Baby (English: We Will Go to Monte Carlo)
1953 Roman Holiday Princess Ann Academy Award for Best Actress
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1954 Sabrina Sabrina Fairchild Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
1956 War and Peace Natasha Rostova Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1957 Funny Face Jo Stockton
Love in the Afternoon Ariane Chavasse/Thin Girl Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1959 Green Mansions Rima Directed by Mel Ferrer
The Nun's Story Sister Luke (Gabrielle van der Mal) BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1960 The Unforgiven Rachel Zachary
1961 Breakfast at Tiffany's Holly Golightly Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
The Children's Hour Karen Wright
1963 Charade Regina "Reggie" Lampert BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1964 Paris When It Sizzles Gabrielle Simpson
My Fair Lady Eliza Doolittle Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1966 How to Steal a Million Nicole Bonnet
1967 Two for the Road Joanna Wallace Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Wait Until Dark Susy Hendrix Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1976 Robin and Marian Lady Marian
1979 Bloodline Elizabeth Roffe Her only R-rated film
1981 They All Laughed Angela Niotes
1989 Always Hap
Television and theatre
Year Film Role Notes
1949 High Button Shoes Chorus Girl Musical Theatre
Sauce Tartare Chorus Girl Musical Theatre
1950 Sauce Piquante Featured Player Musical Theatre
1951 Gigi Gigi Opened on Broadway at the Fulton Theatre, 24 November 1951.
Theatre World Award
1952 CBS Television Workshop Episode entitled "Rainy Day at Paradise Junction"
1954 Ondine Water Nymph Opened on Broadway, 18 February - 26 June, co-starring Mel Ferrer
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
1957 Mayerling Maria Vetsera Producers' Showcase live production. Costarring Mel Ferrer as Prince Rudolf. Released theatrically in Europe.
1987 Love Among Thieves Baroness Caroline DuLac Television movie.
1993 Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn Herself PBS miniseries;
Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming
Awards and honors
The handprints of Audrey Hepburn in front of The Great Movie Ride at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park.
She won the 1953 Academy Award for Best Actress for Roman Holiday. She was nominated for Best Actress four more times; for Sabrina, The Nun's Story, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Wait Until Dark. She was not nominated for her performance as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, one of her most acclaimed performances. For her 1967 nomination, the Academy chose her performance in Wait Until Dark over her critically acclaimed performance in Two for the Road. She lost to Katharine Hepburn (in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner). Audrey Hepburn is one of the few people who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony Award.
* Academy Award: Best Actress for Roman Holiday (1954) and posthumously The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (1993).
* Golden Globe award: Best Motion Picture Actress for Roman Holiday (1954).
* Tony Award: Best Actress for Ondine (1954) and Special Achievement award (1968).
* Grammy Award: Best Spoken Word Album for Children (1993) for Audrey Hepburn's Enchanted Tales (posthumous).
* Emmy Award: Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming (1993) for the "Flower Gardens" episode of her documentary series, Gardens of the World (posthumous).
Hepburn won the Henrietta Award in 1955 for the world's favourite actress, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1990 and the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1992. Hepburn was posthumously awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award later in 1993.
In December 1992, one month before her death, Hepburn received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her work in UNICEF. This is one of the two highest awards a civilian can receive in the United States. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1652 Vine Street.
In 2003, the United States Postal Service issued a stamp illustrated by Michael J. Deas honouring her as a Hollywood legend and humanitarian. It has a drawing of her which is based on a publicity photo from the movie Sabrina. Hepburn is one of the few non-Americans to be so honoured. As well, in 2008, Canada Post issued a series of stamps based on the work of Yousuf Karsh, one of which was a portrait of Hepburn.
Hepburn was only one of two people to wear the Tiffany Diamond, the other being Mrs. Sheldon Whitheouse at the 1957 Tiffany Ball. Hepburn was a member of the International Best Dressed List and elevated into its Hall of Fame in 1961.
She was posthumously awarded the The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for her humanitarian work. She received a posthumous Grammy Award for her spoken word recording, Audrey Hepburn's Enchanted Tales in 1994, and in the same year, won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement for Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn, thereby becoming one of a few people to receive an Academy, Emmy, Grammy and Tony award.
http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy24/retropop/Audrey%20Hepburn/audreyhepburn-19a59a8f1f9ec80935566.jpg
http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy24/retropop/Audrey%20Hepburn/audreyhepburn-63741349e5d12be9a5432.jpg
http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/oo108/ArmandDuval/audrey-hepburn-1086.jpg
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/tiny_tink_pics/audreysotiny.jpg
such a fine actress. :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/20/10 at 7:54 am
The birthday of the day...David Lynch
David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker and visual artist. Over a lengthy career, Lynch has employed a distinctive and unorthodox approach to narrative filmmaking (dubbed Lynchian), which has become instantly recognizable to many audiences and critics worldwide. Lynch's films are known for surreal, nightmarish and dreamlike images and meticulously crafted sound design. Lynch's work often depicts a seedy underside of small town America (particularly Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks), or sprawling California metropolises (Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive and his latest release, Inland Empire). Beginning with his experimental film school feature Eraserhead (1977), he has maintained a strong cult following despite inconsistent commercial success.
Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, for his films The Elephant Man (1980), Blue Velvet (1986), and Mulholland Drive (2001), and has also received a screenplay Academy Award nomination for The Elephant Man. Lynch has twice won France's César Award for Best Foreign Film, the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and a Golden Lion award for lifetime achievement at the Venice Film Festival. The French government awarded him with the Legion of Honor, the country's top civilian honor, as Chevalier in 2002 then Officier in 2007, whilst that same year, The Guardian described Lynch as "the most important director of this era"
n 1971, Lynch moved to Los Angeles, California to study for a Master of Fine Arts degree at the AFI Conservatory. At the Conservatory, Lynch began working on his first feature-length film, Eraserhead, using a $10,000 grant from the AFI. The grant did not provide enough money to complete the film and, due to lack of a sufficient budget, Eraserhead was filmed intermittently until 1977. Lynch used money from friends and family, including boyhood friend Jack Fisk, a production designer and the husband of actress Sissy Spacek, and even took a paper route to finish it. A stark and enigmatic film, Eraserhead tells the story of a quiet young man (Jack Nance) living in an industrial wasteland, whose girlfriend gives birth to a constantly crying mutant baby. Lynch has referred to Eraserhead as "my Philadelphia story", meaning it reflects all of the dangerous and fearful elements he encountered while studying and living in Philadelphia. He said "this feeling left its traces deep down inside me. And when it came out again, it became Eraserhead".
The final film was initially judged to be almost unreleasable, but thanks to the efforts of the Elgin Theater distributor Ben Barenholtz, it became an instant cult classic and was a staple of midnight movie showings for the next decade. It was also a critical success, launching Lynch to the forefront of avant-garde filmmaking. The acclaimed film maker Stanley Kubrick said that it was one of his all-time favorite films. It cemented the team of actors and technicians who would continue to define the texture of his work for years to come, including cinematographer Frederick Elmes, sound designer Alan Splet, and actor Jack Nance. Meanwhile, Lynch continued producing short films, and during "a brief lull in the filming of Eraserhead" had produced The Amputee in 1974, revolving around a woman with stumps for limbs (Catherine Coulson) who has them washed by a doctor, played by Lynch himself.
Rise to prominence (1980–1986)
David Lynch on the set of Blue Velvet with the film's main actor Kyle MacLachlan.
Eraserhead brought Lynch to the attention of producer Mel Brooks, who hired him to direct 1980's The Elephant Man, a biopic of deformed Victorian era figure Joseph Merrick (John Hurt). Lynch brought his own distinct surrealist approach to the film, filming it in black and white, although it has still been described as "one of the most conventional" of his films. The Elephant Man was a huge commercial success, and earned eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay nods for Lynch. It also established his place as a commercially viable, if somewhat dark and unconventional, Hollywood director. George Lucas, a fan of Eraserhead, offered Lynch the opportunity to direct Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, which he refused, feeling that it would be more Lucas' vision than his own. Meanwhile in 1983 he began the writing and drawing of a comic strip, The Angriest Dog in the World, which featured unchanging graphics alongside cryptic philosophical references. It ran from 1983 until 1992 in the Village Voice, Creative Loafing and other tabloid and alternative publications.
Afterwards, Lynch agreed to direct a big-budget adaptation of Frank Herbert's science fiction novel Dune for Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis's De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, on the condition that DEG release a second Lynch project, over which the director would have complete creative control. Although De Laurentiis hoped it would be the next Star Wars, Lynch's Dune (1984) was a critical and commercial dud; it cost $45 million to make, and grossed a mere $27.4 million domestically. Later on, Universal Studios released an "extended cut" of the film for syndicated television; this contained almost an hour of cutting-room-floor footage and new narration. Such was not representative of Lynch's intentions, but the studio considered it more comprehensible than the original two hour version. Lynch objected to these changes and had his name struck from the extended cut, which has "Alan Smithee" credited as the director and "Judas Booth" (a pseudonym which Lynch himself invented, inspired by his own feelings of betrayal) as the screenwriter. The three hour version has since been released on video worldwide.
Lynch's second De Laurentiis-financed project was 1986's Blue Velvet, the story of a college student (Kyle MacLachlan) who discovers his small, idealistic hometown hides a dark side after investigating a severed ear that he found in a field. The film featured performances from Isabella Rossellini as a tormented lounge singer and Dennis Hopper as a crude, psychopathic criminal. Although Lynch had found success previously with The Elephant Man, Blue Velvet's controversy with audiences and critics introduced him into the mainstream, and became a huge critical and moderate commercial success. Thus, the film earned Lynch his second Academy Award nomination for Best Director. The content of the film and its artistic merit drew much controversy from audiences and critics alike in 1986 and onwards. Blue Velvet introduced several common elements of his work, including abused women, the dark underbelly of small towns, and unconventional uses of vintage songs. Bobby Vinton's "Blue Velvet" and Roy Orbison's "In Dreams" are both featured in unconventional ways. It was also the first time Lynch worked with composer Angelo Badalamenti, who would contribute to all of his future full-length films except Inland Empire. Woody Allen, whose film Hannah and Her Sisters was nominated for Best Picture, said that Blue Velvet was his favorite film of the year.
The transition to television (1987–1996)
Lynch at the 1990 Emmy Awards ceremony.
In the late 1980s, Lynch moved from producing films to focusing on television, directing a short film entitled The Cowboy and the Frenchman in 1989 for French television, before meeting the producer Mark Frost, with whom he would go on to collaborate with on a number of projects. Initially, Lynch and Frost planned to create a surreal comedy named One Saliva Bubble, but it never materialised. Instead they created a show entitled Twin Peaks, a drama series set in a small Washington where the popular high school student Laura Palmer has been raped and murdered. To investigate, the FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) is called in, eventually unearthing the secrets of many town residents and the supernatural nature of the murder. Lynch himself directed only six episodes of the series, including the feature-length pilot, which debuted on the ABC Network on April 8, 1990. Lynch himself later starred in several episodes of the series as the FBI agent Graham Cole. Twin Peaks gradually rose from cult hit to cultural phenomenon, and because of its originality and success remains one of the most well-known television series of the decade. Catch phrases from the show entered the culture and parodies of it were seen on Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons. Lynch appeared on the cover of Time magazine largely because of the success of the series.
However, Lynch clashed with the ABC Network on several matters, particularly whether or not to reveal Laura Palmer's killer. The network insisted that the revelation be made during the second season but Lynch wanted the mystery to last as long as the series. Lynch soon became disenchanted with the series, and, as a result, many cast members complained of feeling abandoned. Later he stated that he and Frost had never intended to ever reveal the identity of Laura's killer, that ABC forced him to reveal the culprit prematurely, and that agreeing to do so is one of his biggest professional regrets. Twin Peaks suffered a severe ratings drop and was canceled in 1991. Still, Lynch scripted a prequel to the series about the last seven days in the life of Laura Palmer.
Meanwhile, whilst Twin Peaks was in production, the Brooklyn Academy of Music asked Lynch and Badalementi to create a theatrical piece which would only be performed twice at their academy in New York City in 1989 as a part of the New Music America Festival. The result was Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Broken Hearted, which starred such frequent Lynch collaborators as Laura Dern, Nicolas Cage and Michael J. Anderson as well as containing five songs sung by Julee Cruise. David Lynch produced a 50-minute video of the performance in 1990. Following this, Lynch returned to making feature films, after his friend, Monty Montgomery offered him the chance to adapt Barry Gifford's novel, Wild at Heart: The Story of Sailor and Lula into a film. Lynch agreed, with the result being Wild at Heart, a crime and road movie starring Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern. Despite receiving a muted response from American critics and viewers, it won the Palme d'Or at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival.
Without Frost this time, he decided to revisit Twin Peaks, making the prequal film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me in 1992. The film was a commercial and critical failure in the United States, although was a hit in Japan and British critic Mark Kermode has hailed the film as Lynch's "masterpiece". Meanwhile, Lynch continued working on a series of television shows with Mark Frost. After Twin Peaks, they produced a series of documentaries entitled American Chronicles (1990) which examined life across the United States, the comedy series On the Air (1992), which was cancelled after only three episodes had aired, and the three-episode HBO mini-series Hotel Room (1993) about events that happened in the same hotel room but at different dates in time.
Return to cinema and digital work (1997-2006)
Lynch speaking at an Amazon.com reception in January 2007.
Following his unsuccesful television ventures since Twin Peaks, Lynch returned to making feature films. In 1997 he released the non-linear, noiresque Lost Highway, co-written by Barry Gifford and starring Bill Pullman and Patricia Arquette. The film failed commercially and received a mixed response from critics. However, thanks in part to a soundtrack featuring David Bowie, Marilyn Manson, Rammstein, Nine Inch Nails and The Smashing Pumpkins, it helped gain Lynch a new audience of Generation X viewers. Lost Highway was followed in 1999 with the G-rated, Disney-produced The Straight Story, written and edited by Mary Sweeney, which was, on the surface, a simple and humble movie telling the true story of Iowan Alvin Straight (Richard Farnsworth), who rides a lawnmower to Wisconsin to make peace with his ailing brother, played by Harry Dean Stanton. As Le Blanc and Odell stated, the plot made it "seem as far removed from Lynch's earlier works as could be imagined, but in fact right from the very opening, this is entirely his film - a surreal road movie". The film garnered positive reviews and reached a new audience for its director.
The same year, Lynch approached ABC once again with an idea for a television drama. The network gave Lynch the go-ahead to shoot a two-hour pilot for the series Mulholland Drive, but disputes over content and running time led to the project being shelved indefinitely. However, with seven million dollars from the French production company StudioCanal, Lynch completed the pilot as a film, Mulholland Drive. The film is a non-linear narrative surrealist tale of the dark side of Hollywood and stars Naomi Watts, Laura Harring and Justin Theroux. The film performed relatively well at the box office worldwide and was a critical success, earning Lynch a Best Director prize at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival (shared with Joel Coen for The Man Who Wasn't There) and a Best Director award from the New York Film Critics Association.
With the onset of popularity of the internet, Lynch decided to utlilise this new medium, releasing several new series that he had created exclusively on his website, davidlynch.com. In 2002, he created a series of online shorts entitled Dumbland. Intentionally crude both in content and execution, the eight-episode series was later released on DVD. The same year, Lynch released a surreal sitcom via his website - Rabbits, which revolved around a family of humanoid rabbits. Later, he showed his experiments with Digital Video in the form of the Japanese-style horror short Darkened Room.
In 2006, Lynch's latest feature film, Inland Empire was released, being the longest of Lynch's films at almost three hours long. Like Mulholland Drive and Lost Highway before it, the film did not fit to a narrative structure, and starred Lynch regulars Laura Dern, Harry Dean Stanton, and Justin Theroux, with cameos by Naomi Watts and Laura Harring (voices of Suzie and Jane Rabbit), and a performance by Jeremy Irons. Lynch described the piece as "a mystery about a woman in trouble". In an effort to promote the film, Lynch made appearances with a cow and a placard bearing the slogan "Without cheese there would be no Inland Empire".
Documentaries and animation (2007-)
In 2008, Lynch announced that he was working on a road documentary "about his dialogues with regular folk on the meaning of life," with traveling companions including singer Donovan and physicist John Hagelin, two prominent members of the Transcendental Meditation movement.
Lynch currently has two films in production, both of which differ in content from his previous work. One of these is an animation entitled Snootworld, and the other is a documentary on Maharishi Mahesh Yogi consisting of interviews with people who knew him
Filmography
Features
Year Film Oscars BAFTA Golden Globe
Nominations Wins Nominations Wins Nominations Wins
1977 Eraserhead
1980 The Elephant Man 8 7 3 4
1984 Dune 1
1986 Blue Velvet 1 2
1990 Wild at Heart 1 1 1
1992 Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
1997 Lost Highway
1999 The Straight Story 1 2
2001 Mulholland Drive 1 2 1 4
2006 Inland Empire
Short films
* Six Men Getting Sick (1966) - available on The Short Films of David Lynch DVD
* Absurd Encounter with Fear (1967) - available on The Lime Green Set DVD
* Fictitious Anacin Commercial (1967) - available on The Lime Green Set DVD
* The Alphabet (1968) - available on The Short Films of David Lynch DVD
* The Grandmother (1970) - available on The Short Films of David Lynch DVD
* The Amputee (1974) - available on The Short Films of David Lynch DVD
* The Cowboy and the Frenchman (1988) - available on The Short Films of David Lynch DVD
* Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Broken Hearted (1990) - available on The Lime Green Set DVD
* Premonitions Following an Evil Deed (1995) - available on The Short Films of David Lynch DVD
* Darkened Room (2002) - available on the Dynamic 1 DVD
* Ballerina (2006) - available on the Inland Empire DVD
* Boat (2007) - available on the Dynamic 1 DVD
* Bug Crawls (2007) - available on the Dynamic 1 DVD
* Scissors (2008) - available on The Lime Green Set DVD
Television series
Year ↓ Series ↓ Episodes ↓
1990-1991 Twin Peaks 30
1992 On the Air 7
1993 Hotel Room 3
Online series
Year ↓ Series ↓ Episodes ↓ Available on DVD ↓
2002 Rabbits The Lime Green Set DVD
2002 Dumbland 8 The Lime Green Set DVD
Out Yonder The Lime Green Set DVD
2009 Interview Project
Music videos
Year ↓ Song ↓ Musician ↓
1982 "I Predict" Sparks
2009 "Shot in the Back of the Head" Moby
Other
In October, 2008, the OMMA Video Conference, Jen Gregono, chief content officer at On Networks, announced that her company signed Lynch to a webisode series based on his book, Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness and Creativity.
In June 2009, Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse released an album called Dark Night of the Soul, with a 100+ page booklet with visuals by Lynch. The album contained complete packaging and a blank CD because of some dispute with the record label. The artists involved implied that consumers can get the music online and just burn the blank CD provided.
He directed The Elephant Man, one of my all time favourites.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/20/10 at 8:37 am
British Person of the Day: Tom Baker
Thomas Stewart "Tom" Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor. He is best known for playing the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series Doctor Who, a role he played from 1974 to 1981, and for being the narrator of the comedy series Little Britain. He now lives in Rye, East Sussex, England.
Early life
Baker was born in Scotland Road, Liverpool, the son of Mary Jane (née Fleming), a cleaner, and John Stewart Baker, a sailor who was rarely at home. Baker was raised in a working class Catholic and Jewish family. He left school at 15 to become a novice monk and remained in the monastic life for six years, but left after losing his faith, and did his National Service in the Royal Army Medical Corps, serving for two years from 1955 until 1957. At the same time he took up acting, at first as a hobby.
Career
In 1971, Baker got his first big break with the role of Rasputin in the film Nicholas and Alexandra. He also appeared nude in Pier Paolo Pasolini's version of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales (I Racconti di Canterbury), released in 1972, as a younger husband of the Wife of Bath.
Doctor Who (1974–1981)
In 1974, Baker took on the role of the Doctor from Jon Pertwee. He was recommended to producer Barry Letts by the BBC's Head of Serials, Bill Slater, who had directed Baker in Play of the Month. Impressed by Baker on meeting him, Letts was convinced he was right for the part after seeing his performance in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. Baker was working on a construction site at the time, as acting jobs were scarce. Initially he was dubbed "Boiler Suit Tom" by the media, as he had been supplied for a press conference with some old studio set clothes to replace his modest garments.
He quickly made the part his own. As the Doctor, his eccentric style of dress and speech — particularly his trademark long scarf and fondness for jelly babies — made him an immediately recognisable figure, and he quickly caught the viewing public's imagination. Baker played the Doctor for seven consecutive seasons over a seven-year period, making him the longest-serving actor in the part on-screen. Baker himself suggested many aspects of the Fourth Doctor's personality. The distinctive scarf came about by accident: James Acheson, the costume designer, had provided far more wool than was necessary to the knitter, Begonia Pope, and Ms. Pope knitted all the wool she was given; it was Baker who suggested that he wear the resulting — ridiculously over-long — scarf.
The incarnation played by Baker is often regarded as the most popular of the Doctors. In polls conducted by Doctor Who Magazine, Baker has lost the "Best Doctor" category only twice: once to Sylvester McCoy in 1990, and once to David Tennant in 2006.
Tom Baker is not known to be directly related to Colin Baker, who played the Sixth Doctor in Doctor Who, nor to Bob Baker, the script-writer for many of the series' episodes.
Baker's sense of humour is like that of the character he played. When asked how he felt about having a star named after him, Baker quipped, "I'm over the moon!" In a poll published by BBC Homes and Antiques magazine in January 2006, Baker was voted the fourth most eccentric star. He was beaten by Björk, Chris Eubank and David Icke.
He continues to be associated with the Doctor, appearing on documentaries such as The Story of Doctor Who and Doctor Who Confidential and giving interviews about his time on the programme. He reappeared as the Doctor for the 1993 charity special Dimensions in Time and audio for the PC game Destiny of the Doctors. He gets interviewed often in documentaries on the extras of Doctor Who DVD releases from his era as the Doctor and has recorded DVD commentaries for many of the stories.
In a 2004 interview regarding the series' revival, Baker suggested that he be cast as the Master. In a 2006 interview with The Sun newspaper, he claims that he has not watched any episodes of the new series because he "just can't be bothered". In June 2006, Baker once again expressed interest in the role in a guest column for Radio Times, noting that he "did watch a little bit of the new Doctor Who and I think the new fella, Tennant, is excellent."
While Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann have all reprised their roles for audio adventures produced since the 1990s by Big Finish (and sometimes the BBC) Baker had until 2009 declined to voice the Doctor, saying he hadn't seen a script he liked. However, in July 2009, the BBC announced that Baker would return to the role for a series of five audio dramas, co-starring Richard Franklin as Captain Mike Yates, which would begin release in September. The five audios comprise a single linked story under the banner title Hornets' Nest, written by well-known author Paul Magrs. Baker has also filmed inserts for a video release of the unfinished Shada and also provided narration for several BBC audio releases of old Doctor Who stories.
More recently, Baker has been involved in the reading of old Target novelisations in the BBC Audio range of talking books, "Doctor Who (Classic Novels)". Doctor Who and the Giant Robot was the first release in the range read by Baker, released on 5 November 2007, followed by Baker reading Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius'(released 4 February 2008), Doctor Who and the Creature from the Pit (released on 7 April 2008) and Doctor Who and the Pyramids of Mars (released 14 August 2008).
In October 2009, Baker was interviewed for BBC Radio 4’s Last Word to pay tribute to the deceased former Doctor Who producer Barry Letts. He described Letts, who originally cast him in the role, as “the big link in changing my entire life”.
Little Britain
After his work on Lionel Nimrod's Inexplicable World, in 2001 Baker was cast as a similar narrator of Little Britain on BBC Radio 4, and remained in the role when it transferred to television. Baker has suggested that he was chosen for the part in Little Britain due to his popularity with Walliams and Lucas, part of the generation to whom he is the favourite Doctor. "I am now being employed by the children who grew up watching me" he said in a recent DVD commentary. His eccentric voice-overs include such comments as "The Conservative Party is my favourite political party, after Labour and the Lib Dems", and "If people in Britain want to buy a pet, they go to a pet shop. If they want to buy a pet shop, they go to a pet shop shop. If they want to buy a pet shop shop, then they're just being silly." On the Little Britain Abroad special he remarked " In Paris, Anne is paying a visit to the Louvre. At my age I'm up all night visiting the Louvre". Another trademark of Little Britain's narration is the deadpan quotation of old rap lyrics, usually in the opening credit sequence. Songs like Salt n Pepa's "Push It" and House of Pain's "Jump Around" have so far received the Tom Baker treatment.
On 17 November 2005, to mark the start of Series 3 of Little Britain, Baker read the continuity announcements on BBC One from 1900 to 2130 GMT. The scripts were written by the same writers as Little Britain (David Walliams and Matt Lucas) and Baker assumed his Little Britain persona. He used lines such as "Hello, tellyviewers. You're watching the BBC One!" and "In half an hour, Jenny Dickens's classic serial Bleak House. But first let's see what the poor people are up to in the first of two visits this evening to the EastEnders."
Film
Baker also appeared in the 1971 film Nicholas and Alexandra as Grigori Rasputin. He was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for his performance, one for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and another for Best Newcomer.
Baker appeared as Moore, an artist whose paintings are imbued with voodoo power, in The Vault of Horror (1973), the sequel to Tales from the Crypt (1972); as Koura, the villainous sorcerer, in Ray Harryhausen's The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973); and as Halvarth, the Elven healer, in Dungeons & Dragons (2000). In the late 1990s, it was reported that Baker was a candidate for the role of Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings films. Baker has since stated that he was only approached for "a role" in the film, and when told that it would mean spending months away in New Zealand, he turned down the offer.
Voice acting
Baker has appeared in various radio productions, including a role as "Britain's most celebrated criminal barrister", Sir Edward Marshall-Hall in John Mortimer Presents the Trials of Marshall Hall (1996), and a part in the 2001 BBC Radio 4 version of The Thirty-nine Steps as Sir Walter Bullivant. He guest starred in The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (a pastiche series written by Bert Coules) in the 2002 episode "The Saviour of Cripplegate Square".
From 2000 to 2005 Tom voiced the character Max Bear in the Channel 4 (UK) Max Bear Productions animated series. More recently, he voiced the role of the villain ZeeBad in the 2005 computer-animated film version of The Magic Roundabout.
He is also the narrator of the new children's computer animation series The Beeps which is shown on Five's Milkshake!
He is also the voice artist in the "Fords of Winsford" advert.
In the BBC audio play of John Le Carré's The Russia House, he played the main character, Barley Blair.
He also narrated the popular children's acclaimed TV series Tales of Aesop on BBC which is a series based on Aesop's Fables with beautiful puppet animation.
Video games
Baker also returned to star as the Fourth Doctor in the video game Destiny of the Doctors in 1997. His voice has also featured in Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior (2003), Cold Winter (2005) and Little Britain: The Video Game (2007).
Works
Filmography
* 1971 - Nicholas and Alexandra as Grigori Rasputin
* 1973 - The Vault of Horror - Moore
* 1973 - The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973) - Koura
* 1974 - Frankenstein - The True Story (1974) - Ship's Captain
* 2000 - Dungeons & Dragons (2000)
Television
* late 1970s - four episodes of the BBC2 series Late Night Story and in each episode, read an eerie tale involving the theme of childhood. Episodes ran for fifteen minutes and were aired before the station closed for the night. One episode entitled Sredni Vashtar by Saki was scheduled to start the second series, but went unscreened due to a writer's strike.
* 1974-1981 - Doctor Who - The Fourth Doctor
* 1982 - BBC version of The Hound of the Baskervilles - Sherlock Holmes
* 1984 - Remington Steele - Interpol agent Anatole Blaylock
* 1986 - BBC adaptation of The Life and Loves of a She-Devil - Father Ferguson
* 1986 - Blackadder II - episode "Potato" - Captain Redbeard Rum
* 1990 -The Silver Chair (1990) - Puddleglum
* 1990 - Douglas Adams's futurology documentary Hyperland - Software Agent
* 1992 - Cluedo - Professor Plum
* 1992-1995 - Medics - Professor Geoffrey Hoyt
* 2000 - revival of Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) - Wyvern
* 2004-2005 - Monarch of the Glen - Donald MacDonald
* 2007 - Marple - episode Towards Zero - Frederick Treves
* ? - ? "Little Britain USA & Little Britain - Narrator
http://thebadplus.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/07/08/baker.jpg
http://www.blockbuster.co.uk/bbimages/UK/Glossy/November06/TomBakerBlog/TomBaker1.jpg
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: CatwomanofV on 01/20/10 at 8:45 am
The word of the day...Peak(s)
The peak of a process or an activity is the point at which it is at its strongest, most successful, or most fully developed.
When something peaks, it reaches its highest value or its highest level.
Peak times are the times when there is most demand for something or most use of something
http://i945.photobucket.com/albums/ad292/lisagibsonbaby/SDC10933.jpg
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j137/Hornby2006/Mine%202010/NearColumbiaIcefieldAlbertaCanada.jpg
http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac228/koplin1/Eagles%20pc%20NFT/RB/other%20rbs/footballcards611.jpg
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee139/ocoy-adp/Peaks.jpg
http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/xx138/redstocks2000/Chapel.jpg
http://i733.photobucket.com/albums/ww338/guardiangroup/Spruce%20Peak%20Lodge/DSCN1077.jpg
http://i1022.photobucket.com/albums/af345/muiqmudq/victoria-peak1.jpg
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http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh67/Joshiedoozie/twin-peaks.jpg
I thought Dolly Parton was the birthday person of the day-YESTERDAY!! :D :D ;D ;D ;D
Cat
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/20/10 at 9:12 am
such a fine actress. :)
Yes a rare talent.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/20/10 at 9:16 am
British Person of the Day: Tom Baker
Thomas Stewart "Tom" Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor. He is best known for playing the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series Doctor Who, a role he played from 1974 to 1981, and for being the narrator of the comedy series Little Britain. He now lives in Rye, East Sussex, England.
Early life
Baker was born in Scotland Road, Liverpool, the son of Mary Jane (née Fleming), a cleaner, and John Stewart Baker, a sailor who was rarely at home. Baker was raised in a working class Catholic and Jewish family. He left school at 15 to become a novice monk and remained in the monastic life for six years, but left after losing his faith, and did his National Service in the Royal Army Medical Corps, serving for two years from 1955 until 1957. At the same time he took up acting, at first as a hobby.
Career
In 1971, Baker got his first big break with the role of Rasputin in the film Nicholas and Alexandra. He also appeared nude in Pier Paolo Pasolini's version of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales (I Racconti di Canterbury), released in 1972, as a younger husband of the Wife of Bath.
Doctor Who (1974–1981)
In 1974, Baker took on the role of the Doctor from Jon Pertwee. He was recommended to producer Barry Letts by the BBC's Head of Serials, Bill Slater, who had directed Baker in Play of the Month. Impressed by Baker on meeting him, Letts was convinced he was right for the part after seeing his performance in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. Baker was working on a construction site at the time, as acting jobs were scarce. Initially he was dubbed "Boiler Suit Tom" by the media, as he had been supplied for a press conference with some old studio set clothes to replace his modest garments.
He quickly made the part his own. As the Doctor, his eccentric style of dress and speech — particularly his trademark long scarf and fondness for jelly babies — made him an immediately recognisable figure, and he quickly caught the viewing public's imagination. Baker played the Doctor for seven consecutive seasons over a seven-year period, making him the longest-serving actor in the part on-screen. Baker himself suggested many aspects of the Fourth Doctor's personality. The distinctive scarf came about by accident: James Acheson, the costume designer, had provided far more wool than was necessary to the knitter, Begonia Pope, and Ms. Pope knitted all the wool she was given; it was Baker who suggested that he wear the resulting — ridiculously over-long — scarf.
The incarnation played by Baker is often regarded as the most popular of the Doctors. In polls conducted by Doctor Who Magazine, Baker has lost the "Best Doctor" category only twice: once to Sylvester McCoy in 1990, and once to David Tennant in 2006.
Tom Baker is not known to be directly related to Colin Baker, who played the Sixth Doctor in Doctor Who, nor to Bob Baker, the script-writer for many of the series' episodes.
Baker's sense of humour is like that of the character he played. When asked how he felt about having a star named after him, Baker quipped, "I'm over the moon!" In a poll published by BBC Homes and Antiques magazine in January 2006, Baker was voted the fourth most eccentric star. He was beaten by Björk, Chris Eubank and David Icke.
He continues to be associated with the Doctor, appearing on documentaries such as The Story of Doctor Who and Doctor Who Confidential and giving interviews about his time on the programme. He reappeared as the Doctor for the 1993 charity special Dimensions in Time and audio for the PC game Destiny of the Doctors. He gets interviewed often in documentaries on the extras of Doctor Who DVD releases from his era as the Doctor and has recorded DVD commentaries for many of the stories.
In a 2004 interview regarding the series' revival, Baker suggested that he be cast as the Master. In a 2006 interview with The Sun newspaper, he claims that he has not watched any episodes of the new series because he "just can't be bothered". In June 2006, Baker once again expressed interest in the role in a guest column for Radio Times, noting that he "did watch a little bit of the new Doctor Who and I think the new fella, Tennant, is excellent."
While Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann have all reprised their roles for audio adventures produced since the 1990s by Big Finish (and sometimes the BBC) Baker had until 2009 declined to voice the Doctor, saying he hadn't seen a script he liked. However, in July 2009, the BBC announced that Baker would return to the role for a series of five audio dramas, co-starring Richard Franklin as Captain Mike Yates, which would begin release in September. The five audios comprise a single linked story under the banner title Hornets' Nest, written by well-known author Paul Magrs. Baker has also filmed inserts for a video release of the unfinished Shada and also provided narration for several BBC audio releases of old Doctor Who stories.
More recently, Baker has been involved in the reading of old Target novelisations in the BBC Audio range of talking books, "Doctor Who (Classic Novels)". Doctor Who and the Giant Robot was the first release in the range read by Baker, released on 5 November 2007, followed by Baker reading Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius'(released 4 February 2008), Doctor Who and the Creature from the Pit (released on 7 April 2008) and Doctor Who and the Pyramids of Mars (released 14 August 2008).
In October 2009, Baker was interviewed for BBC Radio 4’s Last Word to pay tribute to the deceased former Doctor Who producer Barry Letts. He described Letts, who originally cast him in the role, as “the big link in changing my entire life”.
Little Britain
After his work on Lionel Nimrod's Inexplicable World, in 2001 Baker was cast as a similar narrator of Little Britain on BBC Radio 4, and remained in the role when it transferred to television. Baker has suggested that he was chosen for the part in Little Britain due to his popularity with Walliams and Lucas, part of the generation to whom he is the favourite Doctor. "I am now being employed by the children who grew up watching me" he said in a recent DVD commentary. His eccentric voice-overs include such comments as "The Conservative Party is my favourite political party, after Labour and the Lib Dems", and "If people in Britain want to buy a pet, they go to a pet shop. If they want to buy a pet shop, they go to a pet shop shop. If they want to buy a pet shop shop, then they're just being silly." On the Little Britain Abroad special he remarked " In Paris, Anne is paying a visit to the Louvre. At my age I'm up all night visiting the Louvre". Another trademark of Little Britain's narration is the deadpan quotation of old rap lyrics, usually in the opening credit sequence. Songs like Salt n Pepa's "Push It" and House of Pain's "Jump Around" have so far received the Tom Baker treatment.
On 17 November 2005, to mark the start of Series 3 of Little Britain, Baker read the continuity announcements on BBC One from 1900 to 2130 GMT. The scripts were written by the same writers as Little Britain (David Walliams and Matt Lucas) and Baker assumed his Little Britain persona. He used lines such as "Hello, tellyviewers. You're watching the BBC One!" and "In half an hour, Jenny Dickens's classic serial Bleak House. But first let's see what the poor people are up to in the first of two visits this evening to the EastEnders."
Film
Baker also appeared in the 1971 film Nicholas and Alexandra as Grigori Rasputin. He was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for his performance, one for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and another for Best Newcomer.
Baker appeared as Moore, an artist whose paintings are imbued with voodoo power, in The Vault of Horror (1973), the sequel to Tales from the Crypt (1972); as Koura, the villainous sorcerer, in Ray Harryhausen's The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973); and as Halvarth, the Elven healer, in Dungeons & Dragons (2000). In the late 1990s, it was reported that Baker was a candidate for the role of Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings films. Baker has since stated that he was only approached for "a role" in the film, and when told that it would mean spending months away in New Zealand, he turned down the offer.
Voice acting
Baker has appeared in various radio productions, including a role as "Britain's most celebrated criminal barrister", Sir Edward Marshall-Hall in John Mortimer Presents the Trials of Marshall Hall (1996), and a part in the 2001 BBC Radio 4 version of The Thirty-nine Steps as Sir Walter Bullivant. He guest starred in The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (a pastiche series written by Bert Coules) in the 2002 episode "The Saviour of Cripplegate Square".
From 2000 to 2005 Tom voiced the character Max Bear in the Channel 4 (UK) Max Bear Productions animated series. More recently, he voiced the role of the villain ZeeBad in the 2005 computer-animated film version of The Magic Roundabout.
He is also the narrator of the new children's computer animation series The Beeps which is shown on Five's Milkshake!
He is also the voice artist in the "Fords of Winsford" advert.
In the BBC audio play of John Le Carré's The Russia House, he played the main character, Barley Blair.
He also narrated the popular children's acclaimed TV series Tales of Aesop on BBC which is a series based on Aesop's Fables with beautiful puppet animation.
Video games
Baker also returned to star as the Fourth Doctor in the video game Destiny of the Doctors in 1997. His voice has also featured in Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior (2003), Cold Winter (2005) and Little Britain: The Video Game (2007).
Works
Filmography
* 1971 - Nicholas and Alexandra as Grigori Rasputin
* 1973 - The Vault of Horror - Moore
* 1973 - The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973) - Koura
* 1974 - Frankenstein - The True Story (1974) - Ship's Captain
* 2000 - Dungeons & Dragons (2000)
Television
* late 1970s - four episodes of the BBC2 series Late Night Story and in each episode, read an eerie tale involving the theme of childhood. Episodes ran for fifteen minutes and were aired before the station closed for the night. One episode entitled Sredni Vashtar by Saki was scheduled to start the second series, but went unscreened due to a writer's strike.
* 1974-1981 - Doctor Who - The Fourth Doctor
* 1982 - BBC version of The Hound of the Baskervilles - Sherlock Holmes
* 1984 - Remington Steele - Interpol agent Anatole Blaylock
* 1986 - BBC adaptation of The Life and Loves of a She-Devil - Father Ferguson
* 1986 - Blackadder II - episode "Potato" - Captain Redbeard Rum
* 1990 -The Silver Chair (1990) - Puddleglum
* 1990 - Douglas Adams's futurology documentary Hyperland - Software Agent
* 1992 - Cluedo - Professor Plum
* 1992-1995 - Medics - Professor Geoffrey Hoyt
* 2000 - revival of Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) - Wyvern
* 2004-2005 - Monarch of the Glen - Donald MacDonald
* 2007 - Marple - episode Towards Zero - Frederick Treves
* ? - ? "Little Britain USA & Little Britain - Narrator
http://thebadplus.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/07/08/baker.jpg
http://www.blockbuster.co.uk/bbimages/UK/Glossy/November06/TomBakerBlog/TomBaker1.jpg
I always loved his Doctor Who :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/20/10 at 9:16 am
I thought Dolly Parton was the birthday person of the day-YESTERDAY!! :D :D ;D ;D ;D
Cat
;D ;D ;D that's a good one.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/21/10 at 4:08 am
British Person of the Day: Benny Hill
Alfred Hawthorne "Benny" Hill (21 January 1924 – 19 April 1992) was an English comedian, actor and singer, notable for his long-running television programme The Benny Hill Show.
Beginnings
Alfred Hill was born in Southampton and grew up in Wilton Road, Upper Shirley, where he and his brother attended Taunton's School. During World War II, Hill was one of the students evacuated with the school to Bournemouth School, East Way, Bournemouth. After leaving Bournemouth School, Hill worked variously as a milkman in Eastleigh, a bridge operator, a driver and a drummer before he finally got a foot in the door of the entertainment industry by becoming an assistant stage manager. Inspired by the 'star comedians' of British music hall shows, Hill set out to make his mark in show business. For the stage, he changed his first name to 'Benny', in homage to his favourite comedian, Jack Benny. Hill began appearing at working men's clubs and Masonic dinners before graduating to nightclub and theatre jobs. Hill auditioned for Soho's famed Windmill Theatre (home of Revudeville, a popular show of singers, comedians and nude girls), but he was not hired. Benny's first job in professional theatre as a performer was as Reg Varney's straight man, beating a then unknown Peter Sellers for the role.
Private life
Hill had only a few friends, although colleagues insist he was never lonely but content with his own company. He never married, although he did propose to three women—one the daughter of a British writer—but was rejected by all three. Although he owned the family home in Southampton he never owned his own home in London, nor a car, preferring to rent, first a large double apartment in Queensgate, London, for 26 years until 1986, and then a small flat in Teddington, within walking distance of the studios of Thames Television where he taped his shows. His mother died in 1976 aged 82 and Benny kept the family house at 22 Westrow Gardens in Southampton as a shrine to her, not changing anything. Before his move to Teddington, whilst looking for somewhere else to live in the Richmond area of London, he lived at 22 Westrow Gardens. Travelling was the luxury he permitted himself. Hill became a first-degree Francophile, enjoying frequent visits to Marseille. Until the 1980s, he could enjoy anonymity in France's outdoor cafés, public transport, and socialising with local women. Besides mastering French, he could also speak enough German, Dutch and Italian for travel purposes. Hill's overseas holidays were often gathering missions for comedy material, some inspired by foreign surroundings, or borrowed from regional acts.
Early career
Between the end of the war and the dawn of television, Hill worked as a radio performer. His first appearance on television was in 1949 in Hi There. He continued to work intermittently until his career took off with The Benny Hill Show in 1955 on BBC Television. Recurring players on his show during the BBC years included Patricia Hayes, Jeremy Hawk, Peter Vernon, Ronnie Brody, and his co-writer from the mid-1950s to early 1960s, Dave Freeman. He remained mostly with the BBC through to 1968, except for a few sojourns with ITV station ATV between 1957 and 1960 and again in 1967. He also had a short-lived radio programme, Benny Hill Time, on BBC Radio's Light Programme from 1964 to 1966. In addition, he attempted a sitcom anthology, Benny Hill, which ran for three series from 1962 to 1963, in which he played a different character in each episode. In 1964, he played Nick Bottom in an all-star TV film production of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Films and recordings
Benny Hill's film credits include parts in nine films including Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965); Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), in which he played the relatively straight role of the Toymaker; The Italian Job (1969); and, finally, a clip-show film spin-off of his early Thames shows (1969–73), called The Best of Benny Hill (1974). Hill's audio recordings include "Gather in the Mushrooms", (1961), "Pepys Diary", (1961), "Transistor Radio" (1961), "Harvest of Love" (1963), and "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West)" (1971). He also appeared in the 1986 video of the song "Anything She Does" by the band Genesis. Hill's song, "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West)," on the Best of Benny Hill album made the UK chart as Christmas number one single in 1971. A link to the lyrics is provided in the External Links section of this article.
The Benny Hill Show
In 1969, his show moved from the BBC to Thames Television, where The Benny Hill Show remained until cancellation in 1989, with an erratic schedule of one-hour specials.
The most common running gag in Benny Hill's shows was the closing sequence, which was literally a "running gag" in that it featured various members of the cast chasing Benny Hill and usually featured scantily-clad women as part of the chase, along with other stock comedy characters such as policemen, vicars, old ladies, and so on. This was commonly filmed using stop motion and time-lapse techniques for comic effect, and included other comic devices such as characters running off one side of the screen and reappearing running on from the other. The tune used in all the chases, "Yaketty Sax", is commonly referred to as "The Benny Hill Theme". It has been used as a form of parody in many ways by television shows and a small number of films. The Wachowskis used the same style (and musical theme) in a scene in the film V for Vendetta (2006). It also appears in the cult movie The Gods Must Be Crazy.
Reflecting opinion of the time within certain quarters the 1980s alternative comedian Ben Elton denounced him as a "dirty old man, tearing the clothes off nubile girls". The Independent newspaper opined the vendetta was "like watching an elderly uncle being kicked to death by young thugs". Elton later claimed his comment was taken out of context.
In response to such claims his close friend and producer Dennis Kirkland said it was the women who chased Hill in anger for undressing them, all of which was done accidentally by some ridiculous means. An article on 27 May 2006 in The Independent quoted Hill and Dennis Kirkland as saying they believed this misrepresentation demonstrated critics could not have watched his programmes.
In a documentary on Benny Hill, the former head of entertainment at Thames TV who had cancelled the show, John Howard Davies, stated there were three reasons why he did so: "...the audiences were going down, the programme was costing a vast amount of money, and he (Benny) was looking tired." Benny was devastated by the loss of his show.
US producer Don Taffner heard of Benny's plight and in 1991 produced a new show complete with Benny and his usual team, called Benny Hill's World Tour.
Death
Hill's health began to decline in the mid 1980s. He suffered heart problems, and on 11 February 1992, doctors told him he needed to lose 2 stone of his 17 stone body and recommended a heart bypass. He declined and was diagnosed a week later with renal failure. Benny Hill died on or about 19 April 1992, Easter weekend, alone in his flat at 7 Fairwater House, Twickenham Road, Teddington, South West London, at the age of 68. On 21 April, neighbours called the police, who then found Hill, deceased, sitting in his armchair in front of the television. Ironically on the day Hill purportedly died, a new contract arrived in the post from Central Independent Television. He died of natural causes. His death nearly coincided with that of Frankie Howerd, who had died at the age of 75, on 18 April 1992, only one day before Hill's death.
Hill was buried at Hollybrook Cemetery near his birthplace in Southampton on 28 April, 1992. In October 1992, following rumours that he was buried with large amounts of gold jewellery, an attempt was made by thieves to exhume his body. However, when authorities looked into his open coffin the following morning, there was no treasure. Consequently, only the culprits or the first officer on the scene know whether anything valuable was inside. Hill was reburied with a new coffin lid and a solid slab across the top of the grave.
In Hill's will, he left his estimated £10 million (GBP) estate to his late parents. Next in line were his brother Leonard and sister Diana, both of whom were also dead. This left his seven nieces and nephews, among whom the money was divided.
http://www.mjukvara.se/blogg/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Benny-Hill.jpg
http://www.virginmedia.com/images/funny_songs_benny_hill.jpg
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/21/10 at 4:11 am
British Person of the Day: Benny Hill
Alfred Hawthorne "Benny" Hill (21 January 1924 – 19 April 1992) was an English comedian, actor and singer, notable for his long-running television programme The Benny Hill Show.
Beginnings
Alfred Hill was born in Southampton and grew up in Wilton Road, Upper Shirley, where he and his brother attended Taunton's School. During World War II, Hill was one of the students evacuated with the school to Bournemouth School, East Way, Bournemouth. After leaving Bournemouth School, Hill worked variously as a milkman in Eastleigh, a bridge operator, a driver and a drummer before he finally got a foot in the door of the entertainment industry by becoming an assistant stage manager. Inspired by the 'star comedians' of British music hall shows, Hill set out to make his mark in show business. For the stage, he changed his first name to 'Benny', in homage to his favourite comedian, Jack Benny. Hill began appearing at working men's clubs and Masonic dinners before graduating to nightclub and theatre jobs. Hill auditioned for Soho's famed Windmill Theatre (home of Revudeville, a popular show of singers, comedians and nude girls), but he was not hired. Benny's first job in professional theatre as a performer was as Reg Varney's straight man, beating a then unknown Peter Sellers for the role.
Private life
Hill had only a few friends, although colleagues insist he was never lonely but content with his own company. He never married, although he did propose to three women—one the daughter of a British writer—but was rejected by all three. Although he owned the family home in Southampton he never owned his own home in London, nor a car, preferring to rent, first a large double apartment in Queensgate, London, for 26 years until 1986, and then a small flat in Teddington, within walking distance of the studios of Thames Television where he taped his shows. His mother died in 1976 aged 82 and Benny kept the family house at 22 Westrow Gardens in Southampton as a shrine to her, not changing anything. Before his move to Teddington, whilst looking for somewhere else to live in the Richmond area of London, he lived at 22 Westrow Gardens. Travelling was the luxury he permitted himself. Hill became a first-degree Francophile, enjoying frequent visits to Marseille. Until the 1980s, he could enjoy anonymity in France's outdoor cafés, public transport, and socialising with local women. Besides mastering French, he could also speak enough German, Dutch and Italian for travel purposes. Hill's overseas holidays were often gathering missions for comedy material, some inspired by foreign surroundings, or borrowed from regional acts.
Early career
Between the end of the war and the dawn of television, Hill worked as a radio performer. His first appearance on television was in 1949 in Hi There. He continued to work intermittently until his career took off with The Benny Hill Show in 1955 on BBC Television. Recurring players on his show during the BBC years included Patricia Hayes, Jeremy Hawk, Peter Vernon, Ronnie Brody, and his co-writer from the mid-1950s to early 1960s, Dave Freeman. He remained mostly with the BBC through to 1968, except for a few sojourns with ITV station ATV between 1957 and 1960 and again in 1967. He also had a short-lived radio programme, Benny Hill Time, on BBC Radio's Light Programme from 1964 to 1966. In addition, he attempted a sitcom anthology, Benny Hill, which ran for three series from 1962 to 1963, in which he played a different character in each episode. In 1964, he played Nick Bottom in an all-star TV film production of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Films and recordings
Benny Hill's film credits include parts in nine films including Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965); Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), in which he played the relatively straight role of the Toymaker; The Italian Job (1969); and, finally, a clip-show film spin-off of his early Thames shows (1969–73), called The Best of Benny Hill (1974). Hill's audio recordings include "Gather in the Mushrooms", (1961), "Pepys Diary", (1961), "Transistor Radio" (1961), "Harvest of Love" (1963), and "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West)" (1971). He also appeared in the 1986 video of the song "Anything She Does" by the band Genesis. Hill's song, "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West)," on the Best of Benny Hill album made the UK chart as Christmas number one single in 1971. A link to the lyrics is provided in the External Links section of this article.
The Benny Hill Show
In 1969, his show moved from the BBC to Thames Television, where The Benny Hill Show remained until cancellation in 1989, with an erratic schedule of one-hour specials.
The most common running gag in Benny Hill's shows was the closing sequence, which was literally a "running gag" in that it featured various members of the cast chasing Benny Hill and usually featured scantily-clad women as part of the chase, along with other stock comedy characters such as policemen, vicars, old ladies, and so on. This was commonly filmed using stop motion and time-lapse techniques for comic effect, and included other comic devices such as characters running off one side of the screen and reappearing running on from the other. The tune used in all the chases, "Yaketty Sax", is commonly referred to as "The Benny Hill Theme". It has been used as a form of parody in many ways by television shows and a small number of films. The Wachowskis used the same style (and musical theme) in a scene in the film V for Vendetta (2006). It also appears in the cult movie The Gods Must Be Crazy.
Reflecting opinion of the time within certain quarters the 1980s alternative comedian Ben Elton denounced him as a "dirty old man, tearing the clothes off nubile girls". The Independent newspaper opined the vendetta was "like watching an elderly uncle being kicked to death by young thugs". Elton later claimed his comment was taken out of context.
In response to such claims his close friend and producer Dennis Kirkland said it was the women who chased Hill in anger for undressing them, all of which was done accidentally by some ridiculous means. An article on 27 May 2006 in The Independent quoted Hill and Dennis Kirkland as saying they believed this misrepresentation demonstrated critics could not have watched his programmes.
In a documentary on Benny Hill, the former head of entertainment at Thames TV who had cancelled the show, John Howard Davies, stated there were three reasons why he did so: "...the audiences were going down, the programme was costing a vast amount of money, and he (Benny) was looking tired." Benny was devastated by the loss of his show.
US producer Don Taffner heard of Benny's plight and in 1991 produced a new show complete with Benny and his usual team, called Benny Hill's World Tour.
Death
Hill's health began to decline in the mid 1980s. He suffered heart problems, and on 11 February 1992, doctors told him he needed to lose 2 stone of his 17 stone body and recommended a heart bypass. He declined and was diagnosed a week later with renal failure. Benny Hill died on or about 19 April 1992, Easter weekend, alone in his flat at 7 Fairwater House, Twickenham Road, Teddington, South West London, at the age of 68. On 21 April, neighbours called the police, who then found Hill, deceased, sitting in his armchair in front of the television. Ironically on the day Hill purportedly died, a new contract arrived in the post from Central Independent Television. He died of natural causes. His death nearly coincided with that of Frankie Howerd, who had died at the age of 75, on 18 April 1992, only one day before Hill's death.
Hill was buried at Hollybrook Cemetery near his birthplace in Southampton on 28 April, 1992. In October 1992, following rumours that he was buried with large amounts of gold jewellery, an attempt was made by thieves to exhume his body. However, when authorities looked into his open coffin the following morning, there was no treasure. Consequently, only the culprits or the first officer on the scene know whether anything valuable was inside. Hill was reburied with a new coffin lid and a solid slab across the top of the grave.
In Hill's will, he left his estimated £10 million (GBP) estate to his late parents. Next in line were his brother Leonard and sister Diana, both of whom were also dead. This left his seven nieces and nephews, among whom the money was divided.
http://www.mjukvara.se/blogg/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Benny-Hill.jpg
http://www.virginmedia.com/images/funny_songs_benny_hill.jpg
I cannot locate a good video for Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/21/10 at 7:10 am
British Person of the Day: Benny Hill
Alfred Hawthorne "Benny" Hill (21 January 1924 – 19 April 1992) was an English comedian, actor and singer, notable for his long-running television programme The Benny Hill Show.
Beginnings
Alfred Hill was born in Southampton and grew up in Wilton Road, Upper Shirley, where he and his brother attended Taunton's School. During World War II, Hill was one of the students evacuated with the school to Bournemouth School, East Way, Bournemouth. After leaving Bournemouth School, Hill worked variously as a milkman in Eastleigh, a bridge operator, a driver and a drummer before he finally got a foot in the door of the entertainment industry by becoming an assistant stage manager. Inspired by the 'star comedians' of British music hall shows, Hill set out to make his mark in show business. For the stage, he changed his first name to 'Benny', in homage to his favourite comedian, Jack Benny. Hill began appearing at working men's clubs and Masonic dinners before graduating to nightclub and theatre jobs. Hill auditioned for Soho's famed Windmill Theatre (home of Revudeville, a popular show of singers, comedians and nude girls), but he was not hired. Benny's first job in professional theatre as a performer was as Reg Varney's straight man, beating a then unknown Peter Sellers for the role.
Private life
Hill had only a few friends, although colleagues insist he was never lonely but content with his own company. He never married, although he did propose to three women—one the daughter of a British writer—but was rejected by all three. Although he owned the family home in Southampton he never owned his own home in London, nor a car, preferring to rent, first a large double apartment in Queensgate, London, for 26 years until 1986, and then a small flat in Teddington, within walking distance of the studios of Thames Television where he taped his shows. His mother died in 1976 aged 82 and Benny kept the family house at 22 Westrow Gardens in Southampton as a shrine to her, not changing anything. Before his move to Teddington, whilst looking for somewhere else to live in the Richmond area of London, he lived at 22 Westrow Gardens. Travelling was the luxury he permitted himself. Hill became a first-degree Francophile, enjoying frequent visits to Marseille. Until the 1980s, he could enjoy anonymity in France's outdoor cafés, public transport, and socialising with local women. Besides mastering French, he could also speak enough German, Dutch and Italian for travel purposes. Hill's overseas holidays were often gathering missions for comedy material, some inspired by foreign surroundings, or borrowed from regional acts.
Early career
Between the end of the war and the dawn of television, Hill worked as a radio performer. His first appearance on television was in 1949 in Hi There. He continued to work intermittently until his career took off with The Benny Hill Show in 1955 on BBC Television. Recurring players on his show during the BBC years included Patricia Hayes, Jeremy Hawk, Peter Vernon, Ronnie Brody, and his co-writer from the mid-1950s to early 1960s, Dave Freeman. He remained mostly with the BBC through to 1968, except for a few sojourns with ITV station ATV between 1957 and 1960 and again in 1967. He also had a short-lived radio programme, Benny Hill Time, on BBC Radio's Light Programme from 1964 to 1966. In addition, he attempted a sitcom anthology, Benny Hill, which ran for three series from 1962 to 1963, in which he played a different character in each episode. In 1964, he played Nick Bottom in an all-star TV film production of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Films and recordings
Benny Hill's film credits include parts in nine films including Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965); Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), in which he played the relatively straight role of the Toymaker; The Italian Job (1969); and, finally, a clip-show film spin-off of his early Thames shows (1969–73), called The Best of Benny Hill (1974). Hill's audio recordings include "Gather in the Mushrooms", (1961), "Pepys Diary", (1961), "Transistor Radio" (1961), "Harvest of Love" (1963), and "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West)" (1971). He also appeared in the 1986 video of the song "Anything She Does" by the band Genesis. Hill's song, "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West)," on the Best of Benny Hill album made the UK chart as Christmas number one single in 1971. A link to the lyrics is provided in the External Links section of this article.
The Benny Hill Show
In 1969, his show moved from the BBC to Thames Television, where The Benny Hill Show remained until cancellation in 1989, with an erratic schedule of one-hour specials.
The most common running gag in Benny Hill's shows was the closing sequence, which was literally a "running gag" in that it featured various members of the cast chasing Benny Hill and usually featured scantily-clad women as part of the chase, along with other stock comedy characters such as policemen, vicars, old ladies, and so on. This was commonly filmed using stop motion and time-lapse techniques for comic effect, and included other comic devices such as characters running off one side of the screen and reappearing running on from the other. The tune used in all the chases, "Yaketty Sax", is commonly referred to as "The Benny Hill Theme". It has been used as a form of parody in many ways by television shows and a small number of films. The Wachowskis used the same style (and musical theme) in a scene in the film V for Vendetta (2006). It also appears in the cult movie The Gods Must Be Crazy.
Reflecting opinion of the time within certain quarters the 1980s alternative comedian Ben Elton denounced him as a "dirty old man, tearing the clothes off nubile girls". The Independent newspaper opined the vendetta was "like watching an elderly uncle being kicked to death by young thugs". Elton later claimed his comment was taken out of context.
In response to such claims his close friend and producer Dennis Kirkland said it was the women who chased Hill in anger for undressing them, all of which was done accidentally by some ridiculous means. An article on 27 May 2006 in The Independent quoted Hill and Dennis Kirkland as saying they believed this misrepresentation demonstrated critics could not have watched his programmes.
In a documentary on Benny Hill, the former head of entertainment at Thames TV who had cancelled the show, John Howard Davies, stated there were three reasons why he did so: "...the audiences were going down, the programme was costing a vast amount of money, and he (Benny) was looking tired." Benny was devastated by the loss of his show.
US producer Don Taffner heard of Benny's plight and in 1991 produced a new show complete with Benny and his usual team, called Benny Hill's World Tour.
Death
Hill's health began to decline in the mid 1980s. He suffered heart problems, and on 11 February 1992, doctors told him he needed to lose 2 stone of his 17 stone body and recommended a heart bypass. He declined and was diagnosed a week later with renal failure. Benny Hill died on or about 19 April 1992, Easter weekend, alone in his flat at 7 Fairwater House, Twickenham Road, Teddington, South West London, at the age of 68. On 21 April, neighbours called the police, who then found Hill, deceased, sitting in his armchair in front of the television. Ironically on the day Hill purportedly died, a new contract arrived in the post from Central Independent Television. He died of natural causes. His death nearly coincided with that of Frankie Howerd, who had died at the age of 75, on 18 April 1992, only one day before Hill's death.
Hill was buried at Hollybrook Cemetery near his birthplace in Southampton on 28 April, 1992. In October 1992, following rumours that he was buried with large amounts of gold jewellery, an attempt was made by thieves to exhume his body. However, when authorities looked into his open coffin the following morning, there was no treasure. Consequently, only the culprits or the first officer on the scene know whether anything valuable was inside. Hill was reburied with a new coffin lid and a solid slab across the top of the grave.
In Hill's will, he left his estimated £10 million (GBP) estate to his late parents. Next in line were his brother Leonard and sister Diana, both of whom were also dead. This left his seven nieces and nephews, among whom the money was divided.
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Classic simply classic. Both my dad & my husband enjoy him.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/21/10 at 7:15 am
The word of the day...Tourist
A tourist is a person who is visiting a place for pleasure and interest, especially when they are on holiday.
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/21/10 at 7:18 am
The birthday of the day...Geena Davis
Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis (born January 21, 1956) is an Academy Awards winning American actress, film producer, writer, former fashion model, and a women's Olympics archery team semi-finalist.After graduating, Davis served as a window mannequin for Ann Taylor until signing with New York's Zoli modelling agency in 1979. Davis auditioned for roles in many popular movies, including The Terminator’s Sarah Connor, which went to Linda Hamilton. She was working as a model when director Sydney Pollack spotted her and cast her in Tootsie (1982) as a soap opera actress. She followed this up with the part of Wendy Killain in the short-lived television series Buffalo Bill, which aired from June, 1983, to March, 1984. She also wrote the Buffalo Bill episode entitled "Miss WBFL." During the run of Buffalo Bill, In 1983, Geena also appeared as Grace Fallon in an episode of Knight Rider (1982 TV series) entitled "K.I.T.T the Cat". Her television credits from the mid-1980's also include one episode of Riptide, two episodes of Family Ties, and an episode of Remington Steele. This was followed up by a series of her own, Sara, which lasted thirteen episodes.
Davis made her film breakthrough with Fletch, in 1985. This was followed by larger roles in The Fly and Beetlejuice. She received an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Accidental Tourist (1988), and a Best Actress nomination for her role in Thelma and Louise (1991). Davis replaced Debra Winger in the role of Dottie in A League of Their Own (1992) and received a Best Actress Golden Globe Award nomination for her performance. She then co-starred in Hero alongside Dustin Hoffman and Andy Garcia. Following this, Davis teamed up with then-husband Renny Harlin for the films Cutthroat Island and The Long Kiss Goodnight. She and Harlin co-produced the films. Davis was nominated for Saturn Awards for her performances as Samantha/Charlie in The Long Kiss Goodnight., and as Eleanor Little in Stuart Little, a role she reprised in 2002, and again in 2005.
In 2000-2001, Davis starred in the short-lived sitcom The Geena Davis Show. In early 2004, she guest-starred as Grace Adler's sister, Janet, on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace. She most recently starred in the ABC television series Commander in Chief as the first female President of the United States. This role garnered her a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama Series in 2006, and she also was nominated for an Emmy Award and a SAG Award for Outstanding Female Actor in a Drama Series.
Davis was married to Richard Emmolo (March 25, 1982 – February 26, 1983); actor Jeff Goldblum, with whom she co-starred in three films, Transylvania 6-5000, The Fly and Earth Girls Are Easy (1987 – 1990); and Renny Harlin, who directed her in Cutthroat Island and The Long Kiss Goodnight (1993 – 1998). On September 1, 2001, Davis married Iranian American plastic surgeon Reza Jarrahy MD. They have three children: daughter Alizeh Keshvar (born April 10, 2002) and fraternal twin boys Kian William Jarrahy and Kaiis Steven Jarrahy on May 6, 2004.
Davis is 6 feet (1.83 m) tall and is a member of American Mensa, the society of persons with IQs in the statistical top 2%, with an IQ of 140.
Activism
The handprints of Geena Davis in front of The Great Movie Ride at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park.
Davis is fronting the Women's Sports Foundation campaign Geena Takes Aim in support of Title IX — an Act of Congress focusing on equality in sports opportunities, now expanded to prohibit gender discrimination in United States' educational institutions.
In 2004, while watching children’s television programs and videos with her daughter, Davis noticed what she thought was an imbalance in the ratio of male to female characters. From that starting point, Davis went on to sponsor the largest research project ever undertaken on gender in children’s entertainment (resulting in 4 discrete studies, including one on children’s television) at the Annenberg School for Communication of University of Southern California. The study, directed by Dr. Stacy Smith, shows that there are nearly 3 males to every 1 female character in the nearly 400 G, PG, PG-13, and R-Rated movies the undergraduate team of Annenberg students coded.
In 2005, Davis teamed up with the non-profit group Dads and Daughters to launch a venture dedicated to balancing the number of male and female characters in children's TV and movie programming.
Davis launched The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media in 2007. The Institute’s first focus is an on-the ground program that works collaboratively with the entertainment industry to dramatically increase the presence of female characters in media aimed at children and to reduce stereotyping of both males and females.
For her work in this field she received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Bates College in May 2009.
Geena Davis speaking at Bates College on May 31, 2009.
Sports
Davis states that she wasn't an athlete growing up, and that her introduction to archery was in 1997, two years prior to her tryouts.
Geena Davis was one of 300 women competing, in July 1999, for a semifinals berth in the US Olympic archery team, to participate in the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics. She placed 24th of 300 and did not qualify for the team, but participated as a wild-card entry in the Sydney International Golden Arrow competition.
Filmography
Year Film Role Notes
1982 Tootsie April Page
1985 Fletch
Transylvania 6-5000 Odette
1986 The Fly Veronica Quaife Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Actress
1988 Beetlejuice Barbara Maitland
Earth Girls Are Easy Valerie Gail
The Accidental Tourist Muriel Pritchett Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
1990 Quick Change Phyllis Potter
1991 Thelma & Louise Thelma Yvonne Dickinson Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress
David di Donatello Award for Best Foreign Actress shared with Susan Sarandon
National Board of Review Award for Best Actress tied with Susan Sarandon
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1992 A League of Their Own Dottie Hinson Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Hero Gale Gayley
1993 Princess Scargo and the Birthday Pumpkin Narrator (voice) short subject
1994 Angie Angie Scacciapensieri
Speechless Julia Mann also producer
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1995 Cutthroat Island Morgan Adams
1996 The Long Kiss Goodnight Samantha Caine / Charly Baltimore also producer
Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Actress
1999 Stuart Little Mrs. Eleanor Little Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress
2002 Stuart Little 2 Mrs. Eleanor Little
2006 Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild Mrs. Eleanor Little voice
2009 Accidents Happen Gloria Conway
Television work
Year Film Role Notes
1983-1984 Buffalo Bill Wendy Killian
1983 Knight Rider Grace Fallon Guest star, "K.I.T.T. The Cat" (Season 2, Episode 6)
1984 Family Ties Karen Nicholson Guest star, two episodes
1984 Riptide Dr. Melba Bozinsky Guest star, "Raiders of the Lost Sub" (Season 1, Episode 12)
1985 Sara Sara McKenna Cancelled after a few months
Secret Weapons Tamara Reshevsky/Brenda
Remington Steele Sandy Dalrymple "Steele in the Chips" (Season 3, Episode 20)
2000-2001 The Geena Davis Show Teddie Cochran
2003 Will & Grace Grace's Sister
2005-2006 Commander in Chief President Mackenzie Allen Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama
Nominated — Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Drama Series
2008-present Link's Future Mrs. Diane Bolton Season 3-present
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/21/10 at 7:23 am
The person of the day...Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002) was an award-winning American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer and actress. From her beginnings as a vocalist on local radio, to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, to forging her own sophisticated persona, Lee evolved into a multi-faceted artist and performer, writing music for films, acting, creating conceptual record albums encompassing poetry, jazz, chamber pop, art songs, and other genres in a career that spanned nearly seven decades.
In early 1942, Lee had her first #1 hit, "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place," followed by 1943's "Why Don't You Do Right?" (originally sung by Lil Green), which sold over a million copies and made her famous. She sang with Goodman in two 1943 films, Stage Door Canteen and The Powers Girl.
In March 1943, Lee married Dave Barbour, the guitarist in Goodman's band. Peggy said, "David joined Benny's band and there was a ruling that no one should fraternize with the girl singer. But I fell in love with David the first time I heard him play, and so I married him. Benny then fired David, so I quit, too. Benny and I made up, although David didn't play with him anymore. Benny stuck to his rule. I think that's not too bad a rule, but you can't help falling in love with somebody."
When Lee and Barbour left the band, the idea was that he would work in the studios and she would keep house and raise their daughter, Nicki. But she drifted back towards songwriting and occasional recording sessions for the fledgling Capitol Records in 1947, for whom she produced a long string of hits, many of them with lyrics and music by Lee and Barbour, including "I Don't Know Enough About You" and "It's a Good Day" (1948). With the release of the smash-hit #1-selling record of 1947, "Mañana," her "retirement" was over.
In 1948, she joined Perry Como and Jo Stafford as one of the rotating hosts of the NBC Radio musical program Chesterfield Supper Club. She was also a regular on NBC's Jimmy Durante Show during the 1938-48 season.
She left Capitol for a few years in the early 1940s, but returned in 1943. She is most famous for her cover version of the Little Willie John hit "Fever", to which she added her own, uncopyrighted lyrics ("Romeo loved Juliet," "Captain Smith and Pocahontas") and her rendition of Leiber and Stoller's "Is That All There Is?" Her relationship with the Capitol label spanned almost three decades, aside from her brief but artistically rich detour (1952-1956) at Decca Records, where she recorded one of her most acclaimed albums Black Coffee (1956). While recording for Decca, Lee had hit singles with the songs "Lover" and "Mr. Wonderful."
She first came to prominence in the 1940s with her #1 hits Somebody Is Taking Your Place and Mañana, having a string of successful albums and top 10 hits in three consecutive decades. However, Peggy Lee is today internationally recognized for her signature song "Fever". Lee was also an accomplished actress, starring in the hit movies The Jazz Singer, Disney's Lady and the Tramp and Pete Kelly's Blues, for which she received the Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Peggy Lee is also widely regarded as one of the most influential jazz vocalists of all time, being cited as a mentor to diverse artists such as; Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Paul McCartney, Bette Midler, Madonna and Dusty Springfield.
In her 60-year-long career, Peggy was the recipient of three Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, an Academy Award nomination, The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Award; the Presidents Award, the Ella Award for Lifetime Achievement and the Living Legacy Award, from the Women's International Center. In 1999 Peggy Lee was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Songwriting
She was also known as a songwriter with such hits as the songs from the Disney movie Lady and the Tramp, for which she also supplied the singing and speaking voices of four characters. Her many songwriting collaborators, in addition to Barbour, included Laurindo Almeida, Harold Arlen, Sonny Burke, Cy Coleman, Gene DiNovi, Duke Ellington, Dave Grusin, Dick Hazard, Quincy Jones, Francis Lai, Jack Marshall, Johnny Mandel, Marian McPartland, Willard Robison, Lalo Schifrin, Hubie Wheeler, guitarist Johnny Pisano and Victor Young.
She wrote the lyrics for "I Don't Know Enough About You", "It's A Good Day", composed by Dave Barbour, "I'm Gonna Go Fishin'", composed with Duke Ellington, "The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter", the no.1 hit "Manana (Is Soon Enough For Me)", "Bless You (For The Good That's In You)" with Mel Torme, "What More Can a Woman Do?", "Don't Be Mean to Baby", "New York City Ghost" with Victor Young, "You Was Right, Baby", "Just an Old Love of Mine", "Everything's Movin' Too Fast", "The Shining Sea", "He's A Tramp", "The Siamese Cat Song", "There Will Be Another Spring", "Johnny Guitar" with Victor Young, "Sans Souci" with Sonny Burke, "So What's New?", "Don't Smoke in Bed", "I Love Being Here With You", "Happy With the Blues" with Harold Arlen, "Where Can I Go Without You?", "Things Are Swingin'", "Then Was Then" with Cy Coleman, and many others. The first song that Peggy Lee composed was "Little Fool", published in 1941. "What More Can a Woman Do?" was recorded by Sarah Vaughan with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. "Manana (Is Soon Enough For Me)" was no.1 for 9 weeks on the Billboard singles chart in 1948, from the week of March 13 to May 8. She also added some lyrics ("Romeo loved Juliet", "Captain Smith and Pocahontas") to her signature song, "Fever".
During a time when youths began turning to rock'n'roll, she was one of the mainstays of Capitol recordings. She was the first of the "old guard" to recognize this new genre, as is evident in her recordings of the Beatles, Randy Newman, Carole King, James Taylor and other up-and-coming songwriters. From 1957 until her final disc for the company in 1972, she routinely produced a steady stream of two or three albums per year which usually included standards (often arranged in a style quite different from the original), her own compositions, and material from young artists.
Acting career
Lee also acted in several films. In 1952, she played opposite Danny Thomas in a remake of the early Al Jolson film, The Jazz Singer. In 1955, she played a despondent, alcoholic blues singer in Pete Kelly's Blues (1955), for which she was nominated for an Oscar. In 1955, she did the speaking and singing voices for multiple characters in Disney's Lady and the Tramp movie. Specifically, she played the human Darling (in the very beginning), the dog Peg, and the two Siamese cats Si and Am. In 1957, Lee guest starred on the short-lived ABC variety program, The Guy Mitchell Show.
In the early 1990s, she retained famed entertainment attorney Neil Papiano, who, on her behalf, successfully sued Disney for royalties on Lady and the Tramp. Lee's lawsuit claimed that she was due royalties for video tapes, a technology that did not exist when she agreed to write and perform for Disney.
Never afraid to fight for what she believed in, Lee passionately insisted that musicians be equitably compensated for their work. Although she realized litigation had taken a toll on her health, Lee often quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson on the topic: "God's will will not be made manifest by cowards."
She also successfully sued MCA/Decca with the assistance of noted entertainment attorney, Cy Godfrey.
Personal life
Lee was married four times; each marriage ended in divorce:
* 1) Musician Dave Barbour (1943-1951); daughter Nicki Lee Foster (born 1943)
* 2) Actor Brad Dexter (1953)
* 3) Actor Dewey Martin (1956-1958)
* 4) Actor Jack Del Rio (1964-1965)
Retirement and death
She continued to perform into the 1990s, sometimes in a wheelchair, and still mesmerized audiences and critics alike. After years of poor health, Lee died of complications from diabetes and a heart attack at the age of 81. She is survived by Nicki Lee Foster, her daughter with Barbour. She is interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles' Westwood neighborhood. On her marker in a garden setting is inscribed, "Music is my life's breath."
Legacy
Academy Awards memoriam omission
She was not featured in Memoriam Tribute during the Academy Awards ceremony. When her family requested she be featured in the following year's ceremony, the Academy stated they did not honor requests and Lee was omitted because her contribution to film and her legacy were not deemed significant enough. The Lee family pointed out that, although she had been omitted, R&B singer/actress Aaliyah, who died a few months earlier, was included though having been in only one moderately successful film, Romeo Must Die (Queen of the Damned had yet to be released). The Academy provided no comment on the oversight.
Awards
Lee was nominated for 12 Grammy Awards, winning Best Contemporary Vocal Performance for her 1969 hit "Is That All There Is?" In 1995 she was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Lee is a recipient of the state of North Dakota's Roughrider Award; the Pied Piper Award from The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP); the Presidents Award, from the Songwriters Guild of America; the Ella Award for Lifetime Achievement, from the Society of Singers; and the Living Legacy Award, from the Women's International Center. In 1999 she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Carnegie Hall tribute
In 2003, "There'll Be Another Spring: A Tribute to Miss Peggy Lee" was held at Carnegie Hall. Produced by recording artist Richard Barone, the sold-out event included performances by Cy Coleman, Debbie Harry, Nancy Sinatra, Rita Moreno, Marian McPartland, Chris Connor, Petula Clark and many others. In 2004, Barone brought the event to the Hollywood Bowl and Chicago's Ravinia Festival, with expanded casts including Maureen McGovern, Jack Jones, and Bea Arthur. The Carnegie Hall concert was broadcast as on NPR's "Jazz Set."
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/21/10 at 7:28 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VscVP_Gt_s&feature=related#
Peggy Lee..Is That All There Is
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYxoAJ3Boyc&feature=related#
Peggy Lee ..Fever
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/21/10 at 7:44 am
British Person of the Day: Benny Hill
Alfred Hawthorne "Benny" Hill (21 January 1924 – 19 April 1992) was an English comedian, actor and singer, notable for his long-running television programme The Benny Hill Show.
Beginnings
Alfred Hill was born in Southampton and grew up in Wilton Road, Upper Shirley, where he and his brother attended Taunton's School. During World War II, Hill was one of the students evacuated with the school to Bournemouth School, East Way, Bournemouth. After leaving Bournemouth School, Hill worked variously as a milkman in Eastleigh, a bridge operator, a driver and a drummer before he finally got a foot in the door of the entertainment industry by becoming an assistant stage manager. Inspired by the 'star comedians' of British music hall shows, Hill set out to make his mark in show business. For the stage, he changed his first name to 'Benny', in homage to his favourite comedian, Jack Benny. Hill began appearing at working men's clubs and Masonic dinners before graduating to nightclub and theatre jobs. Hill auditioned for Soho's famed Windmill Theatre (home of Revudeville, a popular show of singers, comedians and nude girls), but he was not hired. Benny's first job in professional theatre as a performer was as Reg Varney's straight man, beating a then unknown Peter Sellers for the role.
Private life
Hill had only a few friends, although colleagues insist he was never lonely but content with his own company. He never married, although he did propose to three women—one the daughter of a British writer—but was rejected by all three. Although he owned the family home in Southampton he never owned his own home in London, nor a car, preferring to rent, first a large double apartment in Queensgate, London, for 26 years until 1986, and then a small flat in Teddington, within walking distance of the studios of Thames Television where he taped his shows. His mother died in 1976 aged 82 and Benny kept the family house at 22 Westrow Gardens in Southampton as a shrine to her, not changing anything. Before his move to Teddington, whilst looking for somewhere else to live in the Richmond area of London, he lived at 22 Westrow Gardens. Travelling was the luxury he permitted himself. Hill became a first-degree Francophile, enjoying frequent visits to Marseille. Until the 1980s, he could enjoy anonymity in France's outdoor cafés, public transport, and socialising with local women. Besides mastering French, he could also speak enough German, Dutch and Italian for travel purposes. Hill's overseas holidays were often gathering missions for comedy material, some inspired by foreign surroundings, or borrowed from regional acts.
Early career
Between the end of the war and the dawn of television, Hill worked as a radio performer. His first appearance on television was in 1949 in Hi There. He continued to work intermittently until his career took off with The Benny Hill Show in 1955 on BBC Television. Recurring players on his show during the BBC years included Patricia Hayes, Jeremy Hawk, Peter Vernon, Ronnie Brody, and his co-writer from the mid-1950s to early 1960s, Dave Freeman. He remained mostly with the BBC through to 1968, except for a few sojourns with ITV station ATV between 1957 and 1960 and again in 1967. He also had a short-lived radio programme, Benny Hill Time, on BBC Radio's Light Programme from 1964 to 1966. In addition, he attempted a sitcom anthology, Benny Hill, which ran for three series from 1962 to 1963, in which he played a different character in each episode. In 1964, he played Nick Bottom in an all-star TV film production of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Films and recordings
Benny Hill's film credits include parts in nine films including Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965); Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), in which he played the relatively straight role of the Toymaker; The Italian Job (1969); and, finally, a clip-show film spin-off of his early Thames shows (1969–73), called The Best of Benny Hill (1974). Hill's audio recordings include "Gather in the Mushrooms", (1961), "Pepys Diary", (1961), "Transistor Radio" (1961), "Harvest of Love" (1963), and "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West)" (1971). He also appeared in the 1986 video of the song "Anything She Does" by the band Genesis. Hill's song, "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West)," on the Best of Benny Hill album made the UK chart as Christmas number one single in 1971. A link to the lyrics is provided in the External Links section of this article.
The Benny Hill Show
In 1969, his show moved from the BBC to Thames Television, where The Benny Hill Show remained until cancellation in 1989, with an erratic schedule of one-hour specials.
The most common running gag in Benny Hill's shows was the closing sequence, which was literally a "running gag" in that it featured various members of the cast chasing Benny Hill and usually featured scantily-clad women as part of the chase, along with other stock comedy characters such as policemen, vicars, old ladies, and so on. This was commonly filmed using stop motion and time-lapse techniques for comic effect, and included other comic devices such as characters running off one side of the screen and reappearing running on from the other. The tune used in all the chases, "Yaketty Sax", is commonly referred to as "The Benny Hill Theme". It has been used as a form of parody in many ways by television shows and a small number of films. The Wachowskis used the same style (and musical theme) in a scene in the film V for Vendetta (2006). It also appears in the cult movie The Gods Must Be Crazy.
Reflecting opinion of the time within certain quarters the 1980s alternative comedian Ben Elton denounced him as a "dirty old man, tearing the clothes off nubile girls". The Independent newspaper opined the vendetta was "like watching an elderly uncle being kicked to death by young thugs". Elton later claimed his comment was taken out of context.
In response to such claims his close friend and producer Dennis Kirkland said it was the women who chased Hill in anger for undressing them, all of which was done accidentally by some ridiculous means. An article on 27 May 2006 in The Independent quoted Hill and Dennis Kirkland as saying they believed this misrepresentation demonstrated critics could not have watched his programmes.
In a documentary on Benny Hill, the former head of entertainment at Thames TV who had cancelled the show, John Howard Davies, stated there were three reasons why he did so: "...the audiences were going down, the programme was costing a vast amount of money, and he (Benny) was looking tired." Benny was devastated by the loss of his show.
US producer Don Taffner heard of Benny's plight and in 1991 produced a new show complete with Benny and his usual team, called Benny Hill's World Tour.
Death
Hill's health began to decline in the mid 1980s. He suffered heart problems, and on 11 February 1992, doctors told him he needed to lose 2 stone of his 17 stone body and recommended a heart bypass. He declined and was diagnosed a week later with renal failure. Benny Hill died on or about 19 April 1992, Easter weekend, alone in his flat at 7 Fairwater House, Twickenham Road, Teddington, South West London, at the age of 68. On 21 April, neighbours called the police, who then found Hill, deceased, sitting in his armchair in front of the television. Ironically on the day Hill purportedly died, a new contract arrived in the post from Central Independent Television. He died of natural causes. His death nearly coincided with that of Frankie Howerd, who had died at the age of 75, on 18 April 1992, only one day before Hill's death.
Hill was buried at Hollybrook Cemetery near his birthplace in Southampton on 28 April, 1992. In October 1992, following rumours that he was buried with large amounts of gold jewellery, an attempt was made by thieves to exhume his body. However, when authorities looked into his open coffin the following morning, there was no treasure. Consequently, only the culprits or the first officer on the scene know whether anything valuable was inside. Hill was reburied with a new coffin lid and a solid slab across the top of the grave.
In Hill's will, he left his estimated £10 million (GBP) estate to his late parents. Next in line were his brother Leonard and sister Diana, both of whom were also dead. This left his seven nieces and nephews, among whom the money was divided.
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I used to watch The Benny Hill Show on Channel 9 here in New York back in the 80's,such a classic show. :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/21/10 at 7:45 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYxoAJ3Boyc&feature=related#
Peggy Lee ..Fever
One of my fav songs.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/21/10 at 7:47 am
Classic simply classic. Both my dad & my husband enjoy him.
My early comedy viewing was Benny Hill, so in one sense I grew up with him.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/21/10 at 7:47 am
One of my fav songs.
such a sweet song.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/21/10 at 7:48 am
My early comedy viewing was Benny Hill, so in one sense I grew up with him.
and his crazy antics.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/22/10 at 12:08 am
British Person of the Day: Alf Ramsey
Sir Alfred Ernest "Alf" Ramsey (22 January 1920 – 28 April 1999) was an English footballer and manager of the English national football team from 1963 to 1974. His greatest achievement was winning the 1966 World Cup with England on 30 July 1966. They also came third in the 1968 European Championship and reached the quarter-final stage of the 1970 World Cup and the 1972 European Championship under his management. He was knighted in 1967 in recognition of England's World Cup glory the previous year.
As a player, he had been capped 32 times between 1948 and 1954, scoring three goals, and was part of the Tottenham Hotspur team which in 1951 became the first English team to be champions of the top flight a year after promotion.
Between the end of his playing career and his appointment as England manager, Ramsey was Ipswich Town manager for eight years, taking them from the Third Division to the top of the First Division in that time.
His final job in football was manager of Birmingham City, which he left in March 1978.
Playing career
Ramsey was born in Dagenham, Essex. Having been a gifted amateur as a pupil and as a player for his army regiment, he played for Portsmouth in the London War League in 1942 before moving to Southampton from 1943 to 1949 (since 1944 as a professional), and Tottenham Hotspur after that. He was very successful with Spurs, playing as a right-back in more than 250 cup and league games, and in 1948 made his England debut against Switzerland; he went on to captain his country three times. His last game for England was the 6-3 defeat by Hungary in November 1953, in which he scored a penalty. As a player Ramsey was considered slow: but had excellent positional sense, read the game better than most, had awareness, strength, and excellent distribution for a defender. He was also a specialist penalty kick taker; his coolness and ability to anticipate the goalkeeper earning him the nickname, The General.
Managerial career
Ipswich Town
He retired from playing in 1955 to become manager of Ipswich Town. He guided the Suffolk-based side to third place in the Third Division South in his debut season, the side scoring 106 goals in the 46 league fixtures. Ramsey's second season in charge led to the division title, Ipswich's second at that level, and promotion to the Second Division.
The Suffolk-based side established themselves at the Second Division level for the following three seasons with mid-table finishes. Ramsey also managed his side to moderate success in the FA Cup, reaching the Fifth Round in the 1958-59 season. After three seasons of mid-table finishes, the fourth brought further success to Portman Road as Ramsey guided the Blues to the Second Division title and into the top flight for the first time in the club's history.
Ramsey's Ipswich achieved unprecedented success the following season as he led his side to the Championship in their debut season at the top level. The side had been tipped by virtually all contemporary football pundits and journalists for relegation at the start of the season, making the achievement arguably one of the most remarkable in the history of the League.
Alf Ramsey's tactical astuteness, working with a squad of solid but not outstanding players, baffled and astonished the illustrious football clubs against whom Ipswich were playing. Ramsey had found the style he would take to the England job the following April; choosing players to fit his system on the pitch. He left Ipswich Town in April 1963 having guided them from the Third Division South to the very top of English football.
England
He was appointed England manager in 1963 and immediately caused a stir when he predicted that England would win the next World Cup, which was to be held in England in 1966. This was a bold statement to make, as England's performance on the international stage had been poor up to that point. The World Cup started in 1930: but England refused to participate until 1950, when they suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the U.S.A. When Ramsey took over, he demanded complete control over squad selections. Before Ramsey, Walter Winterbottom had been manager, but selections and other decisions were often carried out by board committees and so forth. When Ramsey took over all of these duties, it led to him being referred to as 'England's first proper manager'.
Ramsey was a firm but fair manager and was often regarded as difficult by the press. He ran a strict regime with his players and made sure that no-one felt that they enjoyed special status, star player or not. In May 1964, after a number of players failed to show up for a meeting in a hotel about a forthcoming tour, amongst them Jimmy Greaves, Bobby Moore and Bobby Charlton, they eventually returned to their rooms to discover their passports left on their beds. His strict regime didn't suit everyone but the players with real talent and respect for the game responded well to them and had great respect for Ramsey. Very few of those who played for Ramsey spoke ill of him. In the preparations for the 1966 World Cup, Ramsey made sure that no player was confident of a place in the final 22, which resulted in players performing at their highest level. His decision to appoint a young Bobby Moore as captain also showed Ramsey's ability to see great potential in young players. Another one of his abilities was as a master tactician: a quality that he had first shown with his reading of the game as a player. When it came to tactics, Ramsey had revolutionary ideas.
The 1966 World Cup
With his final squad chosen, Ramsey set about winning the World Cup for England. The first group game was against Uruguay and despite an array of attacking talent upfront including Jimmy Greaves and Roger Hunt, England were held to a 0-0 draw. Ramsey's statement made three years earlier was looking in doubt now: but he remained calm and still experimenting when his side faced Mexico in the next game. Ramsey was using the 4-3-3 system and for each of the group games used a winger, John Connelly against Uruguay, Terry Paine against Mexico and Ian Callaghan against France.
Ramsey dropped Alan Ball and John Connelly and brought in Martin Peters, whose advanced style of play as a midfielder matched just the qualities Ramsey looked for in his system, and Terry Paine. England beat Mexico 2-0 and faced France in their last group match. England went on to beat France 2-0 with Ian Callaghan replacing Terry Paine securing qualification to the knockout rounds. Two difficult situations arose from the final group match, however. After making a vicious tackle and being cautioned, midfielder Nobby Stiles came under flack from the top FIFA officials, who called for Ramsey to drop him from the side. Ramsey was having none of it, and firmly told the FA to inform FIFA that either Stiles would remain in his team or Ramsey himself would resign. Another bad tackle was committed during that match, resulting in Tottenham striker (and one of England's most prolific goal-scorers) Jimmy Greaves being injured and sidelined for the next few matches. Despite having more experienced strikers in his side, Ramsey selected young Geoff Hurst as Greaves's replacement, once again seeing potential in the young West Ham forward. The France match also marked Ramsey's final game with a winger. After it, he dropped Ian Callaghan from his side and brought back Alan Ball to strengthen the midfield.
For the knockout stages, England's first opponents were a notoriously rough Argentina side. Ramsey once again showed his tactical awareness, and, now he was no longer using wingers, he decided to switch from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2. With Ball and Peters operating on the flanks, the midfield now boasted Nobby Stiles and Bobby Charlton in the centre. After a violent quarter-final (where the Argentine captain Antonio Rattin refused to leave the field after being sent off), England scraped a 1-0 win thanks to Geoff Hurst latching onto a beautiful cross from Martin Peters and heading home a goal. Ramsey came under flack when he stopped his players swapping shirts with the Argentinians in protest at their dirty play and was then reported to have described Argentinian players as "animals".
In the semi-final, England faced a fluent and skillful Portuguese side containing the tournament’s top goal-scorer Eusébio. However, England won a 2-1 victory in a memorable match which saw them concede their first goal of the competition from the penalty spot. Ramsey had found the perfect defensive formula that went unchanged throughout the entire tournament.
On 30 July 1966, Ramsey's promise was fulfilled as England became the World Champions by beating West Germany in a thrilling final. A lot of Ramsey's tactics and decisions proved their worth in this final. Ramsey came under pressure to restore the fit-again Jimmy Greaves to the side: but he stuck to his guns and kept faith with Greaves's replacement, Geoff Hurst, who was to thoroughly vindicate Ramsey's judgement by scoring a hat-trick in a 4-2 win (after extra time) at Wembley. Filling his side with a good balance of experience and youth proved vital when the gruelling final went to extra time. The youth in the team powered England through extra time. A particular example of this was Alan Ball who, at 21, was the youngest player in the England side. Even in extra time, he never showed signs of tiredness and never stopped running - famously setting up Hurst's controversial second goal, as well as having a few chances himself. Even as the match ended with Geoff Hurst scoring England’s fourth goal, Ball was still running down the pitch in case Hurst needed assistance. Rather than a cross from Hurst, Ball was greeted by a number of England fans running onto the pitch who, thinking that the game was already over, had already started celebrating England's victory.
Ramsey remained his usual self during the celebrations: not joining in, but rather opting to let his players soak up their achievement. With his boldly-made promise now fulfilled, Ramsey had proved that the 4-4-2 system could work and had assembled an England team that could compete on the highest level due to physical fitness and good tactics. He remains exemplary as to this day and is the only England manager ever to have won the World Cup.
1966-1970
Despite famously losing to Scotland 3-2 at home in the qualifying competition, England still qualified for the 1968 European Championship, only to lose out in a 1-0 defeat by Yugoslavia in the semi-finals. England had to settle for third place after beating the Soviet Union.
1970-1974
The fortunes of Ramsey's England declined in the 1970s. They entered the 1970 World Cup as one of the favourites and many people thought their squad superior to that of 1966, but having qualified for the later stages after a memorable match against Brazil when Gordon Banks made his famous save from Pele's header, they lost to the Germans 3-2 in the quarter-finals, after having been in the lead 2-0 with only twenty minutes remaining. The blame was put partly on Sir Alf's cautious tactics and partly on the stand-in goalkeeper, Chelsea's Peter Bonetti.
The early 70s saw failure in the 1972 European Championships (again to the Germans), and in a heartbreaking world cup qualifier against Poland at Wembley in October 1973, England failed to qualify for the World Cup. Again while Ramsey's tactics were partly to blame (his inappropriate, mistimed substitutions, for example), England had also been spectacularly denied a win over that would have secured their place by a mixture of poor finishing and incredible goalkeeping from Poland's Jan Tomaszewski. A few months later, Sir Alf was sacked by the FA, many of whose officials had long held apparent grudges against England's finest ever manager. Leo McKinstry has said "England's most successful manager would have had a legacy fit for a hero had it not been for the malevolence of the FA chief Harold Thompson".
Later life and death
The later stages of his career were as a Board director and caretaker manager of Birmingham City and then as technical advisor to Panathinaikos between 1979 and 1980. He also appeared, in illustrated form, in the Roy of the Rovers comic, when he took over as caretaker manager of Melchester Rovers while Roy himself was in a coma. Sir Alf also had a sporadic column in the Daily Mirror in the late 1980s and early 1990s, his thoughts written down by Nigel Clarke.
Sir Alf Ramsey suffered a massive stroke on 9 June 1998, during the 1998 World Cup. By this stage was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. He died less than a year later, in a nursing home, on 28 April 1999, at the age of 79 from a heart attack, along with Prostate Cancer.
Honours
As a player
Tottenham Hotspur
* Second Division Title winner: 1949–50
* First Division Title winner: 1950–51
* FA Community Shield winner: 1951
As a manager
Ipswich Town
* Third Division (South) Title winner: 1956–57
* Second Division Title winner: 1960–61
* First Division Title winner: 1961–62
* FA Charity Shield runner-up: 1962
England
* FIFA World Cup winner: 1966
* UEFA European Championships third place: 1968
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Frank on 01/22/10 at 2:36 am
Canadian person of the day: Mike Bossy
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Michael Dean Bossy (born January 22, 1957 in Montreal, Quebec) is a former Canadian ice hockey player who played for the New York Islanders for his entire career and was part of their four-year reign as Stanley Cup champions in the early 1980s. Known for his powerful shot, he was among the league's goal scoring leaders and considered one of the greatest bona-fide snipers of the game. His career was cut short by injuries.
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Bossy scored a then-record 53 goals as a rookie in the 1977–78 season, won the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year, and was named a Second Team All-Star. In 1980–81, Bossy scored 50 goals in the first 50 games of the season, the first to do so since the great Maurice Richard thirty-six years earlier. Richard was on hand to congratulate Bossy for achieving that milestone.
In the 1980–81 NHL season, he scored 50 goals in the first 50 games of the season. He also recorded nine hat tricks that season, establishing an NHL-record (broken by Gretzky in 1981–82 with 10). Bossy also set a record for goals in a season and playoffs combined with a total of 85, breaking Reggie Leach's record of 80 in 1975-76. In 1982, Bossy set scoring records for right-wingers with 83 assists and 147 points in 80 games. These would stand until the 1995–96 season when Jaromir Jagr broke both records with 87 assists and 149 points, in what was an 82-game schedule.
Bossy earned the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 1982, and scored 17 goals in three straight playoffs -- 1981, 1982, and 1983 -- the only player ever to do so. In reaching the Stanley Cup Finals five times, between 1980 and 1984, Bossy scored 69 goals. By contrast, in Gretzky's five Stanley Cup Finals playoffs during his peak years with the Edmonton Oilers, he scored 59 goals.
He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991. His #22 jersey was retired by the Islanders on March 3, 1992. In 1998, he was ranked number 20 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players, despite having an injury-shortened career.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/22/10 at 6:52 am
Thanks Phil & Frank for those 2 great bios. They were 2 guys I knew nothing about, but now do.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/22/10 at 6:54 am
Thanks Phil & Frank for those 2 great bios. They were 2 guys I knew nothing about, but now do.
Alf Ramsay is treated as a national hero!
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/22/10 at 6:58 am
The word of the day...Orchard
An orchard is an area of land on which fruit trees are grown.
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/22/10 at 7:02 am
The birthday of the day...Diane Lane
Diane Lane (born January 22, 1965) is an American film actress born and raised in New York City. Lane made her screen debut in George Roy Hill's 1979 film A Little Romance, starring opposite Laurence Olivier. Soon after, she was featured on the cover of Time.
Lane has had a movie career spanning across three decades and has appeared in several notable films, including Unfaithful in 2002, which earned her Academy Award, Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. Lane is also well known for her 2003 film Under the Tuscan Sun.
Timothy Hutton, Christopher Atkins, Matt Dillon were among the actors Lane dated during the 1980s, and later rock star Jon Bon Jovi. She was married to Christopher Lambert, and they had a daughter, Eleanor Jasmine Lambert. The couple were divorced following a prolonged separation in 1994, and she married actor Josh Brolin on August 15, 2004.
Lane's maternal grandmother, Eleanor Scott, was a three-times married Pentecostal preacher of the Apostolic denomination, and Lane was influenced by the theatricality of her grandmother's sermons. Lane began acting professionally at the age of six at the La MaMa Experimental Theater Club in New York, where she appeared in an acclaimed production of Medea. At 12 she had a role in Joseph Papp's production of The Cherry Orchard with Meryl Streep. Also at this time, Lane was enrolled in an accelerated program at Hunter College High School and was put on notice when her grades suffered from her busy schedule. At 13 years old, she turned down a role in Runaways on Broadway to make her feature film debut opposite Laurence Olivier in A Little Romance. At 14 years old, Lane was featured on the cover of Time, which declared her one of Hollywood's "Whiz Kids."
One of few child actors to make a successful transition into adult roles, Lane made a hit with audiences in the back-to-back cult films The Outsiders, starring with future movie stars Matt Dillon, Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, C. Thomas Howell, Emilio Esteves and Patrick Swayze, and Rumble Fish, starring Dillon, Mickey Rourke, and Nicolas Cage. Subsequently, Andy Warhol proclaimed Lane, "the undisputed female lead of Hollywood's new rat pack." However, the two films that could have catapulted her to star status, Streets of Fire (she turned down Splash and Risky Business for this film) and The Cotton Club, were both commercial and critical failures, and her career languished as a result. After The Cotton Club, Lane dropped out of the movie business and lived with her mother in Georgia.
Lane returned to the business to make The Big Town and Lady Beware, but it was not until 1989's popular and critically acclaimed TV mini-series Lonesome Dove that Lane made another big impression on a sizable audience. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for the role. She also enjoyed positive reviews for her performance in the independent film My New Gun, which was well received at the Cannes Film Festival. She went on to appear as actress Paulette Goddard in Sir Richard Attenborough's big-budget biopic of Charles Chaplin, Chaplin.
Lane won further praise for her role in 1999's A Walk on the Moon, opposite Viggo Mortensen. One reviewer wrote, "Lane, after years in post-teenaged-career limbo, is meltingly effective." The film's director Tony Goldwyn and producer Dustin Hoffman wanted Lane for the role of housewife Pearl even though she did not look or sound Jewish. Goldwyn said of the actress, "There's also this potentially volcanic sexuality that is in no way self-conscious or opportunistic. I thought all those things mattered more than her looking Jewish." Lane earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead. At this time, she was interested in making a film about actress Jean Seberg in which she would play Seberg.
In 2002, Lane starred in Unfaithful, a drama film directed by Adrian Lyne adapted from the French film The Unfaithful Wife. Lane played a housewife who indulges in an adulterous fling with a mysterious book dealer. The film featured several sex scenes. Lyne's repeated takes for these scenes were very demanding for the actors involved, especially for Lane, who had to be emotionally and physically fit for the duration. Unfaithful received mostly mixed to negative reviews, though Lane earned widespread praise for her performance. Entertainment Weekly critic Owen Gleiberman said, "Lane, in the most urgent performance of her career, is a revelation. The play of lust, romance, degradation, and guilt on her face is the movie's real story". She followed that film up with Under the Tuscan Sun, based on the best-selling book by Frances Mayes.
Lane, in 2008, reunited with Richard Gere for the movie Nights in Rodanthe. It is the third movie Gere and Lane filmed together. The film is based on the novel of the same title by Nicholas Sparks. Lane also starred in Jumper, and Untraceable in the same year. Her latest film is Killshot with Mickey Rourke, which was given a limited theatrical release before being released on DVD in 2009.
In 2008, Lane expressed frustration with being typecast and is "gunning for something that's not so sympathetic. I need to be a bitch, and I need to be in a comedy. I've decided. No more Miss Nice Guy". The actress has even contemplated quitting acting and spending more time with her family if she is unable to get these kinds of roles. She said in an interview, "I can't do anything official. My agents won't let me. Between you and me, I don't have anything else coming out".
In 2009, it was announced that Lane will star in Secretariat, a Disney film about the relationship between the 1973 Triple Crown-winning racehorse and his owner, Penny Chenery, whom the actress will be portraying.
Awards
Four days before the New York Film Critics Circle's vote in 2002, Lane was given a career tribute by the Film Society of Lincoln Center. A day before that, Lyne held a dinner for the actress at the Four Seasons Hotel. Critics and award voters were invited to both. She went on to win the National Society of Film Critics, the New York Film Critics Circle awards and was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Actress. In 2003, she was named ShoWest's 2003 Female Star of the Year.
Lane ranked at #79 on VH1's 100 Greatest Kid Stars. She was ranked #45 on AskMen.com's Top 99 Most Desirable Women in 2005, #85 in 2006 and #98 in 2007.
Personal life
Lane with husband Josh Brolin in December 2009
In the early 1980s, Lane dated actors Timothy Hutton, Christopher Atkins, Matt Dillon, and later rock star Jon Bon Jovi. Lane met actor Christopher Lambert in Paris while promoting The Cotton Club in 1984. They had a brief affair and split up. They met again two years later in Rome to make a film together, entitled After the Rain, and in two weeks they were a couple again. Lane and Lambert married in October 1988 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. They had a daughter, Eleanor Jasmine Lambert (born September 5, 1993), and were divorced following a prolonged separation in 1994. While making Judge Dredd in 1995, Lane began dating the film's director, Danny Cannon.
Lane became engaged to actor Josh Brolin in July 2003 and they were married on August 15, 2004. On December 20 of that year, she called police after an altercation with him, and he was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of domestic battery. Lane declined to press charges, however, and the couple's spokesperson described the incident as a "misunderstanding".
Filmography
Year Film Role Other notes
1979 A Little Romance Lauren King
1980 Touched by Love Karen aka To Elvis, with Love
1981 Great Performances Charity Royall TV (1 episode)
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains Corinne Burns
Cattle Annie and Little Britches Jenny (Little Britches)
Child Bride of Short Creek Jessica Rae Jacobs TV
1982 National Lampoon Goes to the Movies Liza
Six Pack Breezy
Miss All-American Beauty Sally Butterfield TV
1983 The Outsiders Sherri 'Cherry' Valance
Rumble Fish Patty
1984 Streets of Fire Ellen Aim
The Cotton Club Vera Cicero
1987 Lady Beware Katya Yarno
The Big Town Lorry Dane
1988 Priceless Beauty China
Lonesome Dove Lorena Wood TV miniseries
1990 Vital Signs Gina Wyler
Descending Angel Irina Stroia TV
1992 Knight Moves Kathy Sheppard
My New Gun Debbie Bender
The Setting Sun Cho Renko
Chaplin Paulette Goddard
1993 Indian Summer Jahnvi
Fallen Angels Bernette Stone TV (1 episode)
1994 Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All Lucy Honicut Marsden TV
1995 A Streetcar Named Desire Stella TV
Judge Dredd Judge Hershey
1996 Wild Bill Susannah Moore
Jack Karen Powell
Mad Dog Time Grace Everly aka Trigger Happy (UK)
1997 The Only Thrill Katherine Fitzsimmons
Murder at 1600 Agent Nina Chance
1998 Gunshy Melissa
Grace & Glorie Gloria TV
1999 A Walk on the Moon Pearl Kantrowitz Nominated — Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead
Nominated — Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
2000 My Dog Skip Ellen Morris
The Virginian Molly Stark TV
The Perfect Storm Christina Cotter
2001 Hardball Elizabeth Wilkes
The Glass House Erin Glass
2002 Unfaithful Connie Sumner National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
Nominated — Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Actress - Motion Picture
2003 Under the Tuscan Sun Frances Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
2005 Fierce People Liz Earl
Must Love Dogs Sarah Nolan
2006 Hollywoodland Toni Mannix
2008 Untraceable Jennifer Marsh
Jumper Mary Rice
Nights in Rodanthe Adrienne Willis
2009 Killshot Carmen Colson
2010 Secretariat Penny Chenery
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/22/10 at 7:07 am
The person of the day...Ann Miller
Johnnie Lucille Ann Collier, better known as Ann Miller (April 12, 1923 – January 22, 2004) was an American singer, dancer and actress.
At the age of 13 Miller had been hired as a dancer in the "Black Cat Club" in San Francisco (she had told them she was 18). It was there she was discovered by Lucille Ball and talent scout/comic Benny Rubin. This led Miller to be given a contract with RKO in 1936 at the age of 13 (she had also told them she was 18) and she remained there until 1940. The following year, Miller was offered a contract at Columbia Pictures. She finally hit her mark (starting in the late 1940s and Early 1950s ) in her roles in MGM musicals such as Kiss Me Kate, Easter Parade, and On the Town.
Miller popularized pantyhose in the 1940s as a solution to the problem of continual torn stockings during the filming of dance production numbers. The common practice had been to sew hosiery to briefs worn by Miller. If torn, the entire garment had to be removed and resewn with a new pair. At Miller's request, hosiery was manufactured for her as a single pantyhose.
Miller was famed for her speed in tap dancing. Studio publicists concocted press releases claiming she could tap 500 times per minute, but in truth, the sound of ultra-fast "500" taps was looped in later. Because the stage floors were slick and slippery, she actually danced in shoes with rubber soles. Later she would loop the sound of the taps while watching the film and actually dancing on a "tap board" to match her steps in the film.
In 1970, satirist Stan Freberg, father of the funny commercial, used Miller and her tap-dancing skills in a television commercial for "Great American Soups." Miller initially plays a housewife asked by her "husband" what she's prepared for dinner. She throws off her house frock to reveal a sequined dance outfit, and the kitchen set splits open to reveal a huge Hollywood stage, showcasing a giant can of soup, atop which Miller sings and dances, accompanied by a double chorus line. At the end of the commercial, she returns to the kitchen set, where the husband character exclaims, "Why do you have to make such a big production out of everything?" According to Freberg, the commercial cost so much to produce that little money was left in the advertising budget to purchase airtime for it. The commercial can be seen on the video accompanying Freberg's boxed set release, "The Tip of the Freberg."
She was known, especially later in her career, for her distinctive appearance, which reflected a studio-era ideal of glamor: massive black bouffant hair, heavy makeup with a slash of crimson lipstick, and fashions that emphasized her lithe figure and long dancer's legs. Her film career effectively ended in 1956 as the studio system lost steam to television, but she remained active in the theatre and on television. She starred on Broadway in the musical "Mame" in 1969, in which she wowed the audience in a tap number created just for her. In 1979 she astounded audiences in the Broadway show Sugar Babies with fellow MGM veteran Mickey Rooney, which toured the United States extensively after its Broadway run. In 1983 she won the Sarah Siddons Award for her work in Chicago theatre.
She appeared in a special 1982 episode of The Love Boat, joined by fellow showbiz legends Ethel Merman, Carol Channing, Della Reese, Van Johnson, and Cab Calloway in a storyline that cast them as older relatives of the show's regular characters. In 2001 she took her last role, playing Coco in auteur director David Lynch's critically acclaimed Mulholland Drive. Her last stage performance was a 1998 production of Stephen Sondheim's Follies, in which she played the hardboiled survivor Carlotta Campion and received rave reviews for her rendition of the anthemic "I'm Still Here".
Miller with Betty Garrett (left) and Vera-Ellen (right) in On the Town (1949)
Miller also performed a guest appearance on Home Improvement as a dance instructor to Tim and Jill. For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Ann Miller has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Blvd.
Miller was parodied on Saturday Night Live. She was played by Molly Shannon as a talk show host, with Debbie Reynolds (played by Cheri Oteri), on a show called Leg Up.
She died at the age of 80 from cancer, which had metastasized to her lungs, and was interred in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.
Filmography
Features
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
Anne of Green Gables
The Good Fairy
The Devil on Horseback
New Faces of 1937
The Life of the Party
Stage Door
Radio City Revels
Having Wonderful Time
You Can't Take It with You
Room Service
Tarnished Angel
Too Many Girls
Hit Parade of 1941
Melody Ranch
Time Out for Rhythm
Go West, Young Lady
True to the Army
Priorities on Parade
Reveille with Beverly
What's Buzzin', Cousin?
Hey, Rookie
Jam Session
Carolina Blues
1945
1946
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1976
1994
2001
2003
2004
Eadie Was a Lady
Eve Knew Her Apples
The Thrill of Brazil
Easter Parade
The Kissing Bandit
On the Town
Watch the Birdie
Texas Carnival
Two Tickets to Broadway
Lovely to Look At
Small Town Girl
Kiss Me Kate (1953)
Deep in My Heart
Hit the Deck
The Opposite Sex
The Great American Pastime
Won Ton Ton
A Century of Cinema ♦
That's Entertainment! III
Mulholland Drive
Broadway: The Golden Age ♦
Goodnight, We Love You ♦
♦ Documentary
Short subjects
1941
Meet the Stars #8:
Stars Past and Present
Screen Snapshots
Series 21, No. 1 1949
Some of the Best
Mighty Manhattan,
New York's Wonder City'
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/22/10 at 7:58 am
The word of the day...Orchard
An orchard is an area of land on which fruit trees are grown.
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really love the pictures Ninny once in a while I use them as background wallpaper. :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: CatwomanofV on 01/22/10 at 8:36 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB_YKpo3qA8
Ok, so it is not Diane Lane singing but I still love it.
Cat
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/22/10 at 8:56 am
really love the pictures Ninny once in a while I use them as background wallpaper. :)
I'm glad you like them Howie. :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/22/10 at 9:03 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB_YKpo3qA8
Ok, so it is not Diane Lane singing but I still love it.
Cat
Nice, I see that Jim Steinman who wrote songs for Meatloaf, wrote the song.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: CatwomanofV on 01/22/10 at 9:40 am
Nice, I see that Jim Steinman who wrote songs for Meatloaf, wrote the song.
That is obvious-at least to me. I can spot a Jim Steinman song a mile away. I watched SOF not to long ago for the first time in YEARS (maybe even decades). When that song came on, I said, "That HAS to be Jim Steinman." I was right. Yeah, most of his songs sound the same but I still love them.
Cat
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Frank on 01/22/10 at 1:40 pm
That is obvious-at least to me. I can spot a Jim Steinman song a mile away. I watched SOF not to long ago for the first time in YEARS (maybe even decades). When that song came on, I said, "That HAS to be Jim Steinman." I was right. Yeah, most of his songs sound the same but I still love them.
Cat
Totally agree with ya on that. Can spot a Steinman song a mile (or kilometer here in Canada) away.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/22/10 at 4:05 pm
The person of the day...Ann Miller
Johnnie Lucille Ann Collier, better known as Ann Miller (April 12, 1923 – January 22, 2004) was an American singer, dancer and actress.
At the age of 13 Miller had been hired as a dancer in the "Black Cat Club" in San Francisco (she had told them she was 18). It was there she was discovered by Lucille Ball and talent scout/comic Benny Rubin. This led Miller to be given a contract with RKO in 1936 at the age of 13 (she had also told them she was 18) and she remained there until 1940. The following year, Miller was offered a contract at Columbia Pictures. She finally hit her mark (starting in the late 1940s and Early 1950s ) in her roles in MGM musicals such as Kiss Me Kate, Easter Parade, and On the Town.
Miller popularized pantyhose in the 1940s as a solution to the problem of continual torn stockings during the filming of dance production numbers. The common practice had been to sew hosiery to briefs worn by Miller. If torn, the entire garment had to be removed and resewn with a new pair. At Miller's request, hosiery was manufactured for her as a single pantyhose.
Miller was famed for her speed in tap dancing. Studio publicists concocted press releases claiming she could tap 500 times per minute, but in truth, the sound of ultra-fast "500" taps was looped in later. Because the stage floors were slick and slippery, she actually danced in shoes with rubber soles. Later she would loop the sound of the taps while watching the film and actually dancing on a "tap board" to match her steps in the film.
In 1970, satirist Stan Freberg, father of the funny commercial, used Miller and her tap-dancing skills in a television commercial for "Great American Soups." Miller initially plays a housewife asked by her "husband" what she's prepared for dinner. She throws off her house frock to reveal a sequined dance outfit, and the kitchen set splits open to reveal a huge Hollywood stage, showcasing a giant can of soup, atop which Miller sings and dances, accompanied by a double chorus line. At the end of the commercial, she returns to the kitchen set, where the husband character exclaims, "Why do you have to make such a big production out of everything?" According to Freberg, the commercial cost so much to produce that little money was left in the advertising budget to purchase airtime for it. The commercial can be seen on the video accompanying Freberg's boxed set release, "The Tip of the Freberg."
She was known, especially later in her career, for her distinctive appearance, which reflected a studio-era ideal of glamor: massive black bouffant hair, heavy makeup with a slash of crimson lipstick, and fashions that emphasized her lithe figure and long dancer's legs. Her film career effectively ended in 1956 as the studio system lost steam to television, but she remained active in the theatre and on television. She starred on Broadway in the musical "Mame" in 1969, in which she wowed the audience in a tap number created just for her. In 1979 she astounded audiences in the Broadway show Sugar Babies with fellow MGM veteran Mickey Rooney, which toured the United States extensively after its Broadway run. In 1983 she won the Sarah Siddons Award for her work in Chicago theatre.
She appeared in a special 1982 episode of The Love Boat, joined by fellow showbiz legends Ethel Merman, Carol Channing, Della Reese, Van Johnson, and Cab Calloway in a storyline that cast them as older relatives of the show's regular characters. In 2001 she took her last role, playing Coco in auteur director David Lynch's critically acclaimed Mulholland Drive. Her last stage performance was a 1998 production of Stephen Sondheim's Follies, in which she played the hardboiled survivor Carlotta Campion and received rave reviews for her rendition of the anthemic "I'm Still Here".
Miller with Betty Garrett (left) and Vera-Ellen (right) in On the Town (1949)
Miller also performed a guest appearance on Home Improvement as a dance instructor to Tim and Jill. For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Ann Miller has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Blvd.
Miller was parodied on Saturday Night Live. She was played by Molly Shannon as a talk show host, with Debbie Reynolds (played by Cheri Oteri), on a show called Leg Up.
She died at the age of 80 from cancer, which had metastasized to her lungs, and was interred in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.
Filmography
Features
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
Anne of Green Gables
The Good Fairy
The Devil on Horseback
New Faces of 1937
The Life of the Party
Stage Door
Radio City Revels
Having Wonderful Time
You Can't Take It with You
Room Service
Tarnished Angel
Too Many Girls
Hit Parade of 1941
Melody Ranch
Time Out for Rhythm
Go West, Young Lady
True to the Army
Priorities on Parade
Reveille with Beverly
What's Buzzin', Cousin?
Hey, Rookie
Jam Session
Carolina Blues
1945
1946
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1976
1994
2001
2003
2004
Eadie Was a Lady
Eve Knew Her Apples
The Thrill of Brazil
Easter Parade
The Kissing Bandit
On the Town
Watch the Birdie
Texas Carnival
Two Tickets to Broadway
Lovely to Look At
Small Town Girl
Kiss Me Kate (1953)
Deep in My Heart
Hit the Deck
The Opposite Sex
The Great American Pastime
Won Ton Ton
A Century of Cinema ♦
That's Entertainment! III
Mulholland Drive
Broadway: The Golden Age ♦
Goodnight, We Love You ♦
♦ Documentary
Short subjects
1941
Meet the Stars #8:
Stars Past and Present
Screen Snapshots
Series 21, No. 1 1949
Some of the Best
Mighty Manhattan,
New York's Wonder City'
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I remember on The episode of Home Improvement.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/23/10 at 6:08 am
The word of the day...Firehouse
fire station: a station housing fire apparatus and firemen
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/23/10 at 6:11 am
The birthday of the day...Richard Dean Anderson
Richard Dean Anderson (born January 23, 1950) is an American television and film actor, producer and composer. He began his television career in 1976 as Dr. Jeff Webber in the American soap opera series General Hospital, then rose to prominence as the lead actor in the television series MacGyver (1985–1992). Anderson later appeared in films, including Through the Eyes of a Killer (1992), Pandora's Clock (1996) and Firehouse (1997).
In 1997, Anderson returned to television as the lead actor of the series Stargate SG-1, a spin-off of the 1994 film Stargate, directed by Roland Emmerich. He played the lead from 1997–2005 and had a recurring role from 2005-07. He was also featured as a guest actor in the American animation show, The Simpsons in the episode "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore". Since 1997, the only film Anderson has starred in is Stargate: Continuum released in 2008 as a spin-off film after Stargate SG-1 was cancelled in 2007. He also appears in the follow-up Stargate series Stargate: Atlantis and Stargate: Universe (as Lieutenant General Jack O'Neill).
Anderson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Stuart Jay Anderson (died in 2003) and Jocelyn Rhae Carter and was the oldest of four brothers. He has Scottish, German, and Norwegian ancestry. He grew up in Roseville, Minnesota and attended Ramsey High School. As a kid, Anderson wanted to become a professional hockey player; this dream was shattered when he broke both his arms. Anderson developed an early interest in music, art and acting. For a short time he tried to become a jazz musician. Eventually he studied to become an actor at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio and later at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota but dropped out before he received his degree because he felt "listless". Right after his junior year in high school, Anderson participated with friends in a cross-country bike ride from Minnesota to Alaska. He then moved to San Francisco, then New York, then moved permanently to Los Angeles. At the start he was making a living with juggling among other things.
Anderson's first role was in the American soap opera, General Hospital as Dr. Jeff Webber from 1976 to 1981. In 1982-1983 He starred as Adam in the CBS television series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (based very loosely on the movie of the same name). In the 1983-1984 season, he played Lieutenant Simon Adams on the 22-week Dennis Weaver series Emerald Point N.A.S. on CBS, stealing away Celia Warren (Susan Dey), the wife of naval lawyer Jack Warren (Charles Frank). Anderson then played Tony Kaiser in the acclaimed TV movie Ordinary Heroes, which aired in 1986.
Anderson came to fame in the lead role of Angus MacGyver in the hit television series MacGyver, which lasted from 1985 to 1992 and was highly successful throughout its 7-year run. He would go on to produce two follow-up movies to MacGyver, in 1994. After the cancellation of MacGyver, Anderson stated "MacGyver was seven years of being in virtually every frame that was shot and having absolutely no life at all."
In 1995 he co-starred with John de Lancie in Legend, a comic series of only twelve episodes about a dime novel writer within the Wild West who against his will has to play the role of his own fictional character. Originally written as a TV movie, with the decision to make Legend a series, the original teleplay became the two-hour pilot episode. Anderson was applauded for his roles as Ernest Pratt and Nicodemus Legend by many critics, most notably John Connor from The New York Times. Two episodes of MacGyver released in 1990 ("Serenity" (Season 5, Episode 12) and "MacGyver's Women" (Season 6, Episode 8) ) featured Wild Wild West storylines with a style foreshadowing that of the quirky Legend.
Later career
Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Richard Dean Anderson
From 1997 to 2005, Anderson starred as Jack O'Neill in Stargate SG-1, based on the movie Stargate starring Kurt Russell and James Spader. John Symes president of Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer (MGM) called Anderson himself and asked him if he wanted a part in the series. Anderson watched the Stargate film over and over again and came to the conclusion that the film had "great potential" and signed a contract with the Stargate producers. Anderson agreed to become involved with the project if his character was allowed significantly more comedic leeway than Kurt Russell's character in the feature film. He also requested Stargate SG-1 to be more of an ensemble show, so that he would not be carrying the plot alone as on MacGyver. In season eight, he chose to have his character "promoted" to base commander on Don S. Davis's advice. This enabled the late Davis to retire from acting due to his ailing health, and Anderson to take over the smaller role which involved far less on-location shooting so that he could spend more time with his young daughter. The following season, Anderson terminated his status as star and producer of Stargate SG-1 opting to make several guest appearances per season instead, allowing his sizable role to be filled by veteran actors Ben Browder (replacing Anderson as field commander), Claudia Black (replacing Anderson as the comic relief) and Emmy nominee Beau Bridges (replacing Anderson as Base commander).
Anderson at an event with Air Force personnel.
At the Air Force Association's 57th Annual Air Force Anniversary Dinner in Washington, D.C., on September 14, 2004, then-Air Force Chief-of-Staff, General John P. Jumper. presented Anderson with an award because of his role as star and executive producer of Stargate SG-1, a series which portrayed the Air Force in a positive light from its premiere. Anderson was also made an honorary Air Force brigadier general.
A great fan of the television show The Simpsons, which he had continually referenced during his time on SG-1, Anderson was invited in 2005 to guest star on the show. He voiced himself in an episode called "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore" in which he is kidnapped by Selma and Patty Bouvier, Marge Simpson's sisters, his MacGyver character having been their longstanding heartthrob. Dan Castellaneta, the voice actor who portrays Homer Simpson (among other characters), made a guest appearance on Stargate SG-1 ("Citizen Joe") and, in describing his unnatural ability to see the life events of Jack O'Neill, made reference to O'Neill's fondness for The Simpsons.
Anderson briefly reprised his role as Angus MacGyver in 2006 when he appeared in a MasterCard commercial during Super Bowl XL. While the plot follows the "MacGyver Formula", it is somewhat satirical of the series, showing unlikely if not impossible solutions to the obstacles faced by Anderson's character (in one shot, he cuts through a thick rope with a pine-scented air freshener). The official MasterCard website for the commercial refers to it as "the Return of MacGyver".
Lee David Zlotoff the creator of MacGyver, announced on May 3, 2008, that a MacGyver film was in production. Anderson has expressed interest in revisiting his role, however there is no word on who will be playing the role of MacGyver in the film.
Anderson cameoed as Angus MacGyver in what seemed to be a Saturday Night Live advertisement parody featuring the show's recurring character MacGruber (portrayed by Will Forte), but was rather a real commercial for both Saturday Night Live and Pepsi, in which the titular character becomes obsessed with the soft drink. This aired three times during the January 31, 2009 SNL broadcast, and the second part aired again during Super Bowl XLIII on the following day.
Anderson has also played the role of General Jack O'Neill in Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe which first aired in October 2009.
Producer and composer career
Anderson composed a song for a soundtrack for MacGyver. He has served as an executive producer only in the five shows in which he has acted himself: MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis, MacGyver: Trail to Doomsday, Stargate SG-1, Firehouse and From Stargate to Atlantis: Sci Fi Lowdown. Anderson composed the song "Eau d'Leo" for the MacGyver episode "The Negotiator".
Together with Michael Greenburg, Anderson created the Gekko Film Corporation. The company was involved with Stargate SG-1, producing every episode from 1997-2007 with the exception of 2006. The company itself has served as Anderson backing agency.
Personal life
Anderson has divided time between Vancouver, Los Angeles, and northern Minnesota. Never married, Anderson has one child with Apryl Prose, who gave birth to their daughter Wylie Quinn Annarose Anderson, on August 2, 1998. They split a few years later. Anderson left Stargate SG-1 because he wanted to spend more time with his daughter:
“ "Being a father, well, I don't know if this is a change, but it makes me want to get out of here faster. Get off the clock. Just 'cause the baby is my reason for living, my reason for coming to work." ”
Anderson has supported Waterkeeper Alliance, an organization trying to stop water pollution. Anderson is a member of the Board of Trustees for Challengers Boys and Girls Club, a youth organization established in 1968 with the help of MacGyver producer Stephen Downing. He received the 1995 Celebrity Award from the Make-a-Wish Foundation because of his commitment to the foundation. He is also a supporter for various Sclerosis Society non-profit organizations and has done several public service announcements to show his support for the various organizations. Anderson is an avid supporter of the Special Olympics and was one of many speakers at the 1991 opening ceremonies. In recent years, he has helped several environmental organizations around the world. He is a member of Board of Advisors of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and has worked with the members of Earth Rivers Expeditions to Produce River Project.
Filmography
Starring roles
Year Title Role Other notes
1976 General Hospital Dr. Jeff Webber (1976–1981) TV Series
1982 Young Doctors in Love Drug Dealer (uncredited)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Adam McFadden (1982–1983) TV Series
1983 Emerald Point N.A.S. Navy Lt. Simon Adams TV Series
DC CAB Bad Guy
1985-1992 MacGyver Angus MacGyver (1985–1992) TV Series
1986 Ordinary Heroes Tony Kaiser
Odd Jobs Spud
1992 In the Eyes of a Stranger Jack Rourke TV
Through the Eyes of a Killer Ray Bellano TV
1994 MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis Angus MacGyver TV
Beyond Betrayal Bradley Matthews TV
MacGyver: Trail to Doomsday Angus MacGyver TV
1995 Legend Ernest Pratt/Nicodemus Legend TV Series
Past the Bleachers Bill Parish TV
1996 Pandora's Clock Capt. James Holland TV
1997 Fallout: A Post-Nuclear Role-Playing Game Mayor Killian Darkwater (voice) Video Game
Firehouse Lt. Michael Brooks TV
1997–2005 Stargate SG-1 Colonel/Brigadier General/Major General Jack O'Neill (USAF) (1997–2005) (recurring 2005-2007) TV Series
2005 Stargate SG-1: The Alliance (Cancelled) AF Brigadier General Jack O'Neill (voice) Video Game
2006 MasterCard Super Bowl XL Commercial Angus MacGyver (never explicitly identified) TV Commercial
2008 Stargate: Continuum Major General Jack O'Neill, USAF Direct-to-DVD Movie
2009 Pepsi "MacGruber" Super Bowl XLIII Commercial MacGyver (named in spot#1, alluded in spots 2 and 3) TV Commercial
TBA Stargate: Revolution Lieutenant General Jack O'Neill, USAF Direct-to-DVD Movie
Guest-starring roles
Year Title Role Episode
1981 The Facts of Life Brian Parker 2.16 "Brian and Sylvia"
Today's F.B.I. Andy McFey "The Fugitive"
1982 The Love Boat Carter Randall 5.24 "Isaac Gets Physical/She Brought Her Mother Along/Cold Feet"
1990 The Arsenio Hall Show Himself
The Joan Rivers Show Himself
1991 The Joan Rivers Show Himself
The Arsenio Hall Show Himself
1992 The Arsenio Hall Show Himself
1996 Late Night with Conan O'Brien Himself
1997 Newton's Apple Himself
1998 Late Night with Conan O'Brien Himself
2000 Donny & Marie Himself
The Martin Short Show Himself
National Geographic Explorer Himself "North America's Last True Wilderness"
2004 The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn Himself
Stargate Atlantis Brigadier General Jack O'Neill, USAF 1.1 "Rising (Part 1)"
2005 Stargate SG-1 Major General Jack O'Neill, USAF 9.1 "Avalon (Part 1)"
Stargate SG-1 Major General Jack O'Neill, USAF z9.3 "Origin"
2006 The Simpsons Himself (voice) 17.17 "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore"
Stargate SG-1 Major General Jack O'Neill, USAF 10.6 "200"
Stargate Atlantis Major General Jack O'Neill, USAF 3.6 "The Real World"
Stargate Atlantis Major General Jack O'Neill, USAF 3.10/3.11 "The Return"
2007 Stargate SG-1 Major General Jack O'Neill, USAF 10.14 "The Shroud"
2009 Stargate Universe Lt. General Jack O'Neill, USAF 1.01 "Air", 1.07 "Earth"
Producer
Year Title Role Other notes
1994 MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis Executive Producer TV
MacGyver: Trail to Doomsday Executive Producer TV
1997 Stargate SG-1 Executive Producer TV Series
Firehouse Executive Producer TV
2004 From Stargate to Atlantis: Sci Fi Lowdown Executive Producer TV
Composer
Year Title Other notes
1988 MacGyver TV Series (song "Eau d'Leo" in episode "The Negotiator")
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/23/10 at 6:15 am
The person of the day...Freddie Bartholomew
Freddie Bartholomew (March 28, 1924 – January 23, 1992) was a British child actor, popular in 1930s Hollywood films.
Born in London, England, Bartholomew was abandoned by his parents while a baby, and was raised in London by his aunt, whose name he took. While visiting the United States, Bartholomew was reportedly seen by film producer David O. Selznick who was soon to film Charles Dickens' David Copperfield (1935). Selznick had already cast American boy David Holt in the role, but after meeting Bartholomew realised that the character would benefit from being played by a British actor. The all-star film was a success and Bartholomew was cast in a succession of prestigious film productions with some of the most popular stars of the day.
Among his successes of the 1930s were Anna Karenina (1935), with Greta Garbo and Fredric March, Professional Soldier (1935) with Gloria Stuart, Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936) with Dolores Costello, Lloyds of London (1937) with Madeleine Carroll and Tyrone Power, and Captains Courageous (1937) with Spencer Tracy.
By this time Bartholomew's success and level of fame had caused his parents to attempt to gain custody of him. A protracted legal battle saw much of the wealth Bartholomew had amassed spent on legal fees. He continued acting into the 1940s but was much less popular as a teenaged actor, and by the early 1950s had retired from film.
He established a career in advertising and distanced himself from Hollywood. Bartholomew was said to have been bitter over his lost fortune and his experiences in Hollywood, but by the early 1980s he was working as a producer for the soap opera As The World Turns. Shortly before his death he allowed an interview for the television documentary MGM: When the Lion Roars (1992).
He died from heart failure and emphysema in Sarasota, Florida, at the age of 67.
Bartholomew has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to motion pictures, at 6667 Hollywood Boulevard.
Filmography
* Toyland (1930)
* Strip, Strip, Hooray (1931)
* Fascination (1931)
* Lily Christine (1932) (uncredited)
* The Personal History, Adventures, Experience, and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger (1935)
* Anna Karenina (1935)
* Professional Soldier (1935)
* David Copperfield (1935)
* Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936)
* The Devil is a Sissy (1936)
* Lloyd's of London (1936)
* Captains Courageous (1937)
* Kidnapped (1938)
* Lord Jeff (1938)
* Listen, Darling (1938)
* The Spirit of Culver (1939)
* Two Bright Boys (1939)
* Swiss Family Robinson (1940)
* Tom Brown's School Days (1940)
* Naval Academy (1941)
* Cadets on Parade (1942)
* A Yank at Eton (1942)
* Junior Army (1942)
* The Town Went Wild (1944)
* St. Benny the Dip (1951)
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/23/10 at 6:39 am
The birthday of the day...Richard Dean Anderson
Richard Dean Anderson (born January 23, 1950) is an American television and film actor, producer and composer. He began his television career in 1976 as Dr. Jeff Webber in the American soap opera series General Hospital, then rose to prominence as the lead actor in the television series MacGyver (1985–1992). Anderson later appeared in films, including Through the Eyes of a Killer (1992), Pandora's Clock (1996) and Firehouse (1997).
In 1997, Anderson returned to television as the lead actor of the series Stargate SG-1, a spin-off of the 1994 film Stargate, directed by Roland Emmerich. He played the lead from 1997–2005 and had a recurring role from 2005-07. He was also featured as a guest actor in the American animation show, The Simpsons in the episode "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore". Since 1997, the only film Anderson has starred in is Stargate: Continuum released in 2008 as a spin-off film after Stargate SG-1 was cancelled in 2007. He also appears in the follow-up Stargate series Stargate: Atlantis and Stargate: Universe (as Lieutenant General Jack O'Neill).
Anderson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Stuart Jay Anderson (died in 2003) and Jocelyn Rhae Carter and was the oldest of four brothers. He has Scottish, German, and Norwegian ancestry. He grew up in Roseville, Minnesota and attended Ramsey High School. As a kid, Anderson wanted to become a professional hockey player; this dream was shattered when he broke both his arms. Anderson developed an early interest in music, art and acting. For a short time he tried to become a jazz musician. Eventually he studied to become an actor at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio and later at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota but dropped out before he received his degree because he felt "listless". Right after his junior year in high school, Anderson participated with friends in a cross-country bike ride from Minnesota to Alaska. He then moved to San Francisco, then New York, then moved permanently to Los Angeles. At the start he was making a living with juggling among other things.
Anderson's first role was in the American soap opera, General Hospital as Dr. Jeff Webber from 1976 to 1981. In 1982-1983 He starred as Adam in the CBS television series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (based very loosely on the movie of the same name). In the 1983-1984 season, he played Lieutenant Simon Adams on the 22-week Dennis Weaver series Emerald Point N.A.S. on CBS, stealing away Celia Warren (Susan Dey), the wife of naval lawyer Jack Warren (Charles Frank). Anderson then played Tony Kaiser in the acclaimed TV movie Ordinary Heroes, which aired in 1986.
Anderson came to fame in the lead role of Angus MacGyver in the hit television series MacGyver, which lasted from 1985 to 1992 and was highly successful throughout its 7-year run. He would go on to produce two follow-up movies to MacGyver, in 1994. After the cancellation of MacGyver, Anderson stated "MacGyver was seven years of being in virtually every frame that was shot and having absolutely no life at all."
In 1995 he co-starred with John de Lancie in Legend, a comic series of only twelve episodes about a dime novel writer within the Wild West who against his will has to play the role of his own fictional character. Originally written as a TV movie, with the decision to make Legend a series, the original teleplay became the two-hour pilot episode. Anderson was applauded for his roles as Ernest Pratt and Nicodemus Legend by many critics, most notably John Connor from The New York Times. Two episodes of MacGyver released in 1990 ("Serenity" (Season 5, Episode 12) and "MacGyver's Women" (Season 6, Episode 8) ) featured Wild Wild West storylines with a style foreshadowing that of the quirky Legend.
Later career
Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Richard Dean Anderson
From 1997 to 2005, Anderson starred as Jack O'Neill in Stargate SG-1, based on the movie Stargate starring Kurt Russell and James Spader. John Symes president of Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer (MGM) called Anderson himself and asked him if he wanted a part in the series. Anderson watched the Stargate film over and over again and came to the conclusion that the film had "great potential" and signed a contract with the Stargate producers. Anderson agreed to become involved with the project if his character was allowed significantly more comedic leeway than Kurt Russell's character in the feature film. He also requested Stargate SG-1 to be more of an ensemble show, so that he would not be carrying the plot alone as on MacGyver. In season eight, he chose to have his character "promoted" to base commander on Don S. Davis's advice. This enabled the late Davis to retire from acting due to his ailing health, and Anderson to take over the smaller role which involved far less on-location shooting so that he could spend more time with his young daughter. The following season, Anderson terminated his status as star and producer of Stargate SG-1 opting to make several guest appearances per season instead, allowing his sizable role to be filled by veteran actors Ben Browder (replacing Anderson as field commander), Claudia Black (replacing Anderson as the comic relief) and Emmy nominee Beau Bridges (replacing Anderson as Base commander).
Anderson at an event with Air Force personnel.
At the Air Force Association's 57th Annual Air Force Anniversary Dinner in Washington, D.C., on September 14, 2004, then-Air Force Chief-of-Staff, General John P. Jumper. presented Anderson with an award because of his role as star and executive producer of Stargate SG-1, a series which portrayed the Air Force in a positive light from its premiere. Anderson was also made an honorary Air Force brigadier general.
A great fan of the television show The Simpsons, which he had continually referenced during his time on SG-1, Anderson was invited in 2005 to guest star on the show. He voiced himself in an episode called "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore" in which he is kidnapped by Selma and Patty Bouvier, Marge Simpson's sisters, his MacGyver character having been their longstanding heartthrob. Dan Castellaneta, the voice actor who portrays Homer Simpson (among other characters), made a guest appearance on Stargate SG-1 ("Citizen Joe") and, in describing his unnatural ability to see the life events of Jack O'Neill, made reference to O'Neill's fondness for The Simpsons.
Anderson briefly reprised his role as Angus MacGyver in 2006 when he appeared in a MasterCard commercial during Super Bowl XL. While the plot follows the "MacGyver Formula", it is somewhat satirical of the series, showing unlikely if not impossible solutions to the obstacles faced by Anderson's character (in one shot, he cuts through a thick rope with a pine-scented air freshener). The official MasterCard website for the commercial refers to it as "the Return of MacGyver".
Lee David Zlotoff the creator of MacGyver, announced on May 3, 2008, that a MacGyver film was in production. Anderson has expressed interest in revisiting his role, however there is no word on who will be playing the role of MacGyver in the film.
Anderson cameoed as Angus MacGyver in what seemed to be a Saturday Night Live advertisement parody featuring the show's recurring character MacGruber (portrayed by Will Forte), but was rather a real commercial for both Saturday Night Live and Pepsi, in which the titular character becomes obsessed with the soft drink. This aired three times during the January 31, 2009 SNL broadcast, and the second part aired again during Super Bowl XLIII on the following day.
Anderson has also played the role of General Jack O'Neill in Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe which first aired in October 2009.
Producer and composer career
Anderson composed a song for a soundtrack for MacGyver. He has served as an executive producer only in the five shows in which he has acted himself: MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis, MacGyver: Trail to Doomsday, Stargate SG-1, Firehouse and From Stargate to Atlantis: Sci Fi Lowdown. Anderson composed the song "Eau d'Leo" for the MacGyver episode "The Negotiator".
Together with Michael Greenburg, Anderson created the Gekko Film Corporation. The company was involved with Stargate SG-1, producing every episode from 1997-2007 with the exception of 2006. The company itself has served as Anderson backing agency.
Personal life
Anderson has divided time between Vancouver, Los Angeles, and northern Minnesota. Never married, Anderson has one child with Apryl Prose, who gave birth to their daughter Wylie Quinn Annarose Anderson, on August 2, 1998. They split a few years later. Anderson left Stargate SG-1 because he wanted to spend more time with his daughter:
“ "Being a father, well, I don't know if this is a change, but it makes me want to get out of here faster. Get off the clock. Just 'cause the baby is my reason for living, my reason for coming to work." ”
Anderson has supported Waterkeeper Alliance, an organization trying to stop water pollution. Anderson is a member of the Board of Trustees for Challengers Boys and Girls Club, a youth organization established in 1968 with the help of MacGyver producer Stephen Downing. He received the 1995 Celebrity Award from the Make-a-Wish Foundation because of his commitment to the foundation. He is also a supporter for various Sclerosis Society non-profit organizations and has done several public service announcements to show his support for the various organizations. Anderson is an avid supporter of the Special Olympics and was one of many speakers at the 1991 opening ceremonies. In recent years, he has helped several environmental organizations around the world. He is a member of Board of Advisors of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and has worked with the members of Earth Rivers Expeditions to Produce River Project.
Filmography
Starring roles
Year Title Role Other notes
1976 General Hospital Dr. Jeff Webber (1976–1981) TV Series
1982 Young Doctors in Love Drug Dealer (uncredited)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Adam McFadden (1982–1983) TV Series
1983 Emerald Point N.A.S. Navy Lt. Simon Adams TV Series
DC CAB Bad Guy
1985-1992 MacGyver Angus MacGyver (1985–1992) TV Series
1986 Ordinary Heroes Tony Kaiser
Odd Jobs Spud
1992 In the Eyes of a Stranger Jack Rourke TV
Through the Eyes of a Killer Ray Bellano TV
1994 MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis Angus MacGyver TV
Beyond Betrayal Bradley Matthews TV
MacGyver: Trail to Doomsday Angus MacGyver TV
1995 Legend Ernest Pratt/Nicodemus Legend TV Series
Past the Bleachers Bill Parish TV
1996 Pandora's Clock Capt. James Holland TV
1997 Fallout: A Post-Nuclear Role-Playing Game Mayor Killian Darkwater (voice) Video Game
Firehouse Lt. Michael Brooks TV
1997–2005 Stargate SG-1 Colonel/Brigadier General/Major General Jack O'Neill (USAF) (1997–2005) (recurring 2005-2007) TV Series
2005 Stargate SG-1: The Alliance (Cancelled) AF Brigadier General Jack O'Neill (voice) Video Game
2006 MasterCard Super Bowl XL Commercial Angus MacGyver (never explicitly identified) TV Commercial
2008 Stargate: Continuum Major General Jack O'Neill, USAF Direct-to-DVD Movie
2009 Pepsi "MacGruber" Super Bowl XLIII Commercial MacGyver (named in spot#1, alluded in spots 2 and 3) TV Commercial
TBA Stargate: Revolution Lieutenant General Jack O'Neill, USAF Direct-to-DVD Movie
Guest-starring roles
Year Title Role Episode
1981 The Facts of Life Brian Parker 2.16 "Brian and Sylvia"
Today's F.B.I. Andy McFey "The Fugitive"
1982 The Love Boat Carter Randall 5.24 "Isaac Gets Physical/She Brought Her Mother Along/Cold Feet"
1990 The Arsenio Hall Show Himself
The Joan Rivers Show Himself
1991 The Joan Rivers Show Himself
The Arsenio Hall Show Himself
1992 The Arsenio Hall Show Himself
1996 Late Night with Conan O'Brien Himself
1997 Newton's Apple Himself
1998 Late Night with Conan O'Brien Himself
2000 Donny & Marie Himself
The Martin Short Show Himself
National Geographic Explorer Himself "North America's Last True Wilderness"
2004 The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn Himself
Stargate Atlantis Brigadier General Jack O'Neill, USAF 1.1 "Rising (Part 1)"
2005 Stargate SG-1 Major General Jack O'Neill, USAF 9.1 "Avalon (Part 1)"
Stargate SG-1 Major General Jack O'Neill, USAF z9.3 "Origin"
2006 The Simpsons Himself (voice) 17.17 "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore"
Stargate SG-1 Major General Jack O'Neill, USAF 10.6 "200"
Stargate Atlantis Major General Jack O'Neill, USAF 3.6 "The Real World"
Stargate Atlantis Major General Jack O'Neill, USAF 3.10/3.11 "The Return"
2007 Stargate SG-1 Major General Jack O'Neill, USAF 10.14 "The Shroud"
2009 Stargate Universe Lt. General Jack O'Neill, USAF 1.01 "Air", 1.07 "Earth"
Producer
Year Title Role Other notes
1994 MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis Executive Producer TV
MacGyver: Trail to Doomsday Executive Producer TV
1997 Stargate SG-1 Executive Producer TV Series
Firehouse Executive Producer TV
2004 From Stargate to Atlantis: Sci Fi Lowdown Executive Producer TV
Composer
Year Title Other notes
1988 MacGyver TV Series (song "Eau d'Leo" in episode "The Negotiator")
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I remember him on MacGyver.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: CatwomanofV on 01/23/10 at 8:55 am
The firehouse in Ponce, PR
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/32/41774619_e0b3eb7625.jpg?v=0
This is NOT my photo. I have yet to get a good shot of this building.
Cat
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/23/10 at 9:03 am
The firehouse in Ponce, PR
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/32/41774619_e0b3eb7625.jpg?v=0
This is NOT my photo. I have yet to get a good shot of this building.
Cat
That's a nice looking firehouse.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/24/10 at 4:10 am
The word of the day...Fool
If you call someone a fool, you are indicating that you think they are not at all sensible and show a lack of good judgment.
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/24/10 at 4:13 am
The birthday of the day...Aaron Neville
Aaron Neville (born January 24, 1941 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American soul and R&B singer. He made his debut in 1966 with the hit single "Tell It Like It Is", a Number One hit on the Billboard R&B charts. Neville did not chart again, however, until 1989, when he collaborated with Linda Ronstadt on three consecutive duets: "Don't Know Much", "All My Life", and "When Something Is Wrong with My Baby", of which the first two reached Number One on the Adult Contemporary charts. Neville has released more than 20 singles, including three Number Ones on the Adult Contemporary format, and a fourth on the R&B format.
Aaron Neville has had a career as a solo artist and as one of The Neville Brothers. Of mixed African American and Native American heritage, his music also features Cajun and Creole influences.
Neville first came to public recognition with "Tell It Like It Is" which topped Billboard's R&B chart for five weeks in 1967. It also reached #2 on the Hot 100. A remake of the song was a Top 10 Pop hit for the Rock group Heart featuring Ann and Nancy Wilson in 1981.
In 1989 Neville teamed up with Linda Ronstadt on the album Cry Like A Rainstorm - Howl Like The Wind. Among the duets recorded for the disc were the #1 Grammy-winning hits "Don't Know Much" and "All My Life". "Don't Know Much" was certified Gold while the album was certified Triple Platinum for US sales of more than 3 million.
His other hits have included "Everybody Plays the Fool", his successful 1991 cover of the 1972 Main Ingredient song, that reached #8 on the Hot 100; "Don't Take Away My Heaven", "Hercules" and "Can't Stop My Heart From Loving You (The Rain Song)." Neville's biggest solo successes have been on the Adult Contemporary chart, where "Don't Know Much," "All My Life," and "Everybody Plays the Fool" all reached Number One.
In August 2005 his home in Eastern New Orleans was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina; he evacuated to Memphis, Tennessee before the hurricane hit. He moved to Nashville after the storm, and had yet to return to the city as of early 2008, causing the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival to temporarily change its tradition of having the Neville Brothers close the festival. However, the Neville Brothers, including Aaron, returned for the 2008 Jazzfest, which returned to its traditional seven-day format for the first time since Katrina. Neville is in the process of moving back to the New Orleans area, namely the North Shore city of Covington. Neville performed Randy Newman's "Louisiana 1927" during NBC's A Concert for Hurricane Relief on September 2, 2005.
Aaron signed to SonyBMG's new Burgundy Records label in late 2005 and recorded an album of songs by Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Sam Cooke and others for Bring It on Home…The Soul Classics, released on September 19, 2006. The album, produced by Stewart Levine, features collaborations between Neville and Chaka Khan, Mavis Staples, Chris Botti, David Sanborn, Art Neville, and others. The album's first single was a remake of The Impressions' 1963 classic "It's All Right."
Aaron Neville with his distinctive mole visible above his right eye (1990)
Neville's career has included work for television, movies and sporting events. Neville sang the National Anthem in the movie The Fan starring Robert De Niro and Wesley Snipes. He also sang the anthem at the WWF's SummerSlam 1993 and at WCW Spring Stampede in 1994. Neville sang the theme music to the children's TV series Fisher-Price Little People. He also sang a new version of "Cotton," for Cotton, Inc. which was introduced during the 1992 Summer Olympics. In 1988 he recorded "Mickey Mouse March" for Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films, one of Various Artists. In 2006, Neville sang "The Star-Spangled Banner", alongside Queen Of Soul Aretha Franklin and Dr. John on keyboard at Super Bowl XL in Detroit, Michigan. In addition, Neville (along with brothers Art and Cyril) did background vocals for the songs "Great Heart", "Bring Back the Magic", "Homemade Music", "My Barracuda", and "Smart Woman (in a Real Short Skirt)" on Jimmy Buffett's Hot Water, released in 1988.
On October 27, 2006, Neville made a guest appearance on an episode of the soap opera The Young and the Restless. He sang "Stand By Me" and "Ain't No Sunshine", from his new album, Bring It on Home…The Soul Classics. In 2008 Aaron released Gold, which includes two CDs of his hits.
Neville's oldest son Ivan is also a musician and released an album, If My Ancestors Could See Me Now, in 1988, which yielded a Top 40 hit with "Not Just Another Girl." Ivan has also performed with the Rolling Stones and Bonnie Raitt, and played bass for Keith Richards on his first solo tour. Ivan then assembled his own band (Ivan Neville's Dumpstphunk)which tours and frequently appears in New Orleans.
Aaron's third son, Jason, is a vocalist and rap artist who has performed with his father and with the Neville Brothers, notably at the 2009 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
Aaron Neville is an inductee of the Delta Music Museum Hall of Fame in Ferriday.
In 2009, Aaron Neville, along with the Mt. Zion Mass Choir, released a version of the song “A Change Is Gonna Come” on the compilation album Oh Happy Day.
Spiritual life
Neville is a Roman Catholic with a devotion to St. Jude, to whom he has credited his success and survival. He wears a St. Jude Medal as a left earring.
Discography
Studio albums
Year Album Chart Positions Certifications Label
US R&B US Christian US Gospel US Jazz US CAN US CAN
1965 Tell It Like It Is — — — — — — — — Par-Lo Records
1986 Orchid in the Storm — — — — — — — — Rhino
1991 Warm Your Heart 62 — — — 44 25 Platinum Gold A&M
1993 The Grand Tour — — — — 37 — Platinum Gold
Aaron Neville's Soulful Christmas — — — — 36 — Platinum Gold
1995 The Tattooed Heart 50 — — — 64 — Gold —
1997 To Make Me Who I Am 73 — — — 188 — — —
2000 Devotion — 28 7 — — — — — Chordant
2002 Humdinger — — — — — — — — EMI
2003 Believe — 14 2 — 191 — — — Telit
Nature Boy: The Standards Album 85 — — 1 — — — — Verve
2005 Gospel Roots — — — — — — — — Chordant
2005 Christmas Prayer 74 14 3 — — — — — EMI Gospel
2006 Mojo Soul — — — — — — — — Music Avenue
Bring It On Home... The Soul Classics 20 — — — 37 — — — Burgundy
Singles
Year Single Chart Positions Album
US US AC US R&B US Country CAN CAN AC CAN Country
1960 "Over You" 111 — 21 — — — — Singles only
1966 "Tell It Like It Is" 2 1 1 — — 2 —
1967 "She Took You for a Ride" 92 — — — — — —
1989 "Don't Know Much" (w/ Linda Ronstadt) 2 1 — — 4 1 — Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind
(Linda Ronstadt album)
1990 "All My Life" (w/ Linda Ronstadt) 11 1 — — 10 1 —
"When Something Is Wrong with My Baby" (w/ Linda Ronstadt) 78 5 — — 29 — —
1991 "Everybody Plays the Fool" 8 1 — — 19 — — Warm Your Heart
"Somewhere Somebody" — 6 — — 43 15 —
1992 "Close Your Eyes" (w/ Linda Ronstadt) — — — — 90 — —
1993 "Don't Take Away My Heaven" 56 4 — — 17 12 — The Grand Tour
"The Grand Tour" 90 — — 38 — — 58
"Don't Fall Apart on Me Tonight" — 26 — — 37 — —
1994 "I Owe You One" — — — — 51 29 —
"I Fall to Pieces" (w/ Trisha Yearwood) — — — 72 — — — Rhythm, Country and Blues
"Even If My Heart Would Break" (w/ Kenny G.) 122 — — — — — — The Bodyguard soundtrack
"Betcha By Golly, Wow" — — — — 32 — — The Grand Tour
1995 "Can't Stop My Heart from Loving You (The Rain Song)" 99 23 — — — — — The Tattooed Heart
"For the Good Times" — — — — — — —
1996 "Use Me" — — 93 — — — —
"Crazy Love" (w/ Robbie Robertson) — 25 — — — — — Phenomenon (soundtrack)
"That's What My Love Is For" (w/ Anne Murray) — — — — — 15 — Anne Murray (Anne Murray album)
1997 "Say What's in My Heart" — 26 — — — — — To Make Me Who I Am
2006 "It's All Right"A — 28 — — — — — Bring It On Home... The Soul Classics
* A"It's All Right" peaked at #12 on Hot Contemporary Jazz Songs.
Compilations
* Love Songs (2003)
* Gold(2008)
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/24/10 at 4:22 am
The person of the day...Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British politician known chiefly for his leadership of the United Kingdom during World War II. He served as Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, historian, writer, and artist. He was the only British Prime Minister to have received the Nobel Prize in Literature and the first person to be recognised as an Honorary Citizen of the United States.
During his army career, Churchill saw military action in India, in the Sudan and the Second Boer War. He gained fame and notoriety as a war correspondent and through contemporary books he wrote describing the campaigns. He also served briefly in the British Army on the Western Front in World War I, commanding the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers.
At the forefront of the political scene for almost fifty years, he held many political and cabinet positions. Before the First World War, he served as President of the Board of Trade, Home Secretary and First Lord of the Admiralty as part of the Asquith Liberal government. During the war he continued as First Lord of the Admiralty until the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign caused his departure from government. He returned as Minister of Munitions, Secretary of State for War and Secretary of State for Air. In the interwar years, he served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Conservative government.
After the outbreak of the Second World War, Churchill was again appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. Following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain on 10 May 1940, he became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and led Britain to victory against the Axis powers. Churchill was always noted for his speeches, which became a great inspiration to the British people and embattled Allied forces.
After losing the 1945 election, he became Leader of the Opposition. In 1951, he again became Prime Minister before finally retiring in 1955. Upon his death, the Queen granted him the honour of a state funeral, which saw one of the largest assemblies of statesmen in the world.
Winston is back"
After the outbreak of World War II, on 3 September 1939 the day Britain declared war on Germany, Churchill was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty and a member of the War Cabinet, just as he had been during the first part of World War I. When they were informed, the Board of the Admiralty sent a signal to the Fleet: "Winston is back". In this job, he proved to be one of the highest-profile ministers during the so-called "Phoney War", when the only noticeable action was at sea. Churchill advocated the pre-emptive occupation of the neutral Norwegian iron-ore port of Narvik and the iron mines in Kiruna, Sweden, early in the war. However, Chamberlain and the rest of the War Cabinet disagreed, and the operation was delayed until the successful German invasion of Norway.
Churchill wears a helmet during an air raid warning in the Battle of Britain in 1940
Bitter beginnings of the war
See also: Attack on Mers-el-Kébir
On 10 May 1940, hours before the German invasion of France by a lightning advance through the Low Countries, it became clear that, following failure in Norway, the country had no confidence in Chamberlain's prosecution of the war and so Chamberlain resigned. The commonly accepted version of events states that Lord Halifax turned down the post of Prime Minister because he believed he could not govern effectively as a member of the House of Lords instead of the House of Commons. Although the Prime Minister does not traditionally advise the King on the former's successor, Chamberlain wanted someone who would command the support of all three major parties in the House of Commons. A meeting between Chamberlain, Halifax, Churchill and David Margesson, the government Chief Whip, led to the recommendation of Churchill, and, as a constitutional monarch, George VI asked Churchill to be Prime Minister and to form an all-party government. Churchill's first act was to write to Chamberlain to thank him for his support.
Churchill takes aim with a Sten submachine gun in June 1941. The man in the pin-striped suit and trilby on Churchill's left is his bodyguard, Walter H. Thompson
Churchill had been among the first to recognise the growing threat of Hitler long before the outset of the Second World War, and his warnings had gone largely unheeded. Although there was an element of British public and political sentiment favouring negotiated peace with a clearly ascendant Germany, among them the Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax, Churchill nonetheless refused to consider an armistice with Hitler's Germany. His use of rhetoric hardened public opinion against a peaceful resolution and prepared the British for a long war. Coining the general term for the upcoming battle, Churchill stated in his "finest hour" speech to the House of Commons on 18 June 1940, "I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin." By refusing an armistice with Germany, Churchill kept resistance alive in the British Empire and created the basis for the later Allied counter-attacks of 1942–45, with Britain serving as a platform for the supply of Soviet Union and the liberation of Western Europe.
In response to previous criticisms that there had been no clear single minister in charge of the prosecution of the war, Churchill created and took the additional position of Minister of Defence. He immediately put his friend and confidant, the industrialist and newspaper baron Lord Beaverbrook, in charge of aircraft production. It was Beaverbrook's business acumen that allowed Britain to quickly gear up aircraft production and engineering that eventually made the difference in the war.
Winston Churchill walks through the ruins of Coventry Cathedral, 1941
Churchill's speeches were a great inspiration to the embattled British. His first speech as Prime Minister was the famous "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat". He followed that closely with two other equally famous ones, given just before the Battle of Britain. One included the words:
... we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.
The other:
Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour'.
Churchill with Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and Field Marshal Alan Brooke, 1944
At the height of the Battle of Britain, his bracing survey of the situation included the memorable line "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few", which engendered the enduring nickname The Few for the RAF fighter pilots who won it. One of his most memorable war speeches came on 10 November 1942 at the Lord Mayor's Luncheon at Mansion House in London, in response to the Allied victory at the Second Battle of El Alamein. Churchill stated:
This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.
Without having much in the way of sustenance or good news to offer the British people, he took a political risk in deliberately choosing to emphasise the dangers instead.
"Rhetorical power", wrote Churchill, "is neither wholly bestowed, nor wholly acquired, but cultivated." Not all were impressed by his oratory. Robert Menzies, Prime Minister of Australia and himself a gifted phrase-maker, said of Churchill during World War II: "His real tyrant is the glittering phrase so attractive to his mind that awkward facts have to give way." Another associate wrote: "He is... the slave of the words which his mind forms about ideas.... And he can convince himself of almost every truth if it is once allowed thus to start on its wild career through his rhetorical machinery."
Relations with the United States
Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Churchill at the Cairo Conference in 1943
Churchill's good relationship with Franklin D. Roosevelt secured vital food, oil and munitions via the North Atlantic shipping routes. It was for this reason that Churchill was relieved when Roosevelt was re-elected in 1940. Upon re-election, Roosevelt immediately set about implementing a new method of providing military hardware and shipping to Britain without the need for monetary payment. Put simply, Roosevelt persuaded Congress that repayment for this immensely costly service would take the form of defending the US; and so Lend-lease was born. Churchill had 12 strategic conferences with Roosevelt which covered the Atlantic Charter, Europe first strategy, the Declaration by the United Nations and other war policies. After Pearl Harbor was attacked, Churchill's first thought in anticipation of US help was, "We have won the war!" On 26 December 1941, Churchill addressed a joint meeting of the US Congress, asking of Germany and Japan, "What kind of people do they think we are?" Churchill initiated the Special Operations Executive (SOE) under Hugh Dalton's Ministry of Economic Warfare, which established, conducted and fostered covert, subversive and partisan operations in occupied territories with notable success; and also the Commandos which established the pattern for most of the world's current Special Forces. The Russians referred to him as the "British Bulldog".
Churchill's health was fragile, as shown by a mild heart attack he suffered in December 1941 at the White House and also in December 1943 when he contracted pneumonia. Despite this, he travelled over 100,000 miles (160,000 km) throughout the war to meet other national leaders. For security, he usually travelled using the alias Colonel Warden.
Churchill was party to treaties that would redraw post-World War II European and Asian boundaries. These were discussed as early as 1943. At the Second Quebec Conference in 1944 he drafted and, together with US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, signed a toned-down version of the original Morgenthau Plan, in which they pledged to convert Germany after its unconditional surrender "into a country primarily agricultural and pastoral in its character." Proposals for European boundaries and settlements were officially agreed to by Harry S. Truman, Churchill, and Stalin at Potsdam. Churchill's strong relationship with Harry Truman was also of great significance to both countries. While he clearly regretted the loss of his close friend and counterpart Roosevelt, Churchill was enormously supportive of Truman in his first days in office, calling him, "the type of leader the world needs when it needs him most."
Relations with the Soviet Union
Churchill secretly meets with President Ismet Inönü at the Yenice Station 15 miles (24 km) outside of Adana in south-east Turkey, on 30 January 1943
When Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, Winston Churchill, a vehement anti-Communist, famously stated "If Hitler invaded Hell, I would at least make a favourable reference to the Devil in the House of Commons," regarding his policy toward Stalin. Soon, British supplies and tanks were flowing to help the Soviet Union.
The settlement concerning the borders of Poland, that is, the boundary between Poland and the Soviet Union and between Germany and Poland, was viewed as a betrayal in Poland during the post-war years, as it was established against the views of the Polish government in exile. It was Winston Churchill, who tried to motivate Mikołajczyk, who was Prime Minister of the Polish government in exile, to accept Stalin's wishes, but Mikołajczyk refused. Churchill was convinced that the only way to alleviate tensions between the two populations was the transfer of people, to match the national borders.
As he expounded in the House of Commons on 15 December 1944, "Expulsion is the method which, insofar as we have been able to see, will be the most satisfactory and lasting. There will be no mixture of populations to cause endless trouble... A clean sweep will be made. I am not alarmed by these transferences, which are more possible in modern conditions." However the resulting expulsions of Germans were carried out in a way which resulted in much hardship and, according to a 1966 report by the West German Ministry of Refugees and Displaced Persons, the death of over 2.1 million. Churchill opposed the effective annexation of Poland by the Soviet Union and wrote bitterly about it in his books, but he was unable to prevent it at the conferences.
Winston Churchill at the Yalta Conference, with Roosevelt and Stalin beside him
During October 1944, he and Eden were in Moscow to meet with the Russian leadership. At this point, Russian forces were beginning to advance into various eastern European countries. Churchill held the view that until everything was formally and properly worked out at the Yalta conference, there had to be a temporary, war-time, working agreement with regard to who would run what. The most significant of these meetings were held on 9 October 1944 in the Kremlin between Churchill and Stalin. During the meeting, Poland and the Balkan problems were discussed. Churchill recounted his speech to Stalin on the day:
Let us settle about our affairs in the Balkans. Your armies are in Rumania and Bulgaria. We have interests, missions, and agents there. Don't let us get at cross-purposes in small ways. So far as Britain and Russia are concerned, how would it do for you to have ninety per cent predominance in Rumania, for us to have ninety per cent of the say in Greece, and go fifty-fifty about Yugoslavia?
Stalin agreed to this Percentages Agreement, ticking a piece of paper as he heard the translation. In 1958, five years after the recount of this meeting was published (in The Second World War), authorities of the Soviet denied that Stalin accepted the "imperialist proposal".
One of the conclusions of the Yalta Conference was that the Allies would return all Soviet citizens that found themselves in the Allied zone to the Soviet Union. This immediately affected the Soviet prisoners of war liberated by the Allies, but was also extended to all Eastern European refugees. Solzhenitsyn called the Operation Keelhaul "the last secret of World War II." The operation decided the fate of up to two million post-war refugees fleeing eastern Europe.
Dresden bombings controversy
Main article: Bombing of Dresden in World War II
Historical footage of the destruction of Dresden, February 1945
Between 13 February and 15 February 1945, British and the US bombers attacked the German city of Dresden, which was crowded with German wounded and refugees. Because of the cultural importance of the city, and of the number of civilian casualties close to the end of the war, this remains one of the most controversial Western Allied actions of the war. Following the bombing Churchill stated in a top secret telegram:
It seems to me that the moment has come when the question of bombing of German cities simply for the sake of increasing the terror, though under other pretexts, should be reviewed... I feel the need for more precise concentration upon military objectives such as oil and communications behind the immediate battle-zone, rather than on mere acts of terror and wanton destruction, however impressive.
On reflection, under pressure from the Chiefs of Staff and in response to the views expressed by Sir Charles Portal (Chief of the Air Staff,) and Arthur Harris (AOC-in-C of RAF Bomber Command), among others, Churchill withdrew his memo and issued a new one. This final version of the memo completed on 1 April 1945, stated:
It seems to me that the moment has come when the question of the so called 'area-bombing' of German cities should be reviewed from the point of view of our own interests. If we come into control of an entirely ruined land, there will be a great shortage of accommodation for ourselves and our allies... We must see to it that our attacks do no more harm to ourselves in the long run than they do to the enemy's war effort.
Ultimately, responsibility for the British part of the attack lay with Churchill, which is why he has been criticised for allowing the bombings to happen. The German historian Jörg Friedrich, claims that "Winston Churchill's decision to bomb a shattered Germany between January and May 1945 was a war crime" and writing in 2006 the philosopher A. C. Grayling questioned the whole strategic bombing campaign by the RAF presenting the argument that although it was not a war crime it was a moral crime and undermines the Allies contention that they fought a just war. On the other hand, it has also been asserted that Churchill's involvement in the bombing of Dresden was based on the strategic and tactical aspects of winning the war. The destruction of Dresden, while immense, was designed to expedite the defeat of Germany. As the historian Max Hastings said in an article subtitled, "the Allied Bombing of Dresden": "I believe it is wrong to describe strategic bombing as a war crime, for this might be held to suggest some moral equivalence with the deeds of the Nazis. Bombing represented a sincere, albeit mistaken, attempt to bring about Germany's military defeat." Furthermore British historian, Frederick Taylor asserts that "All sides bombed each other's cities during the war. Half a million Soviet citizens, for example, died from German bombing during the invasion and occupation of Russia. That's roughly equivalent to the number of German citizens who died from Allied raids. But the Allied bombing campaign was attached to military operations and ceased as soon as military operations ceased."
The Second World War ends
Churchill waves to crowds in Whitheall on the day he broadcast to the nation that the war with Germany had been won, 8 May 1945.
In June 1944, the Allied Forces invaded Normandy and pushed the Nazi forces back into Germany on a broad front over the coming year. After being attacked on three fronts by the Allies, and in spite of Allied failures, such as Operation Market Garden, and German counter-attacks, including the Battle of the Bulge, Germany was eventually defeated. On 7 May 1945 at the SHAEF headquarters in Rheims the Allies accepted Germany's surrender. On the same day in a BBC news flash John Snagge announced that 8 May would be Victory in Europe Day. On Victory in Europe Day, Churchill broadcast to the nation that Germany had surrendered and that a final cease fire on all fronts in Europe would come into effect at one minute past midnight that night. Afterwards Churchill told a huge crowd in Whitheall: "This is your victory." The people shouted: "No, it is yours", and Churchill then conducted them in the singing of Land of Hope and Glory. In the evening he made another broadcast to the nation asserting the defeat of Japan in the coming months. The Japanese later surrendered on 15 August 1945.
As Europe celebrated peace at the end of six years of war, Churchill was concerning on the possibility that the celebrations would soon be brutally interrupted. He concluded that the UK and the US must prepare for the Red Army ignoring previously agreed frontiers and agreements in Europe "to impose upon Russia the will of the United States and the British Empire." According to the Operation Unthinkable plan ordered by Churchill and developed by the British Armed Forces, the Third World War could have started on 1 July 1945 with a sudden attack against the allied Soviet troops. The plan was rejected by the British Chiefs of Staff Committee as militarily unfeasible. However this decision didn't stop the further development of the war plans: with the beginning of an arms race, the militarily unfeasible Third World War developed instead into the Cold War doctrine.
Return to government and the decline of the British Empire
After the General Election of 1951, Churchill again became Prime Minister. His third government—after the wartime national government and the brief caretaker government of 1945—lasted until his resignation in 1955. His domestic priorities in his last government were overshadowed by a series of foreign policy crises, which were partly the result of the continued decline of British military and imperial prestige and power. Being a strong proponent of Britain as an international power, Churchill would often meet such moments with direct action. One example was his dispatch of British troops to Kenya to deal with the Mau Mau rebellion. Trying to retain what he could of the Empire, he once stated that, "I will not preside over a dismemberment."
War in Malaya
This was followed by events which became known as the Malayan Emergency. In Malaya, a rebellion against British rule had been in progress since 1948. Once again, Churchill's government inherited a crisis, and Churchill chose to use direct military action against those in rebellion while attempting to build an alliance with those who were not. While the rebellion was slowly being defeated, it was equally clear that colonial rule from Britain was no longer sustainable.
Relations with the United States
Churchill also devoted much of his time in office to Anglo-American relations and although Churchill did not always agree with President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Churchill attempted to maintain the Special Relationship with the United States. He made four official transatlantic visits to America during his second term as Prime Minister.
The series of strokes
Churchill had suffered a mild stroke while on holiday in the south of France in the summer of 1949. In June 1953, when he was 78, Churchill suffered a more severe stroke at 10 Downing Street. News of this was kept from the public and from Parliament, who were told that Churchill was suffering from exhaustion. He went to his country home, Chartwell, to recuperate from the effects of the stroke which had affected his speech and ability to walk. He returned to public life in October to make a speech at a Conservative Party conference at Margate. However, aware that he was slowing down both physically and mentally, Churchill retired as Prime Minister in 1955 and was succeeded by Anthony Eden. He suffered another mild stroke in February 1956.
Retirement and death
Churchill spent much of his retirement at his home Chartwell in Kent. He purchased it in 1922 after his daughter Mary was born.
Elizabeth II offered to create Churchill Duke of London, but this was declined due to the objections of his son Randolph, who would have inherited the title on his father's death. After leaving the premiership, Churchill spent less time in parliament until he stood down at the 1964 General Election. As a mere "back-bencher," Churchill spent most of his retirement at Chartwell and at his home in Hyde Park Gate, in London. In the 1959 General Election Churchill's majority fell by more than a thousand, since many young voters in his constituency did not support an 85-year-old who could only enter the House of Commons in a wheelchair. As his mental and physical faculties decayed, he began to lose the battle he had fought for so long against the "black dog" of depression. There was speculation that Churchill may have had Alzheimer's disease in his last years, although others maintain that his reduced mental capacity was merely the result of a series of strokes. In 1963, US President John F. Kennedy, acting under authorisation granted by an Act of Congress, proclaimed him an Honorary Citizen of the United States, but he was unable to attend the White House ceremony. On 15 January 1965, Churchill suffered a severe stroke that left him gravely ill. He died at his home nine days later, at age 90, on the morning of Sunday 24 January 1965, coincidentally 70 years to the day after his father's death.
Funeral
Churchill's grave at St Martin's Church, Bladon
By decree of the Queen, his body lay in state for three days and a state funeral service was held at St Paul's Cathedral. As his coffin passed down the Thames from Tower Pier to Festival Pier on the Havengore, dockers lowered their crane jibs in a salute. The Royal Artillery fired a 19-gun salute (as head of government), and the RAF staged a fly-by of sixteen English Electric Lightning fighters. The coffin was then taken the short distance to Waterloo Station where it was loaded onto a specially prepared and painted carriage as part of the funeral train for its rail journey to Bladon. The funeral also saw one of the largest assemblages of statesmen in the world. The funeral train of Pullman coaches carrying his family mourners was hauled by Bulleid Pacific steam locomotive No. 34051 "Winston Churchill". In the fields along the route, and at the stations through which the train passed, thousands stood in silence to pay their last respects. At Churchill's request, he was buried in the family plot at St Martin's Church, Bladon, near Woodstock, not far from his birthplace at Blenheim Palace. Churchill's funeral van – Southern Railway Van S2464S – is now part of a preservation project with the Swanage Railway having been repatriated to the UK in 2007 from the USA where it was exported in 1965
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/24/10 at 4:23 am
ninny, up early today?
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/24/10 at 4:24 am
The word of the day...Fool
If you call someone a fool, you are indicating that you think they are not at all sensible and show a lack of good judgment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKZHwf5q22g
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/24/10 at 4:26 am
The person of the day...Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British politician known chiefly for his leadership of the United Kingdom during World War II. He served as Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, historian, writer, and artist. He was the only British Prime Minister to have received the Nobel Prize in Literature and the first person to be recognised as an Honorary Citizen of the United States.
During his army career, Churchill saw military action in India, in the Sudan and the Second Boer War. He gained fame and notoriety as a war correspondent and through contemporary books he wrote describing the campaigns. He also served briefly in the British Army on the Western Front in World War I, commanding the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers.
At the forefront of the political scene for almost fifty years, he held many political and cabinet positions. Before the First World War, he served as President of the Board of Trade, Home Secretary and First Lord of the Admiralty as part of the Asquith Liberal government. During the war he continued as First Lord of the Admiralty until the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign caused his departure from government. He returned as Minister of Munitions, Secretary of State for War and Secretary of State for Air. In the interwar years, he served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Conservative government.
After the outbreak of the Second World War, Churchill was again appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. Following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain on 10 May 1940, he became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and led Britain to victory against the Axis powers. Churchill was always noted for his speeches, which became a great inspiration to the British people and embattled Allied forces.
After losing the 1945 election, he became Leader of the Opposition. In 1951, he again became Prime Minister before finally retiring in 1955. Upon his death, the Queen granted him the honour of a state funeral, which saw one of the largest assemblies of statesmen in the world.
Winston is back"
After the outbreak of World War II, on 3 September 1939 the day Britain declared war on Germany, Churchill was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty and a member of the War Cabinet, just as he had been during the first part of World War I. When they were informed, the Board of the Admiralty sent a signal to the Fleet: "Winston is back". In this job, he proved to be one of the highest-profile ministers during the so-called "Phoney War", when the only noticeable action was at sea. Churchill advocated the pre-emptive occupation of the neutral Norwegian iron-ore port of Narvik and the iron mines in Kiruna, Sweden, early in the war. However, Chamberlain and the rest of the War Cabinet disagreed, and the operation was delayed until the successful German invasion of Norway.
Churchill wears a helmet during an air raid warning in the Battle of Britain in 1940
Bitter beginnings of the war
See also: Attack on Mers-el-Kébir
On 10 May 1940, hours before the German invasion of France by a lightning advance through the Low Countries, it became clear that, following failure in Norway, the country had no confidence in Chamberlain's prosecution of the war and so Chamberlain resigned. The commonly accepted version of events states that Lord Halifax turned down the post of Prime Minister because he believed he could not govern effectively as a member of the House of Lords instead of the House of Commons. Although the Prime Minister does not traditionally advise the King on the former's successor, Chamberlain wanted someone who would command the support of all three major parties in the House of Commons. A meeting between Chamberlain, Halifax, Churchill and David Margesson, the government Chief Whip, led to the recommendation of Churchill, and, as a constitutional monarch, George VI asked Churchill to be Prime Minister and to form an all-party government. Churchill's first act was to write to Chamberlain to thank him for his support.
Churchill takes aim with a Sten submachine gun in June 1941. The man in the pin-striped suit and trilby on Churchill's left is his bodyguard, Walter H. Thompson
Churchill had been among the first to recognise the growing threat of Hitler long before the outset of the Second World War, and his warnings had gone largely unheeded. Although there was an element of British public and political sentiment favouring negotiated peace with a clearly ascendant Germany, among them the Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax, Churchill nonetheless refused to consider an armistice with Hitler's Germany. His use of rhetoric hardened public opinion against a peaceful resolution and prepared the British for a long war. Coining the general term for the upcoming battle, Churchill stated in his "finest hour" speech to the House of Commons on 18 June 1940, "I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin." By refusing an armistice with Germany, Churchill kept resistance alive in the British Empire and created the basis for the later Allied counter-attacks of 1942–45, with Britain serving as a platform for the supply of Soviet Union and the liberation of Western Europe.
In response to previous criticisms that there had been no clear single minister in charge of the prosecution of the war, Churchill created and took the additional position of Minister of Defence. He immediately put his friend and confidant, the industrialist and newspaper baron Lord Beaverbrook, in charge of aircraft production. It was Beaverbrook's business acumen that allowed Britain to quickly gear up aircraft production and engineering that eventually made the difference in the war.
Winston Churchill walks through the ruins of Coventry Cathedral, 1941
Churchill's speeches were a great inspiration to the embattled British. His first speech as Prime Minister was the famous "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat". He followed that closely with two other equally famous ones, given just before the Battle of Britain. One included the words:
... we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.
The other:
Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour'.
Churchill with Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and Field Marshal Alan Brooke, 1944
At the height of the Battle of Britain, his bracing survey of the situation included the memorable line "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few", which engendered the enduring nickname The Few for the RAF fighter pilots who won it. One of his most memorable war speeches came on 10 November 1942 at the Lord Mayor's Luncheon at Mansion House in London, in response to the Allied victory at the Second Battle of El Alamein. Churchill stated:
This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.
Without having much in the way of sustenance or good news to offer the British people, he took a political risk in deliberately choosing to emphasise the dangers instead.
"Rhetorical power", wrote Churchill, "is neither wholly bestowed, nor wholly acquired, but cultivated." Not all were impressed by his oratory. Robert Menzies, Prime Minister of Australia and himself a gifted phrase-maker, said of Churchill during World War II: "His real tyrant is the glittering phrase so attractive to his mind that awkward facts have to give way." Another associate wrote: "He is... the slave of the words which his mind forms about ideas.... And he can convince himself of almost every truth if it is once allowed thus to start on its wild career through his rhetorical machinery."
Relations with the United States
Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Churchill at the Cairo Conference in 1943
Churchill's good relationship with Franklin D. Roosevelt secured vital food, oil and munitions via the North Atlantic shipping routes. It was for this reason that Churchill was relieved when Roosevelt was re-elected in 1940. Upon re-election, Roosevelt immediately set about implementing a new method of providing military hardware and shipping to Britain without the need for monetary payment. Put simply, Roosevelt persuaded Congress that repayment for this immensely costly service would take the form of defending the US; and so Lend-lease was born. Churchill had 12 strategic conferences with Roosevelt which covered the Atlantic Charter, Europe first strategy, the Declaration by the United Nations and other war policies. After Pearl Harbor was attacked, Churchill's first thought in anticipation of US help was, "We have won the war!" On 26 December 1941, Churchill addressed a joint meeting of the US Congress, asking of Germany and Japan, "What kind of people do they think we are?" Churchill initiated the Special Operations Executive (SOE) under Hugh Dalton's Ministry of Economic Warfare, which established, conducted and fostered covert, subversive and partisan operations in occupied territories with notable success; and also the Commandos which established the pattern for most of the world's current Special Forces. The Russians referred to him as the "British Bulldog".
Churchill's health was fragile, as shown by a mild heart attack he suffered in December 1941 at the White House and also in December 1943 when he contracted pneumonia. Despite this, he travelled over 100,000 miles (160,000 km) throughout the war to meet other national leaders. For security, he usually travelled using the alias Colonel Warden.
Churchill was party to treaties that would redraw post-World War II European and Asian boundaries. These were discussed as early as 1943. At the Second Quebec Conference in 1944 he drafted and, together with US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, signed a toned-down version of the original Morgenthau Plan, in which they pledged to convert Germany after its unconditional surrender "into a country primarily agricultural and pastoral in its character." Proposals for European boundaries and settlements were officially agreed to by Harry S. Truman, Churchill, and Stalin at Potsdam. Churchill's strong relationship with Harry Truman was also of great significance to both countries. While he clearly regretted the loss of his close friend and counterpart Roosevelt, Churchill was enormously supportive of Truman in his first days in office, calling him, "the type of leader the world needs when it needs him most."
Relations with the Soviet Union
Churchill secretly meets with President Ismet Inönü at the Yenice Station 15 miles (24 km) outside of Adana in south-east Turkey, on 30 January 1943
When Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, Winston Churchill, a vehement anti-Communist, famously stated "If Hitler invaded Hell, I would at least make a favourable reference to the Devil in the House of Commons," regarding his policy toward Stalin. Soon, British supplies and tanks were flowing to help the Soviet Union.
The settlement concerning the borders of Poland, that is, the boundary between Poland and the Soviet Union and between Germany and Poland, was viewed as a betrayal in Poland during the post-war years, as it was established against the views of the Polish government in exile. It was Winston Churchill, who tried to motivate Mikołajczyk, who was Prime Minister of the Polish government in exile, to accept Stalin's wishes, but Mikołajczyk refused. Churchill was convinced that the only way to alleviate tensions between the two populations was the transfer of people, to match the national borders.
As he expounded in the House of Commons on 15 December 1944, "Expulsion is the method which, insofar as we have been able to see, will be the most satisfactory and lasting. There will be no mixture of populations to cause endless trouble... A clean sweep will be made. I am not alarmed by these transferences, which are more possible in modern conditions." However the resulting expulsions of Germans were carried out in a way which resulted in much hardship and, according to a 1966 report by the West German Ministry of Refugees and Displaced Persons, the death of over 2.1 million. Churchill opposed the effective annexation of Poland by the Soviet Union and wrote bitterly about it in his books, but he was unable to prevent it at the conferences.
Winston Churchill at the Yalta Conference, with Roosevelt and Stalin beside him
During October 1944, he and Eden were in Moscow to meet with the Russian leadership. At this point, Russian forces were beginning to advance into various eastern European countries. Churchill held the view that until everything was formally and properly worked out at the Yalta conference, there had to be a temporary, war-time, working agreement with regard to who would run what. The most significant of these meetings were held on 9 October 1944 in the Kremlin between Churchill and Stalin. During the meeting, Poland and the Balkan problems were discussed. Churchill recounted his speech to Stalin on the day:
Let us settle about our affairs in the Balkans. Your armies are in Rumania and Bulgaria. We have interests, missions, and agents there. Don't let us get at cross-purposes in small ways. So far as Britain and Russia are concerned, how would it do for you to have ninety per cent predominance in Rumania, for us to have ninety per cent of the say in Greece, and go fifty-fifty about Yugoslavia?
Stalin agreed to this Percentages Agreement, ticking a piece of paper as he heard the translation. In 1958, five years after the recount of this meeting was published (in The Second World War), authorities of the Soviet denied that Stalin accepted the "imperialist proposal".
One of the conclusions of the Yalta Conference was that the Allies would return all Soviet citizens that found themselves in the Allied zone to the Soviet Union. This immediately affected the Soviet prisoners of war liberated by the Allies, but was also extended to all Eastern European refugees. Solzhenitsyn called the Operation Keelhaul "the last secret of World War II." The operation decided the fate of up to two million post-war refugees fleeing eastern Europe.
Dresden bombings controversy
Main article: Bombing of Dresden in World War II
Historical footage of the destruction of Dresden, February 1945
Between 13 February and 15 February 1945, British and the US bombers attacked the German city of Dresden, which was crowded with German wounded and refugees. Because of the cultural importance of the city, and of the number of civilian casualties close to the end of the war, this remains one of the most controversial Western Allied actions of the war. Following the bombing Churchill stated in a top secret telegram:
It seems to me that the moment has come when the question of bombing of German cities simply for the sake of increasing the terror, though under other pretexts, should be reviewed... I feel the need for more precise concentration upon military objectives such as oil and communications behind the immediate battle-zone, rather than on mere acts of terror and wanton destruction, however impressive.
On reflection, under pressure from the Chiefs of Staff and in response to the views expressed by Sir Charles Portal (Chief of the Air Staff,) and Arthur Harris (AOC-in-C of RAF Bomber Command), among others, Churchill withdrew his memo and issued a new one. This final version of the memo completed on 1 April 1945, stated:
It seems to me that the moment has come when the question of the so called 'area-bombing' of German cities should be reviewed from the point of view of our own interests. If we come into control of an entirely ruined land, there will be a great shortage of accommodation for ourselves and our allies... We must see to it that our attacks do no more harm to ourselves in the long run than they do to the enemy's war effort.
Ultimately, responsibility for the British part of the attack lay with Churchill, which is why he has been criticised for allowing the bombings to happen. The German historian Jörg Friedrich, claims that "Winston Churchill's decision to bomb a shattered Germany between January and May 1945 was a war crime" and writing in 2006 the philosopher A. C. Grayling questioned the whole strategic bombing campaign by the RAF presenting the argument that although it was not a war crime it was a moral crime and undermines the Allies contention that they fought a just war. On the other hand, it has also been asserted that Churchill's involvement in the bombing of Dresden was based on the strategic and tactical aspects of winning the war. The destruction of Dresden, while immense, was designed to expedite the defeat of Germany. As the historian Max Hastings said in an article subtitled, "the Allied Bombing of Dresden": "I believe it is wrong to describe strategic bombing as a war crime, for this might be held to suggest some moral equivalence with the deeds of the Nazis. Bombing represented a sincere, albeit mistaken, attempt to bring about Germany's military defeat." Furthermore British historian, Frederick Taylor asserts that "All sides bombed each other's cities during the war. Half a million Soviet citizens, for example, died from German bombing during the invasion and occupation of Russia. That's roughly equivalent to the number of German citizens who died from Allied raids. But the Allied bombing campaign was attached to military operations and ceased as soon as military operations ceased."
The Second World War ends
Churchill waves to crowds in Whitheall on the day he broadcast to the nation that the war with Germany had been won, 8 May 1945.
In June 1944, the Allied Forces invaded Normandy and pushed the Nazi forces back into Germany on a broad front over the coming year. After being attacked on three fronts by the Allies, and in spite of Allied failures, such as Operation Market Garden, and German counter-attacks, including the Battle of the Bulge, Germany was eventually defeated. On 7 May 1945 at the SHAEF headquarters in Rheims the Allies accepted Germany's surrender. On the same day in a BBC news flash John Snagge announced that 8 May would be Victory in Europe Day. On Victory in Europe Day, Churchill broadcast to the nation that Germany had surrendered and that a final cease fire on all fronts in Europe would come into effect at one minute past midnight that night. Afterwards Churchill told a huge crowd in Whitheall: "This is your victory." The people shouted: "No, it is yours", and Churchill then conducted them in the singing of Land of Hope and Glory. In the evening he made another broadcast to the nation asserting the defeat of Japan in the coming months. The Japanese later surrendered on 15 August 1945.
As Europe celebrated peace at the end of six years of war, Churchill was concerning on the possibility that the celebrations would soon be brutally interrupted. He concluded that the UK and the US must prepare for the Red Army ignoring previously agreed frontiers and agreements in Europe "to impose upon Russia the will of the United States and the British Empire." According to the Operation Unthinkable plan ordered by Churchill and developed by the British Armed Forces, the Third World War could have started on 1 July 1945 with a sudden attack against the allied Soviet troops. The plan was rejected by the British Chiefs of Staff Committee as militarily unfeasible. However this decision didn't stop the further development of the war plans: with the beginning of an arms race, the militarily unfeasible Third World War developed instead into the Cold War doctrine.
Return to government and the decline of the British Empire
After the General Election of 1951, Churchill again became Prime Minister. His third government—after the wartime national government and the brief caretaker government of 1945—lasted until his resignation in 1955. His domestic priorities in his last government were overshadowed by a series of foreign policy crises, which were partly the result of the continued decline of British military and imperial prestige and power. Being a strong proponent of Britain as an international power, Churchill would often meet such moments with direct action. One example was his dispatch of British troops to Kenya to deal with the Mau Mau rebellion. Trying to retain what he could of the Empire, he once stated that, "I will not preside over a dismemberment."
War in Malaya
This was followed by events which became known as the Malayan Emergency. In Malaya, a rebellion against British rule had been in progress since 1948. Once again, Churchill's government inherited a crisis, and Churchill chose to use direct military action against those in rebellion while attempting to build an alliance with those who were not. While the rebellion was slowly being defeated, it was equally clear that colonial rule from Britain was no longer sustainable.
Relations with the United States
Churchill also devoted much of his time in office to Anglo-American relations and although Churchill did not always agree with President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Churchill attempted to maintain the Special Relationship with the United States. He made four official transatlantic visits to America during his second term as Prime Minister.
The series of strokes
Churchill had suffered a mild stroke while on holiday in the south of France in the summer of 1949. In June 1953, when he was 78, Churchill suffered a more severe stroke at 10 Downing Street. News of this was kept from the public and from Parliament, who were told that Churchill was suffering from exhaustion. He went to his country home, Chartwell, to recuperate from the effects of the stroke which had affected his speech and ability to walk. He returned to public life in October to make a speech at a Conservative Party conference at Margate. However, aware that he was slowing down both physically and mentally, Churchill retired as Prime Minister in 1955 and was succeeded by Anthony Eden. He suffered another mild stroke in February 1956.
Retirement and death
Churchill spent much of his retirement at his home Chartwell in Kent. He purchased it in 1922 after his daughter Mary was born.
Elizabeth II offered to create Churchill Duke of London, but this was declined due to the objections of his son Randolph, who would have inherited the title on his father's death. After leaving the premiership, Churchill spent less time in parliament until he stood down at the 1964 General Election. As a mere "back-bencher," Churchill spent most of his retirement at Chartwell and at his home in Hyde Park Gate, in London. In the 1959 General Election Churchill's majority fell by more than a thousand, since many young voters in his constituency did not support an 85-year-old who could only enter the House of Commons in a wheelchair. As his mental and physical faculties decayed, he began to lose the battle he had fought for so long against the "black dog" of depression. There was speculation that Churchill may have had Alzheimer's disease in his last years, although others maintain that his reduced mental capacity was merely the result of a series of strokes. In 1963, US President John F. Kennedy, acting under authorisation granted by an Act of Congress, proclaimed him an Honorary Citizen of the United States, but he was unable to attend the White House ceremony. On 15 January 1965, Churchill suffered a severe stroke that left him gravely ill. He died at his home nine days later, at age 90, on the morning of Sunday 24 January 1965, coincidentally 70 years to the day after his father's death.
Funeral
Churchill's grave at St Martin's Church, Bladon
By decree of the Queen, his body lay in state for three days and a state funeral service was held at St Paul's Cathedral. As his coffin passed down the Thames from Tower Pier to Festival Pier on the Havengore, dockers lowered their crane jibs in a salute. The Royal Artillery fired a 19-gun salute (as head of government), and the RAF staged a fly-by of sixteen English Electric Lightning fighters. The coffin was then taken the short distance to Waterloo Station where it was loaded onto a specially prepared and painted carriage as part of the funeral train for its rail journey to Bladon. The funeral also saw one of the largest assemblages of statesmen in the world. The funeral train of Pullman coaches carrying his family mourners was hauled by Bulleid Pacific steam locomotive No. 34051 "Winston Churchill". In the fields along the route, and at the stations through which the train passed, thousands stood in silence to pay their last respects. At Churchill's request, he was buried in the family plot at St Martin's Church, Bladon, near Woodstock, not far from his birthplace at Blenheim Palace. Churchill's funeral van – Southern Railway Van S2464S – is now part of a preservation project with the Swanage Railway having been repatriated to the UK in 2007 from the USA where it was exported in 1965
I was seven years at the time of the death of Winston Churchill, and I do remember the ocassion of his funeral well.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/24/10 at 4:37 am
ninny, up early today?
Yeah, but I'm going back to bed for a while.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/24/10 at 4:40 am
I was seven years at the time of the death of Winston Churchill, and I do remember the ocassion of his funeral well.
There was quite a lot of information on him that I left out, because your only allowed so many words. I'm hoping that it was OK.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/24/10 at 4:40 am
Yeah, but I'm going back to bed for a while.
I feeling I know all to well.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/24/10 at 4:42 am
There was quite a lot of information on him that I left out, because your only allowed so many words. I'm hoping that it was OK.
It does well we with me.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/24/10 at 6:36 am
The birthday of the day...Aaron Neville
Aaron Neville (born January 24, 1941 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American soul and R&B singer. He made his debut in 1966 with the hit single "Tell It Like It Is", a Number One hit on the Billboard R&B charts. Neville did not chart again, however, until 1989, when he collaborated with Linda Ronstadt on three consecutive duets: "Don't Know Much", "All My Life", and "When Something Is Wrong with My Baby", of which the first two reached Number One on the Adult Contemporary charts. Neville has released more than 20 singles, including three Number Ones on the Adult Contemporary format, and a fourth on the R&B format.
Aaron Neville has had a career as a solo artist and as one of The Neville Brothers. Of mixed African American and Native American heritage, his music also features Cajun and Creole influences.
Neville first came to public recognition with "Tell It Like It Is" which topped Billboard's R&B chart for five weeks in 1967. It also reached #2 on the Hot 100. A remake of the song was a Top 10 Pop hit for the Rock group Heart featuring Ann and Nancy Wilson in 1981.
In 1989 Neville teamed up with Linda Ronstadt on the album Cry Like A Rainstorm - Howl Like The Wind. Among the duets recorded for the disc were the #1 Grammy-winning hits "Don't Know Much" and "All My Life". "Don't Know Much" was certified Gold while the album was certified Triple Platinum for US sales of more than 3 million.
His other hits have included "Everybody Plays the Fool", his successful 1991 cover of the 1972 Main Ingredient song, that reached #8 on the Hot 100; "Don't Take Away My Heaven", "Hercules" and "Can't Stop My Heart From Loving You (The Rain Song)." Neville's biggest solo successes have been on the Adult Contemporary chart, where "Don't Know Much," "All My Life," and "Everybody Plays the Fool" all reached Number One.
In August 2005 his home in Eastern New Orleans was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina; he evacuated to Memphis, Tennessee before the hurricane hit. He moved to Nashville after the storm, and had yet to return to the city as of early 2008, causing the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival to temporarily change its tradition of having the Neville Brothers close the festival. However, the Neville Brothers, including Aaron, returned for the 2008 Jazzfest, which returned to its traditional seven-day format for the first time since Katrina. Neville is in the process of moving back to the New Orleans area, namely the North Shore city of Covington. Neville performed Randy Newman's "Louisiana 1927" during NBC's A Concert for Hurricane Relief on September 2, 2005.
Aaron signed to SonyBMG's new Burgundy Records label in late 2005 and recorded an album of songs by Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Sam Cooke and others for Bring It on Home…The Soul Classics, released on September 19, 2006. The album, produced by Stewart Levine, features collaborations between Neville and Chaka Khan, Mavis Staples, Chris Botti, David Sanborn, Art Neville, and others. The album's first single was a remake of The Impressions' 1963 classic "It's All Right."
Aaron Neville with his distinctive mole visible above his right eye (1990)
Neville's career has included work for television, movies and sporting events. Neville sang the National Anthem in the movie The Fan starring Robert De Niro and Wesley Snipes. He also sang the anthem at the WWF's SummerSlam 1993 and at WCW Spring Stampede in 1994. Neville sang the theme music to the children's TV series Fisher-Price Little People. He also sang a new version of "Cotton," for Cotton, Inc. which was introduced during the 1992 Summer Olympics. In 1988 he recorded "Mickey Mouse March" for Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films, one of Various Artists. In 2006, Neville sang "The Star-Spangled Banner", alongside Queen Of Soul Aretha Franklin and Dr. John on keyboard at Super Bowl XL in Detroit, Michigan. In addition, Neville (along with brothers Art and Cyril) did background vocals for the songs "Great Heart", "Bring Back the Magic", "Homemade Music", "My Barracuda", and "Smart Woman (in a Real Short Skirt)" on Jimmy Buffett's Hot Water, released in 1988.
On October 27, 2006, Neville made a guest appearance on an episode of the soap opera The Young and the Restless. He sang "Stand By Me" and "Ain't No Sunshine", from his new album, Bring It on Home…The Soul Classics. In 2008 Aaron released Gold, which includes two CDs of his hits.
Neville's oldest son Ivan is also a musician and released an album, If My Ancestors Could See Me Now, in 1988, which yielded a Top 40 hit with "Not Just Another Girl." Ivan has also performed with the Rolling Stones and Bonnie Raitt, and played bass for Keith Richards on his first solo tour. Ivan then assembled his own band (Ivan Neville's Dumpstphunk)which tours and frequently appears in New Orleans.
Aaron's third son, Jason, is a vocalist and rap artist who has performed with his father and with the Neville Brothers, notably at the 2009 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
Aaron Neville is an inductee of the Delta Music Museum Hall of Fame in Ferriday.
In 2009, Aaron Neville, along with the Mt. Zion Mass Choir, released a version of the song “A Change Is Gonna Come” on the compilation album Oh Happy Day.
Spiritual life
Neville is a Roman Catholic with a devotion to St. Jude, to whom he has credited his success and survival. He wears a St. Jude Medal as a left earring.
Discography
Studio albums
Year Album Chart Positions Certifications Label
US R&B US Christian US Gospel US Jazz US CAN US CAN
1965 Tell It Like It Is — — — — — — — — Par-Lo Records
1986 Orchid in the Storm — — — — — — — — Rhino
1991 Warm Your Heart 62 — — — 44 25 Platinum Gold A&M
1993 The Grand Tour — — — — 37 — Platinum Gold
Aaron Neville's Soulful Christmas — — — — 36 — Platinum Gold
1995 The Tattooed Heart 50 — — — 64 — Gold —
1997 To Make Me Who I Am 73 — — — 188 — — —
2000 Devotion — 28 7 — — — — — Chordant
2002 Humdinger — — — — — — — — EMI
2003 Believe — 14 2 — 191 — — — Telit
Nature Boy: The Standards Album 85 — — 1 — — — — Verve
2005 Gospel Roots — — — — — — — — Chordant
2005 Christmas Prayer 74 14 3 — — — — — EMI Gospel
2006 Mojo Soul — — — — — — — — Music Avenue
Bring It On Home... The Soul Classics 20 — — — 37 — — — Burgundy
Singles
Year Single Chart Positions Album
US US AC US R&B US Country CAN CAN AC CAN Country
1960 "Over You" 111 — 21 — — — — Singles only
1966 "Tell It Like It Is" 2 1 1 — — 2 —
1967 "She Took You for a Ride" 92 — — — — — —
1989 "Don't Know Much" (w/ Linda Ronstadt) 2 1 — — 4 1 — Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind
(Linda Ronstadt album)
1990 "All My Life" (w/ Linda Ronstadt) 11 1 — — 10 1 —
"When Something Is Wrong with My Baby" (w/ Linda Ronstadt) 78 5 — — 29 — —
1991 "Everybody Plays the Fool" 8 1 — — 19 — — Warm Your Heart
"Somewhere Somebody" — 6 — — 43 15 —
1992 "Close Your Eyes" (w/ Linda Ronstadt) — — — — 90 — —
1993 "Don't Take Away My Heaven" 56 4 — — 17 12 — The Grand Tour
"The Grand Tour" 90 — — 38 — — 58
"Don't Fall Apart on Me Tonight" — 26 — — 37 — —
1994 "I Owe You One" — — — — 51 29 —
"I Fall to Pieces" (w/ Trisha Yearwood) — — — 72 — — — Rhythm, Country and Blues
"Even If My Heart Would Break" (w/ Kenny G.) 122 — — — — — — The Bodyguard soundtrack
"Betcha By Golly, Wow" — — — — 32 — — The Grand Tour
1995 "Can't Stop My Heart from Loving You (The Rain Song)" 99 23 — — — — — The Tattooed Heart
"For the Good Times" — — — — — — —
1996 "Use Me" — — 93 — — — —
"Crazy Love" (w/ Robbie Robertson) — 25 — — — — — Phenomenon (soundtrack)
"That's What My Love Is For" (w/ Anne Murray) — — — — — 15 — Anne Murray (Anne Murray album)
1997 "Say What's in My Heart" — 26 — — — — — To Make Me Who I Am
2006 "It's All Right"A — 28 — — — — — Bring It On Home... The Soul Classics
* A"It's All Right" peaked at #12 on Hot Contemporary Jazz Songs.
Compilations
* Love Songs (2003)
* Gold(2008)
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x99/samuraipizzacriss/aaron_neville.jpg
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p82/sabrinanorman/AaronNeville.jpg
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http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o165/painted_klown/Neville.jpg
Aaron Neville is great,especially his brothers too. :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/24/10 at 6:37 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soO0CMnU9Bo
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/24/10 at 6:38 am
His brothers were funk related music.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/24/10 at 6:39 am
His brothers were funk related music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcbbOYcEz88
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/24/10 at 6:41 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcbbOYcEz88
They also had songs from the mid 70's on.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/24/10 at 7:08 am
Aaron Neville is great,especially his brothers too. :)
I need to listen more to their music.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/24/10 at 7:42 am
They also had songs from the mid 70's on.
In the UK The Neville Brothers had their hits in 1989 and 1990.
1989 With God On Our Side #47
1990 Bird On A Wire #72
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/24/10 at 4:33 pm
In the UK The Neville Brothers had their hits in 1989 and 1990.
1989 With God On Our Side #47
1990 Bird On A Wire #72
plus songs from the mid 70's and on.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/25/10 at 6:26 am
The word of the day...Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower containing a powerful flashing lamp that is built on the coast or on a small island. Lighthouses are used to guide ships or to warn them of danger.
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http://i548.photobucket.com/albums/ii349/Mobey650/Lighthouse.jpg
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg240/LaGambler4/SNOW%20GLOBES/lighthouse.gif
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http://i892.photobucket.com/albums/ac125/Pensacolalighthouse/canstruction200920STOA.jpg
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/25/10 at 6:30 am
The person born today...Virginia Woolf
Adeline Virginia Woolf (born Stephen; 25 January 1882 – 28 March 1941) was an English novelist, essayist, diarist, epistler, publisher, feminist, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century.
During the interwar period, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Her most famous works include the novels Mrs Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927) and Orlando (1928), and the book-length essay A Room of One's Own (1929), with its famous dictum, "A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction."
Woolf began writing professionally in 1905, initially for the Times Literary Supplement with a journalistic piece about Haworth, home of the Brontë family. Her first novel, The Voyage Out, was published in 1915 by her half-brother's imprint, Gerald Duckworth and Company Ltd.
This novel was originally entitled Melymbrosia, but Woolf repeatedly changed the draft. An earlier version of The Voyage Out has been reconstructed by Woolf scholar Louise DeSalvo and is now available to the public under the intended title. DeSalvo argues that many of the changes Woolf made in the text were in response to changes in her own life.
Lytton Strachey and Virginia Woolf at Garsington, 1923.
Woolf went on to publish novels and essays as a public intellectual to both critical and popular success. Much of her work was self-published through the Hogarth Press. She has been hailed as one of the greatest novelists of the twentieth century and one of the foremost modernists.
Woolf is considered one of the greatest innovators in the English language. In her works she experimented with stream-of-consciousness and the underlying psychological as well as emotional motives of characters. Woolf's reputation declined sharply after World War II, but her eminence was re-established with the surge of Feminist criticism in the 1970s.
Her work was criticised for epitomizing the narrow world of the upper-middle class English intelligentsia. Some critics judged it to be lacking in universality and depth, without the power to communicate anything of emotional or ethical relevance to the disillusioned common reader, weary of the 1920s aesthetes. She was also criticized by some as an anti-semite, despite her being happily married to a Jewish man. This anti-semitism is drawn from the fact that she often wrote of Jewish characters in stereotypical archetypes and generalizations. The overwhelming and rising 1920s and 30s anti-semitism had an unavoidable influence on Virginia Woolf. She wrote in her diary, "I do not like the Jewish voice; I do not like the Jewish laugh." However, in a 1930 letter to the composer, Ethel Smyth, quoted in Nigel Nicolson's biography,Virginia Woolf, she recollects her boasts of Leonard's Jewishness confirming her snobbish tendencies, "How I hated marrying a Jew- What a snob I was, for they have immense vitality." In another letter to her dear friend Ethel Smyth, Virginia gives a scathing denunciation of Christianity, pointing to its self-righteous "egotism" and stating "my Jew has more religion in one toe nail--more human love, in one hair." Virginia and her husband Leonard Woolf actually hated and feared 1930s fascism with its anti-semitism knowing they were on Hitler's blacklist. Her 1938 book Three Guineas was an indictment of fascism.
Virginia Woolf's peculiarities as a fiction writer have tended to obscure her central strength: Woolf is arguably the major lyrical novelist in the English language. Her novels are highly experimental: a narrative, frequently uneventful and commonplace, is refracted—and sometimes almost dissolved—in the characters' receptive consciousness. Intense lyricism and stylistic virtuosity fuse to create a world overabundant with auditory and visual impressions.
The intensity of Virginia Woolf's poetic vision elevates the ordinary, sometimes banal settings - often wartime environments - of most of her novels. For example, Mrs Dalloway (1925) centres on the efforts of Clarissa Dalloway, a middle-aged society woman, to organize a party, even as her life is paralleled with that of Septimus Warren Smith, a working-class veteran who has returned from the First World War bearing deep psychological scars.
To the Lighthouse (1927) is set on two days ten years apart. The plot centers around the Ramsay family's anticipation of and reflection upon a visit to a lighthouse and the connected familial tensions. One of the primary themes of the novel is the struggle in the creative process that beset painter Lily Briscoe while she struggles to paint in the midst of the family drama. The novel is also a meditation upon the lives of a nation's inhabitants in the midst of war, and of the people left behind. It also explores the passage of time, and how women are forced by society to allow men to take emotional strength from them.
Orlando (1928) has a different quality from all Virginia Woolf's other novels suggested by its subtitle, "A Biography", as it attempts to represent the character of a real person and is dedicated to Vita Sackville-West. It was meant to console Vita for being a girl and for the loss of her ancestral home, though it is also a satirical treatment of Vita and her work. In Orlando the techniques of historical biographers are being ridiculed; the character of a pompous biographer is being assumed in order for it to be mocked.
The Waves (1931) presents a group of six friends whose reflections, which are closer to recitatives than to interior monologues proper, create a wave-like atmosphere that is more akin to a prose poem than to a plot-centered novel.
Her last work, Between the Acts (1941) sums up and magnifies Woolf's chief preoccupations: the transformation of life through art, sexual ambivalence, and meditation on the themes of flux of time and life, presented simultaneously as corrosion and rejuvenation—all set in a highly imaginative and symbolic narrative encompassing almost all of English history. This book is the most lyrical of all her works, not only in feeling but in style being chiefly written in verse.
While nowhere near a simple recapitulation of the coterie's ideals, Woolf's work can be understood as consistently in dialogue with Bloomsbury, particularly its tendency (informed by G.E. Moore, among others) towards doctrinaire rationalism.
Her works have been translated into over 50 languages, by writers of the calibre of Jorge Luis Borges and Marguerite Yourcenar.
Modern scholarship and interpretations
Recently, studies of Virginia Woolf have focused on feminist and lesbian themes in her work, such as in the 1997 collection of critical essays, Virginia Woolf: Lesbian Readings, edited by Eileen Barrett and Patricia Cramer. More controversially, Louise A. DeSalvo reads most of Woolf's life and career through the lens of the incestuous sexual abuse Woolf experienced as a young woman in her 1989 book Virginia Woolf: The Impact of Childhood Sexual Abuse on her Life and Work.
Woolf's fiction is also studied for its insight into shell shock, war, class, and modern British society. Her best-known nonfiction works, A Room of One's Own (1929) and Three Guineas (1938), examine the difficulties female writers and intellectuals face because men hold disproportionate legal and economic power, and the future of women in education and society.
Irene Coates's book Who's Afraid of Leonard Woolf: A Case for the Sanity of Virginia Woolf takes the position that Leonard Woolf's treatment of his wife encouraged her ill health and ultimately was responsible for her death. The position, which is not accepted by Leonard's family, is extensively researched and fills in some of the gaps in the traditional account of Virginia Woolf's life. In contrast, Victoria Glendinning's book Leonard Woolf: A Biography, which is even more extensively researched and supported by contemporaneous writings, argues that Leonard Woolf was not only very supportive of his wife, but enabled her to live as long as she did by providing her with the life and atmosphere she needed to live and write. Accounts of Virginia's supposed anti-semitism (Leonard was a secular Jew) are not only taken out of historical context but greatly exaggerated. Virginia's own diaries support this view of the Woolfs' marriage.
Though at least one biography of Virginia Woolf appeared in her lifetime, the first authoritative study of her life was published in 1972 by her nephew, Quentin Bell.
In 1992, Thomas Caramagno published the book The Flight of the Mind: Virginia Woolf's Art and Manic-Depressive Illness."
Hermione Lee's 1996 biography Virginia Woolf provides a thorough and authoritative examination of Woolf's life and work.
In 2001 Louise DeSalvo and Mitchell A. Leaska edited The Letters of Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf. Julia Briggs's Virginia Woolf: An Inner Life, published in 2005, is the most recent examination of Woolf's life. It focuses on Woolf's writing, including her novels and her commentary on the creative process, to illuminate her life. Thomas Szasz's book My Madness Saved Me: The Madness and Marriage of Virginia Woolf (ISBN 0-7658-0321-6) was published in 2006.
Rita Martin’s play Flores no me pongan (2006) considers Woolf's last minutes of life in order to debate polemical issues such as bisexuality, Jewishness, and war. Written in Spanish, the play was performed in Miami under the direction of actress Miriam Bermudez.
In films
* Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was an American play (1962) by Edward Albee and film (1966) directed by Mike Nichols (screenplay by Ernest Lehman adapted from the play). Virginia Woolf does not appear as a character. According to the playwright, the title of the play — which is about a dysfunctional university married couple — refers to an academic joke about "who's afraid of living life without false illusions".
* Virginia Woolf is a character in the film The Hours (2002). She is portrayed by Nicole Kidman.
Bibliography
See also: Bibliography of Virginia Woolf
Novels
* The Voyage Out (1915)
* Night and Day (1919)
* Jacob's Room (1922)
* Mrs Dalloway (1925)
* To the Lighthouse (1927)
* Orlando (1928)
* The Waves (1931)
* The Years (1937)
* Between the Acts (1941)
Short story collections
* Kew Gardens (1919)
* Monday or Tuesday (1921)
* The New Dress (1924)
* A Haunted House and Other Short Stories (1944)
* Mrs Dalloway's Party (1973)
* The Complete Shorter Fiction (1985)
"Biographies"
Virginia Woolf published three books to which she gave the subtitle "A Biography":
* Orlando: A Biography (1928, usually characterised Novel, inspired by the life of Vita Sackville-West)
* Flush: A Biography (1933, more explicitly cross-genre: fiction as "stream of consciousness" tale by Flush, a dog; non-fiction in the sense of telling the story of the owner of the dog, Elizabeth Barrett Browning)
* Roger Fry: A Biography (1940, usually characterised non-fiction, however: " novelistic skills worked against her talent as a biographer, for her impressionistic observations jostled uncomfortably with the simultaneous need to marshall a multitude of facts.")
Non-fiction books
* Modern Fiction (1919)
* The Common Reader (1925)
* A Room of One's Own (1929)
* On Being Ill (1930)
* The London Scene (1931)
* The Common Reader: Second Series (1932)
* Three Guineas (1938)
* The Death of the Moth and Other Essays (1942)
* The Moment and Other Essays (1947)
* The Captain's Death Bed And Other Essays (1950)
* Granite and Rainbow (1958)
* Books and Portraits (1978)
* Women And Writing (1979)
* Collected Essays (four volumes)
Drama
* Freshwater: A Comedy (performed in 1923, revised in 1935, and published in 1976)
Autobiographical writings and diaries
* A Writer’s Diary (1953) - Extracts from the complete diary
* Moments of Being (1976)
* A Moment's Liberty: the shorter diary (1990)
* The Diary of Virginia Woolf (five volumes) - Diary of Virginia Woolf from 1915 to 1941
* Passionate Apprentice: The Early Journals, 1897-1909 (1990)
* Travels With Virginia Woolf (1993) - Greek travel diary of Virginia Woolf, edited by Jan Morris
* The Platform of Time: Memoirs of Family and Friends, Expanded Edition, edited by S. P. Rosenbaum (London, Hesperus, 2008)
Letters
* Congenial Spirits: The Selected Letters (1993)
* The Letters of Virginia Woolf 1888-1941 (six volumes, 1975–1980)
* Paper Darts: The Illustrated Letters of Virginia Woolf (1991)
Prefaces, contributions
* Selections Autobiographical and Imaginative from the Works of George Gissing ed. Alfred C. Gissing, with an introduction by Virginia Woolf (London & New York, 1929)
Biographies
* Virginia Woolf by Nigel Nicolson. New York, Penguin Group. 2000
* Virginia Woolf: A Biography by Quentin Bell. New York, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1972; Revised editions 1990, 1996
* "Vanessa and Virginia" by Susan Sellers (Two Ravens, 2008; Harcourt 2009)
* The Unknown Virginia Woolf by Roger Poole. Cambridge UP, 1978.
* The Invisible Presence: Virginia Woolf and the Mother-Daughter Relationship by Ellen Bayuk Rosenman. Louisiana State University Press, 1986.
* Virginia Woolf and the politics of style, by Pamela J. Transue. SUNY Press, 1986. ISBN 0887062865.
* The Victorian heritage of Virginia Woolf: the external world in her novels, by Janis M. Paul. Pilgrim Books, 1987. ISBN 0937664731.
* Virginia Woolf's To the lighthouse, by Harold Bloom. Chelsea House, 1988. ISBN 1555460348.
* Virginia Woolf: the frames of art and life, by C. Ruth Miller. Macmillan, 1988. ISBN 0333448804.
* Virginia Woolf: The Impact of Childhood Sexual Abuse on Her Life and Work by Louise DeSalvo. Boston: Little Brown, 1989
* A Virginia Woolf Chronology by Edward Bishop. Boston: G.K. Hall & Co., 1989.
* A Very Close Conspiracy: Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf by Jane Dunn. Boston: Little, Brown, 1990
* Virginia Woolf: A Writer's Life by Lyndall Gordon. New York: Norton, 1984; 1991.
* Virginia Woolf and war, by Mark Hussey. Syracuse University Press, 1991. ISBN 0815625375.
* The Flight of the Mind: Virginia Woolf's Art and Manic-Depressive Illness by Thomas D. Caramago. Berkeley: U of California Press, 1992
* Virginia Woolf by James King. NY: W.W. Norton, 1994.
* Art and Affection: A Life of Virginia Woolf by Panthea Reid. New York: Oxford UP, 1996.
* Virginia Woolf by Hermione Lee. New York: Knopf, 1997.
* Granite and Rainbow: The Hidden Life of Virginia Woolf by Mitchell Leaska. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998.
* The Feminist Aesthetics of Virginia Woolf, by Jane Goldman. Cambridge University Press, 2001. ISBN 0521794587.
* Virginia Woolf and the nineteenth-century domestic novel, by Emily Blair. SUNY Press, 2002. ISBN 0791471195.
* Virginia Woolf: becoming a writer, by Katherine Dalsimer. Yale University Press, 2002. ISBN 0300092083.
* Virginia Woolf: The Will to Create as a Woman by Ruth Gruber. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2005
* My Madness Saved Me: The Madness and Marriage of Virginia Woolf by Thomas Szasz, 2006
* Virginia Woolf: An Inner Life, by Julia Briggs. Harcourt, 2006. ISBN 0156032295.
* The Bedside, Bathtub and Armchair Companion to Virginia Woolf and Bloomsbury by Sarah M. Hall, Continuum Publishing, 2007
* Virginia Woolf and the Visible World, by Emily Dalgarno. Cambridge University Press, 2007. ISBN 0521033608,.
* A Life of One's Own: A Guide to Better Living through the Work and Wisdom of Virginia Woolf by Ilana Simons, New York: Penguin Press, 2007
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/25/10 at 6:37 am
The person who died on this day...Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress.
She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared in supporting roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers (1946). She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her work in Mogambo (1953). She appeared in several popular films during the 1950s, and received BAFTA Award nominations for her performances in Bhowani Junction (1956), On the Beach (1959) and The Night of the Iguana (1964).
She is listed as one of the American Film Institute's greatest stars of all time
In 1941, a Loews Theatres legal clerk, Barnard "Barney" Duhan, spotted Gardner's photo in Tarr's studio. At the time, Duhan often posed as an MGM talent scout to meet girls, using the fact that MGM was a subsidiary of Loews. Duhan entered Tarr's and tried to get Gardner's number, but was rebuffed by the receptionist. Duhan made the offhand comment, "Somebody should send her info to MGM", and the Tarrs did so immediately. Shortly after, Gardner, who at the time was a student at Atlantic Christian College, traveled to New York to be interviewed at MGM's New York office. She was offered a standard contract by MGM, and left school for Hollywood in 1941 with her sister Bappie accompanying her. MGM's first order of business was to provide her a voice coach, as her Carolina drawl was nearly incomprehensible to them.
Oscar nomination
Gardner was nominated for an Academy Award for Mogambo (1953); the award was won by Audrey Hepburn for Roman Holiday. Her performance as Maxine Faulk in The Night of the Iguana (1964), was well reviewed, and she was nominated a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe.
Other films include The Hucksters (1947), Showboat (1951), The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952), 1954's The Barefoot Contessa (which some consider to be Gardner's "signature film" which mirrored her real life custom of going barefoot), Bhowani Junction (1956), The Sun Also Rises in which she played party-girl Brett Ashley (1957), and the film version of Neville Shute's best-selling On the Beach, co-starring Gregory Peck. Off-camera, she could be witty and pithy, as in her assessment of director John Ford, who directed Mogambo ("The meanest man on earth. Thoroughly evil. Adored him!")
Later life
In 1966, Gardner briefly sought the role of Mrs. Robinson in Mike Nichols' The Graduate (1967). She reportedly called Nichols and said, "I want to see you! I want to talk about this Graduate thing!" Nichols never seriously considered her for the part, but he did visit her hotel, where he later recounted that "she sat at a little French desk with a telephone, she went through every movie star cliché. She said, "All right, let's talk about your movie. First of all, I strip for nobody.'"
Gardner moved to London, England in 1968, undergoing an elective hysterectomy to allay her worries of contracting the uterine cancer that had claimed the life of her own mother. That year, she made what some consider to be one of her best films, Mayerling, in which she played the Austrian Empress Elisabeth of Austria opposite James Mason as Emperor Franz Joseph I. She appeared in a number of disaster films throughout the 1970s, notably Earthquake (1974), The Cassandra Crossing (1976), and the Canadian movie City on Fire (1979). Her last movie was Regina Roma (1982).
Marriages and relationships
Mickey Rooney
Soon after her arrival in Los Angeles, Gardner met fellow MGM contract player Mickey Rooney; they married on January 10, 1942 in Ballard, California; she was 19 years old and he was 21. Gardner made several movies before 1946, but it wasn't until she starred in The Killers with Burt Lancaster, that she became a star as well as a sex symbol. Rooney and Gardner divorced in 1943. He later reputedly rhapsodized about their sex life, but Gardner retorted, "Well, honey, he may have enjoyed the sex, but I didn't." She once characterized their marriage as "Love Finds Andy Hardy".
Artie Shaw
Gardner's second marriage was to jazz musician and band leader Artie Shaw, from 1945 to 1946.
Frank Sinatra
Gardner's third and last marriage (1951-1957) was to singer and actor Frank Sinatra. She would later say in her autobiography that of all the men she'd had - that he was the love of her life. Sinatra left his wife, Nancy, for Ava and their subsequent marriage made headlines. Sinatra was savaged by gossip columnists Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons, the Hollywood establishment, the Catholic church, and by his fans for leaving his wife for a "femme fatale". His career suffered, while hers prospered - the headlines solidifying her screen siren image. Gardner used her considerable clout to get Sinatra cast in his Oscar-winning role in From Here to Eternity (1953). That role and the award revitalized both Sinatra's acting and singing careers. Gardner said of her relationship with Sinatra, "We were great in bed. It was usually on the way to the bidet when the trouble began."
During their marriage Gardner became pregnant twice, but she had two abortions. "MGM had all sorts of penalty clauses about their stars having babies", she said. She said years later, "We couldn't even take care of ourselves. How were we going to take care of a baby?" Gardner and Sinatra remained good friends for the rest of her life.
Howard Hughes
Gardner became a friend of billionaire aviator Howard Hughes in the early to mid-1940s, a close relationship that lasted well into the 1950s. Although he made numerous marriage proposals, Ava did not consider him a romantic interest, as she was put off by his eccentric ways.
Luis Miguel Dominguín
Gardner divorced Sinatra in 1957 and headed to Spain where her friendship with famed writer Ernest Hemingway led to her becoming a fan of bullfighting and bullfighters such as Luis Miguel Dominguín, who became her lover. "It was a sort of madness, honey", she said later of the time.
Final years
After a lifetime of smoking, Gardner suffered from emphysema, in addition to an autoimmune disorder (which may have been lupus). Two strokes in 1986 left her partially paralyzed and bedridden. Although Gardner could afford her medical expenses, Sinatra wanted to pay for her to visit a specialist in the United States, and she allowed him to make the arrangements for a medically-staffed private plane. Her last words (to her housekeeper Carmen), were reportedly, "I'm so tired", before she died of pneumonia at the age of 67. After her death, Sinatra's daughter Tina found him slumped in his room, crying, and unable to speak.
Gardner was not only the love of his life but also the inspiration for one of his most personal songs, "I'm a Fool to Want You", which Sinatra (who received a co-writing credit for the song) recorded twice, toward the end of his contract with Columbia Records and during his years on Capitol Records. ("It was Ava who taught him how to sing a torch song", Sinatra arranger Nelson Riddle was once quoted as saying.) It has been reported that Sinatra attended her funeral, due to the presence of a black limousine parked behind the crowd of 500 mourners. Instead, a hairstylist from Fayetteville, North Carolina had felt that a limousine was the only appropriate mode of transportation to Gardner's funeral. A floral arrangement at Gardner's graveside simply read: "With My Love, Francis".
Last acting roles
Gardner's acting career began to lose momentum after this, and although she continued infrequently to work in films and on television (Knots Landing).
Death
Gardner died in her London home in 1990, from pneumonia, following several years of declining health.
Remembered in song
"Frank and Ava", a song by Suzanne Vega
Gravesite
Gardner was buried in the Sunset Memorial Park, Smithfield, North Carolina, next to her brothers and their parents, Jonah (1878-1938) and Mollie Gardner (1883-1943). The town of Smithfield now has an Ava Gardner Museum.
Film Portrayals
Gardner has been portrayed by Marcia Gay Harden in the TV miniseries Sinatra, Deborah Kara Unger in HBO's The Rat Pack, and Kate Beckinsale in the 2004 Howard Hughes biopic, The Aviator.
Filmography
Year Film Role Notes
1941 Shadow of the Thin Man Passerby
H.M. Pulham, Esq. Young Socialite
Babes on Broadway Pitt-Astor Girl
1942 Joe Smith - American Miss Maynard, Secretary
This Time for Keeps Girl in car lighting cigarette
Kid Glove Killer Car Hop
Sunday Punch Ringsider
Calling Dr. Gillespie Graduating student at Miss Hope's
Reunion in France Marie, a salesgirl
1943 Hitler's Madman Franciska Pritric a Student
Ghosts on the Loose Betty
Young Ideas Co-ed
Du Barry Was a Lady Perfume Girl
Swing Fever Receptionist
Lost Angel Hat Check Girl
1944 Two Girls and a Sailor Dream Girl
Three Men in White Jean Brown
Maisie Goes to Reno Gloria Fullerton
Blonde Fever Bit Role
1945 She Went to the Races Hilda Spotts
1946 Whistle Stop Mary
The Killers Kitty Collins
1947 Singapore Linda Grahame/Ann Van Leyden
The Hucksters Jean Ogilvie
1948 One Touch of Venus Venus
1945 The Bribe Elizabeth Hintten
The Great Sinner Pauline Ostrovsky
East Side, West Side Isabel Lorrison
1951 Pandora and the Flying Dutchman Pandora Reynolds
My Forbidden Past Barbara Beaurevel
Show Boat Julie LaVerne
1952 Lone Star Martha Ronda
The Snows of Kilimanjaro Cynthia Green
1953 Knights of the Round Table Guinevere
Ride, Vaquero! Cordelia Cameron
The Band Wagon Herself
Mogambo Honey Bear Kelly Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
1954 The Barefoot Contessa Maria Vargas
1956 Bhowani Junction Victoria Jones Nominated — BAFTA for Best Foreign Actress
1957 The Little Hut Lady Susan Ashlow
The Sun Also Rises Lady Brett Ashley
1958 The Naked Maja Maria Cayetana, Duchess of Alba
1959 On the Beach Moira Davidson Nominated — BAFTA for Best Foreign Actress
1960 The Angel Wore Red Soledad
1963 55 Days at Peking Baroness Natalie Ivanoff
1964 Seven Days in May Eleanor Holbrook
The Night of the Iguana Maxine Faulk Nominated — BAFTA for Best Foreign Actress
Nominated — Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actress - Drama
1966 The Bible: In The Beginning Sarah
1968 Mayerling Empress Elizabeth
1970 Tam-Lin Michaela Cazaret
1972 The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean Lily Langtry
1974 Earthquake Remy Royce-Graff
1975 Permission to Kill Katina Petersen
1976 The Blue Bird Luxury
The Cassandra Crossing Nicole Dressler
1977 The Sentinel Miss Logan
1979 City on Fire Maggie Grayson
1980 The Kidnapping of the President Beth Richards
1981 Priest of Love Mabel Dodge Luhan
1982 Regina Roma Mama
http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr157/Mynock9/Film%20and%20Hollywood/GardnerAva_01.jpg
http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr157/Mynock9/Film%20and%20Hollywood/GardnerAva_03.jpg
http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr229/ruit48/Ava_Gardner_1.jpg
http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o342/Sinned2471/ava-gardner.jpg
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: gibbo on 01/25/10 at 7:00 am
Ava Gardner was one of the handful of true Hollywood beauties. However, another sad, unhappy life.... :-\\
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/25/10 at 7:45 am
The person who died on this day...Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress.
She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared in supporting roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers (1946). She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her work in Mogambo (1953). She appeared in several popular films during the 1950s, and received BAFTA Award nominations for her performances in Bhowani Junction (1956), On the Beach (1959) and The Night of the Iguana (1964).
She is listed as one of the American Film Institute's greatest stars of all time
In 1941, a Loews Theatres legal clerk, Barnard "Barney" Duhan, spotted Gardner's photo in Tarr's studio. At the time, Duhan often posed as an MGM talent scout to meet girls, using the fact that MGM was a subsidiary of Loews. Duhan entered Tarr's and tried to get Gardner's number, but was rebuffed by the receptionist. Duhan made the offhand comment, "Somebody should send her info to MGM", and the Tarrs did so immediately. Shortly after, Gardner, who at the time was a student at Atlantic Christian College, traveled to New York to be interviewed at MGM's New York office. She was offered a standard contract by MGM, and left school for Hollywood in 1941 with her sister Bappie accompanying her. MGM's first order of business was to provide her a voice coach, as her Carolina drawl was nearly incomprehensible to them.
Oscar nomination
Gardner was nominated for an Academy Award for Mogambo (1953); the award was won by Audrey Hepburn for Roman Holiday. Her performance as Maxine Faulk in The Night of the Iguana (1964), was well reviewed, and she was nominated a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe.
Other films include The Hucksters (1947), Showboat (1951), The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952), 1954's The Barefoot Contessa (which some consider to be Gardner's "signature film" which mirrored her real life custom of going barefoot), Bhowani Junction (1956), The Sun Also Rises in which she played party-girl Brett Ashley (1957), and the film version of Neville Shute's best-selling On the Beach, co-starring Gregory Peck. Off-camera, she could be witty and pithy, as in her assessment of director John Ford, who directed Mogambo ("The meanest man on earth. Thoroughly evil. Adored him!")
Later life
In 1966, Gardner briefly sought the role of Mrs. Robinson in Mike Nichols' The Graduate (1967). She reportedly called Nichols and said, "I want to see you! I want to talk about this Graduate thing!" Nichols never seriously considered her for the part, but he did visit her hotel, where he later recounted that "she sat at a little French desk with a telephone, she went through every movie star cliché. She said, "All right, let's talk about your movie. First of all, I strip for nobody.'"
Gardner moved to London, England in 1968, undergoing an elective hysterectomy to allay her worries of contracting the uterine cancer that had claimed the life of her own mother. That year, she made what some consider to be one of her best films, Mayerling, in which she played the Austrian Empress Elisabeth of Austria opposite James Mason as Emperor Franz Joseph I. She appeared in a number of disaster films throughout the 1970s, notably Earthquake (1974), The Cassandra Crossing (1976), and the Canadian movie City on Fire (1979). Her last movie was Regina Roma (1982).
Marriages and relationships
Mickey Rooney
Soon after her arrival in Los Angeles, Gardner met fellow MGM contract player Mickey Rooney; they married on January 10, 1942 in Ballard, California; she was 19 years old and he was 21. Gardner made several movies before 1946, but it wasn't until she starred in The Killers with Burt Lancaster, that she became a star as well as a sex symbol. Rooney and Gardner divorced in 1943. He later reputedly rhapsodized about their sex life, but Gardner retorted, "Well, honey, he may have enjoyed the sex, but I didn't." She once characterized their marriage as "Love Finds Andy Hardy".
Artie Shaw
Gardner's second marriage was to jazz musician and band leader Artie Shaw, from 1945 to 1946.
Frank Sinatra
Gardner's third and last marriage (1951-1957) was to singer and actor Frank Sinatra. She would later say in her autobiography that of all the men she'd had - that he was the love of her life. Sinatra left his wife, Nancy, for Ava and their subsequent marriage made headlines. Sinatra was savaged by gossip columnists Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons, the Hollywood establishment, the Catholic church, and by his fans for leaving his wife for a "femme fatale". His career suffered, while hers prospered - the headlines solidifying her screen siren image. Gardner used her considerable clout to get Sinatra cast in his Oscar-winning role in From Here to Eternity (1953). That role and the award revitalized both Sinatra's acting and singing careers. Gardner said of her relationship with Sinatra, "We were great in bed. It was usually on the way to the bidet when the trouble began."
During their marriage Gardner became pregnant twice, but she had two abortions. "MGM had all sorts of penalty clauses about their stars having babies", she said. She said years later, "We couldn't even take care of ourselves. How were we going to take care of a baby?" Gardner and Sinatra remained good friends for the rest of her life.
Howard Hughes
Gardner became a friend of billionaire aviator Howard Hughes in the early to mid-1940s, a close relationship that lasted well into the 1950s. Although he made numerous marriage proposals, Ava did not consider him a romantic interest, as she was put off by his eccentric ways.
Luis Miguel Dominguín
Gardner divorced Sinatra in 1957 and headed to Spain where her friendship with famed writer Ernest Hemingway led to her becoming a fan of bullfighting and bullfighters such as Luis Miguel Dominguín, who became her lover. "It was a sort of madness, honey", she said later of the time.
Final years
After a lifetime of smoking, Gardner suffered from emphysema, in addition to an autoimmune disorder (which may have been lupus). Two strokes in 1986 left her partially paralyzed and bedridden. Although Gardner could afford her medical expenses, Sinatra wanted to pay for her to visit a specialist in the United States, and she allowed him to make the arrangements for a medically-staffed private plane. Her last words (to her housekeeper Carmen), were reportedly, "I'm so tired", before she died of pneumonia at the age of 67. After her death, Sinatra's daughter Tina found him slumped in his room, crying, and unable to speak.
Gardner was not only the love of his life but also the inspiration for one of his most personal songs, "I'm a Fool to Want You", which Sinatra (who received a co-writing credit for the song) recorded twice, toward the end of his contract with Columbia Records and during his years on Capitol Records. ("It was Ava who taught him how to sing a torch song", Sinatra arranger Nelson Riddle was once quoted as saying.) It has been reported that Sinatra attended her funeral, due to the presence of a black limousine parked behind the crowd of 500 mourners. Instead, a hairstylist from Fayetteville, North Carolina had felt that a limousine was the only appropriate mode of transportation to Gardner's funeral. A floral arrangement at Gardner's graveside simply read: "With My Love, Francis".
Last acting roles
Gardner's acting career began to lose momentum after this, and although she continued infrequently to work in films and on television (Knots Landing).
Death
Gardner died in her London home in 1990, from pneumonia, following several years of declining health.
Remembered in song
"Frank and Ava", a song by Suzanne Vega
Gravesite
Gardner was buried in the Sunset Memorial Park, Smithfield, North Carolina, next to her brothers and their parents, Jonah (1878-1938) and Mollie Gardner (1883-1943). The town of Smithfield now has an Ava Gardner Museum.
Film Portrayals
Gardner has been portrayed by Marcia Gay Harden in the TV miniseries Sinatra, Deborah Kara Unger in HBO's The Rat Pack, and Kate Beckinsale in the 2004 Howard Hughes biopic, The Aviator.
Filmography
Year Film Role Notes
1941 Shadow of the Thin Man Passerby
H.M. Pulham, Esq. Young Socialite
Babes on Broadway Pitt-Astor Girl
1942 Joe Smith - American Miss Maynard, Secretary
This Time for Keeps Girl in car lighting cigarette
Kid Glove Killer Car Hop
Sunday Punch Ringsider
Calling Dr. Gillespie Graduating student at Miss Hope's
Reunion in France Marie, a salesgirl
1943 Hitler's Madman Franciska Pritric a Student
Ghosts on the Loose Betty
Young Ideas Co-ed
Du Barry Was a Lady Perfume Girl
Swing Fever Receptionist
Lost Angel Hat Check Girl
1944 Two Girls and a Sailor Dream Girl
Three Men in White Jean Brown
Maisie Goes to Reno Gloria Fullerton
Blonde Fever Bit Role
1945 She Went to the Races Hilda Spotts
1946 Whistle Stop Mary
The Killers Kitty Collins
1947 Singapore Linda Grahame/Ann Van Leyden
The Hucksters Jean Ogilvie
1948 One Touch of Venus Venus
1945 The Bribe Elizabeth Hintten
The Great Sinner Pauline Ostrovsky
East Side, West Side Isabel Lorrison
1951 Pandora and the Flying Dutchman Pandora Reynolds
My Forbidden Past Barbara Beaurevel
Show Boat Julie LaVerne
1952 Lone Star Martha Ronda
The Snows of Kilimanjaro Cynthia Green
1953 Knights of the Round Table Guinevere
Ride, Vaquero! Cordelia Cameron
The Band Wagon Herself
Mogambo Honey Bear Kelly Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
1954 The Barefoot Contessa Maria Vargas
1956 Bhowani Junction Victoria Jones Nominated — BAFTA for Best Foreign Actress
1957 The Little Hut Lady Susan Ashlow
The Sun Also Rises Lady Brett Ashley
1958 The Naked Maja Maria Cayetana, Duchess of Alba
1959 On the Beach Moira Davidson Nominated — BAFTA for Best Foreign Actress
1960 The Angel Wore Red Soledad
1963 55 Days at Peking Baroness Natalie Ivanoff
1964 Seven Days in May Eleanor Holbrook
The Night of the Iguana Maxine Faulk Nominated — BAFTA for Best Foreign Actress
Nominated — Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actress - Drama
1966 The Bible: In The Beginning Sarah
1968 Mayerling Empress Elizabeth
1970 Tam-Lin Michaela Cazaret
1972 The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean Lily Langtry
1974 Earthquake Remy Royce-Graff
1975 Permission to Kill Katina Petersen
1976 The Blue Bird Luxury
The Cassandra Crossing Nicole Dressler
1977 The Sentinel Miss Logan
1979 City on Fire Maggie Grayson
1980 The Kidnapping of the President Beth Richards
1981 Priest of Love Mabel Dodge Luhan
1982 Regina Roma Mama
http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr157/Mynock9/Film%20and%20Hollywood/GardnerAva_01.jpg
http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr157/Mynock9/Film%20and%20Hollywood/GardnerAva_03.jpg
http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr229/ruit48/Ava_Gardner_1.jpg
http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o342/Sinned2471/ava-gardner.jpg
http://img.listal.com/image/503285/600full-ava-gardner.jpg
Ava in 1988.^
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: CatwomanofV on 01/25/10 at 8:42 am
A couple of my photos.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3055/2469514954_a855acf77f.jpg
Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico taken in 2008.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2123/2228399655_fd41e811c5.jpg
Guánica, Puerto Rico
This was taken on our trip to Puerto Rico in February, 2006. Carlos' father was stationed at this lighthouse when he was a cook in the Coast Guard. It was during this time that he met Carlos' mother. It is a shame that it has fallen into disarray. The photo was taken with my film camera. We just went past this lighthouse yesterday.
Cat
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/25/10 at 9:23 am
A couple of my photos.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3055/2469514954_a855acf77f.jpg
Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico taken in 2008.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2123/2228399655_fd41e811c5.jpg
Guánica, Puerto Rico
This was taken on our trip to Puerto Rico in February, 2006. Carlos' father was stationed at this lighthouse when he was a cook in the Coast Guard. It was during this time that he met Carlos' mother. It is a shame that it has fallen into disarray. The photo was taken with my film camera. We just went past this lighthouse yesterday.
Cat
Very nice :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/25/10 at 9:24 am
Ava Gardner was one of the handful of true Hollywood beauties. However, another sad, unhappy life.... :-\\
So true,I wonder if she ever found true love :-\\
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/25/10 at 8:17 pm
A couple of my photos.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3055/2469514954_a855acf77f.jpg
Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico taken in 2008.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2123/2228399655_fd41e811c5.jpg
Guánica, Puerto Rico
This was taken on our trip to Puerto Rico in February, 2006. Carlos' father was stationed at this lighthouse when he was a cook in the Coast Guard. It was during this time that he met Carlos' mother. It is a shame that it has fallen into disarray. The photo was taken with my film camera. We just went past this lighthouse yesterday.
Cat
quite beautiful. :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Womble on 01/25/10 at 8:18 pm
Great pics. Thanks for posting. :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/25/10 at 8:19 pm
So true,I wonder if she ever found true love :-\\
Was she single or did she marry?
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/25/10 at 10:16 pm
Great pics. Thanks for posting. :)
Your Welcome :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/25/10 at 10:18 pm
Was she single or did she marry?
She was married to Mickey Rooney,Artie Shaw & Frank Sinatra. she also dated Howard Hughes and bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguín
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Frank on 01/26/10 at 2:24 am
Canadian person of the day: Wayne Gretzky born January 26, 1961 in Brantford, Ontario, Canada
Nicknamed "The Great One", Gretzky was called "the greatest player of all time" in Total Hockey: The Official Encyclopedia of the NHL. He is generally regarded as the best player in the history of the NHL,and has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters, players, and coaches. Upon his retirement on April 18, 1999, he held forty regular-season records, fifteen playoff records, and six All-Star records. He is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season—a feat he accomplished four times. In addition, he tallied over 100 points in 15 WHA/NHL seasons, 14 of them consecutive. Gretzky's jersey number, 99, has been retired by all teams in the National Hockey League.
Wayne Gretzky held or shared 61 NHL records upon his retirement on April 18, 1999, including 40 regular season records, 15 playoff records, and 6 all-star records.
http://fearandarrogance.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/wayne-gretzky-si-cover.jpg
The regular season records include most goals in a season (92), most assists in a season (163), and most points in a season (215). He also holds the record for the fastest 50 goals, accomplishing that feat in only 39 games and the record for most goals in a 50 game period (61, which he accomplished twice). In 1983–84, he had a 51-game point-scoring streak that has been compared to "Joltin' Joe" DiMaggio's streak in baseball, during which he averaged exactly three points per game, scoring 61 goals and 92 assists for 153 points.
Gretzky set impressive records in both regular season and post-season play, holding the record for most career regular season goals (894), assists (1,963), points (2,857), and hat tricks (50). The next closest player in total points for the regular season is Mark Messier at 1,887. Gretzky's point total including regular season and playoffs stands at an imposing 3,239. Gretzky also had more career assists than any other player has ever gained total points.
His 47 playoff points in 1985 and 31 assists in 1988 are still records for a single post-season round, and he holds the record for career playoff goals (122), assists (260), points (382), hat tricks (10), and game winning goals (24).
http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Sports/images-2/wayne-gretzky-edmonton-oilers.jpg
http://www.visiontech-usa.org/2009/Hayden/image006.jpg
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/26/10 at 8:25 am
Canadian person of the day: Wayne Gretzky born January 26, 1961 in Brantford, Ontario, Canada
Nicknamed "The Great One", Gretzky was called "the greatest player of all time" in Total Hockey: The Official Encyclopedia of the NHL. He is generally regarded as the best player in the history of the NHL,and has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters, players, and coaches. Upon his retirement on April 18, 1999, he held forty regular-season records, fifteen playoff records, and six All-Star records. He is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season—a feat he accomplished four times. In addition, he tallied over 100 points in 15 WHA/NHL seasons, 14 of them consecutive. Gretzky's jersey number, 99, has been retired by all teams in the National Hockey League.
Wayne Gretzky held or shared 61 NHL records upon his retirement on April 18, 1999, including 40 regular season records, 15 playoff records, and 6 all-star records.
http://fearandarrogance.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/wayne-gretzky-si-cover.jpg
The regular season records include most goals in a season (92), most assists in a season (163), and most points in a season (215). He also holds the record for the fastest 50 goals, accomplishing that feat in only 39 games and the record for most goals in a 50 game period (61, which he accomplished twice). In 1983–84, he had a 51-game point-scoring streak that has been compared to "Joltin' Joe" DiMaggio's streak in baseball, during which he averaged exactly three points per game, scoring 61 goals and 92 assists for 153 points.
Gretzky set impressive records in both regular season and post-season play, holding the record for most career regular season goals (894), assists (1,963), points (2,857), and hat tricks (50). The next closest player in total points for the regular season is Mark Messier at 1,887. Gretzky's point total including regular season and playoffs stands at an imposing 3,239. Gretzky also had more career assists than any other player has ever gained total points.
His 47 playoff points in 1985 and 31 assists in 1988 are still records for a single post-season round, and he holds the record for career playoff goals (122), assists (260), points (382), hat tricks (10), and game winning goals (24).
http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Sports/images-2/wayne-gretzky-edmonton-oilers.jpg
http://www.visiontech-usa.org/2009/Hayden/image006.jpg
I had a feeling you would pick him :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/26/10 at 8:32 am
The word of the day...Fish
A fish is a creature that lives in water and has a tail and fins. There are many different kinds of fish.
Fish is the flesh of a fish eaten as food.
If you fish, you try to catch fish, either for food or as a form of sport or recreation.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/danakscully64/fish01.jpg
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q47/ceolmor2002/meandmypets042.jpg
http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af211/SKIHNTR/Fish.jpg
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/26/10 at 8:37 am
The birthday of the day...Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen Lee DeGeneres (born January 26, 1958) is an American stand-up comedienne, television hostess and actress. She hosts the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and is also a judge on American Idol, having joined the show in its ninth season.
She has hosted both the Academy Awards and the Primetime Emmys. As a film actress, she starred in Mr. Wrong, appeared in EDtv and The Love Letter, and provided the voice of Dory in the Disney-Pixar's animated film Finding Nemo. She also starred in two television sitcoms, Ellen from 1994 to 1998 and The Ellen Show from 2001 to 2002. In 1997, during the fourth season of Ellen, she came out publicly as a lesbian in an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Shortly afterwards, her character Ellen Morgan also came out to a therapist played by Winfrey and the series went on to explore various LGBT issues as well as the coming out process. She has won twelve Emmys and numerous awards for her work and charitable efforts.
DeGeneres started performing stand-up comedy at small clubs and coffeehouses. By 1981 she was the emcee at Clyde's Comedy Club in New Orleans. Degeneres describes Woody Allen and Steve Martin as her main influences at this time. In the early 1980s she began to tour nationally, being named Showtime's Funniest Person in America in 1982. In 1986 she appeared for the first time on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, who likened her to Bob Newhart. When Carson invited her over for an onscreen chat after her performance, she became the first female comedian in the show's history to whom this honor was bestowed.
Early screen work
Television and film work in the late 1980s and early 1990s included roles on television in Open House and in the film Coneheads.
Ellen (sitcom, 1994–1998)
At the Governor's Ball after the 46th Annual Emmy Awards telecast, Sept. 1994
DeGeneres' comedy material became the basis of the successful 1994-1998 sitcom Ellen, named These Friends of Mine during its first season. The ABC show was popular in its first few seasons due in part to DeGeneres' style of quirky observational humor; it was often referred to as a "female Seinfeld."
Ellen reached its height of popularity in February 1997, when DeGeneres made her homosexuality public on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Subsequently her character on the sitcom came out of the closet in April to her therapist, played by Oprah Winfrey, that she was gay. The coming out episode, entitled "The Puppy Episode", was one of the highest-rated episodes of the show, but later episodes of the series would fail to match its popularity, and after declining ratings, the show was canceled. DeGeneres returned to the stand-up comedy circuit, and would later re-establish herself as a successful talk show host.
Ellen's Energy Adventure
DeGeneres starred in a series of films for a show named Ellen's Energy Adventure, which is part of the Universe of Energy attraction and pavilion at Walt Disney World's Epcot. The film also featured Bill Nye, Alex Trebek, Michael Richards and Jamie Lee Curtis. The show revolved around DeGeneres falling asleep and finding herself in an energy-themed version of Jeopardy!, playing against an old rival, portrayed by Curtis, and Albert Einstein. The next film had DeGeneres hosting an educational look at energy, co-hosted with Nye. The ride first opened on September 15, 1996, as Ellen's Energy Crisis but was quickly renamed to the more positive-sounding Ellen's Energy Adventure.
The Ellen Show
DeGeneres returned to series television in 2001 with a new CBS sitcom, The Ellen Show. Though her character was again a lesbian, it was not the central theme of the show.
2001 Emmy Awards
DeGeneres received wide exposure on November 4, 2001 when she hosted the televised broadcast of the Emmy Awards. Presented after two cancellations due to network concerns that a lavish ceremony following the September 11, 2001 attacks would appear insensitive, the show required a more somber tone that would also allow viewers to temporarily forget the tragedy. DeGeneres received several standing ovations for her performance that evening which included the line: "What would bug the Taliban more than seeing a gay woman in a suit surrounded by Jews?"
In August 2005, DeGeneres hosted the 2005 Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony which was held on September 18, 2005. This was three weeks after Hurricane Katrina, making it the second time she hosted the Emmys following a national tragedy. She also hosted the Grammy Awards in 1996 and in 1997.
Voice acting
DeGeneres lent her voice to the role of Dory, a fish with short-term memory loss, in the summer 2003 hit animated Disney/Pixar film Finding Nemo. The film's director, Andrew Stanton, claimed that he chose her because she "changed the subject five times before one sentence had finished" on her show. For her performance as Dory, DeGeneres won the Saturn Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films for "Best Supporting Actress"; "Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie" from the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards; and the Annie Award from the International Animated Film Association for "Outstanding Voice Acting". She was also nominated for a Chicago Film Critics Association Award in the "Best Supporting Actress" category. She also provided the voice of the dog in the prologue of the Eddie Murphy feature film Dr. Dolittle.
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
DeGeneres launched a daytime television talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show in September 2003. Amid a crop of several celebrity-hosted talk shows surfacing at the beginning of that season, such as those of Sharon Osbourne and Rita Rudner, her show has consistently risen in the Nielsen Ratings and received widespread critical praise. It was nominated for 11 Daytime Emmy Awards in its first season, winning four, including Best Talk Show. The show has won 25 Emmy Awards in its first three seasons on the air. DeGeneres is known for her dancing and singing with the audience at the beginning of the show and during commercial breaks. She often gives away free prizes and trips to her studio audience with the help of her sponsors.
DeGeneres celebrated her thirty-year class reunion by flying her graduating class to California to be guests on her show in February 2006. She presented Atlanta High School with a surprise gift of a new electronic LED marquee sign.
In May 2006, DeGeneres made a surprise appearance at the Tulane University commencement in New Orleans. Following George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton to the podium, she came out in a bathrobe and furry slippers. "They told me everyone would be wearing robes," she said.
The show broadcast for a week from Universal Studios Orlando in March 2007. Guests that week included Jennifer Lopez and Lynyrd Skynyrd, and skits included DeGeneres going on the Hulk Roller Coaster Ride and the Jaws Boat Ride.
In May 2007, DeGeneres was placed on bed rest due to a torn ligament in her back. She continued hosting her show from a hospital bed, tended to by a nurse, explaining "the show must go on, as they say." Guests sat in hospital beds as well.
On May 1, 2009, DeGeneres celebrated her 1000th episode, featuring celebrity guests such as Oprah, Justin Timberlake, and Paris Hilton, among others.
79th Academy Awards
Ellen DeGeneres at the Emmy Awards, 1997
On September 7, 2006, DeGeneres was selected to host the 79th Academy Awards ceremony, which took place on February 25, 2007. This makes her the first openly gay or lesbian person to have hosted the event. During the Awards show DeGeneres said, "What a wonderful night, such diversity in the room, in a year when there's been so many negative things said about people's race, religion and sexual orientation. And I want to put this out there: if there weren't blacks, Jews and gays, there would be no Oscars, or anyone named Oscar, when you think about that." Reviews of her hosting gig were positive, with one saying, "DeGeneres rocked, as she never forgot that she wasn't just there to entertain the Oscar nominees but also to tickle the audience at home." In fact, Regis Philbin said in an interview that "the only complaint was there's not enough Ellen."
DeGeneres was nominated for an Emmy Award as host of the Academy Awards broadcast.
2007 Writers Guild strike
DeGeneres, like many actors who are also writers, is a member of both the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA). Thus, although DeGeneres verbally supported the 2007 WGA strike she did not support it when she crossed the picket line the day after the strike began. Her representatives said that she was competing with other first-run syndicated shows during the competitive November sweeps period, and that she could not break her contracts or risk her show lose its time slot. As a show of solidarity with the strikers, DeGeneres omitted her monologue during the strike, typically written by WGA writers. The WGA condemned her while the AFTRA defended her.
Commercial spokeswoman
In November 2004, DeGeneres appeared, dancing, in an ad campaign for American Express. Her most recent American Express commercial, a two-minute black-and-white spot where she works with animals, debuted in November 2006 and was created by Ogilvy and Mather. In 2007, the commercial won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Commercial.
DeGeneres began working with Cover Girl Cosmetics in September 2008, for which she has been criticized, as her animal-friendly values clash with Procter and Gamble's (the maker of Cover Girl Cosmetics) animal testing . Her face is the focus of new Cover Girl advertisements starting in January 2009. The beauty campaign will be DeGeneres' first.
American Idol
On September 9, 2009, it was confirmed that DeGeneres would replace Paula Abdul as a judge of the ninth season of American Idol. Her role will start only after the contestant auditions. DeGeneres also reportedly signed a contract to be a judge on the show for at least five seasons.
Personal life
DeGeneres was in a relationship (1997-2000) with former Another World actress Anne Heche who went on to marry cameraman Coley Laffoon. From 2001 to 2004, DeGeneres and actress/director/photographer Alexandra Hedison were in a relationship. They appeared on the cover of The Advocate after their separation had already been announced to the media.
Since 2004, DeGeneres has been in a relationship with former Ally McBeal and Arrested Development star Portia de Rossi. After the overturn of the same-sex marriage ban in California, DeGeneres announced on a May 2008 show that she and de Rossi were engaged, and gave de Rossi a three-carat pink diamond ring. They were married on August 16, 2008 at their home, with nineteen guests including their respective mothers. The passage of Proposition 8 cast doubt on the legal status of their marriage but a subsequent Supreme Court judgment validated it because it occurred before 4 November 2008.
They live in Beverly Hills, with three dogs and four cats, and both are vegan.
In her book, Love, Ellen, DeGeneres' mother, Betty DeGeneres, describes being initially shocked when her daughter came out as a lesbian, but has become one of her strongest supporters, an active member of Parents & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) and spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign's Coming Out Project. DeGeneres' mother is a breast cancer survivor.
In 2007, Forbes estimated DeGeneres' net worth as US$65 million.
Filmography
Year Film Role Notes
1990 Arduous Moon Herself Short film
1991 Wisecracks Herself Documentary
1993 Coneheads Coach
1994 Trevor Herself Short film
1996 Ellen's Energy Adventure Herself Short film
Mr. Wrong Martha Alston
1998 Goodbye Lover Sgt. Rita Pompano
Dr. Dolittle Prologue Dog Voice
1999 EDtv Cynthia
The Love Letter Janet Hall
2003 Pauly Shore Is Dead Herself
Finding Nemo Dory Voice
2004 My Short Film Herself Short film
Television
Year Film Role Notes
1988 Women of the Night Herself Comedy Special
1989 Open House Margo Van Mete Episode: "The Bad Seed"
Episode: "Let's Get Physicals"
1992 Laurie Hill Nancy MacIntyre Episode: "Pilot"
Episode: "The Heart Thing"
Episode: "Walter and Beverly"
1994-1998 Ellen Ellen Morgan 109 episodes
1995 Roseanne Dr. Whitman
Episode: "The Blaming of the Shrew"
1998 Mad About You Nancy Bloom Episode: "The Finale"
2000 If These Walls Could Talk 2 Kal Segment: "2000"
2001 On the Edge Operator Segment: "Reaching Normal"
2001-2002 The Ellen Show Ellen Richmond 18 episodes
2003 Ellen DeGeneres: Here and Now Herself Comedy Special
MADtv Herself Episode: "9.3"
2004 E! True Hollywood Story Herself
Six Feet Under Herself Parallel Play]]"
2007 Ellen's Really Big Show Herself
Sesame Street Herself Episode: "The Tutu Spell" (uncredited)
Forbes 20 Richest Women in Entertainment Herself
The Bachelorette Herself
2007-2008 American Idol: The Search for a Superstar Herself Episode: "Idol Gives Back 2007"
" Idol Gives Back 2008
2008 Ellen's Even Bigger Really Big Show Herself Comedy Special
2009 Ellen's Bigger, Longer & Wider Show Herself Comedy Special
So You Think You Can Dance Guest Judge Week 7; July 22, 2009
2003-present The Ellen DeGeneres Show Herself TV show
2010 American Idol Judge Starting with season 9.
Discography
Year Film Role Notes
1996 Ellen Degeneres: Taste This Stand-up comedy Live CD
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/26/10 at 8:53 am
The person who died on this day...Jose Ferrer
José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón (January 8, 1912 – January 26, 1992), best known as José Ferrer, was a Puerto Rican actor, as well as a theater and film director. He was the first Hispanic actor to win an Academy Award.
Ferrer made his Broadway debut in 1935. In 1940, he played his first starring role on Broadway, the title role in Charley's Aunt, partly in drag. He played Iago in Margaret Webster's 1943 Broadway production of Othello, starring Paul Robeson in the title role, Webster as Emilia, and Ferrer's wife at the time, Uta Hagen, as Desdemona. It became the longest-running production of a Shakespeare play staged in the U.S., a record it still holds. His Broadway directing credits include The Shrike, Stalag 17, The Fourposter, Twentieth Century, Carmelina, My Three Angels, and The Andersonville Trial.
Cyrano de Bergerac
Ferrer may be best-remembered for his performance in the title role of Cyrano de Bergerac, which he first played on Broadway in 1946. Ferrer feared that the production would be a failure in rehearsals due to the open dislike for the play by director Mel Ferrer (who was not related to José), so he called in Joshua Logan (who had directed his star-making performance in Charley's Aunt) to serve as "play doctor" for the production. Logan wrote that he simply had to eliminate pieces of business which director Ferrer had inserted in his staging; they presumably were intended to sabotage the more sentimental elements of the play that the director considered to be corny and in bad taste. The production became one of the hits of the 1946/47 Broadway season, winning José the first Tony Award for his depiction of the long-nosed poet/swordsman (tied with Fredric March for Ruth Gordon's play about her own early years as an actress, Years Ago).
He reprised the role of Cyrano onstage at the New York City Center under his own direction in 1953, as well as in two films: his Academy Award-winning turn in the 1950 film of Edmond Rostand's play directed by Michael Gordon and the 1964 French film Cyrano et d'Artagnan directed by Abel Gance. He also played Cyrano in two television productions, for The Philco Television Playhouse in 1949 and Producers' Showcase in 1953. Ferrer was nominated for an Emmy Award for both presentations, which (taken with his Oscar and Tony) made him the first (and to date, the only) performer to be nominated for all three awards for playing the same character.
Ferrer would go on to voice a highly truncated cartoon version of the play for an episode of The ABC Afterschool Special in 1974, and made his farewell to the part by performing a short passage from the play for the 1986 Tony Awards telecast.
Early films
Ferrer made his film debut in 1948 in the Technicolor epic Joan of Arc as the weak-willed Dauphin opposite Ingrid Bergman. Leading roles in the films Whirlpool (opposite Gene Tierney) (1949) and Crisis (opposite Cary Grant) (1950) followed, and culminated in the 1950 film Cyrano de Bergerac. He next played the role of Toulouse-Lautrec in John Huston's fictional 1952 biopic, Moulin Rouge.
Later stage career
Beginning circa 1950, Ferrer concentrated on film work, but would return to the stage occasionally. In 1959 Ferrer directed the original stage production of Saul Levitt's The Andersonville Trial, about the trial following the revelation of conditions at the infamous Civil War prison. It was a hit and featured George C. Scott. He took over the direction of the troubled musical Juno from Vincent J. Donehue, who had himself taken over from Tony Richardson. The show folded after 16 performances and mixed-to extremely negative critical reaction. The show's commercial failure (along with his earlier flop, Oh, Captain!), was a considerable setback to Ferrer's directing career. Nor did the short-lived The Girl Who Came to Supper do much for his acting career. A notable performance of his later stage career was as Miguel de Cervantes and his fictional creation Don Quixote in the hit musical Man of La Mancha. Ferrer took over the role from Richard Kiley in 1967, and subsequently went on tour with it in the first national company of the show.
Other filmwork
He portrayed the Rev. Davidson in 1953's Miss Sadie Thompson (a remake of Rain) opposite Rita Hayworth; Barney Greenwald, the embittered defense attorney, in 1954's The Caine Mutiny; and operetta composer Sigmund Romberg in the MGM musical biopic Deep in My Heart. In 1955 Ferrer directed himself in the film version of The Shrike, with June Allyson. The Cockleshell Heroes followed a year later, along with The Great Man, both of which he also directed. In 1958 Ferrer directed and appeared in I Accuse! (as Alfred Dreyfus) and The High Cost of Loving. Ferrer also directed, but did not appear in, Return to Peyton Place in 1961 and also the remake of State Fair in 1962.
Ferrer's other notable film roles include the Turkish Bey in Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Herod Antipas in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), a budding Nazi in Ship of Fools, a pompous professor in Woody Allen's A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982), the treacherous Professor Siletski in the 1983 remake of To Be or Not to Be, and Shaddam Corrino IV in Dune in 1984. However, in an interview given in the 1980s, he bemoaned the lack of good character parts for aging stars, and readily admitted that he now took on roles mostly for the money.
In 1979, he had a memorable role as future Justice Abe Fortas, to whom he bore a strong resemblance, in the made-for-television film version of Anthony Lewis' Gideon's Trumpet, opposite Henry Fonda in an Emmy-nominated performance as Clarence Earl Gideon.
Radio and television
Among other radio roles, Ferrer starred as detective Philo Vance in a 1945 series of the same name.
Ferrer, not usually known for regular roles in TV series, had a recurring role as Julia Duffy's WASPy father on the long-running television series, Newhart in the 1980s. He also had a recurring role as elegant and flamboyant attorney Reuben Marino on the soap opera Another World in the early 1980s. He narrated the very first episode of the popular 1964 sitcom Bewitched, in mock documentary style. He also provided the voice of the evil Ben Haramed on the 1968 Rankin/Bass Christmas TV special The Little Drummer Boy.
Awards
Ferrer received his first Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the Dauphin who eventually becomes King of France in the Ingrid Bergman Joan of Arc in 1948. He went on to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Cyrano de Bergerac in the 1950 film version of Edmond Rostand's play, becoming the first Puerto Rican to win the award, only weeks after being subpoenaed to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee as a suspected Communist, charges that Ferrer vehemently denied and his career was unscathed. (Three other people connected with the film - screenwriter Carl Foreman, director Michael Gordon, and actor Morris Carnovsky, who was seen as Le Bret - were, in fact, blacklisted.) Ferrer was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for the second and final time for his portrayal of Toulouse-Lautrec in the 1952 non-musical film Moulin Rouge (no relation to the Nicole Kidman film of the same name).
Ferrer was also nominated for an Emmy Award twice - in 1949 and 1955. Both nominations were for playing the role of Cyrano in two different (and severely truncated) television productions of Cyrano de Bergerac. The first was telecast on Philco Television Playhouse, and the second on Producers' Showcase.
Before entering films, Ferrer won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Cyrano on the Broadway stage in a successful 1946 stage revival of the play. In 1952 Ferrer won a Tony Award for directing three plays (The Shrike, Stalag 17, The Fourposter), in the same season, and earned another for his performance in The Shrike.
In 1985, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.
Personal life
Ferrer had a decade-long first marriage to famed actress and acting teacher Uta Hagen (1938–1948), with whom he had a daughter, Leticia ("Lettie") Ferrer. His second wife was dancer/actress Phyllis Hill (1948–1953). By his third marriage to Rosemary Clooney (actor George Clooney's aunt), Ferrer had five children: Miguel Jose (born February 7, 1955); Maria P (born August 9, 1956); Gabriel V (born August 1, 1957), Monsita T (born October 13, 1958) and Rafael F (born March 23, 1960). Ferrer and Clooney were married in 1953, divorced in 1961, and remarried in 1964, only to divorce again three years later. Their son, Gabriel Ferrer, is married to singer Debby Boone, daughter of Pat and Shirley Boone.
At the time of his death, he was married to Stella Magee, whom he met in the late sixties. Ferrer died following a brief battle with colon cancer in Coral Gables, Florida in 1992 and was interred in Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery in Old San Juan in his native Puerto Rico.
Filmography
Year Film Role Notes
1948 Joan of Arc The Dauphin, Charles VII Directed by Victor Fleming
1949 Whirlpool David Korvo Directed by Otto Preminger
1950 Cyrano de Bergerac Cyrano de Bergerac Academy Award for Best Actor
Crisis Raoul Farrago Directed by Richard Brooks
The Secret Fury José
1952 Moulin Rouge Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Academy Award Nomination for Best Actor
Anything Can Happen Giorgi Papashvily
1953 Miss Sadie Thompson Alfred Davidson
1954 Deep in My Heart Sigmund Romberg
The Caine Mutiny Lt. Barney Greenwald Directed by Edward Dmytryk
1955 The Cockleshell Heroes Major Stringer
The Shrike Jim Downs
1956 The Great Man Joe Harris
1958 The High Cost of Loving Jim 'Jimbo' Fry
I Accuse! Capt. Alfred Dreyfus
1961 Return to Peyton Place
Forbid Them Not Narrator
1962 Lawrence of Arabia Turkish Bey
1963 Verspätung in Marienborn Cowan the Reporter
Nine Hours to Rama Supt. Gopal Das
1964 Cyrano et d'Artagnan Cyrano de Bergerac
1965 Ship of Fools Siegfried Rieber
The Greatest Story Ever Told Herod Antipas
1967 Cervantes Hassan Bey
Enter Laughing Mr. Marlowe
1975 El Clan de los inmorales Inspector Reed
1976 The Big Bus Ironman
Forever Young, Forever Free Father Alberto
Paco Fermin Flores
Voyage of the Damned Manuel Benitez
1977 The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover Lionel McCoy
Who Has Seen the Wind The Ben
The Sentinel Priest of the Brotherhood
Crash! Marc Denne
1978 The Swarm Dr. Andrews
Dracula's Dog Inspector Branco
Fedora Doctor Vando
The Return of Captain Nemo Captain Nemo
1979 Natural Enemies Harry Rosenthal
The Fifth Musketeer Athos
A Life of Sin Bishop
1980 The Big Brawl Domenici
1981 Bloody Birthday Doctor
1982 Blood Tide Nereus
A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy Leopold
1983 To Be or Not to Be Prof. Siletski
The Being Mayor Gordon Lane
1984 Dune Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV
The Evil That Men Do Dr. Hector Lomelin
1987 The Sun and the Moon
1990 Hired to Kill Rallis
Old Explorers Warner Watney
1992 Laam Gong juen ji faan fei jo fung wan
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: CatwomanofV on 01/26/10 at 3:08 pm
I found Nemo!
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Dori
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3112/2757280039_9155d011e8.jpg
And yes, once again, those are my photos.
Cat
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/26/10 at 3:19 pm
I found Nemo!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3019/2758112864_67b53c9a54.jpg
Dori
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3112/2757280039_9155d011e8.jpg
And yes, once again, those are my photos.
Cat
Very nice job :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/26/10 at 3:47 pm
The birthday of the day...Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen Lee DeGeneres (born January 26, 1958) is an American stand-up comedienne, television hostess and actress. She hosts the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and is also a judge on American Idol, having joined the show in its ninth season.
She has hosted both the Academy Awards and the Primetime Emmys. As a film actress, she starred in Mr. Wrong, appeared in EDtv and The Love Letter, and provided the voice of Dory in the Disney-Pixar's animated film Finding Nemo. She also starred in two television sitcoms, Ellen from 1994 to 1998 and The Ellen Show from 2001 to 2002. In 1997, during the fourth season of Ellen, she came out publicly as a lesbian in an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Shortly afterwards, her character Ellen Morgan also came out to a therapist played by Winfrey and the series went on to explore various LGBT issues as well as the coming out process. She has won twelve Emmys and numerous awards for her work and charitable efforts.
DeGeneres started performing stand-up comedy at small clubs and coffeehouses. By 1981 she was the emcee at Clyde's Comedy Club in New Orleans. Degeneres describes Woody Allen and Steve Martin as her main influences at this time. In the early 1980s she began to tour nationally, being named Showtime's Funniest Person in America in 1982. In 1986 she appeared for the first time on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, who likened her to Bob Newhart. When Carson invited her over for an onscreen chat after her performance, she became the first female comedian in the show's history to whom this honor was bestowed.
Early screen work
Television and film work in the late 1980s and early 1990s included roles on television in Open House and in the film Coneheads.
Ellen (sitcom, 1994–1998)
At the Governor's Ball after the 46th Annual Emmy Awards telecast, Sept. 1994
DeGeneres' comedy material became the basis of the successful 1994-1998 sitcom Ellen, named These Friends of Mine during its first season. The ABC show was popular in its first few seasons due in part to DeGeneres' style of quirky observational humor; it was often referred to as a "female Seinfeld."
Ellen reached its height of popularity in February 1997, when DeGeneres made her homosexuality public on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Subsequently her character on the sitcom came out of the closet in April to her therapist, played by Oprah Winfrey, that she was gay. The coming out episode, entitled "The Puppy Episode", was one of the highest-rated episodes of the show, but later episodes of the series would fail to match its popularity, and after declining ratings, the show was canceled. DeGeneres returned to the stand-up comedy circuit, and would later re-establish herself as a successful talk show host.
Ellen's Energy Adventure
DeGeneres starred in a series of films for a show named Ellen's Energy Adventure, which is part of the Universe of Energy attraction and pavilion at Walt Disney World's Epcot. The film also featured Bill Nye, Alex Trebek, Michael Richards and Jamie Lee Curtis. The show revolved around DeGeneres falling asleep and finding herself in an energy-themed version of Jeopardy!, playing against an old rival, portrayed by Curtis, and Albert Einstein. The next film had DeGeneres hosting an educational look at energy, co-hosted with Nye. The ride first opened on September 15, 1996, as Ellen's Energy Crisis but was quickly renamed to the more positive-sounding Ellen's Energy Adventure.
The Ellen Show
DeGeneres returned to series television in 2001 with a new CBS sitcom, The Ellen Show. Though her character was again a lesbian, it was not the central theme of the show.
2001 Emmy Awards
DeGeneres received wide exposure on November 4, 2001 when she hosted the televised broadcast of the Emmy Awards. Presented after two cancellations due to network concerns that a lavish ceremony following the September 11, 2001 attacks would appear insensitive, the show required a more somber tone that would also allow viewers to temporarily forget the tragedy. DeGeneres received several standing ovations for her performance that evening which included the line: "What would bug the Taliban more than seeing a gay woman in a suit surrounded by Jews?"
In August 2005, DeGeneres hosted the 2005 Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony which was held on September 18, 2005. This was three weeks after Hurricane Katrina, making it the second time she hosted the Emmys following a national tragedy. She also hosted the Grammy Awards in 1996 and in 1997.
Voice acting
DeGeneres lent her voice to the role of Dory, a fish with short-term memory loss, in the summer 2003 hit animated Disney/Pixar film Finding Nemo. The film's director, Andrew Stanton, claimed that he chose her because she "changed the subject five times before one sentence had finished" on her show. For her performance as Dory, DeGeneres won the Saturn Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films for "Best Supporting Actress"; "Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie" from the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards; and the Annie Award from the International Animated Film Association for "Outstanding Voice Acting". She was also nominated for a Chicago Film Critics Association Award in the "Best Supporting Actress" category. She also provided the voice of the dog in the prologue of the Eddie Murphy feature film Dr. Dolittle.
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
DeGeneres launched a daytime television talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show in September 2003. Amid a crop of several celebrity-hosted talk shows surfacing at the beginning of that season, such as those of Sharon Osbourne and Rita Rudner, her show has consistently risen in the Nielsen Ratings and received widespread critical praise. It was nominated for 11 Daytime Emmy Awards in its first season, winning four, including Best Talk Show. The show has won 25 Emmy Awards in its first three seasons on the air. DeGeneres is known for her dancing and singing with the audience at the beginning of the show and during commercial breaks. She often gives away free prizes and trips to her studio audience with the help of her sponsors.
DeGeneres celebrated her thirty-year class reunion by flying her graduating class to California to be guests on her show in February 2006. She presented Atlanta High School with a surprise gift of a new electronic LED marquee sign.
In May 2006, DeGeneres made a surprise appearance at the Tulane University commencement in New Orleans. Following George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton to the podium, she came out in a bathrobe and furry slippers. "They told me everyone would be wearing robes," she said.
The show broadcast for a week from Universal Studios Orlando in March 2007. Guests that week included Jennifer Lopez and Lynyrd Skynyrd, and skits included DeGeneres going on the Hulk Roller Coaster Ride and the Jaws Boat Ride.
In May 2007, DeGeneres was placed on bed rest due to a torn ligament in her back. She continued hosting her show from a hospital bed, tended to by a nurse, explaining "the show must go on, as they say." Guests sat in hospital beds as well.
On May 1, 2009, DeGeneres celebrated her 1000th episode, featuring celebrity guests such as Oprah, Justin Timberlake, and Paris Hilton, among others.
79th Academy Awards
Ellen DeGeneres at the Emmy Awards, 1997
On September 7, 2006, DeGeneres was selected to host the 79th Academy Awards ceremony, which took place on February 25, 2007. This makes her the first openly gay or lesbian person to have hosted the event. During the Awards show DeGeneres said, "What a wonderful night, such diversity in the room, in a year when there's been so many negative things said about people's race, religion and sexual orientation. And I want to put this out there: if there weren't blacks, Jews and gays, there would be no Oscars, or anyone named Oscar, when you think about that." Reviews of her hosting gig were positive, with one saying, "DeGeneres rocked, as she never forgot that she wasn't just there to entertain the Oscar nominees but also to tickle the audience at home." In fact, Regis Philbin said in an interview that "the only complaint was there's not enough Ellen."
DeGeneres was nominated for an Emmy Award as host of the Academy Awards broadcast.
2007 Writers Guild strike
DeGeneres, like many actors who are also writers, is a member of both the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA). Thus, although DeGeneres verbally supported the 2007 WGA strike she did not support it when she crossed the picket line the day after the strike began. Her representatives said that she was competing with other first-run syndicated shows during the competitive November sweeps period, and that she could not break her contracts or risk her show lose its time slot. As a show of solidarity with the strikers, DeGeneres omitted her monologue during the strike, typically written by WGA writers. The WGA condemned her while the AFTRA defended her.
Commercial spokeswoman
In November 2004, DeGeneres appeared, dancing, in an ad campaign for American Express. Her most recent American Express commercial, a two-minute black-and-white spot where she works with animals, debuted in November 2006 and was created by Ogilvy and Mather. In 2007, the commercial won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Commercial.
DeGeneres began working with Cover Girl Cosmetics in September 2008, for which she has been criticized, as her animal-friendly values clash with Procter and Gamble's (the maker of Cover Girl Cosmetics) animal testing . Her face is the focus of new Cover Girl advertisements starting in January 2009. The beauty campaign will be DeGeneres' first.
American Idol
On September 9, 2009, it was confirmed that DeGeneres would replace Paula Abdul as a judge of the ninth season of American Idol. Her role will start only after the contestant auditions. DeGeneres also reportedly signed a contract to be a judge on the show for at least five seasons.
Personal life
DeGeneres was in a relationship (1997-2000) with former Another World actress Anne Heche who went on to marry cameraman Coley Laffoon. From 2001 to 2004, DeGeneres and actress/director/photographer Alexandra Hedison were in a relationship. They appeared on the cover of The Advocate after their separation had already been announced to the media.
Since 2004, DeGeneres has been in a relationship with former Ally McBeal and Arrested Development star Portia de Rossi. After the overturn of the same-sex marriage ban in California, DeGeneres announced on a May 2008 show that she and de Rossi were engaged, and gave de Rossi a three-carat pink diamond ring. They were married on August 16, 2008 at their home, with nineteen guests including their respective mothers. The passage of Proposition 8 cast doubt on the legal status of their marriage but a subsequent Supreme Court judgment validated it because it occurred before 4 November 2008.
They live in Beverly Hills, with three dogs and four cats, and both are vegan.
In her book, Love, Ellen, DeGeneres' mother, Betty DeGeneres, describes being initially shocked when her daughter came out as a lesbian, but has become one of her strongest supporters, an active member of Parents & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) and spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign's Coming Out Project. DeGeneres' mother is a breast cancer survivor.
In 2007, Forbes estimated DeGeneres' net worth as US$65 million.
Filmography
Year Film Role Notes
1990 Arduous Moon Herself Short film
1991 Wisecracks Herself Documentary
1993 Coneheads Coach
1994 Trevor Herself Short film
1996 Ellen's Energy Adventure Herself Short film
Mr. Wrong Martha Alston
1998 Goodbye Lover Sgt. Rita Pompano
Dr. Dolittle Prologue Dog Voice
1999 EDtv Cynthia
The Love Letter Janet Hall
2003 Pauly Shore Is Dead Herself
Finding Nemo Dory Voice
2004 My Short Film Herself Short film
Television
Year Film Role Notes
1988 Women of the Night Herself Comedy Special
1989 Open House Margo Van Mete Episode: "The Bad Seed"
Episode: "Let's Get Physicals"
1992 Laurie Hill Nancy MacIntyre Episode: "Pilot"
Episode: "The Heart Thing"
Episode: "Walter and Beverly"
1994-1998 Ellen Ellen Morgan 109 episodes
1995 Roseanne Dr. Whitman
Episode: "The Blaming of the Shrew"
1998 Mad About You Nancy Bloom Episode: "The Finale"
2000 If These Walls Could Talk 2 Kal Segment: "2000"
2001 On the Edge Operator Segment: "Reaching Normal"
2001-2002 The Ellen Show Ellen Richmond 18 episodes
2003 Ellen DeGeneres: Here and Now Herself Comedy Special
MADtv Herself Episode: "9.3"
2004 E! True Hollywood Story Herself
Six Feet Under Herself Parallel Play]]"
2007 Ellen's Really Big Show Herself
Sesame Street Herself Episode: "The Tutu Spell" (uncredited)
Forbes 20 Richest Women in Entertainment Herself
The Bachelorette Herself
2007-2008 American Idol: The Search for a Superstar Herself Episode: "Idol Gives Back 2007"
" Idol Gives Back 2008
2008 Ellen's Even Bigger Really Big Show Herself Comedy Special
2009 Ellen's Bigger, Longer & Wider Show Herself Comedy Special
So You Think You Can Dance Guest Judge Week 7; July 22, 2009
2003-present The Ellen DeGeneres Show Herself TV show
2010 American Idol Judge Starting with season 9.
Discography
Year Film Role Notes
1996 Ellen Degeneres: Taste This Stand-up comedy Live CD
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I love her show. :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/26/10 at 5:07 pm
I love her show. :)
I don't usually watch it.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/27/10 at 7:32 am
The word of the day...Snow
Snow consists of a lot of soft white bits of frozen water that fall from the sky in cold weather.
If someone snows you, they persuade you to do something or convince you of something by flattering or deceiving you.
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/27/10 at 7:36 am
The person born on this day...James Cromwell
James Oliver Cromwell (born January 27, 1940) is an American film and television actor. He has been nominated for an Oscar, three Emmy Awards, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards during his career.
Cromwell's first television performance was in a 1974 episode of The Rockford Files playing Terry. A few weeks later, he began a recurring role as Stretch Cunningham on All in the Family. In 1975 he took his first lead role on television as Bill Lewis in the short-lived Hot l Baltimore, and a year later he made his film debut in Neil Simon's classic detective spoof Murder by Death.
In 1980, Cromwell guest-starred in the two-part pivotal episode "Laura Ingalls Wilder" of the long-running television series Little House on the Prairire. He played "Harve Miller," one of "Almanzo Wilder's" (Dean Butler) old friends. He comes to visit Almanzo, who lives with his shy sister, Walnut Grove's school teacher "Eliza Jane." Eliza Jane and Harve spend time together over the next few weeks, and she falls in love, for the first time, with Harve. Eliza, however, misunderstands some comments Harve has made, and he stuns her, at Nellie's restaurant, by announcing he wishes to marry another woman in a different town. Harve is totally unaware that she had feelings of love towards him. She takes Almanzo's wagon to the town of Sleepy Eye to seek him out before he marries someone else. She finally gathers the courage to tell him that she loves him. Instead, he tells Eliza that it is too late, he is already married. Eliza lies to everyone, and claims she is marrying Harve and moving away. This allows seventeen-year-old Laura Ingalls (Melissa Gilbert) to take over her job as school teacher, giving Laura and Almanzo desperately needed income, and allowing Laura to move into their home to marry Almanzo at last.
While Cromwell continued with regular television work throughout the 1980s, he made real inroads in film business for his supporting roles in the films Tank and Revenge of the Nerds. His starring roles in the 1990s critically-acclaimed films Babe (1995), The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), L.A. Confidential (1997), The Green Mile, and Snow Falling on Cedars (both 1999) were breakout roles for him, and made him more bankable in Hollywood. He also played Dr. Zefram Cochrane in Star Trek: First Contact (1996) and the Star Trek: Enterprise pilot Broken Bow (the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "In a Mirror, Darkly" later reused some of the First Contact footage). He has appeared on other Star Trek television series The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, though not as Cochrane (his appearances on these shows predated his role in First Contact), he guest starred in episodes including "The Hunted", "Birthright" (Part I and II) and "Starship Down".
Cromwell also had additional success on television throughout his career. His role as newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst in the television film RKO 281 earned him an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Television Movie. The following year, he receive his second Emmy Award nomination for playing Bishop Lionel Stewart on the NBC medical drama series ER. In 2004, he guest-starred as former President D. Wire Newman in the The West Wing episode "The Stormy Present". From 2003 to 2005, Cromwell played George Sibley in the HBO drama series Six Feet Under, which earned him his third Emmy Award nomination in 2003. Along with the rest of his castmates, he was also nominated for two Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2005 and 2006. The following year, Cromwell played Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in The Queen (2006), that earned Dame Helen Mirren an Academy Award for Best Actress. He also guest starred as Phillip Bauer, father of lead character Jack, in the sixth season of the Fox thriller drama series 24.
In October 2007, Cromwell played the lead role of James Tyrone Sr. in the Druid Theatre Company's production of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night, at the Gaiety in Dublin as part of the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival's 50th Anniversary. More recently, Cromwell played George Herbert Walker Bush in Oliver Stone's W. (2008), that chronicles the unlikely rise to power of his son up until the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In an interview, Cromwell revealed that Stone had originally offered the role to Warren Beatty and Harrison Ford.
Personal life
He has long been an advocate of leftist causes. In an October 2008 interview, he strongly attacked the Republican Party and the George W. Bush administration, saying their controversial foreign policy would "either destroy us or the entire planet." In the late 1960s, he was a member of "The Committee to Defend The Panthers", a group organized to defend 13 members of the Black Panther Party who had been imprisoned in New York on charges of conspiracy. All thirteen were eventually released. In a 2004 interview with CNN.com, Cromwell praised the Panthers. He became a vegetarian in 1974 after seeing a stockyard in Texas and experiencing the "smell, terror and anxiety." He became an ethical vegan while playing the character of Farmer Hoggett in the movie Babe in 1995. He frequently speaks out on issues regarding animal cruelty for PETA, largely the treatment of pigs.
Cromwell is known for his unusually tall stature; he stands at 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m).
Cromwell was married to Anne Ulvestad from 1976 to 1986. They had three children. He married his second wife, Julie Cobb, on 29 May 1986.
Filmography
Films
Year Film Role Notes
1976 Murder by Death Marcel
1978 The Cheap Detective Schnell
1981 Nobody's Perfekt Dr. Carson
1983 The Man with Two Brains Realtor
1984 The House of God Officer Quick
Tank Deputy Euclid Baker
Revenge of the Nerds Mr. Skolnick Credited as "Jamie Cromwell"
Oh, God! You Devil Priest
1985 Explorers Mr. Müller
1986 A Fine Mess Detective Blist
1987 Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise Mr. Skolnick
1988 The Rescue Admiral Rothman
1989 The Runnin' Kind Unknown
Pink Cadillac Motel Desk Clerk
1992 The Babe Brother Mathias
1993 Romeo Is Bleeding Cage
1995 Babe Farmer Arthur Hoggett Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
1996 Eraser William Donohue
The People vs. Larry Flynt Charles Keating
Star Trek: First Contact Dr. Zefram Cochrane
1997 Owd Bob Adam MacAdam
L.A. Confidential Captain Dudley Smith Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
The Education of Little Tree Granpa
1998 Species II Senator Judson Ross
Deep Impact Alan Rittenhouse
Babe: Pig in the City Farmer Arthur Hoggett
1999 The General's Daughter Lt. Gen. Joseph Campbell
The Bachelor Priest
The Green Mile Warden Hal Moores Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Snow Falling on Cedars Judge Fielding
2000 Space Cowboys Bob Gerson
2002 Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron The Colonel
The Sum of All Fears President J. Robert Fowler
The Nazi Franz
2003 Blackball Ray Speight
The Snow Walker Walter Shepherd
2004 I, Robot Dr. Alfred Lanning
2005 The Longest Yard Warden Hazen
2006 The Queen Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
2007 Dante's Inferno Virgil
Becoming Jane Reverend Austen
Spider-Man 3 Captain George Stacy
2008 Tortured Jack
W. George H. W. Bush
2009 A Lonely Place for Dying Howard Simons
Flying Into Love Lyndon B. Johnson Pre-production
Surrogates Dr. Lionel Canter
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1974 The Rockford Files Terry Episode 1.3: "The Countess"
All in the Family Stretch Cunningham Appeared in three episodes
1974, 1978 Maude Alfie
Dr. Farrington Episode 3.9: "Last Tango in Tuckahoe"
Episode 6.13: "The Obscene Phone Call"
1975 Hot l Baltimore Bill Lewis Main cast member
Barbary Coast Roy Episode 1.4: "The Ballad of Redwing Jail"
1976 Stranded Jerry Holmes TV film
Insight Norman Episode "Jesus B.C."
The Nancy Walker Show Glen
Once an Eagle J. L. Cleghorne Mini-series
1977 Police Story Lutz Episode 4.20: "Ice Time"
The Girl in the Empty Grave Deputy Malcolm Rossiter Jr. TV film
M*A*S*H Captain Leo Bardonaro Episode 6.3: "Last Laugh"
Three's Company Detective Lannigan Episode 2.9: "Chrissy's Night Out"
Deadly Game Deputy Malcolm Rossiter Jr. TV film
1977, 1979, 1981 Barney Miller Sgt. Wilkinson
Neil Spencer
Jason Parrish
Dr. Edmund Danworth Episode 3.20: "Group Home"
Episode 6.6: "Strip Joint"
Episode 7.22: "Liquidation"
Episode 8.5: "Stress Analyzer"
1978 Alice Detective Ralph Hilton Episode 3.9: "Who Ordered the Hot Turkey?"
1979 Eight Is Enough Coach Pollard Episode 3.23: "The Better Part of Valour"
Diff'rent Strokes Father O'Brien Episode 2.7: "Arnold's Hero"
1979, 1980 The White Shadow Mr. Hamilton
Art Commings Episode 1.13: "Mainstream"
Episode 2.22: "The Death of Me Yet?"
1980 Flo Leon Episodes 1.1: "Homecoming" and 1.4: "Take My Sister, Please"
Little House on the Prairie Harve Miller Episodes 7.1: "Laura Ingalls Wilder: Part 1" and 7.2: "Laura Ingalls Wilder: Part 2"
A Christmas Without Snow Reverend Lohman TV film
1981 Barefoot in the Park Harry Pepper TV film
1982 The Rainmaker Noah Curry TV film
Nurse Paul Moore Episode 2.9: "A Place to Die"
The Wall Francisek TV film
Born to the Wind Fish Belly
Father Murphy Farley Webster Episodes 2.5: "The Reluctant Runaway: Part 1" and 2.6: "The Reluctant Runaway: Part 2"
1984 Buffalo Bill Unknown Episode 2.2: "Jerry Lewis Week"
Gimme a Break! Russell Cosgrove Episode 3.22: "Class of '84"
Spraggue Lieutenant Hurley TV film
Earthlings Simon Ganes TV film
1984-1985 Dallas Gerald Kane Appeared in three episodes
1985 Night Court Alan Episode 2.14: "Nuts About Harry"
Family Ties John Hancock Episode 3.15: "Philadelphia Story"
Riptide Joey Dietz Episode 2.17: "Girls Night Out"
Hardcastle and McCormick Jake Fellows Episode 2.20: "Undercover McCormick"
Knight Rider Curtis Episode 3.18: "Ten Wheel Trouble"
Wildside Fake Buffalo Bill Episode 1.5: "Buffalo Who?"
Hill Street Blues Lowenhandler Episode 5.23: "Grin and Bear It"
Hunter Seymour Robbins Episode 1.19: "Sniper"
The Twilight Zone Obediah Payne Episode 1.6: "Examination Day/A Message from Charity"
1985-1986 Scarecrow and Mrs. King Gregory Episodes 3.4: "Tail of the Dancing Weasel" and 3.18: "Wrong Number"
1986 Amazing Stories Francis Episode 1.15: "One for the Road"
Magnum, P.I. French Policeman Episode 6.21: "Photo Play"; uncredited
The Last Precinct Chief Bludhorn
Dream West Major General David Hunter TV mini-series
1987 Easy Street Quentin Standard Episode 1.13: "Frames and Dames"
Alison's Demise Humboldt Hobson TV film
1988 China Beach Ambassador at Large Roland Weymouth Pilot
Mr. Belvedere Roy Gallagher Episode 5.1: "Fat Cats"
Mama's Boy Unknown
1989 Christine Cromwell Arthur Episode 1.1: "Things That Go Bump in the Night"
1990 Life Goes On Bill Henderson Episode 1.13: "Thacher and Henderson"
Miracle Landing B.J. Cocker TV film
Matlock Judge Raymond Price Episode 5.2: "Nowhere to Turn"
1990, 1993 Star Trek: The Next Generation Prime Minister Nayrok
Jaglom Shrek Episode 3.11: "The Hunted"
Episodes 6.16: "Birthright: Part 1" and 6.17: "Birthright: Part 2"
1991 The Young Riders Jacob Episode 2.14: "The Peacemakers"
Jake and the Fatman Havilland Episode 4.19: "It Never Entered My Mind"
In a Child's Name Unknown TV film
1992 Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation Mr. Skolnick TV film; credited as "Jamie Cromwell"
1994 Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love Mr. Skolnick TV film; credited as "Jamie Cromwell"
The Shaggy Dog Charlie 'the Robber' Mulvihill TV film
Home Improvement Fred Episode 4.9: "My Dinner with Wilson"
1995 Renegade Jeremy Sullivan Episode 3.15: "Stalker's Moon"
Picket Fences The Bishop Episode 3.20: "Saint Zach"
Indictment: The McMartin Trial Judge Pounders TV film
Hawkeye Unknown Episode 1.17: "The Visit"
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Hanok Episode 4.6: "Starship Down"
1995-1996 Partners Mr. Saxonhouse Episodes 1.11: "Do We Have to Write You a Check?" and 1.18: "Can We Keep Her, Dad?"
1996 Strange Luck Minister Episode 1.13: "Healing Hands"
The Client Officer Joe Denton Episode 1.17: "The High Ground"
1999 A Slight Case of Murder John Edgerson TV film
RKO 281 William Randolph Hearst TV film
Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor – Miniseries or a Movie
2000 Fail Safe Gordon Knapp TV play
2001 ER Bishop Stewart Appeared in four episodes
Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor – Drama Series
Star Trek: Enterprise Dr. Zefram Cochrane Episode 1.1: "Broken Bow: Part 1"
Cromwell also appeared in archive footage in Episode 4.18: "In a Mirror, Darkly"
Citizen Baines Senator Elliot Baines Appeared in all seven episodes
2002 A Death in the Family Joel Lynch TV film
The Magnificent Ambersons Major Amberson TV film
RFK President Lyndon B. Johnson
2003 Angels in America Henry TV mini-series; chapters 1 and 4
2003-2005 Six Feet Under George Sibley Appeared in 27 episodes
Nominated — Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2005, 2006)
2004 The West Wing President D. Wire Newman Episode 5.10: "The Stormy Present"
'Salem's Lot Father Donald Callahan TV mini-series
2005 Pope John Paul II Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha
2006 Avenger Paul Devereaux TV film
2007 24 Phillip Bauer Appeared in eight episodes
Masters of Science Fiction Randolph Ludwin Episode 1.6: "Watchbird"
2008 Hit Factor Orson Fierce Also producer
My Own Worst Enemy Alistar Trumble Appeared in six episodes
2009 Strikeout Director TV film
Impact Lloyd TV mini-series
The Last Days of Lehman Brothers Hank Paulson Docu-drama
Theatre
* Long Day's Journey into Night (2007)
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/27/10 at 7:41 am
The person who died on this day... Andre The Giant
André René Roussimoff (19 May 1946 – 27 January 1993), best known as André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and actor. His great size was a result of acromegaly, and led to him being dubbed "The Eighth Wonder of the World".
In the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Roussimoff briefly held the WWF Championship. In 1993, he was the first inductee into the WWF Hall of Fame.
On 26 March 1973, André made his WWE debut as a "face", defeating Buddy Wolfe in New York's Madison Square Garden.
By the time Vince McMahon, Jr. began to expand his promotion to the national level in the early 1980s, André wrestled exclusively for WWF in the USA, while still holding international engagements. André was mentioned in the 1974 Guinness Book of World Records as the highest paid wrestler in history up to that time. He had earned $400,000 in one year alone during the early 1970s.
André was one of WWF's most beloved "babyfaces" throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. As such, Gorilla Monsoon insisted that André was never defeated for 15 years by pinfall or submission prior to WrestleMania III. This, however, is not true. André actually had lost cleanly in matches outside of the parameters of WWF; a pinfall loss in Mexico to Canek in 1984 and in Japan a submission loss to Antonio Inoki in 1986. He also went sixty-minute time limit draws with the two other major world champions of the day, Harley Race and Nick Bockwinkel.
One of André's feuds pitted him against the Mongolian terror Killer Khan, who was managed by Freddie Blassie. According to the storyline, Khan had broken André's ankle during a match in Rochester, New York by leaping off the top rope and crashing down upon it with his knee-drop. After a stay at Beth-Israel Hospital in Boston, André returned with payback on his mind. On 14 November 1981 at the Philadelphia Spectrum, André exacted revenge by destroying Khan in what was billed as a "Mongolian Stretcher Match", in which the loser must be taken to the dressing room on a stretcher. In reality, André had snapped his ankle getting out of bed one morning. The injury and subsequent rehabilitation was worked into the existing André/Khan storyline.
Another feud involved a man who considered himself to be "the true giant" of wrestling: Big John Studd. Throughout the early to mid-1980s, André and Studd fought all over the world, battling to try and determine who the real giant of wrestling was. In December 1984, Studd took the feud to a new level, when he and partner Ken Patera knocked out André during a televised tag team match and proceeded to cut off André's hair. André had the last laugh at the first WrestleMania on 31 March 1985 at Madison Square Garden. André conquered Studd in a $15,000 Body Slam Challenge. After slamming Studd, he attempted to give the $15,000 prize to the fans, before having the bag stolen from him by his future manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.
The following year, at WrestleMania 2 on 7 April 1986, André continued to display his dominance by winning a twenty-man battle royal that featured top NFL stars and wrestlers. André last eliminated Bret Hart to win the contest. Afterward, André continued his feud with Studd and King Kong Bundy. André was suspended after a no-show; he returned under a mask as "The Giant Machine" part of a team with "Big Machine" (Robert Windham) and "Super Machine" (Bill Eadie) (The Machines gimmick was copied from New Japan Pro Wrestling character "Super Strong Machine", played by Japanese wrestler Junji Hirata). Soon afterwards, Giant Machine disappeared, and André was reinstated, to the approval of Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.
Heel run (1987–1990)
Feuding Hulk Hogan and WWF Champion
Main article: WrestleMania III
André was turned heel in 1987 so that he could face Hulk Hogan for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of WrestleMania III. In early 1987, Hogan was presented a trophy for being the WWF World Heavyweight Champion for three years. André came out to congratulate him. Shortly afterward, André was presented a slightly smaller trophy for being "undefeated in WWF for fifteen years." In actuality, André had suffered a handful of countout and disqualification losses in WWF but had never been pinned or forced to submit in a WWF ring. Hogan came out to congratulate André and ended up being the focal point of the interview. A visibly annoyed André walked out in the midst of Hogan's speech. Then, on an edition of "Piper's Pit", Hogan was confronted by Bobby Heenan. Heenan announced that his new protege was André, who then challenged Hogan to a title match at WrestleMania III, ripping the t-shirt and crucifix from Hogan.
At WrestleMania III, he was billed at 525 lb (238 kg), and the stress of that immense weight on his bones and joints resulted in constant pain. After recent back surgery, he was also wearing a brace underneath his wrestling singlet. Hogan won the match after body slamming André, followed by Hogan's running leg drop finisher. Years later, Hogan claimed that André was so heavy, he felt more like 700 lb (320 kg), and that he actually tore his latissimus dorsi muscle slamming him. Another famous story about the match is that no one knew if André would lose the match. André had agreed to lose the match some time before, mostly for health reasons, though he almost pinned Hogan (albeit unintentionally) in the early goings of the match. Contrary to popular belief, it was not the first time that Hogan had successfully bodyslammed André in a WWF match. A then-heel Hogan bodyslammed a then-face André early in a match in Hamburg, Pennsylvania on 13 September 1980, though André was much lighter and more athletic at the time. This, of course, back in the territorial days of wrestling three years before WWF began its national expansion (André had also previously allowed Harley Race, Kamala, and Stan Hansen to slam him. By the time WrestleMania III had rolled around, the WWF had gone national, giving more meaning to the André-Hogan match that took place then. The feud between André and Hogan simmered during the summer of 1987, even as Roussimoff's health declined. The feud would begin heating up again when each wrestler was named the captain of rival teams at the inaugural Survivor Series event. André's team won the main event after André pinned Bam Bam Bigelow.
In the meantime, "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase failed to persuade Hogan to sell him the WWF World Championship. After failing to defeat Hogan in a subsequent series of matches, DiBiase turned to André to win it for him. Acting as his hired gun, André won the WWF title from Hogan on 5 February 1988 in a match where it was later revealed appointed referee Dave Hebner was "detained backstage", and a replacement who DiBiase paid to get plastic surgery to look like Dave (in reality, his twin brother Earl Hebner), made a three count on Hogan while his shoulders were off the mat. After winning, André "sold" the title to DiBiase; the transaction was declared invalid by then-WWF President Jack Tunney and the title was vacated. This was shown on WWF's NBC program The Main Event. At WrestleMania IV, André and Hulk Hogan fought to a double disqualification in a WWF title tournament match (with the idea in the storyline saying that André was again working on DiBiase's behalf in giving DiBiase a clearer path in the tournament). Afterward, André and Hogan's feud died down after a steel cage match held at WrestleFest on 31 July 1988 in Milwaukee. He and DiBiase also wrestled Hogan and Randy "Macho Man" Savage in the main event of SummerSlam; the DiBiase-André team lost, despite apparently having referee Jesse "the Body" Ventura on their side.
WrestleMania VI; The Colossal Connection
André's next major feud was against Jake "The Snake" Roberts. In this storyline, it was said André was deathly afraid of snakes, something Roberts exposed on Saturday Night's Main Event when he threw his snake, Damien, on the frightened André; as a result, André suffered a kayfabe mild heart attack and vowed revenge. During the next few weeks, Roberts frequently walked to ringside during André's matches, causing him to run from the ring in fright (since he knew what was inside the bag). Throughout their feud (which culminated at WrestleMania V), Roberts constantly used Damien to gain a psychological edge over the much larger and stronger André.
During the late summer and fall of 1989, André engaged in a brief feud with then-Intercontinental champion The Ultimate Warrior, where the younger Warrior regularly squashed the aging André. Earlier in 1989, André and the returning Big John Studd reprized their feud, this time with Studd as a face and André as the heel.
André won the World Tag Team Championship with his partner Haku (known collectively as The Colossal Connection) from Demolition on 13 December 1989. Managed by Bobby Heenan, they lost their titles at WrestleMania VI back to Demolition on 1 April 1990. After the match, a furious Heenan slapped André; he responded by knocking Heenan out, much to the delight of the fans. André went into the match as a heel, and left as a face.
Sporadic appearances
André continued to make appearances in the WWF throughout 1990 and 1991. He was scheduled to appear in the 1991 Royal Rumble battle royal but ultimately did not feature in the PPV at all. He came to the aid of The Big Bossman in his WrestleMania VII match against Mr. Perfect. His last major appearance was at SummerSlam in 1991, where he seconded The Bushwhackers in their match against The Natural Disasters. He also made an appearance later in the year to help The British Bulldog who had just won a Battle Royal in London.
On 25 January 2005 WWE released André The Giant, a DVD focusing on the career of André. The DVD is a reissue of the out-of-print André The Giant VHS made by Coliseum Video in 1985, with commentary by Michael Cole and Tazz replacing Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura's commentary on his WrestleMania match with Big John Studd. The video is hosted by Lord Alfred Hayes. Later matches, including André's battles against Hulk Hogan while a heel, are not included on this DVD.
His last U.S. television appearance was in a brief interview on World Championship Wrestling's Clash of the Champions XX special that aired on TBS on 2 September 1992.
Acting career
André branched out into acting in the 1970s and 1980s, making his acting debut playing a Sasquatch ("Bigfoot") on the 1970s television series The Six Million Dollar Man. He went on to appear in other television shows, including The Greatest American Hero, B.J. and the Bear, and The Fall Guy. He also participated in an episode of Zorro.
Towards the end of his career, André also starred in several movies. He had an uncredited appearance in the 1984 film — Conan the Destroyer, as Dagoth, the resurrected horned giant god who is killed by Conan (Arnold Schwarzenegger). But he appeared most notably as Fezzik (his favorite role) in the 1987 film The Princess Bride.
In his final film, he appeared in something of a cameo role as a circus giant in the comedy Trading Mom, which was not released until the year after his death.
André: Heart of the Giant is a movie about André's life and struggles in and out of the wrestling ring.
Legacy
In 1993 when the then-World Wrestling Federation created the WWF Hall of Fame, André the Giant was the first inductee.
André was the inspiration for the 1998 film My Giant, written by his friend Billy Crystal, whom he had met during the filming of The Princess Bride.
Paul Wight, better known as The Big Show and the most similar in body structure to André than any other wrestler since André's death, was originally billed as the son of André the Giant during his stint in WCW (when he was known as simply The Giant) despite no biological relation. While also suffering from acromegaly, unlike André, Wight did get surgery on his pituitary gland in the early 1990s, which successfully halted the progress of his condition. Former wrestler Giant González is currently suffering from similar problems that André had near the end of his life.
André is cited and impersonated in the comedy film I Love You, Man. He is also cited in the Eminem song "Crack a Bottle" in the lyrics "Back when Andre the Giant, mister elephant tusk, picture us and you'll be another one to bite the dust". Andre is also cited in the movie The 40 Year Old Virgin when someone quotes a woman he dated "had hands like Andre The Giant."
Personal life
Roussimoff had one daughter, Robin Christensen, who was born in 1979.
The disease that granted him his immense size eventually began to take its toll on his body. By the late 1980s, André was in constant, near-crippling pain, and his heart struggled to pump blood throughout his massive body.
According to William Goldman, author of The Princess Bride and its respective screenplay, André was having such terrible back pain during the filming of the movie that in the first shooting of a scene where Robin Wright drops about one foot and is caught by André, he fell to one knee and almost dropped her.
In the A&E documentary, Biography, Arnold Skaaland mentions how André wished he could see a Broadway play. Arnold offered to buy tickets, but André then passed up the opportunity, citing how he was too big for the seats and that people behind him would not be able to see. This was cited as a principal reason for why André frequented taverns more than anywhere else. Another story he relates tells of when André was in a bar one night, four men came up to him and began harassing him about his size. At first, André attempted to avoid confrontation, but eventually he proceeded to chase the hecklers until they locked themselves in their car. André then grabbed the car and turned it over with the four people trapped inside. André was never arrested for the incident, presumably since local police officers had a hard time believing four inebriated men's story about an angry giant overturning their car.
He has been unofficially crowned "The Greatest Drunk on Earth" for once consuming 119 12-ounce beers in 6 hours. On an episode of WWE's Legends of Wrestling, Mike Graham claimed that André once drank 197 16-ounce beers in one sitting, which was confirmed by Dusty Rhodes. In her autobiography, The Fabulous Moolah alleges that André drank 327 beers and passed out in a hotel bar in Reading, Pennsylvania, and because the staff could not move him, they had to leave him there until he regained consciousness.
André was arrested by the Linn County, Iowa sheriff in August 1989 and charged with assault after the 540 lb (240 kg) wrestler allegedly roughed up a local TV cameraman.
Death
André died at the age of 46 in his sleep of a heart attack on January 27, 1993, in a Paris hotel room. He was in Paris to attend the funeral for his father. André's body was cremated in accordance with his wishes and his ashes scattered at his ranch in Ellerbe, North Carolina.
In wrestling
* Finishing moves
o Double underhook suplex
o Elbow drop pin
o Kneeling belly to belly piledriver
o Sit-down splash
o Standing splash
* Signature moves
o Bearhug
o Big boot
o Body slam
o Chokehold
o Gorilla press slam
o Head and neck rake
o Headbutt
o Repeated hip attacks to a cornered opponent
o Samoan drop
* Managers
o Bobby Heenan
o Frank Valoi
o Lou Albano
o K.Y. Wakamatsu
o Ted DiBiase
* Nicknames
o "The 8th Wonder of the World"
o "Tiant"
o "The Immovable Object"
Championships and accomplishments
* Championship Wrestling from Florida
o NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Dusty Rhodes
* International Pro Wrestling
o IWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Michael Nader
* NWA Tri-State
o NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Tri-State version) (1 time) – with Dusty Rhodes
* Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
o Class of 2002
* Pro Wrestling Illustrated
o PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (1977, 1982)
o PWI Match of the Year (1981) vs. Killer Khan on 2 May
o PWI Match of the Year (1988) vs. Hulk Hogan at The Main Event
o PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (1988)
o PWI Editor's Award (1993)
* Stampede Wrestling
o Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame
* World Championship Wrestling (Australia)
o NWA Austra-Asian Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ronald Miller
* World Wrestling Federation
o WWF Championship (1 time)
o WWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Haku
o WWF Hall of Fame (Class of 1993)
* Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
o Feud of the Year (1981) vs. Killer Khan
o Most Embarrassing Wrestler (1989)
o Worst Feud of the Year (1984) vs. Big John Studd
o Worst Feud of the Year (1989) vs. The Ultimate Warrior
o Worst Worked Match of the Year (1987) vs. Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania III
o Worst Worked Match of the Year (1989) vs. The Ultimate Warrior on 31 October
o Worst Tag Team (1990, 1991) with Giant Baba
o Worst Wrestler (1989, 1991, 1992)
o Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)
Filmography
* Casse tête chinois pour le judoka (1967)
* The Six Million Dollar Man - "The Secret of Bigfoot II and I" (1976), Bigfoot
* B. J. and the Bear - "Snow White and the Seven Lady Truckers" (1981), Manny Felcher
* The Greatest American Hero - "Heaven Is in Your Genes" (1983), Monster
* André makes an appearance in "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough" music video by Cyndi Lauper, along with several other 80s icon wrestlers like Rowdy Roddy Piper.
* Conan the Destroyer (1984), Dagoth (uncredited)
* Micki + Maude (1984), Himself
* I Like to Hurt People (1985), Himself
* The Princess Bride (1987), Fezzik
* The Mommy Market (1994), Circus Giant
* Symphorien (197?), french sitcom on Quebec television
* Les Brillants (198?), french sitcom on Quebec television
See also
* Andre the Giant Has a Posse
http://i698.photobucket.com/albums/vv346/BartlesNBears/andre-the-giant.jpg
http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr160/fishbulb-suplex/Wrestlers/Andre%20The%20Giant/trumphoganandrecq7.jpg
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb213/goliath777/Andre%20the%20Giant/andre3.jpg
http://i624.photobucket.com/albums/tt324/jcordj66/andre-the-giant1.jpg
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/27/10 at 8:07 am
The person who died on this day... Andre The Giant
André René Roussimoff (19 May 1946 – 27 January 1993), best known as André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and actor. His great size was a result of acromegaly, and led to him being dubbed "The Eighth Wonder of the World".
In the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Roussimoff briefly held the WWF Championship. In 1993, he was the first inductee into the WWF Hall of Fame.
On 26 March 1973, André made his WWE debut as a "face", defeating Buddy Wolfe in New York's Madison Square Garden.
By the time Vince McMahon, Jr. began to expand his promotion to the national level in the early 1980s, André wrestled exclusively for WWF in the USA, while still holding international engagements. André was mentioned in the 1974 Guinness Book of World Records as the highest paid wrestler in history up to that time. He had earned $400,000 in one year alone during the early 1970s.
André was one of WWF's most beloved "babyfaces" throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. As such, Gorilla Monsoon insisted that André was never defeated for 15 years by pinfall or submission prior to WrestleMania III. This, however, is not true. André actually had lost cleanly in matches outside of the parameters of WWF; a pinfall loss in Mexico to Canek in 1984 and in Japan a submission loss to Antonio Inoki in 1986. He also went sixty-minute time limit draws with the two other major world champions of the day, Harley Race and Nick Bockwinkel.
One of André's feuds pitted him against the Mongolian terror Killer Khan, who was managed by Freddie Blassie. According to the storyline, Khan had broken André's ankle during a match in Rochester, New York by leaping off the top rope and crashing down upon it with his knee-drop. After a stay at Beth-Israel Hospital in Boston, André returned with payback on his mind. On 14 November 1981 at the Philadelphia Spectrum, André exacted revenge by destroying Khan in what was billed as a "Mongolian Stretcher Match", in which the loser must be taken to the dressing room on a stretcher. In reality, André had snapped his ankle getting out of bed one morning. The injury and subsequent rehabilitation was worked into the existing André/Khan storyline.
Another feud involved a man who considered himself to be "the true giant" of wrestling: Big John Studd. Throughout the early to mid-1980s, André and Studd fought all over the world, battling to try and determine who the real giant of wrestling was. In December 1984, Studd took the feud to a new level, when he and partner Ken Patera knocked out André during a televised tag team match and proceeded to cut off André's hair. André had the last laugh at the first WrestleMania on 31 March 1985 at Madison Square Garden. André conquered Studd in a $15,000 Body Slam Challenge. After slamming Studd, he attempted to give the $15,000 prize to the fans, before having the bag stolen from him by his future manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.
The following year, at WrestleMania 2 on 7 April 1986, André continued to display his dominance by winning a twenty-man battle royal that featured top NFL stars and wrestlers. André last eliminated Bret Hart to win the contest. Afterward, André continued his feud with Studd and King Kong Bundy. André was suspended after a no-show; he returned under a mask as "The Giant Machine" part of a team with "Big Machine" (Robert Windham) and "Super Machine" (Bill Eadie) (The Machines gimmick was copied from New Japan Pro Wrestling character "Super Strong Machine", played by Japanese wrestler Junji Hirata). Soon afterwards, Giant Machine disappeared, and André was reinstated, to the approval of Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.
Heel run (1987–1990)
Feuding Hulk Hogan and WWF Champion
Main article: WrestleMania III
André was turned heel in 1987 so that he could face Hulk Hogan for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of WrestleMania III. In early 1987, Hogan was presented a trophy for being the WWF World Heavyweight Champion for three years. André came out to congratulate him. Shortly afterward, André was presented a slightly smaller trophy for being "undefeated in WWF for fifteen years." In actuality, André had suffered a handful of countout and disqualification losses in WWF but had never been pinned or forced to submit in a WWF ring. Hogan came out to congratulate André and ended up being the focal point of the interview. A visibly annoyed André walked out in the midst of Hogan's speech. Then, on an edition of "Piper's Pit", Hogan was confronted by Bobby Heenan. Heenan announced that his new protege was André, who then challenged Hogan to a title match at WrestleMania III, ripping the t-shirt and crucifix from Hogan.
At WrestleMania III, he was billed at 525 lb (238 kg), and the stress of that immense weight on his bones and joints resulted in constant pain. After recent back surgery, he was also wearing a brace underneath his wrestling singlet. Hogan won the match after body slamming André, followed by Hogan's running leg drop finisher. Years later, Hogan claimed that André was so heavy, he felt more like 700 lb (320 kg), and that he actually tore his latissimus dorsi muscle slamming him. Another famous story about the match is that no one knew if André would lose the match. André had agreed to lose the match some time before, mostly for health reasons, though he almost pinned Hogan (albeit unintentionally) in the early goings of the match. Contrary to popular belief, it was not the first time that Hogan had successfully bodyslammed André in a WWF match. A then-heel Hogan bodyslammed a then-face André early in a match in Hamburg, Pennsylvania on 13 September 1980, though André was much lighter and more athletic at the time. This, of course, back in the territorial days of wrestling three years before WWF began its national expansion (André had also previously allowed Harley Race, Kamala, and Stan Hansen to slam him. By the time WrestleMania III had rolled around, the WWF had gone national, giving more meaning to the André-Hogan match that took place then. The feud between André and Hogan simmered during the summer of 1987, even as Roussimoff's health declined. The feud would begin heating up again when each wrestler was named the captain of rival teams at the inaugural Survivor Series event. André's team won the main event after André pinned Bam Bam Bigelow.
In the meantime, "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase failed to persuade Hogan to sell him the WWF World Championship. After failing to defeat Hogan in a subsequent series of matches, DiBiase turned to André to win it for him. Acting as his hired gun, André won the WWF title from Hogan on 5 February 1988 in a match where it was later revealed appointed referee Dave Hebner was "detained backstage", and a replacement who DiBiase paid to get plastic surgery to look like Dave (in reality, his twin brother Earl Hebner), made a three count on Hogan while his shoulders were off the mat. After winning, André "sold" the title to DiBiase; the transaction was declared invalid by then-WWF President Jack Tunney and the title was vacated. This was shown on WWF's NBC program The Main Event. At WrestleMania IV, André and Hulk Hogan fought to a double disqualification in a WWF title tournament match (with the idea in the storyline saying that André was again working on DiBiase's behalf in giving DiBiase a clearer path in the tournament). Afterward, André and Hogan's feud died down after a steel cage match held at WrestleFest on 31 July 1988 in Milwaukee. He and DiBiase also wrestled Hogan and Randy "Macho Man" Savage in the main event of SummerSlam; the DiBiase-André team lost, despite apparently having referee Jesse "the Body" Ventura on their side.
WrestleMania VI; The Colossal Connection
André's next major feud was against Jake "The Snake" Roberts. In this storyline, it was said André was deathly afraid of snakes, something Roberts exposed on Saturday Night's Main Event when he threw his snake, Damien, on the frightened André; as a result, André suffered a kayfabe mild heart attack and vowed revenge. During the next few weeks, Roberts frequently walked to ringside during André's matches, causing him to run from the ring in fright (since he knew what was inside the bag). Throughout their feud (which culminated at WrestleMania V), Roberts constantly used Damien to gain a psychological edge over the much larger and stronger André.
During the late summer and fall of 1989, André engaged in a brief feud with then-Intercontinental champion The Ultimate Warrior, where the younger Warrior regularly squashed the aging André. Earlier in 1989, André and the returning Big John Studd reprized their feud, this time with Studd as a face and André as the heel.
André won the World Tag Team Championship with his partner Haku (known collectively as The Colossal Connection) from Demolition on 13 December 1989. Managed by Bobby Heenan, they lost their titles at WrestleMania VI back to Demolition on 1 April 1990. After the match, a furious Heenan slapped André; he responded by knocking Heenan out, much to the delight of the fans. André went into the match as a heel, and left as a face.
Sporadic appearances
André continued to make appearances in the WWF throughout 1990 and 1991. He was scheduled to appear in the 1991 Royal Rumble battle royal but ultimately did not feature in the PPV at all. He came to the aid of The Big Bossman in his WrestleMania VII match against Mr. Perfect. His last major appearance was at SummerSlam in 1991, where he seconded The Bushwhackers in their match against The Natural Disasters. He also made an appearance later in the year to help The British Bulldog who had just won a Battle Royal in London.
On 25 January 2005 WWE released André The Giant, a DVD focusing on the career of André. The DVD is a reissue of the out-of-print André The Giant VHS made by Coliseum Video in 1985, with commentary by Michael Cole and Tazz replacing Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura's commentary on his WrestleMania match with Big John Studd. The video is hosted by Lord Alfred Hayes. Later matches, including André's battles against Hulk Hogan while a heel, are not included on this DVD.
His last U.S. television appearance was in a brief interview on World Championship Wrestling's Clash of the Champions XX special that aired on TBS on 2 September 1992.
Acting career
André branched out into acting in the 1970s and 1980s, making his acting debut playing a Sasquatch ("Bigfoot") on the 1970s television series The Six Million Dollar Man. He went on to appear in other television shows, including The Greatest American Hero, B.J. and the Bear, and The Fall Guy. He also participated in an episode of Zorro.
Towards the end of his career, André also starred in several movies. He had an uncredited appearance in the 1984 film — Conan the Destroyer, as Dagoth, the resurrected horned giant god who is killed by Conan (Arnold Schwarzenegger). But he appeared most notably as Fezzik (his favorite role) in the 1987 film The Princess Bride.
In his final film, he appeared in something of a cameo role as a circus giant in the comedy Trading Mom, which was not released until the year after his death.
André: Heart of the Giant is a movie about André's life and struggles in and out of the wrestling ring.
Legacy
In 1993 when the then-World Wrestling Federation created the WWF Hall of Fame, André the Giant was the first inductee.
André was the inspiration for the 1998 film My Giant, written by his friend Billy Crystal, whom he had met during the filming of The Princess Bride.
Paul Wight, better known as The Big Show and the most similar in body structure to André than any other wrestler since André's death, was originally billed as the son of André the Giant during his stint in WCW (when he was known as simply The Giant) despite no biological relation. While also suffering from acromegaly, unlike André, Wight did get surgery on his pituitary gland in the early 1990s, which successfully halted the progress of his condition. Former wrestler Giant González is currently suffering from similar problems that André had near the end of his life.
André is cited and impersonated in the comedy film I Love You, Man. He is also cited in the Eminem song "Crack a Bottle" in the lyrics "Back when Andre the Giant, mister elephant tusk, picture us and you'll be another one to bite the dust". Andre is also cited in the movie The 40 Year Old Virgin when someone quotes a woman he dated "had hands like Andre The Giant."
Personal life
Roussimoff had one daughter, Robin Christensen, who was born in 1979.
The disease that granted him his immense size eventually began to take its toll on his body. By the late 1980s, André was in constant, near-crippling pain, and his heart struggled to pump blood throughout his massive body.
According to William Goldman, author of The Princess Bride and its respective screenplay, André was having such terrible back pain during the filming of the movie that in the first shooting of a scene where Robin Wright drops about one foot and is caught by André, he fell to one knee and almost dropped her.
In the A&E documentary, Biography, Arnold Skaaland mentions how André wished he could see a Broadway play. Arnold offered to buy tickets, but André then passed up the opportunity, citing how he was too big for the seats and that people behind him would not be able to see. This was cited as a principal reason for why André frequented taverns more than anywhere else. Another story he relates tells of when André was in a bar one night, four men came up to him and began harassing him about his size. At first, André attempted to avoid confrontation, but eventually he proceeded to chase the hecklers until they locked themselves in their car. André then grabbed the car and turned it over with the four people trapped inside. André was never arrested for the incident, presumably since local police officers had a hard time believing four inebriated men's story about an angry giant overturning their car.
He has been unofficially crowned "The Greatest Drunk on Earth" for once consuming 119 12-ounce beers in 6 hours. On an episode of WWE's Legends of Wrestling, Mike Graham claimed that André once drank 197 16-ounce beers in one sitting, which was confirmed by Dusty Rhodes. In her autobiography, The Fabulous Moolah alleges that André drank 327 beers and passed out in a hotel bar in Reading, Pennsylvania, and because the staff could not move him, they had to leave him there until he regained consciousness.
André was arrested by the Linn County, Iowa sheriff in August 1989 and charged with assault after the 540 lb (240 kg) wrestler allegedly roughed up a local TV cameraman.
Death
André died at the age of 46 in his sleep of a heart attack on January 27, 1993, in a Paris hotel room. He was in Paris to attend the funeral for his father. André's body was cremated in accordance with his wishes and his ashes scattered at his ranch in Ellerbe, North Carolina.
In wrestling
* Finishing moves
o Double underhook suplex
o Elbow drop pin
o Kneeling belly to belly piledriver
o Sit-down splash
o Standing splash
* Signature moves
o Bearhug
o Big boot
o Body slam
o Chokehold
o Gorilla press slam
o Head and neck rake
o Headbutt
o Repeated hip attacks to a cornered opponent
o Samoan drop
* Managers
o Bobby Heenan
o Frank Valoi
o Lou Albano
o K.Y. Wakamatsu
o Ted DiBiase
* Nicknames
o "The 8th Wonder of the World"
o "Tiant"
o "The Immovable Object"
Championships and accomplishments
* Championship Wrestling from Florida
o NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Dusty Rhodes
* International Pro Wrestling
o IWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Michael Nader
* NWA Tri-State
o NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Tri-State version) (1 time) – with Dusty Rhodes
* Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
o Class of 2002
* Pro Wrestling Illustrated
o PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (1977, 1982)
o PWI Match of the Year (1981) vs. Killer Khan on 2 May
o PWI Match of the Year (1988) vs. Hulk Hogan at The Main Event
o PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (1988)
o PWI Editor's Award (1993)
* Stampede Wrestling
o Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame
* World Championship Wrestling (Australia)
o NWA Austra-Asian Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ronald Miller
* World Wrestling Federation
o WWF Championship (1 time)
o WWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Haku
o WWF Hall of Fame (Class of 1993)
* Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
o Feud of the Year (1981) vs. Killer Khan
o Most Embarrassing Wrestler (1989)
o Worst Feud of the Year (1984) vs. Big John Studd
o Worst Feud of the Year (1989) vs. The Ultimate Warrior
o Worst Worked Match of the Year (1987) vs. Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania III
o Worst Worked Match of the Year (1989) vs. The Ultimate Warrior on 31 October
o Worst Tag Team (1990, 1991) with Giant Baba
o Worst Wrestler (1989, 1991, 1992)
o Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)
Filmography
* Casse tête chinois pour le judoka (1967)
* The Six Million Dollar Man - "The Secret of Bigfoot II and I" (1976), Bigfoot
* B. J. and the Bear - "Snow White and the Seven Lady Truckers" (1981), Manny Felcher
* The Greatest American Hero - "Heaven Is in Your Genes" (1983), Monster
* André makes an appearance in "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough" music video by Cyndi Lauper, along with several other 80s icon wrestlers like Rowdy Roddy Piper.
* Conan the Destroyer (1984), Dagoth (uncredited)
* Micki + Maude (1984), Himself
* I Like to Hurt People (1985), Himself
* The Princess Bride (1987), Fezzik
* The Mommy Market (1994), Circus Giant
* Symphorien (197?), french sitcom on Quebec television
* Les Brillants (198?), french sitcom on Quebec television
See also
* Andre the Giant Has a Posse
http://i698.photobucket.com/albums/vv346/BartlesNBears/andre-the-giant.jpg
http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr160/fishbulb-suplex/Wrestlers/Andre%20The%20Giant/trumphoganandrecq7.jpg
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb213/goliath777/Andre%20the%20Giant/andre3.jpg
http://i624.photobucket.com/albums/tt324/jcordj66/andre-the-giant1.jpg
Andre was a person you never wanted to mess with,Him And Haku were the best team Bobby Heenan ever created.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: CatwomanofV on 01/27/10 at 8:29 am
Ok, not gonna post my photos of snow. I have a few times. If you want to see my snow photos, click on the Flikr link on my sig line and click on the link on the right side of the page where it says, "Vermont." You will see ALL my snow photos.
Cat
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/27/10 at 8:34 am
http://www.wwe.com/content/media/images/377012/493116
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: gibbo on 01/27/10 at 8:53 am
I really enjoyed Andre The Giant's wrestling matches. He was huge...
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/27/10 at 9:34 am
Ok, not gonna post my photos of snow. I have a few times. If you want to see my snow photos, click on the Flikr link on my sig line and click on the link on the right side of the page where it says, "Vermont." You will see ALL my snow photos.
Cat
Nice pics, I see the car was buried on Valentines Day '07...nice day to stay home and snuggle.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/27/10 at 9:37 am
http://www.wwe.com/content/media/images/377012/493116
I just don't remember them wrestling together..I guess I'm getting old. :-\\
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/27/10 at 4:13 pm
I just don't remember them wrestling together..I guess I'm getting old. :-\\
They defeated Demolition on December 30th,1989 and lost to Demolition at Wrestlemania 6 on April 1st 1990. Now there's some history for ya. ;)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/27/10 at 4:15 pm
I really enjoyed Andre The Giant's wrestling matches. He was huge...
He was supposed to have a match with Earthquake in 1991 but his heart problems began and looked very ill so all 'Quake did was ingure him as part of the storyline.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Frank on 01/27/10 at 6:07 pm
The person born on this day...James Cromwell
James Oliver Cromwell (born January 27, 1940) is an American film and television actor. He has been nominated for an Oscar, three Emmy Awards, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards during his career.
Cromwell's first television performance was in a 1974 episode of The Rockford Files playing Terry. A few weeks later, he began a recurring role as Stretch Cunningham on All in the Family. In 1975 he took his first lead role on television as Bill Lewis in the short-lived Hot l Baltimore, and a year later he made his film debut in Neil Simon's classic detective spoof Murder by Death.
In 1980, Cromwell guest-starred in the two-part pivotal episode "Laura Ingalls Wilder" of the long-running television series Little House on the Prairire. He played "Harve Miller," one of "Almanzo Wilder's" (Dean Butler) old friends. He comes to visit Almanzo, who lives with his shy sister, Walnut Grove's school teacher "Eliza Jane." Eliza Jane and Harve spend time together over the next few weeks, and she falls in love, for the first time, with Harve. Eliza, however, misunderstands some comments Harve has made, and he stuns her, at Nellie's restaurant, by announcing he wishes to marry another woman in a different town. Harve is totally unaware that she had feelings of love towards him. She takes Almanzo's wagon to the town of Sleepy Eye to seek him out before he marries someone else. She finally gathers the courage to tell him that she loves him. Instead, he tells Eliza that it is too late, he is already married. Eliza lies to everyone, and claims she is marrying Harve and moving away. This allows seventeen-year-old Laura Ingalls (Melissa Gilbert) to take over her job as school teacher, giving Laura and Almanzo desperately needed income, and allowing Laura to move into their home to marry Almanzo at last.
While Cromwell continued with regular television work throughout the 1980s, he made real inroads in film business for his supporting roles in the films Tank and Revenge of the Nerds. His starring roles in the 1990s critically-acclaimed films Babe (1995), The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), L.A. Confidential (1997), The Green Mile, and Snow Falling on Cedars (both 1999) were breakout roles for him, and made him more bankable in Hollywood. He also played Dr. Zefram Cochrane in Star Trek: First Contact (1996) and the Star Trek: Enterprise pilot Broken Bow (the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "In a Mirror, Darkly" later reused some of the First Contact footage). He has appeared on other Star Trek television series The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, though not as Cochrane (his appearances on these shows predated his role in First Contact), he guest starred in episodes including "The Hunted", "Birthright" (Part I and II) and "Starship Down".
Cromwell also had additional success on television throughout his career. His role as newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst in the television film RKO 281 earned him an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Television Movie. The following year, he receive his second Emmy Award nomination for playing Bishop Lionel Stewart on the NBC medical drama series ER. In 2004, he guest-starred as former President D. Wire Newman in the The West Wing episode "The Stormy Present". From 2003 to 2005, Cromwell played George Sibley in the HBO drama series Six Feet Under, which earned him his third Emmy Award nomination in 2003. Along with the rest of his castmates, he was also nominated for two Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2005 and 2006. The following year, Cromwell played Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in The Queen (2006), that earned Dame Helen Mirren an Academy Award for Best Actress. He also guest starred as Phillip Bauer, father of lead character Jack, in the sixth season of the Fox thriller drama series 24.
In October 2007, Cromwell played the lead role of James Tyrone Sr. in the Druid Theatre Company's production of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night, at the Gaiety in Dublin as part of the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival's 50th Anniversary. More recently, Cromwell played George Herbert Walker Bush in Oliver Stone's W. (2008), that chronicles the unlikely rise to power of his son up until the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In an interview, Cromwell revealed that Stone had originally offered the role to Warren Beatty and Harrison Ford.
Personal life
He has long been an advocate of leftist causes. In an October 2008 interview, he strongly attacked the Republican Party and the George W. Bush administration, saying their controversial foreign policy would "either destroy us or the entire planet." In the late 1960s, he was a member of "The Committee to Defend The Panthers", a group organized to defend 13 members of the Black Panther Party who had been imprisoned in New York on charges of conspiracy. All thirteen were eventually released. In a 2004 interview with CNN.com, Cromwell praised the Panthers. He became a vegetarian in 1974 after seeing a stockyard in Texas and experiencing the "smell, terror and anxiety." He became an ethical vegan while playing the character of Farmer Hoggett in the movie Babe in 1995. He frequently speaks out on issues regarding animal cruelty for PETA, largely the treatment of pigs.
Cromwell is known for his unusually tall stature; he stands at 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m).
Cromwell was married to Anne Ulvestad from 1976 to 1986. They had three children. He married his second wife, Julie Cobb, on 29 May 1986.
Filmography
Films
Year Film Role Notes
1976 Murder by Death Marcel
1978 The Cheap Detective Schnell
1981 Nobody's Perfekt Dr. Carson
1983 The Man with Two Brains Realtor
1984 The House of God Officer Quick
Tank Deputy Euclid Baker
Revenge of the Nerds Mr. Skolnick Credited as "Jamie Cromwell"
Oh, God! You Devil Priest
1985 Explorers Mr. Müller
1986 A Fine Mess Detective Blist
1987 Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise Mr. Skolnick
1988 The Rescue Admiral Rothman
1989 The Runnin' Kind Unknown
Pink Cadillac Motel Desk Clerk
1992 The Babe Brother Mathias
1993 Romeo Is Bleeding Cage
1995 Babe Farmer Arthur Hoggett Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
1996 Eraser William Donohue
The People vs. Larry Flynt Charles Keating
Star Trek: First Contact Dr. Zefram Cochrane
1997 Owd Bob Adam MacAdam
L.A. Confidential Captain Dudley Smith Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
The Education of Little Tree Granpa
1998 Species II Senator Judson Ross
Deep Impact Alan Rittenhouse
Babe: Pig in the City Farmer Arthur Hoggett
1999 The General's Daughter Lt. Gen. Joseph Campbell
The Bachelor Priest
The Green Mile Warden Hal Moores Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Snow Falling on Cedars Judge Fielding
2000 Space Cowboys Bob Gerson
2002 Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron The Colonel
The Sum of All Fears President J. Robert Fowler
The Nazi Franz
2003 Blackball Ray Speight
The Snow Walker Walter Shepherd
2004 I, Robot Dr. Alfred Lanning
2005 The Longest Yard Warden Hazen
2006 The Queen Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
2007 Dante's Inferno Virgil
Becoming Jane Reverend Austen
Spider-Man 3 Captain George Stacy
2008 Tortured Jack
W. George H. W. Bush
2009 A Lonely Place for Dying Howard Simons
Flying Into Love Lyndon B. Johnson Pre-production
Surrogates Dr. Lionel Canter
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1974 The Rockford Files Terry Episode 1.3: "The Countess"
All in the Family Stretch Cunningham Appeared in three episodes
1974, 1978 Maude Alfie
Dr. Farrington Episode 3.9: "Last Tango in Tuckahoe"
Episode 6.13: "The Obscene Phone Call"
1975 Hot l Baltimore Bill Lewis Main cast member
Barbary Coast Roy Episode 1.4: "The Ballad of Redwing Jail"
1976 Stranded Jerry Holmes TV film
Insight Norman Episode "Jesus B.C."
The Nancy Walker Show Glen
Once an Eagle J. L. Cleghorne Mini-series
1977 Police Story Lutz Episode 4.20: "Ice Time"
The Girl in the Empty Grave Deputy Malcolm Rossiter Jr. TV film
M*A*S*H Captain Leo Bardonaro Episode 6.3: "Last Laugh"
Three's Company Detective Lannigan Episode 2.9: "Chrissy's Night Out"
Deadly Game Deputy Malcolm Rossiter Jr. TV film
1977, 1979, 1981 Barney Miller Sgt. Wilkinson
Neil Spencer
Jason Parrish
Dr. Edmund Danworth Episode 3.20: "Group Home"
Episode 6.6: "Strip Joint"
Episode 7.22: "Liquidation"
Episode 8.5: "Stress Analyzer"
1978 Alice Detective Ralph Hilton Episode 3.9: "Who Ordered the Hot Turkey?"
1979 Eight Is Enough Coach Pollard Episode 3.23: "The Better Part of Valour"
Diff'rent Strokes Father O'Brien Episode 2.7: "Arnold's Hero"
1979, 1980 The White Shadow Mr. Hamilton
Art Commings Episode 1.13: "Mainstream"
Episode 2.22: "The Death of Me Yet?"
1980 Flo Leon Episodes 1.1: "Homecoming" and 1.4: "Take My Sister, Please"
Little House on the Prairie Harve Miller Episodes 7.1: "Laura Ingalls Wilder: Part 1" and 7.2: "Laura Ingalls Wilder: Part 2"
A Christmas Without Snow Reverend Lohman TV film
1981 Barefoot in the Park Harry Pepper TV film
1982 The Rainmaker Noah Curry TV film
Nurse Paul Moore Episode 2.9: "A Place to Die"
The Wall Francisek TV film
Born to the Wind Fish Belly
Father Murphy Farley Webster Episodes 2.5: "The Reluctant Runaway: Part 1" and 2.6: "The Reluctant Runaway: Part 2"
1984 Buffalo Bill Unknown Episode 2.2: "Jerry Lewis Week"
Gimme a Break! Russell Cosgrove Episode 3.22: "Class of '84"
Spraggue Lieutenant Hurley TV film
Earthlings Simon Ganes TV film
1984-1985 Dallas Gerald Kane Appeared in three episodes
1985 Night Court Alan Episode 2.14: "Nuts About Harry"
Family Ties John Hancock Episode 3.15: "Philadelphia Story"
Riptide Joey Dietz Episode 2.17: "Girls Night Out"
Hardcastle and McCormick Jake Fellows Episode 2.20: "Undercover McCormick"
Knight Rider Curtis Episode 3.18: "Ten Wheel Trouble"
Wildside Fake Buffalo Bill Episode 1.5: "Buffalo Who?"
Hill Street Blues Lowenhandler Episode 5.23: "Grin and Bear It"
Hunter Seymour Robbins Episode 1.19: "Sniper"
The Twilight Zone Obediah Payne Episode 1.6: "Examination Day/A Message from Charity"
1985-1986 Scarecrow and Mrs. King Gregory Episodes 3.4: "Tail of the Dancing Weasel" and 3.18: "Wrong Number"
1986 Amazing Stories Francis Episode 1.15: "One for the Road"
Magnum, P.I. French Policeman Episode 6.21: "Photo Play"; uncredited
The Last Precinct Chief Bludhorn
Dream West Major General David Hunter TV mini-series
1987 Easy Street Quentin Standard Episode 1.13: "Frames and Dames"
Alison's Demise Humboldt Hobson TV film
1988 China Beach Ambassador at Large Roland Weymouth Pilot
Mr. Belvedere Roy Gallagher Episode 5.1: "Fat Cats"
Mama's Boy Unknown
1989 Christine Cromwell Arthur Episode 1.1: "Things That Go Bump in the Night"
1990 Life Goes On Bill Henderson Episode 1.13: "Thacher and Henderson"
Miracle Landing B.J. Cocker TV film
Matlock Judge Raymond Price Episode 5.2: "Nowhere to Turn"
1990, 1993 Star Trek: The Next Generation Prime Minister Nayrok
Jaglom Shrek Episode 3.11: "The Hunted"
Episodes 6.16: "Birthright: Part 1" and 6.17: "Birthright: Part 2"
1991 The Young Riders Jacob Episode 2.14: "The Peacemakers"
Jake and the Fatman Havilland Episode 4.19: "It Never Entered My Mind"
In a Child's Name Unknown TV film
1992 Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation Mr. Skolnick TV film; credited as "Jamie Cromwell"
1994 Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love Mr. Skolnick TV film; credited as "Jamie Cromwell"
The Shaggy Dog Charlie 'the Robber' Mulvihill TV film
Home Improvement Fred Episode 4.9: "My Dinner with Wilson"
1995 Renegade Jeremy Sullivan Episode 3.15: "Stalker's Moon"
Picket Fences The Bishop Episode 3.20: "Saint Zach"
Indictment: The McMartin Trial Judge Pounders TV film
Hawkeye Unknown Episode 1.17: "The Visit"
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Hanok Episode 4.6: "Starship Down"
1995-1996 Partners Mr. Saxonhouse Episodes 1.11: "Do We Have to Write You a Check?" and 1.18: "Can We Keep Her, Dad?"
1996 Strange Luck Minister Episode 1.13: "Healing Hands"
The Client Officer Joe Denton Episode 1.17: "The High Ground"
1999 A Slight Case of Murder John Edgerson TV film
RKO 281 William Randolph Hearst TV film
Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor – Miniseries or a Movie
2000 Fail Safe Gordon Knapp TV play
2001 ER Bishop Stewart Appeared in four episodes
Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor – Drama Series
Star Trek: Enterprise Dr. Zefram Cochrane Episode 1.1: "Broken Bow: Part 1"
Cromwell also appeared in archive footage in Episode 4.18: "In a Mirror, Darkly"
Citizen Baines Senator Elliot Baines Appeared in all seven episodes
2002 A Death in the Family Joel Lynch TV film
The Magnificent Ambersons Major Amberson TV film
RFK President Lyndon B. Johnson
2003 Angels in America Henry TV mini-series; chapters 1 and 4
2003-2005 Six Feet Under George Sibley Appeared in 27 episodes
Nominated — Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2005, 2006)
2004 The West Wing President D. Wire Newman Episode 5.10: "The Stormy Present"
'Salem's Lot Father Donald Callahan TV mini-series
2005 Pope John Paul II Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha
2006 Avenger Paul Devereaux TV film
2007 24 Phillip Bauer Appeared in eight episodes
Masters of Science Fiction Randolph Ludwin Episode 1.6: "Watchbird"
2008 Hit Factor Orson Fierce Also producer
My Own Worst Enemy Alistar Trumble Appeared in six episodes
2009 Strikeout Director TV film
Impact Lloyd TV mini-series
The Last Days of Lehman Brothers Hank Paulson Docu-drama
Theatre
* Long Day's Journey into Night (2007)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v196/paganpriest/Movies/People/JamesCromwell.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/thecaptain72/tn_cromwell.jpg
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii171/stookiebhoy/patricia_clarkson_james_cromwell_th.jpg
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d108/ai108/88c97fcd.jpg
I wil always remember him as Stretch Cunningham...
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Frank on 01/27/10 at 6:11 pm
Andre was a person you never wanted to mess with,Him And Haku were the best team Bobby Heenan ever created.
I don't remember him and Haku togethr iether..weird...
Recall watching Andre wrestling on TV back in the very early 1970s, in Quebec, as Geant Jean Ferre. he was much slimmer then.
http://www.udenap.org/photos/g/geant_ferre.jpg
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/28/10 at 7:27 am
The word of the day...Sunshine
Sunshine is the light and heat that comes from the sun.
http://i1021.photobucket.com/albums/af335/Bwendi/SUNSHiNE.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d161/bittyskitty94210/words/sunshine.jpg
http://i613.photobucket.com/albums/tt211/Adi_059/Rsrit22Apr09.jpg
http://i410.photobucket.com/albums/pp185/allyin_wonderland/DSCN0172.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f31/Savagechic08/backgrounds/14v78g9.jpg
http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv169/nayaHR/winter%2009/platak9f.jpg
http://i384.photobucket.com/albums/oo281/CooperDaKat/sunshine.jpg
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/28/10 at 7:31 am
The birthday of the day...Elijah Wood
Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor. Making his film debut with a minor part in the Back to the Future Part II (1989), he landed a succession of subsequent larger roles and became a critically acclaimed child actor by age 13.
After his high-profile role as the Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, he has resisted typecasting by choosing varied roles in critically-acclaimed films such as Bobby, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Sin City, Green Street and Everything Is Illuminated. Most recently he starred in the film Day Zero (2007) and provided the voice of the main character, Mumble, in the award-winning animated film Happy Feet. He also played an American tourist turned vampire in Paris, je t'aime. In 2005, he started his own record label, Simian Records. His next project is the upcoming Iggy Pop biopic The Passenger.
In 2006, he became a well-known voice actor in video gaming and would soon become the voice of the video game icon, Spyro the Dragon.
In 2008, he set a new world record when he became the first person ever to cross the Victoria Falls on ropes during an appearance on Jack Osbourne's show Adrenaline Junkie.
Wood modeled and did local commercials before moving with his family to Los Angeles in 1988, where he got his first break, a small role in a video by Paula Abdul - "Forever Your Girl," directed by David Fincher. Film work followed almost instantly in Back to the Future Part II (1989). It was Wood's role as Aidan Quinn's son in Barry Levinson's 1990 film Avalon (the third film in the Baltimore trilogy containing 1982's Diner and 1987's Tin Men) that first gave Wood attention, as the film received widespread critical acclaim and was nominated for four Academy Awards.
After a small part in the Richard Gere movie Internal Affairs (1990), he secured his first starring role in Paradise (1991), playing a young boy who brings estranged couple Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson back together. He received good reviews for his performance - some said it was one of the best things about the film - and from there, he went on to co-star with Mel Gibson and Jamie Lee Curtis in Forever Young and with Joseph Mazzello in Radio Flyer (both were released in 1992).
Wood in Radio Flyer
In 1993, he co-starred with Macaulay Culkin in The Good Son, and in the same year he had the lead role in The Adventures of Huck Finn. In 1994 he starred in The War (1994), with Kevin Costner. His performance in this movie gained him a nomination for a 'Young Star Award' (for which he was nominated four times, and won twice), and Roger Ebert said in his review of the film that:
"Elijah Wood has emerged, I believe, as the most talented actor in his age group, in Hollywood history".
Also in 1994, he had the title role in North, and also featured in a Super Bowl commercial for Wavy Lay's potato chips that has him repeatedly exchanging seats with spectators at a football game (including Dan Quayle) using its famous slogan. In 1995 he appeared in the music video for The Cranberries’ "Ridiculous Thoughts". The following year he got the lead role in Flipper (1996), which was not very successful, but the subsequent critical and financial success of Ang Lee's The Ice Storm (1997) provided a positive development in the young actor's career. As the soulfully dazed and confused Mikey Carver, Wood gave a portrayal remarkable for its rendering of the thoughtfulness and exquisite hopelessness inherent in the character.
In 1997 he starred in Oliver Twist, as The Artful Dodger. 1998's Deep Impact and The Faculty did not allow Wood the same degree of character development, but were great financial successes and further stepping stones in Wood's evolution from winsome child star to impressive young actor.
Wood's next role was as the boyfriend of a wannabe hip-hop groupie in James Toback's Black and White (1999). He followed this with a role as a junior hitman in Chain of Fools.
1999–2003: The Lord of the Rings
Wood as Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings
Wood further developed as an actor in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the first installment of director Peter Jackson's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's literary trilogy. His most hotly anticipated project, the 2001 film gave Wood top billing as Frodo Baggins, alongside a glittering cast that included Sir Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Sean Bean, and Viggo Mortensen. The Lord of the Rings was filmed in New Zealand and, before the cast left the country, Jackson gave Wood two gifts: one of the One Ring props used on the set and Sting, Frodo's sword. He was also given a pair of prosthetic "hobbit feet" he wore during filming. That same year, the young actor could be seen in less mystical surroundings, courtesy of Ed Burns' Ash Wednesday, a crime drama that also featured Oliver Platt and Rosario Dawson.
In 2002, Wood lent his voice to the direct-to-video release of The Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina. Of course, his most substantial role of 2002 is inarguably his return to the role of hobbit Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
2003 proved to be a similar year for Wood; after two relatively small jobs (his role credited as 'The Guy' in Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over and his stint as First Assistant Director in Sean Astin's The Long and Short of It served purely as a break for Elijah), he starred in All I Want and once again resumed his role as Frodo Baggins for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), the final installment of Jackson's trilogy.
2004-2006: Recent career
Hot on the heels of the trilogy, Wood quickly appeared in his first post-Frodo role in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), playing an ethically challenged lab technician who helps erase heartbreaking memories but then uses his knowledge of the past relationship of an unknowing former patient (played by Kate Winslet) to woo her.
Wood as Kevin in Sin City
Wood's next role was his first villainous role: bespectacled serial killer Kevin in director Robert Rodriguez and writer-artist Frank Miller's adaptation of Miller's crime noir comic book series Sin City (2005), appearing opposite Mickey Rourke in the segment "The Hard Goodbye". On May 12, 2005 , Wood hosted a program called MTV Presents: The Next Generation Xbox Revealed, when the new Xbox 360 was launched.
Also in 2005, Wood starred in Everything Is Illuminated, in which he plays a young American Jewish man on a quest to find the woman who once saved his grandfather during the Second World War, and Green Street, as an American college student who falls in with a violent English football firm. Both had limited release, but were critically acclaimed.
Wood shot a small part in Paris, je t'aime, which consists of eighteen 5-minute sections. Each section is directed by a different director. Wood’s section, called "Quartier de la Madeleine", was directed by Vincenzo Natali. The film opened on May 18 at 2006 Cannes Film Festival and was shown at 2006 Toronto International Film Festival. First Look Pictures acquired the North American rights, and the film opened in the US in early 2007.
In 2006, he was part of the ensemble cast in Emilio Estevez's Bobby, in which his character gets married to change his draft classification. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival and was released on November 17, 2006 in New York and Los Angeles. Wide release followed on November 23.
In Happy Feet, Wood provided the voice of Mumble, a penguin who can tap dance, but not sing. Happy Feet was released on November 17, 2006 and has grossed over $380 million dollars worldwide. The movie also received a Golden Globe Award nomination and won an Academy Award and a BAFTA for Best Animated Feature.
2007-Present
Wood has finished filming Day Zero, a drama about the draft, in which he portrays Aaron Feller. The film had its debut at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival.
On November 19, Wood hosted the special "Saving a Species: The Great Penguin Rescue" for Discovery Kids Channel, for which he has been nominated for a Daytime Emmy in the category of acting in a children/youth/family special. On January 4, 2007 Wood joined Screen Actors Guild President Alan Rosenberg to announce the nominees for the 13th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Wood also has finished filming The Oxford Murders, film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Guillermo Martínez, in which he plays a graduate student, who investigates a series of bizarre, mathematically-based murders in Oxford. It was released in Spain on January 18, 2008.
Wood also is set to star in The Passenger, a biopic about singer Iggy Pop as young man. He voiced the lead in the animated feature film version of the short film 9.
Other work
In 2005 Wood started his own record label called Simian Records. On September 19, 2006 Wood announced that Simian had signed The Apples in Stereo as their first band, with their new album New Magnetic Wonder released in February 2007. In addition he also directed the music video for "Energy". The other band signed to Simian thus far is Heloise and the Savoir Faire. Wood declared he is a big fan of these two bands.
Wood has also provided voiceovers for videogames, providing the current voice for Spyro the Dragon since 2006's The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning, as well as reprising Mumble in the game version of Happy Feet. He also contributed his talents to fellow Lord of the Rings star Viggo Mortensen's album Pandemoniumfromamerica, singing and playing various instruments on the album.
Wood has signed to co-produce the film Black Wings Has My Angel, based on the noir novel of the same name, with Anthony Moody and Rob Malkani of Indalo Productions.
On April 11, 2008, Elijah was the guest host of Channel 4's Friday Night Project.
On April 25, 2009, Elijah was honored with The Midnight Award (San Francisco International Film Festival) as a dynamic young American actor who has made outstanding contributions to independent and Hollywood cinema, and who brings striking intelligence, exemplary talent and extraordinary depth of character to his roles.
Elijah Wood also starred in an episode of Yo! Gabba Gabba entitled "Eat" where he danced and "went crazy" alongside the rest of the Yo! Gabba Gabba crew.
Personal life
Wood in February 2006
Wood keeps his personal life from the media spotlight, and is private about his romantic relationships. He seems to have been in a five year relationship with Pamela Racine from Gogol Bordello and is photographed with her. In an interview about Everything Is Illuminated, director Liev Schreiber commented that Wood has a "generosity of spirit" and a "sincere goodness as a human being." He supported campaigns for charity as Keep a Child Alive or ALDO/YouthAIDS. Wood is a music buff owning 4,000 CDs, citing his favorite band as Smashing Pumpkins.
Wood has a tattoo of the Quenya-mode Tengwar symbol for "nine" below his waist on the right side, a reference to his character as one of the Fellowship of the Ring. The other actors of "The Fellowship" got the same tattoo (with the exception of John Rhys-Davies). He received one of the One Ring props from Peter Jackson.
In May 2006, Autograph Collector Magazine published its list of 10 Best & 10 Worst Hollywood Autograph Signers, Wood was ranked #7 of Best Signers.
Filmography
Films
Year Film Role Notes
1989 Back to the Future Part II Video-Game Boy #2 bit part
1990 Child in the Night Luke TV Film
Internal Affairs Sean Stretch minor role
Avalon Michael Kaye major role
The Witness Little Boy short film
1991 Paradise Willard Young
1992 Day-O Day-O TV Film
Forever Young Nat Cooper
Radio Flyer Mike
1993 The Good Son Mark Evans
The Adventures of Huck Finn Huckleberry Finn
1994 North North
The War Stuart 'Stu' Simmons
1996 Flipper Sandy
1997 Oliver Twist Jack 'The Artful Dodger' Dawkins TV Film
The Ice Storm Mikey Carver
1998 Deep Impact Leo Beiderman
The Faculty Casey Connor
1999 The Bumblebee Flies Anyway Barney Snow
Black and White Wren
2000 Chain of Fools Mikey Direct-to-video
2001 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Frodo Baggins
Ash Wednesday Sean Sullivan
2002 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Frodo Baggins
The Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina Tom Thumb (voice) Direct-to-video
All I Want aka Try Seventeen Jones Dillon Direct-to-video
2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Frodo Baggins
The Long and Short of It First Assistant Director Short Film
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over The Guy Cameo
2004 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Patrick
2005 Sin City Kevin
Everything Is Illuminated Jonathan Safran Foer
Green Street Matt Bucknor
2006 Bobby William Avary
Happy Feet Mumble (Voice)
The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning Spyro Video Game
2007 Paris, je t'aime David
The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night Spyro Video Game
Day Zero Aaron Feller US Release: January 18, 2008
2008 The Oxford Murders Martin Spain Release: January 18, 2008
The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon Spyro Video Game
2009 9 9 (Voice)
2010 The Romantics Chip January 27, 2010 Sundance Film Festival
The Legend of Spyro 3D Spyro (Voice) in production
The Passenger Iggy Pop pre-production
2011 Happy Feet 2 in 3D Mumble (Voice) in production
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1994 Frasier Ethan (voice) Guess Who's Coming to Breakfast - TV Episode
1996 Homicide: Life on the Street McPhee Broadman The True Test- TV Episode
Adventures from the Book of Virtues Icarus (voice) Responsibility - TV Episode
1997 Oliver Twist Jack 'The Artful Dodger' Dawkins TV Film
2002 Franklin (TV series) Coyote (voice)
The Electric Playground ? TV Episode
2003 Saturday Night Live Host TV Episode
2004 The Osbournes Himself TV Episode
King of the Hill Jason (voice) Girl, You'll Be a Giant Soon- TV Episode
2006 Robot Chicken William David Reynolds (voice) Sausage Fest - TV Episode
American Dad! Ethan (voice) Iced, Iced Babies - TV Episode
Punk'd Himself TV Episode
Saving a Species: The Great Penguin Rescue Host and Narrator TV Special
2007 Yo Gabba Gabba! Himself TV Episode
2008 Friday Night Project Himself Guest host
2008 Celebrity Adrenaline Junkie Himself Rafting down the Zambezi Became the first person to cross the Victoria Falls on ropes.
Music videos
* Paula Abdul: Forever Your Girl (1989)
* The Cranberries: Ridiculous Thoughts (1995)
* The Apples in Stereo: Energy (as director) (2006)
* Greg Laswell: How the day sounds (2008)
* The Lonely Island: On the Ground (2009)
Awards and nominations
Young Star Awards
* 1995 Nominate Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Drama Film The War 1994
* 1997 Nominated Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Comedy Film Flipper 1996
* 1998 Won Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Drama Film Deep Impact 1998
* 1998 Won Best Performance by a Young in a Miniseries/Made for TV Movies Oliver Twist 1997
Young Hollywood Awards
* 2002 Won Hottest, Coolest Young Veteran - Male N/A
Young Artist Awards
* 1991 Nominated Best Young Actor Starring in a TV Movie, Pilot or Special Child in the Night 1990
* 1991 Nominated Best Young Actor Starring in a Motion Picture Avalon 1990
* 1992 Nominated Best Young Actor Starring in a Motion Picture Paradise 1991
* 1993 Won Best Young Actor Starring in a Motion Picture Radio Flyer 1992
* 1995 Nominated Best Young Actor Starring in a Motion Picture North 1994
* 1997 Nominated Best Performance in a Drama Series - Guest Starring Young Actor Homicide: Life on the Street 1993
* 1998 Nominated Best Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting Young Actor The Ice Storm 1997
Visual Effects Society Awards
* 2003 Won Best Performance by an Actor in an Effect Film Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 2002
Teen Choice Awards
* 2002 Nominated Film - Choice Actor, Drama/Action Adventure FOTR 2001
* 2003 Nominated Choice Movie Actor - Drama/Action Adventure TTT 2002
* 2004 Nominated Choice Movie Actor - Drama/Action Adventure ROTK 2003
* 2005 Nominated Choice Movie Bad Guy Sin City 2005
ShoWest Convention USA
* 1994 Won Young Star of the Year
Screen Actors Guild Awards
* 2002 Nominated Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture FOTR 2001
* 2003 Nominated Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture TTT 2002
* 2004 Won Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture ROTK 2003
* 2007 Nominated Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Bobby 2006
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards
* 2002 Won Best Ensemble Acting FOTR 2001
* 2003 Won Best Ensemble Acting TTT 2002
* 2004 Nominated Best Ensemble Acting ROTK 2003
Online Film Critics Society Awards
* 2003 Won Best Ensemble ROTK 2003
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards
* 1999 Nominated Favorite Actor - Horror The Faculty 1998
* 1999 Nominated Favorite Supporting Actor - Sci-Fi Deep Impact 1998
National Board of Review USA
* 2003 Won Best Acting by an Ensemble ROTK 2003
MTV Movie Awards
* 2002 Nominated Best On-Screen Team FOTR 2001
* 2003 Won Best On-Screen Team TTT 2003
Kids' Choice Awards
* 2002 Nominated Favorite Male Butt Kicker FOTR
* 2003 Nominated Favorite Male Kicker TTT
Empire Awards UK
* 2002 Won Best Actor FOTR
DVD Exclusive Awards
* 2003 Nominated Best Animated Character Performance The Adventures of Tom Thumb & Thumbelina 2002
* 2003 Nominated Best Audio Commentary, New Release FOTR
* 2003 Nominated Best Audio Commentary (New For DVD) TTT
Broadcast Film Critics Awards
* 2004 Won Best Acting Ensemble ROTK
* 1999 Nominated Favorite Actor - Horror The Faculty 1998
* 1999 Nominated Favorite Supporting Actor - Sci-Fi- Deep Impact 1998
Saturn Award
* 1994 Won Best Performance by a Young Actor The Good Son 1993
* 1995 Nominated Best Performance by a Younger Actor North 1994
* 2003 Nominated Best Performance by a Younger Actor TTT
* 2004 Won Best Actor ROTK
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
* 2004 Won Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance - Male ROTK
Hollywood Film Festival
* 2006 Won Best Ensemble Cast for Bobby
Daytime Emmy Awards
* 2007 Nominated Outstanding Performer In A Children/Youth/Family Special - Saving a Species: The Great Penguin Rescue 2006
San Francisco International Film Festival
* 2009 Won The Midnight Award as dynamic young American actor who bring striking intelligence, exemplary talent and extraordinary depth of character to his roles.
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/28/10 at 7:36 am
The person who died on this date...Jim Capaldi
Nicola James "Jim" Capaldi (2 August 1944 – 28 January 2005) was an English musician and songwriter and a founding member of Traffic. He drummed with several famous singers and musicians, including Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Alvin Lee, and Mylon LeFevre. Early days
As a child Capaldi studied the piano and singing with his father, a music teacher, and by his teens he was playing drums with his friends. In 1961 Capaldi played drums for the Worcester band The Sapphires and in 1963 he formed The Hellions with Dave Mason on guitar and Gordon Jackson on rhythm guitar. In August 1964, Tanya Day took The Hellions to the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany as her backing group. The Spencer Davis Group were staying at the same hotel as The Hellions and it was there that Steve Winwood befriended Capaldi and Mason.
Back in Worcester, The Hellions established themselves as busy professionals of sufficient repute to provide backing to visiting performers including Adam Faith and Dave Berry. By the end of 1964, they had a London residency at the Whisky-A-Go-Go Club. In 1965 the band released three singles but none charted. Later that year John "Poli" Palmer joined the band on drums and Capaldi became the lead vocalist.
The Hellions moved back to Worcester in 1966 in an attempt to reduce their costs but local tastes had changed and the band relaunched themselves as The Revolution with a fourth single that also failed to chart. Disillusioned, Dave Mason left the band. Capaldi replaced Mason with Luther Grosvenor and renamed the band Deep Feeling. They played gigs in Birmingham and the surrounding Black Country area where they developed a significant fanbase. Capaldi, Jackson and Palmer wrote original songs for the band that were heavier than the Hellions repertoire. They recorded several studio tracks which remained unreleased until 2009.
First success
Capaldi and the band played frequently in London and Jimi Hendrix played guitar with them at the Knuckles Club as an unknown musician. Back in Birmingham Capaldi would occasionally join his friends Mason, Winwood and Chris Wood for impromptu performances at The Elbow Room club on Aston High Street. Early in 1967 they formalised this arrangement by forming Traffic and the other members of Deep Feeling disbanded. In 1968, Capaldi, Winwood and Mason contributed backing music to a solo album by Gordon Jackson.
The new band was signed by Island Records and rented a quiet cottage in Aston Tirrold, Berkshire in order to write and rehearse new material. The cottage did not remain quiet and had frequent visitors including Eric Burdon, Eric Clapton and Pete Townshend as well as Trevor Burton (of The Move) amongst many others. Capaldi wrote the lyrics for Traffic's first single "Paper Sun", which appeared in the UK singles chart at number 5 in summer 1967. Two more singles were released successfully in 1967 and in December the band released the album Mr. Fantasy, which demonstrated the individual talents of each member. Mason left the band soon after the album's release but returned the following May before finally leaving again in October. Winwood also left Traffic (to form Blind Faith) and the rest reluctantly concluded that the band was over.
Reformation and beyond
Capaldi now tried to form another band with Mason and Wood but the creative tensions that had caused Mason to leave Traffic remained and Wynder K. Frogg only lasted until March 1969. In January 1970 Capaldi and Wood joined Winwood in the studio to record Winwood's solo album. These sessions were so successful that the three of them reformed Traffic (without Mason) to release the album John Barleycorn Must Die. They then toured the UK and the U.S. with a band extended by several session musicians.
Although the next Traffic albums were successful, Capaldi began to develop his solo career and released his first solo album Oh How We Danced in 1972. This set featured contributions from Free guitarist Paul Kossoff, Barry Beckett and Rebop Kwaku Baah as well as several members of Traffic.
He followed this up with Whale Meat Again in 1974 before releasing what many consider to be his masterpiece, Short Cut Draw Blood, the following year. Full of tracks with lyrical bite, the album tackled issues such as the environment, government corruption and drugs. In October 1975 a single taken from the album, a cover version of The Everly Brothers' "Love Hurts", reached number four in the UK chart and charted worldwide.
Capaldi's first and only solo Top 40 hit in the United States was from his 1982 album Fierce Heart, yielding the hit single "That's Love", which climbed to Number 28 in Billboard's Top 40 in the summer of 1983. The track was a simple arrangement with synthesized drums, electric guitar, and keyboards. Steve Winwood supplied the keyboards with his then-wife Nicole Winwood on background vocals.
Capaldi was noted for the extent of his collaborations with other musicians. In 1973, he played drums at Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert and on some Clapton studio sessions.
Collaborations
Jim Capaldi's success as a lyricist continued throughout his life. He was a five times winner of coveted BMI/Ascap Awards for the "most played compositions in America", and sales of songs written or co-written by him exceeded 25 million units. He numbered Bob Marley among his friends and they travelled together whilst Marley was writing the Catch A Fire album. Capaldi wrote the lyrics to "This Is Reggae Music".
In the 1980s, Capaldi collaborated with Carlos Santana contributing songs and ideas to Santana's projects and in the 1990s he wrote the song "Love Will Keep Us Alive" for the Eagles' successful Hell Freezes Over album. His own 1988 album Some Come Running included Eric Clapton and George Harrison on the track "Oh Lord, Why Lord".
In 1993, Traffic reformed (without Chris Wood, who died in 1983, and Dave Mason) and recorded a new album Far From Home and in 1994 Capaldi toured the U.S. and UK with the band. In 1998 he paired up again with Mason on an extensive American tour.
Marriage/Family
He married Brazilian-born Aninha in 1975 and in 1976 toured with his band Space Cadets before moving to Brazil in 1977. His daughters Tabitha and Tallulah were born in 1977 and 1979, respectively. The Capaldis lived in the Bahia region of Brazil until the beginning of 1980 and while there he became heavily involved with environmental issues. The track "Favella Music" on his 1981 album Let The Thunder Cry arose from his love of Brazil and he worked with several Brazilian composers.
The final years
In 2001, Capaldi's twelfth solo album Living On The Outside featured George Harrison, Steve Winwood, Paul Weller, Gary Moore and Ian Paice. George Harrison played guitar on the track "Anna Julia", an English translation of a song by the Brazilian band Los Hermanos and Capaldi played at the Concert for George in 2002.
Outside his music and his environmental activism, Capaldi also assisted his wife in her work with Jubilee Action to help Brazilian street children. He remained professionally active until his final illness prevented him from working on plans for a 2005 reunion tour of Traffic. He died of stomach cancer at 02:30 on 28 January 2005, aged 60. He is survived by his wife and daughters.
Dear Mr Fantasy
Dear Mr Fantasy was a celebration of Jim Capaldi's life and music that took place at the Roundhouse in Camden Town, London on Sunday, 21 January 2007. Guests included Bill Wyman, Jon Lord, Gary Moore, Steve Winwood, Cat Stevens, Paul Weller, Pete Townshend, his brother, Phil and many more. Dear Mr Fantasy featured the music of Jim Capaldi and Traffic. All profits went to The Jubilee Action Street Children Appeal.
Solo discography
* Oh How We Danced (1972)
* Whale Meat Again (1974)
* Short Cut Draw Blood (1975)
* Play It By Ear (1977)
* Daughter of the Night (1978)
* Contender (1978)
* Electric Nights (1979)
* Sweet Smell of ... Success (1980)
* Let The Thunder Cry (1981)
* Fierce Heart (1982)
* One Man Mission (1984)
* Some Come Running (1988)
* Prince of Darkness (1995)
* Let The Thunder Cry (1999)
* Living On The Outside (2001)
* Poor Boy Blue (2004)
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/28/10 at 8:02 am
I don't remember him and Haku togethr iether..weird...
Recall watching Andre wrestling on TV back in the very early 1970s, in Quebec, as Geant Jean Ferre. he was much slimmer then.
http://www.udenap.org/photos/g/geant_ferre.jpg
Bobby The Brain Heenan was the brains behind this tag team. After they lost the tag titles Andre slugged Bobby after and turned face and left the crowd in cheers.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/28/10 at 8:04 am
The word of the day...Sunshine
Sunshine is the light and heat that comes from the sun.
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Everybody loves The Sunshine. :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Frank on 01/28/10 at 11:45 pm
Canadian Person of the day
Sarah Ann McLachlan born January 28, 1968(1968-01-28)) is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter.
She is known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range. As of 2006, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. Her best-selling album to date is Surfacing, for which she won two Grammy Awards (out of four nominations) and eight Juno Awards. In addition to her personal artistic efforts, she founded the Lilith Fair tour, which showcased female musicians in the late 1990s.
http://anthonygeorge.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/sarah-mclachlan1.jpg
http://loadedbow.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/sarahmclachlan.jpg
Since her signing with Nettwerk Records two decades ago, every one of Sarah McLachlan's studio and live albums and videos has been certified gold, platinum, or multi-platinum by the RIAA. Touch (1988) and Solace (1991) were both gold sellers. Her 1994 breakthrough, the 3X-platinum Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, was followed by the digitally enhanced multimedia version of The Freedom Sessions (1995)
Sarah's landmark fifth album, the 10X-platinum Surfacing (1997), contained two Grammy Award-winning tracks: "Building a Mystery" won for Best Female Pop Vocal and "Last Dance" was voted Best Pop Instrumental. In 1998, the soundtrack of the Wim Wenders film City of Angels reached Number One on the Billboard chart. Featuring the Sarah McLachlan track "Angel," the City of Angels soundtrack achieved 4X platinum sales status
The 1999 Lilith Fair tour gave rise to Sarah's 4X-platinum album Mirrorball and its platinum long-form video counterpart. "I Will Remember You," a track from Mirrorball, earned Sarah her third career Grammy Award, for Best Female Pop Vocal (1999).
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: nally on 01/28/10 at 11:47 pm
Canadian Person of the day
Sarah Ann McLachlan born January 28, 1968(1968-01-28)) is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter.
She is known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range. As of 2006, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. Her best-selling album to date is Surfacing, for which she won two Grammy Awards (out of four nominations) and eight Juno Awards. In addition to her personal artistic efforts, she founded the Lilith Fair tour, which showcased female musicians in the late 1990s.
http://anthonygeorge.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/sarah-mclachlan1.jpg
http://loadedbow.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/sarahmclachlan.jpg
Since her signing with Nettwerk Records two decades ago, every one of Sarah McLachlan's studio and live albums and videos has been certified gold, platinum, or multi-platinum by the RIAA. Touch (1988) and Solace (1991) were both gold sellers. Her 1994 breakthrough, the 3X-platinum Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, was followed by the digitally enhanced multimedia version of The Freedom Sessions (1995)
Sarah's landmark fifth album, the 10X-platinum Surfacing (1997), contained two Grammy Award-winning tracks: "Building a Mystery" won for Best Female Pop Vocal and "Last Dance" was voted Best Pop Instrumental. In 1998, the soundtrack of the Wim Wenders film City of Angels reached Number One on the Billboard chart. Featuring the Sarah McLachlan track "Angel," the City of Angels soundtrack achieved 4X platinum sales status
The 1999 Lilith Fair tour gave rise to Sarah's 4X-platinum album Mirrorball and its platinum long-form video counterpart. "I Will Remember You," a track from Mirrorball, earned Sarah her third career Grammy Award, for Best Female Pop Vocal (1999).
She has some great music. :) 8)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Frank on 01/28/10 at 11:52 pm
She has some great music. :) 8)
Yes, she has.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: nally on 01/28/10 at 11:53 pm
Yes, she has.
I like "Possession", "Building A Mystery", "Adia" and "Sweet Surrender." :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/29/10 at 7:50 am
Canadian Person of the day
Sarah Ann McLachlan born January 28, 1968(1968-01-28)) is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter.
She is known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range. As of 2006, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. Her best-selling album to date is Surfacing, for which she won two Grammy Awards (out of four nominations) and eight Juno Awards. In addition to her personal artistic efforts, she founded the Lilith Fair tour, which showcased female musicians in the late 1990s.
http://anthonygeorge.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/sarah-mclachlan1.jpg
http://loadedbow.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/sarahmclachlan.jpg
Since her signing with Nettwerk Records two decades ago, every one of Sarah McLachlan's studio and live albums and videos has been certified gold, platinum, or multi-platinum by the RIAA. Touch (1988) and Solace (1991) were both gold sellers. Her 1994 breakthrough, the 3X-platinum Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, was followed by the digitally enhanced multimedia version of The Freedom Sessions (1995)
Sarah's landmark fifth album, the 10X-platinum Surfacing (1997), contained two Grammy Award-winning tracks: "Building a Mystery" won for Best Female Pop Vocal and "Last Dance" was voted Best Pop Instrumental. In 1998, the soundtrack of the Wim Wenders film City of Angels reached Number One on the Billboard chart. Featuring the Sarah McLachlan track "Angel," the City of Angels soundtrack achieved 4X platinum sales status
The 1999 Lilith Fair tour gave rise to Sarah's 4X-platinum album Mirrorball and its platinum long-form video counterpart. "I Will Remember You," a track from Mirrorball, earned Sarah her third career Grammy Award, for Best Female Pop Vocal (1999).
Nice choice :)
I like "Possession", "Building A Mystery", "Adia" and "Sweet Surrender." :)
All good songs :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/29/10 at 7:54 am
Canadian Person of the day
Sarah Ann McLachlan born January 28, 1968(1968-01-28)) is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter.
She is known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range. As of 2006, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. Her best-selling album to date is Surfacing, for which she won two Grammy Awards (out of four nominations) and eight Juno Awards. In addition to her personal artistic efforts, she founded the Lilith Fair tour, which showcased female musicians in the late 1990s.
http://anthonygeorge.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/sarah-mclachlan1.jpg
http://loadedbow.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/sarahmclachlan.jpg
Since her signing with Nettwerk Records two decades ago, every one of Sarah McLachlan's studio and live albums and videos has been certified gold, platinum, or multi-platinum by the RIAA. Touch (1988) and Solace (1991) were both gold sellers. Her 1994 breakthrough, the 3X-platinum Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, was followed by the digitally enhanced multimedia version of The Freedom Sessions (1995)
Sarah's landmark fifth album, the 10X-platinum Surfacing (1997), contained two Grammy Award-winning tracks: "Building a Mystery" won for Best Female Pop Vocal and "Last Dance" was voted Best Pop Instrumental. In 1998, the soundtrack of the Wim Wenders film City of Angels reached Number One on the Billboard chart. Featuring the Sarah McLachlan track "Angel," the City of Angels soundtrack achieved 4X platinum sales status
The 1999 Lilith Fair tour gave rise to Sarah's 4X-platinum album Mirrorball and its platinum long-form video counterpart. "I Will Remember You," a track from Mirrorball, earned Sarah her third career Grammy Award, for Best Female Pop Vocal (1999).
I've heard of her,not too familiar with her music.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/29/10 at 7:59 am
The word of the day...Angels
#
Angels are spiritual beings that some people believe are God's servants in heaven. N-COUNT
#
You can call someone you like very much an angel in order to show affection, especially when they have been kind to you or done you a favour.
If you describe someone as an angel, you mean that they seem to be very kind and good.
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/29/10 at 8:03 am
http://sylviasgalleryonline.com/images/Angel-7%20Small.jpg
Guardian Angel. :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/29/10 at 8:03 am
The birthday of the day...John Forsthe
John Forsythe (born John Lincoln Freund; January 29, 1918) is an American stage, television and film actor. Forsythe starred in three television series, spanning three decades, as single playboy father Bentley Gregg in the 1950s sitcom Bachelor Father (1957–1962); as the unseen millionaire Charles Townsend on the 1970s crime drama Charlie's Angels (1976–1981), and as ruthless and beloved patriarch Blake Carrington on the 1980s soap opera Dynasty (1981–1989). He hosted World of Survival during the 1970s. Forsythe currently appears each year to read children's fiction during the annual Christmas program near his retirement home at the rural resort community of Solvang, California, north of Los Angeles. espite showing initial reluctance, Forsythe began an acting career at the suggestion of his father. He met actress Parker McCormick (December 1918 - July 1980) and the couple married in 1939; they had a son, Dall (born in 1943), but soon divorced.
As a bit player for Warner Brothers, Forsythe successfully appeared in several small parts. As a result he was given a small role in Destination Tokyo (1943). Leaving his movie career for service in World War II, he appeared in the U.S. Army Air Forces play and film Winged Victory, then worked with injured soldiers who had developed speech problems.
Also in 1943, Forsythe met Julie Warren, initially a theatre companion but later a successful actress in her own right, landing a role on Broadway in Around the World. Warren became Forsythe's second wife and in the early 1950s the marriage produced two daughters - Page and Brooke.
In 1947, Forsythe joined the initial class of the soon-to-be prestigious Actors Studio, where he met other promising young actors including Marlon Brando and Julie Harris. During this time he appeared on Broadway in Mister Roberts and The Teahouse of the August Moon.
In 1955, Alfred Hitchcock cast Forsythe in the movie The Trouble with Harry, with Shirley MacLaine in her first movie appearance. The film was unsuccessful at the box office, and Forsythe found high profile movie work harder to find.
Television work
Bachelor Father
In 1957, took a leading role in the situation comedy Bachelor Father for CBS as Bentley Gregg, a playboy lawyer who has to become a father to his niece Kelly (played by Noreen Corcoran), upon the death of her biological parents. The show was an immediate rating hit and moved to NBC the following season and to ABC in the fall of 1961.
On various episodes Forsythe worked with such up-and-coming actresses as Mary Tyler Moore, Barbara Eden, Donna Douglas, Sally Kellerman, Sue Ane Langdon, and Linda Evans (who immediately formed a crush on the much older actor). During the 1961 season, Bachelor Father moved to ABC, but was cancelled that season because of declining ratings.
After Bachelor Father
In the early 1960s, Forsythe returned to acting in movies including Kitten with a Whip (1964) and In Cold Blood (1967). He also attempted two new television programs: The John Forsythe Show on NBC with Guy Marks, Elsa Lanchester, Ann B. Davis, Peggy Lipton, and Forsythe's two young daughters, Page and Brooke. (1965–1966) and To Rome with Love on CBS (1969–1971) with co-star Walter Brennan. Between 1971 and 1977, Forsythe served as narrator on the syndicated nature series, The World of Survival. He was also the announcer for Michelob beer commercials from the 70s through about 1985, notably during the "Weekends were made for Michelob" era.
Charlie's Angels
Forsythe began a 13-year association with Aaron Spelling in 1976, cast in the role of a mysterious unseen millionaire and private investigator Charles Townsend in the crime drama Charlie's Angels (1976-1981). Townsend's voice is heard over a speaker phone, instructing the eponymous Angels of their mission for the episode. Charlie's Angels was a huge success, much as Bachelor Father had been before, and was exported to over 90 countries. Forsythe quickly became the highest paid actor on television.
During this period, Forsythe invested a lot of money in thoroughbred racing, a personal hobby. Gaining respect with the celebrity thoroughbred circuit, he has served on the Board of Directors at the Hollywood Park Racetrack since 1972, and has been on the committee for more than 25 years.
Following heart problems, Forsythe underwent quadruple bypass surgery in 1979. This was so successful that he safely returned to work on Charlie's Angels, and also appeared in the courtroom drama ...And Justice for All later that year. By 1980, Charlie's Angels was starting to decline in ratings, but Forsythe remained under contract to Spelling.
Dynasty
In 1981, nearing the end of Charlie's Angels, Forsythe was selected as a last minute replacement for George Peppard in the role of conniving patriarch Blake Carrington in Dynasty. Another Aaron Spelling production, Dynasty was ABC's answer to the highly successful CBS series Dallas. Between 1985 and 1987, Forsythe also appeared as Blake Carrington in the short-lived spin-off series The Colbys.
Dynasty was a hit for Forsythe and proved his most successful role yet. Forsythe and his character became pop culture icons of the 1980s, making him one of Hollywood's leading men and sex symbols. The series explored real-life and fictionalized topics including family feuds, foreign revolutionary gunplay, illegitimate children, sex, drugs, and featured lavish lifestyles and glamorous clothes.
The series reunited Forsythe with Bachelor Father guest star Linda Evans, who had replaced Angie Dickinson to play Blake's compassionate and caring younger wife Krystle. The chemistry between Forsythe and Evans was apparent and as the principal married couple on the show, the two appeared on numerous talk and news magazine shows. During the run of the series, Forsythe, Evans and Collins promoted the Dynasty line of fragrances.
Dynasty came to an end in 1989, after a total of nine seasons, with Forsythe being the only actor to appear in all 220 episodes.
Forsythe was nominated for Emmy awards three times between 1982 and 1984 for "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series" but each time failed to win. He was also nominated six times for Golden Globes, winning twice. He was nominated five times for the Soap Opera Digest Awards, also winning twice. During this time, Forsythe celebrated his 45th wedding anniversary.
The Powers That Be
In 1992, after a three-year absence, Forsythe returned to series television starring in Norman Lear's situation comedy, The Powers That Be for NBC. The show wasn’t a ratings winner and was swiftly cancelled after only one year.
Post-1990s work and life
Bartholomew John as Forsythe (with Melora Hardin as Linda Evans) in Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure (2005)
On August 15, 1994, Forsythe's wife of 51 years, the former Julie Warren, died aged 74 in hospital after he made the difficult decision to turn off her life-support system. She had been in a coma following severe breathing difficulties. In 2002, Forsythe married businesswoman Nicole Carter, twenty-two years his junior. Forsythe has one son, two daughters, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren from his previous marriages.
Forsythe reprised his role as Charlie for the film version of Charlie's Angels (2000) and its sequel Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003), but is now retired from acting. Besides spending time with his family, he now enjoys ownership of an art gallery.
In 2005 actor Bartholomew John portrayed Forsythe in Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure, a fictionalized television movie based on the creation and behind the scenes production of Dynasty.
On May 2, 2006, Forsythe appeared with Dynasty co-stars Linda Evans, Joan Collins, Pamela Sue Martin, Al Corley, Gordon Thomson and Catherine Oxenberg in Dynasty Reunion: Catfights & Caviar. The one-hour reunion special of the former ABC series aired on CBS.
It was announced that Forsythe was being treated for colorectal cancer on October 13, 2006. He was discharged from the hospital after one month.
Thoroughbred racing
John Forsythe owned and bred Thoroughbred racehorses for many years and was a member of the Board of Directors of Hollywood Park Racetrack. Among his successes, in partnership with film producer Martin Ritt he won the 1976 Longacres Mile with Yu Wipi. With partner Ken Opstein, he won the 1982 Sixty Sails Handicap with Targa, and the 1993 La Brea Stakes with a daughter of Targa, Mamselle Bebette, which he raced under the name of his Big Train Farm, a stable he named for Hall of Fame baseball pitcher, Walter "Big Train" Johnson,
In the 1980s, John Forsythe served as the regular host for the annual Eclipse Awards. He was the recipient of the 1988 Eclipse Award of Merit for his contibution in promoting the sport of Thoroughbred racing.
Filmography
* Northern Pursuit (1943)
* Destination Tokyo (1943)
* The Captive City (1952)
* It Happens Every Thursday (1953)
* The Glass Web (1953)
* Escape from Fort Bravo (1953)
* American Harvest (Revised Edition) (1955) (short subject) (narrator)
* The Trouble with Harry (1955)
* The Ambassador's Daughter (1956)
* Everything But the Truth (1956)
* Dubrowsky (1959)
* Kitten with a Whip (1964)
* Madame X (1966)
* In Cold Blood (1967)
* Silent Treatment (1968)
* Topaz (1969)
* The Happy Ending (1969)
* Goodbye and Amen (1977)
* ...And Justice for All (1979)
* Scrooged (1988)
* Stan and George's New Life (1991)
* We Wish You a Merry Christmas (1999) (voice) (direct-to-video)
* Charlie's Angels (2000)
* Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003)
Television work
* Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955)
* Bachelor Father (1957–1962)
* The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962)
* See How They Run (1964)
* The John Forsythe Show (1965–1966)
* A Bell for Adano (1967)
* Shadow on the Land (1968)
* To Rome With Love (1969–1971)
* Murder Once Removed (1971)
* The World of Survival (1971-1977) (narrator)
* The Letters (1973) (unsold pilot)
* Lisa, Bright and Dark (1973)
* Cry Panic (1974)
* The Healers (1974)
* Terror on the 40th Floor (1974)
* The Deadly Tower (1975)
* Charlie's Angels (1976–1981)
* Amelia Earhart (1976)
* Tail Gunner Joe (1977)
* Emily, Emily (1977)
* Never Con a Killer (1977) (pilot for The Feather and Father Gang)
* Cruise Into Terror (1978)
* With This Ring (1978)
* The Users (1978)
* A Time for Miracles (1980)
* Dynasty (1981–1989)
* Sizzle (1981)
* Mysterious Two (1982)
* On Fire (1987)
* Miss Universe Pageant (1989)
* Opposites Attract (1990)
* Dynasty: The Reunion (1991)
* The Powers That Be (1992–1993)
* I Witness Video (host from 1993-1994)
* People's Century (1995) (miniseries) (narrator in U.S. version)
* Dynasty Reunion: Catfights & Caviar (2006)
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/29/10 at 8:05 am
http://sylviasgalleryonline.com/images/Angel-7%20Small.jpg
Guardian Angel. :)
Very nice :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/29/10 at 8:06 am
Very nice :)
Thank You.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/29/10 at 8:10 am
The person who died on this day...Robert Frost
Robert Lee Frost (March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963) was an American poet. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech. His work frequently employed settings from rural life in New England in the early twentieth century, using them to examine complex social and philosophical themes. A popular and often-quoted poet, Frost was honored frequently during his lifetime, receiving four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry.
In 1894 he sold his first poem, "My Butterfly: An Elegy" (published in the November 8, 1894 edition of the New York Independent) for fifteen dollars. Proud of this accomplishment he proposed marriage to Elinor Miriam White, but she demurred, wanting to finish college (at St. Lawrence University) before they married. Frost then went on an excursion to the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia, and asked Elinor again upon his return. Having graduated she agreed, and they were married at Harvard University, where he attended liberal arts studies for two years.
He did well at Harvard, but left to support his growing family. Grandfather Frost had, shortly before his death, purchased a farm for the young couple in Derry, New Hampshire; and Robert worked the farm for nine years, while writing early in the mornings and producing many of the poems that would later become famous. Ultimately his farming proved unsuccessful and he returned to education as an English teacher, at Pinkerton Academy from 1906 to 1911, then at the New Hampshire Normal School (now Plymouth State University) in Plymouth, New Hampshire.
In 1912 Frost sailed with his family to Great Britain, living first in Glasgow before settling in Beaconsfield outside London. His first book of poetry, A Boy's Will, was published the next year. In England he made some important acquaintances, including Edward Thomas (a member of the group known as the Dymock Poets), T.E. Hulme, and Ezra Pound. Pound would become the first American to write a (favorable) review of Frost's work, though Frost later resented Pound's attempts to manipulate his American prosody. Surrounded by his peers, Frost wrote some of his best work while in England.
The Robert Frost Farm in Derry, New Hampshire, where he wrote many of his poems, including "Tree at My Window" and "Mending Wall."
As World War I began, Frost returned to America in 1915. He bought a farm in Franconia, New Hampshire, where he launched a career of writing, teaching, and lecturing. This family homestead served as the Frosts' summer home until 1938, and is maintained today as 'The Frost Place', a museum and poetry conference site at Franconia. During the years 1916–20, 1923–24, and 1927–1938, Frost taught English at Amherst College, Massachusetts, notably encouraging his students to account for the sounds of the human voice in their writing.
For forty-two years, from 1921 to 1963, Frost spent almost every summer and fall teaching at the Bread Loaf School of English of Middlebury College, at the mountain campus at Ripton, Vermont. He is credited as a major influence upon the development of the school and its writing programs; the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference gained renown during Frost's time there. The college now owns and maintains his former Ripton farmstead as a national historic site near the Bread Loaf campus. In 1921 Frost accepted a fellowship teaching post at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he resided until 1927; while there he was awarded a lifetime appointment at the University as a Fellow in Letters. The Robert Frost Ann Arbor home is now situated at The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. Frost returned to Amherst in 1927. In 1940 he bought a 5-acre (2.0 ha) plot in South Miami, Florida, naming it Pencil Pines; he spent his winters there for the rest of his life.
Harvard's 1965 alumni directory indicates Frost received an honorary degree there. Though he never graduated from college, Frost received over 40 honorary degrees, including ones from Princeton, Oxford and Cambridge universities; and he was the only person to receive two honorary degrees from Dartmouth College. During his lifetime the Robert Frost Middle School in Fairfax, Virginia, and the main library of Amherst College were named after him.
Frost was 86 when he spoke and performed a reading of his poetry at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy on January 20, 1961. He died in Boston two years later, on January 29, 1963, of complications from prostate surgery. He was buried at the Old Bennington Cemetery in Bennington, Vermont. His epitaph quotes a line from one of his poems: "I had a lover's quarrel with the world."
Frost's poems are critiqued in the Anthology of Modern American Poetry (Oxford University Press) where it is mentioned that behind a sometimes charmingly familiar and rural façade, Frost's poetry frequently presents pessimistic and menacing undertones which often are either unrecognized or unanalyzed.
One of the original collections of Frost materials, to which he himself contributed, is found in the Special Collections department of the Jones Library in Amherst, Massachusetts. The collection consists of approximately twelve thousand items, including original manuscript poems and letters, correspondence, and photographs, as well as audio and visual recordings.
Personal life
Robert Frost's personal life was plagued with grief and loss. His father died of tuberculosis in 1885, when Frost was 11, leaving the family with just $8. Frost's mother died of cancer in 1900. In 1920, Frost had to commit his younger sister, Jeanie, to a mental hospital, where she died nine years later. Mental illness apparently ran in Frost's family, as both he and his mother suffered from depression, and his daughter Irma was committed to a mental hospital in 1947. Frost's wife, Elinor, also experienced bouts of depression.
Elinor and Robert Frost had six children: son Elliot (1896–1904, died of cholera), daughter Lesley Frost Ballantine (1899–1983), son Carol (1902–1940, committed suicide), daughter Irma (1903–1967), daughter Marjorie (1905–1934, died as a result of puerperal fever after childbirth), and daughter Elinor Bettina (died three days after birth in 1907). Only Lesley and Irma outlived their father. Frost's wife, who had heart problems throughout her life, developed breast cancer in 1937, and died of heart failure in 1938.
Selected works
Poems
* After Apple-Picking
* Acquainted with the Night
* The Aim Was Song
* An Old Man's Winter Night
* The Armful
* Asking for Roses
* The Bear
* Bereft
* Birches
* The Black Cottage
* Bond and Free
* A Boundless Moment
* A Brook in the City
* But Outer Space
* Choose Something Like a Star
* A Cliff Dwelling
* The Code
* Come In
* A Considerable Speck
* The Cow in Apple-Time
* The Death of the Hired Man
* Dedication
* The Demiurge's Laugh
* Devotion
* Departmental
* Desert Places
* Design
* Directive
* A Dream Pang
* Dust of Snow
* The Egg and the Machine
* Evening in a Sugar Orchard
* The Exposed Nest
* The Fear
* Fire and Ice (1916)
* Fireflies in the Garden
* The Flower Boat
* Flower-Gathering
* For Once, Then Something
* Fragmentary Blue
* Gathering Leaves
* The Generations of Men
* Ghost House
* The Gift Outright
* A Girl's Garden
* Going for Water
* Good Hours
* Good-bye, and Keep Cold
* The Gum-Gatherer
* A Hundred Collars
* Hannibal
* The Hill Wife
* Home Burial
* Hyla Brook
* In a Disused Graveyard
* In a Poem
* In Hardwood Groves
* In Neglect
* In White (Frost's Early Version of "Design")
* Into My Own
* A Late Walk
* Leaves Compared with Flowers
* The Line-Gang
* A Line-Storm Song
* The Lockless Door
* Love and a Question
* Lure of the West
* Meeting and Passing
* Mending Wall
* A Minor Bird
* The Mountain
* Mowing
* My Butterfly
* My November Guest
* The Need of Being Versed in Country Things
* Neither Out Far Nor in Deep
* Never Again Would Bird's Song Be the Same
* Not to Keep
* Nothing Gold Can Stay
* Now Close the Windows
* October
* On a Tree Fallen across the Road
* On Looking up by Chance at the Constellations
* Once by the Pacific (1916)
* One Step Backward Taken
* Out, Out- (1916)
* The Oven Bird
* Pan With Us
* A Patch of Old Snow
* The Pasture
* Plowmen
* A Prayer in Spring
* Provide, Provide
* Putting in the Seed
* Quandary
* A Question
* Range-Finding
* Reluctance
* Revelation
* The Road Not Taken
* The Road That Lost its Reason
* The Rose Family
* Rose Pogonias
* The Runaway
* The Secret Sits
* The Self-Seeker
* A Servant to Servants
* The Silken Tent
* A Soldier
* The Sound of the Trees
* The Span of Life
* Spring Pools
* The Star-Splitter
* Stars
* Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
* Storm Fear
* The Telephone
* They Were Welcome to Their Belief
* A Time to Talk
* To E.T.
* To Earthward
* To the Thawing Wind
* Tree at My Window
* The Trial by Existence
* The Tuft of Flowers
* Two Look at Two
* Two Tramps in Mud Time
* The Vanishing Red
* The Vantage Point
* War Thoughts at Home
* What Fifty Said
* The Witch of Coös
* The Wood-Pile
Poetry collections
* North of Boston (David Nutt, 1914; Holt, 1914)
* Mending Wall
* Mountain Interval (Holt, 1916)
* The Road Not Taken
* Selected Poems (Holt, 1923)
Includes poems from first three volumes and the poem The Runaway
* New Hampshire (Holt, 1923; Grant Richards, 1924)
* Several Short Poems (Holt, 1924)
* Selected Poems (Holt, 1928)
* West-Running Brook (Holt, 1928? 1929)
* The Lovely Shall Be Choosers (Random House, 1929)
* Collected Poems of Robert Frost (Holt, 1930; Longmans, Green, 1930)
* The Lone Striker (Knopf, 1933)
* Selected Poems: Third Edition (Holt, 1934)
* Three Poems (Baker Library, Dartmouth College, 1935)
* The Gold Hesperidee (Bibliophile Press, 1935)
* From Snow to Snow (Holt, 1936)
* A Further Range (Holt, 1936; Cape, 1937)
* Collected Poems of Robert Frost (Holt, 1939; Longmans, Green, 1939)
* A Witness Tree (Holt, 1942; Cape, 1943)
* Come In, and Other Poems (1943)
* Steeple Bush (Holt, 1947)
* Complete Poems of Robert Frost, 1949 (Holt, 1949; Cape, 1951)
* Hard Not To Be King (House of Books, 1951)
* Aforesaid (Holt, 1954)
* A Remembrance Collection of New Poems (Holt, 1959)
* You Come Too (Holt, 1959; Bodley Head, 1964)
* In the Clearing (Holt Rinehart & Winston, 1962)
* The Poetry of Robert Frost (New York, 1969)
* A Further Range (published as Further Range in 1926, as New Poems by Holt, 1936; Cape, 1937)
* Nothing Gold Can Stay
* What Fifty Said
* Fire And Ice
* A Drumlin Woodchuck
Plays
* A Way Out: A One Act Play (Harbor Press, 1929).
* The Cow's in the Corn: A One Act Irish Play in Rhyme (Slide Mountain Press, 1929).
* A Masque of Reason (Holt, 1945).
* A Masque of Mercy (Holt, 1947).
Prose
* The Letters of Robert Frost to Louis Untermeyer (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1963; Cape, 1964).
* Robert Frost and John Bartlett: The Record of a Friendship, by Margaret Bartlett Anderson (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1963).
* Selected Letters of Robert Frost (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1964).
* Interviews with Robert Frost (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1966; Cape, 1967).
* Family Letters of Robert and Elinor Frost (State University of New York Press, 1972).
* Robert Frost and Sidney Cox: Forty Years of Friendship (University Press of New England, 1981).
* The Notebooks of Robert Frost, edited by Robert Faggen (Harvard University Press, January 2007).
Published as
* Collected Poems, Prose and Plays (Richard Poirier, ed.) (Library of America, 1995) ISBN 978-1-88301106-2.
Pulitzer Prizes
* 1924 for New Hampshire: A Poem With Notes and Grace Notes
* 1931 for Collected Poems
* 1937 for A Further Range
* 1943 for A Witness Tree
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: CatwomanofV on 01/29/10 at 8:33 am
My two favs are Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening and of course The Road Less Traveled. That one really speaks to me because I feel like I have traveled the Road Less Traveled in my life.
Cat
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: nally on 01/29/10 at 12:06 pm
All good songs :)
As well as "I Will Remember You" (1999) and "Fallen" (2003-04). She also provided vocal on the Delerium song "Silence", which she co-wrote.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/30/10 at 5:51 am
Person of the Day (born to an English father and American mother): Thomas Rolfe
Thomas Rolfe (January 30, 1615 - c. 1675) was the only child of Pocahontas by her English husband, John Rolfe.
Rolfe was born at Smith's Plantation in Jamestown, Virginia. His maternal grandfather was Wahunsunacock, the chief of Powhatan tribe in Virgina. After growing up in England, he married Elizabeth Washington on 13 September 1632, at the St James's Church in Clerkenwell, London. Their daughter Anne was born in 1633. Elizabeth died shortly after Anne’s birth, and in 1635 Rolfe returned to Virginia, leaving his daughter with his cousin, Anthony Rolfe. In 1659, Anne Rolfe married Peter Elwin (1623-1695), of Thurning, Norfolk, England, and left descendants.
Rolfe became a powerful leader in the tribe his grandfather had led. During this time, he met and married Jane Poythress. He served in the English military until 1675. His only child by his second wife, called Jane Rolfe, was born on October 10, 1650, and in 1675 married Colonel Robert Bolling and herself had two children, John Bolling (born January 26, 1676) and Rebecca Bolling. Many Americans claim descent from Rolfe, including some politicians. In 1675, Rolfe died at the age of 59 or 60, and was survived by his wife and child. Rolfe is buried in Hopewell's Kippax Plantation.
As a result of Thomas Rolfe's birth, the Rolfe family is considered one of the First Families of Virginia. He appears as an infant in the 2005 theatrical film The New World, but does not exist in the 1998 Disney animated straight-to-video film Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World, a sequel to the 1995 motion picture.
http://richmondthenandnow.com/Images/Articles/Pocahontas.jpg
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/30/10 at 6:39 am
Person of the Day (born to an English father and American mother): Thomas Rolfe
Thomas Rolfe (January 30, 1615 - c. 1675) was the only child of Pocahontas by her English husband, John Rolfe.
Rolfe was born at Smith's Plantation in Jamestown, Virginia. His maternal grandfather was Wahunsunacock, the chief of Powhatan tribe in Virgina. After growing up in England, he married Elizabeth Washington on 13 September 1632, at the St James's Church in Clerkenwell, London. Their daughter Anne was born in 1633. Elizabeth died shortly after Anne’s birth, and in 1635 Rolfe returned to Virginia, leaving his daughter with his cousin, Anthony Rolfe. In 1659, Anne Rolfe married Peter Elwin (1623-1695), of Thurning, Norfolk, England, and left descendants.
Rolfe became a powerful leader in the tribe his grandfather had led. During this time, he met and married Jane Poythress. He served in the English military until 1675. His only child by his second wife, called Jane Rolfe, was born on October 10, 1650, and in 1675 married Colonel Robert Bolling and herself had two children, John Bolling (born January 26, 1676) and Rebecca Bolling. Many Americans claim descent from Rolfe, including some politicians. In 1675, Rolfe died at the age of 59 or 60, and was survived by his wife and child. Rolfe is buried in Hopewell's Kippax Plantation.
As a result of Thomas Rolfe's birth, the Rolfe family is considered one of the First Families of Virginia. He appears as an infant in the 2005 theatrical film The New World, but does not exist in the 1998 Disney animated straight-to-video film Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World, a sequel to the 1995 motion picture.
http://richmondthenandnow.com/Images/Articles/Pocahontas.jpg
Thanks Phil :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/30/10 at 6:44 am
The word of the day...Groovy
If you describe something as groovy, you mean that it is attractive, fashionable, or exciting.
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/30/10 at 6:47 am
The person born on this day...Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins LVO (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, keyboardist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for English progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist.
Collins sang the lead vocals on eight American chart-toppers between 1984 and 1989; seven as a solo artist and one with Genesis. His singles, often dealing with lost love, ranged from the drum-heavy "In the Air Tonight", to the dance pop of "Sussudio", to the political statements of his most successful song, "Another Day in Paradise". His international popularity transformed Genesis from a progressive rock group to a regular on the pop charts and an early MTV mainstay.
Collins's professional music career began as a drummer, first with obscure rock group Flaming Youth and then more famously with Genesis. In Genesis, Collins originally supplied backing vocals for front man Peter Gabriel, singing lead on only two songs: "For Absent Friends" from 1971's Nursery Cryme album and "More Fool Me" from Selling England by the Pound, which was released in 1973. On Gabriel's departure in 1975, Collins became the group's lead singer. As the decade closed, Genesis's first international hit, "Follow You, Follow Me", demonstrated a drastic change from the band's early years.
His concurrent solo career, heavily influenced by his personal life, brought both him and Genesis commercial success. According to Atlantic Records, Collins's total worldwide sales as a solo artist, as of 2002, were 150 million. He has won seven Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and two Golden Globes for his solo work.
n 1970, Collins answered a Melody Maker classified ad for "...a drummer sensitive to acoustic music, and acoustic twelve-string guitarist". Genesis placed the ad after having already lost three drummers over two albums. The audition occurred at the home of Peter Gabriel's parents. Prospective candidates performed tracks from the group's second album, Trespass (1970). Collins arrived early, listened to the other auditions while swimming in Gabriel's parents' pool, and memorised the pieces before his turn.
The music video for "Land of Confusion" featured the members of Genesis in puppet form, with the single cover (parodying the With the Beatles album and using puppets from the satirical TV show Spitting Image).
Collins won the audition. Nursery Cryme was released a year later. Although his role remained primarily that of drummer and backing vocalist for the next five years, he twice sang lead vocals: once on "For Absent Friends" (from Nursery Cryme) and once on "More Fool Me" (from Selling England by the Pound).
In 1974, while Genesis were recording the album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Brian Eno (who is credited with "Enossification" for electronic vocal effects on the track "Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging") needed a drummer for his album Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy). Collins was sent to fill the gap, and played drums in lieu of payment for Eno's work with the band.
In 1975, following the final tour supporting the concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Gabriel left the group to pursue a solo career. Collins became lead vocalist after a lengthy but ultimately fruitless search for Gabriel's replacement (where he sang back up with the over 400 hopefuls that reportedly auditioned). In the short term, the group recruited former Yes and King Crimson drummer Bill Bruford to play drums during live shows, although Collins continued to play during longer instrumental sections. Bruford's drumming can be heard on the track "The Cinema Show" on the live album Seconds Out. He was soon replaced by ex-Frank Zappa band member Chester Thompson, who became a mainstay of the band's live line-up. Collins, however, continued to play drums on all of the band's studio recordings.
The first album with Collins as lead vocalist, 1976's A Trick of the Tail, reached the American Top 40, and peaked high as #3 on the UK charts. Said Rolling Stone, "Genesis has managed to turn the possible catastrophe of Gabriel's departure into their first broad-based American success.". Following the recording of Genesis's next album Wind and Wuthering guitarist Steve Hackett left the group to pursue his own solo career. The group decided to continue as a trio for recording with Mike Rutherford playing guitar and bass in the studio, although the lineup was regularly augmented by Chester Thompson and American guitarist Daryl Stuermer for concert tours.
Collins simultaneously performed in a jazz fusion group called Brand X. The band recorded their first album, Unorthodox Behaviour, with Collins as drummer, but because Genesis was Collins's priority, there were several Brand X tours and albums without him. Collins credits Brand X as his first use of a drum machine as well as his first use of a home 8-track tape machine.
Collins also performed on Steve Hackett's first solo album, Voyage of the Acolyte, on which he sang lead vocals and played drums.
As the decade closed, Genesis began a shift from their progressive rock roots and toward more accessible, radio-friendly pop-rock music. The album …And Then There Were Three… featured their first UK Top 10 and U.S. Top 40 single, "Follow You, Follow Me".
"Dance on a Volcano" (1976)
Play sound
The first track from Genesis's A Trick of the Tail, this was Collins's first appearance as the group's lead singer. A progressive rock track, it contrasts with the style of his later work.
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In the 1980s, while Collins developed as a songwriter and established a parallel career as a solo artist, Genesis recorded a series of highly successful albums including Duke, Abacab, Genesis, and Invisible Touch. The latter album's title track reached #1 on the American Billboard singles chart, the only Genesis song to do so. The group received an MTV "Video of the Year" nomination in 1987 for the single "Land of Confusion" (which featured puppet caricatures created by the British satirical team Spitting Image) but lost out to Peter Gabriel's solo hit, "Sledgehammer". Reviews were generally positive, with Rolling Stone's J.D. Considine stating, "every tune is carefully pruned so that each flourish delivers not an instrumental epiphany but a solid hook."
Collins left Genesis in 1996 to focus on his solo career; The last studio album with him as the lead singer was 1991's We Can't Dance. He and Gabriel reunited with other Genesis members in 1999 to re-record "The Carpet Crawlers" for Genesis's Turn It on Again: The Hits. When in the mid-2000s discussions of a possible Genesis reunion arose, Collins stated that he would prefer to return as the drummer, with Gabriel handling the vocals. Eventually Turn It On Again: The Tour was announced for 2007, with the Collins/Rutherford/Banks lineup.
Solo career
The dominant theme running through Collins's early solo recordings (although never specifically mentioned in his songs) was the acrimonious breakdown of his first marriage and then-recent divorce. Two songs he wrote on the Genesis album Duke, "Please Don't Ask", and the Top 20 hit "Misunderstanding", dealt with failed relationships. One year earlier, he had played drums and sung backing vocals on John Martyn's Grace and Danger, an album whose main theme is also marriage breakup.
With the recording of his first solo album, Face Value, Collins attributed his divorce as his main influence, as can be inferred from songs such as "If Leaving Me Is Easy".
In September 1981, he made his live debut as a solo performer, appearing at the invitation of producer Martin Lewis at the Amnesty International benefit show The Secret Policeman's Other Ball at the Theatre Royal in London. Collins performed two songs "In The Air Tonight" and "The Roof Is Leaking" accompanying himself on the grand piano. His performance was augmented by Daryl Stuermer on acoustic guitar and banjo. The performance was the first time that Collins had performed live as a soloist and the first time that he performed at a charity show. In addition to performing his two solo songs, Collins joined the chorus on the finale of Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released" performed by the all-star Secret Police led by Sting, and featuring Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Bob Geldof, Midge Ure and Donovan. Collins would subsequently team up with Geldof and Ure to play drums on the 1984 Band-Aid single "Do They Know It's Christmas", and with Sting to perform together at the Geldof-organized Live Aid in 1985.
Collins's performances were prominently featured on the Secret Policeman's Other Ball - The Music album released in 1982, which was a Top 30 album in the UK, U.S. and other countries. His performance of "In The Air Tonight" was included in both the UK and U.S. versions of the movie of the show. His performance of "The Roof Is Leaking" was included in the U.S.-only home-video sequel The Secret Policeman's Private Parts in 1983.
In 1982 he produced Something's Going On, a solo album by Anni-Frid Lyngstad (Frida), of ABBA fame. Frida, who had just parted with bandmate and husband Benny Andersson, had been impressed by Collins's solo efforts. Consequently, she approached Collins with her own solo project. The resulting album, featuring Collins on drums, spawned the 1982–83 international smash hit "I Know There's Something Going On" (Russ Ballard) and Collins’s duet with Frida titled "Here We'll Stay." An edit featuring Frida on all vocals was released as a single. A one hour documentary about the making of this album can be seen on Frida - The DVD. Swedish television filmed the whole recording process from day one in the studio to the release party. The programme includes interviews with Phil and Frida, as well as all the musicians on the album.
Songs inspired by Collins’s marital problems formed the bulk of his first two solo albums. His second album, Hello, I Must Be Going!, released in 1982, included songs such as "I Don't Care Anymore". Collins’s early albums had a dark presence, usually heavy on the drums. Regarding Face Value, he says, "I had a wife, two children, two dogs, and the next day I didn't have anything. So a lot of these songs were written because I was going through these emotional changes." There were occasional poppier influences–Face Value's "Behind the Lines", for example, was a jazzy remake of a Genesis song he co-wrote. Face Value was a critical and multi-platinum success, and saw Collins’s profile increase further. Hello, I Must Be Going! gave him a UK #1 for his cover of The Supremes' "You Can't Hurry Love". The album went triple-platinum in the United States, like its predecessor. The Supremes' cover was his first Top 10 U.S. hit (it also hit the Top 10 of Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart). The album also reached #2 on the UK album chart, spending well over a year there.
Two years before, Collins had played drums on Peter Gabriel's third self-titled record (often referred to as Melt), the first record to feature the "gated reverb" sound, which was used on the song "Intruder". Gabriel reportedly "didn't want any metal on the record" and asked Collins to leave his cymbals at home, to concentrate on the sound of his kit more heavily than usual. Studio engineer Hugh Padgham augmented the drum sound by using a microphone normally intended for studio communication rather than recording and feeding it through a signal processor called a noise gate. This allowed the reverberation added to the drums to be suddenly cut off before it naturally decayed. The result was the arresting "gated reverb" which became Collins signature sound. This was the same 'big drum sound' used on such songs as "In The Air Tonight", "Mama" by Genesis, and Frida's "There's Something Going On".
A turning point in Collins's musical style came when he was asked to provide the title track for the film Against All Odds, a song which he re-worked to become "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" from an original Face Value session out-take entitled "How Can You Sit There?". The emotionally-charged ballad shot to #1 in the U.S. and #2 in the UK.
In 1984, Collins produced Philip Bailey's Chinese Wall album. He performed a duet on one of the album's tracks, "Easy Lover" which went to #2 on the U.S. pop chart and spent four weeks at #1 in the UK. Collins worked with the horn section of Bailey's band, Earth, Wind & Fire (later known as the Phenix Horns) throughout the 1980s, both on solo and Genesis tracks. By the end of 1984, Collins participated in Bob Geldof's Band Aid charity project, as well as, playing drums on the Band Aid single "Feed The World (Do They Know It's Christmas)", a drum part he laid down in one take (while being filmed).
Collins with drum set and music stand.
Collins released his most successful album, No Jacket Required, in early 1985. It contained the hits "Sussudio", "One More Night", "Don't Lose My Number", and "Take Me Home", as well as the less known yet equally robust "Who Said I Would", and "Only You Know and I Know". The album featured Sting, Helen Terry and ex-bandmate Peter Gabriel as backing vocalists. He also recorded the successful song "Separate Lives", a duet with Marilyn Martin, and an American number one, for the movie White Nights. Collins had three American number one songs in 1985, the most by any artist that year. No Jacket Required went on to win several Grammy awards including Album of the Year.
No Jacket Required received criticism that the album was too safe, despite its upbeat reviews and commercial success. A positive review by David Fricke of Rolling Stone ended, "After years on the art-rock fringe, Collins has established himself firmly in the middle of the road. Perhaps he should consider testing himself and his new fans' expectations next time around." "Sussudio" also drew criticism for sounding too similar to Prince's "1999", a charge that Collins did not deny. Nevertheless, the album went straight to #1 in the U.S. and UK.
In 1985, Collins was invited by Bob Geldof to perform at the Live Aid charity event. Collins had the distinction of being the only performer to appear at both the UK concert at Wembley Stadium and the U.S. concert at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. He accomplished this by performing early in the day at Wembley as both a solo artist and alongside Sting, then flying on a special Concorde flight to the USA enabling him to perform his solo material, and drum for Led Zeppelin and Eric Clapton in Philadelphia.
Howard Jones re-recorded his song "No One Is to Blame", from his Dream into Action album, featuring Phil Collins as drummer, backing vocalist, and producer. He has also played drums on singles for Robert Plant and Tina Turner on their respective albums. Collins also produced and played drums on the Eric Clapton albums Behind the Sun, August, and Journeyman, and appeared in the videos for Clapton's "Pretending" and Bad Love. He also toured with Clapton during 1986 in support of the release of August as the band's drummer, appearing in both of Clapton's concert videos Live from Montreux and Eric Clapton and Friends. Collins was also a regular fixture through the 1980s and early 1990s at the Prince's Trust concerts. Collins's solo success, as well as his concurrent career with Genesis, led to a 1985 cover story in Rolling Stone, with the tag reading "Phil Collins Beats the Odds".
In 1988, Collins starred in the movie Buster about the Great Train Robbery, which took place in England in the 1960s. The movie received good reviews and Collins contributed four songs to the films soundtrack. "Two Hearts" -- , which he wrote with Lamont Dozier; a cover of "A Groovy Kind of Love" (originally a 1966 hit for The Mindbenders, lyrics by Toni Wine, and music by Carole Bayer Sager, but with the melody of the Rondo section of Muzio Clementi's "Sonatina in G major", op. 36 no. 5.); "Big Noise", written by Phil Collins and Lamont Dozier, which included Collins on vocals (although the song was not released as a single, an instrumental version of this song appeared as the B-side to the single version of "A Groovy Kind Of Love".) The final song, "Loco In Acapulco", was another collaboration between him and Dozier, with the vocals performed by the legendary Motown group The Four Tops.
In 1989, Collins produced another successful album, ...But Seriously, featuring the anti-homelessness anthem "Another Day in Paradise", with David Crosby on backing vocals. (Collins later went on to co-write, sing and play on the song "Hero" on Crosby's 1993 album Thousand Roads.) "Another Day in Paradise" went to Number 1 on the Billboard Charts at the end of 1989 and won Collins a Grammy for Record of the Year (1990). In the process, it became the last #1 U.S. pop hit of the 1980s. The album ...But Seriously became the first #1 U.S. album of the 1990s. Other songs included "Something Happened on the Way to Heaven" (#4 U.S., #15 UK), "Do You Remember?" (not released in the UK, but a #4 hit in the U.S.), and "I Wish It Would Rain Down" (the latter featuring Clapton on guitar) (#3 U.S., #7 UK). Songs about apartheid and homelessness demonstrated Collins’s turn to politically-driven material. This theme recurred on his later albums. A live album, Serious Hits… Live!, followed.
During this period, Collins appeared on various albums as a guest vocalist. Collins appeared on David Crosby's Thousand Roads album, singing the backing vocals for the single "Hero". Collins also appeared on the Curtis Mayfield album, A Tribute to Curtis Mayfield, covering Mayfield's song "I've Been Trying". He also sang a cover of Elton John's hit "Burn Down the Mission", in Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin. Collins also sang on Quincy Jones' Q's Jook Joint album, singing "Do Nothing till You Hear from Me". Collins also sang on The Songs of West Side Story, providing lead vocals for "Somewhere", which was also released as a single.
Collins’s record sales began to drop with the 1993 release of Both Sides, a largely experimental album that, according to Collins, included songs that "were becoming so personal, so private, I didn't want anyone else's input". Featuring a less polished sound and fewer up-tempo songs than his previous albums, Both Sides was a significant departure. Collins used no backing musicians, performed all the vocal and instrumental parts at his home studio, and used rough vocal takes for the final product. The album was not well received by radio. Its two biggest hits were "Both Sides of the Story" and "Everyday". Collins worked on the album completely independently of his record company, and took them by surprise when he delivered them a completed album that they were unaware he was making.
Collins attempted a return to poppier music with Dance into the Light, which Entertainment Weekly reviewed by saying that "(e)ven Phil Collins must know that we all grew weary of Phil Collins." It included minor hits such as the title track and the Beatles-inspired "It's In Your Eyes". Although the album went Gold in the U.S., it sold considerably less than his previous albums. Only the title track made a brief appearance on Collins’s then forthcoming Hits collection. Despite this, its subsequent tour regularly sold out arenas.
In 1996, Collins formed The Phil Collins Big Band. With Collins as drummer, the band performed jazz renditions of Collins’s and Genesis's hits. The Phil Collins Big Band did a world tour in 1998 that included a performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival. In 1999, the group released the CD A Hot Night in Paris including big band versions of "Invisible Touch", "Sussudio", and the more obscure "The Los Endos Suite" from A Trick of the Tail.
A Hits album released in 1998 was very successful, returning Collins to multi-platinum status in America. The album's sole new track, a cover of the Cyndi Lauper hit "True Colors", received considerable play on US Adult Contemporary stations while peaking at #2. Some of Collins’s earlier hits (e.g. "I Missed Again", "If Leaving Me Is Easy", etc.) and other successes were not included in this compilation.
Collins's next single, "You'll Be in My Heart", from the Disney animated movie Tarzan, spent 19 weeks at #1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart - the longest time ever up to that point—and Collins won the Oscar. It was his third nomination in the songwriters category, after being nominated in 1985 and 1989.
Metacritic's roundup of album reviews found his most recent studio album, 2002's Testify, to be the worst-reviewed album by the time of its release, though it has since been "surpassed" by three more recent releases. The album's "Can't Stop Loving You" (a Leo Sayer cover) was yet another #1 Adult Contemporary smash hit for Collins. Testify sold 140,000 copies in the United States by year's end, although a successful worldwide tour followed.
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"In the Air Tonight" (1980)
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The ambiguous lyrics of Collins's first solo hit, "In the Air Tonight", have spawned an urban legend about Collins witnessing of a murder.
"Sussudio" (1985)
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The dance pop of No Jacket Required, including this number one hit, won Collins a Grammy Award for "Album of the Year".
"Another Day in Paradise" (1989)
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The last of Collins's seven American number one singles, "Another Day in Paradise", was a topical song that discussed the plight of the homeless, and won Collins a Grammy Award for "Record of the Year".
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Collins reported losing his hearing in one ear, and in 2003 announced his last solo tour. He called it the "First Final Farewell Tour", a tongue-in-cheek reference to the multiple farewell tours of other popular artists. He continued touring through 2006 while working with Disney on a Broadway production of Tarzan, a musical which received generally poor reviews. In 2007, Collins reunited with his Genesis bandmates for a tour of Europe and North America. He accepted an invitation to drum for the "house band" celebrating Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee. He has played drums for Paul McCartney, Ozzy Osbourne, Cliff Richard, Eric Clapton, as well as Led Zeppelin.
With the exception of Paul McCartney, Collins is the only recording artist that has ever been a principal member of a band that has sold at least 100 million albums worldwide, and sold at least 100 million albums worldwide as a solo artist. According to Billboard, when his work with Genesis, his work with other artists, as well as his solo career is totalled, Collins has the most top 40 hits on the Billboard charts for the 80s.
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/30/10 at 6:52 am
The person who died on this date ...Sidney Sheldon
Sidney Sheldon (February 11, 1917 – January 30, 2007) was an American writer. His TV works spanned a 20-year period during which he created The Patty Duke Show (1963–66), I Dream of Jeannie (1965–70) and Hart to Hart (1979–84), but it was not until after he turned 50 and began writing best-selling novels such as Master of the Game (1982), The Other Side of Midnight (1973) and Rage of Angels (1980) that he became most famous.Sheldon was born Sidney Schechtel in Chicago, Illinois, to parents of Russian Jewish ancestry, Ascher "Otto" Schechtel (1894–1967), manager of a jewelry store, and Natalie Marcus. At 10, he made his first sale, $5 for a poem. During the Depression, he worked at a variety of jobs, attended Northwestern University and contributed short plays to drama groups.
In 1937 he moved to Hollywood, California, where he reviewed scripts and collaborated on a number of B movies. Sheldon enlisted in the military during World War II as a pilot in the War Training Service, a branch of the Army Air Corps, However, his unit was disbanded before Sheldon could see any action. He then returned to civilian life and moved to New York where he began writing musicals for the Broadway stage while continuing to write screenplays for both MGM Studios and Paramount Pictures. He earned a reputation as a prolific writer; for example, at one time he had three musicals on Broadway: a rewritten The Merry Widow, Jackpot, and Dream with Music. His success on Broadway brought him back to Hollywood where his first assignment was The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, which earned him the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay of 1947.
When television became the new hot medium, he decided to try his hand in it. "I suppose I needed money," he remembered. "I met Patty Duke one day at lunch. So I produced The Patty Duke Show, and I did something nobody else in TV ever did. For seven years, I wrote almost every single episode of the series." He also wrote for the series Hart to Hart and Nancy. Most famously he wrote the series I Dream of Jeannie, which he also created and produced, which lasted for five seasons from 1965–1970. It was "During the last year of I Dream of Jeannie, I decided to try a novel," he said in 1982. "Each morning from 9 until noon, I had a secretary at the studio take all calls. I mean every single call. I wrote each morning - or rather, dictated - and then I faced the TV business."
In 1969, Sheldon wrote his first novel, The Naked Face, which earned him a nomination for the Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America in the category of Best First Novel. His next novel, The Other Side of Midnight, went to #1 on The New York Times bestseller list as did several ensuing novels, a number of which were also made into motion pictures or TV miniseries.
His novels often featured determined women who persevere in a tough world run by hostile men. The novels contained a lot of suspense and devices to keep the reader turning the page:
"I try to write my books so the reader can't put them down," he explained in a 1982 interview. "I try to construct them so when the reader gets to the end of a chapter, he or she has to read just one more chapter. It's the technique of the old Saturday afternoon serial: leave the guy hanging on the edge of the cliff at the end of the chapter."
Most of his readers were women. Asked why this was the case he said: "I like to write about women who are talented and capable, but most important, retain their femininity. Women have tremendous power - their femininity, because men can't do without it." Books were Sheldon's favorite medium. "I love writing books," he commented. "Movies are a collaborative medium, and everyone is second-guessing you. When you do a novel you're on your own. It's a freedom that doesn't exist in any other medium."
Sheldon created, produced and wrote I Dream of Jeannie in his co-production capacity with Screen Gems. He wrote all but two dozen scripts in five years, sometimes using three pseudonyms {"Mark Rowane", "Allan Devon", "Christopher Golato"}, while simultaneously writing scripts for "The Patty Duke Show". He also used the same pseudonyms in writing all seventeen episodes of Nancy. Sheldon did this because, as he later admitted, he felt his name was appearing too often in the credits as creator, producer, copyright owner and writer of his TV series.
Sheldon was married for 30 years to Jorja Curtright Sheldon, a stage and film actress who later became an accomplished and well known interior designer. She died of a heart attack in 1985. He then remarried Alexandra Kostoff, a former child actress and advertising executive of Macedonian origin, in Las Vegas in 1989. His daughter, Mary Sheldon, became a novelist in her own right.
He struggled with bipolar disorder for years; he contemplated suicide at 17 (talked out of it by his father, who discovered him), as detailed in his autobiography published in 2005, The Other Side of Me
Sheldon died on January 30, 2007 from complications arising from pneumonia at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California.
He was cremated. His ashes were interred in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.
Awards
Sheldon won an Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay (1947) for The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, a Tony Award (1959) for his musical Redhead, and was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on I Dream of Jeannie, an NBC sitcom.
Bibliography
Novels
* The Naked Face (1970)
* The Other Side of Midnight (1973)
* A Stranger in the Mirror (1976)
* Bloodline (1977)
* Rage of Angels (1980)
* Master of the Game (1982)
* If Tomorrow Comes (1985)
* Windmills of the Gods (1987)
* The Sands of Time (1988)
* Memories of Midnight (1990)
* The Doomsday Conspiracy (1991)
* The Stars Shine Down (1992)
* Nothing Lasts Forever (1994)
* Morning, Noon and Night (1995)
* The Best Laid plan (1997)
* Tell Me Your Dreams (1998)
* The Sky Is Falling (2001)
* Are You Afraid of the Dark? (2004)
Autobiography
* The Other Side of Me (2005)
Broadway Plays
* The Merry Widow
* Alice in Arms
* Redhead
* Roman Candle
* Gomes(London)
Films
* The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer
* Three Guys Named Mike
* Annie Get Your Gun
* Dream Wife
* You're Never Too Young
* Anything Goes
* Billy Rose's Jumbo
* Bloodline
Television
* I Dream of Jeannie
* If Tomorrow Comes
* The Patty Duke Show
* Hart to Hart
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Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/30/10 at 7:08 am
Thanks Phil :)
I still have the past week to check up on.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/30/10 at 7:44 am
The person born on this day...Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins LVO (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, keyboardist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for English progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist.
Collins sang the lead vocals on eight American chart-toppers between 1984 and 1989; seven as a solo artist and one with Genesis. His singles, often dealing with lost love, ranged from the drum-heavy "In the Air Tonight", to the dance pop of "Sussudio", to the political statements of his most successful song, "Another Day in Paradise". His international popularity transformed Genesis from a progressive rock group to a regular on the pop charts and an early MTV mainstay.
Collins's professional music career began as a drummer, first with obscure rock group Flaming Youth and then more famously with Genesis. In Genesis, Collins originally supplied backing vocals for front man Peter Gabriel, singing lead on only two songs: "For Absent Friends" from 1971's Nursery Cryme album and "More Fool Me" from Selling England by the Pound, which was released in 1973. On Gabriel's departure in 1975, Collins became the group's lead singer. As the decade closed, Genesis's first international hit, "Follow You, Follow Me", demonstrated a drastic change from the band's early years.
His concurrent solo career, heavily influenced by his personal life, brought both him and Genesis commercial success. According to Atlantic Records, Collins's total worldwide sales as a solo artist, as of 2002, were 150 million. He has won seven Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and two Golden Globes for his solo work.
n 1970, Collins answered a Melody Maker classified ad for "...a drummer sensitive to acoustic music, and acoustic twelve-string guitarist". Genesis placed the ad after having already lost three drummers over two albums. The audition occurred at the home of Peter Gabriel's parents. Prospective candidates performed tracks from the group's second album, Trespass (1970). Collins arrived early, listened to the other auditions while swimming in Gabriel's parents' pool, and memorised the pieces before his turn.
The music video for "Land of Confusion" featured the members of Genesis in puppet form, with the single cover (parodying the With the Beatles album and using puppets from the satirical TV show Spitting Image).
Collins won the audition. Nursery Cryme was released a year later. Although his role remained primarily that of drummer and backing vocalist for the next five years, he twice sang lead vocals: once on "For Absent Friends" (from Nursery Cryme) and once on "More Fool Me" (from Selling England by the Pound).
In 1974, while Genesis were recording the album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Brian Eno (who is credited with "Enossification" for electronic vocal effects on the track "Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging") needed a drummer for his album Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy). Collins was sent to fill the gap, and played drums in lieu of payment for Eno's work with the band.
In 1975, following the final tour supporting the concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Gabriel left the group to pursue a solo career. Collins became lead vocalist after a lengthy but ultimately fruitless search for Gabriel's replacement (where he sang back up with the over 400 hopefuls that reportedly auditioned). In the short term, the group recruited former Yes and King Crimson drummer Bill Bruford to play drums during live shows, although Collins continued to play during longer instrumental sections. Bruford's drumming can be heard on the track "The Cinema Show" on the live album Seconds Out. He was soon replaced by ex-Frank Zappa band member Chester Thompson, who became a mainstay of the band's live line-up. Collins, however, continued to play drums on all of the band's studio recordings.
The first album with Collins as lead vocalist, 1976's A Trick of the Tail, reached the American Top 40, and peaked high as #3 on the UK charts. Said Rolling Stone, "Genesis has managed to turn the possible catastrophe of Gabriel's departure into their first broad-based American success.". Following the recording of Genesis's next album Wind and Wuthering guitarist Steve Hackett left the group to pursue his own solo career. The group decided to continue as a trio for recording with Mike Rutherford playing guitar and bass in the studio, although the lineup was regularly augmented by Chester Thompson and American guitarist Daryl Stuermer for concert tours.
Collins simultaneously performed in a jazz fusion group called Brand X. The band recorded their first album, Unorthodox Behaviour, with Collins as drummer, but because Genesis was Collins's priority, there were several Brand X tours and albums without him. Collins credits Brand X as his first use of a drum machine as well as his first use of a home 8-track tape machine.
Collins also performed on Steve Hackett's first solo album, Voyage of the Acolyte, on which he sang lead vocals and played drums.
As the decade closed, Genesis began a shift from their progressive rock roots and toward more accessible, radio-friendly pop-rock music. The album …And Then There Were Three… featured their first UK Top 10 and U.S. Top 40 single, "Follow You, Follow Me".
"Dance on a Volcano" (1976)
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The first track from Genesis's A Trick of the Tail, this was Collins's first appearance as the group's lead singer. A progressive rock track, it contrasts with the style of his later work.
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In the 1980s, while Collins developed as a songwriter and established a parallel career as a solo artist, Genesis recorded a series of highly successful albums including Duke, Abacab, Genesis, and Invisible Touch. The latter album's title track reached #1 on the American Billboard singles chart, the only Genesis song to do so. The group received an MTV "Video of the Year" nomination in 1987 for the single "Land of Confusion" (which featured puppet caricatures created by the British satirical team Spitting Image) but lost out to Peter Gabriel's solo hit, "Sledgehammer". Reviews were generally positive, with Rolling Stone's J.D. Considine stating, "every tune is carefully pruned so that each flourish delivers not an instrumental epiphany but a solid hook."
Collins left Genesis in 1996 to focus on his solo career; The last studio album with him as the lead singer was 1991's We Can't Dance. He and Gabriel reunited with other Genesis members in 1999 to re-record "The Carpet Crawlers" for Genesis's Turn It on Again: The Hits. When in the mid-2000s discussions of a possible Genesis reunion arose, Collins stated that he would prefer to return as the drummer, with Gabriel handling the vocals. Eventually Turn It On Again: The Tour was announced for 2007, with the Collins/Rutherford/Banks lineup.
Solo career
The dominant theme running through Collins's early solo recordings (although never specifically mentioned in his songs) was the acrimonious breakdown of his first marriage and then-recent divorce. Two songs he wrote on the Genesis album Duke, "Please Don't Ask", and the Top 20 hit "Misunderstanding", dealt with failed relationships. One year earlier, he had played drums and sung backing vocals on John Martyn's Grace and Danger, an album whose main theme is also marriage breakup.
With the recording of his first solo album, Face Value, Collins attributed his divorce as his main influence, as can be inferred from songs such as "If Leaving Me Is Easy".
In September 1981, he made his live debut as a solo performer, appearing at the invitation of producer Martin Lewis at the Amnesty International benefit show The Secret Policeman's Other Ball at the Theatre Royal in London. Collins performed two songs "In The Air Tonight" and "The Roof Is Leaking" accompanying himself on the grand piano. His performance was augmented by Daryl Stuermer on acoustic guitar and banjo. The performance was the first time that Collins had performed live as a soloist and the first time that he performed at a charity show. In addition to performing his two solo songs, Collins joined the chorus on the finale of Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released" performed by the all-star Secret Police led by Sting, and featuring Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Bob Geldof, Midge Ure and Donovan. Collins would subsequently team up with Geldof and Ure to play drums on the 1984 Band-Aid single "Do They Know It's Christmas", and with Sting to perform together at the Geldof-organized Live Aid in 1985.
Collins's performances were prominently featured on the Secret Policeman's Other Ball - The Music album released in 1982, which was a Top 30 album in the UK, U.S. and other countries. His performance of "In The Air Tonight" was included in both the UK and U.S. versions of the movie of the show. His performance of "The Roof Is Leaking" was included in the U.S.-only home-video sequel The Secret Policeman's Private Parts in 1983.
In 1982 he produced Something's Going On, a solo album by Anni-Frid Lyngstad (Frida), of ABBA fame. Frida, who had just parted with bandmate and husband Benny Andersson, had been impressed by Collins's solo efforts. Consequently, she approached Collins with her own solo project. The resulting album, featuring Collins on drums, spawned the 1982–83 international smash hit "I Know There's Something Going On" (Russ Ballard) and Collins’s duet with Frida titled "Here We'll Stay." An edit featuring Frida on all vocals was released as a single. A one hour documentary about the making of this album can be seen on Frida - The DVD. Swedish television filmed the whole recording process from day one in the studio to the release party. The programme includes interviews with Phil and Frida, as well as all the musicians on the album.
Songs inspired by Collins’s marital problems formed the bulk of his first two solo albums. His second album, Hello, I Must Be Going!, released in 1982, included songs such as "I Don't Care Anymore". Collins’s early albums had a dark presence, usually heavy on the drums. Regarding Face Value, he says, "I had a wife, two children, two dogs, and the next day I didn't have anything. So a lot of these songs were written because I was going through these emotional changes." There were occasional poppier influences–Face Value's "Behind the Lines", for example, was a jazzy remake of a Genesis song he co-wrote. Face Value was a critical and multi-platinum success, and saw Collins’s profile increase further. Hello, I Must Be Going! gave him a UK #1 for his cover of The Supremes' "You Can't Hurry Love". The album went triple-platinum in the United States, like its predecessor. The Supremes' cover was his first Top 10 U.S. hit (it also hit the Top 10 of Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart). The album also reached #2 on the UK album chart, spending well over a year there.
Two years before, Collins had played drums on Peter Gabriel's third self-titled record (often referred to as Melt), the first record to feature the "gated reverb" sound, which was used on the song "Intruder". Gabriel reportedly "didn't want any metal on the record" and asked Collins to leave his cymbals at home, to concentrate on the sound of his kit more heavily than usual. Studio engineer Hugh Padgham augmented the drum sound by using a microphone normally intended for studio communication rather than recording and feeding it through a signal processor called a noise gate. This allowed the reverberation added to the drums to be suddenly cut off before it naturally decayed. The result was the arresting "gated reverb" which became Collins signature sound. This was the same 'big drum sound' used on such songs as "In The Air Tonight", "Mama" by Genesis, and Frida's "There's Something Going On".
A turning point in Collins's musical style came when he was asked to provide the title track for the film Against All Odds, a song which he re-worked to become "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" from an original Face Value session out-take entitled "How Can You Sit There?". The emotionally-charged ballad shot to #1 in the U.S. and #2 in the UK.
In 1984, Collins produced Philip Bailey's Chinese Wall album. He performed a duet on one of the album's tracks, "Easy Lover" which went to #2 on the U.S. pop chart and spent four weeks at #1 in the UK. Collins worked with the horn section of Bailey's band, Earth, Wind & Fire (later known as the Phenix Horns) throughout the 1980s, both on solo and Genesis tracks. By the end of 1984, Collins participated in Bob Geldof's Band Aid charity project, as well as, playing drums on the Band Aid single "Feed The World (Do They Know It's Christmas)", a drum part he laid down in one take (while being filmed).
Collins with drum set and music stand.
Collins released his most successful album, No Jacket Required, in early 1985. It contained the hits "Sussudio", "One More Night", "Don't Lose My Number", and "Take Me Home", as well as the less known yet equally robust "Who Said I Would", and "Only You Know and I Know". The album featured Sting, Helen Terry and ex-bandmate Peter Gabriel as backing vocalists. He also recorded the successful song "Separate Lives", a duet with Marilyn Martin, and an American number one, for the movie White Nights. Collins had three American number one songs in 1985, the most by any artist that year. No Jacket Required went on to win several Grammy awards including Album of the Year.
No Jacket Required received criticism that the album was too safe, despite its upbeat reviews and commercial success. A positive review by David Fricke of Rolling Stone ended, "After years on the art-rock fringe, Collins has established himself firmly in the middle of the road. Perhaps he should consider testing himself and his new fans' expectations next time around." "Sussudio" also drew criticism for sounding too similar to Prince's "1999", a charge that Collins did not deny. Nevertheless, the album went straight to #1 in the U.S. and UK.
In 1985, Collins was invited by Bob Geldof to perform at the Live Aid charity event. Collins had the distinction of being the only performer to appear at both the UK concert at Wembley Stadium and the U.S. concert at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. He accomplished this by performing early in the day at Wembley as both a solo artist and alongside Sting, then flying on a special Concorde flight to the USA enabling him to perform his solo material, and drum for Led Zeppelin and Eric Clapton in Philadelphia.
Howard Jones re-recorded his song "No One Is to Blame", from his Dream into Action album, featuring Phil Collins as drummer, backing vocalist, and producer. He has also played drums on singles for Robert Plant and Tina Turner on their respective albums. Collins also produced and played drums on the Eric Clapton albums Behind the Sun, August, and Journeyman, and appeared in the videos for Clapton's "Pretending" and Bad Love. He also toured with Clapton during 1986 in support of the release of August as the band's drummer, appearing in both of Clapton's concert videos Live from Montreux and Eric Clapton and Friends. Collins was also a regular fixture through the 1980s and early 1990s at the Prince's Trust concerts. Collins's solo success, as well as his concurrent career with Genesis, led to a 1985 cover story in Rolling Stone, with the tag reading "Phil Collins Beats the Odds".
In 1988, Collins starred in the movie Buster about the Great Train Robbery, which took place in England in the 1960s. The movie received good reviews and Collins contributed four songs to the films soundtrack. "Two Hearts" -- , which he wrote with Lamont Dozier; a cover of "A Groovy Kind of Love" (originally a 1966 hit for The Mindbenders, lyrics by Toni Wine, and music by Carole Bayer Sager, but with the melody of the Rondo section of Muzio Clementi's "Sonatina in G major", op. 36 no. 5.); "Big Noise", written by Phil Collins and Lamont Dozier, which included Collins on vocals (although the song was not released as a single, an instrumental version of this song appeared as the B-side to the single version of "A Groovy Kind Of Love".) The final song, "Loco In Acapulco", was another collaboration between him and Dozier, with the vocals performed by the legendary Motown group The Four Tops.
In 1989, Collins produced another successful album, ...But Seriously, featuring the anti-homelessness anthem "Another Day in Paradise", with David Crosby on backing vocals. (Collins later went on to co-write, sing and play on the song "Hero" on Crosby's 1993 album Thousand Roads.) "Another Day in Paradise" went to Number 1 on the Billboard Charts at the end of 1989 and won Collins a Grammy for Record of the Year (1990). In the process, it became the last #1 U.S. pop hit of the 1980s. The album ...But Seriously became the first #1 U.S. album of the 1990s. Other songs included "Something Happened on the Way to Heaven" (#4 U.S., #15 UK), "Do You Remember?" (not released in the UK, but a #4 hit in the U.S.), and "I Wish It Would Rain Down" (the latter featuring Clapton on guitar) (#3 U.S., #7 UK). Songs about apartheid and homelessness demonstrated Collins’s turn to politically-driven material. This theme recurred on his later albums. A live album, Serious Hits… Live!, followed.
During this period, Collins appeared on various albums as a guest vocalist. Collins appeared on David Crosby's Thousand Roads album, singing the backing vocals for the single "Hero". Collins also appeared on the Curtis Mayfield album, A Tribute to Curtis Mayfield, covering Mayfield's song "I've Been Trying". He also sang a cover of Elton John's hit "Burn Down the Mission", in Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin. Collins also sang on Quincy Jones' Q's Jook Joint album, singing "Do Nothing till You Hear from Me". Collins also sang on The Songs of West Side Story, providing lead vocals for "Somewhere", which was also released as a single.
Collins’s record sales began to drop with the 1993 release of Both Sides, a largely experimental album that, according to Collins, included songs that "were becoming so personal, so private, I didn't want anyone else's input". Featuring a less polished sound and fewer up-tempo songs than his previous albums, Both Sides was a significant departure. Collins used no backing musicians, performed all the vocal and instrumental parts at his home studio, and used rough vocal takes for the final product. The album was not well received by radio. Its two biggest hits were "Both Sides of the Story" and "Everyday". Collins worked on the album completely independently of his record company, and took them by surprise when he delivered them a completed album that they were unaware he was making.
Collins attempted a return to poppier music with Dance into the Light, which Entertainment Weekly reviewed by saying that "(e)ven Phil Collins must know that we all grew weary of Phil Collins." It included minor hits such as the title track and the Beatles-inspired "It's In Your Eyes". Although the album went Gold in the U.S., it sold considerably less than his previous albums. Only the title track made a brief appearance on Collins’s then forthcoming Hits collection. Despite this, its subsequent tour regularly sold out arenas.
In 1996, Collins formed The Phil Collins Big Band. With Collins as drummer, the band performed jazz renditions of Collins’s and Genesis's hits. The Phil Collins Big Band did a world tour in 1998 that included a performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival. In 1999, the group released the CD A Hot Night in Paris including big band versions of "Invisible Touch", "Sussudio", and the more obscure "The Los Endos Suite" from A Trick of the Tail.
A Hits album released in 1998 was very successful, returning Collins to multi-platinum status in America. The album's sole new track, a cover of the Cyndi Lauper hit "True Colors", received considerable play on US Adult Contemporary stations while peaking at #2. Some of Collins’s earlier hits (e.g. "I Missed Again", "If Leaving Me Is Easy", etc.) and other successes were not included in this compilation.
Collins's next single, "You'll Be in My Heart", from the Disney animated movie Tarzan, spent 19 weeks at #1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart - the longest time ever up to that point—and Collins won the Oscar. It was his third nomination in the songwriters category, after being nominated in 1985 and 1989.
Metacritic's roundup of album reviews found his most recent studio album, 2002's Testify, to be the worst-reviewed album by the time of its release, though it has since been "surpassed" by three more recent releases. The album's "Can't Stop Loving You" (a Leo Sayer cover) was yet another #1 Adult Contemporary smash hit for Collins. Testify sold 140,000 copies in the United States by year's end, although a successful worldwide tour followed.
*
"In the Air Tonight" (1980)
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The ambiguous lyrics of Collins's first solo hit, "In the Air Tonight", have spawned an urban legend about Collins witnessing of a murder.
"Sussudio" (1985)
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The dance pop of No Jacket Required, including this number one hit, won Collins a Grammy Award for "Album of the Year".
"Another Day in Paradise" (1989)
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The last of Collins's seven American number one singles, "Another Day in Paradise", was a topical song that discussed the plight of the homeless, and won Collins a Grammy Award for "Record of the Year".
* Problems listening to the files? See media help.
Collins reported losing his hearing in one ear, and in 2003 announced his last solo tour. He called it the "First Final Farewell Tour", a tongue-in-cheek reference to the multiple farewell tours of other popular artists. He continued touring through 2006 while working with Disney on a Broadway production of Tarzan, a musical which received generally poor reviews. In 2007, Collins reunited with his Genesis bandmates for a tour of Europe and North America. He accepted an invitation to drum for the "house band" celebrating Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee. He has played drums for Paul McCartney, Ozzy Osbourne, Cliff Richard, Eric Clapton, as well as Led Zeppelin.
With the exception of Paul McCartney, Collins is the only recording artist that has ever been a principal member of a band that has sold at least 100 million albums worldwide, and sold at least 100 million albums worldwide as a solo artist. According to Billboard, when his work with Genesis, his work with other artists, as well as his solo career is totalled, Collins has the most top 40 hits on the Billboard charts for the 80s.
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My favorites are Sussudio and In The Air Tonight.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Womble on 01/30/10 at 8:06 am
Great bio's, Ninny. Thanks for sharing.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/30/10 at 8:14 am
I almost forgot Land of Confusion.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/30/10 at 8:15 am
I almost forgot Land of Confusion.
That is Genisis, more than Phil Collins as solo.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/30/10 at 8:20 am
That is Genisis, more than Phil Collins as solo.
I remember the video.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/30/10 at 8:45 am
Great bio's, Ninny. Thanks for sharing.
I'm glad you liked them :)
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/30/10 at 8:47 am
I remember the video.
The song is widely remembered for its music video, which had heavy airplay on MTV. The video drew controversy for its portrayal of Ronald Reagan as being physically and cognitively inept. The video features bizarre puppets by the British television show Spitting Image. After Phil Collins saw a caricatured version of himself on the show, he commissioned the show's creators, Peter Fluck and Roger Law, to create puppets of the entire band, as well as all the characters in the video.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/30/10 at 8:47 am
I still have the past week to check up on.
Take your time, you must of had a busy week at work.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/30/10 at 8:48 am
Take your time, you must of had a busy week at work.
Yes it was a busy week, a couple of night I did not go online.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/30/10 at 8:50 am
My favorites are Sussudio and In The Air Tonight.
Those are good songs. My favs are In The Air Tonight, I Wish It Would Rain Down, A Groovy Kind Of Love & Take Me Home.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/30/10 at 8:51 am
Yes it was a busy week, a couple of night I did not go online.
Yeah I noticed that. Glad you got time now to visit.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/30/10 at 8:52 am
Yeah I noticed that. Glad you got time now to visit.
It is the weekend now, time off for me and I should really be relaxing.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: ninny on 01/30/10 at 9:12 am
It is the weekend now, time off for me and I should really be relaxing.
So true. Does posting help you to relax?
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/30/10 at 9:17 am
So true. Does posting help you to relax?
It is what I am use to doing.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Howard on 01/30/10 at 8:06 pm
The song is widely remembered for its music video, which had heavy airplay on MTV. The video drew controversy for its portrayal of Ronald Reagan as being physically and cognitively inept. The video features bizarre puppets by the British television show Spitting Image. After Phil Collins saw a caricatured version of himself on the show, he commissioned the show's creators, Peter Fluck and Roger Law, to create puppets of the entire band, as well as all the characters in the video.
And it was such a funny video.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/31/10 at 3:20 am
And it was such a funny video.
As the series of Spitting Image was.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/31/10 at 3:20 am
Take your time, you must of had a busy week at work.
I will try now.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/31/10 at 3:22 am
The word of the day...Snow
Snow consists of a lot of soft white bits of frozen water that fall from the sky in cold weather.
If someone snows you, they persuade you to do something or convince you of something by flattering or deceiving you.
http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu56/THElablahblah/snow.jpg
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http://i857.photobucket.com/albums/ab140/glvictor/Snow_mount.jpg
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http://i581.photobucket.com/albums/ss260/angelanewham/DSC04610.jpg
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Snow, don't remind me!
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/31/10 at 3:24 am
The word of the day...Snow
Snow consists of a lot of soft white bits of frozen water that fall from the sky in cold weather.
If someone snows you, they persuade you to do something or convince you of something by flattering or deceiving you.
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm66/Phil_O-Sopher/SnowOnceMore.jpg
Abbey Road yesterday morning, with a light dusting of snow.
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/31/10 at 3:27 am
The word of the day...Snow
Snow consists of a lot of soft white bits of frozen water that fall from the sky in cold weather.
If someone snows you, they persuade you to do something or convince you of something by flattering or deceiving you.
http://www.lbc.co.uk/mm/photos/2010/01/399/500x/5973.jpg
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/31/10 at 3:30 am
The word of the day...Sunshine
Sunshine is the light and heat that comes from the sun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AbxQ2Q4HeU
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/31/10 at 3:33 am
The person who died on this date...Jim Capaldi
Nicola James "Jim" Capaldi (2 August 1944 – 28 January 2005) was an English musician and songwriter and a founding member of Traffic. He drummed with several famous singers and musicians, including Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Alvin Lee, and Mylon LeFevre. Early days
As a child Capaldi studied the piano and singing with his father, a music teacher, and by his teens he was playing drums with his friends. In 1961 Capaldi played drums for the Worcester band The Sapphires and in 1963 he formed The Hellions with Dave Mason on guitar and Gordon Jackson on rhythm guitar. In August 1964, Tanya Day took The Hellions to the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany as her backing group. The Spencer Davis Group were staying at the same hotel as The Hellions and it was there that Steve Winwood befriended Capaldi and Mason.
Back in Worcester, The Hellions established themselves as busy professionals of sufficient repute to provide backing to visiting performers including Adam Faith and Dave Berry. By the end of 1964, they had a London residency at the Whisky-A-Go-Go Club. In 1965 the band released three singles but none charted. Later that year John "Poli" Palmer joined the band on drums and Capaldi became the lead vocalist.
The Hellions moved back to Worcester in 1966 in an attempt to reduce their costs but local tastes had changed and the band relaunched themselves as The Revolution with a fourth single that also failed to chart. Disillusioned, Dave Mason left the band. Capaldi replaced Mason with Luther Grosvenor and renamed the band Deep Feeling. They played gigs in Birmingham and the surrounding Black Country area where they developed a significant fanbase. Capaldi, Jackson and Palmer wrote original songs for the band that were heavier than the Hellions repertoire. They recorded several studio tracks which remained unreleased until 2009.
First success
Capaldi and the band played frequently in London and Jimi Hendrix played guitar with them at the Knuckles Club as an unknown musician. Back in Birmingham Capaldi would occasionally join his friends Mason, Winwood and Chris Wood for impromptu performances at The Elbow Room club on Aston High Street. Early in 1967 they formalised this arrangement by forming Traffic and the other members of Deep Feeling disbanded. In 1968, Capaldi, Winwood and Mason contributed backing music to a solo album by Gordon Jackson.
The new band was signed by Island Records and rented a quiet cottage in Aston Tirrold, Berkshire in order to write and rehearse new material. The cottage did not remain quiet and had frequent visitors including Eric Burdon, Eric Clapton and Pete Townshend as well as Trevor Burton (of The Move) amongst many others. Capaldi wrote the lyrics for Traffic's first single "Paper Sun", which appeared in the UK singles chart at number 5 in summer 1967. Two more singles were released successfully in 1967 and in December the band released the album Mr. Fantasy, which demonstrated the individual talents of each member. Mason left the band soon after the album's release but returned the following May before finally leaving again in October. Winwood also left Traffic (to form Blind Faith) and the rest reluctantly concluded that the band was over.
Reformation and beyond
Capaldi now tried to form another band with Mason and Wood but the creative tensions that had caused Mason to leave Traffic remained and Wynder K. Frogg only lasted until March 1969. In January 1970 Capaldi and Wood joined Winwood in the studio to record Winwood's solo album. These sessions were so successful that the three of them reformed Traffic (without Mason) to release the album John Barleycorn Must Die. They then toured the UK and the U.S. with a band extended by several session musicians.
Although the next Traffic albums were successful, Capaldi began to develop his solo career and released his first solo album Oh How We Danced in 1972. This set featured contributions from Free guitarist Paul Kossoff, Barry Beckett and Rebop Kwaku Baah as well as several members of Traffic.
He followed this up with Whale Meat Again in 1974 before releasing what many consider to be his masterpiece, Short Cut Draw Blood, the following year. Full of tracks with lyrical bite, the album tackled issues such as the environment, government corruption and drugs. In October 1975 a single taken from the album, a cover version of The Everly Brothers' "Love Hurts", reached number four in the UK chart and charted worldwide.
Capaldi's first and only solo Top 40 hit in the United States was from his 1982 album Fierce Heart, yielding the hit single "That's Love", which climbed to Number 28 in Billboard's Top 40 in the summer of 1983. The track was a simple arrangement with synthesized drums, electric guitar, and keyboards. Steve Winwood supplied the keyboards with his then-wife Nicole Winwood on background vocals.
Capaldi was noted for the extent of his collaborations with other musicians. In 1973, he played drums at Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert and on some Clapton studio sessions.
Collaborations
Jim Capaldi's success as a lyricist continued throughout his life. He was a five times winner of coveted BMI/Ascap Awards for the "most played compositions in America", and sales of songs written or co-written by him exceeded 25 million units. He numbered Bob Marley among his friends and they travelled together whilst Marley was writing the Catch A Fire album. Capaldi wrote the lyrics to "This Is Reggae Music".
In the 1980s, Capaldi collaborated with Carlos Santana contributing songs and ideas to Santana's projects and in the 1990s he wrote the song "Love Will Keep Us Alive" for the Eagles' successful Hell Freezes Over album. His own 1988 album Some Come Running included Eric Clapton and George Harrison on the track "Oh Lord, Why Lord".
In 1993, Traffic reformed (without Chris Wood, who died in 1983, and Dave Mason) and recorded a new album Far From Home and in 1994 Capaldi toured the U.S. and UK with the band. In 1998 he paired up again with Mason on an extensive American tour.
Marriage/Family
He married Brazilian-born Aninha in 1975 and in 1976 toured with his band Space Cadets before moving to Brazil in 1977. His daughters Tabitha and Tallulah were born in 1977 and 1979, respectively. The Capaldis lived in the Bahia region of Brazil until the beginning of 1980 and while there he became heavily involved with environmental issues. The track "Favella Music" on his 1981 album Let The Thunder Cry arose from his love of Brazil and he worked with several Brazilian composers.
The final years
In 2001, Capaldi's twelfth solo album Living On The Outside featured George Harrison, Steve Winwood, Paul Weller, Gary Moore and Ian Paice. George Harrison played guitar on the track "Anna Julia", an English translation of a song by the Brazilian band Los Hermanos and Capaldi played at the Concert for George in 2002.
Outside his music and his environmental activism, Capaldi also assisted his wife in her work with Jubilee Action to help Brazilian street children. He remained professionally active until his final illness prevented him from working on plans for a 2005 reunion tour of Traffic. He died of stomach cancer at 02:30 on 28 January 2005, aged 60. He is survived by his wife and daughters.
Dear Mr Fantasy
Dear Mr Fantasy was a celebration of Jim Capaldi's life and music that took place at the Roundhouse in Camden Town, London on Sunday, 21 January 2007. Guests included Bill Wyman, Jon Lord, Gary Moore, Steve Winwood, Cat Stevens, Paul Weller, Pete Townshend, his brother, Phil and many more. Dear Mr Fantasy featured the music of Jim Capaldi and Traffic. All profits went to The Jubilee Action Street Children Appeal.
Solo discography
* Oh How We Danced (1972)
* Whale Meat Again (1974)
* Short Cut Draw Blood (1975)
* Play It By Ear (1977)
* Daughter of the Night (1978)
* Contender (1978)
* Electric Nights (1979)
* Sweet Smell of ... Success (1980)
* Let The Thunder Cry (1981)
* Fierce Heart (1982)
* One Man Mission (1984)
* Some Come Running (1988)
* Prince of Darkness (1995)
* Let The Thunder Cry (1999)
* Living On The Outside (2001)
* Poor Boy Blue (2004)
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:\'(
Subject: Re: ninny's New Person & Word of the Day
Written By: Philip Eno on 01/31/10 at 3:35 am
The word of the day...Groovy
If you describe something as groovy, you mean that it is attractive, fashionable, or exciting.
http://www.costumebox.com.au/images/P/Groovy%20Baby%20-%20Billy%20Bob%20Costume%20Accessories.detail.jpg